Necklace of Lightning

Overview

Necklace of Lightning is a necklace accessory in Crimson Desert. It is classified as Legendary (Tier 5) equipment.

A necklace imbued with the power of lightning. When worn, a faint electrical current flows through it, constantly sharpening the wearer's senses. This effect enables rapid detection of an opponent's weaknesses.

Beyond its base stats, this necklace provides Critical Rate Lv.0 (max Lv.4), Spirit: +0.1 per second.

Stats

How to Obtain

The Necklace of Lightning is found in the Eastern Court (located to the right of Demeniss City). It is locked inside a strongbox that requires solving a dial puzzle to open.

Strongbox Puzzle Walkthrough

1. Travel to the Eastern Court area, which is east (right) of Demeniss City.

2. Look for a staircase leading upward inside the building.

3. Go up the stairs and proceed through the area with a carpet on the floor.

4. Head downstairs on the other side to find the strongbox.

5. The strongbox has a dial mechanism. Turn the dial in one direction and wait for controller vibration (or an audible click).

6. When you feel the vibration or hear the click, reverse direction and turn the dial the other way.

7. Repeat this process 6 or more times. Each successful turn advances the lock one step.

8. After all tumblers click into place, the strongbox opens and the Necklace of Lightning is inside.

The dial puzzle can be tricky because the vibration/click feedback is subtle. Pay close attention to controller haptics or audio cues after each turn. Turning too far past the click point may reset your progress on that tumbler.

Vibration Puzzle Walkthrough

The Necklace of Lightning is located at the Eastern Court within Demeniss. To reach the strongbox, make your way into the Eastern Court building, then turn left and head down a secret path. At the end of this path you will find the strongbox with its distinctive dial puzzle.

This puzzle uses controller vibration as its primary feedback mechanism. Turn the dial slowly in one direction and pay attention to the controller's haptic feedback. When the controller vibrates to the highest point (the strongest vibration), stop and leave the dial in that position. It will click into place. Then turn the dial in the opposite direction and repeat the same process: find the strongest vibration point, stop, and let it click. Continue alternating directions until all tumblers are set and the strongbox opens.

After the puzzle is solved, equip your mask and steal the Necklace of Lightning from the chest.

Full Refinement Stats

When fully leveled to +10 refinement, the Necklace of Lightning provides +5 Attack, +4 Critical Rate, and Spirit regeneration. The +4 crit rate is particularly valuable because it combines powerfully with crit-focused weapons.

For example, combining this necklace with a Backer Bow (which has +2 base crit and can reach 8 crit with upgrades) brings the total Critical Rate to approximately 16 from just two pieces of equipment. This combination alone surpasses the crit rate cap of 15, meaning players can build full crit without needing any Abyss Cores dedicated to crit rate, freeing those slots for other stats like attack damage or attack speed.

Value for Crit Builds

The Necklace of Lightning is one of the most important pieces for critical rate builds. At base level it provides Critical Rate Lv.0, but when refined to +10 it reaches Critical Rate Lv.4. The effective crit rate value of 4 is doubled to 8 through the refinement scaling, making it the single best accessory for crit stacking.

When paired with the Bekker Bow (which reaches crit rate 7-8 at full upgrade), the Necklace of Lightning brings total crit rate to approximately 15 before any Abyss Core sockets. Adding just 2 crit sockets (each giving +3 crit rate) pushes the total to 21, which is high enough to land critical hits on nearly every Charged Shot. This combination forms the core of the one-shot bow build.

Upgrading the necklace requires Small Bone at every refinement level. Small Bones are efficiently farmed by using fire-imbued Charged Shot on groups of animals; the fire AoE kills the entire group, and skinning the corpses yields Small Bones in bulk.

Refinement

The Necklace of Lightning can be refined to increase its stats. Each refinement level requires specific materials and Silver. The table below shows the stats and material costs at each refinement level.

Early Game Speedrun Pickup

The Necklace of Lightning is widely considered the best necklace in the game because it scales up to +4 Critical Rate at full refinement and also grants Spirit per second. The chest version found in the world is already four times upgraded, which saves an enormous amount of artifact investment compared to alternatives like the Stardust Necklace. Because the pickup itself has no level gate, a fresh character can grab it within the first few hours of a new playthrough as part of a speedrun route for best-in-slot gear.

Pickup Route

The necklace is tucked away in the Eastern Court in the Eastern Demonis area, near the Church of East Demonis. The whole Demonis region is patrolled by aggressive soldiers who can knock a low-level Kliff off his horse and shoot him from range, so careful approach matters more than combat here.

1. Teleport to the waypoint in front of the Wildlife Park in Demonis and ride toward the Eastern Court.

2. At the court, approach from the left side and enter through the side door instead of the main door. This avoids pulling the full group of soldiers stationed at the main entrance.

3. Soar past the patrolling soldiers rather than engaging them. If you stay airborne and move quickly they will not fully aggro.

4. Once through the side door, turn right and drop down into the lower room where the strongbox is waiting.

5. If you do accidentally aggro the guards, teleport out and try again; the approach is free to retry.

Strongbox Dial Solution

The necklace is sealed inside a Strongbox that uses a dial-based vibration puzzle. On controller the solution is straightforward once you know the rhythm:

1. Turn the dial to the left until the controller starts vibrating very hard.

2. Hold position and wait. After a moment the dial will click into place.

3. Now turn the dial to the right until the vibration peaks again.

4. Wait for the second click. The strongbox then pops open and awards the Necklace of Lightning.

Because the chest version is already at +4 refinement, no further artifacts need to be spent just to catch up to base functionality. This makes the Necklace of Lightning one of the most artifact-efficient end game accessories that a low-level Kliff can realistically grab, and it frees up artifacts to invest into stamina and other early priorities.

Usage and Tips

Necklaces offer a mix of offensive and utility stats. The Necklace of Lightning contributes to your overall combat effectiveness through its unique combination of bonuses.

The Spirit regeneration effect replenishes your Spirit resource, which is used for special abilities. Consistent Spirit recovery allows more frequent use of powerful skills during extended fights.

Refinement is available up to +10, which improves both the base stats and any bonus effects. Consider investing refinement materials if you plan to keep this accessory equipped for an extended period.

Hidden Critical Rate Bonus

When fully upgraded, the Necklace of Lightning provides a permanent +8 Critical Rate boost at all times. This effect was discovered by players during extensive testing and appears to function in all combat situations. Whether this is an intentional hidden bonus or a bug remains unconfirmed by the developers, but the combat effect has been verified through damage testing.

A +8 Critical Rate bonus represents more than half of the stat's cap of 15, making the Necklace of Lightning one of the most powerful accessories in the game for crit-focused builds. Combined with even modest crit from a weapon, this necklace alone can bring a character close to or at the crit rate ceiling.

Note: Some community sources have suggested the +8 display value may be a visual bug rather than a real stat increase. However, combat tests comparing damage output with and without the necklace show a clear difference in crit frequency, indicating the bonus does apply. Players should be aware this could be patched in a future update if it is indeed unintended.

Upgrade Priority

Because of the hidden +8 crit bonus at max refinement, the Necklace of Lightning is worth upgrading immediately once obtained. The +8 crit at full upgrade is a larger single-item contribution than almost any other piece of equipment provides to any stat. Prioritize refining this necklace before spending materials on less impactful gear.

Comparison with the Set Necklace

The Set Necklace, found in the Eastern Court of Demeniss via a strongbox puzzle in the cellar (turn the dial until heavy vibration, stop, click, then reverse direction), provides +4 crit rate. While solid, this is half the effective crit contribution of a fully upgraded Necklace of Lightning. The Set Necklace remains useful for builds that want crit without committing upgrade materials, but the Necklace of Lightning is the superior long-term investment.

See Also

• Accessories - Complete list of all accessories in Crimson Desert

• Equipment - Overview of all gear types

• Combat - Combat mechanics and strategies

Patch Correction: Crit Rate Now +4

Up until a recent Pearl Abyss update, the Necklace of Lightning was double-counting its stat bonus, which made it a best-in-slot pick on most damage builds. The patch fix corrected the double application: the necklace now grants a flat +4 crit rate, which matches the value originally listed on the item. The patch note rolled out between two community build guides, so the timing is approximate rather than tied to a specific version number.

It is still a strong pick. On the Combat God Gauntlets variant of the Kliff Unarmed Build, the +4 crit rate combines with +3 from Kuku Flame-Resistant Armor (also corrected by the same patch, see that article for details) and two crit rate 3 gears on the bow to hit the internal crit rate cap of 15 exactly. The necklace works on archetype, so any necklace from the same archetype that hits the same final stat breakdown is interchangeable. An Engraved Silver Necklace is the most common alternative players reach for when the Necklace of Lightning is not on hand.