Crimson Desert Leveling Guide: How to Farm Abyss Artifacts Fast

wccftech | March 26, 2026, 7:23 a.m. | Original

Crimson Desert does away with the traditional XP system se en in countless other games, basing the entire character progression for Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka on gear and Abyss Artifacts , which are used to unlock skills and increase three base stats . However, the game still features a sort of XP system (which it never explains) that lets you farm these artifacts to power up your characters quickly and further refine your gear.

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The "hidden" XP bar is only one of the ma y n mechanics Crimson Desert never properly explains

If you check the main game interface in the lower left-hand of the screen , to the sides of the circular minimap, you will see two vertical bars . The one on the right indicates the current temperature (highlighting if your character needs fire or ice protection), while the one on the left is the "hidden" XP bar.

Sometimes, while fighting enemies, you may have noticed you have received an Abyss Artifact out of the blue , but this wasn't a random occurrence. You received one because you defeated enough enemies to fill the bar!

With these mechanics in mind, you can essentially farm Abyss Artifacts , and not just rely on those you can find while exploring the world or by completing the challenges required to open the Sealed Abyss Artifacts you can often find on the road.

As you need to defeat enemies to fill up the "hidden" XP bar to farm Abyss Artifacts, you will need to defeat as many enemies as you can . This makes certain areas and main story quests ideal for doing so.

Occupied regions are the best places to fight tons of enemies, and thus farm Abyss Artifacts
  • Enemy Faction Regions: Any region occupied by an enemy faction (indicated on the main map with a red icon) is the perfect place to defeat a high number of enemies . However, the best areas of these types are the ones where you have to defeat a boss to effectively liberate them , such as Fort Perwynn where The Crimson Nightmare awaits you . In these cases, enemies spawn endlessly (unless you destroy certain facilities within the occupied regions), making them the perfect locations to farm Abyss Artifacts quickly.
If you haveyet to defeat the Reed Devil, you have the perfect occasion to farm Abyss Artifacts indefinitely
  • The Seed of Unease (Chapter III): If you're still in Chapter III or earlier, the Seed of Unease quest is the perfect spot to massively farm Abyss Artifacts. As you climb the mountain to reach the Reed Devil, you will find multiple totems that spawn waves of enemies , and continue to do so until they are destroyed. As such, they are a source of infinite enemies, and thus, infinite Abyss Artifacts!

And, if you're strapped for silver, you can also disarm the many enemies you have to face during your Abyss Artifact farming endeavors to steal and then later sell their drops!

This concludes our guide. For more help, visit our Crimson Desert Complete Walkthrough and Guides Hub.

Guide based on a 50+ hours playthrough in the PC version of the game. Screenshots captured from the same version.

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