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Crafting Manuals
March 21, 2026 at 02:18 AM
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Crafting Manuals in Crimson Desert are key items that contain techniques and detailed information for creating new meals, elixirs, tools, weapons, armor, and more. Each manual teaches Kliff a specific set of recipes that can then be crafted at the appropriate station. Once a crafting manual has been read, the recipes it contains are permanently learned and the manual itself can be sold to any merchant for extra silver.
Crafting manuals are organized into several categories: cooking Recipes, Alchemy Recipes, Tool Blueprints, and equipment crafting books for weapons and armor. There are 67 equipment crafting books scattered across Pywel, with 19 of those dedicated specifically to weapon types and the remainder covering armor and accessories.
Crafting manuals can be obtained through several methods throughout your journey across Pywel:
Merchants and vendors: Many crafting manuals are sold by NPCs in towns and settlements. The Hernand Equipment Shop run by Rhett carries basic weapon and armor volumes.
World exploration: Manuals are scattered across the open world. A small book symbol appears on the minimap when you are near a crafting manual, making them easier to spot.
Theft: Some manuals found in buildings must be stolen. Equipping a Mask before taking them prevents reputation loss.
Quest rewards: Certain side quests and main story missions reward crafting manuals upon completion.
Special NPC interactions: Some manuals are obtained through conversations with specific NPCs or by completing tasks for them.
Various copies of the same crafting books can be found scattered across Pywel. If you miss one in a particular location, you may find the same manual elsewhere during your travels.
Each type of crafting manual corresponds to a specific crafting station where the learned recipes can be produced:
Icon | Station | Location | Manual Types |
|---|---|---|---|
Smithy | Major towns (Hernand, others) | Weapon books, armor books, tool blueprints, projectile recipes | |
Cauldron | Hernand, Witch's house, settlements | Alchemy recipes, drink recipes, dye recipes | |
Open Flame / Bonfire | Camps, settlements, and the open world | Grilled cooking recipes (basic meals) | |
Cooking Tool | Camps and certain settlements | Field grill and field pot recipes (advanced meals) | |
| Portable (obtained via Grimnir) | Special crafting and material reshaping |
Cooking manuals teach Kliff how to prepare meals that restore health and grant temporary buffs. These recipes range from simple grilled ingredients cooked over an open flame to elaborate dishes requiring multiple components and a Cooking Tool. Cooking manuals are commonly found on shelves inside buildings throughout Hernand and other towns, and are also sold by innkeepers and food vendors.
Drink recipes are brewed at a Cauldron. All four drinks require Water as a base ingredient. These beverages offer health restoration and minor buffs.
Icon | Recipe | Ingredients | Tool | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| An alcoholic beverage brewed from fermented fruit and sugar. Restores health and provides a brief stamina buff. | |||
Oakwood Mushroom x2, Water x2 | A warm tea made from foraged mushrooms. Provides a moderate health recovery effect over time. | |||
Mild Herbal Tea | A soothing herbal blend sweetened with honey. Gradually restores health and provides minor ailment resistance. | |||
| A simple sweet drink brewed from honey. Offers a small health recovery and stamina restoration. |
Grilled recipes are the simplest meals in the game, requiring only a single ingredient and an Open Flame (any campfire or bonfire). They provide quick, on-the-go healing with no preparation complexity. Grilled meals are an ideal option early in the game before you have access to Cooking Tools.
Icon | Recipe | Ingredients | Tool | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetable x1 | Open Flame | Basic roasted vegetables cooked over a campfire. Provides a small health recovery. | |
| Grilled Fruit | Fruit x1 | Open Flame | Lightly charred fruit with a caramelized exterior. Restores a small amount of health. |
| Toasted Grains | Grain x1 | Open Flame | Simple toasted grain prepared directly over the fire. Gives a minor health boost. |
| Meat x1 | Open Flame | A slab of meat cooked on an open flame. Restores a moderate amount of health. | |
| Small Grilled Fish | Small Fish x1 | Open Flame | A small fish roasted whole over the fire. Provides a minor health recovery. |
| Medium Fish x1 | Open Flame | A medium-sized fish grilled on the fire. Offers a moderate health restoration. | |
| Large Grilled Fish | Large Fish x1 | Open Flame | A large fish cooked over an open flame. Provides a substantial health recovery. |
| Smoked Eggs | Egg x1 | Open Flame | Eggs smoked slowly over the campfire. A quick snack that restores a small amount of health. |
| Grilled Bird Meat | Bird Meat x1 | Open Flame | Lean poultry roasted on the fire. Provides a moderate health recovery with a slight stamina benefit. |
| Grilled Pincers | Shellfish x1 | Open Flame | Shellfish pincers cracked and grilled directly. Restores a moderate amount of health. |
| Grilled Seafood | Mollusk x1 | Open Flame | Mollusk meat cooked on the fire until tender. Offers a moderate health restoration. |
Field Grill recipes use a Cooking Tool and require multiple ingredients, producing higher-quality meals with stronger healing and buff effects. Cooking Tools can be found at camps and certain settlements across Pywel. These recipes typically include eggs, cooking oil, or salt alongside the primary protein or vegetable.
Icon | Recipe | Ingredients | Tool | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Grilled Meat and Fish | Meat x1, Small Fish x1 | Cooking Tool | A combination platter of grilled meat and fish. Provides a solid health recovery with a minor stamina buff. | |
| Fish Skewers | Vegetable x1, Fish Fillet x2 | Cooking Tool | Skewered fish fillets alternating with fresh vegetables. Restores health and offers a brief defense boost. |
Battered Vegetables | Vegetable x1, Egg x1 | Cooking Tool | Vegetables coated in egg batter and fried. Provides a moderate health recovery. | |
| Cooking Tool | A hearty mix of battered meat and fish fried to a golden finish. Restores substantial health and grants a stamina buff. | ||
| Cooking Tool | Tender meat marinated in fruit juices and grilled. Offers a large health recovery and a temporary attack power increase. | ||
| Cooking Tool | Fish fillets dipped in egg batter and fried until crispy. Restores a good amount of health. | ||
| Vegetable Rice Cake | Cooking Tool | Dense rice cakes packed with fresh vegetables and seasoned with salt. Provides strong health recovery. | |
| Chewy Rice Cakes | Cooking Tool | Thick, chewy rice cakes fried in oil. Restores a large amount of health and provides a stamina regeneration effect. |
Field Pot recipes produce soups and porridges using a Cooking Tool. These meals generally require Water and multiple ingredients, making them more resource-intensive but also more effective than grilled dishes. Porridges are among the best value meals in the game due to their high health recovery relative to ingredient cost.
Icon | Recipe | Ingredients | Tool | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meat x1, Grain x1, Water x1 | Cooking Tool | A light broth with meat and grain. Provides moderate health recovery and is easy to prepare with minimal ingredients. | |
| Cooking Tool | A warm porridge made with fish fillets and seasoned with salt. Restores health and grants a minor stamina buff. | ||
Vegetable Porridge | Vegetable x1, Grain x1, Water x1 | Cooking Tool | A simple porridge of grain and vegetables. Provides a moderate health recovery with minimal ingredient cost. | |
| Braised Ribs | Meat x4, Vegetable x2, Fruit x2, Water x3 | Cooking Tool | Slow-braised ribs simmered in a vegetable and fruit broth. Offers a large health restoration and a temporary attack buff. |
| Meat and Vegetable Porridge | Meat x2, Vegetable x3, Grain x2, Water x3 | Cooking Tool | A thick, filling porridge loaded with meat and vegetables. Provides substantial health recovery and a stamina buff. |
| Fishball Soup | Cooking Tool | A savory soup with handmade fishballs in a grain-thickened broth. Restores significant health. | |
| Long Horn Soup | Cooking Tool | A rich soup made with Long Horn, a rare ingredient. Provides excellent health recovery and a powerful buff. |
Alchemy manuals unlock elixir and potion recipes that are brewed at a Cauldron. Unlike cooking recipes that primarily restore health, alchemy recipes produce consumables with unique combat effects. One of the most important alchemy manuals is the Palmar Pill recipe, found in a cave north of Hernand near the Witch's house. Some alchemy formulas must be discovered through exploration before they can be produced.
Elixirs provide powerful temporary combat effects. The ingredients for elixirs (Spirit Reagents, Catalysts) are rarer than standard crafting materials and are often obtained from defeating enemies or exploring dungeons.
Recipe | Ingredients | Tool | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
Lesser Spirit Reagent x2, Lesser Catalyst x1, Empty Bottle x1 | No Spirit Consumption for 4 seconds. Allows unlimited use of spirit-based abilities for a short window during combat. |
Dye recipes produce pigments used in the Dye System to customize the color of weapons and armor. Dyes are brewed at a Cauldron and require insect materials (beetles) that can be gathered by catching bugs in the wild.
Icon | Recipe | Ingredients | Tool | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Bright Red Dye | Pink Medicinal Herb x10, Rhinoceros Beetle x3, Longhorn Beetle x3 | A vibrant red pigment used in the dye system to customize weapon and armor appearance. Requires insect materials gathered through exploration. | ||
| Pink Medicinal Herb x10, Rhinoceros Beetle x3, Longhorn Beetle x1, Stag Beetle x2 | A deep, dark red pigment for the dye system. Uses a slightly different beetle combination than the Bright Red variant. |
Equipment crafting books unlock the ability to forge specific weapons and armor at the Smithy. These books are organized into volumes by equipment type. Higher-tier volumes contain more powerful recipes that require rarer resources. There are 67 equipment crafting books scattered across Pywel, with 19 of those dedicated specifically to weapon types and the remainder covering armor and accessories.
There are 19 weapon crafting books across the following categories. The Vol. I books contain entry-level one-handed weapons, two-handed weapons, bows, and rifles. Additional volumes (Vol. II, Vol. III, and higher) unlock progressively stronger weapons with rarer material requirements. The One-Handed Weapons Vol. I book can be purchased from Rhett at the Hernand Equipment Shop.
Manual | Materials per Weapon | Tool | Example Weapons |
|---|---|---|---|
Iron Ore x5, Copper Ore x2 | Smithy | Glenmore Sword, Grace Rapier, Bekker Dagger, Balton Mace, Timberham Axe, Crude Club, Balton Hammer, Bekker Hammer, Pailunese Riteblade | |
Iron Ore x10, Copper Ore x3 | Smithy | Thalwynd Longsword and other two-handed weapons including greatswords, halberds, and polearms | |
Ranged Weapons: Bows Vol. I | Timber x10, Fine Timber x5 | Smithy | White Wood Bow and other starting bows. Uses Timber and Fine Timber rather than metal ores. |
Ranged Weapons: Guns Vol. I | Iron Ore x5, Copper Ore x2 | Smithy | Starting firearms. Additional volumes unlock more powerful rifles and pistols as you progress. |
Armor crafting books unlock recipes for protective gear at the Smithy. Plate armor offers higher defense at the cost of heavier weight and more expensive materials, while Cloth armor is lighter and cheaper to produce.
Manual | Materials per Piece | Tool | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Plate Armor of the World Vol. I | Iron Ore x5, Copper Ore x2 (varies by slot) | Smithy | Heavy armor offering strong physical protection. Material costs vary depending on the armor slot (helmet, chest, gloves, boots). |
Cloth Pieces x10, Fleece x2 | Smithy | Lightweight armor including Grey Wolf Cloth Cloak and similar pieces. Lower defense than plate but lighter weight and cheaper materials. |
The Accessories of the World, Vol. I book unlocks early-game jewelry crafting for Kliff. Higher volumes contain recipes for accessories with stronger stat bonuses. These can typically be found through exploration or purchased from specialty merchants.
Projectile manuals teach recipes for ammunition used by ranged weapons. Arrows are used by bows, bullets by firearms, and Small Cannon Balls by portable cannons. All projectiles are crafted at the Smithy.
Icon | Recipe | Ingredients | Tool | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithy | Standard ammunition for bows. Crafted in bulk at the Smithy. Required for all ranged bow attacks. | ||
| Iron Ore x2, Gunpowder x4 | Smithy | Ammunition for firearms. Requires gunpowder, which can be purchased from merchants or looted from enemy camps. | |
| Iron Ore x10, Gunpowder x10 | Smithy | Heavy ordnance for portable cannons. Expensive to craft but deals devastating area damage. |
Several crafting manuals fall outside the standard cooking, alchemy, and equipment categories. These include utility items, enhanced cores purchased from Witch vendors, and unique equipment obtained through specific NPCs.
Icon | Recipe | Ingredients | Tool | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hay x5, Cloth Pieces x10 | Smithy | A disguise cloak made from hay and cloth. Can be worn to avoid detection by certain enemies while exploring the open world. | |
Haste (Enhanced Core) | Witch vendors | An enhanced core modification purchased from Witch vendors. Grants a movement speed increase when activated. | ||
| Craft via Grimnir | A portable cooking vessel obtained through the NPC Grimnir. Allows you to cook advanced recipes and reshape crafting materials while traveling. |
After reading a crafting manual, sell it to a merchant. The recipes are permanently learned and there is no reason to keep the physical item.
Check bookshelves and tables in every building you enter. Many manuals are tucked away in houses, shops, and caves.
Prioritize the Palmar Pill crafting manual early. It allows you to craft revival items that bring you back with 30% health after falling in combat.
Higher-tier crafting book volumes become available as you explore new regions of Pywel. Advancing the main story unlocks access to regions where stronger manuals are found.
The 67 equipment crafting books are spread across the entire continent. Thorough exploration of each region is essential to collect them all.
