Weapon Upgrade Guide

Overview

Weapons in Crimson Desert can be made significantly stronger through several interconnected systems. Refinement raises raw attack values, Abyss Gears add passive and active bonuses through socketing, special boss effects grant unique combat abilities, and grindstones provide temporary power spikes before difficult encounters. Understanding how these systems layer on top of each other is the key to building a weapon that can handle late-game bosses and liberation zones.

This guide covers every way to increase your weapon's power, from the first iron ore refinement to extracting legendary boss effects and stacking multiple abyss gears for maximum damage output. Whether you are upgrading your first sword at Blacksmith Turnali or fine-tuning an endgame loadout at a Witch, you will find the information you need here.

Refinement

Refinement is the primary method for permanently increasing a weapon's attack stat. Every piece of standard gear in the game has a maximum of ten refinement levels. You can refine equipment at any blacksmith, with Blacksmith Turnali in central Hernand being the most accessible early on. Refinement does not cost silver or gold; you only need the required materials.

Refinement Levels 1 Through 4

The first four levels of refinement use common gathering materials. Metal weapons (swords, axes, maces, spears) require Iron Ore and Copper Ore. Bows and wooden shields need Timber and Fine Timber. Leather and fabric armor pieces require Thin Hide. These materials are abundant across the Hernand region and can also be purchased from merchants in town.

Refining from level 1 to 4 is cheap and should always be your first priority when you acquire a new weapon. Even a couple of refinement levels add noticeable damage that speeds up combat encounters and reduces the number of healing items you burn through.

Refinement Levels 5 and Above

Starting at level 5, the blacksmith stops accepting standard ores and begins requiring Bloodstones and Abyss Artifacts. Abyss Artifacts are the same currency you spend on combat skills and base health increases, so pushing refinement past level 4 creates a direct tradeoff with your character progression. Bloodstones are a rare mineral found in specific locations around the world; consult the mining section below for farming routes.

Higher refinement levels also require progressively more materials per level. A jump from level 7 to 8, for example, costs several Bloodstones and at least one Abyss Artifact. Before committing these valuable resources, make sure the weapon you are refining is one you plan to use long-term. Switching weapons after investing Abyss Artifacts into refinement is one of the most common resource traps new players fall into.

Duplicate Weapon Sacrifice

Crimson Desert offers an alternative refinement method: sacrificing an exact duplicate of the weapon you want to upgrade. If you have two copies of the same sword, you can use one as the refinement material instead of gathering raw ores. This is especially useful for common weapons that drop frequently from bandits and liberation zones. Looting identical low-tier swords that you would otherwise sell for copper coins becomes a free refinement level.

The duplicate must be the exact same weapon type and name. A White Wood Bow can only be sacrificed to refine another White Wood Bow, for instance. This method works at any refinement level and can save you from spending Abyss Artifacts at higher tiers if you happen to find a second copy of a rare weapon.

Prioritize Weapons Over Armor

When deciding where to spend your early refinement materials, weapons should come first. The damage increase from weapon refinement directly translates to faster kills, which in turn means you take less damage because fights are shorter. Armor refinement increases your defense, but the survivability gain is less impactful than the offensive boost you get from higher weapon attack. Refine your primary weapon to at least level 4 before touching armor, then bring your chest piece and helmet up to match. For more on defensive investment, see the builds guide.

Abyss Gear Socketing

Abyss Gears are special items that slot into your equipment's sockets, granting passive bonuses or active abilities. Socketing is handled exclusively by Witches, who can be found throughout the world after unlocking them during the main story. A Witch provides four services: embedding an Abyss Gear into a socket, extracting an Abyss Gear from a socket, creating new sockets, and synthesizing gears into higher-level versions. For a full breakdown of every available gear, see the Abyss Gear Guide.

Socket Limits by Weapon Type

Not all weapons have the same number of available sockets. Two-handed weapons can hold up to 5 abyss gear sockets, making them the best platform for stacking offensive bonuses. One-handed weapons cap at 3 sockets each. Since you can dual-wield one-handed weapons, a pair gives you 6 total slots, but those slots are split across two items, limiting how many gears you can stack on a single attack calculation.

Certain equipment types cannot be socketed at all. Cloaks, rings, earrings, and necklaces do not support abyss gear sockets. Plan your build around the slots available on your weapon and core armor pieces (helmet, chest, gloves, boots).

Socket Creation Costs

Creating sockets costs silver, and the price increases with each additional socket you unlock on the same item. The total cost to fully socket a 5-slot two-handed weapon is 105 silver. This is a significant investment early in the game, so prioritize your main weapon first and fill in armor sockets as silver becomes more available. Visit a Witch and select "Create Socket" to add a new slot. The cost breakdown scales progressively: the first socket is cheap, but the fourth and fifth sockets are considerably more expensive.

Embedding and Extracting Gears

Installing an abyss gear into an open socket is free. Extracting a gear from a socket is also free. This means you can freely experiment with different loadouts without worrying about losing resources. If you find a better gear, extract the old one and slot in the new one at no cost. The only expense is creating the socket itself.

This free extraction system is particularly important when you upgrade to a new weapon. Extract all your abyss gears from the old weapon, create sockets on the new one, and reinstall everything. You never lose your gears when switching equipment.

Recommended Offensive Abyss Gears

For maximizing weapon damage, certain abyss gears stand out above the rest. The general priority for offensive weapon socketing is: Attack > Critical Rate > Attack Speed. Spirit Siphon is also essential because it sustains your Spirit pool during combat, allowing you to chain skills without running dry. The following breaks down the top offensive gears to look for.

Abyss Gear Synthesis

When you collect duplicate abyss gears, take them to a Witch and select "Craft Abyss Gear", then press R2/RT to enter Synthesis mode. Two copies of the same gear at the same level combine into one gear at the next level. For example, two Destruction Lv 1 gears fuse into a single Destruction Lv 2. Higher-level gears provide stronger bonuses, so always synthesize duplicates rather than socketing two copies of the same low-level gear.

Synthesis requires you to own the corresponding blueprint, which can be purchased from Witches in their "Buy" section. Different Witches sell different blueprints, so visit every Witch you unlock to build your collection. Without the right blueprint, the synthesis option will not appear for that gear type.

Special Synthesis

Witches also offer Special Synthesis, which combines two different abyss gears into a random new gear. This is a gamble: the result is unpredictable and you lose both input gears. Use Special Synthesis only on gears you do not need. It can occasionally produce rare gears that are otherwise difficult to find, but it should never be your primary way of obtaining key offensive gears.

Abyss Gear Stacking

A common question is whether multiple different abyss gears stack when socketed into the same weapon. The answer is yes: different abyss gears with distinct effects all apply simultaneously. For example, equipping both Dark Crescent and Ancient Retribution on the same weapon has been confirmed to stack their respective bonuses. This means you can layer Attack, Critical Rate, Spirit Siphon, and a boss-specific effect like Momentum all on a single 5-slot two-handed weapon for maximum output.

Duplicate gears of the same type and level do not stack meaningfully. Instead of socketing two Destruction Lv 1 gears, synthesize them into a single Destruction Lv 2 for a better bonus. The general rule is: use synthesis on duplicates, and socket different gears to cover multiple stat categories.

Special Boss Weapon Effects

Some of the most powerful abyss gears in the game come pre-installed on unique weapons dropped by bosses. These special gears grant active combat abilities that replicate moves the boss itself used during the fight. The critical thing to understand is that you can extract these unique gears from the boss weapon and socket them into any weapon you prefer. You are never locked into using a boss weapon just because it has a great effect.

How to Extract Boss Effects

1. Defeat the boss and collect the unique weapon drop.

2. Visit any Witch and select "Extract Abyss Gear".

3. Choose the boss weapon and select the special abyss gear to remove.

4. The gear moves to your inventory. The boss weapon keeps its other stats but loses the special effect.

5. Socket the extracted gear into your preferred weapon using "Embed Abyss Core".

Notable Boss Weapon Effects

Always check boss weapon drops before selling or dismantling them. Even if the weapon's base stats are worse than what you currently use, the embedded abyss gear might be worth extracting. Extraction is free, so there is no reason not to pull useful effects.

Grindstones

Grindstones are environmental objects found at camps, villages, and outposts that provide a temporary attack buff to your currently equipped weapon. Approaching a grindstone and selecting "Reinforce Weapon" sharpens your blade, adding roughly +5 to +8 attack power depending on the weapon. This buff is free to apply and costs no materials, but it is temporary: the bonus depletes as you land hits in combat.

Always sharpen your weapon at a grindstone before heading into a boss fight or liberation zone. The extra attack power can make a meaningful difference in burst damage during stagger windows. Pair the grindstone buff with an Anvil buff (which temporarily increases armor defense) for a full pre-fight preparation routine.

Grindstone Locations

After using a grindstone, the reinforcement buff appears as a visual indicator on your equipment in the inventory screen. You can track roughly how much of the buff remains by checking this indicator. Once it runs out, find another grindstone to reapply.

Mining for Upgrade Materials

Gathering your own ore is the most reliable way to keep a steady supply of refinement materials. Crimson Desert's mining system requires you to have a pickaxe equipped. You can obtain your first pickaxe for free by accepting Rhett's Request from the NPC outside the equipment shop in Hernand.

Using the Pickaxe

Approach any ore vein and interact with it while holding a pickaxe. Each vein typically yields 2 units of ore. Without a pickaxe, you can still mine using the Force Palm skill, but the pickaxe is faster and more reliable. The Mining Knuckledrill, a unique mining tool obtained by defeating a hidden boss in the Karin Quarry, grants a 10% bonus to ore yields.

Best Mining Locations

The densest ore clusters sit around Howling Hill in the Hernand Highlands and at the base of Anvil Hill, both south of Hernand City. Howling Hill has a long stretch of Iron Ore and Copper Ore deposits running from the base of the hill all the way to Unicorn Cliff. The Hernand river cliffs are the single best spot for Iron Ore specifically, with 14 deposits clustered together, allowing you to fill your inventory in one loop.

For Bismuth Ore (needed for mid-to-late refinement), the most efficient location is The Witchwoods area of Hernand, where four deposits sit close together and each holds up to 3 Bismuth Ore, yielding a potential 12 ore per run. Gold Ore farming is best done at the Anvil Hill circuit after clearing the Marni Excavator to unlock all 10 mine locations.

Mining Tips

• Ore veins respawn after a few in-game days. Form a circuit near an Abyss Nexus so you can teleport back whenever respawns are ready.

• Save and reload your game at a mining spot to instantly respawn the ore vein for repeated farming.

• The bow's Charged Shot can mine ore deposits on cliff faces from below, saving climbing time.

• Buy ore from merchants in Hernand as a supplement. Iron Ore in particular is sold by several vendors.

Grown Stones and Alternative Upgrade Paths

Beyond standard ore, certain weapons require specific upgrade materials. The Hwando, widely considered the best early-game two-handed sword, is a good example. Its initial refinement levels only need Iron Ore, making it cheap to upgrade quickly. The Hwando starts with 19 base attack and comes pre-equipped with three abyss gears (Critical Rate I, Stamina Siphon Lv 1, and Attack I), with room for 5 total sockets. This makes it an excellent investment target for your early refinement materials and first socket unlocks.

For weapons requiring rarer materials like Flawless Black Stones at the highest refinement tiers (beyond +10 in endgame scenarios), you will need to explore late-game areas and defeat specific bosses. These materials represent the ultimate bottleneck for maximizing weapon power and should be spent only on weapons you are certain will carry you through the endgame.

Weapon Investment Strategy

With multiple upgrade systems competing for the same resources (Abyss Artifacts go to both refinement and skill unlocks; silver funds both socket creation and general purchases), having a clear investment plan prevents waste. Here is the recommended upgrade order for a new weapon.

1. Refine to level 4 immediately. This costs only common ores and provides a large attack boost relative to the investment.

2. Unlock 2-3 sockets and slot your best offensive gears. Attack and Spirit Siphon should be your first two sockets. Add Critical Rate as a third.

3. Use grindstones before every major fight. Free temporary damage that stacks on top of your permanent upgrades.

4. Push refinement to level 5 only when you have surplus Abyss Artifacts. Prioritize essential skills (Focus, Marksmanship, key combat abilities) before spending Artifacts on refinement.

5. Extract and socket boss effects as you find them. Wound of Darkness, Crow's Pursuit, and Wind Slash are all worth socketing if they fit your playstyle.

6. Fill all 5 sockets on your endgame weapon. Once you are committed to a weapon, spend the 105 silver to fully socket it and stack complementary gears.

7. Refine to level 8-10 last. This is the most expensive step and should only be done on a weapon you are certain about.

When to Switch Weapons

If you find a weapon with significantly higher base attack or a pre-installed abyss gear that suits your build, switching is often worth it even if you have invested refinement materials in your current weapon. Remember that abyss gears can be extracted for free, so you only lose the refinement levels (not the socketed gears). The one exception is if you have pushed refinement past level 5 with Abyss Artifacts, since those artifacts are difficult to farm in bulk.

As a general rule: switch early and switch often during the first half of the game. Lock in your endgame weapon once you reach the late-game areas and have a clear picture of what build you want to run. For more detailed build recommendations, see the combat tips page.

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