All Abyss Gear Modifiers

Overview

Abyss Gear modifiers (also called Abyss Cores) are socketable enhancement items in Crimson Desert that grant bonus stats, passive effects, and even active combat abilities when installed into equipment. Each modifier slots into a dedicated socket on a weapon or piece of armor, and multiple modifiers can be stacked on a single item as long as open sockets are available.

This page is a complete reference for every verified Abyss Gear modifier in the game. For general information about the system, see the Abyss Gear overview. For recommended loadouts, see Best Abyss Cores. For instructions on socketing and crafting, see the Abyss Gear Guide.

How Modifiers Work

Abyss Gear modifiers are installed by visiting a Witch NPC. Installation and extraction are both free. Each piece of equipment has a limited number of sockets (sealed by default) that must be unlocked with Silver before cores can be embedded. Socket limits vary by equipment type:

Many modifiers come in tiered variants (e.g., Destruction I, Destruction II). Higher tiers provide stronger effects. You can upgrade a modifier's tier through Synthesis at any Witch: combining two identical-tier modifiers produces one modifier of the next tier (for example, 2x Destruction I becomes 1x Destruction II).

Offensive Modifiers

Offensive modifiers increase raw damage output, critical hit chance, and damage against specific enemy types. These are typically socketed into weapons and gloves.

Defensive Modifiers

Defensive modifiers reduce damage taken, raise resistance to elemental attacks, and lower guard stamina costs. These are primarily socketed into armor and shields.

Speed and Movement Modifiers

Speed modifiers increase attack animations, movement speed, and climbing speed. Attack speed cores are valuable on all weapon types, while movement and climb speed cores are quality-of-life picks for exploration.

Sustain and Utility Modifiers

Sustain modifiers restore health, stamina, or spirit during combat. Utility modifiers boost silver gains, food effectiveness, experience acquisition, and other quality-of-life stats.

Special Effect Modifiers

Special effect modifiers grant active combat abilities that trigger during attacks or on specific conditions. Unlike stat-based cores, these add entirely new visual and mechanical effects to your combat repertoire. They are among the rarest Abyss Cores in the game and are highly sought after for build optimization.

Challenge and Progression Modifiers

The following modifiers are obtained exclusively from Sealed Abyss Artifact challenges found throughout the open world. Many of these have effects that are not yet fully documented by the community. They tend to provide niche bonuses tied to specific combat mechanics or exploration activities.

Crafting and Synthesis

Many Abyss Gear modifiers can be crafted at a Witch NPC once you have the corresponding blueprint. Blueprints are obtained from quest rewards, challenge completions, or purchased directly from specific Witches. All crafting requires Abyss Cells as a base material, along with additional ingredients that vary by recipe.

Known Crafting Recipes

Synthesis

Synthesis lets you combine two identical-tier modifiers into one higher-tier modifier. Visit any Witch, select Craft Abyss Gear, then press the synthesis option. The conversion rate is always 2:1 at the same tier.

Special Synthesis: If you have two different Abyss Gears that you do not need, you can combine them through Special Synthesis for a random result. This is a gamble, but it is a way to recycle unwanted cores into something potentially useful.

Witch Locations

All Abyss Gear services (installation, extraction, crafting, synthesis) are handled by Witch NPCs. Five Witches operate across Pywel, each specializing in different blueprints and services.

Socket Costs

Creating sockets on equipment costs Silver and scales with the number of sockets already on the item. The costs are consistent across all Witches:

Embedding and extracting Abyss Cores is always free. You only pay Silver when creating new sockets.

Recommended Modifier Loadouts

For detailed build recommendations, see Best Abyss Cores. The following are general guidelines for modifier distribution:

• Weapons: Prioritize Destruction (Attack), Gale/Swift (Attack Speed), and Malicebane (boss damage). Spirit Transference and Stamina Transference are excellent sustain picks for aggressive playstyles.

• Body Armor: Haste (Movement Speed) for exploration, Breath of Life or Vitality for passive healing, and Momentum (+35% Turning Slash Damage) for burst damage builds.

• Shields: Fortification (Defense) and Fortitude (Guard Stamina Cost reduction) are the strongest defensive picks. Aegis (Damage Reduction) is a solid general option.

• Gloves and Footwear: Destruction and Insight for offensive builds, or Fortitude for extra guard efficiency.

• Late Game: Special effect cores like Crow's Pursuit, Orbs of Lightning, and Ancient Retribution add significant damage at the cost of flexibility. Slot them when you have enough sockets to spare.

Tips

• Installation and extraction are free at every Witch. Experiment freely with different core combinations without worrying about resource loss.

• Save duplicate cores for Synthesis instead of discarding them. Two Fortification I cores become one Fortification II, which provides twice the Defense bonus.

• The Fortification I recipe (Cockroach x1, Abyss Cell x1, Azurite x1) is one of the cheapest recipes in the game. Craft several and synthesize them into Fortification II and III for strong defensive stacking.

• Spirit Transference and Stamina Transference are available early and reward aggressive play. Socket them into your primary weapon as soon as the Witch system unlocks.

• Gourmet III boosts food healing by approximately 15%. Combined with high-quality meals from cooking, this makes a significant difference during boss fights.

• The Haste I blueprint is obtained from The Missing Seal quest. Complete this early in Chapter 5 to gain Movement Speed for the rest of the game.

• Abyss Cells, the universal crafting material for cores, drop from corrupted Wandershrub creatures. These look like bushes or rocks with a glowing Abyss orb. Farm them in areas with high monster density.

• Check each Witch's shop inventory. Different Witches sell different blueprints. Areciel sells Destruction blueprints, Lyselia sells Fortification blueprints, and Elowen has the broadest selection.