Storm Veil

Overview

Storm Veil is a elemental skill in Crimson Desert, available to Kliff. It belongs to the Health (Red) branch of the skill tree.

Skill Details

Effect

Press R2 + X to deploy a smoke cloud and escape enemy sight. Enemies inside or blocked by the cloud lose track of Kliff, allowing for repositioning or ambush setups.

How to Acquire

Storm Veil is unlocked by learning Wind Lv. 1 through the Abyss island system. The Wind element is obtained by completing the Spire of Clockwork challenge chain, which becomes accessible after finishing Chapter 8: Blood Coronation. Upon completing that chapter, Kliff receives the Spire of Clockwork Key, which opens the Spire located at the eastern edge of Demeniss.

After reaching the top of the Spire of Clockwork and entering the Abyss, Kliff must complete a time trial on an island called Riddle Square. Despite the name, Riddle Square does not contain a riddle or puzzle. Instead, Kliff must use his Axiom Force grapple to activate a central switch that turns on large fans and sets rotating rings into motion. The challenge requires flying and gliding through all the rings in sequence before time expires. Upon completion, the Wind Lv. 1 element is awarded, and Storm Veil becomes available automatically.

Effect and Mechanics

Storm Veil deploys a smoke cloud at Kliff's current position that obscures enemy vision. The skill is activated by pressing R2 + X on PlayStation or RT + A on Xbox and costs 10 Spirit per use. Enemies inside or near the smoke cloud lose sight of Kliff, effectively resetting their aggro and allowing Kliff to reposition, escape, or set up an ambush from an unexpected angle.

Unlike Kliff's other elemental skills that deal direct damage (such as Lightning Surge, Frost Mantle, and Flame Strike), Storm Veil is purely a utility skill focused on stealth and repositioning. The smoke cloud lingers for several seconds, giving Kliff adequate time to move to a new position before enemies reacquire their target.

Combat Strategy

• Deploy Storm Veil before retreating to heal. The smoke cloud prevents enemies from chasing you while you consume recovery items or wait for health regeneration.

• Use Storm Veil to set up charged attacks from unexpected angles. Drop the cloud, move behind the enemy, and unleash a fully charged Stab or Forward Slash from their blind side.

• Storm Veil is particularly effective against groups of ranged enemies. Drop the cloud to break line of sight, then close the distance while they cannot target you.

• In exploration, Storm Veil can help avoid unwanted fights. Deploy it near patrolling enemies to slip past them without engaging in combat.

• At only 10 Spirit cost, Storm Veil is very affordable. You can use it multiple times in a single encounter without significantly draining your Spirit meter.

• Combine Storm Veil with Ambush from the Health (Red) tree for a stealth-focused combat style that emphasizes hit-and-run tactics.

Related Skills

• Lightning Surge: An offensive elemental skill that deals direct lightning damage.

• Frost Mantle: An ice elemental skill that slows enemies.

• Flame Strike: A fire elemental skill for area damage.

• Ambush: A stealth attack from the Health tree that synergizes with Storm Veil's concealment.

• Kliff Skills: Complete list of Kliff's skill tree options.

Combat Tips

Storm Veil is unique among Kliff's elemental skills because it focuses on stealth rather than direct damage. Deploy it before retreating to heal, or use it to set up a charged attack from an unexpected angle. It is especially useful against groups of ranged enemies.

See Also

For a full list of abilities, see the Skills page. Related topics: Combat System, Abyss Artifacts.

Community Tier Rating

Storm Veil sits in a strange spot on community tier lists. If the ranking is based purely on the active Wind element, the element itself is near the bottom: the pillar of wind gear does not deliver the tornado-style crowd control players expect, and Wind imbue does not meaningfully increase damage. What keeps Wind on most lists at all is Storm Veil. Drop the smoke cloud into a pack of mobs and the encounter resets; the player can freely reposition, cast combos on defenseless enemies, or simply disengage.

Tier placement: C tier as an element. A tier (or higher) as a skill once the cross-element rule is factored in. Storm Veil is considered one of the best crowd control tools in the game, on par with Frost Mantle for safety and well ahead of Lightning Surge for clearing groups. Storm Veil is also a hard miss against bosses; the cloud does not break aggro on large named enemies, so reserve it for mob-heavy content.

Best Use Cases

Storm Veil is an equalizer: no matter the mob count, a single cloud nullifies the threat long enough to reposition, heal, or chain a charged opener. The most valuable thing to understand is the cross-element rule below, which lets players keep Fire or Ice as the active imbue while still using Storm Veil as a utility button.

• Use regardless of active element. Storm Veil is tied to unlocking Wind Lv. 1, but the skill itself can be triggered with any active imbue. The common pattern is to unlock Wind purely for Storm Veil, then swap the active element to fire (for Flame Strike spam and Volcanic Eruption procs) or ice (for the Frost Mantle parry window). This way you get Storm Veil and high-damage imbue on the same build.

• Mob equalizer. Use Storm Veil when you are outnumbered or surrounded. A single cast nullifies the aggro of most trash and elite mobs long enough to reposition, heal, or set up a charged attack from an unseen angle.

• Fort liberation resets. Drop a cloud to break chase during a failed push, regroup, and re-engage with a ranged opener. Storm Veil works especially well against clusters of ranged enemies who lose line of sight instantly.

• Do not expect damage. Storm Veil has no direct damage component. If the goal of a slot is damage, keep Flame Strike or Frost Hail on the loadout and slot Storm Veil as a panic button rather than a primary.

• Skip for bosses. Named bosses are largely unaffected by the smoke. Swap Storm Veil out of the boss rotation and bring Frost Mantle or a pure damage gear instead.

Dropping Combat for Fast Travel

Storm Veil also doubles as a way to force your way out of combat when fast travel is locked. If a stray aggro from bandits or patrol enemies prevents fast travel, dropping the smoke cloud is usually enough to break every nearby enemy's line of sight at once. Once no enemy can see Kliff, the game drops the combat state within a second or two and the fast travel option becomes selectable again from the map. This is the cleanest solution for the common "I was leaving the area but clipped a patrol" situation where you are not actually invested in the fight.

The trick only works when every enemy in earshot can see the cloud. A single ranged enemy standing behind a rock, out of the smoke's radius, is enough to keep you stuck in combat until you either kill them or reposition. Named bosses ignore the smoke entirely, so Storm Veil will not let you bail out of a boss encounter through fast travel. For those cases, break aggro by climbing to an unreachable ledge first, then use the cloud to finish the disengage.