Guide to Mechanics and Tips/Tricks for Beginners and Veterans

This guide is a collection of Mechanics, Tips, and Tricks for both Beginner and Veteran players. I'll start with a TL;DR of the most Important stuff that most people don't talk about then do more in-depth lists from there that explain the how's and why's.

I've also included a list of Skill Observation locations, but I haven't found them all yet so I'd appreciate anyone filling in the gaps. And located at the end is some really broken stuff so I recommend only doing it if you want to become OP and break the game.

I'll try to update this guide with any new big-information I come across, likely in the form of new sections to make it easier on people, so please let me know if you have any suggestions, feedback, or requests for other guides as I'm considering making a few more.

Without further ado, I hope everyone enjoys the guide!

• Death Doesn't Matter - No Consequences
  
• Skill Observation - Learn Skills from enemies by watching them. I'll have a list but Boss Skill observations are missable so try to get them.
  
• Enemies Respawn(kind of) - Random Bandits/Enemies spawn randomly, so they "respawn". Fixed enemies only respawn if you don't kill them all, and even then it's kind of buggy. Good Farming.
  
• Theft Requires Mask - Buy it from Fence or loot from Bandit randomly.
  
• Disarm Enemies - Hold Block + Heavy Attack after being hit. Lots of benefits.
  
• Pets Autoloot - Get one. Pet the Dogs and Cats.
  
• Horses Level - Pet your horse too.
  
• Equipment Stats Are The Same - All Cloth Gloves give Attack Speed. All Plate Gloves give extra Attack and Defense. Works like this for everything.
  
• Keep Duplicate Equipment - Duplicate weapons, tools and such let you Upgrade for free. Not worth it at Tier 5 and beyond cause Skill Point cost.
  
• Stamina First - It's most important. Get to at least 200 Stamina before buying other stuff.
  
• Stamina Drinks = Long Flights/Climbs - Cheap to buy at the Tavern daily. Drink while flying/climbing for potentially infinite Stamina.
  
• Hold Attack Buttons + Add Sprint/Dodge - Hold your Attack buttons for faster attacks. Sprint and Dodge buttons can be clicked while doing this to use skills as well without missing a beat.
  
• Hold Gather Button for Fast Gathering - Bugs and loot are gathered as you go if you hold it.
  
• Gather Same Plants/Bugs - Alchemy is stupid. 3 of same bug, not 3 of right type of bug, so duplicates are more valuable than variety except for Dyes.
  
• Do Main Story Through Chapter 5 First - You miss out on A LOT of mechanics if you explore before then, causing you to miss stuff or be unable to progress certain things.
  
• Do Camp ASAP - Even over doing the story. Do the Main Story whenever you can't do anything more with the Camp.
  
• Progress Abyss - Sky Island or however you want to call it. Lots of rewards and makes a good drop point for travel.
  
• Do Witch Quests - They give great rewards, particularly Abyss Core Equipment(those special effects you see on gear). You will be able to do them starting from when you are introduced to the 2nd Witch during the Main Story.

• Learning Through Observation - You can learn a lot of skills for free through observation. Some are from people using them during training or contests, some from quests, and others are from your opponents during combat
  
  • You can see what skills can be learned through observation in the skills menu by looking at the skill. It will tell you the requirements
    
  • If you buy a skill, and later observe it, resetting all your points seems to let you keep the observed skills, so you'll reclaim the skill point. I don't think it's worth it, but you can.
    
  • Most, if not all, Main Story Bosses seem to have at least 1 skill to observe. If you beat them without observing the skill, you'll have to buy it normally.
• Equipment Types - Unlike most games, equipment in Crimson Desert all have the same stats provided they are the same type. So rather than a Transmog system, you just wear what you want. Usually at least.
  
  • Clothing is not Armor. A Helmet is not a Hat. Greaves are not Shoes. This is what I mean by Type. If you're wearing plate armor, it will have the same stats as every other plate armor. Bows with bows. etc...So you just need to worry about looks so long as it's the right type, then upgrade it to its max.
    
  • Many pieces of Clothing has extra effects, such as Disguise Effects.
• Upgrading Equipment - You can upgrade most of your equipment through a process called Refinement at the Smithy. You can do this with resources OR with duplicate equipment, including tools. However there are some caveats:
  
  • Upgrading equipment doesn't upgrade modifiers, just raw stats.
    
  • They have to be the same Tier. That means a I cannot upgrade a III but another III can.
    
  • It doesn't remove the Abyss Core(Skill Point) cost to upgrade. So once you get equipment to T5, it's usually better to use Resources rather than duplicates.
    
  • Weapons and Tools are easy to get duplicates for, so it's recommended to use resources on Armor and Jewelry.
• Abyssal Gear - "Unique" equipment with orbs embedded in it that have special effects is called Abyssal Gear. This deserves it's own section but the broad strokes are:
  
  • Witches can craft, combine, extract, and embed Abyss Cores into most equipment to make it into Abyssal Gear.
    
  • All Abyssal Cores can be extracted, meaning you can have special effects from most "Unique" equipment on most other equipment.
    
  • Abyssal Cores have a variety of effects that can make you anything from a God of Gathering to a near Invincible Tank once you've finished min-maxing them all. Get familiar with the system as soon as you unlock the 2nd Witch.
    
  • Do the Witch Quests as soon as you have time in order to unlock more Abyss Core Recipes.
• Disarm Enemies - You can disarm regular sized opponents by using a Small or Medium Shield(Large don't work) and holding Block then doing a Heavy Attack(Right-click/R2) after they hit your shield. It will disarm anyone you hit, not just the person who attacked.
  
  • You'll want to do this to stock up on weapons and shield to refine or sell.
• Hold Attack Buttons and Loot Buttons - You will attack faster and loot faster by holding the buttons down rather than clicking them over and over. For combat this means more damage. For looting this means you'll pick up everything you enter the range of 1 at a time without needing to look.
  
• Lantern Usage - Get used to using your lantern all the time.
  
  • The Lantern glows blue when Memories are near. If it glows blue, shine it around to find the memory.
    
  • Point Lantern in the distance to shine a light on Abyss Objects. These are challenges, fast travel points, etc… You will require direct Line of Sight though, so it’s better to do so from high up places.
    
  • If your Lantern isn’t showing a light, it can’t be used to find Memories or Abyss Objects. This is why you should never have your Lantern turned Off and why even using Auto is glitchy. I recommend using the F2 Radial Menu to select the Lantern and change it to On.
    
  • You can use your lantern to see if someone is carrying something valuable. It will show either a lootbag, a key, or a gold bar depending on what they are carrying, but they can carry multiple objects and you'll only see 1.
• No Lockpicking. Locked Doors Use Keys - Many doors in the world are locked and if you try to enter them, you will automatically use a Key to open it. But Keys aren't super plentiful if you're just using the ones that come to you. Here's how you can fix it:
  
  • Buy Keys from Fences - Fences sell Keys for 30c and stock 3 per day. Buy them every day and you’ll soon have more Keys than doors in the game.
    
  • Hold your lantern up when walking through doors. You won't use a key if the door is locked this way so you can decide whether or not to use it.
    
  • Climb into Houses through the window. You can climb the wall and open the window to get into the house without a key. If you walk through the entrance from the inside, you'll unlock the door without using the key either.
• No Theft Without a Mask - Mask can be gotten from Bandits or the Fences you get the keys from and allow you steal and pickpocket. This is not only useful for making money but also required to loot some places for unique stuff.
  
• Build Trust - Trust can be earned with NPCs and animals by interacting with them.
  
  • How to Build Trust:
    
    • Pets - Pet them or feed them meat. Grilled meat works best for dogs, grilled fish for cats, and oats for horses. Just drop it on the ground and they should eat it. You can pet 5 times a day and give food twice.
      
    • NPCs - Greeting them once a day, completing quests for them, or giving them gifts. I recommend coin pouches as gifts.
• Horse Levels with Trust - Your horses will gain levels with Trust. This gives it abilities like faster movement and drifting(yes, like Tokyo Drift).
  
• Pets Autoloot - Dogs and Cats will grab loot for you. This is particularly useful if you disarm enemies as they can find the items easily.
  
• Vendors Increase Stock - When a regular Vendor(not a Street Vendor) gets max Trust, they often increase their stock of goods. So it's beneficial to reach max Trust with them.
  
• NPCs Give Gifts - At max Trust, NPCs will give you gifts, so free resources.
  
• Keep Your Weapon Sheathed - Friendlies will attack if you have your weapon out around them. You also can't climb with weapons out. My first death in the game was when I wiped out a large group of enemies and some friendlies came in at the last second to help. While I was looting, they attacked me because I was next to them with the sword out still. Keep it in it's sheathe.

• Stamina First - When you acquire Skill Points(Abyss Cores), don’t spend them on special moves right away. Spend them on Stamina as, without that, you can’t even activate some abilities.
  
  • Gliding is the only thing you should buy before Stamina as it’s super useful for exploration.
    
  • After about 5 levels of Stamina, you can grab the Grapple Jump and some others as well, but try to focus Stamina to max.
• Main Quest First - Do the Main Quest through Chapter 5. Obviously you can ignore this advice and explore first and find all sorts of fun things, and that’s a perfectly valid way to play. However, you will end up missing out A LOT of mechanics if you do so. And I mean A LOT. But Chapter 5 is about where you’ll have all the mechanics from Main Quest so you can explore to your heart’s content.
  
• Progress the Abyss - You'll unlock the Abyss through the Main Quest and the entire area consists of puzzles that will force you to learn mechanics that you can use for both other puzzles and combat. They only give you a small taste of the Abyss on the form of a Tutorial, but you can return and keep progressing it further.
  
  • This will give you various rewards like new abilities and Abyss Cores and you can find chests with further rewards.
    
  • You will unlock Fast Travel points throughout the Abyss. Since the Abyss is above the rest of the world, you can use the Fast Travel points to hop off the edge and reach destinations you haven't explored yet more quickly.
• Inventory Management - Inventory is a pain right now, even after the fix. So here’s some essential tips to being able to keep the clutter down:
  
  • There is now a Storage Chest in your “home base”(wherever it is) that can store up to 240 items, so you can stock all your extra alchemy ingredients and weapons inside while you get more inventory slots.
    
  • While you’ll get a lot of slots from quests and purchasing from vendors and finding bags, the absolute cap is 240 slots. That means 480 Total between you and the Storage Chest
    
  • Regular vendors(not street vendors) sell bags. It's only 1-3 slots each, but it's something.
    
  • Once you read a Recipe or Crafting Book, or finish a quest, you can sell them, or discard if unsellable, all notes related to it. They take up 1 slot each and and that will add up quickly as you do more quests.
• Watch Your Minimap - Pay attention to the icons on the minimap. They are as follows:
  
  • Red to Blue Bar - Temperature Gauge. Affects Stamina consumption and recovery. Wear the right clothes for the weather to avoid issues.
    
  • Yellow Bar - Experience. Fill it to get an Abyss Core.
    
  • White Dot = Person to talk with to learn stuff from. Can be knowledge or recipes
    
  • Orange Dot = Important Person to talk to for a variety of reasons.
    
  • Purple Icons = Important objects, usually quest related but sometimes secret related
    
  • Giant ? Mark = SUPER IMPORTANT. It means there is a Fast Travel there. You may need to solve a puzzle or may get a free abyss core too, but it's always a Fast Travel in my experience.
    
  • Chest = Unique Chest. Doesn't respawn but has good stuff.
    
  • Bag = Usually a key, but sometimes other stuff. Usually useless since you have to steal it which isn't worth it if it's a key.
    
  • Scroll = Cooking/Alchemy Recipe. Learn it then you can sell it.
    
  • Book = Crafting Recipe for Armor or Weapons. Learn it then sell it.
    
  • Tiny X = Loot from dead enemy. It's not always a corpse, it might just be loot. NOTE: Random items WILL NOT have the X, so you won't be able to spot them with the minmap. This includes weapons and shields enemies drop when you disarm them.
• Fix Your Map - Your map will often be set to Quest. Change it to All when you open it if you want to be able to look around and use fast travel.
  
• Ring Bells - Ringing Bells will completely clear the fog on the map in your region. There ARE NOT a lot of bells(less than 10 total I think) so don't waste your time looking for them, just grab them when you see them.
  
• Use Your Guide and Know Your Toolkit - Your Guide can teach you basically every mechanic in the game once you’ve encountered it before. Use it to familiarize yourself with your toolkit so that you can better be more prepared for any situation.

• Start the Camp ASAP - Camp stuff takes time to complete, and some missions take A LOT of time, and I do mean A LOT. There is one mission I know of that I've had for 2 in-game weeks and it's still not done yet, so the sooner you do it, the better. That said, you will need to get to the start of Chapter 5 in the Main Story in order to really get started on the camp as that's when it really opens up.
  
  • In short, do Main Story until you get camp, focus on the Camp until you can't keep going, go back to the Main Story until the start of Chapter 5, then do the camp until you get stuck playing the waiting game before finishing up Chapter 5.
    
  • After Chapter 5 is finished and the Camp is all set up is the optimal time to start exploring the game world as you will have access to nearly every mechanic and have lots of passive stuff running while you explore.
• Camp Quests - There are 3 kinds of Camp Quests:
  
  • Scattered Embers - Mechanic Teaching Quests. These missions teach you many game mechanics like gambling, dyeing outfits, trading, pet taming, cooking, etc...
    
  • Grounds of the Sunrise - The Main Story of the Camp. This is how you get new members for your camp, upgrade your camp, and unlock new features for your camp.
    
  • Greymane Commissions - Side Quests. If you have trouble turning them in, it usually means you sent the members on a mission.
• What is the Camp? - The Camp is your Home Base and upgrading your Camp gives you access to a variety of shops, services, and unique mechanics like Farming and Ranching(Animal Farm). It's well worth doing as it can help you farm materials passively so you can explore without worrying about grinding too much and is even required for some quests.
  
• Camp Resources - At the top of your screen will be your Camp Resources. This is how much you have of each Resource and you will use the Resources themselves to send your Comrades on Camp Missions so it's important to keep track of them until you've got a steady supply.
  
  • Helmet - Camp Comrades - Gotten from completing Camp Rumor Quests from Marius. You can send them on missions and even summon them for aid in battle like the other playable characters.
    
  • Armor - Camp Equipment - Can be gotten through Camp Smithy Missions or donating Weapons, Armors, Jewelry, and Tools to the camp. Used for Camp Missions
    
  • Stone - Camp Stone - Can be gotten through Camp Mining Missions or donating various Stones, Ore, and Gems to the camp. Used for Camp Missions.
    
  • Wood - Camp Lumber - Can be gotten through Camp Woodcutting Missions or donating Timber to the camp. Used for Camp Missions.
    
  • Grain Bag - Camp Food - Can be gotten through Camp Farming/Ranching Missions or donating Food, Potions, or Ingredients to the Camp. Used for Camp Missions
    
  • Money - Camp Money - Can be gotten through Camp Guarding Missions or donating Money to the camp. This one is not only used for Camp Missions but ALSO for packing Trade Goods AND Donating to the Church(Which is SUPER Important, not joking)
• Camp Missions - You will eventually unlock the ability to send out Comrades on Camp Missions. These missions can sometimes unlock new content, complete quests, or create new/unique items for you, but mostly they just passively collect resources for the camp and for yourself to use. There are MANY types of missions, but I'll list the main ones here so you can get the gist of how they all work:
  
  • Guard Duty - Comrades guard someone. This mainly rewards Camp Money.
    
  • Mining - Comrades go mining. This mainly rewards Camp Stone.
    
  • Woodcutting - Comrades go chop trees. This mainly rewards Camp Lumber.
    
  • Smithing - Comrades go craft equipment. This mainly rewards Camp Equipment.
    
  • Farming/Ranching - Comrades go Farming. This mainly rewards Camp Food but ALSO generally has a secondary reward attached for you to have determined by where you sent them. A tomato farm gives you tomatoes and an apiary gives you honey, as some examples.
    
  • Recapture - Comrades go kill enemies at the Red location to recapture it so you don't have to. Doesn't have any main rewards. Use Comrade Combat Power to determine how long it takes to actually finish.
    
  • Construction - Comrades go build something. This usually upgrades your camp or a location with something and is usually quest related. Unlike the above missions, this type requires someone skilled in Construction to do.
    
  • Engineering - Comrades go create something that requires know-how to make properly. Much like Construction, this requires someone with the Engineering skill to do it and usually either unlocks something, is quest related, or crafts a unique item for you.
• Important Note - Camp missions that don't have a required skill are automatically repeated, so make sure your funds aren't running low and check your active missions if you need other Comrades to do quests or dispatch on missions, because they won't return until you do.
  
• Mission Modifiers and Bonuses - Missions are always of a specific type and your Companions can be particularly skilled in this type of mission. For missions like Construction, their skill is required, but for others such as mining or woodcutting, it just gives bonuses. There are also 3 types of Bonuses that you can get.
  
  • Conversion - This is a bonus related to donating to the Church. It is region specific but you get a 2% bonus to ALL missions in that region for each level you have with the church of that region. This is the single most important of the 3 modifiers as it's potentially infinite and gives such massive bonuses to all missions.
    
  • Skills - For missions like mining and woodcutting, a Comrades skill plays a role in giving bonuses.
    
    • It only takes the bonus of the companion with the highest skill, so there is no need to put multiple woodcutters on a single woodcutting mission.
      
    • You should instead send 1 woodcutter to each woodcutting mission you have for the best effects.
  • Comrade - Many missions let you send a minimum to maximum amount of Comrades instead of a fixed amount. The minimum will get the base reward for the mission while each additional Comrade gives a 20% bonus to rewards.
    
    • It's actually best to do the minimum and spread out your Comrades.
      
    • 2 Comrades = 100% Reward while 4 Comrades = 140% Reward + % of Other Bonuses on a single mission
      
    • It could be 2 and 2 for (100% + % of Other Bonuses)x2 rewards.
• Maxing Out Mission Rewards - To max out mission rewards, donate a TON of money to the Church then send out the minimum required number of Comrades to a bunch of different missions with at least 1 Comrade skilled in that mission type
  
  • At 0% Conversion Bonus with no Skilled Comrade on the mission, and 4 on a single mission, you get 140% of the rewards.
    
  • At 100% Conversion Bonus with an Expert Comrade on each mission, 2 Comrades on each mission, doing 2 different missions, you will receive 520% (260% x 2) of the base rewards.
    
  • This not only gives you more rewards, but also a larger variety of rewards. So you can have a self-sufficient Camp that also gives you passive resources.

• Eat Food During Combat To Heal - If you have enough food on hand, it's basically cheesing fights. Literally if you're eating cheese to do it.
  
• Hold Down Attack Buttons - If you hold down your attack buttons, instead of pressing them over and over, you will attack more quickly and more easily go through combos.
  
• Use Skills and Combos - Press Dodge/Sprint buttons while holding down either Light Attack or Heavy Attack to mix in some skills. You will dominate your enemies.
  
• Disarm Enemies - Hold Block and then use Heavy Attack AFTER getting hit to disarm every enemy you hit. They drop their weapons making them an easier fight and guaranteeing they'll drop the weapons for money or refining.
  
• Know When To Dodge - Some attacks can't be blocked or parried effectively, such as attacks from massive enemies or when you're surrounded by enemies. Use your dodge button to get away and keep from being hit. However, dodge FORWARD, not back. This will keep certain attacks from hitting you that otherwise would.
  
• Target Ranged Enemies First - They have hitscan, shoot often, and can hit like a truck.
  
• Use AoE Attacks - Most fights aren't 1v1. Use AoE attacks to take out groups as fast as possible. As mentioned earlier, weaving in Skills with your combos will do wonders and many Skills are AoE
  
• Use Ranged to Avoid Large Groups - You can also use ranged attacks from long range to grab small groups or even 1 at a time.
  
• Hold then Release to Parry - Rather than tapping to parry, you have to hold block to get your Shield up then release right when the enemy hits.
  
• Use the Environment - Objects and long falls cause extra damage if the enemy is tossed into them. This can lead to instant kills using unarmed later.
  
• Enemy Weaknesses - Some enemies have major weaknesses you can take advantage of, some even from specific items that demolish them. Keep on the lookout for these items and use logic when fighting strange enemies like fire for a plant monster.
  
  • Note: Some of the game logic is stupid and wasn't implemented correctly for some reason.
• Enemy Skill Observation - Also keep an eye out for enemies doing weird skills. You can usually learn the skill from them by having them perform the skill on you a time or two. Time will slow and they'll glow blue if you're observing the skill. This applies especially to Boss Enemies.
  
• Keep Your Pet Out - They'll autoloot for you during the battle and you don't have to worry about them getting hurt.
  
• Red Lantern Flashes - If your lantern flashes Red while fighting an enemy, it means that you're about to be hit with a very strong attack. You can use Force Palm or Blinding Flash to interrupt it and stun the enemy for a moment.

• Buy the Flight, Swift Flight, Aerial Maneuver, and Aerial Swing Skills - After a few points in Stamina of course, but these skills will GREATLY speed up your ability to explore.
  
• Aerial Roll OP Flight - Technically you won't be able to observe the skill until Chapter 5, but you can just buy it early and refund it later. It's worth it. Just start flying the way you usually do, enter Focus Mode, and then activate Aerial Roll while moving forward. It will cost almost nothing and you'll make incredible distance for a low stamina cost.
  
  • Use Focus Repulsion while doing this to burn Stamina much faster but travel MUCH faster. Good for shorter distance flights you want to go quickly.
• Stamina Drinks While Flying or Climbing - You can drink Stamina Drinks while flying or climbing to go further than you usually would be capable of. Mix this with flying down from the Abyss and you can traverse the entire map very early for late-game supplies and equipment.
  
• Stab Waterfalls - Waterfalls are semi-realistic in this game. If you try to walk through one, it's going to hurt. So if you want to get through, you have to use your Stab skill to rush through the waterfall quickly. If you can't find a place to Stab from, there likely isn't anything behind it.
  
  • Waterfalls you can stab through will always have a tiny stone pillar just in front of them.
• Lantern While Flying, Blinding Flash from High Places - Using your lantern while flying will show far off important places. This means fast travel, puzzles, and Sealed Abyss Cores. But if you're on the ground, use Blinding Flash instead as it's much brighter.
  
• Watch for Blue Glow on Lantern - This means a memory is nearby. Shine it around to find the memory.
  
• Locked Doors, Unlocked Windows - As mentioned before, you can enter most locked or off-limits building by climbing up to the window and opening it then climbing in.
  
  • If you walk out of the locked entrances after entering this way, you will unlock the door without using a key.
• Watch Your Minimap - I mentioned it in the Important Tips section, but watch that Minimap and Ring those Bells.
  
• Level Up Your Horse - As mentioned before, you can level up your Horse through trust to unlock new abilities. Your horse gets VERY fast once it's upgraded. You can look for other horses as well as they have different abilities.
  
• Upgrade Your Gathering Equipment - Better Tools = More Yield from Resources. There are modifiers you can use to increase yields as well.
  
• Unreachable Ore? Charged Shot! - You can use the Charged Shot skill with the Bow to break ore from afar, no problem.
  
• Use Map Markers - Find an item laying on the ground that you want more of? Put a marker on the spot and come back in a couple days. It will respawn. Works for regular chests as well.
  
• Hold the Gather Button - You'll catch lots of bugs and animals if you hold it instead of pressing it when you see one.
  
• Fake Walls/Doors - You will often come across walls/doors that look odd in some way, particularly in caves. You can usually tell that they are Fake Walls because they will have a little white dot like they can be targeted. Here are the types of fakes walls and how to get past them.
  
  • Push Wall/Door - These won't break, but if you move into them long enough, you will push them open. Some are even bookcases.
    
  • Spinny Door - Door won't push and won't break, but you can dodge roll into it and it will let you in doggy-door style.
    
  • Breakable Walls - Most often found in Caves and Ruins. A Force Palm or Turning Slash will work for most of them.
    
  • Bismuth Walls - Bismuth Walls won't break that easy. You have to use a Focused Force Palm to break them. Look at the Skill Observation Section to learn where to find it and it will teach you how to use it there.
• Vines - You can burn vines using your Blinding Flash and just focusing on them. This will give you entry. You can also use it to cook food technically.

• Theft Requires a Mask - You can pick one up from Bandits or purchase one from any Fence.
  
• Committing A Crime - When you first commit the crime, a Red Circle will generate around the area and a Red Bar will appear and begin to deplete. If you avoid detection until the Red Bar goes away, or if you leave the Red Circle, then you're safe and no one will come for you.
  
• Getting Spotted - If someone sees you committing a crime, including stealing directly from them, a Red Circle and Red Bar will appear again, but now you MUST escape the Red Circle before the Red Bar disappears or you'll receive a Bounty. The Red Circle will get larger and larger with repeat crimes in the same area in a short period as people will warn each other about the criminal.
  
• Consequences - You will ALWAYS lose Contribution with the faction of the area you committed the crime in(Patched) If you are seen, you will lose Contribution with the faction of the area you committed the crime in and it varies depending on the severity of the crime. If you get caught or have a Bounty put on you, then you'll pay a fine BUT will get to keep any stolen goods.
  
  • The Civilian Disguise outfit(chest and hood) that you can buy from the same Back Alley Vendors as the masks and keys will prevent you from losing Contribution even if you are seen committing crimes.
• Pickpocketing - You can bump into an enemy and interact with them immediately to pickpocket them.
  
  • Use your Lantern to see one of the objects they are carrying before you pickpocket.
• Stealing - Any random object laying on the ground can be stolen.

• House Theft - Stealing valuables from houses, particularly Strongboxes, Jewelry Boxes, and a well known Gold Bar, are a great way to earn some quick money. Banks and noble houses are particularly good targets.
  
• Disarming Enemies - At 1-2 Silver per Weapon/Shield, plus other drops, a single small group of enemies will get you 10-15 Silver and a large group can get you 20-50 Silver. This is low risk and guaranteed money.
  
• Pickpocketing Nobles - You can pickpocket by bumping into someone(even slowly) and then interacting with them immediately after. You'll have to escape the circle immediately after. However, if you shine your lantern on NPCs, then you can see 1 of the items they are carrying. If you do this to Nobles, you can sometimes find Nobles carrying Gold Bars. They are guaranteed to have the Gold Bars but you may need to pickpocket multiple times to get it.
  
  • Your fine will never be very large, so even if you get caught, then you'll make a very large profit so long as you get the Gold Bar.

• Investing - You can invest in Banks by buying a Strongbox with them for 100 Silver and then giving them Gold Bars and an Investment Strategy. The more money you have, the more money you can make from this. With 100 Gold Bars, even the least profitable investment can make you 2 Gold Bars every 3 days.
  
  • If you're willing to Save Scum, you can get up to 55% back on your Investment every 3 days meaning that that 100 Gold Bars can become 155, then 240, then 372 > 577 > 894 > 1386, and that would be a total of 18 in-game days to go from 100 Gold Bars(50k Silver) to 1386 Gold Bars(693k Silver) and in another 18 days it would become 19230 Gold Bars(9.615m Silver)
    
  • If you're willing to Save Scum, this is the best moneymaker in the game, bar none. From a single Gold Bar, you can reach 100 Gold Bars in ~33 In Game Days, then be at 20k Gold Bars by the ~69 Days.
    
  • If you're unwilling to Save Scum, use the Medium Risk investment as it's still a good profit without as much risk. Low Risk is only for when you have a bunch of Gold Bars already and just want that safe, passive income without watching the clock for every 3 days.

There are alternative methods for some of these skills, I'm just listing the earliest and easiest ones.

Skill Observations made to progress the Main Quest, not from Bosses.

• Force Palm - Main Quest
  
• Nature's Grasp - Main Quest
  
• Focus - Main Quest

• Charged Shot - Lioncrest Manor from the Archer standing in the middle of the Archery Contest.
  
• Forward Slash Proficiency - Training Ground Northeast of Lioncrest Manor. Complete the Spear Contest then leave and come back to unlock it.
  
• Spinning Slash Proficiency - Training Ground Northeast of Lioncrest Manor. Complete the Spear Contest then leave and come back to unlock it.
  
• Counter - Training Ground Northeast of Lioncrest Manor. Complete the Spear Contest then leave and come back to unlock it.
  
• Unarmed Combat Proficiency - Observe Child Martial Arts practice. Group of kids at Communal Training Grounds Southwest of Hernand's capital.
  
• Focused Force Palm - Southwest Hernand, on the road going West from Fort Perwin. Just follow the road going West and you'll encounter a wall you can't pass. A ghost will teach you the skill. You're intended to find this skill during the Main Story when you're sent to the Institute, but many will miss it by climbing over the rocks instead of following the road. It's required for breaking Bismuth Walls to find secret areas
  
• Nature's Snare - Haunted Hill East Side Puzzle. Observe the Ghost to learn it.
  
• Double Jump - In the Shai Village on the South-Middle part of the farms next to the right-most building icon that has a tree with the house.
  
• Turning Slash Expertise - ???Unwavering Steps Quest Goyen in Chapter 9???

• Dropkick - Bandits wielding Two-Handed Weapons. Any bandit camp in Hernand
  
• Vault - Fundamentalist Goblins wielding daggers. Commonly found on the South end of the Hernand Highlands South of Hernand.
  
• Clothesline - Bear Bandits commonly found in Pailrune to the North.

• Pump Kick - Matthias Main Story Boss
  
• Evasive Roll - Hornsplitter Main Story Boss
  
• Swift Stab - Reed Devil Main Story Boss
  
• Aerial Roll - Crowcaller first fight, 2nd phase Main Story Boss
  
• Blinding Flash Finisher - Master Du Boss Main Story Boss in Chapter 9
  
• Multishot - ???Fort Commander of Fort Warspike in Hernand during House Alfonso Faction Quest???
  
• Evasive Shot - ???Fort Commander of Fort Warspike in Hernand during House Alfonso Faction Quest???
  
• Explosive Evasive Shot - ???Fort Commander of Fort Warspike in Hernand during House Alfonso Faction Quest???
  
• Body Slam - ???Sir Catfish during Beyond the Silent Waves Questline??
  
• Nature's Echo - Letter of Silence quest.Half Moon Reaper Boss during House Azerian Faction Quest

• Meteor Kick - ?
  
• Focused Repulsion - ? Doesn't matter much though, as it's only Level 2 and you have to pay for Level 2 to get to Level 3

Use these methods at your own risk(to enjoyment). Some involve save scumming or exploiting mechanics.

You can just combine a few previous tips for this one.
1. Stock up on Stamina Drinks from the Tavern. Buy water too if you want to make drinks using a Cauldron
2. Unlock the Abyss through the Main Story
3. Get the Flight and Swift Flight Skills
4. Do the Puzzles until you aren't allowed to go further.
5. Use the Fast Travels to get above Hernand and Demeniss and use the Stamina Drinks to travel wherever you want. With enough, you can even hit Pailune and Delesyia pretty easily. The Crimson Desert might be tough though.

I put this in Exploration but felt it deserved to be here too, it's that good and goes so well with the Early Fast Travel. Technically you won't be able to observe the skill until Chapter 5, but you can just buy it early and refund it later. It's worth it.
1. Acquire Aerial Roll and Focus
2. Start flying.
3. Enter Focus mode the same way you would on the ground.
4. Move Forward and activate Aerial Roll. It will move forward faster than Swift Flight, while maintaining height and using less stamina, allowing for MASSIVE distances to be possible right off the bat. It's absolutely possible to reach Crimson Desert once you unlock the Abyss with this.
5. Optional: Acquire Focus Repulsion
6. Optional: While using Aerial Roll, unleash Focus Repulsion to burst forward at high speed. Stamina Cost will be higher but speed will be too. This makes it good for fast, short-distance travel.

1. Go to the Southeast corner of Rocca's Hill, which is Northeast of Hernand Castle to find the Kuku Nest
2. Do the challenges while killing the birds. Simple and easy. They count as enemies so you can even do the Shield No-Hit Challenge with ease here.

1. Go here and loot the bag from the abandoned cart. You can use the Abyss to fly here faster.

2. Return every 2 days to find it respawned. Note that your max bag space is 240 so this will let you hit it quickly, but not go past it.

1. Buy a mask from the fence on the Southeast side of Hernand City.
2. Go to Lioncrest Manor and enter through the window then steal the Gold Bar from the Fireplace downstairs.
3. Collect 100 Silver through other means. Disarming is a good way, as is stealing all the Strongboxes in the Bank and opening them.
4. Start an account with the Bank and invest your Gold Bar at High Risk.
5. Watch for the time, it takes 3 days, and save just 10 in-game minutes before it finishes then reload if you don't get a decent profit.
1. Travel to Demeniss Wildlife Park, just Northeast of Mistveil Forest in Demeniss. The Abyss can help you fly there quickly early on.
2. Grab the Fast Travel just north of the park.
3. Shine your Lantern on all the nobles in the park to see what they are carrying. Look for a Gold Bar on them. You can ride your horse while shining the lantern to have a better angle.

• If you don't find a Gold Bar, fast travel and try again.

4. Once you find a Gold Bar, bump into them and Pickpocket it then run away, out of the red circle. You can keep your horse nearby and hop on it to run away faster.
5. Steal up to 3 times a day. Though you can do more if you don't care about paying the fine for getting caught.
6. Invest all those Gold Bars into the Bank. This is best done early to kickstart your investment and get to the really big money as early as possible.
1. Go to The Sage's Peak Fast Travel here

2. Climb the nearby rock and make multiple saves just in case.
3. Attack the Rocks BUT DO NOT ATTACK ALL OF THEM. They are crab monsters that drop a ton of Iron and Abyss items and if you kill them all then they won't respawn. A spear works well.
4. Loot > Fast Travel > Climb Rock > Save on a new slot IF most-all of the Rock Crabs are still there. Any that don't respawn will stay not respawning so try to have them all respawn.
5. Repeat until satisfied.
This is used to avoid damage from Bismuth. It will be useful for the next tip.
1. Go here and find the armor in a chest behind a locked gate that you can unlock by lighting the torch.

Bismuth Ore and Abyss Core Farm
1. Go to the Drakesfall Castle Fast Travel located here.

2. Put on your Petrification Immunity Armor and save in multiple slots.
3. Go into the castle grounds and kill the Bismuth Crabs BUT NOT ALL OF THEM as they are like the Rock Crabs and won't respawn if you do. They are MUCH harder than the Rock Crabs so you will have an easier time hitting them with Turning Slash then backing up and hitting them again until death.
4. Loot > Fast Travel > Go to castle ground > Save on a new slot IF most-all of the Bismuth Crabs are still there. Any that don't respawn will stay not respawning so try to have them all respawn.

Among the most broken things on this list is this farm. No joke. It will speed up your min-max end-game progression significantly.
1. Unlock the 2nd Witch and learn how to Disarm. It's just Block > wait for enemy to hit > Heavy Attack. Very simple.
2. Optional: Get Frost Resistance to 15. Or at least 10. 10 is easily achievable with the Reindeer Cloak and Frostcursed Plate Armor located in these 2 locations, though you'll need Focused Force Palm to get to the Reindeer Cloak, but you can learn it relatively close by, just check out the Skill Observation section:


3. Go to the following location DO NOT KILL THE ENEMIES!!!!! and disarm as many enemies as possible. If you die, you can still pick up the gear IF you're fast enough. The reason you DO NOT want to kill the enemies is because that progress bar never replenishes and once the area is captured, it's captured and you can't farm it anymore.

4. Take the equipment to a Witch and extract it. Get rid of the weapons and shields. You can donate them to camp, sell them, or just drop them.
5. Combine the extracted Abyss Cores at the Witch to get random Level 1, 2, or Greater Abyss Cores.
6. Repeat this process and you can combine the Cores to random Level 3 and Greater Abyss Cores eventually, allowing you to easily Min-Max your build with the best Cores.
7. Optional: If you have too many Cores, grab a bunch of 2 handed weapons like Spears and then Embed the Cores into them. That will reduce the space they take up from 5 to 1. You will likely also need to stock up on Chest Armors for Armor-only Cores and that will reduce the space from 3 to 1.
8. Optional: It's recommended to find all the Witches ASAP so that you can combine a variety of level 1 and 2 Cores without the need for RNG to upgrade them.

Ores and Gems of most types in high quantity in a condensed area with no enemies.
1. Optional: Read and follow the Early Fast Travel and Aerial Roll OP Flight methods at the top of this section.
2. Go to this location on the East side of the map.

3. Unlock the Fast Travel and mine as much as you want whenever it's respawned.

I hope everyone enjoyed the guide and I'll try to keep it up to date with any new big-information, so I'd appreciate any suggestions, questions feedback, or requests for other guides.

First big update. Added:

• A Camping section to teach the basic mechanics and how to maximize rewards.
  
• The Focused Force Palm and Nature's Snare learning locations to the Skill Observation section.

If anyone has suggestions or requests on things to add, just let me know in the comments! :D

April Fools! No Update! /s

For real though, added the following:

• Skill Observation Locations for Double Jump(thanks to lussi in the comments for the location), Blinding Flash Finisher, Turning Slash Expertise, and Nature's Echo.
  
• Added the patched change to how Contribution with Crime works as well as a tip to avoid losing Contribution by using the Civilian Disguise Outfit(thanks to Elminster in the comments for this tip)
  
• Recommended completing the Witch Quests as quickly as you become available as their stuff is really good.
  
• Added tips for exploring including a faster flight method, how to tell what waterfalls can be entered, how to remove thorns, and the different types of Fake Doors.
  
• Added mechanics giving a brief explanation of Abyssal Gears to the Important Mechanics section.
  
• Added new methods in the OP section including the previously mentioned faster flight method, an amazing Abyssal Gear farm, and a mining island where you can get a lot of ores and gems in a small area.
  
• A Combat tip about using Force Palm or Blinding Flash when your lantern flashes Red to interrupt the boss.