TL;DR
- Ben’s Request is a Greymane faction quest unlocked after building the ranch at Howling Hill camp
- Quest steps: talk to Ben → catch a wild goat → register it at the ranch → slaughter livestock → report back
- Wild goats spawn southeast of Howling Hill camp, above the Dragon’s Stone Chamber pit — free to catch, no theft
- Carry the adult goat back to camp (whistle for your horse to speed it up), walk it through the registration stall to register it with Richard
- After registering, talk to Ben → select Manage Ranch → select the goat → hold the Slaughter hotkey
- You cannot swing a sword at the animal and call it done — slaughter only works through the ranch menu
- Baby goats and chickens do not count — only adult goats, cows, or pigs qualify
- If the quest requires a sheep specifically, you need a Thief’s Mask (10 copper from Grimrak, south of Hernand Church) to steal one from a farm
- Slaughtering your only goat empties the ranch — catch a replacement before butchering if you want the camp running
Ben’s Request is supposed to teach you the ranch system. Instead, it leaves most players puzzling over where the slaughter option even is. There is no button that appears in the world. You cannot hack the animal down with your weapon. The entire thing runs through menus — and the quest never tells you that upfront.
Here is every step, clearly laid out.
How to Unlock Ben’s Request
This quest appears as part of the Grounds of the Sunrise questline under Faction Quests in your journal. To reach it, you need to progress until the ranch at Howling Hill camp is built.
Ben is the Greymane NPC in charge of the ranch. After the ranch is up, talk to him at camp to trigger Ben’s Request and kick off the tutorial. For a reminder on how to unlock the ranch in the first place, our how to unlock ranch and farm in Crimson Desert guide has the full process.
Step 1 — Catch a Wild Goat
The simplest and fastest source of livestock for this quest is the herd of wild goats southeast of Howling Hill camp. These are important: wild goats are free to take. Picking one up is not stealing and will not give you a bounty or reputation hit.
Where to find them: Fast travel to the Howling Hill Abyss Nexus, then head southeast. Look for the plateau area above the pit where the Dragon’s Stone Chamber puzzle sits. A large herd of adult goats and baby goats roams here.
What to grab: Pick an adult goat, not a baby. Baby goats are harder to carry and will not satisfy the slaughter requirement later in the quest. The interaction prompt appears when you walk up close — press it to carry the animal.
Getting it back to camp: While holding the goat, whistle for your horse. You can mount while carrying the animal — Kliff slings it over the saddle. Riding back to camp is much faster than walking and the goat stays secure.
Step 2 — Register the Goat at the Ranch
This is the step that trips up most players. You cannot just drop the goat in the pen and expect things to work. The animal must be formally registered.
Inside the ranch at Howling Hill camp, look for the registration stall on the right side. Walk the goat through it. This triggers an interaction with Richard, the ranch hand behind the counter. A brief cutscene plays and the animal is officially logged as your livestock. It now belongs to the ranch.
Without this step, the slaughter option will never appear in the menu. The game will not tell you why — it just will not work. Registration is non-negotiable.
After the goat is registered, report back to Ben. He will acknowledge the registration and move the quest forward to the final step.
Step 3 — Slaughter Livestock Through Ben’s Menu
Here is what every confused player is missing. Slaughtering ranch livestock is a menu action, not a physical kill. You do not attack the animal. You go through Ben.
Walk up to Ben and interact with him. Select Manage Ranch from the menu. Your registered goat appears in the roster. Select it, then hold the Slaughter hotkey shown in the bottom right corner of the UI. Hold it until the bar fills and the action completes.
That is your slaughter. The quest objective updates, and the goat is processed for meat and provisions.
Common mistakes:
Taking a freshly caught wild animal straight to the butcher stall without registering first — does not work. Trying to use a weapon or attack the animal in the pen — does not count. Slaughtering a chicken or baby goat — these do not qualify. Only adult goats, cows, and pigs count as valid livestock for the slaughter step.
If the Quest Requires a Sheep: The Thief’s Mask Method
Some versions or stages of Ben’s Request specifically call for slaughtering a sheep rather than a goat. Wild sheep do not roam freely like the goats southeast of camp — owned sheep are found on farms near settlements, and that makes them stolen property.
To steal livestock in Crimson Desert, you need a Thief’s Mask equipped first. Without it, the steal prompt simply will not appear when you approach farm animals.
Where to get the mask:
The easiest source is Grimrak, a black market vendor who runs a small back-alley stall near the lower cliffs, south of Hernand Church. The mask costs just 10 copper. It is cheap enough that there is no reason to skip it.
Masks also drop from defeated bandits if you want a free option — check your inventory, you may already have one. You can also earn one as a reward for completing the Jeffrey Bounty at the Hernand Constabulary — talk to Pedro near the entrance post to pick up that bounty notice.
How to steal a sheep:
Equip the mask first — before approaching any farm animal. Once it is on, walk up to a sheep near farmland. The prompt changes from normal interaction to Steal. Pick it up.
The moment you lift the animal, a red theft alert circle appears around you. Any NPC who walks into that circle and spots you will investigate. If they confirm the theft, you get a bounty. Move away from the farm quickly. Wait until nearby NPCs have wandered off before grabbing the sheep, then head in the opposite direction fast.
Once you are well clear of witnesses, drop the sheep in open ground and use a bow to kill it. A standard arrow works. Then skin it to collect the meat. The quest updates after skinning.
For more on the theft system and staying off the constabulary’s radar, see our how to pickpocket guide and how to remove bounty in Crimson Desert if things go sideways.
After the Quest: Keep the Ranch Running
Slaughtering your registered goat empties the ranch completely. Camp provisions drop to zero. If you care about keeping the ranch productive, catch a replacement animal before you butcher the one you have.
The southeast goat fields are always restocked, so a quick run out there handles it. For longer-term ranch management, keeping a male and female goat together in the ranch will eventually produce offspring — giving you a steady internal supply without constant trips to the field.
Our full how to sell 3 goats to Bram in Crimson Desert guide is worth checking if you have the related Herder’s Lament challenge active, since it runs through the same goat-catching territory and livestock mechanics.
Also worth knowing: stolen livestock can be sold alive at the Livestock Black Market rather than slaughtered. Edmond, who operates near Grimrak’s stall south of Hernand Church, buys stolen animals directly. This gives you more silver than the meat would earn, so if you are on a farming run and do not need the provisions, selling live is often the better choice.
What You Get for Completing Ben’s Request
Once you report back to Ben after the slaughter, the quest finishes. Rewards include inventory space upgrades, Greymane faction trust, and contribution experience. The ranch system is also now fully unlocked and understood — which feeds directly into camp productivity for the rest of the game.
The ranch ties into a wider set of camp management features. See our how to upgrade Howling Hill base camp to Level 2 and how to get camp funds guides for keeping the broader operation running, and our Crimson Desert how to get a Cauldron guide if you want to start turning those ranch provisions into useful alchemy items.
For the full guide library, visit our Crimson Desert hub.
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