Ocean exploration, ship-building, castle management, boss-battle arenas, and romance are all coming to Crimson Desert with the release this week of the Charting the Unknown DLC.

The good news is that you don’t have to get too far into the original title to start checking out many of those amazing new features.

Who wants to play through the entire game before they can grab a shark by the fin and go for a swim, or pop a diving helmet on your kitty and take them for a bit of underwater exploration?

Personally, I’ve been so distracted shenaniganizing, that while I’ve spent more than 300 hours in the game, I’m not even close to making my way through Crimson Desert’s 168 main quests spread across a prologue, a dozen chapters and an epilogue.

Yes, yes, I know, it’s supposed to be a 60 to 80 hour game, at least for the main story. But I’m not the only one. According to Epic Games Store, only 13 percent of players have completed all the main quests. About 62 percent of you have activated the camp at Howling Hill. And a glorious 79 percent have finished Chapter 1.

No shame!

So here’s a breakdown of what you can get to and when based on what developer Pearl Abyss has told us so far.

Under the sea: There are no chapter or quest limits on diving and exploring the underwater world of Pywel. The studio promises ruins, treasure chests, new creatures and mounts. Of course, this comes with a catch: You can only hold your breath for so long. So you’ll want to equip yourself with gear, like a diving suit. The DLC’s pre-order bonus includes diving sets for all three playable characters, but Pearl Abyss hasn’t said whether they actually help you stay under longer or are purely cosmetic.

Romancing: The studio doesn’t spell out exactly how this works. But at some point Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane can “form even deeper bonds with some of Pywel’s inhabitants.” Interact with them enough and you can eventually even get married. Pearl Abyss doesn’t list any prerequisite for romance, so it should be available right away, or at least once you figure out which NPCs are up for a proposal.

Ship building: The ship-building questline opens up once the Greymane Camp is set up. Finish that questline and you can get a ship either by sending your comrades on a ship-building dispatch mission at a port or by buying one from a Fleet Office manager. Then you’re free to sail across the Great Ocean of Pywel.

Renting businesses: You’ll need the camp, plus the faction quest that liberates that business’ region. So, your mileage will vary depending on how you tackle questlines to liberate those regions. Once complete you can rent and manage different businesses “from a restaurant in Vellua to a smithy at Zargan Tankworks.” You can access various facilities across Pywel from the world map.

House upgrades: You’ll need the camp plus Luke’s Request under the Grounds of the Sunrise faction quest. It’s reachable in Chapter 3 if you do the right side quests. Once completed you’ll have access to both the regular and upgraded housing system.

Ocean story: The new ocean-focused storyline opens up after you complete Howling Hill, which I interpret as completing the final quest in Chapter 3. It’s worth pointing out here that the ship questline and the ocean story have different unlocking points.

A quick note on what “the end” means: Pearl Abyss says these require completing the main story, but the achievement for completing all main quests can pop as early as the first quest of the epilogue. To be safe, finish the entire epilogue before you go looking for any of the following.

Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane each get their own new storylines, which are started from the Journal menu after completing the main story.

Castles!: The DLC will give you the ability to liberate three castles and make them your own. To do that you need to complete the main story plus “relevant quests,” and then unlock and complete the claim missions. We don’t know which three specific castles you can grab for your own. But once you do, you can decorate the courtyards and interiors with unique objects and furnishings.

Garden of Trials: After clearing the main questline you can head to the Garden of Trials where you can battle bosses you’ve previously defeated to earn special rewards.

Friends: It’s unclear when this unlocks, just that you need to get your camp upgraded to a “certain level.” Once you do, “friends you’ve grown close to may visit and spend time with you, making the camp livelier than ever.”

Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown hits North America at 6 p.m. ET on Oct. 29. You can still pick up the DLC’s exclusive pre-order bonus, the Charter’s Diving Set for Kliff and Oongka and the Charter’s Light Diving Set for Damiane, if you pre-order the DLC before launch.

And don’t forget, if you don’t own Crimson Desert yet, buying it on Epic Games Store will land you the Kliff Outfit in Fortnite, as long as you buy it with the same Epic account you use for Fortnite. (Se deschide într-o filă nouă)