Crimson Desert is an action sandbox game that doesn’t guide you all the way through. Players have to spend dozens of hours just to figure out some of the basic mechanics because the game doesn’t tell them. So that you don’t run into the same issues I did starting the game, here I will help you identify 10 Crimson Desert mistakes you are making early on.
Don’t Invest in These Skills Early On
Crimson Desert offers players some amazing skills from the get-go. Most Crimson Desert skills can be unlocked with an Abyss Artifact from the very start, and that leads to a big problem. New players often tend to get fascinated with all the different skills and start to invest in them without proper planning.
For starters, you should always invest in the Stamina and Health nodes early on in the game, without unlocking other flashy skills. This will let you explore faster and take more damage to get through those hard boss fights.
Next, avoid investing in the Flight and Axiom trees without building your Stamina. You cannot even use the Axiom skills without hitting specific stamina requirements. Similarly, the Flight skill in Crimson Desert is essentially worthless with low stamina.
The skills you should invest early on for a smoother experience, after upgrading Stamina and Health, are Armed Combat, Blinding Flash, and Spinning Slash. These will massively upgrade your combat prowess early on in the game.
Stop Playing the Main Quests And Start Exploring
Playing main quests in Crimson Desert is a great way to unlock new skills. However, they are also the most infuriating part of the game. The storyline in the main quest is almost nonexistent.
Half of them are simply chores, and the few boss fights you have can be extremely hard if you’ve only been doing main quests. I even stopped playing the game after making the same mistake in Crimson Desert.
It was only when I stopped pursuing the main quests solely that the world of Crimson Desert truly opened. Every area has something to do with hidden loot and some completely overpowered weapons that you shouldn’t miss. The game gives you complete freedom to explore the entire Crimson Desert map at the very start, so don’t hold back and continue exploring the game.
Avoid Slamming Your Head, Instead Find a Way Around
Crimson Desert has a mixed difficulty. Some parts are really hard, while others are a walk in the park. The truly hard elements of the game are where players try to slam their head into it, hoping for the challenge to give way.
This particularly happens against a strong boss. As a Souls player myself, I have done this countless times in other games, and it has worked more often than not. But that’s not true when it comes to Crimson Desert, as you’ll also commit that same mistake.
When you are stuck on a boss fight in Crimson Desert, it is less about your skills and more about your stats. This includes your health, stamina, defense, and damage. If you are stuck on a challenge, you should explore and power up first instead of slamming your head against it constantly. I learned it the hard way myself after fighting the Crimson Nightmare boss.
Although I understood the gimmick, the fact that the boss fight had 50 other bandits in it made it a complete health and defense check. After wasting hours of my life, I finally explored more and returned to get my revenge.
Stop Hoarding Those Posters and Recipes
Crimson Desert has limited inventory space that can quickly fill up with useless junk. Although you can expand inventory in Crimson Desert, doing so is not fast enough for all the trash you are carrying around. And many times, you won’t even know the stuff you have in the inventory is just useless, and that’s a common mistake to commit in Crimson Desert.
For example, after you have scanned or observed a bounty poster or recipe, like the Crimson Desert Blix Bounty, there is literally no point in keeping them in your inventory. Although the game should automatically drop them, a good thing it does instead is allow you to sell them.
Some of the recipes can be solved for 5 silvers each, which is a staggering amount of money early on in the game. So, once you have read those posters and recipes, make sure to sell them.
Start Grouping Items in Inventory
Inventory management is key to keeping your sanity in Crimson Desert. With you picking random stuff off the ground, the inventory can soon become unmanageable. Early on in the game, I used to spend so much time trying to find something that I had picked up, like swords, key items, or even recipes, which was a common mistake I made in Crimson Desert. Soon, I realized that some items are grouped and appear in a separate window.
But did you know that you can actually create groups for other items as well? Yes, you can create custom groups to keep your inventory clean. I would recommend making a group for food and other Crimson Desert weapons, if you haven’t already done so. One thing to remember is that grouping doesn’t expand the Inventory, but it uses the same slots you have unlocked thus far.
Dodge Less, and Tank More
Another Crimson Desert mistake I see players continuously make is trying to play it like a Souls-like. The game has a dodge roll, alongside side parrying and other fancy defensive options. Using them in specific moments is quite useful, but you cannot play Crimson Desert the same way as a souls-like game.
First, the basic dodge doesn’t seem to have i-frames. Although you get some with an ability that lets you dodge the attack after getting hit, it also gives you some damage. Without the I-frames, dodging in boss fights is mostly a bad choice to make.
I learned that early on, during the Crimson Desert Kailok the Hornsplitter fight. Instead of dodging, what you need to do is tank more damage. You have a shield from the start of the game, so use it to block damage and attacks. Doing this simple thing will increase your chances of defeating bosses in the game by a large margin.
Start Using the Lantern More
The lantern is a useful item that you quickly learn to use to uncover secrets. However, I see many players make this mistake in Crimson Desert, where they barely use the lantern when coming across something they don’t understand. Whenever you stumble upon a puzzle, your first job should be to analyze the entire surroundings with your lantern. More often than not, the Lantern will guide you on what you are supposed to do.
Don’t Neglect the Greymane Camp
Yes, I did mention to avoid playing main quests, but that is mostly until you have unlocked the Greymane camp in Chapter 3. That’s because the Greymane Camp gives you massive freedom to explore the world without being tied down for money or resources. You can send the Greymanes to clear challenges or work as security to earn money fast in Crimson Desert, while you focus on your shenanigans.
However, the Greymane camp is basically empty at the start after unlocking it. You need to complete the Greymane faction quests to recruit more people and unlock vendors. This should be one of the top priorities in the game, as it makes the rest of the game so much easier.
Stop Fighting at Night
Crimson Desert has a day and night cycle like many other games. However, night in Crimson Desert is not just a gimmick. It gets incredibly dark at night, and you need to turn on your lantern to even see around the character. The night massively reduces the visual range of the characters, and normally, that is not a big issue, unless you are in combat.
Normal combats are still doable at night, but fighting bosses can be a nightmare. One example is the Crimson Desert Reed Devil boss, who is infinitely more complex and hard to defeat at night than in the morning. So, when fighting a boss, sleep in a bed to pass the time.
Explore the Abyss
One of the early Crimson Desert mistakes I see players make is not exploring the Abyss. The Abyss is an entire connection of islands above Pywel in the skies. You will find a separate Abyss Nexus chain in the Abyss. The Abyss Nexus are fast travel points in Crimson Desert, and the more you unlock them in the Abyss, the easier it gets to explore Pywel.
When you don’t have many Abyss Nexuses on the ground unlocked, what you can do is use the nearest point in the Abyss, and then jump down. Next, you can use the flight skill to reach the place more quickly.
So, these are 10 mistakes I keep seeing players make in Crimson Desert. Hopefully, this guide will help you play the game better. Have any questions? Let us know in the comments below.
Sanmay Chakrabarti
