Crimson Desert Sealed Abyss Artifact locations and how they work

Finding Sealed Abyss Artifact locations in Crimson Desert and completing their challenges is one of the best ways to get Faded Abyss Artifacts, which you use to respec your character. It's also your primary way of getting Abyss Gears—rune-like items that you can slot into weapons and armour to provide them bonuses.

You may have already acquired an item with Abyss Cores inset such as the Sword of the Lord you get from the Hornsplitter boss. If you examine it, you can see the cores and the effects they have on its stats. So, here's how Sealed Abyss Artifacts work, plus where to find a load of different ones around the starting region of Hernand to try out.

Sealed Abyss Artifact locations in Crimson Desert

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Crimson Desert Sealed Abyss Artifact at road shrine — You'll find most Sealed Abyss Artifacts on rocks by the roadside(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)

You can generally find Sealed Abyss Artifacts resting on rocks by roadsides across Pywel. In fact, the only one I've found so far that wasn't by a road was the Nas River Shrine artifact close to the start. Here are a few details about how they work:

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Each Sealed Abyss Artifact has a challenge you can complete to earn Abyss Cores and occasionally a Faded Abyss Artifact to respec
When the challenge is complete, consume the Sealed Abyss Artifact in your menu to also get an Abyss Artifact
Often, you'll find the weapon you need for the challenge beside the artifact itself, such as the spear at the Nas River Shrine for the Sharpened Spear II challenge

There are a lot of these located across Pywel and you'll find them while exploring. One good tip is that holding up your lantern makes Sealed Abyss Artifacts emit white light from a distance so they're easier to spot, so try it out while riding around or flying.

Either way, here are some of the ones dotted around the starting area of Hernand to give you some challenges to start chewing on.

In order of when you're likely to encounter them:

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Artifact	Challenge	Reward	Location
Sword of Trials I	Defeat 3 enemies within 30 seconds using a sword	Destruction I	At a shrine on the west end of the big bridge north of Hernand city, near Three Saints' Falls.
Shield of Unchanging Will I	Defeat 3 enemies with a shield	Wall of Steel I	North along the road from the Royal Trading Post, past Hernand Saddlery.
Sharpened Spear II	Hit enemies 50 times with a spear in 30 seconds	Gale II	In the Nas River Shrine on the island east of Hernand city.
Sword of Trials III	Defeat 3 enemies with a sword without taking damage	Breath of Life I	At a crossroads southeast across the river from Hernand city by the Goldleaf Tradepost.
Sliding Down the Slope	Slide down 50 meters	Haste I	A little further on from the previous, at a crossroads before Bloomwood Ranch.
Keeping Balance on the Wind	Walk 10 meters on a rope	Composure I, Faded Abyss Artifact	Southeast of Hernand city, along the road that passes west-to-east below Unicorn Cliff.
Shield of Unchanging Will IV	Defeat 5 enemies with a shield without taking damage	Fortitude II, Faded Abyss Artifact	On the road northeast of Hernand city, past the Goldleaf Trading Post, near the entrance to Karin Quarry.
Night of the Silent Banner Pike	Extinguish 10 Banner Pikes at night without being detected	Destruction II, Faded Abyss Artifact	East of Hernand city, past Bloomwood Ranch, on the road just past Halsius Apothecary.
Bow Aimed at Fate I	Take down 5 enemies with a bow in 60 seconds	Infinite Arrows I	South of Hernand city, in the Hernand Highlands, on the road passing west of Glenbright Farm.
Steel Grip Against the Chest	Subdue 3 opponents with wrestling skills in 60 seconds	Destruction I	To the far southeast of Hernand city, on the road just to the northeast of Pororin, east of the Sanctum of Temperance.
Desperate Rescue	Heal allies 3 times with Force Palm: Healing	Breath of Life I, Faded Abyss Artifacts	In the far south of the Hernand region, at the side of the single road that travels south towards Sunset Valley.
Equipment	Craft a sword at the Smithy	Efficiency I	Also in the far south of the Hernand region, on the road just at the entrance to Sunset Valley, where it emerges from the trees.

Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse.

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