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The Leaping Kuku Bird mount in Crimson Desert is a huge bird that can glide short distances by flapping its tiny wings. It's a strong contender for one of the better mounts out there, because while it's not the fastest or deadliest, the Kuku Bird is great for mobility, with its high jump and glide allowing you to platform much better and more efficiently than a horse ever would. And of course, it's cool to have this Final Fantasy-style mega chicken in your backpack. However, this is a mount you need to unlock by solving a special puzzle, which I'll explain how to do below. Here's how to get your own Kuku Bird mount.
How to unlock the Leaping Kuku Bird mount in Crimson Desert
To get the Kuku Bird as a permanent mount in Crimson Desert, you need to do the following steps (more details on individual steps below).
- Clear Bloodsteel Camp of the Blinding Arrows Bandits.
- Enter the tower through the secret spinning wall.
- Pick up the Kuku Bird's Egg and the Leaping Kuku Bird Research Journal (make sure to read the Journal from your inventory).
- Find one of the Nests in the wild and place the Egg in it.
- Wait several minutes and then trigger the "Hatch" interaction on the Egg.
- The Leaping Kuku Bird should hatch out and be permanently added to your inventory.
The Kuku Bird is one of the Crimson Desert Special Mounts added post-launch, but is definitely one of the more complex ones to get. You can find other Kuku Birds being ridden by Blinding Arrows bandits and even hijack them, but they're temporary mounts only. This method is how you get one as a permanent addition to your team.
Kuku Bird egg location
The first major step is finding the Kuku Bird's Egg, which is at the Bloodsteel Camp in the North Steel Mountains, on the Coastline South-South-East of Hernand.
Once you get there for the first time, you'll discover that it's controlled by the Blinding Arrows, a faction of bandit warriors. Clear them out, including their boss Bradie Gu, then look for a wooden tower with an upwards-pointing red arrow. This is on the edge of the boss arena, so if you go there, it should be just to the left of Bradie Gu's throne.
Climb the tower until you're on the section of wall the arrow is pointing at. Hold on tightly with L2/Left Trigger, and use your Force Palm with R3/RS to punch the wall. It should spin around, placing you inside the tower.
Inside, the Kuku Bird's Egg is right ahead of you on the floor, while the Leaping Kuku Bird Research Journal is on the table by the wall. Grab them both and they'll go in your inventory. The book might need to be stolen if you've liberated the camp, so check that you know how to steal in Crimson Desert.
Kuku Bird nest location
There are two Kuku Bird nests that we know of in the game currently. The easiest one to get to is just East of Bloodsteel camp in a burnt clearing, a few hundred feet away from where you got the egg.
The other is far away in North-West Demeniss, West of the Kingshield Mountains, in the clearing between Grey Rock Quarry and the Kingshield Dig Site, near a Crimson Desert Mysterious Energy spot and/or fast travel point, depending on whether you've been there already.
Whichever nest you choose to use, it should appear on your minimap when you're close enough, making it easy to home in on its location.
How to hatch the Kuku Egg
To hatch the egg and finalize the process, approach the nest and select the Kuku Bird's Egg in your inventory. You'll hold it in your hands, then choose to drop it in the nest.
The egg will begin to get an orange tint as though warming up. At this point, all you need to do is wait. It's not clear exactly how long, but within a couple of minutes, there should be an option on the Kuku Egg to "Hatch" it. Doing so will spawn the Leaping Kuku Bird and add it to your inventory!
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