Looking for all the best, most useful Crimson Desert tips for beginners? Or perhaps you’re an expert Greymane already and you’re looking for a good place to share your latest tidbits of Abyssal wisdom?
Crimson Desert, as we’ve all no doubt gathered by now, is inescapably enormous. Not just in the size of its map, but the sheer number of systems and mechanics which you can interact with, no matter which direction you head from the starting block of Hernand Town. With so much to do, it’s not enough for us simply to talk about what to do first in Crimson Desert. We need a proper compendium of tips and tricks which will improve your experience throughout the entire 150+ hours of your playthrough.
Below you’ll find 40 of the best tips and tricks we’ve found for Crimson Desert, covering a range of topics including cooking, fishing, fast travel, catapulting yourself off trees, committing crimes, earning money fast, beating dangerous bosses, and much more. If you’re looking to add your own voice to the mix, then leave a comment below with your own game-changing tips and tricks, and the best of them will be included in this guide!
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1. The mouse acceleration slider is backwards
In settings, set the mouse acceleration slider to 100% to turn off mouse acceleration. Yes, it’s one of many UI/UX decisions in Crimson Desert that are absolutely bonkers.
2. Upgrade Health and Stamina first
It may sound boring, but the absolute best skills to learn first are the flat increases to your Health and Stamina. You won’t last long in combat with your starting maximums, so your first 4 Abyss Cores should go exclusively into these two skills.
3. Get better gear and upgrade it
Once you reach Hernand, speak with Rhett outside the Blacksmith’s, and purchase some plate armour from him as soon as you’re able. You can then complete his quest for a Pickaxe, and use it to mine lots of Ore for improving your armour. It’s one of the best things you can do first in Crimson Desert.
4. Grindstones give you a hefty damage bonus
Most new players don’t realise how big a boost Grindstones give weapons early on. You can easily add a +5 Reinforcement damage bonus to a 10-damage weapon early on. Find Grindstones near blacksmiths and campsites.
5. Leave a boss until later if need be
Bosses can often represente massive difficulty spikes compared to ordinary fights. If a boss seems too tough for now, save yourself frustration and spend some time upgrading your gear and your skills until you’re more prepared.
6. Cook tonnes of simple meals
Food is used to heal during fights. However much you think you need, make more. Early on when cooking in Crimson Desert, it’s better to prepare very simple meals (i.e. simple Cooked Meat) rather than making elaborate meals which use up far more of your ingredients.
7. Clean fish to use them in recipes
Fishing is a great way to get a steady source of food. Once you’ve caught a fish, hover over it in your inventory and hold-select it, then navigate to “Clean” to turn the fish into fillets for use in meals.
8. Use the Abyss Fast Travel points early on
You won’t have many fast travel points available at the beginning of the game, but remember you can switch your map to the Abyss far above, and use the fast travel points there. Once you’re in the Abyss, dive down to Pywel below.
9. Hoover up bandits’ loot for easy money
The best way to get easy money early on is to explore the lands surrounding Hernand and clear out Bleed Bandit camps. Loot every body, every sword, every pair of boots. Then sell them all back in Hernand.
10. Find a mask to start stealing
You can only commit crimes such as stealing or pickpocketing if you’re wearing a mask. You can get a mask either by completing the bounty mission for Jeffrey in Hernand, or by looting bandit corpses.
11. Rob the Hernand Bank for some early coin
The northwest-most building in Hernand is the Bank. Climb through the top floor window (or use a key on the locked door upstairs) and loot all the strongboxes while no one’s looking. Then sell them for a large amount of silver! You should also look out for other special Strongbox locations around Pywel, as they contain special rewards.
12. Complete Chapter 1 as soon as you can
I know you’re eager to stride off in a random direction, but first, complete the 9 quick main quests in Chapter 1. It’ll give you access to two extremely powerful abilities: Axiom Force, and the ability to Fly.
13. Use the context menu to play memories easier
Using the Visione Helmet to play memories you’ve found is needlessly finicky. Here’s a better way: the moment you use your Lantern to reveal a memory, hold and release Start or ESC to use the context menu button to instantly play the memory you’ve found. That contextual button is useful in various other situations too, such as passing time for a quest.
14. Use Axiom Force to catapult off trees!
Latch onto the top of a tree with Axiom Force, then hold LT and rotate Right Thumbstick (or hold Q and use Mouse Scroll Wheel) to pull back the tree. Once the prompt appears in the lower-right, tap jump to catapult yourself into the air. It’s probably the coolest way to travel until you get a Dragon to ride.
15. You can complete bounties without their notice
Criminals with bounties on them, such as Jeffrey or Blix, will still exist in the world even before you’ve picked up their bounty notice. Look out for an option to “Tackle” an NPC who runs from you – this likely means they’re an outlaw and you’ll get a reward for bringing them to the nearest Guard Station.
16. Buy Small Bags from vendors to expand your inventory
Want to increase your inventory space? Many early vendors, particularly in Hernand Town, will happily sell you a single Small Bag each for 50 Copper. Each Small Bag gives you one extra inventory slot – permanently!
17. Vendors have more for sale than you think
You can use Focus to aim at an object around a shop, and purchase it. These objects don’t appear in the list of items you can buy when you speak with a vendor, but you can purchase them from the vendor nonetheless.
18. Ring bells to unfog the map
It’s amazing how little attention Crimson Desert brings to this, but there is a map-revealing tower mechanic similar to Assassin’s Creed. Climb one of these bell towers and ring the bell to unfog the map in a massive area around you. Read our Crimson Desert bell locations guide for more details!
19. Switch characters to instantly teleport across the map
Once you unlock other main characters besides Kliff, you can strategically move them to opposite ends of the map and switch characters to “teleport” back and forth. Your characters all share the same inventory, so it really is like an uber-powerful fast travel.
20. Force Palm is your most versatile move
Force Palm is not just for pushing buttons. You can use it to stun enemies, heal your horse (make sure it’s Healing Force Palm), and even triple jump (more on this below)!
21. If a document isn’t purple, you can sell it
Documents which are required for ongoing quests and activities are marked as “Key Items” in your inventory, and their inventory slot is given a purple background. Once you’re done with that quest, it’ll appear as a regular inventory slot, meaning you can freely sell it.
22. Copper Pouches can be either opened or gifted
If you’ve stocked up on Copper Pouches after defeating bandit groups, you can either open them up to convert them into money, or Gift them to NPCs to raise their Trust level.
23. Be aware: you can go into debt if jailed
If you are noticed while a bounty is on your head, guards may come and try to arrest you. If you’re jailed, you’ll be fined the full amount of your bounty, and your money can even go into negative figures, giving you a debt you’ll have to pay off before you can purchase anything.
24. Get a Writ Of Absolution to remove a bounty
For a less violent resolution to a bounty on your head, travel to the Church of Hernand (or any other church) and purchase a Writ Of Absolution. The cost is equal to the price on your head, but at least you can do it on your own terms.
25. Focus to unlock more interaction options
You can “Focus” on a person or object using LB or Tab, which will often reveal hidden interaction options such as gifting, stealing, and more.
26. Use Turning Slash to chop trees quicker
Holding RB + RT or LMB + RMB performs a Turning Slash, which – as well as being a powerful combat move – can instantly cut down trees. You can do it again on the fallen trunk to split it into logs. After that, it’s best to use a Logging Axe to chop the wood into Timber.
27. Puzzle areas unlock extra fast travel points
There are tonnes of puzzle areas dotted about Pywel. Completing one will activate a structure called an Abyss Cresset, which acts as an alternate fast travel point in addition to the ordinary Abyss Nexuses.
28. Mysterious Energy areas hide fast travel points
Anytime you see a question mark on the map, it denotes a “Mysterious Energy” in the region. This means either an Abyss Nexus, or a puzzle area (which reveals an Abyss Cresset). So either way, the question marks hide fast travel points.
29. You can heal through almost anything
Healing by consuming food is ridiculously powerful in Crimson Desert, not least because you can heal even through lengthy animations. That includes fighting and being stunned or thrown across the room by a boss. Just heal through it!
30. View characters’ preferred weapons from the skills menu
Different main characters can only equip certain weapon types. For example, Damiane is the only character who can use pistols. View each character’s set of viable weapons using the top-left icons in the Skills screen.
31. Stamina-boosting food can save you while climbing
Stamina-boosting food can be situationally useful in combat, but mostly I save them for when I really need to climb something tall. As you get low on Stamina, just eat some food to keep climbing.
32. Use Mining Knuckledrill to mine while hanging off walls
The Mining Knuckledrill is a unique item rewarded to you after completing the side quest “Stolen Quarry”, which is part of the House Roberts Faction Questline. This item allows you to mine ores while hanging off walls, allowing you to finally get the higher up ores reliably.
33. Palmar Pills can revive you, but bosses won’t care
Palmar Pills are handy to stock up on. When you die, you can consume one to instantly resurrect at 30% health. The thing to bear in mind is that most bosses won’t respect your lengthy revive animation, and will start attacking you before your weapon is even out.
34. Shine your Lantern to find Sealed Abyss Artifacts
Turn your Lantern on using the equipment radial wheel, and then shine it towards the distance. If there’s a nearby Sealed Abyss Artifact in that rough direction, a pulse will emanate from that area, leading you to the Artifact.
35. Check the Greymane Camp Supply Chest periodically
The Private Storage Chest first appears in the camp outside Hernand Castle, but will move to Howling Hill once you unlock the camp there. Be sure to check it regularly; not only can you store items there, but it will auto-gather items from fights which you were unable to loot.
36. Mining an ore vein reveals it on the map
The first time you mine an ore vein such as Iron Ore or Copper Ore, it will permanently mark that ore vein on the map, allowing you to find it easily from then onwards.
37. You can Triple Jump using Force Palm
The moment you unlock Force Palm, you’ll also be able to perform an Aerial Force Palm by tapping its button while in midair. Doing so will launch you higher, and you can spam the technique to gain surprising heights before using Kliff’s wings to soar and cover great distances.
38. Use Concentrate Light to set fire to vines
Remember Concentrate Light? That skill you’re introduced to during the Prologue, where you enter the Blinding Light stance and then aim the light at an object or person? You can use that same skill to set fire to any vines covering puzzle areas, freeing you from having to use a Flaming Arrow.
39. Reach 100 Trust with an animal to make them your Pet
You can pet an animal up to five times a day to increase its Trust by 25. Do this for four days until it reaches 100 Trust, and you’ll be able to make it your Pet. Pets will follow you around, and help you loot items. You can have an unlimited number of Pets, but only one active at a time.
40. Don’t forget about Contribution Shops
Good deeds and side quests will earn you Contribution (essentially, reputation) with the region. This is handy because you can “spend” your Contribution at Contribution Shops such as the one near the entrance to Hernand Castle. These Contribution Shops can have pretty good gear for sale, so don’t neglect them!
So, what are your go-to game-changing tips and tricks for the Crimson Desert playerbase? Leave a comment below!