Overview
Back Alley Shops are underground vendors scattered across the world of Pywel in Crimson Desert. Unlike legitimate merchants, these shady dealers specialize in selling criminal tools such as Masks, keys, and Disguise Cloaks. They also act as fences, allowing players to sell stolen goods that regular vendors refuse to accept. Back Alley Shops are a core part of the Crime System and serve as both the entry point and the cash-out point for players who want to engage in theft.
Once you discover a Back Alley Shop, it appears on your map as a red circle icon with a mask symbol. Every major settlement has at least one Back Alley Shop, making them accessible throughout the game.
Known Locations
The first Back Alley Shop most players encounter is located in the City of Hernand area. Additional shops become available as you explore new regions and settlements across Pywel.
Hernand Back Alley Shop (Grimrak)
The primary Back Alley Shop is operated by Grimrak, a goblin vendor located southeast of Hernand. His stall sits at the end of the road closest to the river, on the west side. To find him, head east out of Hernand, past the large model castle on the left, then turn left down the road and follow the track until you reach the vendor. The Livestock Black Market sits directly opposite Grimrak's stall, making it convenient to sell stolen animals and general stolen goods in the same trip.
Grimrak serves a dual role. He sells criminal supplies (masks, keys, disguises) and also purchases stolen goods from the player. This makes his shop a one-stop location for anyone involved in the Crime System.
St. Halssius Back Alley Shop
A second Back Alley Shop is located just south of St. Halssius's House of Healing, east of Hernand. This shop carries the same general inventory as Grimrak's shop, including three standard keys per restock cycle. It provides an alternative buying location for players operating in the eastern part of the Hernand region.
Demeniss Back Alley Shop
The Demeniss Back Alley Shop is located in the northern part of the city. On the map, it sits just below the letter "N" in the Demeniss label. Like other Back Alley Shops, it is marked with the red mask icon once discovered. This shop carries the standard criminal supplies (masks, keys, disguise cloaks) as well as region-specific stock that rotates daily.
Tashkalap Back Alley Shop
In Tashkalap, the Back Alley Shop can be found south of the left Abyss teleporter. This location is particularly convenient for players who are running Abyss Raids in the area, since they can restock on supplies and sell stolen goods without traveling far from the teleport point.
Paelum Back Alley Shop
The Paelum Back Alley Shop sits below the main city, just to the right of the blacksmithing location. This shop is notable for carrying the Orb of Lightning, a lightning-element Abyss gear item that is not commonly found at other Back Alley Shops. Players focused on lightning builds should make a point of checking this vendor regularly.
Inventory and Prices
Back Alley Shops carry a selection of items tailored to criminal activities. Prices are listed in Copper and Silver denominations (100 Copper equals 1 Silver).
Item | Price | Stock | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
10 Copper | 1 | Required to steal; equips in the Weapons radial menu | |
30 Copper | 3 | Opens locked doors; consumed on use | |
Varies | 1 | Reduces NPC detection range while worn | |
23.74 Silver | 1 | Alternative disguise for stealth activities | |
26 Copper | Limited | Opens prison cell doors specifically |
In addition to the items listed above, some Back Alley Shops also carry ammunition, food supplies, and crafting blueprints that are not available from mainstream vendors. The exact supplementary inventory varies by location.
Notable Items and Abyss Gear
Beyond the standard criminal tools, Back Alley Shops stock a rotating selection of powerful items that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. These include Abyss gear, special ammunition, alchemy formulas, and weapon recipe books. Inventory varies by location, so it is worth visiting multiple shops across different cities. Many of these items restock daily.
Item | Type | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Explosive Arrows | Varies | Powerful ranged ammunition that deals area damage on impact. Restocks daily, making Back Alley Shops the most reliable source for ranged builds. | |
Abyss Raids Gear | Silver (varies) | Transforms your weapon into a high-damage threat. Especially effective with dual wield setups, as the abyss effect procs twice per attack sequence. | |
40 Silver | Creates dark energy waves when using L+R click attacks. A strong option for melee builds looking to add dark-element area damage to their combos. | ||
Orb of Lightning | Varies | Lightning-element abyss gear. Found specifically at the Paelum Back Alley Shop. Adds lightning damage properties to your weapon attacks. | |
Cosmic Pulse | Abyss Gear (Fist) | Varies | Fist weapon abyss gear used on gloves. Fires a green beam on combo finishers. Only usable with unarmed or glove-type builds. |
Alchemy Formula | Varies | Teaches the recipe for Haiden's Greater Elixir, which temporarily removes all spirit consumption. Considered one of the strongest consumable effects in the game. | |
Alchemy Formula | Varies | Teaches a formula for an elixir that ignores stamina consumption for a short period. Useful for extended combat encounters and traversal. | |
Recipe Book | 200 Silver | Unlocks new pistol weapon recipes at the crafting bench. A significant investment, but opens up ranged weapon options for pistol-focused builds. |
Abyss gear items are particularly valuable for endgame builds. When applied to a weapon, they add elemental or special effects that trigger during specific attack inputs. Dual-wielding players benefit the most from abyss gear because each weapon procs the effect independently, effectively doubling the output. Check each city's Back Alley Shop regularly, as inventory rotates and certain items only appear at specific locations.
Restocking Mechanics
Back Alley Shops restock their inventory roughly once every one to two in-game days. Each shop carries exactly three standard keys per restock cycle, and the Mask slot refills to one unit per cycle. Some players report that leaving the area and returning can trigger a faster restock, though this is not guaranteed.
If you need keys or masks urgently and the local shop is out of stock, visit a different Back Alley Shop in another settlement. Each shop maintains its own independent inventory and restock timer.
Selling Stolen Goods
Items acquired through theft, pickpocketing, or poaching cannot be sold to regular merchants. Attempting to sell stolen property at a normal vendor will not show those items in the sell list. Instead, you need to bring them to a Back Alley Shop or the appropriate specialized fence. For a detailed breakdown of fencing categories and profit strategies, see the Selling Stolen Goods article.
There are three categories of underground dealers for stolen property:
Dealer Type | Accepts | Location Notes |
|---|---|---|
Back Alley Shop (General) | Vases, paintings, coin pouches, artifacts | Grimrak's shop southeast of Hernand and equivalents in other towns |
Livestock Fence | Stolen animals (must be carrying or riding the animal) | |
Wagon Fence | Stolen carts and wagons | East of Hernand (south of Halssius Apothecary) and north of Unicorn Cliff |
How to Access and Use
Before you can interact with the Crime System, you need to purchase a Mask from any Back Alley Shop. The Mask must be actively equipped through the Weapons radial menu, where it occupies its own dedicated slot separate from helmets and armor. Without a Mask equipped, the steal prompt on any item remains greyed out.
Locate a Back Alley Shop on your map (red mask icon)
Purchase a Mask for 10 Copper
Equip the Mask through the Weapons radial menu
Approach items or NPCs to see the steal prompt
Sell any stolen goods back at a Back Alley Shop or the appropriate fence
Connection to the Crime System
Every theft costs 5 Contribution XP per item regardless of whether you are caught. A red detection zone appears on the minimap when you commit a crime, and a timer starts. A bounty only sticks if someone witnesses the act during the timer window. Stealing in an isolated building and waiting out the timer without stepping into a public space lets you walk away with no bounty, though you still take the Contribution hit.
If you do accumulate a bounty, it can be cleared by escaping the detection zone before the timer expires, purchasing a Writ of Absolution at the church confessional (the Silver cost equals the bounty amount), or going to jail (which costs Silver plus an additional Contribution penalty). The cheapest recovery method for accidental crimes is to reload the most recent autosave.
Tips
The Bank Robbery Guide pairs well with Back Alley Shops. Purchase a Mask and Key from Grimrak for a total of 40 Copper, then rob the Hernand Bank for roughly 30 to 55 Silver in return.
Back Alley Shops are the only reliable source of keys early in the game. You can also find keys by looting enemy bodies, but the drop rate is inconsistent.
Strongbox puzzles found in manors and estates contain valuable artifacts. Check the Strongbox Puzzle Locations and Solutions guide for details on rewards.
If you need a Mask but lack the Copper, you can loot one from defeated Bleed Bandits starting in Chapter 2, or earn one as a reward from the Jeffrey bounty at the Guard Station west of Hernand.
The Mask needs to be equipped before you enter a room you plan to steal from, not after you find the items. Equipping it mid-theft does not work.
See Also
Replacement Robbery Mask
If a robbery mask is destroyed during a botched church candle theft in Demeniss, or shredded by guards at Dewhaven Keep, the Back Alley Shop keeps the same mask on its standard inventory. The Demeniss branch is the most convenient restock point since it sits near the three churches tied to the Thornbrier Fortress relic trial, and a second branch sells the mask in the bottom-right district of Hernand for players farming the Trader Expanse five-in-ten-seconds theft relic.
Getting caught in a church during the candle theft normally strips the mask but leaves the candle itself in your inventory, so one quick back alley visit restores the disguise and the run can continue without rewinding progress. See Pickpocketing and Sealed Abyss Artifact Locations for the relic steps that put the mask at risk.
Trust and Gifts
Back alley vendors are not a separate economy. They respond to the same NPC Trust System as every other merchant, so greetings still add +5, gifts still climb from +5 to +10 or more, and daily gift caps still apply. Matching the gift to the vendor's category (flowers and Copper Pouches for general traders, cooked food for dyers, crafting manuals for tailors) keeps progress fast. Stolen inventory at these shops also replenishes on the usual weekly cycle of about six in-game days, so rotating between several vendors avoids empty stalls.
Five Back Alley Locations
Five back-alley vendors around the map stock Explosive Arrows on a rolling daily or two-day restock. Visiting all of them is the fastest way to stockpile explosives without grinding the Demenissh Armory dispatch. Each vendor also sells a rotating list of other items (dyes, misc. goods), so it is worth a full sweep every in-game day.
1. South of Hernand: just south of Hernand near the Steel Mountains, with a fast travel point right next to the vendor. Stocks 3 explosive arrows.
2. Demenissh Castle: outside Demenissh Castle, pressed up against the wall. Stocks 3 explosive arrows.
3. Calphade village north of Hernand: in the small Calphade village just north of Hernand, tucked around a corner in the village proper. Stocks 2 explosive arrows.
4. South of Tashkalp: just outside Tashkalp at the bottom-left of the city area. Stocks 2 explosive arrows.
5. Tashkalp back alley: inside Tashkalp's back alley, unlocked after completing Lifted Fog. Stocks 3 explosive arrows, and also sells Black Dye and the Ranged Weapons of the World - Bows, Vol. IV book.
Lifted Fog Unlock
The Tashkalp vendor is the only back-alley shop gated behind a quest. After liberating Tashkalp, speak to the guard, return to the city, eavesdrop on the criminals by leaning on a wall with L3, and then go southwest to meet an NPC who asks you to steal three wagons for him in sequence. Returning each wagon to the nearby wagon vendor advances the quest. Completing Lifted Fog unlocks the back-alley shop that sells Black Dye, Ranged Weapons of the World - Bows, Vol. IV, and the daily stock of explosive arrows.
Restock Timing
All five vendors share the same restock pattern: their stock refreshes roughly every day or every two in-game days. If a vendor is sold out when you arrive, sleep or fast-travel to burn a day and come back. With infinite arrows slotted, even the smaller stocks of 2 per vendor add up to plenty of explosive shots between sweeps.
Masks for Golden Apple Farming
One of the most common reasons players detour into a Back Alley Shop is to buy a Mask before a Golden Apple farming run. Picking a Golden Apple off the ground is treated as stealing, and without a mask every pickup applies a contribution penalty. Farming the best hedgehog spots without a mask can therefore tank your standing in a single session.
The Hernand back alley vendor is the usual first stop because Hernand is central and the back alley is a short walk from the main town plaza. Drop into the lower part of the town, find the back alley stall, and buy the mask straight off the rack. The price is low enough that most players pick one up on their first trip through.
What to Buy and How to Use It
Any standard mask from the rack works: The mask just needs to hide your identity from NPC witnesses. More elaborate masks exist, but the cheapest entry on the back alley stall is sufficient for apple runs.
Equip before the first farm walkthrough: Once the mask is on, every stolen Golden Apple pickup is clean. Take it off only when you are ready to interact with non-hostile NPCs for quests or vendor trades.
Alternative source: Bandits carry masks. Looting a defeated bandit body often drops one, so clearing a camp near a farm spot can double as a mask pickup.
Patch 1.05 Disguise Inventory Additions
Patch 1.05.00 (released May 2, 2026) extends the back-alley network with a region-by-region rollout of new disguise armors. Each piece doubles as a faction disguise inside the matching region, reducing detection radius from hostile NPCs. None of the new disguise items can be dyed at launch; community sentiment leans toward an inventory bug rather than an intentional design choice, but Pearl Abyss has not commented. The list below covers the eight back-alley locations confirmed to stock new pieces in the 1.05 sweep.
Vendor Location | New Items | Disguise Effect |
|---|---|---|
Hernand back alley (Grimrak, southeast of Hernand Castle) | Matana Leather Armor, Yabel Leather Armor, Locabell Cloth Cloak, Deer Hat | Staglord Acolyte disguise; doubles as a hunting outfit |
Hills of No Return back alley (east of the region) | Civilian rider disguise that pairs with the Riding Set | |
Pailune back alley (below the city, beside the blacksmith) | Tyrant Cloth Armor, Tyrant Cloth Cloak | Pailune insurgent disguise |
Demeniss back alley (eastern side) | Condemner's Plate Helm, Condemner's Plate Armor, Windmere Standard Plate Armor | Righteous Inquisitor disguise; the helm is widely cited as one of the cooler-looking pieces in the patch thanks to its halo silhouette |
Delesyia back alley (Sling) | Yudi Gale Cloth Armor, Due Haven Cloak, Wyvernflames Cloth Armor, Wyvernflame Cloth Helm | Inquisitor and Wyvernflame faction disguises; the Due Haven Cloak previously had no enemy drop, so this vendor is the first reliable source |
Vania back alley (north Crimson Desert) | Arkan Leather Helm, Lead Cloth Armor | Crimson Desert raider disguise |
Black Dive back alley (south Crimson Desert) | Miscloaked Owl Leather Armor, Miscloaked Owl Plate Helm | Owl-themed scout set; the same vendor sells the Black Dive once the area is liberated and its side mission is completed |
Steel Mountain outpost back alley | Blinding Arrow faction disguise; useful for stealing the cuckoo birds nesting at the nearby outpost |
None of the new disguise items in this batch can be dyed. The same restriction applies to the boss-themed armors that exist as enemy models, and Pearl Abyss has been silent on whether the dye lock is intentional. Players who track the dyeable variant of an outfit should keep an eye on subsequent hotfixes.
The full patch contents covering Boss Rematches, Re-Blockading, and the new legendary pets are documented in Patch 1.05.00.
Patch 1.04 Changes
The Back Alley Shop received inventory updates as part of Patch Notes for version 1.04. Pearl Abyss added additional outfits to certain shops, and the Back Alley Shop is one of the vendors called out in the patch list. The change is purely an inventory expansion: the existing wares, prices, and restock cadence are unchanged, and none of the five back-alley locations around Pywel were removed.
More outfits have been added; visit the shop in Patch 1.04 to see new inventory. The patch notes do not enumerate which specific outfits were added, and the new pieces appear on the regular rotating stock alongside existing items rather than as a separate tab, so greymanes who want the new look should make a sweep of every back-alley vendor the next time each one restocks. Characters other than Kliff also get outfit variety from these vendors, with Damiane and Oongka able to equip outfits purchased at the shop the same way they did before the patch.
Why Revisit After 1.04
Existing save files carry over without a reset. The new outfit entries appear in each shop's rotation the next time it cycles stock, which follows the same one-to-two in-game-day restock window the vendors used before the patch.
Outfit inventory is per shop, so a piece that shows up at the Hernand back alley may not be present at Tashkalap or Paelum on the same day. A full circuit of all five vendors is the fastest way to verify what is new.
Other shop changes in the same patch: Greymane vendors now sell goods at a 10% discount when trading with Kliff, and livestock vendors for cows, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, and chickens were added across Pywel. These are separate vendors from the back-alley network but worth visiting on the same outfit-hunting pass.
Related Pororin Pet Vendor
Patch 1.04 also introduced a separate secret shop in Pororin that sells Pet Equipment. It is not a back-alley vendor and does not stock masks, keys, or stolen-goods buying services, but it is often grouped with back-alley discussion because both sit outside the mainline merchant list. Players visiting the Pororin area for the new Pet Shop can cover both errands on the same trip.
Full Farming Kit Checklist
The back alley purchase is one piece of a three-part kit that makes Golden Apple farming efficient. The other pieces are the Radiant Necklace for forcing clear weather and the Rampaging Infinite Arrows setup paired with Poison Arrow ammunition for knocking apples off fleeing hedgehogs. With all three in place, a farm circuit at the northern Pailune bush patch, the Trentin middle field, or the Grey Rock Dock pumpkin patch can produce a steady stream of apples for Gold Bar crafting.