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Tips and Tricks
March 27, 2026 at 11:46 AM
Fixed 5 broken wikilinks: artifacts -> artifacts-and-abyss-fragments, exploration-traversal -> exploration-and-traversal, contribution -> contribution-system, lioncrest-manor -> lion-crest-manor, sealed-abyss-artifacts -> sealed-abyss-artifact-locations
This page collects the most useful tips, hidden mechanics, and practical advice for Crimson Desert. Whether you are just starting out in Hernand or deep into the later chapters, these tips will help you fight smarter, explore more efficiently, manage your inventory, and avoid common mistakes. Many of these mechanics are never explained by the game itself, so reading through this guide before diving in can save hours of frustration and missed opportunities.
There are no healing potions in Crimson Desert. All healing comes from eating food during combat. You can eat one piece of food roughly every 2 seconds with no limit, so the difficulty of any fight depends largely on how much food you bring. For tough bosses from Chapter 5 onward, bring at least 100 pieces of Grilled Meat. You can eat while attacking with quick strikes, or dodge while recovering to full health.
Basic Grilled Meat (1 raw meat per serving, 80 HP restored) is the most efficient healing item. With 10 raw meat you get 10 Grilled Meat for a total of 800 HP. By contrast, the more expensive Hearty Grilled Meat consumes far more raw meat for only marginally better healing per piece. Stock up on cheap "Tough Meat" from the butcher in Hernand (restocks nightly at midnight) and cook it at any campfire or cooking pot. You can also cook food on the ground using Blinding Flash's focused light ability. Simply place raw food on the ground and aim your focused light at it to cook it. Make sure to desummon your pet first, because pets will eat raw food off the ground before you get a chance to cook it.
If you have a Palmar Pill in your inventory when you die, it automatically triggers and revives you with 30% of your total health. The game does not notify you when one is consumed, so keep track of how many you have. Never sell or discard them. The refined version of the Palmar Pill is even more valuable: it revives you to 100% health instead of 30%. You can find refined Palmar Pills inside hidden caves behind waterfalls throughout Pywel.
If you spot a Grindstone near a boss arena entrance, the game is giving you a localized advantage. Always sharpen your weapon at a Grindstone and repair your armor at an Anvil before entering a boss fight. Grindstones give a temporary +5 attack boost and Anvils give a temporary +5 defense boost. These temporary buffs stack with permanent Refinement levels. Grindstones and Anvils are also found scattered throughout the open world, not just near boss arenas. Make a habit of using any you pass.
When you kill an enemy in a group, those around the fallen enemy are briefly stunned. Be aggressive, focus one target down quickly, and the chain reaction makes mopping up the rest much easier.
Sprint at an enemy and press the interact button (F on keyboard, Y on Xbox, Triangle on PlayStation) to deliver a powerful kick that knocks them down. This is a great way to initiate combat against groups.
Human bosses: parry with L1/LB to interrupt their attacks, then follow up with quick R1/RB combos.
Shield/blocking enemies: use R2/RT heavy attacks to break their guard. Light attacks do not drain their stamina.
Monster bosses: dodge their attacks and strike during the recovery window after their combo finishes. Most monster attacks cannot be blocked.
There is no level system in Crimson Desert. Your stats come entirely from gear upgrades and spending Abyss Artifacts on passive bonuses. Prioritize Health Level 4 and Stamina Level 4 first. Stamina determines your ability to block, attack, and sprint, while health keeps you alive through unavoidable damage.
Unlock Nature's Echo from the green (Spirit) skill tree to duplicate your heavy attacks. This synergizes powerfully with the Tauria Curved Sword (dropped by Boss #6). To reach it, you need to purchase three Forward Slash skills (blue) and three Keen Senses skills (green) first.
The Blinding Flash ability (Lantern button + Light Attack) does far more than just reveal hidden objects. The focused light version can set vines and wooden structures on fire, destroy flying enemies that are otherwise hard to reach, and cook food placed on the ground. When the game tells you to "light an arrow on fire" for a puzzle, you can often skip the arrow entirely and just aim your focused light at the target instead. The Blinding Flash finisher is also one of the strongest combat skills in the game: it stuns all nearby enemies, leaving them open for free follow-up damage.
Some inventory items grant permanent stat boosts when consumed rather than temporary effects. These are easy to overlook because they look similar to regular consumables. Notable examples include "Fighting Spirit" which grants +20 max spirit permanently, and "Dark Red Goblet" which grants +40 max stamina permanently. Check your inventory regularly for any items with permanent buff descriptions and use them immediately. There is no reason to save them.
Your Lantern detects nearby Memory Fragments (blue glow) and points of interest (orange glow). Blinding Flash (Lantern button + Light Attack) emits a burst of light that reveals Sealed Abyss Artifacts, fast travel points, and other secrets with blue glints in the distance.
Use your sword's Guiding Light ability (L1 + R1 on PlayStation, LB + RB on Xbox, Ctrl + Left Click on PC) to mark nearby fast travel platforms and Abyss Artifacts with a blue glimmer. This is especially useful from elevated positions where you can survey a wide area.
Every major city in Pywel has a Bell Tower that you can climb. Ringing the bell at the top clears the fog of war on the world map for the surrounding area and marks major locations on your map. However, hidden locations will not appear just from ringing a bell. For the best results, explore an area thoroughly on foot first, then ring the bell. That way you can compare what you have already found against the newly revealed map markers to identify anything you missed. If you prefer the completionist approach, ringing all eight Bells scattered across Pywel will remove all fog from the entire world map at once.
The large white question mark circles on the map either hide Abyss Nexus fast travel points or puzzles that unlock Abyss Cressets. Both types serve as fast travel destinations, but Abyss Cressets also reward an Abyss Artifact when activated. Look for a circular platform carved into the ground. Stand in the center and hold your lantern to activate it.
Almost every waterfall in Pywel hides a cave behind it. Look for stacked rock pillars along the edge of the waterfall, which indicate a hidden entrance. Use the Stab ability to push through the rushing water and enter the cave. These caves typically contain unique gear, refined Palmar Pills (which revive you to 100% health instead of the standard 30%), and other valuable items. Make a habit of checking every waterfall you encounter during exploration.
Press R3 on the world map to access the sky view. From sky island fast travel points, you can dive directly down to ground locations, often faster than riding on horseback. You can also use the Abyss fast travel network to get around more efficiently. Even if you have not visited the area below a sky island, you can fast travel up to the island and jump off to reach the ground below quickly.
You will return to Hernand constantly. Make activating the town's fast travel point one of your first priorities. Before you gain access to your camp, there is a bed and private storage available in the temporary lodgings at the top of Hernand. Use this early-game storage to free up inventory space.
Crates and barrels can be broken throughout the world, and they almost always contain items. In the wild, this is free loot with no consequences. In towns, breaking crates counts as stealing and will affect your reputation. Your pet may automatically pick up items from broken containers, so keep your pet summoned while clearing areas.
The Abyss sky islands above the world contain far more than just the story objectives. Stay and explore each island fully before moving on. You will find tons of Abyss Artifacts, unique equipment, and elemental attack unlocks scattered across the islands. Completing the puzzles and challenges on each island is one of the most efficient ways to power up. If you fall off an island, press the left analog stick to cling to the Abyss energy, then use the escape option to respawn on the island rather than plummeting to the ground.
When browsing shops, use Ctrl (PC) or LB (Xbox) / L1 (PlayStation) to examine objects on shelves and tables. Some items are not listed in the vendor's regular inventory and can only be purchased this way. Hold the button long enough for the game to register the inspection.
Buy a Mask from any Back Alley Shop (10 Bronze) and a Key from the masked merchant near the windmill outside Hernand (30 Copper). Equip the mask, walk into the bank, turn left, and approach the locked side door. The key is consumed automatically. Inside you will find chests and strongboxes loaded with silver. Each stolen item is worth 40+ silver. Your Contribution Rank with Hernand drops slightly for each theft, but this is easily recovered by completing requests and defeating enemies.
Unique weapons dropped by bosses have special effects. Do not sell them. Notable examples include the Sword of the Lord (Boss #2) for quick strikes and the Tauria Curved Sword (Boss #6) for heavy attacks and crowd control.
Many merchants in Hernand sell Small Bags for 50 Copper each. These expand your inventory capacity. Pick them up early since inventory space fills up fast once you start gathering materials, food, and loot.
Vendor inventories reset every in-game day at midnight (0:00). If a shop is sold out of something you need, rest at a nearby cooking pot or campfire to skip time.
Once you read a recipe or letter, it is permanently learned. The physical item is no longer needed and can be sold for a small amount of silver.
Mining high-priced ores: sell Iron and Copper Ore to merchants for steady income.
Archery Contest: located at Lioncrest Manor (House Alfonso). Each round pays 80 coins and can be repeated as often as you like.
Bounty missions: collect notices from House Celeste, track targets, subdue them, and return to the Guard Station for silver rewards.
Flower picking: flowers sell for decent prices and grow everywhere. Pick hundreds during exploration for passive income.
Gambling: gambling minigames in towns can yield quick silver if you understand the mechanics, though the risk of loss is real.
Some of the most valuable ores in Pywel are embedded in cliff faces and rock walls, well out of melee reach. You have two options for harvesting them. The first is to use Charged Shot (hold the ranged attack button to charge, then release) to shoot the ore node from the ground. The projectile impact dislodges the materials and they drop to your feet. The second option is to climb the wall using the Force Palm triple-jump technique (see the Movement Tips section below), position yourself next to the ore deposit, and mine it directly. Both approaches work, but Charged Shot is faster and does not cost Spirit. Keep an eye out for glowing ore veins on canyon walls and mountain sides; these high-altitude deposits often contain rarer minerals that ground-level nodes do not.
Your Supply Chest functions as private storage with 230 slots. A recent patch updated the Supply Chest to allow both withdrawals and deposits, so you can freely move items in and out. Store weapons and Abyss gear that you want to keep but do not need to carry. Crafting materials need to stay in your personal inventory for crafting, but everything else can go into the chest. Check your Supply Chest regularly after clearing encounters, because items your pet does not pick up are automatically sent there.
Open your inventory and use the group function to sort like items together. You can group food, elixirs, insects, crafting materials, and other categories into organized clusters. This makes it much easier to find what you need in the heat of combat. A recent patch also removed key item status from certain items, freeing up additional inventory slots that were previously locked.
Some items in your inventory provide permanent stat increases when consumed. These include "Fighting Spirit" (+20 max spirit), "Dark Red Goblet" (+40 max stamina), and similar consumables. Check your inventory description text carefully for the word "permanent" and use these items as soon as you find them. There is no benefit to saving permanent buff items for later.
The yellow bar to the left of the minimap fills as you defeat enemies. Once full, it awards 1 free Abyss Artifact. This can be farmed infinitely by fighting enemies repeatedly, giving you a renewable source of skill points. Clearing sanctums is especially efficient for filling this gauge. Every sanctum also contains a hidden chest somewhere inside it, so explore thoroughly before leaving.
Use Force Palm (R3 / Mouse Wheel) three consecutive times mid-air to gain significant height and scale walls that seem impossible to climb. Combine with Double Jump for even more height. If you run out of Spirit, press L3 + R3 (X on keyboard) to instantly recharge. This costs Spirit itself, so make sure you time your recharges between wall-climbing bursts.
Once you unlock the third level of Axiom Force, you gain the ability to vault up cliffs and ledges that would otherwise be unreachable. This costs 200 stamina per use. For massive height without spending stamina, use the jump + Force Palm down technique three times in succession. This launches you high into the air, after which you can glide or attach to a cliff face. This combination makes nearly every surface in the game climbable.
Reach 100 Trust with an animal and it will follow you around, automatically looting defeated enemies. Pet animals you find in towns for trust (5 trust per interaction, capping at roughly 25 per in-game day). You can also drop food near animals for extra trust points. You need to befriend 30 unique pets to complete a Life Challenge. Your pet will pick up items as you explore, and anything they do not grab goes into your Supply Chest automatically. You can dress up your pets at the pet vendor in Poran Village.
Transform Healing Palm into a horse-targeted heal by holding R3 and then pressing L3 while near your horse. This restores your mount's health. You can check your horse's health in the inventory screen when standing nearby.
Collecting Sealed Abyss Artifacts unlocks challenges that grant additional skill points. Important: progress toward these challenges only counts after you collect the artifact. Prior kills, discoveries, or actions do not count retroactively for most challenges.
If you have a key in your inventory and walk near a locked door, your character will automatically use the key. Be careful around locked doors if you are saving a key for a specific location.
You can pickpocket NPCs by approaching them from behind when undetected. This can yield small amounts of silver and occasionally useful items. Be careful in towns, as getting caught will damage your reputation.
Tap Left on the D-Pad (T on keyboard) to sheathe your weapon. Many actions (interacting, mounting, talking) require your weapon to be put away. If an NPC is not responding or you cannot mount your horse, check that your weapon is sheathed.
Hold L1/LB while approaching your horse to pet it. This builds trust over time and eventually unlocks special mounted moves like drifting.
Beyond regular horses, you can ride exotic mounts including bears, lions, and other animals. Bears spawn near Greymane Camp (south of the camp). To tame a bear, attack it until it becomes stunned and a ride prompt appears. While riding a bear, you can attack enemies with its claws. Lions are available at the circus in Demisin Castle. All exotic mounts are temporary: you cannot summon them like your regular horse. Once you dismount, they leave. You can also knock enemies off their mounts during combat and take those mounts for yourself.
When carrying a bounty target back to the Guard Station, you do not have to carry them on foot the entire way. Press L1 (the lantern button) to load the bounty onto your horse, then travel at your own pace. One important caveat: do not summon your horse from too far away while holding a bounty. If the horse has to travel a long distance to reach you, the bounty can be lost during the process. Call your horse when it is nearby.
Concentrate your resources and upgrades on Kliff since he is the character you control for the vast majority of the story. The other playable characters (Damiane and Oongka) have their own separate progression but limited playtime.
The party system lets you team up with companions for certain quests and activities. Building relationships with party members through gifts, conversations, and shared combat experiences improves their effectiveness. Pay attention to each companion's preferences when choosing gifts.
Your trust with NPCs and towns affects shop prices, available quests, and NPC behavior. Completing requests, defeating nearby enemies, and positive interactions all build trust. Stealing, breaking town property, and getting caught pickpocketing reduce trust. Each town tracks its own reputation independently.
In Settings > Input, you will find a Camera Acceleration slider. The default value is 70. Setting this to 100 makes the camera feel significantly snappier and more responsive. Values near zero feel sluggish and can actually cause motion sickness during fast combat. Experiment with values between 80 and 100 to find what feels best for your play style.
The Spire of Insight functions as a viewpoint mechanic. Climbing one and activating it gives you a panoramic view of the surrounding region, which can help you plan your exploration route.
The game uses three autosave slots that rotate automatically. When saving manually, scroll down past the three autosaves to an open save slot. This ensures you always have recent autosaves and a separate manual save to fall back on. Save before attempting difficult boss fights, risky thefts, or when you are about to enter a new chapter.