How to Respec in Crimson Desert — Reset Skill Points With Faded Abyss Artifacts

Table of Contents

TL;DR

To respec, open the Skills menu and hold F (PC) / Square (PS) / X (Xbox) — you need at least one Faded Abyss Artifact in your inventory.
Your first guaranteed Faded Abyss Artifact comes at the end of Chapter 1 as a quest reward.
You can also find them in treasure chests, from Sealed Abyss Artifact challenges, and by buying from Witch vendors (3 per visit, 2.85 Silver each).
You can craft them in Chapter 4 at Scholastone — they cost 1x Abyss Cell + 2x Mercury.
Big warning: Resetting resets all three playable characters — Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka — at the same time.
Skills learned via the “watch and learn” mechanic are kept permanently and are never reset.

Crimson Desert gives you a lot of freedom with your skill build. Three characters, three full skill trees, and dozens of abilities to mix and match. That freedom is great — until you realize you have spent your Abyss Artifacts on skills that do not suit your playstyle, or a tough boss is making it clear your current build is not working.

The good news is that you can respec in Crimson Desert. The not-so-good news is that it costs a rare consumable item called a Faded Abyss Artifact every time you do it. Knowing where to find them, how to craft them, and how to use them correctly will save you a lot of frustration.

This guide covers every source for Faded Abyss Artifacts, how the respec process works, and a few things most guides forget to mention — including the part about all three characters resetting at once.

For a broader look at the game’s systems, check out our Crimson Desert review.

What Is a Faded Abyss Artifact in Crimson Desert?

There are three types of Abyss Artifact in Crimson Desert. It is easy to confuse them.

Item	What It Does
Abyss Artifact	The regular kind. Spent to unlock and upgrade skills in the skill tree. Earned by leveling up, completing quests, and exploring.
Faded Abyss Artifact	Used specifically to respec — resets your entire skill tree and refunds all spent Abyss Artifacts.
Sealed Abyss Artifact	Found along roadsides and cairns. Completing their challenge rewards you with items, including Faded Abyss Artifacts.

Think of regular Abyss Artifacts as your skill currency. Faded Abyss Artifacts are the refund token. You spend one to get all your currency back and start over.

To learn more about the Sealed Abyss Artifacts and how to unlock their rewards, see our guide on how to open Sealed Abyss Artifacts in Crimson Desert.

How to Respec in Crimson Desert — Step by Step

Resetting your skills is straightforward once you have a Faded Abyss Artifact.

Open the Skills menu from the main interface.
Check the bottom of the screen for the Reset All prompt. If you have no Faded Abyss Artifact in your inventory, this option will be greyed out.
Once you have at least one, hold the button:
- PC: Hold F
- PlayStation: Hold Square
- Xbox: Hold X
Confirm the reset.
One Faded Abyss Artifact is consumed. All spent Abyss Artifacts are fully refunded. Your entire skill tree is wiped and ready to rebuild from scratch.

You can now spend all your refunded Abyss Artifacts on whichever skills you want.

Critical Warning — All Three Characters Reset Together

This is the most important thing to know before you respec, and most guides skip over it.

Crimson Desert has three playable characters: Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka. All three draw from the same shared pool of Abyss Artifacts. When you trigger a respec, the game resets all three skill trees simultaneously — not just the character you are currently playing.

That means if you have a perfectly tuned build for Damiane but you just want to fix Kliff’s setup, you will wipe Damiane’s tree in the process. You then have to manually rebuild all three characters every time.

Tip: Before resetting, write down or screenshot your current skill allocations for each character. That way you can quickly rebuild the ones you want to keep.

Skills That Are NOT Reset

There is one exception to the full wipe. Skills unlocked through the “watch and learn” mechanic are kept permanently after a respec.

As you explore Pywel and fight enemies, you will sometimes get the option to observe a specific move or maneuver. Learning it this way does not cost an Abyss Artifact. Because no Artifact was spent, the game does not refund it — and the skill stays with you through every reset.

This is actually very useful for build planning. Treat your “watch and learn” skills as a free permanent foundation, and plan your paid skills around them.

All Ways to Get Faded Abyss Artifacts in Crimson Desert

Faded Abyss Artifacts are rarer than regular Abyss Artifacts. Here is every source, ranked from earliest to latest.

1. Chapter 1 Quest Reward — Your First One

You do not have to look for your first Faded Abyss Artifact. At the end of Chapter 1, after completing the main story quest “Woman in White”, one is automatically dropped into your inventory.

There is also a chest inside Hernand Castle during the Chapter 1 main quest “Trace” — inside the room opened by the mysterious key — that contains a Faded Abyss Artifact. This is the earliest you can get one in the game.

Do not waste either of these. Wait until you have a clear plan before spending them.

If you need help getting into Hernand Castle first, see our guide on how to enter Hernand Castle in Crimson Desert.

2. Sealed Abyss Artifact Challenges

Sealed Abyss Artifacts are glowing cube-shaped objects scattered along main roads and hidden near rock cairns across Pywel. Picking one up adds a challenge to your Journal. Complete the challenge, and you earn rewards — including Faded Abyss Artifacts.

One example is the challenge “Keeping Balance on the Wind”, found at a roadside marker southeast of Hernand. Completing it rewards a Faded Abyss Artifact.

Check your Journal: Challenges tab regularly to track which ones reward them.

3. Treasure Chests in the Abyss

Treasure chests hidden in the nooks and floating islands of the Abyss sky areas have a high chance of containing Faded Abyss Artifacts. These chests are not marked on the minimap, so you have to physically explore to find them.

Keep your eyes open when you are doing Abyss content. The floating islands are worth scouring thoroughly.

For help with Abyss-related puzzles, see our guide on the Crimson Desert Abyss Without Balance puzzle solution.

4. Buy from Witch Vendors

This is the most reliable on-demand source, unlocked during Chapter 3 of the main story.

Witch’s Lair vendors sell 3 Faded Abyss Artifacts per transaction for 2.85 Silver each. That is an extremely reasonable price. Once you unlock Witch vendors, you essentially have an unlimited supply of respecs — as long as you have Silver.

Track down your nearest Witch vendor early and note its location. It is the best failsafe when you suddenly need a respec before a difficult boss.

5. Main Story Quest Rewards

Several main story quests reward Faded Abyss Artifacts as you progress. These are scripted drops — the game gives them to you automatically when you hit certain story milestones. Just keep progressing the campaign and you will accumulate a few naturally.

Check your Journal whenever you complete a major quest, as rewards are not always announced loudly on screen.

6. Craft Them at a Cauldron (Chapter 4)

Once you reach Chapter 4 and visit the Scholastone in western Pywel, you can unlock the crafting recipe for Faded Abyss Artifacts.

How to get the recipe:

Visit the Scholastone Research Institute and find the Research Vendor, Grunvar.
Complete Grunvar’s Research Requests.
Start the research project: “Research on the Abyss Energy Restoration Phenomenon”. This costs 12 Silver and takes 8 real-world hours to complete.
Once finished, you receive the Blueprint: Faded Abyss Artifact.

Crafting cost (per Faded Abyss Artifact):

Material	Amount	Where to Find
Abyss Cell	1x	Dropped by Abyss-corrupted creatures near Abyss Nexus teleporters
Mercury	2x	Found in freezing pools in Hexe Sanctuary (northern Demeniss) and Silver Wolf Mountains (northern Pailune)

Craft at any Witch’s Cauldron once the blueprint is learned. This gives you a permanent self-sustaining supply for the rest of the game.

For help finding materials around Pywel, see our guide on how to get Iron Ore in Crimson Desert for a primer on resource gathering.

Tips for Using Faded Abyss Artifacts Wisely

Save your game before every respec. Open the pause menu and make a manual save. Then respec and test your new build on some low-level enemies. If you hate the results, reload the save and your Faded Abyss Artifact is returned. This is the smartest way to experiment without waste.

Don’t respec on a whim. These are rare items early in the game. Use one when you genuinely need to fix a build or adapt to a tough challenge — not just because you saw a skill that looks cool.

Plan your rebuild before you reset. Once you reset, you have a blank slate and a pile of Abyss Artifacts. Without a plan, it is easy to make the same mistakes again. Spend a minute thinking about which skills you actually need before you click anything.

Remember all three characters reset. Before you hit that button, decide if you are also happy to rebuild Damiane and Oongka. If not, write down their current allocations first.

Use Witch vendors to top up before boss fights. When a tough boss is blocking your progress and your current build is not working, buy two or three Faded Abyss Artifacts from a Witch vendor, respec into a stronger combat loadout, and try again.

What Respec Is Actually For in Crimson Desert

Respeccing is not just a mistake-fixer. It is a genuine strategy tool.

Certain critical combat skills — like Blinding Flash Finisher and Evasive Slash — require an Abyss Artifact to unlock. If the game’s difficulty spikes and you find yourself locked out of these skills because you spent your points elsewhere, a respec lets you reclaim those Artifacts and put them exactly where they need to go.

Think of it as a strategic pivot. You are not undoing a mistake — you are adapting your loadout to meet a new challenge.

This is especially useful when new playable characters join your party. Each character (Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka) has unique skills. After unlocking a new character, a respec lets you properly distribute your shared Abyss Artifact pool across all three trees at once.

To understand how each character plays and which skills are worth prioritizing, check out our full Crimson Desert review and all main story quests and chapters guide.

Related Crimson Desert Guides

Crimson Desert is available on PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and Epic Games. Visit the official Crimson Desert website for the latest updates.

FAQs — How to Respec in Crimson Desert

Q: How do you respec in Crimson Desert?

A: Open the Skills menu and hold F (PC), Square (PlayStation), or X (Xbox) to trigger the Reset All option. You need at least one Faded Abyss Artifact in your inventory for the option to be available. One Faded Abyss Artifact is consumed, and all your spent Abyss Artifacts are fully refunded.

Q: Where do you get Faded Abyss Artifacts in Crimson Desert?

A: There are several sources. Your first comes from a chest in Hernand Castle during the Chapter 1 quest “Trace,” and another drops as a reward for completing Chapter 1. After that, you can find them in treasure chests in the Abyss, buy them from Witch vendors (unlocked in Chapter 3) for 2.85 Silver each, earn them from Sealed Abyss Artifact challenges, and craft them at a Cauldron once you unlock the blueprint in Chapter 4.

Q: Does respec reset all characters in Crimson Desert?

A: Yes. All three playable characters — Kliff, Damiane, and Oongka — share the same Abyss Artifact pool. When you respec, all three skill trees are reset simultaneously. You will need to manually rebuild all three characters after each respec.

Q: Are any skills kept after respeccing in Crimson Desert?

A: Yes — skills unlocked through the “watch and learn” mechanic are permanent. Since these skills never cost an Abyss Artifact, they are not refunded and stay with your characters through every reset.

Q: How do you craft Faded Abyss Artifacts in Crimson Desert?

A: You need to unlock the blueprint first. In Chapter 4, visit the Scholastone Research Institute and complete the research project “Research on the Abyss Energy Restoration Phenomenon” with vendor Grunvar. This takes 8 real-world hours and costs 12 Silver. Once learned, craft them at any Witch’s Cauldron using 1x Abyss Cell and 2x Mercury.