Overview
The Eastern Witch's Fan is one of the most unusual weapons in Crimson Desert. It is a two-handed weapon with its own completely unique moveset that no other weapon in the game shares. On its own, the fan is a decent melee option with stylish animations and solid crowd control. But what makes it truly special is a mechanical interaction that borders on an exploit: certain attacks from the fan cost zero spirit, yet they still trigger element imbue Abyss Gears equipped on your other weapons. This means you can spam imbue-enhanced attacks endlessly without ever running out of spirit.
The weapon also has a unique secondary ability. It can change the in-game weather on demand, clearing all clouds in a large radius around you. This ability has a 10-minute cooldown but is the only player-controlled weather manipulation in the game. For a build-focused player, though, the zero-spirit imbue mechanic is the main attraction.
How to Get the Eastern Witch's Fan
The Eastern Witch's Fan is found on the island of Serpent Marsh, located south of Demeniss and west of Dlesia. Getting to the exact chest location requires some exploration and a specific traversal ability.
Step-by-Step Location Guide
1. Travel to Serpent Marsh. The island is south of Demeniss on the world map. You can reach it by boat or fast travel if you have already discovered the area.
2. Look for a waterfall overlooking a valley. The waterfall is a prominent landmark, so scan the terrain for falling water as you explore the island.
3. At the waterfall, find the ledge with a cave entrance. The entrance is partially blocked by a large rock. It is not immediately obvious, so look carefully along the cliff face near the waterfall's base.
4. Use Focus Force Palm on the rock blocking the cave entrance. This is a traversal ability that shatters certain obstacles. If you do not have Focus Force Palm yet, you will need to progress further in the story or skill tree before returning.
5. Enter the cave. Inside, you will find a chest containing the Eastern Witch's Fan.
The cave is a one-time discovery. Once you open the chest, the fan is added to your inventory permanently. There is no quest prerequisite beyond having the Focus Force Palm ability.
The Zero-Spirit Imbue Mechanic
This is the core reason to build around the Eastern Witch's Fan. Here is how the interaction works:
How It Works
Element imbue Abyss Gears are designed to add elemental damage to your attacks at the cost of spirit per hit. Normally, when you swing a weapon with an imbue gear active, each hit drains a portion of your spirit bar. Once spirit runs out, the imbue effect stops until your spirit regenerates.
The Eastern Witch's Fan has certain attacks in its moveset that the game flags as costing zero spirit. This is likely an intentional design choice related to the fan's unique animations, but the side effect is significant: when these zero-cost attacks connect, the game still checks for imbue procs from Abyss Gears equipped on your other weapon slots. The imbue fires, the elemental damage is applied, but no spirit is deducted because the base attack cost is zero. You can repeat this indefinitely.
In practical terms, this means you can spam element-imbued attacks as fast as the fan's animation allows, with no resource management whatsoever. Every swing procs the imbue, every imbue deals bonus elemental damage, and your spirit bar stays full the entire time.
Important Limitations
The zero-spirit attacks are specific moves in the fan's combo chain, not every single swing. You need to learn which attacks in the moveset have zero cost and loop those specific sequences.
The imbue Abyss Gears must be slotted on a different weapon, not on the fan itself. This is critical because the fan has no Abyss Gear slots of its own.
The infinite imbue interaction works best against enemies that let you combo freely. Enemies with frequent interrupts, knockbacks, or hyper-armor attacks can break your combo chain and force you out of the zero-cost loop.
Recommended Abyss Gears
Since the Eastern Witch's Fan has no Abyss Gear slots, all of your Abyss Gears must be equipped on other weapons in your loadout. The key is to slot element imbue gears on a secondary weapon, then switch to the fan for combat. The imbue effect carries over from the slotted weapon and triggers on the fan's attacks.
Element Imbue Gears
The specific element you choose matters less than having an imbue gear at all. Each element has situational advantages:
Fire Imbue: Adds burning damage over time. Good for sustained damage against tanky enemies that take a long time to kill.
Ice Imbue: Slows enemies on hit. Pairs well with the fan's combo-heavy playstyle because slowed enemies are easier to keep in your combo chain.
Lightning Imbue: Adds burst damage on proc. Effective against groups because lightning can chain between nearby targets.
Poison Imbue: Stacks a damage-over-time effect. Particularly strong against bosses with large health pools where the poison has time to tick.
Refer to the Abyss Core Synthesis Guide for information on how to obtain specific element imbue Abyss Gears through the synthesis system.
Supporting Gears on Other Slots
Since the fan itself has no gear slots, you have your other weapon's full Abyss Gear capacity available. After slotting the element imbue, fill remaining slots with damage-boosting gears such as increased attack power, Critical Rate enhancements, or elemental damage amplifiers. These secondary gears further scale the imbue damage you deal with the fan.
Build Setup
Weapon Slots
The recommended loadout uses the Eastern Witch's Fan as a secondary two-handed weapon alongside a primary one-handed sword. The one-handed sword carries your Abyss Gears (including the element imbue) and serves as your fallback weapon for situations where the fan is less effective. When you swap to the fan for combat, the imbue from the sword's gear slots still activates on the fan's zero-cost attacks.
You can also use a different primary weapon if you prefer. The important thing is that whichever weapon holds your Abyss Gears stays in your loadout so the imbue effect remains active when you switch to the fan.
Skill Priorities
The fan benefits from general melee damage passives in Kliff's skill tree. Prioritize:
Two-handed weapon damage nodes: Direct damage increases for the fan's attacks.
Combo extension passives: Anything that lets you chain more hits in a combo helps you stay in the zero-cost loop longer.
Spirit regeneration: Even though the exploit gives you zero-cost attacks, having fast spirit regen helps during transitions when you are not in the optimal combo chain.
Elemental damage passives: If your skill tree has nodes that increase elemental damage, these directly amplify your imbue procs.
Accessories and Armor
Prioritize attack power and elemental damage on accessories. Critical Rate is also valuable because critical hits on imbue attacks deal amplified elemental damage. For armor, choose pieces that balance survivability with offensive stats. The fan is a melee weapon, so you will be in close range and need to absorb some hits. See the Best Accessories Guide for detailed recommendations.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Infinite element imbue damage with zero spirit cost, giving you unlimited sustained elemental DPS
Unique moveset with stylish animations and solid crowd control capabilities
Weather manipulation ability (clears clouds in a large radius, 10-minute cooldown) is useful for exploration and certain quests
No resource management required once the build is set up; just attack continuously
Works with any element imbue, giving flexibility to adapt to enemy weaknesses
Weaknesses
The fan has no Abyss Gear slots of its own, meaning you lose versatility compared to weapons that can carry their own gears
The zero-spirit imbue only works with specific attacks in the combo chain, requiring you to learn and maintain the correct sequence
Less effective against enemies that frequently interrupt your combos with knockbacks or hyper-armor attacks
Requires a secondary weapon with Abyss Gear slots to carry the imbue gears, which means your loadout is partially locked in
The weapon's location requires Focus Force Palm, gating it behind story or skill progression
Situational Use Cases
Best Scenarios
The fan build excels in prolonged fights against enemies that are weak to a specific element. Boss fights where you can combo freely without frequent interruptions are ideal. Large groups of standard enemies also melt quickly because every swing procs elemental damage, and the fan's wide arcs hit multiple targets per combo.
Swap to Your Primary Weapon When
Facing enemies with high interrupt frequency that break your combo chains before you reach the zero-cost attacks
You need the utility of Abyss Gears that only work on the weapon they are slotted into (some gears have weapon-specific effects)
The enemy is resistant or immune to the element you have imbued, making the imbue procs ineffective
You need ranged options; the fan is purely melee with no ranged attacks
Weather Manipulation
The fan's weather-clearing ability is situational but unique. It clears all clouds in a large radius around you, instantly changing the local weather to clear skies. The 10-minute cooldown makes it impractical for constant use, but it can be valuable during exploration segments where weather affects visibility, or during specific quests that have weather-dependent conditions. No other weapon or ability in the game offers on-demand weather control.
Related Articles
Eastern Witch's Fan - Detailed weapon page with stats and moveset information
Two-Handed Weapons - Overview of all two-handed weapon types in the game
Abyss Gears - Full guide to Abyss Gear types and how they interact with weapons
Abyss Core Synthesis Guide - How to farm and synthesize specific Abyss Gears
Skills - Complete skill tree breakdown for all characters
Explosive Arrow Build - Another powerful endgame build using the bow
Equipment Refinement - How to upgrade and refine your gear for better substats
Best Accessories Guide - Optimal accessory recommendations for various builds