You first run into arm wrestling in Crimson Desert during Chapter 1 when you arrive in Hernand for the quest Where Rumors Gather. For reasons unknown, the best way to gather intel is to sit at a tavern table and flex with strangers. Welcome to video game priorities.
Arm wrestling basics
The minigame is simple. It is mostly frantic button-mashing with one annoying little rhythm check thrown in. If you can mash a key or button, you can win. Here is how it works in plain terms.
Step-by-step
- When the countdown finishes, repeatedly press E on keyboard or the displayed controller button as fast as you can. This fills the clenched fists icon with red.
- Every so often a quicktime event will pop up. A pointer spins around a circle. Press R or the shown controller prompt when the pointer passes over the white segment.
- After the quicktime event, go back to tapping E to keep filling the icon until the next quicktime appears.
Fill the icon all the way and you slam the opponent's hand down and win. That is the whole dance. It is basically button-bash territory with periodic timing checks.
Extra notes and rewards
- The arm wrestling minigame is easier than some of Crimson Desert's other tasks, such as fishing.
- Crimson Desert's quicktime events are not always consistent. Later in combat you might face QTEs that feel unusually strict or finicky.
- Beat all the arm wrestlers in the tavern and you complete the Hero's Handshake I challenge. That nets you an Abyss Artifact, so it is worth doing if you like shiny rewards.
Short version: mash the button, hit the timing prompt when it spins, repeat. You will get through the Chapter 1 questline and collect your reward without too much fuss.
