Crimson Desert scatters special strongboxes throughout its castles and manors, each one sealed behind a unique mechanical puzzle. These aren't ordinary locked chests you can pick open or bash through. Every strongbox demands that you figure out its specific contraption before it gives up the loot inside. Five of these puzzles are currently found in the Hernand region, and the rewards range from refinable earrings to a powerful cooking recipe.
Quick answer: The five Hernand strongboxes are located in the Northern Bluemont Manor, Southern Bluemont Manor, Hillside Manor, Lioncrest Manor, and Hernand Castle, rewarding the Oath of Darkness Earring, Finely Crafted Gold Necklace, Saint's Necklace, Engraved Gold Earring, and Lavish Meal Recipe respectively.
Hernand Strongbox Rewards at a Glance
| Location | Puzzle Type | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Bluemont Manor | Rotating owl picture (4 panels) | Oath of Darkness Earring |
| Southern Bluemont Manor | Cylinder tumbler alignment | Finely Crafted Gold Necklace |
| Hillside Manor | Cylinder tumbler alignment | Saint's Necklace |
| Lioncrest Manor | Rotating painting (9 fragments) | Engraved Gold Earring |
| Hernand Castle | Piano key sequence (8 keys) | Lavish Meal Recipe |
Northern Bluemont Manor — Oath of Darkness Earring
Bluemont Manor sits on the western side of Hernand Town and consists of two buildings. The smaller northern stone building, attached to some shops, is the one you want. Head due south from the main plaza tree near the notice board to find it. Unlike its southern counterpart, this building has no guards and no locked entrance.
Go up to the second floor and enter the southernmost room. Inside, you'll find a strongbox with a rotating owl picture split into four panels. The trick is that pressing certain buttons rotates more than one panel at a time, so random button-mashing won't get you anywhere.
Step 1: Number the panels 1 through 4 from left to right. Press the fourth button and keep rotating until panel 4 shows the correct image. This also moves panel 1, but don't worry about that yet.
Step 2: Press the first button to rotate panels 1 through 3 until panel 1 is properly aligned.
Step 3: Press the second button to rotate panels 2 and 3 until panel 2 lines up correctly.
Step 4: Press the third button to rotate only panel 3 until it matches the rest of the image.
Once all four panels form the complete owl picture, the strongbox door unlocks. Grab the Oath of Darkness Earring inside. This item can be refined multiple times to unlock a bonus passive power, so don't sell it immediately.
Southern Bluemont Manor — Finely Crafted Gold Necklace
The larger southern building of Bluemont Manor holds a second strongbox on the second floor's western side, tucked into the corner of a large room. The manor is located just west of the butcher shop, between it and the larger manor with the fountain further west. All ground-level entrances are guarded, but you can reach the second floor balcony leading to the puzzle room without being spotted. Note that the balcony door is locked and requires a key.
This strongbox uses a cylinder tumbler mechanism. Several small metal cylinders sit in a row, each with a rotating dial underneath and a shared button on the right side. The goal is to raise every cylinder so that its silver top sits above the wooden paneling line while the golden bottom portion stays below it.
Step 1: Start with any cylinder and turn its rotating dial to adjust how far it will rise when you press the right-side button.
Step 2: Press the button on the right to test the height. If the silver top isn't above the line, go back and adjust the dial further.
Step 3: Repeat for each cylinder individually. The outer cylinders on the far left and far right need to be raised the most, while the middle ones require only slight adjustments.
When every cylinder is correctly positioned, pressing the button causes the lower wooden panel to swivel open, revealing the Finely Crafted Gold Necklace.
Hillside Manor — Saint's Necklace
Hillside Manor is perched just below the eastern tip of Hernand Castle, directly above the Church of Hernand. The main doors are heavily guarded, but you can bypass them entirely by climbing up to a second floor window on the southwest side of the building and hopping through.
The strongbox inside uses the same cylinder tumbler contraption found in the Southern Bluemont Manor. The solving method is identical: adjust each cylinder's rotating dial so that the silver tops clear the wood paneling line, with the outermost cylinders needing the greatest height increase and the center ones needing the least.
Successfully aligning all cylinders and pressing the button unlocks the Saint's Necklace, which provides a temporary stamina boost when equipped.
Lioncrest Manor — Engraved Gold Earring
Lioncrest Manor sprawls across the northwest outskirts of Hernand Town, up a hill due west of the castle with a large cliff behind it. The manor is crowded and well-guarded at every entrance, but you can climb up to a second-floor window around the back near the rear entrance to slip inside undetected.
Once you're in, head through the locked door on the southeastern side of the building — not the double doors, but the single one. Behind it sits a strongbox displaying a scrambled painting of a girl with fairy wings.
This puzzle is more straightforward than the others. The painting is divided into nine square fragments, and each one can be rotated independently. Simply turn every fragment until the full image comes together. There's no trick with linked panels or shared buttons here — just rotate each piece until the portrait is complete.
Opening the strongbox yields the Engraved Gold Earring. Like the Oath of Darkness Earring from the Northern Bluemont Manor, this piece of jewelry can be refined to unlock a passive bonus.
Hernand Castle — Lavish Meal Recipe
The most imposing strongbox in Hernand hides at the top of the castle keep itself. To reach it, enter the main keep and find the tall room with a stairwell. Climb all the way to the third floor, where you'll encounter a locked door.
Inside the room beyond is a bedroom containing the strongbox — and also a hidden memory collectible. If NPCs are present in the room, sleep in the bed until daytime to clear them out.
This strongbox is unlike any other in Hernand. It features a row of eight piano-like keys on its front face, and you need to press them in the correct seven-note sequence to pop it open. The clue is built right into the contraption itself.
Step 1: Look at the side of the strongbox and wind up the gears. This plays a short musical tune made up of seven distinct notes.
Step 2: Listen carefully and match each note you hear to one of the eight keys on the front of the box. Press them in the same order as the tune.
Getting the sequence right opens the strongbox and rewards you with a Lavish Meal Recipe. Preparing this feast requires a large number of ingredients, but the resulting buff is well worth the effort.
All five Hernand strongbox puzzles are accessible relatively early in Crimson Desert, and the rewards — particularly the refinable earrings and the stamina-boosting Saint's Necklace — remain useful well beyond the region. Additional strongbox puzzles may exist in other parts of the world, so keep an eye out for similar contraptions whenever you're exploring castles and manors outside Hernand.