Money Making Guide

Overview

Silver is the primary currency in Crimson Desert, used for everything from buying weapons and armor to upgrading the Greymane Camp, investing at the bank, and purchasing supplies from vendors. The game uses a three-tier currency system: 100 copper equals 1 silver, and 1 gold bar can be exchanged for 500 silver at any bank.

Having a steady income makes progression significantly smoother. This guide walks through every major money-making method available in the game, organized by when you can first access each one. Whether you are just arriving in the Hernand region for the first time or running wagon caravans across Pywel in the late game, there is a method here that fits your current situation.

For a deeper look at currency denominations and gold bar locations, see the Gold and Currency Guide. For detailed farming strategies and exploit breakdowns, see Silver and Gold Farming.

Quick Reference Table

The table below summarizes every method covered in this guide. Methods are listed roughly in the order they become available during a normal playthrough.

Early Game Methods

These methods are available as soon as you arrive in the Hernand region, making them ideal for building your starting funds. Most require nothing more than a mask and some willingness to explore.

Lion Crest Manor Gold Bar

The Lion Crest Manor sits in the hills northwest of Hernand. Inside the manor's ground floor, a gold bar is hidden near the fireplace. This is the single easiest gold bar to obtain in the game and should be one of the first things you do after reaching the Hernand region.

1. Travel to Lion Crest Manor northwest of Hernand.

2. Circle the building and look for a second-storey window you can climb through.

3. Head down the stairs to the ground floor and locate the fireplace.

4. Equip your mask and interact with the fireplace to grab the gold bar.

5. Take the gold bar to the bank (not a regular vendor) and exchange it for 500 silver.

Important: Regular vendors only pay about 190 silver per gold bar. Always exchange gold bars at a bank for the full 500 silver. That 310 silver difference is massive in the early game.

Looting Enemies and Selling Gear

Every enemy in Crimson Desert drops items when defeated. Broken weapons, damaged armor pieces, copper pouches, and miscellaneous loot all have vendor value. Since enemies respawn and can be found everywhere across Pywel, this is the most basic income stream and it scales naturally the more you fight.

A few tips for maximizing loot income:

• Open copper pouches from your inventory. Using the 'Use' option gives you more silver than selling the pouch itself to a vendor.

• Sell damaged and duplicate gear. Broken equipment cannot be repaired, so there is no reason to hold on to it.

• Sell learned recipe pages. Once you have learned a recipe, the physical page stays in your inventory. Sell it for extra coin.

• Use the Disarm mechanic. Shield-guard an enemy attack, trigger a clash, then press R2/RT to knock their weapon loose. Pick it up and sell it.

Archery Contests

Archery Contests are available at Lion Crest Manor (House Alfonso, northwest of Hernand). Each round rewards 80 copper and can be repeated as many times as you like. While the per-round payout is modest, the contest has no entry fee and no risk, making it a reliable option for topping off your copper in the early hours.

Hernand Bank Robbery

The Hernand Bank on the north side of Hernand contains a vault full of strongboxes and floor chests. Robbing it is one of the most lucrative early-game activities, yielding 30 to 55+ silver in a single run.

Before you attempt the robbery, you need two items:

1. Enter the bank through the front door during evening hours to minimize witnesses.

2. Turn left and use the key on the locked storage room door (the key is consumed).

3. Close the door behind you to slow the theft meter.

4. Loot every floor chest and strongbox from the shelves.

5. Head upstairs for additional boxes hidden behind cabinets.

6. Wait for the theft meter (red ring in the top-right corner) to fully deplete.

7. Unequip your mask before walking out. Wearing a mask in public raises suspicion.

8. Open the strongboxes in your inventory rather than selling them directly. The raw silver inside is worth more.

The vault chests respawn after roughly seven in-game days. Each theft reduces your Hernandian Contribution level by 5 EXP, so keep that trade-off in mind. For a full walkthrough, see the Bank Robbery Guide.

In addition to the main robbery quest, you can sneak into the bank vault's back room on your own. Look for the door behind the counter and use a key to open it. Inside you will find paintings, vases, and strongboxes that can all be looted for significant value. The vault contents make this one of the most lucrative single-visit thefts in the game.

Bounty Hunting

Bounty hunting is the most reliable repeatable income source in the early game. Look for purple page markers on your minimap, which indicate wanted posters on wooden columns throughout Hernand and other towns. Examine a poster, track down the target, apprehend them, and deliver them to the local Guard Station.

Bounty rewards range from 1 silver for low-level targets up to 25 silver for the most dangerous outlaws. The combat encounters along the way also drop loot you can sell, making the effective payout per bounty even higher. Prioritize group bounty targets for extra resource drops.

Here are some notable bounties and their payouts:

To get started, speak with Pedro at the Guard Station in Hernand to begin the 'Outlaws in Hernand' faction quest. For a full list and walkthrough, see the Outlaw Bounties Guide.

Diamond Mining

Mining is one of the most consistent early-game income sources, and diamonds are the best thing to mine for profit. The Hernand Highlands Cavern, located southeast of Hernand (west of the Specter's Hideout), contains multiple diamond veins.

Before you can mine, you need a pickaxe. Complete Rhett's Request by speaking with Rhett outside the Smithy in Hernand. Once you have the pickaxe, head to the cavern and mine every diamond vein you find. Each diamond sells for about 2.28 silver, and a typical run produces roughly 11 diamonds plus stalactites worth additional copper. Altogether, a single clear of the cavern yields approximately 25 to 40 silver.

Diamond veins respawn after a few in-game days. Mining requires no combat, making it a good activity between quests when you want silver without spending stamina on fights. For additional locations, see the Best Mining Locations page.

Selling Livestock

You can capture and sell animals for silver, though the payouts are relatively small. Goats, sheep, chickens, and cows can be found near farms and in towns. Chase the animal, long-press the carry input to pick it up, and transport it to the Livestock Black Market vendor located southwest of the Church of Hernand in the southern farmland area.

Horses can also be captured and sold at Saddlewind Ranch north of Hernand. Ride the stolen horse into the marked stable area to complete the sale. Note that stealing owned livestock requires a mask and will negatively affect your reputation, even if no one spots you. Silver values for livestock are low across the board, so this works better as supplementary income than a primary farming method.

Bandit Loot Farming

Certain enemy types drop unusually valuable items. Bandits in the Hernand Highlands drop Crude Devil Masks that sell for roughly 12 silver each. Scarlet Blades at Fort Perwin drop Gas Masks worth about 14 silver apiece. Farming areas with boss fights (like the quarry before the Marni's Excavatron boss) lets you eliminate and loot multiple bandits per run.

Enemies at occupied locations like Fort Perwin continuously spawn until you defeat the area boss. You can delay killing the boss and instead farm the respawning waves indefinitely. Each enemy drops loot, copper pouches, and occasionally trade goods. There is no cap on how many waves appear, so your only limit is inventory space.

Mid Game Methods

These methods become available once you have progressed through the early chapters, expanded your Greymane Camp, and unlocked additional systems like banking and dispatching.

Bank Investments

The bank offers a passive investment system that generates income while you play. To get started, visit the Hernand Bank on the north side of town near the castle entrance and speak with the banker, Grover. Purchase a Personal Strongbox Permit for 100 silver. This one-time fee grants access to all four banks across Pywel.

Once you have the permit, deposit gold bars or silver and select an investment strategy. The bank recalculates your returns approximately every three in-game days.

The Bold (Medium Risk) strategy is the recommended default. It offers strong returns of 15 to 20% with manageable downside. The Conservative strategy produces such minimal returns that it is not worthwhile unless you have an enormous deposit. You can switch between strategies every 15 in-game days.

Save reloading tip: Dividend payouts are randomized each time you load a save. If you save before the dividend cycle completes and reload whenever you get a negative result, you can effectively turn the Aggressive strategy into a guaranteed 50 to 55% return every three days. This makes it by far the most profitable passive income method in the game for players willing to reload.

The high-risk tier can swing from a 50% loss to a 55% gain over a two-day cycle. You can save-scum the results: save your game before the investment matures, rest for 12 hours, check the return, and reload if the outcome is negative. Before you can invest, you need to register a strongbox at the bank. Convert gold bars to silver at a 500:1 ratio or buy gold bars with silver at the same rate.

Dispatch Missions

Dispatch Missions become available once you expand the Greymane Camp to Level 2 by completing the 'Embers of Return' faction questline. You send comrades out on timed missions that generate resources, silver, and trade goods while you continue playing.

Escort and security missions are the key silver generators. Running escort missions (like Oakenshield Manor in Hernand) generates a steady stream of camp silver. Two security missions running simultaneously bring in roughly 7,000 silver per cycle.

Once you have around 10 or more comrades, you can set up a self-sustaining dispatch rotation. Run multiple security missions for silver income alongside cheaper resource-gathering missions (Harvesting, Logging, Mining). The silver earned from security runs covers the cost of the resource missions with profit left over, creating a net-positive passive loop.

In the early stages, prioritize one escort mission for silver income, one harvest or ranching mission for food, and one resource-gathering run for construction materials. This covers the three resource types you need most for camp expansion. For setup details, see the Companion Dispatch Guide.

Stealing and Pickpocketing

Beyond the bank robbery, theft is a profitable (if risky) income source throughout the mid game. You can search homes and faction buildings for coin purses hidden in drawers and artifact items locked in puzzle boxes. Nobles wandering the streets of Hernand sometimes carry gold bars that can be pickpocketed with a mask equipped.

Getting caught activates the Crime System. Guards will pursue you, and if you are jailed, all masks in your inventory will be confiscated (though you keep any gold bars you stole). Each theft also reduces your faction contribution standing. For detailed mechanics, see the Stealing and Theft Guide.

The Demeniss Wildlife Park is the single best location for pickpocketing nobles. Equip a lantern or hold your sword and scan the crowd to spot items in their pockets. Gold bars can appear as the second or third item in a noble's pocket (especially after recent patches). Equip a thieving mask, bump into a target, and press X to steal. Get out quickly when the criminal bar appears.

Demeniss Wildlife Park Noble Massacre

For players willing to take a more aggressive approach, the Demeniss Wildlife Park offers an extremely lucrative farming loop. Jump over the gate, equip a thieving mask, and use explosive arrows to attack the nobles. Killing them drops copper pouches, gold bars, jewelry, and abyss artifacts. Once the guards arrive, do not run. Instead, keep fighting them for massive XP gains. Guard captains alone can fill 30% or more of your XP bar in a single kill. When your wanted level becomes unmanageable, teleport to an Abyss Nexus to reset. Clear your bounty at a church for 100 silver, then repeat the loop.

Late Game Methods

These methods offer the highest returns in the game but require significant progression, infrastructure, or unlocks before they become available.

Wagon Trading and Trade Good Packaging

Trading is one of the most lucrative income streams in Crimson Desert once you invest the time to set it up. The core principle is straightforward: buy goods at a low-value location and sell them at a high-value location. The system unlocks during Chapter 3 when you start finding blue-tier trade goods with a scales icon.

There are two ways to sell trade goods:

Packaging is where the real money is. To package trade goods, you need a minimum stack of 25 identical items. Visit Karl (the Provisions Keeper) at your Greymane Camp and pay 100 copper per item to package them into bulk crates. Load the crates onto your wagon via Brice, then transport them to a trading post that is currently buying at a high rate.

The Golden Rule: Never package your goods if you have fewer than 25 units of the same type. Packaging an insufficient quantity wastes those goods permanently.

To unlock wagon trading, your Greymane Camp must reach Level 2. Complete the 'Embers of Return' questline, then fulfill Brice's request to gain access to the Wagonmaster. You also need an Engineer (Arnold), who is recruited through a multi-step questline starting with 'News of Comrades.'

Once established, wagon trading becomes a self-sustaining money machine. After selling at one trading post, buy discounted goods at that same post and haul them to another post that is paying premium prices. This continuous arbitrage loop generates enormous profit. Check the world map for trading posts labeled 'High' before choosing your route.

Be prepared for combat on the road. Bandits target loaded wagons. For full trading mechanics, see the Trading and Wagon Trading pages.

Beyond hauling packaged trade goods, you can also sell stolen or bandit wagons at a wagon black market vendor located outside Hernand. Merchant wagons are worth between 100 and 200 silver each, while empty wagons sell for roughly 12 silver. Any wagon you find abandoned by the roadside or take from defeated bandits can be driven there for a quick sale.

Five-Card Gambling

The Five-Card minigame, available in Beighen Village north of Hernand in the Pailune region, is one of the fastest ways to accumulate silver in the late game. You visit this area automatically during Chapter 7 (Homecoming), though the village is accessible earlier. Each match requires a 150 silver buy-in.

With save reloading, Five-Card becomes essentially risk-free. Save manually before each match, go all-in immediately on your opening hand, and see whether the AI opponents fold or match your bet. If you win, you collect 300 to 400 silver depending on how many NPCs joined the round. If you lose, reload the save and try again. After winning, leave the table, save, rest at the nearby bonfire, and return for another round with fresh opponents.

For tips on legitimate play and strategy, see the Duo and Five-Card Strategy Guide.

In Duo games, you can catch cheaters for their entire pot. Watch the player pulling sticks from the bucket: if their elbow flares out to 90 degrees (parallel with the shoulder), the toss is legitimate. If the elbow stays tucked at roughly 45 degrees close to the body, they are cheating. Press Y (or spacebar on keyboard) during the brief accusation window to call them out. Their entire pot gets split among the remaining players. The optimal strategy is to check or call with minimal bets and wait for opponents to deal so you can catch them in the act.

Gold Bar Alchemy

Late in the game, you can discover the Alchemy Formula: Gold Bar recipe. This formula lets you craft gold bars at any alchemy cauldron using Brimstone, Mercury, and Silver Ore instead of exchanging 500 silver at the bank. Since the crafting ingredients can be gathered for free by mining and exploring, each crafted gold bar represents a net gain of 500 silver.

Cauldrons can be found in the Shadow's Whisper Cave (north of Hernand, west of Three Saints' Falls) and within Hernand City itself. For all recipe locations, see All Alchemy Recipes.

Other Minigames

Besides Five-Card, several other minigames offer silver rewards:

• Duo (poker variant): Found at marked yellow circles on the map. High-risk, high-reward gambling that can accumulate large winnings over extended sessions.

• Arm Wrestling: Wager silver and test your reflexes. Found at various taverns and gathering spots.

• Unarmed Duels: Bet on fistfights for profit. See the Unarmed Duel page.

• Shot Contests: Both bow and gun variants are available at different locations.

All minigames follow the same basic pattern: the entry fee is your risk, and winning yields a profit above what you paid. Save before participating to eliminate downside.

General Tips

1. Always exchange gold bars at a bank. Vendors pay only 190 silver per bar. Banks pay 500. Never sell gold bars to a merchant.

2. Open coin pouches from your inventory. Use the 'Use' or 'Use All' option on copper pouches. Selling them to a vendor gives far less silver than the amount contained inside.

3. Gift copper pouches to vendors instead of using them. Each gifted pouch gives +5 trust. Building vendor trust lowers shop prices over time, saving you silver on future purchases.

4. Greet merchants daily. Each daily greeting gives +5 trust for free. It takes about 20 daily greetings to max out a merchant's trust level.

5. Rob the bank on a schedule. The vault respawns every seven in-game days. Make regular return trips to Hernand.

6. Check Goldleaf demand trends. Trade good prices fluctuate. Selling when demand is labeled 'High' significantly boosts your profit margin on packaged goods.

7. Use Force Current for mining. Unlocking this skill lets you blow up ore deposits instantly instead of slowly mining them with a pickaxe, saving significant time on mining runs.

8. Save before any risky activity. Whether it is gambling, bank investment cycles, or attempting a pickpocket, a quick manual save protects your progress.

9. Expand your inventory. More carrying capacity means fewer trips to vendors and more loot per farming run. See the How to Get More Inventory Slots guide.

10. Sell at the right vendor. Different vendors pay different prices. Black market vendors buy stolen goods. Regular merchants buy standard loot. Trading posts buy packaged goods.

Snake Tail War Golden Apple Farm

An alternative Golden Apple hedgehog farming location is at Snake Tail War, located right next to Tinkertown. The path from Velia through Hernand City is the recommended approach route. Once you arrive, the entire farm area is a friendly zone with no hostile enemies, making it safe to focus entirely on the hedgehog circuit.

How the Method Works

Use your Focus Light ability and sweep it over hedgehogs in the area. When the light passes over a hedgehog carrying a Golden Apple, it will drop the apple on the ground. You need to equip a Fist Mask to steal the dropped apples, since picking them up is classified as theft.

Farming Circuit

• Start from the pathway entrance near Tinkertown.

• Run through the area, using Focus Light on every hedgehog you encounter.

• Collect dropped Golden Apples with your Fist Mask equipped.

• After completing the circuit, run back to the starting pathway and jump over the fence line.

• Wait a short moment near the entrance for the animals to respawn, then run the loop again.

• If spawns stop appearing after several loops, fast travel out of the area and return to force a full reset.

Profit Breakdown

Selling Golden Apples directly to a vendor yields roughly 114 silver each. For example, 13 apples sold raw brings in about 1,482 silver. However, combining each apple with Gold Ore to craft Gold Bars and then selling those at the Bank for 500 silver each is far more profitable. With 13 Golden Apples and enough Gold Ore, you can craft 8 Gold Bars (worth 4,000 silver at the bank) plus sell 5 leftover apples for 570 silver, totaling 4,570 silver from a single farming session.

Gold Bar Recipe Location: Witches Hideout

To craft Gold Bars from Golden Apples, you first need the Gold Bar recipe. Head to Pell Luin and find the Witches Hideout. From the nearest Abyss Nexus in Pell Luin, travel to the Witches Hideout entrance. Once inside, take a right and go behind the desk. On the bookshelf you will find the Gold Bar formula. Picking up this recipe unlocks the ability to craft Gold Bars at any Witch NPC.

Gold Ore Source: Ironwood

You will also need Gold Ore to craft Gold Bars. One convenient mining location is at Ironwood, where there is an Abyss Nexus nearby for easy fast travel access. The area contains a gold mine with multiple ore deposits, and there is also a diamond mine nearby. Gold ore nodes at this location respawn every 7 in-game days.

Crafting and Selling

Once you have Golden Apples and Gold Ore, travel to a Witch NPC (the Witch Woods location near Hernand City is the most accessible, unlocked through the story). Speak to the Witch and select Craft Abyss Gear, then scroll to Special Items. The recipe uses 1 Golden Apple + Gold Ore = 1 Gold Bar. Regular vendors only pay 190 silver per Gold Bar. Instead, take your Gold Bars to any Bank and sell them for 500 silver each, which is more than double the vendor price.

Golden Apple Hedgehog Farm at Tinkerton Golden Field

The Golden Apple Hedgehog farm near Tinkerton is one of the most efficient money loops in the game, capable of producing roughly one Golden Apple per minute with a fast respawn reset. Combined with the Gold Bar alchemy recipe, this farm turns cheap mining runs into a steady stream of silver.

Location

Open the world map and look for the word Deinis. Just above the S of Deinis you will see Tinkerton. Above Tinkerton there are three open fields. The middle field is the Golden Field, and the bottom-right corner of that middle field is the farming spot. A distinctive slanted water tank at the corner is the dead-giveaway landmark. The spot sits between Deinis and Hernand, making it a short ride from either town.

The area is accessible around Chapter 10 progression, though some players report reaching it earlier depending on area liberation. If the field is empty on arrival, check that you have unlocked travel to that region.

The Spawn Cluster

At the bottom-right corner of the Golden Field is a cluster of three bushes. Up to 20 animals can spawn at this single cluster, including hedgehogs, frogs, porcupines, raccoons, chickens, turkeys, spiders, and centipedes. The spawn table varies by time of day, but the middle of the day tends to roll the highest hedgehog counts. Hedgehogs do spawn at night as well.

Golden Apple Hedgehogs are a rare variant that appear inside this animal cluster. The more regular hedgehogs that roll on a spawn, the higher the chance at least one will be the golden variant. Killing the golden hedgehog drops a Golden Apple on the ground next to its body.

Mask is Required

Picking up the dropped apple is classified as stealing. A red ring warning appears during the pickup animation, and any NPC witness will cost you reputation. An NPC farmer works the Golden Field and more villagers pass by, so a Mask is mandatory to stay anonymous. Any back-alley vendor sells masks, with the easiest one located in Hernand. Bandits on the roads also have a chance to drop masks on defeat.

Farming Loop

1. Equip a Mask before entering the field so you are unrecognised by nearby NPCs.

2. Walk into the cluster of three bushes at the bottom-right corner of the middle field to trigger the spawn. The animals burst out in multiple directions.

3. Identify the Golden Apple Hedgehog (a visibly different variant) and shoot it with a bow or chase it down.

4. Run to the corpse and pick up the dropped apple. The red ring warns you this counts as theft, so double-check no witnesses can see you.

5. Sprint roughly 10 feet away from the bushes, then turn around and run back. Every animal in the cluster respawns instantly, including a chance at another golden variant.

6. Repeat until your inventory is full, then head to a witch vendor to craft Gold Bars.

Avoiding Witnesses

The safest reset direction funnels animals across the field away from where the NPC farmer stands. If you see the red ring turn solid during pickup, an NPC is watching. Back off, wait for them to move, and approach from the opposite side. The mask keeps your identity hidden even if spotted, but only if you are actually wearing it at the moment the theft is seen.

Converting Golden Apples to Gold Bars

The loop is only worth doing because the Alchemy Formula: Gold Bar turns each golden apple into a high-value ingot. The recipe is 1 Golden Apple + 3 Gold Ore, crafted at any Witch vendor on the map. You must first pick up the Alchemy Formula: Gold Bar from a chest inside a specific cave. Two recipes sit in that cave, so grab both while you are there.

Selling Gold Bars at the Bank

Do not sell gold bars to regular NPC vendors. They pay only 190 silver per bar. Instead, cash them in at any Bank in any town for 500 silver per bar, or invest the gold bars directly through the bank investment menu for even higher long-term returns.

Scaling the Farm with Gold Ore

Because each gold bar needs 3 Gold Ore, your apple supply will quickly outpace your ore supply. Mining nodes are scattered across the map, and a special Pickaxe with a chance for bonus ore per swing dramatically improves your throughput. Stockpile ore between hedgehog runs so the crafting step never bottlenecks the loop.

This loop is strong enough that it may be patched in a future update, so take advantage of it while it is still live.

Related Articles

• Silver and Gold Farming (detailed farming strategies and exploit breakdowns)

• Gold and Currency Guide (currency denominations and gold bar locations)

• Trading (full trading system guide)

• Bank (banking and investment details)

• Bounty Hunting (bounty system overview)

• Crime System (how theft and wanted levels work)

• Dispatch Missions (passive income through comrade dispatching)

• Greymane Camp (camp upgrades and provisions)

• Alchemy (crafting system and recipes)

• Mining (ore locations and pickaxe usage)