How to mine iron ore for Rhett’s Request in Crimson Desert

You’ll need to work out how to mine some iron ore in Crimson Desert for Rhett’s Request. This giant storekeeper in Hernand gives you one of the first Requests in the game, and it’s a doozy if you haven’t yet wrangled with the game’s not-exactly-intuitive tool control system.

The rest of the quest is pretty straightforward since he’ll hand you the pickaxe and give you a quest marker for the ore. The only real challenge is how to actually mine the stuff, so I’ll explain that below. Also, make sure not to return to Rhett after you have the ore like I did—you have to deliver it somewhere else instead.

How to mine in Crimson Desert

Crimson Abyss Rhett's Request - Mining — You can mine more precisely by holding CTRL (LB on controller) to aim or simply swing in the rock’s direction insteadPearl Abyss

Crimson Abyss Rhett's Request - Rhett's assistant — You can mine more precisely by holding CTRL (LB on controller) to aim or simply swing in the rock’s direction insteadPearl Abyss

After you visit Rhett at his shop, you’ll be given a pickaxe and he’ll mark a location on your map, east of Hernand, where you can get some ore. Funnily enough, it’s just to the east of where you chop down trees for Turnali, meaning you can do both of these quests at the same time.

Make your way to the spot, clamber up the cliff a little way towards the rocks with the metallic-looking ore deposits, and you’re ready to mine:

Hold F2 (Left D-pad on controller) to open your equipment wheel and move the arrow to the top left. If you have multiple tools, you’ll need to use your mouse wheel to cycle to the right one and then release F2 to select the pickaxe and take it out
Now stand in front of the rock and press left mouse button (RB on controller) to bring it down and smash the rock apart, releasing the ore. Make sure to pick it up.

Each of these rocks drops a couple of iron ore, so make sure you grab them before they skitter away down the slope. You can also more precisely mine if you hold CTRL (LB on controller) to aim your pick before you strike. Since you only need two iron ore, it’s pretty easy to fulfil Rhett’s order.

Now, take the ore to Rhett’s Assistant at the Equinsher Saddlery just to the south—he’s easy to recognise since he’s a shirtless giant. I made the mistake of riding all the way back to town before realising that you’re not actually supposed to deliver the ore to Rhett in-person. As a reward you’ll get a nice inventory expansion, some Contribution, and you can keep the pickaxe.