Quick Answer
You refine and upgrade weapons at the Weapon Forge in your camp. Refinement requires materials and camp funds, and it is the single biggest power increase available early on. This guide covers refining, weapon types, dyeing, and special Abyss gear.
Where to Refine Weapons
Weapon refinement happens at the Weapon Forge facility inside your camp. If you have not built or located it yet, progress the early tutorial until the camp is established — the forge is one of the first facilities unlocked.
- Return to your camp (fast travel or ride back).
- Approach the Weapon Forge and interact to open the refinement menu.
- Select the weapon you want to refine.
- Confirm the required materials and camp funds, then perform the refinement.
💡 Refine Early and Often
"Where to refine weapons" is one of the highest-volume, lowest-competition questions new players search — because the damage jump from each refinement tier is huge. Prioritize the Weapon Forge as your first camp upgrade.
How Weapon Upgrades Work
Refinement raises a weapon's base damage and can unlock or improve properties. You need two resource types:
- Materials — gathered in the world, looted from enemies, or obtained via the Crafting system.
- Camp funds — earned from quests, bounties, selling loot, and companion dispatch missions.
Armor follows the same loop at the Armor Workshop. Keep weapon and armor upgrades roughly in step — a maxed weapon with weak armor still leaves you fragile in boss fights. Pair this with the Boss guide to confirm your damage is on track.
| Upgrade Target | Facility | Resources | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon refinement | Weapon Forge | Materials + camp funds | Highest |
| Armor upgrade | Armor Workshop | Materials + funds | High |
| Armor dye | Armor Workshop | Dye materials | Medium |
| Companion gear | Companion Quarters | Materials | Medium |
Weapon Types and Playstyles
Crimson Desert offers multiple weapon archetypes, each with a distinct moveset. Experiment before committing rare materials to a single path.
- Sword & shield / one-handed: balanced, defensive, forgiving — ideal for learning boss timing.
- Two-handed / heavy: slow, high stagger and damage, rewards reading enemy openings.
- Dual wield: fast, aggressive, high offense at the cost of defense — see the dual-wield notes in the Gameplay guide.
- Ranged / bow: precision and safety at range, strong against flying and weak-point targets.
Dyeing Armor and Weapons
At the Armor Workshop you can dye armor to customize Kliff's look. Dyeing is not purely cosmetic in every case — some dye-related upgrades tie into quests or provide minor benefits, so don't ignore the dye menu once it unlocks. You'll gather dye materials while exploring; see the Exploration guide for efficient material routes.
Abyss Gears Explained
Abyss gears are special, high-tier equipment pieces tied to challenging content. They offer stronger stats or distinctive effects compared to standard refined gear, but require you to take on harder encounters to obtain them. Treat them as aspirational, endgame-target upgrades:
- Progress the story and raise your base refinement level before farming Abyss content.
- Bring leveled companions and stocked consumables — Abyss encounters are tuned above the regional average.
- Compare set effects before replacing a heavily refined standard weapon; a synergy you have built around may outperform raw stats.
⚠️ Don't Hoard Materials
A common beginner trap is saving materials "for later." Refine as you go — you will keep finding more materials, and an unupgraded weapon makes every fight harder than it needs to be.
Weapons FAQ
At the Weapon Forge in your camp. It unlocks early in the tutorial once your camp is established. Refinement costs materials plus camp funds and is the biggest early power spike available. This system also covers where to refine weapons crimson desert players ask about most — refinement is done at blacksmiths and camp weapon stations across Pywel.
There is no single best type — one-handed sword and shield is the most forgiving for learning, two-handed maximizes stagger damage, dual wield is high-risk/high-reward, and bows excel at weak points and flying enemies. Pick around your playstyle.
Abyss gears are high-tier special equipment earned from challenging content, with stronger stats or unique effects. Pursue them after you have a solid refinement baseline and leveled companions.
Upgrade the weapon first for the immediate damage spike, then bring armor up to match. Both use camp facilities and the same material/fund loop.
Dual wielding is available for certain one-handed weapon classes (swords, daggers, axes). Equip a one-handed weapon in your main hand and a compatible one-handed weapon in your off-hand slot — the game will indicate compatibility. You unlock dual-wield-specific skills as you progress. Dual wielding increases attack speed and combo potential but may reduce defensive options and block capability. Not all weapon types can be dual wielded.
Armor dyeing is done at your camp's dye station (once unlocked through camp upgrades) or at a dye vendor/wardrobe NPC in major towns. Collect dye materials (crafted from gathered resources, purchased from vendors, or found as loot), open the dye interface, select the armor piece, choose a color for each dyeable region (primary, secondary, accent), and confirm. Dyes are permanent until overwritten.
The Antumbra Sword refers to either a specific dark-element weapon or an enemy/boss wielding it. If it is a weapon: it is obtained through crafting, a specific quest, or as a boss drop, and is upgraded like other weapons. If it is an enemy: focus on dodging its dark sword combos, punish after its heavy attack recovery, and use light-element attacks for bonus damage. Equip dark-resistant gear.
Armor can be dyed at your camp (once the dyeing station/wardrobe facility is unlocked through camp upgrades) or at specific dye and wardrobe NPCs in major towns and cities. Look for the wardrobe/dye icon on your map in the commercial district of large settlements. Early in the game, camp dyeing may not be available until you upgrade the relevant facility.
Press the sheathe/unsheathe key to toggle your weapon. On PC this is typically a dedicated key (check the controls menu for the exact binding); on controller it is a specific button combination. Sheathing your weapon allows you to run faster, interact with NPCs and objects, use non-combat tools (fishing rod, pickaxe, gathering tools), and avoid drawing aggro in towns. You cannot attack while sheathed.
Abyss gear combination is an end-game crafting system done at a specific combination station or through the gear enhancement menu. You need two compatible pieces of Abyss gear of the same type plus rare combination materials. Open the combination interface, place the two base pieces and materials in the slots, and confirm. Combining produces a higher-tier Abyss piece. This is a late-game progression system — materials are rare.
Horse armor is equipped through the mount management menu. Open your mount inventory/management interface (interact with your horse or use the mount menu), select the horse you want to equip, and place armor pieces into the corresponding slots (head, body, saddle, horseshoes, etc.). Horse armor provides protection, stat bonuses, and may have set bonuses. Higher-tier horses can equip more armor pieces.
Weapons are upgraded through the refinement/enhancement system at a blacksmith NPC in town or at your camp's weapon upgrade facility. Gather the required materials (ores, enhancement stones, weapon-specific materials), open the upgrade interface, select the weapon, and choose the upgrade level. Higher upgrade levels have lower success rates — use protection items to prevent downgrading or weapon destruction. Upgrades increase attack power and may unlock bonus effects.
Horse armor can be crafted at your camp's crafting station (once the relevant recipe is learned), purchased from horse vendors or stable keepers in major towns, found as loot from specific enemies and treasure chests, or earned as quest rewards. Basic horse armor is available at stables in major cities early on; higher-tier armor requires crafting, rare drops, or endgame content.
Yes, certain one-handed weapon classes support dual wielding. Equip compatible one-handed weapons in both your main hand and off-hand slots. Two-handed weapons, bows, heavy weapons, and polearms occupy both hands and cannot be dual wielded. Dual wielding is unlocked as you progress and offers faster attack speeds and unique combo skills at the cost of some defensive options.