Kuku Crafting

Overview

Kuku Crafting is a progression system in Crimson Desert that allows players to create specialized equipment at Grimnir's Kilnden Shop (also called the Kuku Shop). Unlocked during Chapter 4 alongside the Kuku Pot, the system expands significantly as players progress through the Witches faction quest line. Each sanctum cleared through the Witches quests rewards one or two Kuku-related blueprints, and most of the system's best items require materials found in the southeastern regions of Delaysia.

The Kuku crafting tree covers a wide range of utility items. Players can build elemental weapons, insect-collecting backpacks, boots with special movement properties (such as running on water or swimming faster), element resistance gear, and combat drones. The crafting station for all Kuku items is located at the Kilnden Workshop, west of Hernand Castle.

Crafting Menu Layout

The Kuku crafting interface at the Kilnden Workshop is organized into four directional categories, each containing a distinct set of recipes:

The Top category focuses on backpack variants that provide utility and combat support. The Left side houses weapon recipes, primarily spears with elemental properties. The Right side contains equipment upgrades for the Kuku Pot itself, including a laser helmet, armor with elemental resistances, and boots with enhanced movement abilities. The Bottom category unlocks last and contains the A-Tag mech recipes, which become available near the end of the main story.

Kuku Pack

The Kuku Pack is the base backpack item that is a crafting ingredient for nearly every advanced Kuku creation. It can be upgraded into nine different utility items at the Kilnden Shop. To craft a Kuku Pack, players need the Blueprint I: Kuku Pack, which is obtained by completing the Sanctum of Penitence faction quest.

Obtaining Backpacks

Kuku Packs require standard backpacks as a crafting material. Any backpack will work, whether looted from enemies or taken from friendly NPCs. A quick method is to visit Hernand and look for any NPC carrying a backpack. Kick them to make them drop it, then pick it up. Once you start investing in Kuku crafting, stop selling backpacks and funnel them into Kuku Pack production instead.

Kuku Watcher Pack

The Kuku Watcher Pack is one of the strongest items in the game. When activated, it summons two autonomous drones that fight alongside the player. One drone behaves like a rifle, firing precise shots at range, while the other functions like a shotgun with spread attacks. The drones are especially powerful against bosses because they build the stagger meter automatically without requiring any input from the player. They cannot be damaged by enemies, have a long active duration, and the cooldown between uses is very short.

Blueprint

The blueprint for the Kuku Watcher Pack comes from the Witches quest line. It is rewarded upon completing one of the sanctums (the exact sanctum varies, but finishing the full Witches quest line guarantees all blueprints). Players should aim to complete the entire quest line, as it also unlocks many other powerful Kuku recipes.

Crafting Materials

Abyss Cell #0

Abyss Cells numbered #0 are larger than regular Abyss Cells and are used exclusively in specific Kuku crafting recipes. To obtain one, look for special destructible walls scattered throughout the world. Navigate to the end of the puzzle area, use Focus Strike on the wall, and retrieve the cell from inside. The closest Abyss Cell #0 to Hernand is located just south of the city, below a small shack. Whenever you spot a similar breakable wall later in the game, use Focus Strike on it to collect additional numbered Abyss Cells.

Farming Materials in Delaysia

The best farming location for both Mechanical Components and insects is a specific road junction in Delaysia. This spot is ideal because it provides everything needed in one place:

• Clockwork insects: Equip your Kuku Pack before arriving. The pack automatically draws in nearby insect robots and stores them as crafting ingredients. This junction spawns back-to-back groups of insects very quickly, making it the fastest known farming spot.

• Small robots: Kill the small robots in the area for Small Batteries (you will need 200 for various recipes).

• Large robots: Destroy the larger robots along the roads for Electrical Components and Mechanical Components.

Elemental Spitters

The Frost Spitter, Flame Spitter, and Shock Spitter are Kuku-crafted elemental backpack weapons. Each one functions as a wearable weapon that unleashes elemental attacks. Of the three, the Frost Spitter stands out as the strongest in testing; it rapidly shatters frozen targets and can even turn bodies of water into ice, allowing players to create ice paths across rivers.

Required Enemy Pack Drops

Each Spitter requires a specific enemy-dropped backpack as a key ingredient. These are the same elemental packs that certain enemies use against the player in combat:

The drop chance for these packs is small, so players need to actively target enemies carrying elemental backpacks and make sure to loot them after every kill. Even though the basic version of the pack cannot be used directly, it is a crafting reagent for the Kuku version.

Additional Spitter Materials

Beyond the enemy pack drop, each Spitter also requires:

• Electrical Components and Cogwheels, farmed from robots at the Delaysia junction described above.

• A Sanctum Core matching the Spitter's element. Cores are obtained by completing a sanctum and then turning the dial device 360 degrees using the light from your sword. For example, the Core of Revelation comes from the Sanctum of Revelation.

Kuku Rocket Pack

The Kuku Rocket Pack is a craftable jetpack that becomes available after reaching Chapter 8. It is equipped in the back slot and enables gliding across large distances as well as vertical boosts, though it consumes stamina while active. The Rocket Pack is especially important for Unkar, who does not have a glider and relies on the jetpack as his only way to stay airborne. Other characters like Oongka also benefit from the Rocket Pack for improved aerial mobility, and it can be further upgraded for better performance.

How to Unlock

To unlock the Rocket Pack recipe, travel to Pellun City after reaching Chapter 8. Find the faction quest board and accept the quest called "Fire Breathing Pack." Follow the quest to find the NPC who gives you the recipe item. After receiving the recipe, open your item menu and interact with it to learn the blueprint. The recipe will then appear in your Knowledge tab, and you can craft the Rocket Pack at the Kilnden Workshop.

Crafting Materials

Blueprint Unlock Sources

Kuku blueprints come from several different sources spread across the game. Most blueprints are tied to the Witches and Sanctum questline, but faction quests, research institutions, and merchants also provide key recipes.

Witches and Sanctum Questline

The single largest source of Kuku blueprints is the Witches faction questline. There are 15 sanctums tied to the witch questline, plus one additional sanctum encountered during Chapter 9's main story. To earn a blueprint from a sanctum, players must liberate it, fully complete the interior puzzle, and solve the final challenge. Each completed sanctum rewards one or more Kuku blueprints. Finishing the entire Witches questline guarantees access to the majority of Kuku recipes.

Research Institutions

Certain Kuku blueprints are locked behind research institutions found across Pywel. These institutions house specific researchers who unlock blueprints related to their field of study. Seek out research institutions in major settlements and interact with the researchers inside to add new recipes to your Knowledge tab.

Crimson Desert Witch Merchant

The Crimson Desert witch sells a Kuku upgrade for 999 silver. Purchasing this upgrade leads to a merchant projection that provides an additional crafting recipe. This is a straightforward purchase rather than a quest reward, so players should bring enough silver before visiting.

Faction Quests

Two of the most important Kuku blueprints are locked behind specific faction quests rather than the Witches questline:

• Jetpack (Rocket Pack): Requires reaching Chapter 8. Accept the faction quest "Fire Breathing Pack" from the quest board in Pellun City. This quest is designed for Unkar, who does not have a glider and relies on the Rocket Pack for aerial movement.

• A-Tag (Mech Path): Requires reaching Chapter 11, near the end of the main story. Accept the Iron Flame Orcs faction quest called "Pot and Weapons." Completing this quest unlocks the A-Tag category, which gives access to various mech vehicle crafting recipes.

Unlocking Recipes via the Witches

The majority of Kuku crafting recipes come from the Witches faction quest line. This quest chain spans four regions and involves clearing sanctums, defeating bosses, and eventually unlocking a fifth and final Witch location. There are 15 sanctums tied to the witch questline, plus one additional sanctum encountered during Chapter 9's main story. Each time a sanctum is restored, the player receives one or more Kuku-related blueprints.

Types of Recipes Unlocked

The Witches quest line provides blueprints for a wide variety of Kuku items:

• Elemental weapons: Spears and other arms imbued with frost, flame, or shock damage.

• Specialized boots: Boots with unique traversal benefits such as running on water or swimming faster. Some of these can also be found as waterfall exploration rewards.

• Element resistance gear: Equipment granting resistance to frost, fire, or other elements, which is particularly useful when exploring extreme temperature regions.

• Insect-collecting backpack: A pack that passively gathers nearby clockwork insects as you walk, removing the need to collect them manually.

• Combat packs: The Watcher Pack, elemental Spitters, and other combat-oriented backpack items.

Witch Locations

There are four main Witches, each found in a different region. The main story introduces the first Witch in Hernand during Chapter 5, and from there players can visit the remaining three in any order:

Each Witch also sells unique Abyss Gear blueprints and one Skill Point. Buy all available blueprints and skill points from every Witch you visit.

Sanctum Completion Tips

• Each sanctum requires restoring a device by finding missing power cubes and pillar pieces. These are shown on your mini map, so explore the area thoroughly.

• You can seal cubes and pillars into the Kuku Pot from a distance, even through grates and holes in walls. Pull them out at the puzzle device when you are ready to restore it.

• Most sanctums have a hidden chest behind an iron grate. Look for lanterns to light (or turn off) near the grate, or breakable walls covered in green leaves that can be opened with Force Palm.

• Floors, walls, and ceilings in sanctums are often crumbling. Touching them can reveal hidden rooms containing pillar pieces, cubes, or secret chests.

• After restoring a sanctum, look for a dial device. Turn it 360 degrees using the light from your sword to receive a Sanctum Core, which is needed for crafting Spitters.

• Do not waste food healing during liberation fights. If you die, you respawn at full health and keep your liberation progress.

The Fifth Witch

After completing all four regional Witch quest lines and collecting all four Witch Tokens, a fifth and final Witch location is revealed at the Waywood Woods. Bring all four tokens to the sealed door to unlock it. Inside, the fifth Witch thanks you and leaves, but the location contains a chest with the Ice Wing Plate Cloak, a recipe for a stamina item, and a cauldron for crafting. This location also is a personal hub: it has a bed, crafting stations, and other amenities inside a hidden tree house.

Additional Kuku Items

Beyond the Watcher Pack, Rocket Pack, and elemental Spitters, the Kuku crafting tree includes several other useful items:

Kuku Spears

The Left side of the crafting menu contains weapon recipes focused on spears with elemental properties. Notable spears include:

• Lightning Spear: A spear infused with electrical energy, effective against enemies weak to shock damage.

• Propeller Spear: A unique weapon that generates wind, useful for both combat knockback effects and environmental interactions.

Each spear requires specific materials from Delaysia and a corresponding blueprint unlocked through the Witches questline or research institutions.

Enhanced Kuku Pot Equipment

The Right side of the crafting menu upgrades the Kuku Pot into specialized equipment:

• Laser Helmet: A headpiece that fires lasers, adding a ranged attack option to the player's toolkit.

• Element-Resistant Armor: Protective gear that reduces damage from specific elements such as heat, cold, or boss-specific elemental attacks. Different armor variants correspond to different resistances.

• Mobility Boots: Boots that improve movement abilities, including an enhanced double jump and faster glide speeds. These boots stack with other traversal upgrades.

Gardening Pack

The Gardening Pack is a backpack variant from the Top category. When equipped, it provides utility related to plant gathering and garden maintenance. This pack is useful for players who invest heavily in cooking or alchemy, as it streamlines the process of collecting botanical ingredients.

Insect Gatherer Pack

The Insect Gatherer Pack automatically collects nearby clockwork insects as the player moves through Delaysia. Rather than stopping to pick up each insect individually, this pack passively vacuums them up in a radius around the player. Since many Kuku recipes require hundreds of insects, the Insect Gatherer Pack dramatically reduces the time spent farming this resource.

A-Tag (Kuku Mech)

The A-Tag is the final Kuku crafting category, located at the bottom of the crafting menu. It provides blueprints for mech vehicles, which are among the most powerful and visually impressive items in the game. Unlike other Kuku items, the A-Tag category does not unlock through the Witches questline.

How to Unlock

The A-Tag recipes require reaching Chapter 11, which is near the end of the main story. Once Chapter 11 is available, look for the Iron Flame Orcs faction quest called "Pot and Weapons" on the faction quest board. Completing this quest unlocks the A-Tag crafting path and reveals the available mech blueprints at the Kilnden Workshop.

Mech Vehicles

The A-Tag category offers multiple mech vehicle options. These mechs serve as both combat tools and traversal aids in the late game. Because the A-Tag is the last Kuku category to open, players should focus on backpacks, weapons, and equipment upgrades during the earlier chapters and treat the mech path as an endgame goal.

Key Resources

Kuku crafting draws on a variety of specialized materials. This summary lists the most important ones and where to find them:

Tips

• Equip a Kuku Pack before farming in Delaysia so insects are automatically collected as you fight robots. This lets you gather all materials in a single trip.

• Stop selling backpacks once you start Kuku crafting. Every backpack becomes a potential Kuku Pack, which is needed for the Watcher Pack, Rocket Pack, and other upgrades.

• The Kuku Watcher Pack trivializes many boss fights. The drones build stagger automatically and cannot be destroyed, providing free damage with no risk.

• For Spitter farming, prioritize enemies with visible elemental backpacks. The drop rate is low, so target them consistently whenever they appear.

• The Frost Spitter can freeze water surfaces. Use it to create shortcuts across rivers instead of looking for bridges or swimming.

• Complete the entire Witches quest line rather than stopping after a few sanctums. The later blueprints include some of the most powerful items in the game.

• The Kuku Rocket Pack is critical for Oongka gameplay. Without it, Oongka has no way to stay airborne, which makes certain areas much harder to navigate.

• When examining recipe items received from quests, remember to open your inventory and select "Examine" on the item. The recipe will not appear in your Knowledge tab until you do this.

Related Articles

• Kuku Pot

• Kilnden Workshop

• Grimnir

• Sanctums

• Oongka

• Abyss Gear

• Crafting