How Many Skill Points Can You Get

Overview

In Crimson Desert, Abyss Artifacts function as skill points. Every ability unlock and upgrade in Kliff's skill tree costs one or more Abyss Artifacts. Since there is no traditional XP-based leveling, knowing how many artifacts you can collect and whether you can fully max out the skill tree is one of the most common questions new players have.

The short answer: there is no hard cap on total Abyss Artifacts. Fixed sources (Sealed Artifacts, quests, bosses, puzzles) provide a large but finite pool, and the enemy kill meter provides an unlimited supply on top of that. You can unlock every skill in the game if you are willing to grind.

Fixed Sources of Abyss Artifacts

These are one-time sources. Once collected, they cannot be repeated.

Sealed Abyss Artifacts

There are 141 Sealed Abyss Artifacts hidden across every region of Pywel. See the Sealed Abyss Artifact Locations article for a complete map. Each one unlocks a challenge, and completing the challenge grants either an Abyss Artifact or an Abyss Gear piece (equipment slot). Not all 141 yield skill points; a portion rewards gear instead.

Breakdown by Region

Main Quest Rewards

Several main story chapters reward Abyss Artifacts directly upon completion or through boss defeats. Confirmed examples include Chapter 2 (Flames of Greed) and Chapter 4 (Gate to the Otherworld). Major boss fights throughout the campaign also drop artifacts as part of their loot.

Greymane Rumor Quests

Greymane faction quests labeled as Rumor investigations each reward one Abyss Artifact upon completion. These are found at the Greymane Camp notice board and through NPC conversations.

Abyss Puzzles and Skybridge Islands

Solving environmental Abyss Puzzles rewards artifacts. The Skybridge network consists of individual island puzzles, and each completed island grants an Abyss Artifact plus unlocks a fast travel point. These double as exploration milestones on your way to map completion.

Unlimited Source: Enemy Kill Meter

On top of the fixed sources above, every enemy kill in the game contributes to the yellow artifact meter beneath the minimap. When the meter fills, you receive one Abyss Artifact and it resets. This process has no limit and can be repeated indefinitely.

Stronger enemies fill the meter faster than weak ones. Bosses and elite enemies contribute significantly more progress per kill. The meter retains partial progress between encounters, so you never lose progress from one fight to the next.

Practically, this means that even if you miss Sealed Artifacts or skip side content, you can always make up the difference by killing more enemies. The grind does slow down in the late game as the meter requires more kills to fill at higher artifact totals, but it never stops working.

Can You Max All Skills?

Yes. Because the enemy kill meter is unlimited, you can eventually unlock and fully upgrade every skill in Kliff's skill tree. The fixed sources (141 Sealed Artifacts, quest rewards, puzzles, vendors) provide enough to build a strong loadout through normal play, and the grinding meter covers anything beyond that.

There is also a respec option. Faded Abyss Artifacts, craftable from Chapter 4 onward, let you refund all invested points and reallocate them. So even before you have enough artifacts to fill every slot, you can freely experiment with builds and reset as needed.

Multiple Playable Characters

Keep in mind that Damiane and Oongka, the two additional playable characters unlocked during the story, have their own skill trees. Artifacts you invest in Kliff's tree do not carry over to theirs. If you want all three characters fully maxed, you will need substantially more artifacts than just one tree's worth.

Efficient Artifact Accumulation

If your goal is to accumulate as many artifacts as possible in a single playthrough, follow this general priority:

1. Complete main quests and defeat every boss (guaranteed artifact drops)

2. Pick up every Sealed Abyss Artifact you pass while exploring (purple minimap icons)

3. Do Greymane Rumor quests for easy one-artifact-each rewards

4. Solve Skybridge island puzzles for artifacts plus fast travel points

5. Farm the Chapter 3 Totem spot before fighting the Reed Devil boss

6. Clear enemy camps and Blockaded Areas, leaving Infirmaries intact for respawns

7. Buy from vendors when Silver is not needed for other purposes

Tips

• Do not sell Abyss Artifacts. They sit in your inventory but cannot be replaced once sold. Silver is easier to earn through bounties and the Archery Contest.

• The Guiding Light sword ability highlights Sealed Abyss Artifacts from a distance. Use it while horseback riding through new areas.

• Faded Abyss Artifacts (respec items) become craftable in Chapter 4 via Grunvar at the Scholastone Research Institute. Get the recipe early so you can experiment freely.

• The enemy kill meter fills faster against tougher enemies. Farming Blockaded Areas in Demeniss and Pailune is more efficient per kill than farming early-game Hernand camps late in the game.

• Abyss Gear from Sealed Artifact challenges is not wasted. These slot into weapons and armor for stat bonuses, so every sealed pickup is worth collecting even if it does not give a skill point.

Renewable Skill Points After the Cap

The skill points earned from Abyss Crescents and sky-island puzzles are finite (there is a fixed number placed in the world), but the game does give you one renewable source once you progress far enough. The Time-Worn Ruins can be assigned as a dispatch mission target, and the reward is Abyss Artifacts, which convert one-to-one into skill points. The dispatch turnaround is slow, but it runs indefinitely in the background while you play, so it keeps topping you up long after you have cleared every fixed puzzle on the map.