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How to Increase Health and Spirit
March 27, 2026 at 11:25 AM
Fixed 5 broken wikilinks: abyss-artifacts -> abyss-artifact, artifacts -> artifacts-and-abyss-fragments, skill-tree -> skills, kliff-macduff -> kliff, ancient-ruins-challenges-challenges -> ancient-ruins-challenges
Crimson Desert does not use a traditional experience-point leveling system. Instead, your character's core stats (Health, Stamina, and Spirit) are upgraded manually through the Skill Tree using a currency called Abyss Artifacts. The same Abyss Artifacts are also used to unlock combat skills, so spending them wisely is important.
On the Skill Tree screen, the three large dials along the outer edges correspond to the three primary stats. Each dial can be activated multiple times to incrementally raise that stat.
Location: Right edge of the Skill Tree, marked with a cube icon.
Maximum upgrades: 18 times.
Effect: Each upgrade increases Kliff's maximum Health, allowing him to survive more damage before being defeated.
Location: Left edge of the Skill Tree, marked with a tree icon.
Maximum upgrades: 14 times.
Effect: Each upgrade increases the Spirit gauge, letting you use more special abilities like Force Palm techniques and elemental attacks before running out.
Location: Top of the Skill Tree, marked with a wolf icon.
Maximum upgrades: 16 times.
Effect: Each upgrade increases maximum Stamina, which governs sprinting, dodging, climbing, swimming, blocking, gliding, heavy attacks, and most melee skills.
The first few upgrades for each stat are cheap, but the Abyss Artifact cost increases progressively with each additional point you invest in the same stat. Because of this scaling cost, it is more efficient to spread your early Artifact spending across all three stats rather than dumping everything into one.
For example, getting one point in Health, one in Spirit, and one in Stamina early on provides good value because the first increment of each stat costs the least. Later increments become increasingly expensive.
Abyss Artifacts are acquired from a variety of sources across the game. Here are the main ways to collect them:
Defeating enemies: Most enemy groups drop at least a small number of Abyss Artifacts when killed.
Completing quests: Main story quests, side quests, and Faction Quests all reward Abyss Artifacts.
Ancient Ruins puzzles: Solving the puzzles inside Ancient Ruins rewards a significant number of Artifacts. These are tied to Mysterious Energies on the map.
Sealed Abyss Artifacts: Hidden collectibles scattered across Pywel. Finding and opening these provides a reliable one-time batch of Artifacts.
Vendor purchases: Some merchants sell Abyss Artifacts directly for copper or silver.
Many experienced players recommend prioritizing Health and Stamina upgrades in the early game over combat skills. The reason is that combat skills can often be learned for free by watching NPCs or enemies perform them (the Watch and Learn system), while stat increases can only come from spending Artifacts.
Get at least one or two points in each stat during Chapters 1 through 3 to build a solid foundation.
After that, prioritize Stamina if you rely on dodging and melee combos, or Health if you prefer a tanky playstyle.
Spirit can be raised later unless you heavily rely on Force Palm skills and special abilities in combat.
Health, Stamina, and Spirit upgrades are shared across all three playable characters: Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane. Investing in a stat once applies the same bonus to everyone. You do not need to upgrade each character separately.
