TL;DR
- Palmer Leaf Research halts at 50% progress with no explanation — this is normal, not a bug
- Open your Journal, go to Faction Quests, then Pororin Forest Guardians to find the quest
- Find the Pororin Research Assistant under the large tree and talk to him
- Follow the marker to the massive tree in the hidden part of the village and search the glowing green leaf patches
- Palmer Leaf is not a guaranteed drop — search multiple patches if needed
- Hand the leaf to the Research Assistant, go back to Lumiel, and the research resumes
- Wait 6 in-game hours for the research to complete
You’re running the Palmer Leaf Research at the Pororin Village Research Institute and everything is going fine. Then at 50% progress, the game hits you with a notification that research has stopped — and gives you absolutely nothing else to go on. Lumiel doesn’t explain it. The research menu just says “Research Halted at 50.00%.” No hint, no marker, no obvious next step.
This is one of those moments where the game really doesn’t hold your hand. Here’s what you need to do.
What Is Palmer Leaf Research?
Before getting into the fix, a quick note on why this research matters. Palmer Leaf Research is one of the projects you can fund at the Pororin Village Research Institute, run by a Shai NPC named Lumiel. It costs 9 Silver and takes 6 hours to complete once running.
Completing it increases the maximum arrow supply for the Replenishing Arrows item, making it very useful for anyone running an archer build. It also reveals the location of Palmer Leaf gathering areas on your map. If you haven’t unlocked Pororin Village yet or haven’t touched the research system there, the how to get and use Replenishing Arrows guide explains what these arrows do and why the upgrade matters.
Why Does Palmer Leaf Research Halt?
The research halts automatically at 50% because the game requires you to manually intervene with a side task before it can continue. This isn’t a bug or a glitch. It’s intentional — research projects in Crimson Desert sometimes pause mid-way and need you to help a researcher who’s running into a problem in the field.
The game sends a notification telling you the research stopped, but gives you almost no information about what to do next. That’s what this guide is for.
Step 1 — Find the Quest in Your Journal
The first thing to do is make the hidden quest visible so you can track it. Open the pause menu and go to your Journal. Navigate to Faction Quests, then find the Pororin Forest Guardians section under the Hernand category.
Scroll all the way to the bottom of that section. You’ll find a dropdown called Halted Research. Inside that is the Palmer Leaf Research Halted mission. Select it as your active quest and exit the menu. A quest marker will now appear on your map.
Step 2 — Talk to the Pororin Research Assistant
Follow the quest marker. It leads you to the Pororin Research Assistant, who is standing underneath a large tree in the village. Speak to him and he’ll explain what went wrong — he needs a Palmer Leaf to continue the research but can’t find one himself.
Step 3 — Find a Palmer Leaf
After talking to the Research Assistant, a new marker appears pointing to a massive tree in a hidden part of Pororin Village. Head to that location.
Underneath this tree you’ll find glowing green leaves growing in patches on the ground. These are the Palmer Leaf patches. Interact with them one by one to search for a Palmer Leaf.
Important: Palmer Leaves are not a guaranteed drop from every patch. You may need to search several different patches before one appears. Don’t get frustrated if the first two or three come up empty — just keep checking until one drops.
A tip from the community: the glowing patches are easier to spot at dusk or nighttime when the green glow is more visible. If you’re struggling to see them clearly, try changing the time of day. The how to change the time of day guide covers that quickly.
Also worth knowing: any boars in the area can interrupt your gathering action. Clear them out first so you’re not getting knocked around mid-search.
Step 4 — Return the Palmer Leaf to the Research Assistant
Once you have the Palmer Leaf, go back to the Research Assistant still standing by the large tree. Hand him the Palmer Leaf. He’ll confirm that the issue is resolved and that the halted research can now resume.
Step 5 — Resume the Research at the Institute
Now head back to the Pororin Research Institute and speak to Lumiel. Open the Research Request menu and navigate to Palmer Leaf Research. You’ll see that the progress meter is no longer frozen — it’s back to running normally.
From here, wait 6 in-game hours for the research to finish running its course. You can fast forward time, explore the area, or do other quests while you wait. The research runs in the background.
Once the 6 hours are up, the Palmer Leaf Research completes and the Replenishing Arrows supply cap increases. You’ll also have the gathering areas for Palmer Leaves marked on your map from this point forward.
Palmer Leaves — What Else Are They Used For?
Aside from the research quest, Palmer Leaves are also an ingredient tied to crafting Palmar Pills. Palmar Pills are one of the most important consumables in the game — they revive you on death at 30% health, which can be the difference between beating a boss and starting the entire fight over.
If you want to stock up on Palmar Pills properly, there’s a grove of Palmer Leaves and Palmer Beetles just north of Pororin Village that you can farm freely once the research reveals the location. The how to get and use Palmar Pills guide covers the full crafting recipe, ingredient locations, and where to find pills in the open world if you need them before you’ve unlocked crafting.
How to Unlock Pororin Village
If you haven’t gotten into Pororin Village yet and can’t even start the research, here’s the short version of how to access it.
Pororin is a hidden village southeast of Hernand, east of Emberwind Workshop. The first time you approach it, the Shai children will knock you out with a dart and move you away. When you wake up, find Arkin and a small group of Shai nearby. Talk to them and they’ll give you a task: retrieve a relic (the village chief’s hat) from a giant walking tree in the area.
Find the walking tree, climb up its legs and body to its head, and grab the relic. Return it to the Shai and you’ll gain permanent access to Pororin Village. The full walkthrough for this is in the Unreachable Village quest guide.
Once inside, you’ll find the Research Institute where Lumiel operates, a dyehouse for changing equipment colors, and access to several unique research trees.
All Pororin Research Projects — Quick Reference
While you’re at the Pororin Research Institute, here’s what else is available so you can plan your Silver spending:
| Research | Cost | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Research on Getting Closer to Nature | 1.10 Silver | Shadowleaf Disguise Blueprint + infinite arrow supply |
| Pharmacological Research on Medicinal Herbs | 7 Silver | Palmar Pill alchemy recipe |
| Palmer Leaf Research | 9 Silver | Increases Replenishing Arrows supply cap |
| Mysterious Energy of Wild Ginseng Research | 130 Silver | Containers hold more items |
| Plant Combination Research | 120 Silver | Unlocks Freya’s, Meliara’s, and Haiden’s Elixir recipes |
| Efficient Gathering Research | 70 Silver | Chance to find extra plants while gathering |
| Reachwood Ruins Dispatch Plan | — | Unlocks Reachwood Ruins dispatch mission |
The Pharmacological Research on Medicinal Herbs is worth doing early if you haven’t found the Palmar Pill recipe yet from Shadow’s Whisper Cave. The Efficient Gathering Research is a solid long-term investment if you forage plants regularly.
For the full breakdown of all research institutes across Crimson Desert and what they each unlock, the how to research guide has everything in one place.
Tips for Avoiding Halted Research Confusion
Check your Journal regularly. When research halts, the game sends a notification but doesn’t always make it obvious where the quest is logged. Getting into the habit of checking the Faction Quests section of your Journal after any research notification saves a lot of frustration.
Research progress only runs while time passes in the game world. If you’re confused about why a timer isn’t moving, remember that you need to actually play or sleep to advance in-game time. The research system works the same way as camp dispatch missions in that sense.
If you want to check on research progress without traveling to the village, press Y (Xbox) or Triangle (PS5) on the village icon on your map and tab over to the research view from the diorama screen.
The Palmer Leaf Research Halted quest is one of the cleaner examples of Crimson Desert’s approach to research interruptions. Once you know what to look for — the Faction Quest journal entry and the leaf patches under the big tree — the whole thing takes only a few minutes. The confusing part is just finding where the quest is hiding in the first place.
For more on combat, gear, and the broader world of Pywel, the Crimson Desert hub page has the full guide library. If you’re working through shield challenges or combat systems at the same time, the how to flip enemies with a shield guide is worth reading for anyone going for the Master of Shields achievement.
Crimson Desert is available on PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and Epic Games. Visit the official Crimson Desert website for news and updates from Pearl Abyss.
