Crafting and Gathering In Crimson Desert

As we discussed in our recent article comparing Crimson Desert to Black Desert Online, Crimson Desert is moving away from its predecessor's MMO roots. However, that shift in genre doesn't mean core systems like crafting are taking a backseat. Life in Pywel is a big part of Crimson Desert, and it's a world about more than just killing and questing. From fishing to base management, and gathering ores and herbs, crafting is set to play a big role in the game.

Crimson Desert Crafting - A World of Resources

Crimson Desert wants to immerse you in the world of Pywel. As such, it wants to make you feel a part of the world, similar to Red Dead Redemption 2 or Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Gathering items in the world is an important part of that. To do this, you'll need to set off and explore from the tops of the snowy peaks in the north to the deserts of the south, in order to find specific materials.

• Interactive Mechanics: Unlike traditional RPGs with "instant" gathering, players must manually perform actions. Logging involves physically chopping trees, and gathering food from the farm requires you to pick the food. This also goes as far as helping to rear the animals on your farm.
• The Gathering Loop: Gathering is an essential part of the upgrade path. Mining certain minerals or hunting animal hide will help upgrade Kliff's weapons and armour directly.
• Variety of Life Skills: Confirmed "Life Skills" include Fishing, Hunting, Gathering, Rearing Animals on the farm and Horse Taming.

Greymane Camp: Your Crafting Hub

Greymane Camp, ie, your home base, will act as the hub for crafting. This mobile base is key to the story, and allows you to build and upgrade it as the game's story continues.

• Dynamic Base Building: Building and customisation of your base is a huge part of Crimson Desert. As the story progresses, you will grow and move the camp forward as you adventure. The camp functions as a self-sustaining ecosystem, featuring dedicated zones for meat production, vegetable patches, and market stalls for trade.
• Customisation: Alongside the camp itself being changeable and growing as you progress. The camp is also the main location where you will be able to customise your character. From cooking to improve your health, and alchemy for combat potions and dyes. The camp is a key part of the game.
• Farming & Rearing: Another key aspect of the camp is how it is used as a raw resources hub. For example, the camp will allow you to grow, rear and cook your own food.

The Camp and the Mercenary Economy

The final cog in the crafting wheel for Crimson Desert comes in the form of your campmates. While two of them are playable, the rest of the NPCs can also assist Kliff.

As you recruit more NPCs, you can dispatch them on missions across Pywel. These missions vary; however, one key element is that they will also gather resources for you. While in the early game, you will want to "grind" yourself; in the late game, it means your NPCs will keep a steady stream of resources coming to camp.

Earn It, Don't Buy It

A final, and very crucial element is the lack of microtransactions in Crimson Desert. Pearl Abyss has confirmed as such:

This is made to be a premium experience that you buy, and you enjoy the world, and not something for microtransactions. It’s a monetization model... This is a premium experience. That is the transaction. Full stop - Will Powers, speaking to IGN

This means you won't see resources for sale, no time-saving purchase or customisation options. Your time is valuable, but it's the same time as everyone else, not the person who can throw extra money at the game.