Revision 9

Overview

Abyss Artifacts are the primary progression currency in Crimson Desert. They are used to unlock skills and increase your three base stats, making them one of the most sought-after resources in the game. Unlike traditional RPGs that rely on experience points and level-ups, Crimson Desert ties character growth directly to how many Abyss Artifacts you collect.

There are multiple ways to obtain Abyss Artifacts, ranging from one-time collectibles like Sealed Abyss Artifacts (141 total scattered across the world) to infinitely repeatable farming methods. This guide focuses on the repeatable methods that let you accumulate large quantities of Abyss Artifacts and Abyss Gears for endgame builds. Whether you prefer combat, stealth, or crafting, there is a farming approach that fits your play style.

Abyss Artifact Farming : Pickpocketing at Scholar Stone Institute

One of the most reliable repeatable sources of Abyss Artifacts is pickpocketing NPCs. While you can pickpocket in many towns and settlements, the Scholar Stone Institute offers the best combination of NPC density and route efficiency. This method works especially well once you have pickpocket-enhancing Abyss Gears equipped, which allow multiple successful steals per run.

Location and Setup

The Scholar Stone Institute is located to the left of Hernand on the world map. Travel to the nearest fast travel point (an Abyss Nexus) to begin the route. The fast travel point also serves as your reset mechanism: after completing a run, simply fast travel back to this same point and all NPCs in the area will respawn with fresh inventories.

The Pickpocketing Route

1. From the fast travel point, run forwards through the Institute grounds.

2. Pass through the archway on the right side of the path.

3. Use a triple Force Palm jump to reach the main walkway that leads to the central section.

4. Head towards the cafeteria area, which is the large open hall with numerous scholars seated at tables.

5. Work your way through the cafeteria, checking each scholar with your lantern before deciding whether to steal.

6. After clearing the cafeteria, continue through any adjacent rooms with NPCs before fast traveling back to reset.

How to Identify Abyss Artifacts

Before stealing from an NPC, you need to check what they are carrying. Equip your Lantern and shine it at NPCs to reveal the items in their pockets. There are two main types of loot you will see:

• Money bags: The most common item. These appear as small pouch-shaped objects and yield Silver when stolen.

• Abyss Artifacts: Much rarer. These appear as distinct cube-shaped objects that are visually very different from money bags. Only target these for maximum efficiency.

You can also use the Blinding Light ability to see items on NPCs from a greater distance. However, this has two drawbacks: it spooks nearby NPCs (causing them to move around or become alert) and it forces your character to walk more slowly. For most runs, the standard Lantern is sufficient since you will be passing close to each NPC anyway.

Stealing Technique

The method for stealing depends on whether the NPC is standing or sitting:

• Sitting NPCs (most common in the cafeteria): Walk up to the seated scholar with your Lantern out. Press Triangle (or your platform's equivalent) to kick the NPC, knocking them off balance. Immediately run towards them and press Square to steal the item from their pocket.

• Standing NPCs: Approach from behind while crouching. Get close enough and press Square to pickpocket them directly. Standing NPCs are more likely to notice you, so approach carefully.

If you have pickpocket-enhancing Abyss Gears equipped on your weapons or armor, you gain additional steal attempts per NPC encounter. This effectively doubles or triples your yield per run, making the pickpocket Abyss Gear one of the most valuable support gears for farming.

Expected Rates and Reset Method

On average, a single run through the Scholar Stone Institute yields about 3 to 4 Abyss Artifacts per 15 minutes. This rate is RNG-dependent, as not every scholar carries an Abyss Artifact. Some runs may yield only 1 or 2, while lucky runs can produce 5 or more.

To reset the area, fast travel back to the Abyss Nexus near the Institute entrance. All NPCs will respawn with randomized inventories, allowing you to immediately begin another run. This creates an indefinitely repeatable loop with no cooldown.

Abyss Artifact Farming: Enemy Kill XP Bar

The most universally accessible farming method in the game is the Abyss Artifact XP bar. A yellow experience meter sits next to the minimap on the lower-left corner of the screen. Every enemy you kill pushes this meter forward. When the bar fills completely, you receive one Abyss Artifact. The bar then resets and you can fill it again. There is no cap on how many times you can repeat this cycle, making it a truly unlimited source of Abyss Artifacts.

How the XP Bar Works

• Every enemy kill contributes progress to the yellow bar next to the minimap.

• Tougher enemies (elites, bosses, and higher-level mobs) fill the bar faster than standard soldiers or wildlife.

• The bar has no daily limit, session limit, or lifetime cap.

• Each full bar awards exactly one Abyss Artifact.

• The bar persists across fast travel and zone changes, so partial progress is never lost.

Best Farming Locations : Blockaded Areas

The fastest way to fill the XP bar is to target Blockaded Areas, which are enemy camps marked as red building icons on the world map. These locations pack in dense groups of enemies that respawn when you leave and return, providing a reliable rotation for continuous kills.

Critical tip: Do not destroy the Infirmary structure within a Blockaded Area. If the Infirmary remains intact, enemies will respawn each time you leave and return to the area. If you destroy the Infirmary, the area becomes permanently liberated and enemies stop spawning. Likewise, do not kill the area boss if you want enemies to keep coming back. Leave both the Infirmary and the boss alive to maintain the respawn loop.

Large Blockaded Areas are the best targets. In small Blockaded Areas, any remaining enemies will flee once the liberation meter reaches 0%, cutting your farming session short. Larger areas have enough enemies and space to sustain longer runs before the meter depletes.

Story Mission Kill Farming

During main quest missions that send waves of enemies at you, resist the urge to sprint past them toward the objective marker. Killing every enemy in those sequences can net you multiple Abyss Artifacts in a single mission. This is free bonus progress that many players overlook.

Chapter 3 Totem Farm (Time-Limited)

During Chapter 3 of the main story, there is a powerful but time-limited farming opportunity. On the mountain just before the Reed Devil boss encounter, you will find enemy-spawning totems that produce enemies in a continuous loop. These totems generate an endless stream of foes, making this one of the highest-density kill zones in the early game.

Players who spend 30 to 60 minutes farming at the totem location can accumulate 10 to 15 Abyss Artifacts, which is a massive boost to early-game progression. The enemies spawned by the totems are relatively easy to defeat, so even a modestly geared character can sustain long farming sessions here.

Warning: This farming window closes permanently once you defeat the Reed Devil boss. Beating the boss destroys all nearby totems and stops enemy respawns in that area for the rest of the game. If you are interested in maximizing your early artifact count, spend time at the totems before progressing the story past the Reed Devil fight.

Abyss Gear Farming: Root's End Ruins Infinite Loop

Root's End Ruins, located near Sage's Peak in Hernand, is widely considered the best location for farming Abyss Gears (also called Abyss Cells or Abyss Cores). The area features a nearby Abyss Nexus for fast travel and a high cliff that allows the game to respawn enemies in just a few seconds, creating one of the most efficient farming loops in the game.

How the Loop Works

1. Travel to the Root's End Ruins Abyss Nexus.

2. Climb to the summit and defeat three to four rock crab enemies.

3. Watch the minimap for circular icons, which indicate that a defeated enemy has dropped an Abyss Gear.

4. Collect the dropped gears.

5. Leave at least one enemy pack alive in the cluster (this is critical).

6. Fast travel back to the Abyss Nexus to reset the area.

7. Repeat the loop.

Key rule: The rock enemies only stop respawning if you kill every single enemy in the cluster. As long as at least one pack survives, the rest respawn when you fast travel back. This is what makes the loop infinite.

With practice, you can average approximately one Abyss Core per minute using the Force Palm reset method. The most common drops at Root's End Ruins are Destruction and Insight cores, both of which are valuable for offensive builds.

Auto-Save Warning

Be aware that auto-saves can disrupt the farming loop. If the game auto-saves after you defeat a crab but before you fast travel, that crab will be permanently gone on your next loop iteration. To avoid this, create a manual save before you begin farming so you can reload if the loop breaks.

Abyss Gear Farming: Disarming at Spire of Frost

Disarming enemies at the Spire of Frost is one of the most rewarding endgame farming methods in Crimson Desert. By forcing enemies to drop their weapons, you can collect equipment loaded with Abyss Gears and then extract those gears at a Witch NPC. This method also generates significant passive income from selling the stripped weapons.

Location and Best Spots

From Hernand, travel northeast to the Spire of Frost in the Demeniss region. While the entire Spire area has enemy camps you can farm, the following locations are most efficient:

• Ice Watch Altar: The recommended starting point. This area is less icy than other parts of the Spire, making combat easier and reducing the chance of environmental hazards slowing you down.

• Frost Hold: Another occupied area around the Spire with dense enemy groups. Enemies here carry similar weapon types to those at Ice Watch Altar.

• Other occupied camps: Any enemy camp in the Spire of Frost vicinity works for this method. If you have previously cleared enemies from an area, they may reoccupy it periodically through quest events.

Fast Travel Strategy: The Sky Island

Above the Spire of Frost, there is a sky island that serves as an excellent reset point. To unlock access to the sky island, you must complete the quest that requires you to light lanterns around the Spire. Once unlocked, you can fast travel to the sky island, jump off the edge, and glide down to your preferred farming marker below. This provides a faster reset cycle than running back on foot.

The Disarm Technique

Disarming is a mechanic that the game does not explicitly teach you, but it is essential for this farming method. It requires the Shield Bash skill, which is unlocked in the skill tree. Here is how to execute it:

1. Hold L1 (or LB on Xbox) to raise your shield and enter a blocking stance.

2. Wait for an enemy to strike your shield. You will hear a distinct clashing sound on impact.

3. Immediately after the hit lands, press R2 (or RT on Xbox) while still holding L1 to perform a Shield Bash.

4. If the Shield Bash connects, the enemy drops their weapon and shield on the ground.

5. Pick up the dropped equipment. Each weapon and shield contains one or more Abyss Gears.

The best enemies to target are those carrying maces and shields. Maces commonly contain Fortitude gears, while shields frequently carry Bane gears. These two gear types can be synthesized together later for potentially higher-tier results.

Pet Collection

Summon your Paloon (pet companion) to help collect dropped items during combat. While you focus on disarming the next enemy, your pet will automatically pick up nearby loot. This saves time and prevents items from being lost in the chaos of battle.

Extracting Gears at Witch NPCs

After 5 to 10 minutes of farming, your inventory will be full of maces and shields. Take these to any Witch NPC to extract the Abyss Gears from each weapon. The first Witch you can access is Elowen, who becomes available in Hernand early in the game. Other Witches include Bari in Pailune, Lyselia in Serpent Marsh, and Areciel near Urdavah.

At the Witch's crafting interface, extract the Abyss Gears from each weapon one at a time. Unfortunately, there is no batch extraction option, so you must process each item individually. After extraction, the stripped weapons can be sold for 6 to 7 Silver each, creating a passive money farm alongside the gear farming.

Special Synthesis: Crafting Higher-Tier Gears

Once you have accumulated a stockpile of Abyss Gears through farming, you can use Special Synthesis at any Witch NPC to combine gears and attempt to create higher-tier versions. Special Synthesis is the only reliable way to obtain Greater-tier Abyss Gears, which are significantly more powerful than their standard counterparts.

How Special Synthesis Works

1. Visit any Witch NPC and open the crafting menu.

2. Navigate to the "Special Synthesis" option (press R2/RT to switch to the Synthesis tab first).

3. Select two Abyss Gears of the same tier to combine. You can queue up to 20 synthesis operations at once.

4. Confirm the synthesis. The result is a random gear determined by the probability table below.

Unlike regular synthesis (which combines two identical gears into a deterministic higher-tier result and requires a blueprint), Special Synthesis produces a random output. The type of gear you receive is completely random regardless of what you put in.

Tier 1 Special Synthesis Probabilities

When you combine two Tier 1 Abyss Gears via Special Synthesis, the following probabilities apply:

Important finding: Using Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3 gears as synthesis materials all yield the exact same 4% probability of producing a Greater result. This means you should always use your cheapest Tier 1 gears for Greater farming attempts rather than wasting higher-tier gears. Save your Tier 2 and Tier 3 gears for regular (deterministic) synthesis where you know the outcome.

Save Scumming for Better Results

Because Special Synthesis results are determined at the moment of crafting (not when you select the materials), you can use save scumming to improve your outcomes:

1. Save your game manually before starting any Special Synthesis session.

2. Perform your synthesis operations (up to 20 at a time).

3. Review the results. If you did not get any Greater gears or the results are poor, reload your save and try again.

4. Repeat until you get results you are satisfied with.

This technique is especially valuable when you have a large batch of gears to process, as reloading lets you re-roll all 20 synthesis results at once.

Optimal Crafting Path

The most efficient approach to gearing up through Special Synthesis follows this path:

1. Farm Tier 1 gears in bulk using the disarm method at Spire of Frost or Root's End Ruins.

2. Run Tier 1 gears through Special Synthesis in batches of 20. Keep any Greater results and useful Tier 2 results.

3. Take the Tier 2 gears you want to upgrade further and synthesize them. You have a chance of getting Tier 3 or Greater results.

4. Continue cycling upward: Tier 2 into Tier 3, Tier 3 into Greater.

5. Save scum at each tier to maximize the number of Greaters you produce from your stockpile.

Pickpocket Abyss Gear: The Feedback Loop

One of the most valuable outcomes from Special Synthesis is obtaining the Pickpocket Abyss Gear. When this gear is slotted into your equipment, it increases the number of successful pickpocket attempts you can make per NPC encounter. This creates a powerful feedback loop that accelerates all pickpocket-based farming.

Here is how the loop works:

1. Farm Abyss Gears via disarming at Spire of Frost (or Root's End Ruins).

2. Extract the gears at a Witch and run them through Special Synthesis.

3. If you obtain a Pickpocket Abyss Gear, equip it immediately.

4. Return to the Scholar Stone Institute and run the pickpocketing route. With the Pickpocket gear equipped, you can steal from more NPCs per run.

5. This yields more Abyss Artifacts per run, plus Gold Bars and Silver from money bag steals.

6. Use the extra Abyss Artifacts to unlock more skills, making combat farming faster too.

The Pickpocket Abyss Gear essentially doubles as a farm multiplier for both Abyss Artifacts (from pickpocketing scholars) and Silver (from selling stolen goods and stripped weapons). Prioritize obtaining and upgrading this gear early in your farming journey.

One-Time Abyss Artifact Sources

While this guide focuses on repeatable farming, it is worth noting the one-time sources that contribute to your total Artifact count. Make sure to collect these as you explore the world, since they add up significantly.

Complete Challenges

Various challenge types reward Abyss Artifacts upon completion:

Sealed Abyss Artifacts are particularly valuable because they reward both standard Abyss Artifacts and sometimes Faded Abyss Artifacts (for respec) upon completion. Check the challenge condition for each Sealed Artifact in your inventory, as many challenges are things you complete naturally during exploration (e.g., defeating a certain number of enemies, visiting a location).

Quests and Boss Rewards

Main story quests, side quests, and Faction Quests all award Abyss Artifacts as completion rewards. Faction bounties in particular are quick to complete and pile up fast. Check the Faction Quests tab in your Journal every time you return to a settlement. Boss enemies also drop Artifacts upon defeat, with harder bosses giving more.

Purchase from Vendors

Certain NPCs sell Abyss Artifacts directly for silver. Elowen and other witch vendors stock a limited supply. Patrigio the Wandering Merchant also sells them when he appears. Vendor stocks are finite and do not restock, so buy them whenever you see them available.

Tips and Optimization

To maximize your farming efficiency across all methods, follow these recommendations:

General Tips

• Combine methods for variety. Alternate between pickpocketing runs and combat farming to avoid burnout. Each method fills a different role: pickpocketing targets Abyss Artifacts directly, while disarming feeds your Abyss Gear and Silver supply.

• Always collect Sealed Abyss Artifacts while traveling. Keep an eye out for glints of light in the distance as you move between farming locations. These free collectibles add up over time.

• Equip the right Abyss Gears for the task. Swap your loadout based on what you are farming. Pickpocket gears for the Institute, combat gears for Blockaded Areas, and defensive gears for Spire of Frost disarm runs.

• Use your pet at all times. Your Paloon automatically collects dropped items nearby, preventing you from missing loot during fast-paced combat encounters.

Combat Farming Tips

• Target tougher enemies for faster XP bar progress. Elite enemies and mini-bosses contribute significantly more meter progress than standard soldiers. Seek out higher-level camps when your gear allows it.

• Do not fully liberate Blockaded Areas you want to revisit. Leave the Infirmary intact and the area boss alive. If you accidentally liberate an area, it is gone permanently as a farming spot.

• Use AOE abilities to clear groups quickly. Skills like Force Palm and wide-swing weapon arts are excellent for mowing down clusters of enemies in Blockaded Areas.

Synthesis Tips

• Always save before synthesis. This is the single most important tip for gear crafting. Reload if results are poor.

• Use Tier 1 gears for Greater farming. Since all tiers have the same 4% Greater chance, there is no reason to waste expensive Tier 2 or Tier 3 gears on random rolls.

• Batch your synthesis in groups of 20. This maximizes the value of each save scum attempt, as you re-roll 20 outcomes at once.

• Keep one of every Greater gear type. Greater gears are rare enough that you should never discard them, even if the type does not fit your current build. Builds change and these gears are hard to replace.

Efficiency Priority

For players looking to optimize their time, here is the recommended priority order:

1. Chapter 3 Totem Farm (if you have not passed Reed Devil yet). This is the highest yield-per-minute method in the early game.

2. Root's End Ruins Loop for Abyss Gears. Fast, consistent, and easy to execute.

3. Blockaded Area rotation for Abyss Artifacts via the XP bar. Good for mid-game progression.

4. Spire of Frost disarming for high-value weapon drops and gears. Best once you have Shield Bash mastered.

5. Scholar Stone Institute pickpocketing for Abyss Artifacts. Excellent once you have the Pickpocket Abyss Gear equipped.

6. Special Synthesis after every farming session. Process your stockpile and save scum for Greaters.

Related Articles

• Abyss Artifacts - full overview of what Abyss Artifacts are and how they affect progression

• Abyss Gear - detailed breakdown of gear types, tiers, and socket mechanics

• Skills - skill tree and how Abyss Artifacts are spent

• Spire of Frost - location guide and puzzle solutions

• Witches of Pywel - all Witch locations and services

• Pickpocketing - full mechanics guide for stealing from NPCs

• Enemy and Gatherable Respawning - how respawn mechanics work across the world