Crimson Desert: Sealed in Stone Quest Guide

Most faction quests in Crimson Desert involve combat. Sealed in Stone doesn’t. It’s one of the calmer missions in the House Roberts chain — you step in as a crane operator at Karin Quarry, move a giant stone blocking the work below, and collect what’s hidden underneath. Simple in theory. But the crane controls are awkward and unintuitive, and the underground chamber has secrets that the game never flags for you.

This guide covers everything: how to unlock the quest, exact crane controls, and what to do after the stone is out.

How to Unlock Sealed in Stone

Sealed in Stone is the fourth quest in the House Roberts faction chain, under the Estate in Dismay arc. You cannot access it directly — it auto-unlocks after completing Stolen Quarry, the quest before it.

If you haven’t started the House Roberts questline at all, here’s the entry point: head to Bluemont Manor in the City of Hernand, which is south of the main Notice Board. Speak with House Roberts’s Servant standing outside. This starts the Estate in Dismay questline.

The chain flows like this:

• First Trial of Trust — Clear Bleed Bandits from the Bluemont Cask House south of the city
• Troubled Count — Speak with Count Roberts at Bluemont Manor, then prepare to take on Karin Quarry
• Stolen Quarry — Liberate Karin Quarry by defeating the Bleed Bandits and their boss, Marni’s Excavatron
• Sealed in Stone — Unlocks automatically after Stolen Quarry is complete

If you need help with the Excavatron fight, our guide on how to beat Marni’s Excavatron covers the full boss fight. Once that’s done, head back to the now-safe Karin Quarry and Sealed in Stone will be waiting for you.

Step 1 — Talk to Erich and Get the Key

When you return to Karin Quarry after liberating it, the area is no longer hostile. Workers are back. The place feels different. Look for Erich near the base of the large crane structure in the center of the quarry.

Speak with him. He explains that the regular crane operator is gone and nobody else can run the machine. A massive stone relic buried in the quarry floor needs to be extracted before any other work can continue. He’ll hand you the Crane Control Room Key and ask you to take over.

The quest is now officially active.

Step 2 — Reach the Crane Control Room

The crane sits on top of a set of massive wooden pillars. You cannot climb these from the outside. Instead, look for the elevator lift right next to Erich. Step onto it and interact with the handwheel. Keep turning it to raise yourself up to the top.

You can sprint while cranking the handwheel to get up there faster — it saves about 30 seconds if you’re moving through quests quickly.

Once you reach the top, exit the lift and turn left. Use the Crane Control Room Key to unlock the door. Go inside and interact with the control wheel near the windows. This puts you in the operator’s seat.

Step 3 — Operate the Crane and Extract the Relic

This is the part that trips most players up. The controls feel wobbly and imprecise, and the claw swings around. Take it slow. Precision matters more than speed here.

Here’s how the crane inputs work:

D-Pad Left / Right — Moves the claw horizontally across the quarry pit D-Pad Down — Lowers the claw downward D-Pad Up — Raises the claw upward

The relic you’re looking for is a large grey square stone block sitting in the pit below. It’s positioned toward the right side of the quarry floor. This is what you’re aiming for.

Here’s the step-by-step to latch the claw on:

1. Use D-Pad Left and Right to shift the claw horizontally until you’re roughly above the grey cube
2. Use D-Pad Down to lower the claw toward it — stop just before you overshoot the block
3. Nudge the claw sideways so one edge of the hook is just outside the edge of the block
4. Lower the claw a little more while shifting it slightly back toward the center of the block
5. The hook will automatically latch on — the camera will zoom in to confirm it’s attached
6. Press D-Pad Up repeatedly to pull the relic up out of the ground

The relic will shake and resist for a moment before coming loose. Keep pressing up and it will break free. As soon as it’s fully raised, Sealed in Stone is marked complete with no further input needed.

If the claw keeps missing, reposition it slightly sideways before trying again. The auto-latch requires the claw to be almost directly centered over the block. Small adjustments make a bigger difference than large movements here.

Step 4 — Drop Into the Hidden Underground Chamber

This part is optional but very much worth doing before you leave.

Extracting the relic opens up a hole in the quarry floor where the stone was sitting. Drop down into it. The game doesn’t highlight this, and many players walk away without ever knowing it’s there.

Inside the Hidden Ruins of the Quarry, here’s what you’ll find:

3 Palmar Pills — Sitting on a small stone altar at the back of the chamber. Palmar Pills are valuable healing consumables. If you want to know how to use them effectively, our guide on how to get and use Palmar Pills covers everything.

Two sentry turrets — These will lock on and shoot you when you enter. Use Axiom Force (hold R3 on PS5 / Right Stick on Xbox) to grapple onto each one and destroy it. Each turret drops an Abyss Power Core, which can be stored in your Kuku Pot.

A magical false wall — This is in the deeper section of the chamber. It cannot be opened immediately. You need the Focused Force Palm ability, which you unlock during Chapter 4 of the main story. Come back here after Chapter 4 and use Focused Force Palm (enter Focus with L3, then charge and release Force Palm) to break through the wall.

The Abyss Transporter Disk — Behind that magical wall. This disk is a required item for activating the fast travel Abyss Nexus point near Howling Hill Camp. Without it, that fast travel point stays inactive. Our guide on Mysterious Energy Zones at Howling Hill explains exactly how to use it once you have it. You can also check our muckroot ranch white circle Abyss Transporter guide for additional context on how the Abyss Nexus system works.

Step 5 — Return to Count Roberts

Once the relic is out (and ideally after you’ve looted the underground chamber), head back to Count Roberts at Bluemont Manor in Hernand Town. Speaking to him completes the Estate in Dismay arc and unlocks the next mission: The Count’s Honor.

Sealed in Stone itself gives no direct item reward — its value is in progressing the storyline, unlocking The Count’s Honor, and giving you access to the underground chamber with its hidden loot.

Completing the full Estate in Dismay arc through The Count’s Honor rewards you with a Formal Alliance with House Roberts, 3 Azurite, 3 Bloodstone, an Engraved Gold Earring, and over 400 Hernandian Contribution across the quest chain. The Engraved Gold Earring boosts defense and movement speed — don’t sell it, especially if it’s your first earring. For more on accessories and how to optimize them, see our accessories guide.

Tips for the Sealed in Stone Quest

Don’t try to fight the crane. The controls are legitimately wobbly by design. Slow, deliberate movements land the claw faster than trying to rush it.

Mark the underground entrance. If you can’t get the Abyss Transporter yet (because you don’t have Focused Force Palm), remember to come back after Chapter 4. The entrance stays open permanently.

Grab the Palmar Pills before leaving. They’re free and useful throughout the mid-game, especially before harder boss fights. Our how to cook the best healing food guide pairs well with stocking up on consumables like these.

Use Axiom Force on the turrets immediately. Don’t let them chip your health down. Grapple them fast and take them out so you can explore the chamber in peace.

For everything else in the House Roberts chain, our Stolen Quarry guide has the full Excavatron boss fight covered, and our Bluemont Manor strongbox puzzle guide helps you get hidden loot from the manor itself while you’re in the area.

For a complete overview of all faction quests, world puzzles, and gear farming, visit our Crimson Desert hub. And while you’re gearing up for mid-game content, our guide on Olvald’s Logging Axe and Flawless Timber is a great resource for getting your crafting materials sorted early.

Crimson Desert is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, and Epic Games Store. For the latest news and updates, visit the official Crimson Desert website.