Crimson Desert’s skill tree is far from standard. Between spending Abyss Artifacts, unsealing cursed items, and the elusive "Observation" mechanic, it’s easy to feel lost before you’ve even swung your sword. In this guide, we break down exactly how the skill systems work—including how to farm experience for artifacts and how to use Faded Abyss Artifacts to reset your build. We also reveal the locations of hidden NPCs who will teach you powerful abilities like Counter and Forward Slash for free, just by watching them train.
Beyond the basics, we’ve hand-picked the absolute best skills to prioritize in the early game to help you survive the brutal Chapter 2: Golden Greed bosses. From the essential Vault move for bypassing shields to the game-changing Aerial Force Palm that replaces the finicky double jump, these are the upgrades that turn Kliff from a wandering mercenary into a powerhouse. Learn how to master the Blinding Flash Finisher for massive group damage and why the Clothesline is your best friend against pesky archers.Looking for something in particular? Click the links below to jump to:
- 7 Best Skills to Get First in Crimson Desert
- How Abyss Artifacts Work (Skill Points)
- How the Skill Menu Works
- Skill Observations Explained
7 Best Skills to Get First in Crimson Desert
| Critical Path Skills | Early Stat Increases | Vault | Clothesline and/or Lariat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blinding Flash Finisher | Aerial Force Palm | Free “Observation” Skills |
Critical Path Skills
There are a number of skills that you will earn through the course of playing the main missions in the game. These are all core abilities that are hard to miss, but we’re mentioning them here because an early skill you get when you complete Chapter 1: The First Encounter is the “Fly” skill, which is really more of a glide.
Using it lets you glide safely to the ground from mid-air, meaning you will now be able to survive any drop with a well-timed button press. Annoyingly, you won’t be able to travel very far like this without improving your stamina a bunch.
Early Stat Increases
It takes a while to start earning distinctly better gear in the early game. To make sure you can survive tougher encounters with bigger enemies or more numerous groups, it’s good to put a few points into your Health and Stamina from the outset. The bosses you’ll encounter in Chapter 2 can be pretty brutal when facing them with base stats and equipment, so it’s important to give yourself a bit of a buffer.
Vault
Enemies holding shields or larger enemies with bigger health pools are a serious nuisance that can block a lot of your attacks. Just under the Stamina stat node is the skill for Vault. By unlocking Vault early on, you can press R1 + Square, or Right Bumper + X to jump over an enemy’s shoulders and then strike them from behind. This is a fast and repeatable method for getting the upper hand in fights that you will want to use early and often.
Clothesline and/or Lariat
Players start the game with access to a grab and throw attack, but if you increase the grappling skill once, or activate the Clothesline skill, you can use a different grab attack that allows you to slam enemies into the ground by pressing Square and X at the same time, or X and A on Xbox.
The Lariat, unlocked in the Grappling node, is a stationary version of this skill, while the Clothesline only works when sprinting towards an enemy. Both are great to have, but if we had to pick one, I’d choose the Clothesline. It really doesn’t take much to start sprinting to use the move on nearby enemies, and you can also use it to close the distance and quickly neutralize pesky archers that try to whittle away at your health from afar.
Blinding Flash Finisher
Blinding Flash Finisher is surprisingly powerful for how early you can purchase it. You’re taught the Blinding Flash during the tutorial, and you can use it during combat to stun enemies briefly. By activating the Blinding Flash Finisher skill, though, you can follow this stun by holding down R2 or Right Trigger to unleash a flurry of blows that deal significant damage while time is slowed down—and it only comes at the small cost of five spirit per slash.
You can let go after a strike or two, or hold the button down until Kliff finishes this slow-mo combo with a hit that sends a shockwave out in all directions. This will help you dispatch groups of weaker enemies, as well as deal serious damage against foes with more health.
Aerial Force Palm
While the prospect of the Double Jump skill sounds appealing, we often found that it fails to activate. That’s because the button to jump and double jump is the same as the button used for activating Fly in mid-air, meaning you will more often than not activate the Fly ability instead of the second jump. There is another option, though, inside the Force Palm node.
Here you can activate the Aerial Force Palm skill, which lets you click in on the right stick to use your Spirit gauge and push yourself up into the air. Not only is this more reliable than double jump, but you can use it multiple times in a row so long as you have enough Spirit meter to activate it. This means you can now climb vertical walls more easily or start flying from an elevated position whenever you want.
Free “Observation” Skills
To the southwest of Hernand proper is Hovels Swordhall, where you can observe a number of NPCs training in combat. By observing the second man training with the dummy, you can gain the Forward Slash proficiency ability for improving your heavy attacks, and observing the young children training in martial arts will unlock a level of proficiency with Unarmed Combat.
Also, to the northwest of Hernand, past the jail where you deposit any bounty targets you’ve collected, you’ll find Lioncrest Manor. Around the back of the property, you’ll see two guards comparing techniques with their spears. You can observe them to learn the Counter technique, which allows you to strike a foe just before they hit you to deflect the attack and begin hitting them with your strikes. You can also observe the archer out the front of the manor to learn the Charged Shot technique for your bow.
Remember, observation skills are learned permanently, so getting these for free is a great way to get some early abilities under your belt. It’s always a good idea to walk through any tournaments or training fields you come across, as there’s often a good chance you can observe new abilities.
How Abyss Artifacts Work (Skill Points)
In the skills menu, you’ll see the current number of Abyss Artifacts, Faded Abyss Artifacts, and Sealed Abyss Artifacts that you currently have access to.
An Abyss Artifact is a physical item stored in your inventory, which essentially acts as a skill point that you can spend in the Skill Tree. You can also purchase Abyss Artifacts from vendors for 28 Silver and 50 Copper. As you progress throughout the game, you’ll accumulate experience points by defeating enemies. The experience bar can be found on the left side of your mini map, and when it is full, you will be granted an Abyss Artifact automatically.
Faded Abyss Artifacts are the items you need in order to use the “Reset All” function. This refunds all spent Abyss Artifacts and resets the Skill Tree (except for skills learned through “observation”, which we’ll go over in a minute). You’ll get one of these early on in a glowing chest inside Hernand Castle.
Sealed Abyss Artifacts are unique items that you can find throughout your adventure that offer you unique challenges to complete. Once you’ve completed the challenge, the Artifact will begin to flash in your inventory, indicating that it’s ready to be unsealed. This grants you an Abyss Artifact—and sometimes an Abyss Gear—that you can spend in your Skill Tree.
In most cases, these Sealed Abyss Artifacts will reveal special Combat Challenges for you to complete, such as defeating a number of enemies with a certain type of weapon within a certain time frame. These challenges aren’t easy, as many will take multiple attempts before you’re successful. If you’re struggling with particular challenges, you may find that upgrading your skills can help, or simply moving to a more populated area may make them just a little easier to complete.
How the Skill Menu Works
When you have Abyss Artifacts to spend in the skill menu, you can choose to spend them on any of the circles that feature a small white icon on top of them. Most skills cost one Abyss Artifact to activate at first, with later-stage upgrades costing more and more Abyss Artifacts per activation.
The different types of skill nodes include stat increase nodes, one-off skill nodes, and multi-step skill nodes. The stat increase nodes are located on the edges and provide a simple boost to your Health, Stamina, and Spirit every time you choose to level them up. Some skills just require one activation and then they’re complete, while multi-step nodes open up a smaller skill tree that you activate more skills inside of. Going around the node and unlocking these subskills is the same as just leveling the skill in the middle; either way, the next node in the circle will activate.
Some skill descriptions will also note prerequisites that need to be met before you can unlock them. Examples of this include previous unlocks of other skills, spending a certain amount of Abyss Artifacts, or needing to observe the skill in the open world.
Skill Observations Explained
Observing skills is an alternative way to learn specific skills in the Skill Tree without having to spend Abyss Artifacts. These unlocks happen when viewing holograms that have been strategically placed throughout the world to teach you skills, or by watching certain enemies or NPCs fighting in combat.
Skills learnt this way are permanently unlocked by Kliff, which means that if you were to reset your Skills with a Faded Artifact, all observed skills will still remain. Skills unlocked through Abyss Artifacts though can no-longer be learnt through observation (unless you reset the board), it’s an either/or situation.
