Drake's Fall Castle

Overview

Drake's Fall Castle (also written as Drakesfall Castle) is a ruined fortress located directly north of Hernand in Crimson Desert. The castle sits at the heart of the Drakesfall Gorge area, a region saturated with Abyss energy that attracts a dense population of Bismuth Oreback Crabs and other Abyss-touched creatures. For players looking to power up Kliff's equipment and abilities efficiently, Drake's Fall Castle is widely considered the single best farming location in the entire game. In one session at this location, you can accumulate Abyss Gear cores, Abyss Cells, Bismuth Ore (which sells for silver), and large amounts of XP that fill the Abyss Artifact progress bar. No other location in Pywel offers all four of these rewards simultaneously at this density.

A fast travel point (Abyss Nexus) was added near the castle ruins in a recent patch, making it trivial to teleport in, clear the area, teleport away to reset spawns, and repeat the cycle. The farm is accessible once you reach the Hernand region during the main story, though the enemies here hit hard enough that players still working through Chapter 2 should wait until they have stronger gear before attempting it.

Location and How to Get There

Drake's Fall Castle is located in the northern portion of the Hernand region, on the border with the Demeniss highlands. To reach it, open the world map and look directly north of the city of Hernand. The castle ruins are marked on the map and sit on an elevated plateau within Drakesfall Gorge.

The fastest way to reach the farm is by using the Abyss Nexus fast travel point located right next to the castle. If you have not unlocked this particular Nexus yet, you will need to travel there on foot or horseback from Hernand and activate the teleporter on your first visit. Once activated, every subsequent visit is instant.

When you first arrive at the castle, you need to climb inside the ruins. The castle walls have collapsed in several places, creating natural entry points. There will be no soldiers present initially; instead, the interior is overrun with Abyss creatures, primarily the Bismuth Oreback Crabs that make this location so valuable.

Enemies at Drake's Fall Castle

The castle is home to several types of Abyss-touched creatures. The primary enemies you will encounter are Bismuth Oreback Crabs, which disguise themselves as metallic ore deposits when idle. Understanding the difference between the small crabs and the large crabs is absolutely critical to maintaining this farm.

The small crabs look like jagged, metallic clusters in their idle state and blend in perfectly with the rocky terrain around the castle. They can be forced to reveal themselves by hitting the metallic deposits with Force Palm. Once agitated, they become aggressive and will attack with physical strikes. Despite their small size, they deal a surprising amount of damage and have decent defense, so do not underestimate them. Having strong gear and effective dodging habits is recommended.

Loot Drops

Every single small crab you kill at Drake's Fall Castle drops valuable resources. This is what makes the location so efficient: you are guaranteed useful loot from every kill, not just a random chance. The following table lists the drops you can expect from farming the small Bismuth Oreback Crabs.

In addition to direct drops, you earn XP with every kill. The XP fills the yellow Abyss Artifact progress bar located next to the minimap on the lower left of the screen. Every time this bar fills completely, you receive a free Abyss Artifact, which is the primary progression currency used to increase core stats like Health, Stamina, and Spirit, unlock new skills, and extend combo chains. There is no cap on the number of times you can level this bar, making Drake's Fall Castle an infinite source of Abyss Artifacts as long as you keep killing.

Critical Warning: Do Not Kill the Large Crabs

This is the single most important rule for farming Drake's Fall Castle. The large Bismuth Oreback Crabs that roam the castle grounds are not regular enemies. They are spawner nodes. Every small crab in the area is spawned by one of these large crabs. As long as the large crabs are alive, they will continuously produce new small crabs for you to farm.

If you kill a large crab, the small crabs it produces will stop spawning permanently. This is not a temporary cooldown. It is a permanent change to your save file. Once the large crab is dead, Hernand soldiers will move into the vacated area, and the crab spawns will never return. You will have locked yourself out of the farm forever on that save.

This has caught many players off guard. The large crabs behave like mini-bosses, and the natural instinct is to fight and kill them. Resist that urge. Treat the large crabs as friendly infrastructure that powers the entire farm. Walk around them, avoid hitting them, and focus exclusively on the small crabs.

Do Not Use AoE Builds Here

This warning extends to your build choice. If you are running a weapon or skill loadout with large area-of-effect (AoE) attacks, you risk accidentally hitting and killing a large crab while farming the small ones. AoE abilities like wide sword sweeps, explosion skills, or any attack that hits multiple targets in a radius can clip a nearby large crab without you even noticing. Several players, including prominent content creators, have permanently lost access to the Drake's Fall farm because they were using AoE builds and accidentally killed a spawner during a farming session.

Before you start farming at Drake's Fall Castle, switch to a single-target or precision build. One-handed swords, daggers, spears with thrust attacks, or ranged weapons like bows and muskets aimed at individual targets are all safe choices. Save your AoE builds for other farming spots and dungeons where there is no spawner mechanic to worry about.

What Happens If You Lose the Farm

If you accidentally kill one or more of the large crabs, the damage is permanent for that specific spawner. If all large crabs in the castle are killed, the entire farm is gone. Hernand soldiers will move into the castle, the Abyss creatures will not return, and you will need to rely on other farming methods for Abyss Cells and Gear Cores. See the Alternative Farming Location section below for a backup option.

Farming Strategy

Follow this step-by-step approach to farm Drake's Fall Castle efficiently and safely.

1. Fast travel to the Abyss Nexus near Drake's Fall Castle. If you have not unlocked the teleporter yet, travel to the castle on foot or horseback from Hernand and activate it first.

2. Climb into the castle ruins. Enter through one of the collapsed wall sections. The interior will be filled with Bismuth deposits (disguised small crabs) and roaming Abyss creatures.

3. Identify the large crabs and mentally mark their positions. These are the spawners you must avoid at all costs. They are noticeably bigger than the small crabs and behave like mini-bosses.

4. Use Force Palm on the metallic ore deposits scattered around the castle floor to reveal hidden small crabs. Alternatively, approach them closely and they will emerge on their own.

5. Kill only the small crabs. Use single-target attacks. Pick them off one by one. Collect the Bismuth Ore, Abyss Cells, and Abyss Gear Cores that drop from each kill.

6. Watch the yellow XP bar next to your minimap. Each kill contributes XP. When the bar fills, you receive a free Abyss Artifact.

7. Once the area is cleared, fast travel away to a nearby town or location. This forces the enemies to respawn. Then immediately fast travel back to the castle and repeat.

8. Repeat the cycle as many times as needed. There is no limit to how many times you can clear and reset the area, as long as the large crabs remain alive.

Recommended Gear and Preparation

• Bring a strong single-target weapon. One-handed swords, daggers, or thrust-oriented spears work well. Avoid wide-sweeping two-handed weapons.

• Equip defensive gear. The small crabs deal more physical damage than you might expect, especially in groups. Good armor reduces the risk of getting overwhelmed.

• Stock healing items. While individual crabs are not deadly, sustained farming means taking chip damage over time. Bring potions or food.

• Be at least mid-game power level. Players still in Chapter 2 will struggle against the crabs here. It is better to wait until you have access to stronger equipment and a deeper skill tree.

What to Do With Your Loot

After a farming session at Drake's Fall Castle, you will have accumulated a mix of Abyss Cells, Abyss Gear Cores, Bismuth Ore, and Abyss Artifacts from the XP bar. Here is how to make the most of each resource.

Abyss Cells

Take your Abyss Cells to a Witch. Witches are special merchants found throughout Pywel who handle all functions related to Abyss Gear. They can install Abyss Gear, remove it, create new sockets in your equipment, and sell you crafting recipes. The key service for farming is the crafting menu: use Abyss Cells as a primary ingredient to craft new Abyss Gears. For example, a Destruction 1 Abyss Gear requires one Orange-Barred Sulphur Butterfly, one Abyss Cell, and one Garnet. If you have two copies of the same Abyss Gear (such as two Destruction 1 cores), you can combine them at the Witch via the Synthesis option (press R2 on the crafting tab) to create a more powerful level 2 or level 3 version.

Abyss Gear Cores

Cores dropped directly from the crabs can be equipped immediately. Visit a Witch to create a socket on your weapon or armor (this costs silver), then embed the core into the socket. Installing and extracting cores is a free service, but creating new sockets is not. Attack and Destruction cores are the highest priority for boosting Kliff's damage output, while Insight cores improve utility stats.

Bismuth Ore

Bismuth Ore can be sold to vendors for silver, which you will need for socket creation, gear upgrades at the blacksmith, and general supplies. Alternatively, you can donate Bismuth Ore to your Greymane Camp to contribute toward camp upgrades and resource pools. Bismuth is also used in certain mining and crafting recipes.

Abyss Artifacts

Spend your earned Abyss Artifacts in the Skills menu to increase core stats (Health, Stamina, Spirit), unlock new combat abilities, and extend your combo chains. Unlike traditional XP-based leveling, Abyss Artifacts can be refunded and redistributed at any time, so feel free to experiment with different stat distributions.

Camp Farm Tip: Planting Abyss Cell Seeds

If you have accumulated a surplus of Abyss Cells from your farming sessions, there is a secondary use for them beyond Witch crafting. Open your inventory and look for the option to "obtain the seed" from your Abyss Cells. This extracts a plantable seed from the cell material.

Take these seeds to the farm area at your Greymane Camp and plant them in the crop plots. The seeds take a few in-game days to grow. You can speed up the process by sleeping at a campfire or bed to advance time. Once mature, the plants yield additional Abyss-related resources, making this a worthwhile investment that compounds the value of your farming runs at Drake's Fall Castle.

Hernand Troop Occupation

Occasionally, after you have farmed the area several times, Hernand Troops may move into Drake's Fall Castle and temporarily occupy the space. When soldiers are present, the Bismuth Oreback Crabs will not spawn, and the farm will appear empty.

This is a temporary event, not a permanent loss (unlike killing the large crabs). If you arrive at the castle and see soldiers instead of crabs, simply leave and go complete a few quests, explore other areas, or advance the story. After three to four in-game days, the troops will clear out and the Bismuth crab deposits will return to their normal state. This is a separate mechanic from the permanent loss that occurs when you kill the large spawner crabs.

Nearby Point of Interest: Drakesfall Gorge Ruins Puzzle

While farming at Drake's Fall Castle, you may notice the Drakesfall Gorge Ancient Ruins nearby on the plateau. This location contains a puzzle based on the "Red Light, Green Light" mechanic (a reference to the popular show Squid Game). To solve it, step on the stone plate at the edge of the area, which causes the statues of soldiers to raise their swords. Walk toward the king statue at the opposite end, but stop moving whenever the king turns around with its eyes lit up. If the king sees you moving, its eyes turn red and you must restart.

Completing this puzzle activates a nearby Abyss Cresset, which converts into a fast travel point and rewards an Abyss Artifact. This is a nice bonus objective to complete during your farming sessions.

Alternative Farming Location: Elite Pot Enemies

If you have permanently lost access to the Drake's Fall Castle farm by killing the large spawner crabs, there is an alternative location that serves as the next best option for XP farming. This backup spot is located south of the castle area, in a zone marked by a "mysterious energy" presence on the map.

Important: If you find the mysterious energy marker at this location, do not interact with it or attempt to solve it. Resolving the mystery event may lock the farm, similar to how killing the large crabs locks Drake's Fall. Leave the energy marker alone and focus on the enemies.

This alternative location has a couple of fast travel points nearby for easy access. The area contains the highest concentration of elite "pot" enemies in the game. These enemies pop up out of the ground, making them easy to spot. They are vulnerable to heavy attacks and go down relatively quickly.

While this alternative spot does not match Drake's Fall Castle for combined efficiency across all resource types, it is excellent for pure XP farming. The high density of elite pot enemies means you can chain kills rapidly, filling the Abyss Artifact bar quickly. The Epidote and Garnet drops are also valuable for gear progression, making this a solid backup for players who need to recover from losing the primary farm.

Farm Comparison: Drake's Fall vs. Alternative

Tips and Tricks

• Always identify the large crabs first. Before you start killing anything, walk the castle grounds and locate every large crab. Memorize their positions so you can maintain safe distance during combat.

• Use single-target attacks only. This cannot be stressed enough. Switch off any AoE skills, wide-sweep weapons, or explosion-type abilities before entering the farm area.

• Fast travel reset method. After clearing the small crabs, fast travel to any town, then immediately fast travel back to Drake's Fall. The enemies will have respawned, ready for another clear.

• Sell Bismuth Ore for silver. The Bismuth you collect adds up quickly over multiple farming sessions. Selling it provides a steady income to fund socket creation, blacksmith upgrades, and general supplies.

• Stack farming sessions before visiting a Witch. Rather than visiting a Witch after every single clear, do several farming runs first and accumulate a large pile of Abyss Cells and cores. Then visit the Witch once for a big crafting and upgrading session.

• Plant your surplus cells. If you have more Abyss Cells than you can use immediately, extract seeds and plant them at your camp farm. The grown resources compound your farming returns over time.

• Check for soldier occupation. If the castle is occupied by Hernand Troops, do not panic. This is temporary. Complete other objectives for a few in-game days and return later.

• Complete the nearby puzzle. The Drakesfall Gorge Ruins Puzzle (Red Light, Green Light) is right nearby. It grants an Abyss Artifact and activates a fast travel point, both of which are useful.

Related Articles

• Abyss Gear - Full guide to the Abyss Gear augmentation system, stat bonuses, and how to socket cores into equipment

• Abyss Gear Guide - Detailed walkthrough of obtaining, upgrading, and optimizing Abyss Gear setups

• Abyss Cores - Overview of all Abyss Core types and their uses in progression

• Mining - Guide to gathering mineral resources including Bismuth Ore throughout Pywel

• Minerals - Reference for all mineral types, locations, and crafting applications

• Greymane Camp - Your home base where you can plant seeds, donate resources, and access crafting facilities

• Combat Tips - General combat advice and techniques applicable to farming encounters

• Tips and Tricks - Broader collection of helpful advice for progression and exploration