TL;DR
- You must complete the Grounds of Sunrise faction quests under the Embers of Return questline first
- The upgrade requires 4 Greymane members, 60 Stone, 60 Timber, 400 Provisions, and 1600 Copper
- Donate resources to Carl the Provisions Keeper to meet the resource requirements
- Access the expansion mission through the map’s Faction tab — inspect the Howling Hill camp icon
- If Greymanes are showing as Dispatched, cancel their current mission via Ross to get a full resource refund
- The Level 2 upgrade adds more structures, recruit slots, and camp functions
The Howling Hill camp is the heart of everything you do in Crimson Desert. It’s where the Greymanes rebuild, where you recruit comrades, manage resources, and send out dispatch missions. But getting it to Level 2 trips up a lot of players — not because it’s hard, but because the game never explains it clearly.
You can’t just walk up to someone and press upgrade. There’s a quest chain to complete first, specific resources to donate, and a dispatch system that needs to be managed carefully. This guide covers every step.
Step 1: Complete the Embers of Return Faction Questline
Before the Level 2 upgrade option even appears, you need to work through the Grounds of Sunrise faction quests, which sit inside the broader Embers of Return questline.
This questline is tied to the Greymane faction and becomes available after you complete the A Fresh Start quest in Chapter 3. The Grounds of Sunrise chain tasks you with:
- Finding and rescuing lost Greymane members scattered across the world
- Gathering and storing a specific amount of resources at camp
- Completing the final Expanding the Camp quest, which unlocks the Second Expansion mission
You start this by listening to the News of the Comrades at the Howling Hill camp, where the Greymanes are gathered. Marius is your main contact throughout this process — he tracks the scattered survivors and assigns each step of the questline.
Don’t skip the Greymane Commissions while you’re at it. Every completed commission from rescued Greymanes rewards a Medium Bag, giving +3 inventory slots each. It adds up fast and makes carrying loot much less painful. Our How to Increase Inventory Space in Crimson Desert guide explains more on that.
For a full overview of all Greymane faction quests and how they connect, see our guide on How to Get Comrades in Crimson Desert.
Step 2: Gather the Required Resources
Once you unlock the Expanding the Camp quest in the Embers of Return chain, you need to meet four specific requirements before the Second Expansion mission will fire. All resources must be stored at camp — they’re not pulled from your personal inventory.
Here’s exactly what you need:
4 Greymane Members available and not currently dispatched on other missions.
60 Stone stored at camp.
60 Timber stored at camp.
400 Provisions stored at camp.
1600 Copper stored at camp (equivalent to 16 Silver Coins).
You donate all resources through Carl, the Provisions Keeper at Howling Hill. Talk to him, select Manage Provisions, then choose Camp Provisions. In the bottom right of that screen you’ll see the Donate Funds hotkey — that’s F on keyboard and mouse, or Y / Triangle on controller. Select how much you want to put in and confirm.
How to Farm the Resources You Need
Stone and Timber are the most straightforward. You can collect them yourself while exploring, or — much more efficiently — send Greymanes on basic logging and quarry missions. The Timberham Sawmill handles timber and the Karin Quarry handles stone. These are repeatable dispatch missions, so keep them running passively at all times. Don’t sell stone and timber you pick up in the world — donate it to Carl instead.
Provisions cover food items. Cook meals and donate them to Carl. If you haven’t unlocked cooking yet, check our How to Cook Best Healing Food in Crimson Desert guide. If you’ve already unlocked the Ranch or Farm, those help produce food passively over time. See our How to Unlock Ranch and Farm in Crimson Desert guide for how those work.
Copper (Camp Funds) can be farmed in two ways. First, you can directly donate money to Carl from your personal silver. Second, and more passively, dispatch Greymanes on Shield missions — these are missions with a Shield icon next to them in the Mission Dispatch tab. They reward Camp Funds automatically as they complete. Since they’re repeatable, you can stack these in the background while you do other things. Find them through Ross using the Mission Dispatch tab, or directly from the map’s Factions tab.
If you need silver fast to convert, check out our How to Make Money Fast in Crimson Desert guide.
Step 3: Launch the Second Expansion Mission
Once all four requirements are met, here’s how to actually start the upgrade:
On controller: Open your map, switch to the Factions tab, hover over the Howling Hill camp icon next to the Greymane emblem, and press Y (Xbox) or Triangle (PlayStation) to inspect it.
On keyboard and mouse: Open your map, go to the Factions tab, and double-click the Howling Hill camp icon.
In the camp inspection menu that opens, go to the Missions tab. Find and select Howling Hill Camp – Second Expansion. Assign 4 Greymane members to the mission and confirm the dispatch.
The mission takes a number of in-game hours to complete. You can keep playing normally while it runs, or use a campfire or bed to skip time. You can only skip up to 12 hours per rest, so you may need to rest more than once.
When it hits 100%, head back to Howling Hill. The camp will have expanded — new structures, new recruit slots, and new functions now available.
Pro tip: Assigning more than the minimum number of Greymanes often generates bonus rewards on completion. If you have spare members not doing anything, throw them on the expansion mission too.
Fix: Greymanes Showing as Dispatched
One of the most common problems when trying to launch this mission is not having enough available Greymanes. The game may show some or all of your members as Dispatched, meaning they’re currently on another mission and can’t be reassigned.
Here’s how to fix it:
Go to Ross, the Dispatch Coordinator at Howling Hill. Talk to him and select the Mission Dispatch tab. Active missions are listed at the top. Find the ones tying up your Greymanes and select Cancel Mission.
Cancelling a mission does two things: it returns your Greymane members to camp immediately, and it gives you a full refund on all resources you spent sending them out. You lose nothing. Once they’re back, assign them straight to the Second Expansion mission.
If Ross is unavailable for some reason, you can manage missions directly from the map. Open the map, go to the Factions tab, find the shield icon in the available options, and manage dispatch from there.
What Unlocks After Level 2
Upgrading to Level 2 isn’t just cosmetic. It opens up real improvements to how your camp functions:
More camp structures appear at Howling Hill, giving you additional crafting and management options. New recruit slots open up, letting you bring in more Greymanes and build a larger dispatch roster. Marius opens new recruitment quests that send you looking for more survivors. Greymane Commissions from newly rescued members start appearing, each rewarding Medium Bags for more inventory space.
The camp continues to scale with each subsequent expansion, and each tier costs significantly more in both resources and recruit count. The Fourth Expansion alone requires 10 recruits alongside thousands of units of stone, timber, food, and silver. The key is to always keep dispatch missions running — letting them sit idle is the biggest mistake you can make. A passive, running camp builds resources around the clock without you having to think about it.
Related Camp and Progression Guides
Now that your camp is growing, here are some guides that’ll help you make the most of it:
- Crimson Desert How to Dispatch Howling Hill Expansion Mission — Bustling Hill Quest — The Level 1 expansion guide if you missed any steps
- Crimson Desert Mysterious Energy Zones — Howling Hill — Fog of war areas to clear around your camp
- How to Unlock Camp in Crimson Desert — The very first camp setup steps
- How to Use Contribution Points in Crimson Desert — Contribution points tie into faction progression
- How to Get Iron Ore in Crimson Desert — Useful for stockpiling materials for later expansions
- How to Get Copper Ore in Crimson Desert — Another key material you’ll want in stock
- How to Get Gold Bars in Crimson Desert — Handy for converting into camp funds later
- How to Trade Goods in Crimson Desert — Wagons and trade routes connect to your camp expansion
- How to Get a Wagon in Crimson Desert — Wagon missions tie directly into camp resource farming
- How to Save in Crimson Desert — Worth knowing when managing long dispatch timers
- Crimson Desert How to Get Demeniss Royal Guard Shield — A great defensive item to pick up while farming resources in the Demeniss region
- Crimson Desert All Main Story Quests and Chapters — Full overview of story progress tied to camp unlocks
For the full Crimson Desert guide hub covering quests, gear, bosses, and everything else, visit our Crimson Desert Guide Hub.
Crimson Desert is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, and Epic Games Store. For the latest updates and news, visit the official Crimson Desert website.
