Revision 7

Overview

Greysoul Howling is an Abyss Core in Crimson Desert that calls forth the phantom of Goyen, unleashing a sweeping strike of shadow energy across the target area. It becomes available after completing Chapter 9 of the main story and is widely considered one of the best abyss cores in the game for melee builds.

How It Works

When Greysoul Howling is equipped, performing a Turning Slash creates an afterimage of Kliff that strikes again immediately after the initial attack. This phantom follows the same trajectory as the player's turning slash and lands its own separate hit. The result is that every turning slash effectively delivers two full hits, with the phantom replicating the motion and impact of the original swing.

The afterimage appears as a translucent shadow of the player character, making it visually clear when the core is active. The second strike lands almost simultaneously with the first, and it applies physical stagger independently from the main weapon swing.

Damage Output

Testing by community players shows the phantom's sweeping strike deals approximately 65% of the main-hand hit's damage. This is not quite a full doubling of turning slash damage, but it represents a massive boost to overall DPS. The phantom's hit can also score critical hits independently from the player's attack, further increasing its value when paired with high critical rate builds.

In practical tests, the afterimage follow-up alone has been shown to take roughly half of an enemy's health bar, and that is without counting damage from the initial turning slash itself. For players who build around turning slash, Greysoul Howling is the single highest-impact abyss core available.

Properties

Shadow Clone Mechanics

When Turning Slash is performed with Greysoul Howling equipped, the ability summons a shadow clone of Goyen that repeats the entire turning slash animation immediately after Kliff's swing. This effectively doubles the hit of the attack, with the shadow clone dealing its own independent damage tick. The clone appears as a dark, spectral silhouette that mimics the player's exact motion.

This doubling effect is what makes Greysoul Howling one of the highest-damaging Abyss Gears in the game. Because the shadow clone triggers on every Turning Slash (not just specific combos), it synergizes with any build that prioritizes Turning Slash spam during boss stun windows. The clone damage scales with the player's attack stat and benefits from all Turning Slash damage modifiers (such as Turning Slash Expertise and Ground Search from the skill tree).

The shadow clone is a visual reference to the boss fight where Greysoul Howling is obtained. The clone takes the form of Goyen himself, the original wielder of the Fated Shadow sword, who fights with a Greymane shield and full armor set. Even after his defeat, his spirit continues to fight alongside the player through this ability.

Three-Sword Build Integration

Greysoul Howling is a cornerstone of the "Three-Sword Build" popularized in endgame optimization. The build uses dual-wield swords for crowd control and spirit generation, then swaps to a two-handed sword (using the Quick Swap skill at level 5 Armed Combat) during boss stun windows to spam Turning Slash with Greysoul Howling active. The loop is:

1. Fight with dual-wield swords to clear smaller enemies and build up spirit.

2. When a boss gets stunned (goes down on one knee), use Quick Swap to switch to the two-handed sword.

3. Spam Turning Slash repeatedly while the boss is stunned. Each slash triggers the Greysoul Howling shadow clone for double damage.

4. Switch back to dual-wield once the stun window closes and repeat the cycle.

For maximum Turning Slash damage, stack the following mods on the two-handed sword: Greysoul Howling, Ground Search (from Urden in the main story), Frostbite (from Beloth the Darksworn), Malicebane III (12% extra damage to mighty foes), and a Critical Rate 3 mod. If the sword has inherent Critical Rate, the mod stacks with it.

How to Obtain

There are two ways to get Greysoul Howling:

• Fated Shadow Sword: The Fated Shadow one-handed sword comes with Greysoul Howling pre-slotted. This sword is found in a cave at the Nest of Valor in the Forebearer's Barrens, near Dry Valley in the Abyss region. It only appears after completing the "Unwavering Steps" main quest in Chapter 9 and defeating the boss Goyen. After the boss fight, instead of exiting to the left, turn right to find a hidden room containing the sword.

• Crafting: Can be crafted separately at any Witch vendor using Destruction I x1, Swift I x1, Haste I x1, and Insight I x1. Greysoul Howling can also be extracted from the Fated Shadow and placed on any other weapon.

Build Synergy

Greysoul Howling is the cornerstone of turning slash builds. It pairs exceptionally well with:

• Momentum - Increases turning slash damage further, stacking with the phantom's bonus

• Element imbument abyss gears (fire, lightning, ice) - The phantom's strike benefits from element imbument damage applied to turning slash

• Critical rate from accessories - Since the phantom can crit independently, high critical rate effectively doubles the benefit

• Nature's Echo - Adds even more follow-up hits to attacks, creating a devastating chain with the phantom

Tips

• After defeating Goyen in Chapter 9, do not leave through the exit on the left. Turn right to find the hidden room with the Fated Shadow sword and Greysoul Howling.

• If you want to use Greysoul Howling on a weapon other than the Fated Shadow, extract it at a Witch and socket it into your preferred weapon.

• The spirit cost of activation means you should carry healing items that restore both health and spirit for extended boss fights.

See Also

• Fated Shadow - Sword that comes with Greysoul Howling pre-slotted

• Turning Slash - The skill that triggers Greysoul Howling's effect

• Abyss Gear - Overview of all abyss gear

• Momentum - Companion turning slash abyss gear