Charting the Unknown DLC: what it adds and what you need to unlock it

The question: now that Charting the Unknown is out, what can you play straight away, and what do you have to finish first? Players coming back to the game, or thinking about a new playthrough, keep asking this on Steam.

The short answer: the DLC came out on Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 22:00 UTC (6 PM ET), together with base-game patch 2.04.00. Diving works from the start. Sailing and the new ocean quest open mid-game once your Greymane Camp at Howling Hill is set up and expanded. The three new character quests, Drakesfall Castle and Garden of Trials need Journey’s End, the last main story quest, completed. You don’t need a new playthrough. All of this comes from Pearl Abyss’s 2.04.00 patch notes.

Before you start: update and back up

• Update both the game and the DLC. Pearl Abyss’s known issues list says the game may crash if the base game and DLC versions don’t match. A hotfix followed on October 30. It still shows version 2.04.00 in game, but the fixes are applied.
• DLC saves don’t go backwards. Save files created with the DLC installed can’t be loaded, or used for cross-save, on a version of the game without the DLC.
• Mods. Outdated mods after a big update are a common cause of the “There may be a problem with the game installation” error. Here’s how to fix that error if you run into it.
• Mac players have to download the full game package once more because of technical changes to the Mac build.

Charting the Unknown release time by region

Region	Time
UTC	Thursday, October 29, 22:00
North America (Pacific)	Thursday, October 29, 3 PM PT
North America (Eastern)	Thursday, October 29, 6 PM ET
Central Europe	Thursday, October 29, 11 PM CET
Korea and Japan	Friday, October 30, 7 AM KST/JST

The DLC was first planned for two weeks earlier; Pearl Abyss moved it to October 29 to get more time to polish it. PS5 players could pre-download it 24 hours early, while on Steam, Xbox and the Epic Games Store the download only opened at release.

What you can play right away

Diving. Kliff, Oongka and Damiane can dive into the sea with no special conditions. Under the water there are sunken ruins, treasure and new underwater mounts. A breath gauge shows how long you can stay down. You raise your maximum breath by refining your diving suit, and new food items restore breath for a while. There’s also new gear that lets the A.T.A.G work underwater. The pre-order bonus was the Charter’s Diving Set for Kliff and Oongka and the Charter’s Light Diving Set for Damiane.

Underwater mounts. Depending on the type, you either subdue them or feed them to raise their Trust, and once it’s high enough you can register them as mounts.

Romance. The NPC interaction menu now has Interact, Chat and Gift. Choose Interact, then Flirt, to start raising an extra level of trust, then keep going with Gift or Chat. Each kind of interaction only raises it once a day per NPC. When it reaches 100 you can propose. Flirting with someone as one character lowers their trust with your other two characters, and some NPCs have extra conditions: each witch needs her sanctum quest done first. After you marry, your spouse shows on the map, can travel with you and sometimes gives you gifts. You can break up later, but it comes at a cost.

Treasure maps, Banker’s Dice and other extras. Treasure maps lead to hidden treasure around the world, a new dice minigame called Banker’s Dice is played in Demeniss and Delesyia, barber shops opened in major cities, and you can now change your Greymanes’ outfits at the Comrade Dispatch Tent for camp resources.

What unlocks mid-game, after your Howling Hill camp

Players in the Steam thread asking whether the DLC is all post-game marked this as the answer: sailing doesn’t wait for the ending.

• Your own ship. Ships are a new type of mount. You build one through a dispatch mission or buy one from a fleetmaster, and you can customize it with parts sold by the fleetmasters in Demeniss and Delesyia. Ships can also carry new trade goods for maritime trading. If you haven’t used dispatch missions yet, here’s how to dispatch a comrade at Howling Hill.
• The ocean quest, A Wider World. It begins after you complete “Howling Hill” in the main story and expand your Greymane camp above a certain level. It sends you out to pioneer uncharted islands off the coast. If your island pioneering mission gets stuck at 100%, here’s what worked for other players.
• Upgraded housing. Finish Luke’s Request in the “Grounds of the Sunrise” Greymane faction quests, with your Howling Hill camp set up, and you can build your own layout under Home Decoration, then Layout, then Free Construction. There are 17 residences you can build through dispatch missions, and your spouse lives in the one you designate.
• Managing businesses. Liberated strongholds can be rented to run a restaurant, sawmill, smithy or tailor’s shop. A new Facilities tab on the map shows them, and they keep running while you’re away.
• Camp festivals. A new mission lets you hold festivals at camp. NPCs you’ve built trust with visit, which is a faster way to raise trust, and some can be hired as Honorary Greymanes for dispatch missions.

Heads up: Pearl Abyss’s known issues list says Greymane faction quests can’t be progressed while you’re playing as Damiane or Oongka, so switch to Kliff for those.

What needs Journey’s End finished

• The three new character quests. Kliff, Oongka and Damiane each get one new quest, and they start from the Journal menu after you complete “Journey’s End”. A player who answered on Steam added that the three stories are separate, and the asker thanked them.
• Two castles. The Features Overview mentioned three castles, but the patch notes list two you can claim and decorate. Drakesfall Castle is awarded after Journey’s End once you liberate its stronghold. Flame Knight’s Castle is awarded after Damiane’s quest “Politician” and liberating its stronghold. Strongholds the Greymanes own now show in light blue on the map.
• Garden of Trials. This combat mode has 10 groups of fights and sits near the Axiom Archive Abyss. You can go in with up to three characters, Kliff, Oongka and Damiane, and pick the order they fight in; when one falls, the next takes over. Food can’t be used for healing in there. Each group you clear enhances one of your existing skills.

There are also new bosses, some of which you can rematch with Memory Fragments, and a Relic Collector NPC who trades items for relics you find while exploring.

Already finished the game?

Then you’ve already done Journey’s End, so the character quests, Drakesfall Castle and Garden of Trials are open as soon as you update. You don’t need a new playthrough. A few features still have their own side requirements, like Luke’s Request for upgraded housing, the camp level for A Wider World, and Damiane’s “Politician” quest for Flame Knight’s Castle.

Watching Twitch for the DLC rewards? Here’s how to claim the Twitch Drops while the claim button is bugged.