Crimson Desert Guide

The Words of Alustin stuck? Alustin's letter missing from your inventory

Stuck on The Words of Alustin because the letter vanished? Patch 2.02.00 fixed it and re-sent the letter. Here's where to look and what to do if it's still gone.

Quests · Updated

Steps

  1. Update the game to patch 2.02.00 or later. Pearl Abyss fixed the bug where the letter disappeared during The Words of Alustin in patch 2.02.00 (September 11, 2026). Install the latest update on your platform before trying anything else.
  2. Look for a fresh copy of the letter. After the fix, players with enough main quest progress were given an extra copy of Alustin's letter automatically. It's a scroll from Alustin asking you to come to the Great Library about an unusual energy coming from Scholastone. Check your inventory for it.
  3. Read the letter. Reading the letter is the objective that was blocking you. Once it's read, the quest moves on toward Scholastone.
  4. If you already finished the quest, ignore the extra copy. Some players far past this point got the letter too and wondered what it was. It's only the backup copy from the fix, so you can leave it in your bag.

The problem: the main quest The Words of Alustin tells you to read Alustin’s letter, but the letter isn’t in your inventory, so the story can’t move forward. One player on Steam got hit after Alustin ran into them while the camera glitched, and the game crashed right as the letter was handed over. The save recorded the letter as received, but it never showed up.

The fix: it was a known bug, and patch 2.02.00 (September 11, 2026) fixed it. Pearl Abyss’s patch notes list it as “the letter would disappear during The Words of Alustin in certain situations, preventing quest progression.” A player quoting those notes on Steam explained that everyone with enough main quest progress got an extra copy of the letter automatically, just in case. Update the game, then check your inventory and read it.

Got a mystery letter from Alustin?

If you’re well past this part of the story and a scroll from Alustin suddenly appeared (“I sense an unusual energy coming from Scholastone… please come to the great library”), that’s the same backup copy. You don’t need to do anything with it. Another player in that thread pointed out that the letter is what sends you to Scholastone in the first place. It’s the start of the quest chain that also unlocks Focused Force Palm.

Still no letter after updating?

Before the patch, one Steam player got unstuck by adding the letter back with a fan-made save editor called SWISS Knife Save Editor. They made a manual save, added item 802456 (“Alustin’s Letter”) to it with the editor, and loaded that save. Another player noted that the editor is no longer updated on Nexus Mods and that newer versions are on GitHub. It’s an unofficial tool that edits your save file, so copy your save folder somewhere safe before you try it. If you’d rather not mod your game, contact Pearl Abyss support instead.

Sources

This guide summarizes answers from these community threads. Credit goes to the players who worked it out.