Abyss Artifacts are among the most valuable resources in Crimson Desert. Every playable character relies on them to unlock and improve skills across their individual skill trees, boosting stamina, spirit, health, and combat abilities. Under normal circumstances, these artifacts are doled out slowly as you gain experience, but a glitch in the current build of the game lets you collect as many as you want in a single sitting — provided you're at the right point in the story.
Quick answer: During the Seed of Unease subquest in Chapter 3, you can avoid progressing the quest after the Reed Devil retreats and instead farm infinitely respawning minions near two totems below the first encounter. Each full experience meter awards one Abyss Artifact, and the minions never stop spawning as long as you stay.
Requirements and timing window
This exploit is only available during a narrow window in the main story. You must be in Chapter 3, on The Face Behind the Mask questline, and specifically on the Seed of Unease subquest. If you've already completed that subquest and moved on, the opportunity is permanently gone for that save file. There is no alternative method that replicates this farm.
If you haven't reached Chapter 3 yet, you can plan ahead. Hold off on rushing through Seed of Unease once you get there, and take the time to stockpile artifacts before continuing. The payoff is significant — you'll gain access to skill upgrades that would normally only become available much later in the campaign.
How the experience meter ties into Abyss Artifacts
Abyss Artifacts aren't dropped by enemies directly. Instead, they're awarded each time your experience meter fills up completely. This meter appears as a yellow bar in the bottom-left corner of the screen, next to the minimap. Every enemy kill contributes experience toward filling it, and once it's full, you receive one Abyss Artifact and the bar resets. The exploit works by giving you an endless supply of weak enemies to kill, letting you fill that meter over and over again.
Farming Abyss Artifacts during Seed of Unease
Step 1: Progress through the Seed of Unease subquest normally until you reach the first totem. When you arrive, four or five minions will spawn alongside the Reed Devil.
Step 2: Kill all the minions first. Then attack the Reed Devil until roughly one-third of his health is gone. At that point, he'll retreat from the area.
Step 3: Do not follow the Reed Devil. The quest will prompt you to track him down, but ignore that objective entirely. Instead, head below the first totem to find two additional totems nearby.
Step 4: Approach these two lower totems. They'll rotate when you get close, spawning a fresh wave of the Reed Devil's minions. These enemies are weak and can typically be defeated without taking any meaningful damage.
Step 5: Kill the spawned minions, then approach the totems again to trigger another wave. Repeat this loop indefinitely. Each cycle of kills pushes your yellow experience bar closer to full, and every time it fills, you earn one Abyss Artifact.
Preparation tips before you start farming
The minions are not particularly dangerous, but spending an extended period farming means small amounts of chip damage can add up. Upgrading your gear before starting the grind is a smart precaution. Bringing food items that restore health will also help you sustain longer sessions without needing to leave the area.
Since the farm is time-intensive, consider how many artifacts you actually want before committing. Each character's skill tree has a finite number of nodes, so there's a practical ceiling on how many you'll need. Farming a large batch early can trivialize later combat encounters, which may or may not be appealing depending on how you want to experience the game.
Will this get patched?
This behavior appears to be an unintended glitch rather than a designed feature. The totems are meant to serve the Seed of Unease quest's scripted encounter, and the indefinite respawning of minions after the Reed Devil retreats is almost certainly an oversight. Pearl Abyss could address this in a future update, so anyone interested in taking advantage of it should do so sooner rather than later. As of late March 2026, the exploit remains functional in the current build.