Everyone’s adventure in Pywell is about to begin, but this world is so expansive that stepping into it will be extremely daunting for some. You have several combat tactics to learn, things to gather, pets to befriend, quests to complete, secrets to uncover, and many more things. And while many of those things will become easier as time passes, we know that the first few hours will be overwhelming for some of you. For that reason, we’ve made a list of 10 essential tips and tricks you should know before starting your Crimson Desert journey.
1. You Can Find Fast-Travel Points With Your Swords
You might have seen the trailers already, but in case you missed them, our first tip for all new Crimson Desert players is unsheathing that sword and shining it at every chance you get. Besides looking cool, it will often show you a glint at locations where something might be hiding. Blue glints often lead to a puzzle or fast travel point, so following those will eventually make traveling aroud the map much easier for you.
2. Dropping Food In Front of Animals Increases Their Affinity More
We all want to start our animal shelter in Pywell, and while you can pet every animal five times a day and repeat that until you raise their affinity to 100, the easiest way to befriend pets is by just dropping food near them. Just go to your inventory, find any type of meat you have, and drop it in front of a cat or dog, and they will eat it, raising their affinity by 10 points. Still, if you want to pet them every day, we don’t judge.
3. You Can Fly Back to the Abyss if You Fall
The Abyss can be a jaw-dropping place, but it is also extremely scary, especially for those with vertigo or fearing to fall down and have to return to the last fast travel point they found. Well, there is actually a “return” option in case you fall. If you step off a platform, you’ll see a prompt that says “Stop.” Pressing it will take Kliff back to the last fast travel point. However, you can only do this before the whole scene transition when you’re taken back to Pywell, so act fast.
4. Selling Packaged Goods to the Black Market is More Profitable
Believe it or not, there is an actual black market in Crimson Desert, and selling things here is one of the best money-making tips we can give you. However, the things you should be focusing on selling are packaged goods. You might have come across items that have a scale icon and a blue background. The game lets you trade with them by taking a cart from your camp to a market, but it is faster and more profitable to just sell these goods to any black market vendor.
5. Upgrade Your Default Gear ASAP
Many of us have that RPG DNA so ingrained in our gamer’s heads that we think Crimson Desert will shower us with gear, but that’s not the case, hence why our next tip pertains to your starting armor. In short: keep it. Just hold on to your starting cape, armor, shield, and more, and invest materials in them. Early upgrades require materials that are easy to get, such as iron and copper ore, and every enhancement will provide a substantial damage or protection boost.
6. Invest in the Green Skill Tree
We know that you might want to unlock every wrestling move as fast as possible, but trust us, the Spirit Skill Tree is the most important one. Besides increasing your defensive capabilities, such as giving you a precise dodge mechanic, there are several skills in this tree that you can use to complete certain puzzles. So, if you ever want to see what’s behind a locked door or a weird Abyss device, chances are you need some of this magic to solve these challenges.
7. You Can Add More than One Boss Gear to a Weapon
You’ll soon unlock Abyss Gears, which basically allow you to add passive or active abilities to your equipment, be it armor or weapons. One thing the game doesn’t tell you is that you can actually remove gears from a boss’s weapon and then add them to another. The kicker is that you can stack boss gears, meaning that you can create a weapon with several active abilities that can decimate enemies in a matter of seconds. Just make sure the weapon or armor piece you have has enough sockets.
8. Focus on Kliff’s Skills First
We all want to take Oongka and Damiane for a ride, but the truth is that you’ll be using Kliff far more. Without spoilers, Damiane is the one who joins you first, but she also leaves for a couple of chapters, with Kliff being the only playable character. For this reason, we recommend focusing on using all your Artifacts on Kliff, and once your companions return, feel free to throw any extra skill points their way.
9. Save Gold Bars for the Stock Exchange
Among the many hidden systems in Crimson Desert, and a few others that never really give you a tip about what they do, we have the stocks system, or at least that’s what we’re calling it. There are a few banks around the map, and you’ll quickly see that you can buy gold bars and then place them inside a chest to create profit. While purchasing a gold bar takes a lot of silver, you can find a couple around the map, and we recommend storing them as soon as you can start making a passive income.
10. Never Ignore Core Stats
Just like the one for the Spirit Skill Tree, this tip is about your core stats, mainly Health and Stamina. We recommend focusing on these two stats and raising them at least until level 5 each. Your first encounters will be pretty easy, but Chapter 5 brings a steep difficulty curve, and it might make you struggle unless you have a larger health and stamina pool. Plus, you can learn several abilities by observing enemies, so you can save skill points for these upgrades and steal the techniques from other foes.
In the end, these are the tips we believe are essential during your first hours in Crimson Desert. However, there are many more things that you might end up learning on your own, and they will also help you during your adventure. Ultimately, this is a sandbox game, so the path you take is yours alone. Just make sure to be prepared to avoid dying constantly to the many dangers inhabiting Pywell.
