Abyss Artifacts are the single most important resource in Crimson Desert. They increase your character's core attributes, unlock new abilities on the skill tree, and upgrade equipment to its maximum tier. The game doesn't use a traditional leveling system, so Abyss Artifacts effectively are your levels. Every playable character also has a separate skill tree, and each one needs its own pool of artifacts — characters do not share them. That means you'll need far more of these items than you might expect.
Quick answer: Kill enemies to fill the golden XP bar (left of the minimap) for a steady, farmable supply. Supplement that with boss drops, quest rewards, Sealed Abyss Artifact challenges, Abyss Cresset pillars, Abyss island puzzles, open-world pickups, and vendor purchases.
Abyss Artifacts from the combat XP bar
A golden yellow bar sits to the left of the minimap. It fills as you defeat enemies — any enemies, anywhere. Once the bar is completely full, you receive one Abyss Artifact, and the bar resets. Because this loop is infinitely repeatable, you can technically farm as many artifacts as you want by revisiting combat areas. There is no cap tied to specific locations or enemy types, so pick a spot with dense spawns and grind it out whenever you need more.
Main quests and boss defeats
Certain story missions hand you Abyss Artifacts as completion rewards. Two early examples are Chapter 2: Flames of Greed and Chapter 4: Gate to the Otherworld. Major bosses also drop artifacts when they die. Side quests are equally worth pursuing — the Greymanes' Grounds of the Sunrise chain, including the rumors about Greymane survivors, yields several artifacts across its steps.
Open-world pickups
Some Abyss Artifacts are simply sitting in the environment, waiting to be grabbed. Notable spots include a niche inside the Spire of Stars, the cabin where the Greymanes were ambushed, Marni's countryside house, and the hut where you free the fake form of the Witch Elowen. These are easy to miss if you rush through quest areas, so slow down and investigate corners, shelves, and alcoves whenever you enter a new interior.
Sealed Abyss Artifacts and challenges
Sealed Abyss Artifacts are collectible cubes scattered across the open world. They aren't marked on your map, but they show up as purple icons on the compass when you're nearby. Each cube is tied to a specific challenge — defeating enemies with a particular weapon, riding your horse to a designated location, or cataloging plants, animals, and strange entities.
Once you complete the associated task, open your inventory and interact with the Sealed Abyss Artifact to claim your reward. You can track outstanding challenges through the Journal's Challenges page. The Guiding Light mechanic can also help you locate hidden cubes in the field.
Abyss Cressets and Ancient Ruins
Abyss Cressets function as fast-travel points, similar to Abyss Nexuses. The key difference is that stepping on a Nexus plate simply activates it, while interacting with a Cresset pillar also lets you pull out an Abyss Artifact. Some Cressets require you to solve a riddle or environmental puzzle before they activate, so treat every new pillar you find as both a teleport unlock and a resource opportunity.
Abyss island puzzles
The Abyss — the floating-island realm in the sky — contains dozens of self-contained puzzle areas. Each island presents a brain teaser of some kind. Solving it activates a spire or totem on the island, which spawns an Abyss Artifact you can collect. These puzzles range from simple environmental manipulation to more involved logic sequences, and they represent a significant chunk of the game's total artifact supply.
Buying Abyss Artifacts from vendors
If you'd rather spend silver than time, you can purchase Abyss Artifacts outright. Witch vendors appear in different regions of Pywel, and Patrigio the Wandering Merchant also stocks them. Each artifact costs 28.50 silver, so building up your coin reserves through loot sales and quest payouts makes this a viable supplementary method.
All acquisition methods at a glance
| Method | Repeatable? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Combat XP bar | Yes (infinite) | Fill the golden bar by killing any enemies |
| Main quest rewards | No | Specific chapters grant artifacts on completion |
| Boss drops | No | Major bosses drop artifacts on defeat |
| Side quests | No | Chains like Greymanes' Grounds of the Sunrise |
| Open-world pickups | No | Found in interiors and hidden spots |
| Sealed Abyss Artifacts | No | Complete the linked challenge, then claim |
| Abyss Cresset pillars | No | Pull an artifact when activating the pillar |
| Abyss island puzzles | No | Solve the puzzle to spawn an artifact |
| Vendor purchase | Yes (costs silver) | 28.50 silver per artifact from Witch vendors or Patrigio |
The combat XP bar is your safety net — no matter how many one-time pickups you've already claimed, you can always farm more artifacts through enemy kills. Pair that with thorough exploration of the Abyss islands, diligent Sealed Abyss Artifact hunting, and the occasional vendor purchase, and you'll have more than enough resources to fill out every skill tree the game throws at you.