Getting started in Crimson Desert is more than a little overwhelming. The massive open-world game drops you in the middle of complex systems with few, if any, explanations, and tutorials are often doled out at random by passing strangers. And even then, the game just doesn’t tell you some essential tidbits, like the fact that you can travel together with your companions.
Below, we lay out a lot of Crimson Desert beginner tips to help start your journey through Pywel on the right foot.
1
Don’t forget basic skills
The big red, green, and blue nodes in your skill tree aren’t just there for decoration. They’re how you increase your health, spirit, and stamina, respectively, so make sure to drop a few artifacts to upgrade them. They’re some of the best skills to level early, especially stamina as the low starting amount you have becomes quite a detriment as you unlock skills that use a lot of it or just want to explore.
2
Hold off on roaming
Speaking of exploration, you might want to hold off straying too far until you either unlock movement abilities, like flight, or Damiane, the second playable character. With flight, you can drop down from the Abyss and glide wherever you please, but, unfortunately, only Kilff has the ability to go to the Abyss.
On the other hand, Damiane’s ability to explore is great off the bat. She has a double jump ability that’s automatically unlocked when she joins the team and climbs faster and more efficiently than Kliff. Stamina management is easier with her, which makes getting to new places (and getting back again, if it involves climbing) much less annoying.
3
Don’t spend your abyss artifacts all at once
Tempting as it may be to spend your abyss artifacts (Crimson Desert‘s version of skill points) as soon as you get them, it’s better to wait and see what you actually need. If, for example, you find you don’t like ranged combat, but you’ve already spent five artifacts upgrading your bow, then you’re kind of out of luck. Respeccing is possible, but the process requires limited, hard-to-find items.
