Abyss Gears are powerful runes which improve the stats of your equipment when embedded into their available sockets.
As well as boosting the attack power and speed of weapons, Abyss Gears can also give Kliff more health and Spirit, while some of the best Abyss Gears have special abilities which imbue items with extra attacks or elemental magic.
However, like many things in Crimson Desert, where exactly you’re supposed to use your Abyss Cores isn’t clear, so here’s everything you need to know!
Where to use Abyss Gears in Crimson Desert
To use your Abyss Cores you need to find Sylvia, the hermit witch, in the Meandering Hills north of Hernand.
If you’re struggling to navigate the area, make sure you ring the bell tower in Hernand to remove the fog from the map, as well as unlock the Abyss Nexus fast travel point just to the north of your quest marker.
You find the Hermit Witch in the Shadow’s Whisper Cave, which is found down a small gulley in the cliff face.
Inside you will find not just the Alchemy Formula for Palmar Pills, but also Sylvia’s magical workshop. With access to her workshop, you will finally be able to embed the Abyss Gears you’ve probably collected from Sealed Abyss Artifact challenges so far.
How to use Abyss Gears in Crimson Desert
To actually embed Abyss Gears, you need to:
- Choose an item with available Abyss Gear Sockets
- Unlock those possible sockets using Sylvia’s “Create Socket” option
- Slot a compatible Abyss Gear into that item’s newly created socket
Some Abyss Gears can only be attached to weapons or armor, but they’re relatively self-explanatory once you know where to attach them.
Spirit and Health-boosting Abyss Gears are typically armor specific, while attack and speed-boosting Abyss Gears often need to be slotted into weapons, boots or gloves.
You can also remove Abyss Gears from items if you want to make use of their abilities elsewhere, this is great for unique weapons you receive through story quests which have special attacks, but become outclassed by better equipment as your adventure progresses.
For more on where to go and what to do next, check out our pages on the Dragon’s Stone Chamber Puzzle solution in Crimson Desert, or our run-down of the best skills to spend your Abyss Artifacts on first!