The Pirate King Hat is one of the most useful exploration items in Crimson Desert. It does not deal damage, it cannot be upgraded, and it only has 3 DEF. But what it does have is the Detect Treasure passive — a unique ability that makes the feather on top of the hat glow whenever you are close to a hidden treasure chest. In a game packed with loot buried behind walls, inside ruins, and stashed in hard-to-spot corners, this hat is worth hunting down.
Getting to it requires a boat, a careful approach through a minefield, and a fight with a ship full of pirates. This guide walks through every step.
What Is the Pirate King Hat
The Pirate King Hat is a super unique headgear piece in Crimson Desert. It falls into a special equipment tier that means it cannot be refined at any Blacksmith and has no Abyss Gear slots at all. What you pick up is what you keep.
Its stats are:
- Defense: 3
- Bonus Stat: Movement Speed Lv 1
- Special Ability: Detect Treasure (passive)
- Abyss Gear Slots: 0
- Refineable: No
The numbers are modest. The Detect Treasure ability is what makes this worth the trip. No other headgear in the game offers it.
Where Is the Singing Catfish
The Pirate King Hat sits inside a treasure chest below the deck of The Singing Catfish — a fully rigged pirate ship anchored in the ocean near Vellua.
Vellua is a fishing town on the southern coast of the map, far south of Hernand. The Singing Catfish sits southeast of the Vellua Stronghold and southwest of the Vellua Coast Wreckage stronghold. You can see the ship from the Vellua coastline — it is a large dark silhouette floating in the cove. But it is too far out to swim to, even with a full stamina bar. You need a boat.
The best time to go is during the Beyond the Silent Waves quest chain from the Vellua Fishermen’s Guild faction, since you will be in the area anyway. But you can visit the ship at any point in the game.
How to Get a Boat
The dock at Vellua has large boats you cannot use. The boat you need is smaller and found east of the village.
Follow the coastline east from Vellua until you reach a small cove with a beach. You will find a rowboat sitting there that you can interact with and paddle out to sea. It is simple to spot once you know to look east rather than at the main dock.
Take some healing food with you before getting in. The sea around the Singing Catfish is dangerous and you will want a buffer.
For more on getting around the world’s waterways, see our how to get a wagon in Crimson Desert and how to fast travel guides for general traversal help.
How to Reach the Singing Catfish Without Getting Destroyed
This part is where most players run into trouble. The approach matters a lot.
The Cannons
The Singing Catfish has active cannons on both its port and starboard sides — meaning the left and right flanks of the ship. If you approach from either side, you will take cannon fire and your rowboat will not survive it.
Always approach from the front (bow) or the back (stern) of the ship. The cannons cannot hit you from these angles. Aim for a point directly ahead of or directly behind the ship, keeping yourself in line with the bow or stern as you row in.
The Sea Mines
The water around the ship is heavily seeded with floating proximity mines. One mine hit is enough to sink your rowboat. They sit just at or below the water surface and can be hard to spot, especially during bad weather or at night.
Row slowly. Weave carefully around each mine rather than trying to go fast. Give yourself room to steer. A smaller boat’s tighter turning radius helps here — the rowboat you found near Vellua is ideal.
The Ladder
Once you reach the bow or stern safely, row up alongside the hull and look for a ladder on either side. Climb up. This transitions you from the water to the ship’s deck.
How to Clear the Ship
The deck is not empty. Pirates and a vice captain are waiting for you. The space is cramped, and some enemies throw grenades that are hard to avoid in tight quarters.
The most effective approach is to deal with the regular pirates first. Clear them out before focusing on the vice captain. Taking on multiple targets at once on a small ship deck with grenades in the mix is the main way players get overwhelmed here.
The pirates are not especially difficult if your gear is in decent shape. This is more of a mid-game detour than a punishing fight.
For help with your combat fundamentals, check our guide on how to parry, counter, and dodge in Crimson Desert.
Where Is the Chest Below Deck
With the deck cleared, head to the aft section — the rear of the ship. Find the stairs that lead down below deck and go down them. Walk straight ahead through the lower area until you reach a door at the end of the room. Open it and enter the storage room.
Inside the storage room you will find the treasure chest. Open it to collect the Pirate King Hat.
Equip it immediately from your inventory into your headgear slot to activate the Detect Treasure passive.
How to Use the Pirate King Hat
Using the hat is passive — you do not press anything to activate it. Just keep it equipped in your headgear slot and explore.
How Detect Treasure Works
When you walk within roughly 10 meters of a nearby treasure chest, the white feather on top of the hat begins to glow brightly. That glow is your signal that loot is close.
The hat does not point you to the exact location. It only tells you that something is nearby. From there, you search the surrounding area — look in corners, behind objects, inside alcoves, and below platforms. If you move away from the chest range, the glow stops. Move back toward it and it returns. Use this hot-and-cold signal to zero in on where the chest is hidden.
One Thing to Watch For
The white glow can be hard to spot in bright daylight conditions. Pay extra attention while exploring during the daytime and keep a close eye on the feather. It is easier to notice in darker indoor spaces or at night.
You Must Wear It
The passive only works while the hat is equipped in your headgear slot. Carrying it in your inventory does not activate Detect Treasure. Some players keep the hat in their bag and swap it on when entering new unexplored areas, then swap back to higher-defence headgear before combat. This is a smart approach if you want the stat benefits of a different helmet during fights.
Why the Pirate King Hat Is Worth Getting
Crimson Desert is full of hidden treasure chests. Many are tucked behind breakable walls, inside ruins and dungeons, on top of structures, and buried in terrain that looks ordinary at a glance. The Detect Treasure passive is a permanent quality-of-life upgrade for any player who likes thorough exploration.
It is especially useful when working through hidden treasure maps. Our Hidden Treasure Map Piece 1 guide and Hidden Treasure Map Piece 7 guide show just how cryptic some of these locations can be — having the hat on while following map clues takes a lot of the guesswork out.
It also pairs well with general dungeon and ruins exploration. Any time you are working through an area with a lot of loot potential — like the Icemoor Castle Ruins treasure chests or the all strongbox puzzle solutions — the hat gives you an early heads-up that something is nearby before you would otherwise notice it.
Alternative High-Level Approach
If you have unlocked Aerial Force Palm and can get to a high enough point on the Vellua cliffside, you can bypass the cannons and mines entirely by launching into the air and gliding directly onto the masts of the Singing Catfish. This skips the boat section completely.
This requires the Double Jump skill and Aerial Force Palm to be unlocked. Check our how to unlock Double Jump guide if you have not done that yet.
Quick Summary — Step by Step
- Travel to Vellua on the southern coast of the map, far south of Hernand
- Head east along the coastline from Vellua to find the rowboat on the small beach
- Bring healing food before getting in the boat
- Row toward the Singing Catfish — approach from the front or back only, never the sides
- Weave slowly through the sea mines surrounding the ship
- Climb the ladder at the bow or stern to board
- Clear all pirates on deck — deal with regular pirates first, then the vice captain
- Go to the aft section and take the stairs down below deck
- Walk straight to the door at the end of the lower room and open it
- Open the chest inside the storage room to get the Pirate King Hat
- Equip it in your headgear slot to activate Detect Treasure
For everything else in the game, visit our Crimson Desert hub page for the full guide library, and check out our full Electro-Mecha Spear location guide if you want another great unique item from the Delesyia region.
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