The Cloud Cart is one of the most sought-after traversal options in Crimson Desert, functioning as an air-balloon-style mount that lets you cover large distances quickly. Getting access to it, however, is not tied to the main story progression in the way you might expect. The unlock hinges on recruiting an engineer to your camp through the Greymanes faction questline — and that means investing time in side content.
Quick answer: Complete Greymanes faction "rumour" quests to recruit mercenaries back to your camp. Once at least one engineer joins your roster, the Cloud Cart becomes available. You also need to upgrade your camp to a sufficient size, which requires completing dispatch missions and spending silver.
Why main story progress alone won't unlock the Cloud Cart
It is entirely possible to reach the end of Chapter 7 — roughly 50 hours of play — without ever seeing an engineer appear at camp. That is because engineer recruits are gated behind the Greymanes faction questline, which runs parallel to the main story but is not part of it. Simply clearing story chapters does not guarantee new camp members of any particular class.
The Greymanes faction quests are labeled as "rumours" in your quest log. Each completed rumour has a chance of bringing a new mercenary back to camp, and the pool of recruits includes engineers. Some players have reported recruiting their first engineer as early as Chapter 4 by focusing heavily on these side missions.
Recruiting an engineer through rumour quests
Step 1: Open your quest log and look for any active rumours. These are side quests specifically tied to the Greymanes faction and are separate from main story objectives or generic side activities.
Step 2: Complete rumours as they appear. Each one can bring a new Greymane mercenary back to your camp. The class of each recruit — including whether they are an engineer — appears to be somewhat random, so you may need to finish several rumours before one shows up.
Step 3: Check your camp roster after each completed rumour. Once you see at least one engineer listed among your recruits, the Cloud Cart should become available to summon.
Upgrading your camp to unlock more recruits
Your camp has a capacity limit that restricts how many Greymanes can join. If you have hit that cap, new rumours may stop appearing entirely, which blocks your path to an engineer. Upgrading the camp raises the cap and opens up additional recruitment opportunities.
Camp upgrades are triggered through dispatch missions available at your camp. Look for a mission called Howling Hill in the dispatch mission list. If it is not there, you have not completed enough side content to unlock it yet — keep working through available side quests and rumours until it appears.
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Dispatch mission | Howling Hill (appears in camp dispatch list) |
| Prerequisite | Sufficient side quest completion |
| Final camp upgrade cost | 100,000 silver |
Once you have upgraded the camp, more mercenaries — including engineers — can join through continued rumour completion.
Known bug: Cloud Cart disappearing after summoning
Even after successfully unlocking the Cloud Cart, some players have encountered a bug where the mount vanishes immediately after being called. The cart appears briefly and then despawns before you can board it. This issue has been widely reported and does not appear to be caused by anything the player is doing wrong.
No confirmed workaround exists at this time. If you experience this, keep an eye on future patches, as the problem is clearly on the developer's side rather than a result of missing prerequisites.
The fastest path to the Cloud Cart is straightforward in theory: ignore the temptation to rush the main story and instead prioritize Greymanes rumour quests and camp upgrades early. Players who took this approach have reported having the mount ready by Chapter 4, while those who focused exclusively on the critical path found themselves locked out well into the late game. Budget silver for that final 100,000-cost camp upgrade, and the engineer — and your ride — should follow.