10 Crimson Desert Beginner Tips & Tricks YOU NEED To Know

Crimson Desert is an absolute mammoth of a game. It can be a little overwhelming at first. So here are some essential tips for starting your journey through the vast world of Pywell. I'm Dan from WhatCulture and here are 10 tips and tricks for Crimson Desert to get you started. This isn't a Souls game, so don't treat it like one. Okay, let's get this one out of the way early. The combat in Crimson Desert may look a little bit Souls-like, but it absolutely is not that, and treating it that way will only lead to one thing, you getting your ass beat. So yeah, the combat appears to be similar at first glance, and there's a heavy emphasis on timing here, but this game isn't about slow, methodical duels. Crimson Desert is far more aggressive and far more combo driven. You're encouraged to experiment here, to chain abilities, to make combos and to take control of the fight, rather than just poking your enemy with a sword and rolling away with iframes. This game is so much faster paced than a Souls-like, so you have to be prepared for that. You'll be fighting mobs a lot more frequently in this game, so you have to learn your combos and utilize your abilities. You need to take the fight to the enemies rather than waiting for them to come to you. And I'd recommend not playing cautiously. You have to be aggressive. Once you master this, you'll have a much better time with the combat. Get yourself a pet. Early on in Crimson Desert, you'll come across a lot of cats and dogs. And what the game doesn't tell you upfront is that you can actually have these animals as pets. But in order to actually get a pet, you'll need to earn their companionship. To do this, you have to reach 100 Amity with them. Amity is gained by petting them, dropping them food, and just generally being nice to the animals. Then, once you earn their companionship, they'll tag along for the ride. Pets aren't just cosmetic companions either. They can help gather loot. They alert you to nearby items and they generally make exploration far less of a chore. And over time these animals can actually become a core part of your gameplay loop. Another tip here is that you can also heal animals as well with your healing force palm ability. So if you're in combat for example and your horse gets injured rendering you unable to ride it, you can actually heal them by clicking in the right thumb stick when you have that ability. So yeah that force palm isn't just an offensive ability, you can also use it as a tool to heal others. Next up, upgrade your stamina first. Now I cannot stress this enough, stamina is so important in this game. So when it comes to early upgrades, stamina should be your top priority. It might be tempting to get the traversal upgrades at first but the mistake that I made during my playthrough is that I went for all these upgrades first and I couldn't actually use them because I didn't have enough stamina. On top of that everything in this game revolves around stamina. Attacking, dodging, sprinting and climbing. All those actions will consume stamina so it's essential that you upgrade this one early. Running out of stamina mid-fight is just asking for trouble and also getting halfway up a steep climb and running out of stamina is very annoying so yeah invest in stamina. Overall investing in stamina early gives you more freedom in combat and exploration alike and it makes the early game feel far less punishing if you have a lot of this stuff. Up next don't skimp out on cooking. At first cooking might sound like just another side activity in this world and while that statement may ring true in the late game in the early game Cooking is essential and you definitely shouldn't overlook it. So the food in this game provides powerful buffs, they heal you and they can give you temporary boosts that make tough encounters so much easier. Heading into a big fight without a good meal in your tummy is just handicapping yourself. So yeah it's a great source of health early on and it can make the difference between genuinely winning a fight and losing. And there's so many options here in terms of the recipes you can learn. It'll also encourage you to go out fishing and hunting as well, which is another part of the gameplay experience that I think is crucial to enjoying the full potential of this game. You can also skip the cooking cutscene as well, so that'll speed things up. But yeah, you should essentially be doing this in the early game because the time investment it takes is outweighed by the benefits of doing this. Also, after you've learned a recipe, you can't discard it from your inventory without actually losing the recipe, so that'll free up space too. Up next, the game guide exists for a reason. Crimson Desert does throw a lot of information your way from the get-go, it definitely can feel like too much, but this overwhelming feeling is part of the experience. You have to embrace the scale here, and a great way to do this is the in-game guide. You can access this guide in your menus, and it essentially outlines features that aren't immediately obvious, so if you get stuck, don't be afraid to check this thing out, because Because it can contain a lot of useful information. And also if you're confused about something or if you've missed a certain on-screen prompt, chances are you'll be able to check the game guide and find a solution for your issues. I kind of wish I had relied on this more in the early game, but hey, that's why I'm here, to stop you from making my mistakes. Your mounts level as you use them. So your mounts are very important in this game, and you start off with a horse. And this cute guy isn't just a faster way to get around, it's something you can actually develop. The more you use your mount, the more efficient it becomes. Whether it be better speed, improved handling, and potentially even additional abilities, the mounts upgrade the more you use them. And the horse has a really cool drift mechanic once you get it to level 3, so I'd definitely recommend doing that. You can also add gear and armor to your mounts as well, which will definitely help things in the long run. So whilst you're over there making Cliff look cool, don't forget to share the love with your mounts as well. So this map is huge, so you'll want to get into the habit of using your mount regularly to level it up naturally over time. So don't just sprint everywhere on foot, because when you whistle, your mount will find you high and low. And then using them can unlock some pretty cool bonuses over time. Next up, prioritize side quests early on to upgrade inventory space. Ah, the dreaded inventory space. This was my biggest enemy in this game. At the start of the game you'll be able to carry next to nothing and if you're a loot goblin like me that can become a problem real quick. So how do you remedy this? Well your answer is side quests because side quests often reward you with inventory space which will expand your carrying capacity so prioritizing these early can save you a ton of frustration later on when you're constantly deciding on what to keep and what to drop. Plus, side quests tend to offer decent rewards all around, so you're essentially just killing two birds with one stone here. Next up, master parrying early. If there's one combat skill in this game that you want to get good at quickly, it's parrying. A well-timed parry can turn the tide of a fight, opening enemies up for devastating counterattacks. It is risky to do, but once you learn to telegraph these attacks, parrying becomes insanely rewarding. So when you're fighting mobs, be sure to parry often and use your grapples to create distance. That way you can focus on singular enemies rather than getting swarmed all at once. So once you master parrying, combat becomes far more satisfying and far more manageable. Up next, elemental attacks matter. Don't ignore them. Not all damage is created equally. And that's where elemental effects come into play. Enemies in Crimson Desert have different resistances and weaknesses, meaning that elemental attacks can make a huge difference in combat. Fire, lightning and ice, they all have their place here. And using the right one can drastically change the tempo of fights, especially when things start getting tough in terms of the bosses that you're facing. Pay attention to the enemies that you're fighting and adjust your tactics accordingly. Brute force will only get you so far in this game, so you may as well do a little bit of fire damage while you're at it. And finally, unlock fast travel points early. This one comes from deep in my soul. You'll be doing yourself a massive favour if you go out of your way to find and unlock fast travel points whenever you can. The world of Crimson Desert, like I've said, is huge. And backtracking without fast travel can quickly become a chore. On your map you'll see an outline and a marker. If you see these, stop whatever you're doing, go over there and activate them. Because later on after the sheen of the open world wears off, it'll mean you can fast travel between points a lot more efficiently. So even if it feels like a detour at the time, it'll save you so many hours in the long run. Trust me. And there you go, there are 10 essential tips and tricks to get you started in Crimson Desert. If you've got any tips of your own be sure to drop them in the comment section below and be sure to subscribe to WhatCultureGaming for more content like this every single day. For now though, I've been Dan and I'll catch you in the next one.