Crimson Desert Character Guide: How to Unlock Damiane and Oongka
Kliff is a perfectly capable protagonist, but surviving the absolute meat grinder of Pywel is significantly easier when you can call in backup.
When you first launch into Crimson Desert, you might assume you are permanently locked into playing a lone wolf swordsman. The game does a brilliant job of hiding its larger mechanics behind dozens of hours of brutal progression. You are actually meant to rebuild the shattered Greymanes mercenary company, and that means recruiting other playable characters.
You eventually gain access to Damiane and Oongka. They are not just reskinned versions of Kliff. They have entirely different weapon loadouts, unique flight mechanics, and their own dedicated skill trees. I spent an embarrassing amount of time getting my teeth kicked in by bandit camps before I realized I could literally summon a heavily armed orc to draw the heat off me. Getting your hands on the full roster requires you to push deep into the main campaign. I put together this exact breakdown of when they unlock, how they fight, and the massive trap you need to avoid when upgrading them.
Kliff: The Mandatory Anchor
Before we talk about the new recruits, you need to understand your relationship with Kliff. He is the main character in every sense of the word, and you cannot afford to neglect him.
Kliff is the only character capable of completing the vast majority of the main story missions. He is also the only one who can thoroughly explore the Abyss puzzle islands. His combat style is incredibly versatile, utilizing one handed swords, maces, heavy spears, and bows. He traverses the skies using the Crow Wings.
Because Kliff is locked into mandatory boss fights, he must be your primary focus. If you spread your upgrades too thin across the other characters, Kliff will be horribly underpowered when the story forces you into a duel. I highly recommend cross referencing my guide on the best early skills to unlock so you know exactly how to build him into an immovable object.
Damiane: The Agile Gunner
You will not be stuck playing solo for too long. Damiane unlocks very early in Chapter 3 during your time at Howling Hill. The main quest called "A Fresh Start" forces you to switch over to her to complete a few odd jobs around the homestead.
Damiane completely changes the pacing of combat. She is exceptionally fast, utilizing rapiers and dual blades for rapid strikes. Her heavy attack, Smiting Bolt, blasts enemies with blinding light. If you prefer a defensive approach, she has the ability to throw her shield at whatever is bothering her and an ability called Shield Sentinel that turns her buckler into a floating sentry turret.
Instead of a bow, Damiane packs muskets and firearms. Her guns have incredible range and high burst damage, making her the absolute best character for hunting wildlife. When she needs to take to the sky, she ditches the magical wings and uses a mechanical propeller. She is highly mobile and incredibly fun to play during open world exploration.
Oongka: The Heavy Bruiser
Getting Oongka requires serious dedication. You will likely be thirty or forty hours deep into the campaign before you even see him. He becomes available toward the end of Chapter 7 during a main quest called "Twisted Fate".
Unlocking him is a harrowing experience because the boss fight leading up to his introduction is absolutely punishing. Once you finally secure him, you gain access to a walking tank. Oongka is a giant orc who hits like a meteor. He uses one handed axes, massive two handed staves, and a literal blaster cannon for ranged combat.
He is slow, but his abilities make up for his lack of speed. His Rampage skill allows him to cleave through entire groups of enemies, and his Rage power grants him super armor, preventing him from being staggered by incoming attacks. For traversal, Oongka straps a jetpack to his back. If you are struggling to keep his massive health bar full during brawls, you might need to revisit my breakdown on healing, cooking, and Palmar Pills so he does not drop dead in the middle of a swing.
How to Switch and Summon Companions
Crimson Desert does not let you hot swap characters like you are playing Grand Theft Auto. The system is much more deliberate.
To switch characters, you need to press F1 on your keyboard or hold Up on your controller directional pad. This pulls up the quick slot wheel. You simply move your cursor to Damiane or Oongka and select them. The screen will transition, and you will take control of them. You will notice the wheel actually has two empty slots even after you unlock everyone, which heavily implies Pearl Abyss is holding back future DLC characters or hidden mounts.
If you do not want to physically control them, you can summon them to fight alongside Kliff. Using the same quick slot wheel, you can call them into the open world as AI companions. They will draw aggro, soak up damage, and generally make liberating bandit strongholds much less miserable.
There is a massive catch to this system. You cannot summon your companions during main story missions or major boss fights. The game forces you to fight those battles on your own merits. They are strictly available for open world free roaming, side quests, and general exploration.
The Skill Point Trap
This is the most important warning I can give you regarding the companion system. Do not bankrupt your progression.
While Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka have their own unique skill trees, they all share the exact same pool of Abyss Artifacts. The skill points you earn in the world are communal. I made the hilarious mistake of dumping all my hard earned artifacts into Oongka the second I unlocked him, only to hit a brick wall when the story forced me back into Kliff's boots for a mandatory boss fight. My Kliff was completely starved of points and lacked the necessary damage output to survive.
Thankfully, the base attributes for Health, Stamina, and Spirit carry over between characters, but the active combat abilities do not. You have to be incredibly careful with how you allocate your points. If you accidentally ruin your build by investing too heavily in your backup dancers, you are going to need a reset. I wrote a dedicated guide on how to respec your skills that explains exactly where to find the rare items required to undo your mistakes.
Take your time learning their individual rhythms. Damiane is perfect for rapid skirmishes and gathering, Oongka excels at breaking heavily fortified camps, and Kliff remains your reliable anchor for the heavy narrative lifting. If you ensure their armor is properly refined, they will easily carry you through the worst Pywel has to offer. Just make sure you are actively visiting the blacksmith and reviewing my weapon and armor upgrades guide to keep the whole team lethal.
