Revision 7

Overview

One of the first things players notice when they start exploring the world of Pywel is a golden yellow bar sitting to the left of the minimap in the lower-left corner of the screen. The game never gives a detailed tutorial pop-up about it, which leaves many players wondering what it does. This bar is the Abyss Artifact EXP Bar, and it is the single most important progression tracker in Crimson Desert. Every enemy you defeat pushes the bar forward, and each time it fills completely you receive one Abyss Artifact. Because Crimson Desert has no traditional character levels, the Abyss Artifact EXP bar effectively replaces the experience point system found in most RPGs.

Understanding how this bar works is essential for building your character efficiently. Abyss Artifacts fuel the entire Skill Tree, raise your core stats, and serve as materials for high-level equipment refinement. If you want to unlock every skill, max out your health, stamina, and spirit, and push your gear to the highest upgrade tiers, you will be filling this bar hundreds of times over the course of the game.

Location on the HUD

The yellow bar appears directly to the left of the minimap in the bottom-left area of the screen. It is a thin horizontal bar with a golden yellow color that gradually fills from left to right as you accumulate experience from combat. When the bar reaches full capacity, it flashes briefly and resets to empty, granting you one Abyss Artifact in the process.

The bar is always visible during normal gameplay and does not need to be toggled on. It sits alongside several other HUD elements in the minimap cluster, including the temperature indicator, your equipped recovery item slot, and accessory durability gauges. If the bar is not visible, check your HUD settings under the display options menu to make sure the minimap area has not been disabled.

How It Differs from Other Bars

Crimson Desert displays several colored bars and indicators on screen during gameplay, and it is easy to confuse them. The yellow Abyss Artifact EXP bar is distinct from all of them.

The most common point of confusion is between the Abyss Artifact EXP bar and the stamina indicator, since both use a shade of yellow. The key difference is position: the EXP bar is a fixed element next to the minimap, while the stamina indicator is a diamond-shaped gauge that only appears near the center of the screen when you perform stamina-draining actions such as sprinting or climbing.

How the Bar Fills

The Abyss Artifact EXP bar fills exclusively through combat. Every time you defeat an enemy, you earn experience points that push the bar forward. The amount of experience gained per kill varies depending on the type and difficulty of the enemy. Tougher enemies and enemies in higher-level areas contribute more progress toward filling the bar.

There is no daily limit, no session limit, and no cap on how many times you can fill the bar. Once it reaches full capacity and you collect your Abyss Artifact, the bar resets to zero and starts filling again from scratch. You can repeat this cycle indefinitely throughout the game. This makes the EXP bar the only truly unlimited source of Abyss Artifacts in Crimson Desert, unlike Sealed Abyss Artifacts and vendor purchases, which are both finite.

Note that passive sources of experience do not exist for this bar. Opening chests, completing dialogue, discovering locations, and other non-combat activities do not contribute any progress. Only direct enemy kills count. This means that if you are running low on Abyss Artifacts, the solution is always to head to a combat-heavy area and start clearing enemies.

What the Bar Rewards

Each time the yellow bar fills completely, you receive exactly one Abyss Artifact. Abyss Artifacts are the primary progression currency in Crimson Desert. They replace the traditional experience-based leveling system entirely and serve as the backbone of your character's growth across the continent of Pywel.

Abyss Artifacts have two major uses:

1. Skill Tree Progression: Each Abyss Artifact functions as a skill point that you can spend in the Skill Tree. You can use them to unlock new combat skills, upgrade existing abilities to make them more powerful, or increase your core stats. The three stat dials at the outer edges of the skill tree let you permanently raise your Health (up to 14 upgrades), Stamina (up to 14 upgrades), and Spirit (up to 12 upgrades for Kliff).

2. Equipment Refinement: Abyss Artifacts are required as crafting materials for refining weapons and armor, particularly at +5 and above. As you push gear past the mid-tier upgrade thresholds, the artifact cost per refinement level increases. This means you need a steady supply of artifacts for both your skill build and your equipment progression.

Because Abyss Artifacts serve double duty as both skill points and refinement materials, managing your supply is an important part of character planning. Many players recommend prioritizing core combat skills first and reserving a cushion of five to ten artifacts at all times for unexpected refinement needs.

All Sources of Abyss Artifacts

The yellow EXP bar is the most reliable source of Abyss Artifacts, but it is not the only one. The table below summarizes every way to obtain them in the game.

Of all these methods, the EXP bar is the only one that can be farmed indefinitely. Every other source has a finite number of artifacts attached to it. This is why understanding how to fill the bar efficiently is so critical for long-term progression.

Best Ways to Fill the Bar Quickly

Since the yellow bar fills through enemy kills, the fastest way to level it up is to find locations with dense concentrations of enemies that respawn reliably. The following methods are the most efficient approaches discovered by the community.

Blockaded Areas and Enemy Camps

Blockaded areas are marked as red buildings on the world map. These locations are packed with enemy mobs that respawn when you leave the area and return. By rotating between two or three Blockaded areas in the same region, you can create a continuous farming loop where enemies are always available when you circle back. This is the most consistent and reliable method for filling the EXP bar at any point in the game.

One efficient approach is to focus on Blockaded areas during main quest missions that funnel waves of enemies at you. Clearing every enemy in these sequences rather than rushing past them can net multiple Abyss Artifacts in a single mission. Players have reported earning up to four artifacts from a single wave-based quest simply by defeating every enemy instead of skipping optional fights.

Chapter 3 Totem Farming (Limited Window)

During the Chapter 3 main quest "The Face Behind the Mask," a mountain area near the Reed Devil boss fight contains enemy-spawning Totems. Enemies summoned by these Totems respawn indefinitely, making this one of the highest-density kill zones in the early game. You can stay in this area and farm the EXP bar as many times as you want.

Warning: This farming window closes permanently once you defeat Reed Devil. The boss fight destroys all nearby Totems and stops enemy respawns in the area. If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, do your farming before you engage the boss.

Greymane Rumor Quests

Greymane Rumor quests are arguably the most time-efficient source of Abyss Artifacts relative to the effort required. Each quest follows a straightforward structure: follow up on a rumor, locate Greymane survivors in the wilderness, and escort them back to camp. Every completed quest rewards one Abyss Artifact directly, plus the enemies you encounter along the way contribute to the EXP bar. New Rumor quests unlock as you progress through the story, so check your Faction Quests journal tab regularly.

General Farming Tips

• Check your world map frequently for red building icons marking unliberated Blockaded areas. These are guaranteed to have large groups of enemies waiting.

• When you are in a story mission with combat encounters, take the time to kill every enemy. Skipping mobs to rush objectives wastes valuable EXP bar progress.

• Higher-level enemies in later regions give more progress per kill. Once you have access to areas like Hernand and beyond, farming there is more efficient than returning to early zones.

• Pair your farming sessions with gathering runs when possible. Many Blockaded areas sit near mineral deposits and herb nodes, letting you stock up on crafting materials at the same time.

• Keep a buffer of five to ten Abyss Artifacts in reserve. You never know when you will find a valuable skill unlock or need to push a weapon past the +5 refinement threshold.

Connection to the Skill Tree

Abyss Artifacts earned from the yellow bar are spent directly in the Skill Tree. The skill tree is divided into multiple branches covering combat abilities, passive bonuses, and the three core stat upgrades. Every node in the tree costs one Abyss Artifact to unlock or upgrade.

The three core stat dials sit at the outer edges of the skill tree:

Since there is no limit to the number of Abyss Artifacts you can earn through the EXP bar, it is technically possible to unlock every skill and maximize every stat given enough time. The game confirms that there is no cap on skill points. This means you will never be locked out of a build choice permanently; it just takes more farming to unlock everything.

Connection to Equipment Refinement

Beyond the skill tree, Abyss Artifacts are also consumed during equipment refinement. When refining weapons and armor past +5, each subsequent refinement level requires one or more Abyss Artifacts as part of the material cost. This creates a natural tension in your resource management: every artifact you spend on a skill is one fewer artifact available for gear upgrades, and vice versa.

Late-game players pushing equipment to the maximum refinement tiers will find that the artifact cost ramps up significantly. This is where the unlimited nature of the EXP bar becomes essential. While exploration-based sources like Sealed Abyss Artifacts and challenge rewards will eventually run dry, the yellow bar keeps providing artifacts as long as you keep fighting.

Why There Are No Character Levels

Crimson Desert does not use a traditional experience-level system. There is no "Level 1" or "Level 50" attached to your character. Instead, the yellow Abyss Artifact EXP bar is the primary measure of your combat engagement, and the artifacts it produces are the currency you spend to grow stronger. Your power is defined entirely by which skills you have unlocked, which stats you have upgraded, and how far you have refined your weapons and armor.

This design means that two players at the same point in the story could have very different power levels depending on how much time they have spent farming enemies and filling the EXP bar. A player who clears every Blockaded area and farms Totems in Chapter 3 will have a significant advantage in skill unlocks and stat upgrades over someone who rushes through the main quest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the bar take more kills to fill at higher progression?

The exact scaling mechanics of the EXP bar have not been officially documented by Pearl Abyss. Community testing suggests that the amount of experience required to fill the bar increases gradually as you progress, but the difference is offset by the fact that later enemies also grant more experience per kill. In practice, the time to fill the bar stays roughly consistent throughout the game as long as you are fighting level-appropriate enemies.

Can I fill the bar without fighting enemies?

No. The Abyss Artifact EXP bar fills exclusively through enemy kills. Non-combat activities like gathering, cooking, fishing, and exploration do not contribute any progress to the bar.

What happens if I ignore the bar?

If you do not actively farm enemies, you will still earn Abyss Artifacts from fixed sources like Sealed Artifacts, Challenges, quests, and vendors. However, these sources are finite and may not provide enough artifacts to unlock all the skills and stat upgrades you need. Relying on the EXP bar through regular combat is necessary for a well-rounded build.

Is there a notification when the bar fills?

Yes. When the bar reaches full capacity, it flashes with a brief visual effect and you receive a notification that you have earned an Abyss Artifact. The artifact is automatically added to your inventory and can be spent immediately in the skill tree or saved for later use.

Can I see how many Abyss Artifacts I currently have?

Your total Abyss Artifact count is displayed in the Skill Tree menu. Open your skill tree screen and look for the artifact counter, which shows how many unspent artifacts you are holding.

Tips and Strategy

• Make a habit of checking the yellow bar between major objectives. If it is close to full, take a short detour to clear a nearby enemy camp and collect your artifact before moving on.

• During the early chapters, prioritize filling the bar to unlock foundational skills like Dodge, Focus, and your first weapon skill upgrades. These early investments pay off throughout the entire game.

• Do not forget to spend your artifacts. Hoarding them does not benefit you; unspent artifacts sitting in your inventory are wasted potential. Check the skill tree after every few fills and invest in your build.

• If you are stuck on a difficult boss, consider spending an hour farming the EXP bar in a nearby Blockaded area. A few extra stat upgrades or a newly unlocked skill can make the difference between failure and victory.

• Combine EXP bar farming with Greymane Rumor Quests for maximum efficiency. The enemies you fight during these quests contribute to the bar, and the quest reward gives you a bonus artifact on top.

See Also

• Abyss Artifacts

• Skill Tree

• HUD Explained

• Stats

• Challenges

• Sealed Abyss Artifacts

• Refinement and Upgrade Materials

• Best Ways to Farm Abyss Artifacts