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Pillar of Wind is an Abyss Gear item in Crimson Desert. When embedded in an equipment socket, it allows attacks imbued with wind to summon a pillar of wind at the target location, dealing additional damage and creating a wind funnel. Beyond its combat applications, Pillar of Wind is a key component of one of the most powerful aerial traversal combos in the game.
Grants a variety of effects when embedded in an equipment socket. Witches found in each region have the power to embed or remove Abyss Gears. When triggered, Pillar of Wind summons a vertical wind funnel at the target location. This funnel deals damage to enemies caught inside it and persists for several seconds.
Property | Value |
|---|---|
Category | |
Element | |
Effect | Attacks imbued with Wind can trigger Pillar of Wind at the cost of Spirit |
Socket Type | Any armor slot |
Pillar of Wind is obtained from the Queen of the Skies faction quest, which is part of the Pailune Militia faction questline. This quest line becomes available after completing Chapter 7 of the main story. Players must also have the wind element imbument unlocked, which comes from completing Abyss puzzles after Chapter 5.
Pillar of Wind is one of two Abyss Gear items that augment wind imbued attacks, alongside Ancient Reckoning. Obtaining it requires completing the main quest through the end of Chapter 7 (Homecoming). After that, work through the Palun Militia faction quests. Once you complete the Crossroads of Succession quests, the Nest of White Feathers quest becomes available.
Travel to the harpy nest on the mountain ridge west of the word "Palun" on the map. The boss at this location is Karanda, the Queen Harpy. She is much easier to defeat with a strong ranged attack build. Defeating Karanda drops the Pillar of Wind abyss gear.
Complete Chapter 7 of the main story
Unlock the Pailune Militia faction quests
Complete the Queen of the Skies faction quest to receive the Pillar of Wind Abyss Gear
Wind element imbument (obtained from Abyss puzzles after Chapter 5)
When a wind-imbued weapon attack triggers Pillar of Wind, a visible wind funnel appears at the target location. This funnel has both offensive and utility applications.
In combat, the wind funnel deals continuous damage to enemies standing inside it. The damage is additional to the triggering attack and scales with the wind imbument level. The funnel is especially effective against groups of enemies, as it provides area-of-effect damage over its duration.
The wind funnel acts as a launch pad for aerial traversal. When the player walks into an active wind funnel and activates gliding, Kliff is propelled straight up to extreme heights. This vertical launch works from completely flat ground, which is what makes Pillar of Wind so valuable as a traversal tool. No cliff, ledge, or grappling hook anchor point is needed.
The full Pillar of Wind aerial combo chains together multiple techniques for maximum height and distance. This is the most powerful ground-to-air traversal method in the game.
Equip Pillar of Wind in an armor socket and imbue your weapon with wind element.
Attack an enemy or the ground to trigger the wind funnel.
Walk into the wind funnel and activate gliding to launch straight up.
At the top of the funnel, cancel the glide.
Perform up to 3 consecutive Force Palm jumps to gain additional height.
From the apex, choose one of two options: use Aerial Stab (3rd upgrade) while aiming upward for even more height, or enter Focus Mode and begin Focus Gliding for maximum horizontal distance.
Starting Conditions | Distance Covered | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Flat ground, no movement speed gear | ~626 m | Pillar of Wind + Force Palms + Focus Glide |
Elevated start + movement speed gear | ~4 km | Full combo from northwestern Abyss puzzle; covers 30-35% of the map |
Pillar of Wind can be socketed into any armor piece. A practical approach is to socket it into a piece of equipment that is not part of your regular combat loadout, such as a secondary chest piece or spare armor slot. When you want to travel a long distance, open your inventory and swap to the Pillar of Wind piece, perform the combo, then swap back to your combat gear after landing.
This hot-swap approach lets you keep your combat Abyss Gear setup optimized for damage while still having access to the traversal combo whenever you need it. The inventory swap takes only a moment and can be done at any time outside of active combat.
Recommended slot: Helmet. Unlike most element gears which are typically embedded in gloves or boots, Pillar of Wind is best embedded in your helmet. The traversal benefit of the wind pillar is useful at all times, and the helmet slot is rarely contested by combat-oriented gears. Embedding it in the helmet means you always have access to the gliding pillar without needing to swap equipment.
Many players consider Pillar of Wind one of the best gears in the entire game. The ability to generate a glide-launching wind pillar from flat ground is incredibly useful for getting around the world quickly. It requires the Storm Veil skill and the Imbue Element skill to function.
Gliding for the Focus Gliding technique
Flight Skill Guide for all aerial traversal techniques
Pailune Militia faction questline
The Pillar of Wind is one of the most useful traversal tools for the abyss island puzzles. On Root's End, the central staircase leading up to the rotating grate is tall and tedious to climb on foot. Casting Pillar of Wind at the base of the stairs carries you upward quickly and leaves stamina to spare for the crouched Force Palm that drops you into the laser-trap chamber.
The same trick applies to the approach into the Precipice of Truth. Several ledges and glide launch points sit well above the ground, and a Pillar of Wind placement shaves real time off the setup for the angled glides used in step three of that puzzle.
Pillar of Wind combines well with Aerial Swing and the eventual Diving Force Palm for a complete vertical kit: ride the pillar up, swing across the gap, and punctuate the descent with a palm strike.
Community tier-list creators generally place Pillar of Wind in a utility slot rather than a damage slot. The raw damage from the wind pillar is the lowest of any elemental abyss gear in side-by-side testing, which is a direct consequence of Wind Element carrying the lowest imbue damage overall. What saves the gear is the updraft it produces on activation: that updraft can fling the player skyward for traversal, giving it real value outside combat.
Pair with Wind Imbue: Pillar of Wind only activates when Wind Element is the active imbuement. Use it during traversal-heavy zones where you want guaranteed vertical lift every few seconds.
Pair with Force Palm: Combine the pillar's updraft with Force Palm to stretch an air hop into a full aerial reposition. This is the closest substitute the game offers for a true grappling swing in open terrain.
Pair with Storm Veil skill: Because Storm Veil works with any element imbued, wind players can still drop a crowd-control cloud on top of the pillar's knockup and juggle grouped enemies before landing.
Swap off for boss fights: Community guides uniformly recommend dropping Pillar of Wind for Flames of Judgment and Volcanic Eruption during named boss encounters. Wind cannot compete with fire's poise damage, and the updraft provides no benefit inside arena-locked boss rooms.
