Skills and Abyss Artifacts

Crimson Desert has no experience levels: Abyss Artifacts, found in the Abyss, in hidden places and on bosses, unlock skills and raise health and stamina, and since Crimson Desert Enhanced (Aug 25, 2026) every artifact one character spends gives the other two an equal number of Abyss Links, with skills reset per character and a one-time free refund.

18:23 Crimson Desert has no experience levels or skill points: Kliff, Damiane and Oongka learn skills and raise their health and stamina by spending Abyss Artifacts, which come from the Abyss, from hidden places and from bosses, and since the free Crimson Desert Enhanced update of Aug 25, 2026 every artifact one character spends also gives the other two an equal number of Abyss Links to spend on their own skills. The Abyss is where it starts. In Pearl Abyss's "50 Minutes of Early Gameplay" (Sep 12, 2024, a pre-release build) Kliff stands among white ruins above the clouds beside a figure in a wide white hat, then leaps off the island and glides down to Pywel on dark wings; Pearl Abyss's press release for the video says that in the Abyss Kliff meets Alustin and White Crow, who "bestows upon him a new and powerful gliding ability".

In a sunny meadow of tall grass and yellow flowers beside a lone tree, a fighter in dark armor spins in a high kick, trailing a wide curved streak of glowing blue light. The kick catches another man, who doubles over at right. Blades of grass and leaves fly through the air. — A fighter spins through a high kick that leaves a sweeping arc of blue light, striking a man in a grassy meadow as grass and leaves fly in an official Steam store screenshot of Crimson Desert. Pearl Abyss

Quick facts

Experience levels	None
Skill currency	Abyss Artifacts; Abyss Links since 2.00.00 (Aug 25, 2026)
Sources of Abyss Artifacts	Abyss puzzles (Sealed Abyss Artifacts), hidden places, bosses, observing skills
What they buy	New skills, or more health and stamina
Skill resource	Spirit (Reckoning costs 20)
Other way to learn	Watch and Learn: observe someone using a skill
Reset	Per character since 2.00.00; one free reset of everything at the update
New in Enhanced	8 new skills for Kliff, unlocked by story progress (not named in the notes)

Abyss Artifacts

Abyss Artifacts replace experience. Each one either raises a stat (health or stamina) or unlocks a skill, and they come from bosses, hidden areas and the Abyss (Game Rant, Feb 20, 2026). The Abyss puzzles give Sealed Abyss Artifacts, which open into Abyss Artifacts when the challenge is completed; TheGamer notes that purple map markers point to readable flyers or graves holding them, and that a gold bar beside the minimap fills as Kliff defeats enemies and lets players farm more. Pearl Abyss made the Abyss puzzles clearer in 1.03.00 (Apr 11, 2026), and since 1.13.00 (Jul 3, 2026) Damiane and Oongka can enter the Abyss too.

Watch and Learn

Kliff can also pick up a move by watching someone use it. Pearl Abyss calls the feature "Watch and Learn" and improved it in the first patch (1.00.02, Mar 19, 2026); since 1.00.03 a skill needs to be observed only once. Since 1.04.00, observing a skill Kliff has already bought with Abyss Artifacts earns an Abyss Artifact back. Some skills are found this way in the world: TheGamer places Focused Force Palm on a marked wall in the western Steel Mountains, about 350 m south of the Scholastone Institute.

Kliff's skills

Pearl Abyss's patch notes name these of Kliff's skills: Force Palm (with Focused, Aerial, Descending and Pulse forms, and Force Current), Axiom Force, Nature's Snare, Nature's Grasp and Nature's Echo, Blinding Flash and its Finisher, Spinning Slash, Aerial Stab, Aerial Roll, Focused Aerial Roll, Aerial Maneuver, Evasive Kick, Lightning Kick, Elemental Meteor Kick, Weapon Throw, Charged Shot and Evasive Shot (each with a Focused version), Repel, Counter Stance, Lightning Surge, Flurry of Blows, Back Hang, Double Jump and Water Stride. The notes record when several arrived or changed:

1.00.03 (Mar 23, 2026): Force Palm is learned much earlier in the story.
1.03.00 (Apr 11): Focused Aerial Roll, used by Focusing in flight and pressing dodge.
1.04.00 (Apr 23): Weapon Throw while dual wielding; Force Palm Pulse charges in up to three stages.
1.06.00 (May 11): Blinding Flash usable without a weapon.
1.07.00 (May 15): Blinding Flash Finisher for unarmed combat.
2.00.00 (Aug 25): Double Jump is given by Bilwise in the Chapter 2 quest "Unexpected Gift", and eight new skills unlock at story points.

0:49 Elements come through skills too. Fire, ice and lightning are unlocked through Abyss puzzles and applied with Imbue Element (Game Rant, Mar 25, 2026), and since 1.04.00 a "Using Skill: Element" option gives each element its own input. Pearl Abyss's Official Launch Trailer (Mar 12, 2026) flashes through them in a few seconds: bursts of white shards, gouts of flame in the dark and a strike crackling with lightning. How the skills are used in a fight is on Combat.

Damiane's and Oongka's skills

0:30 Damiane and Oongka have their own trees. In Pearl Abyss's "Meet the Cast" (Feb 25, 2026) Rebecca Hanssen calls Damiane "a fierce fighter, and headstrong", and Stewart Scudamore describes Oongka as "a nomadic warrior" fighting for his people and the Greymanes. At launch neither had Kliff's Abyss tools; Pearl Abyss's Dev Update of Apr 10, 2026 acknowledged that players wanted them to have skills like Force Palm and Axiom Force, and the patches that followed added them:

1.03.00 (Apr 11, 2026)	Axiom Force, Nature's Snare and related abilities for both; Damiane's Shield Toss and Oongka's Scatter Shot work like Force Palm
1.04.00 (Apr 23)	Ambush, and a skill with the effect of Focused Force Palm, for both
1.06.00 (May 11)	Oongka's unarmed skills
1.07.00 (May 15)	Damiane's unarmed skills; Aerial Stab for both
1.08.00 (May 22)	A Focused Aerial Roll for both
1.09.00 (May 29)	Damiane's Reckoning (rapid spears of light, 20 Spirit) and Oongka's Devastation (a fiery shockwave)
1.14.00 (Jul 16)	Damiane's Skystep moved to the same input as Oongka's Vertical Flight

Other skills named in the notes: Damiane's Skystep, Whirl Kick and Piercing Light; Oongka's Vertical Flight, Explosive Leap, Roundhouse Kick and Quaking Fury.

Abyss Link and resetting skills

0:14 The Enhanced update (version 2.00.00, Aug 25, 2026) rebuilt how skills are learned. Its announcement trailer lists "new story moments", expanded voice-over and "all post-launch content to date"; the patch notes add the skill changes. A new resource, the Abyss Link, means that when one character spends Abyss Artifacts on a skill, the other two playable characters each receive the same number of Abyss Links, which they spend on their own skills. Skill progress can now be reset for one character at a time, refunding that character's Abyss Links, instead of resetting all three together. To make room for the change, every character's skill progress was reset the first time the game started after the update, with all Abyss Artifacts and other resources refunded. Abyss Links and currency also carry over into a new game started after all main quests are done. The whole update is on Crimson Desert Enhanced.

The same patch added eight new skills for Kliff, unlocked at points in the main story. Pearl Abyss's notes do not name them, and as of Oct 21, 2026 no official list has.

Which skills to get first

Pearl Abyss does not rank skills, so these are the guides' picks. TheGamer's tips (Apr 2, 2026) call Force Palm the most versatile skill in the game, recommend raising Stamina to 8 or more as soon as possible, holding Spirit at one or two upgrades until later, and taking Nature's Snare for bosses that fire projectiles; Keen Senses, which gives an audio cue before attacks, is the other early pick, and Game Rant says it is needed to parry. Even players who rarely use a bow, TheGamer adds, benefit from one or two Marksman upgrades.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get Abyss Artifacts in Crimson Desert? Crimson Desert's Abyss Artifacts come from Abyss puzzles (as Sealed Abyss Artifacts), from hidden places marked by purple map icons, from bosses, and from observing skills Kliff already owns. They are the game's only form of leveling.

Can you reset skills in Crimson Desert? Yes. Since the Crimson Desert Enhanced update (2.00.00, Aug 25, 2026), each character's skills can be reset separately, refunding that character's Abyss Links, and the update itself reset everyone's skills once for free.

What is an Abyss Link in Crimson Desert? Abyss Link is the skill resource Crimson Desert added on Aug 25, 2026: when one character spends Abyss Artifacts on a skill, the other two playable characters each receive the same number of Abyss Links to spend on their own skills.

Does Crimson Desert have a skill tree? Crimson Desert has a Skills menu for each character instead of experience levels; skills are bought with Abyss Artifacts or Abyss Links, or learned by watching others with Watch and Learn.

What are the best early skills in Crimson Desert? According to TheGamer, Crimson Desert's best early picks are Force Palm, extra Stamina (to 8 or more), Nature's Snare for bosses that fire projectiles, and Keen Senses, which Game Rant says is needed to parry.

How do you get Double Jump in Crimson Desert? Since the Crimson Desert Enhanced update (Aug 25, 2026), Bilwise gives Kliff Double Jump during the Chapter 2 quest "Unexpected Gift".

What new skills did Crimson Desert Enhanced add? Crimson Desert Enhanced (2.00.00) added eight new skills for Kliff that unlock at points in the main story, plus the Abyss Link system. Pearl Abyss's patch notes do not name the eight skills.