Cooking
Cooking is one of the core life skills in Crimson Desert. Food replenishes and temporarily strengthens your three primary stats: health, spirit, and stamina. Eating before a tough fight or a long trek through the wilderness can make the difference between success and failure.
Meals can be prepared at your Greymane camp or at bonfires scattered throughout Pywel. The camp kitchen is available from early on, while bonfires appear near roads, dungeons, and remote shelters across the continent.
How cooking works
To cook, you need a recipe and the right ingredients. Recipes are found throughout the world: purchased from vendors in towns, looted from chests, or learned from NPCs. Each recipe lists the specific ingredients required and the resulting dish.
At a bonfire or camp kitchen, select the recipe and confirm. The dish is then added to your inventory and can be consumed at any time. Some recipes produce multiple servings from a single batch of ingredients.
Food effects
All food provides some combination of health, spirit, and stamina restoration. Better recipes give stronger and longer-lasting buffs. Specific effects include:
Health restoration - direct healing, useful mid-combat or when recovering between fights
Spirit recovery - spirit fuels special abilities, so dishes that restore it keep you casting longer
Stamina buffs - increased stamina helps with climbing, sprinting, and dodging in combat
Temporary stat increases that persist for a set duration, giving an edge in boss battles or Abyss Dungeons
Ingredient sources
Ingredients come from several different activities across Pywel:
Fishing - catches are a primary source of protein for recipes
Hunting - wild animals drop meat and other ingredients when defeated
Gathering - herbs, vegetables, and wild plants can be picked throughout the world
Camp ranch and farm - the Greymane camp includes a ranch and farm where you can produce cooking ingredients yourself, especially handy when supplies run low
Vendors - town merchants sell basic provisions and common ingredients
Dispatched companions - Greymane comrades sent on missions can return with cooking materials
Bonfires
Bonfires are found at natural rest stops across the continent. They function as portable cooking stations, letting you prepare meals wherever you are instead of returning to camp. Finding a bonfire in the wilderness before a difficult area is worth noting on your map for future reference.
Camp cooking
At the Greymane camp, you can prepare meals at the camp kitchen. The camp also has a vendor who sells provisions directly. Early in the game when your cooking recipe collection is small, buying provisions from the camp vendor is a reliable fallback.
As you upgrade the camp and expand its ranch and farm, the camp becomes increasingly self-sufficient for food production. Growing your own crops and raising livestock eliminates the need to buy ingredients or spend time foraging in the wild.
Tips
Always cook before heading into an Abyss Dungeon. The stat buffs from food stack with equipment bonuses.
Stock up on recipes from every town you visit. Different regions have different dishes available.
If you're short on ingredients, dispatch companions on gathering missions while you do other things.
Invest in upgrading your camp's farm early - it pays off quickly when you no longer need to buy ingredients.