Everything you need to know about how armor and accessories work in Crimson Desert, including different types, upgrade costs, and use cases.
Crimson Desert doesn’t have statistically best armor or accessories because everything has the same stats (with a few balanced variations) and the parts that make them unique, Abyss Gears, can be switched into any other armor you’d prefer to use.
The fact that all armor and accessories are more or less the same means that you can wear whatever you think looks the best and not have to worry about looking ugly or the same as everyone else.
Armor Types and Upgrade Costs
There are 3 different types of upgradeable armor in Crimson Desert, including Cloth, Leather, and Plate. These types determine defensive stats and bonuses.
All armor pieces of each type have identical defensive stats and bonuses. All armor pieces for a given slot have the same number of Abyss Gear sockets.
Each piece of armor belonging to an upgradeable set contains one of those 3 terms. Sometimes, the same armor set will have pieces from multiple different weight classes. For example, the Bolton Plate set has Leather Footwear instead of Plate.
In general, Plate has roughly 15% more defense than Leather, which has roughly 20% more defense than Cloth, but Plate doesn’t have as much of a lead in terms of attack power and can fall behind in terms of mobility.
Cloth
Cloth armor offers the lowest Defense at a combined 69 (nice) when an entire 5-piece set is fully upgraded. In exchange for lower Defense, Cloth armor offers an additional 2 levels of Movement Speed.
Cloth Cloaks also contribute 3 levels of Ice Resistance. though this only amounts to tangible differences at thresholds at Resistance Levels 5, 10, and 15.
There are only a couple of Cloth Gloves and Footwear, but both trade a small amount of Attack power for additional levels of Attack Speed or Movement Speed.
Crafting and Refining Cloth equipment costs Cloth Pieces, Fleece, Feathers, and Long Hair Hides, in addition to the Abyss Artifact required for each tier past +4.
| Slot | Cloth Piece | Fleece | Feather | Spider Web | Long Hair Hide | Abyss Artifacts | Aeserion’s Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | 73 | 32 | 60 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Chest | 167 | 65 | 80 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| Gloves | 73 | 32 | 0 | 240 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Boots | 73 | 32 | 0 | 240 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | 386 | 161 | 140 | 480 | 20 | 24 | 4 |
If you don’t want big, heavy armor weighing you down, and don’t have much trouble avoiding attacks, consider using Cloth Armor.
Leather
Leather armor offers middling Defense at a combined 99 when an entire 5-piece set is fully upgraded. Each piece of leather gear also grants 1 level of Lightning Resistance, but Leather Cloaks give 3 levels instead.
It’s worth noting that Leather sets almost never have a full 5 pieces, most often missing Headgear, so you may want to consider hiding your Headgear.
Leather Gloves and Footwear sometimes trade 3-4 points in Attack power for 1-3 levels of Critical Rate, per piece, so if you want a higher Critical Rate, Leather is the way to go.
Crafting and Refining Leather equipment costs Thin Hides, Thick Hides, Small Bones, and Sturdy Hides, in addition to the Abyss Artifact required for each tier past +4.
| Leather | Thin Hide | Thick Hide | Short Hair Hide | Small Bone | Sturdy Hide | Abyss Artifacts | Aserion’s Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | 49 | 32 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Chest | 78 | 51 | 0 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| Gloves | 49 | 0 | 96 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Boots | 49 | 0 | 96 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
If you want higher Critical Rate, are struggling against an enemy that deals Lightning damage, or want higher Defense without wearing Plate, consider equipping Leather armor.
Plate
Plate armor offers the highest Defense at a combined 118 when an entire 5-piece set is fully upgraded. Plate Headgear also offers Daze Immunity and Plate Cloaks offer 3 levels of Fire Resistance.
It’s worth noting that a few pieces of Plate Armor use the term Chain Mail instead Plate, but they work the same way.
Some Plate Gloves and Footwear will trade 2 points of Defense for 1 point of Attack. The difference in Attack between Cloth, Leather, and Plate is only 6 points between each if the set gives up that Defense. Otherwise, Attack stats on Plate Gloves and Footwear are only 2 points higher than that of Leather.
Crafting and Refining Plate equipment costs Iron Ore, Copper Ore, Large Bones, and Bismuth Ore, in addition to the Abyss Artifact required for each tier past +4.
| Plate Costs | Iron Ore | Copper Ore | Short Hair Hide | Large bone | Fang | Bismuth Ore | Abyss Artifacts | Aserion’s Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | 49 | 32 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Chest | 78 | 65 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| Gloves | 49 | 0 | 64 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Boots | 49 | 0 | 64 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
Use Plate Armor if you don’t care about high mobility or fancy crits and want to be able to tank hits.
Disguises and Skills
If a piece of armor counts as a Disguise or has a Skill (LT + RT | L2 + R2 | B), it is not upgradeable, does not have any Abyss Gear slots, and minimal Defense. Usually, Disguises are only 1-2 pieces rather than being a full set.
Most Disguise Cloaks also offer 5 levels of Ice Resistance, enough to provide that base Cold Immunity on their own.
Disguises are how Crimson Desert does stealth gameplay. If you want to sneak around, find a Disguise that works against the enemies you’re facing currently, and then you have no need for defensive stats.
Likewise, armor with special Skills is not upgradeable, but the logic doesn’t work. Some of them aren’t related to combat, so they still ought to be unique Abyss Gears on upgradeable armor just like they are for weapons.
There’s a good chance the devs could make such a change if the community were vocal about it…
Slot Differences
The Headgear, Gloves, and Footwear are all pretty much the same in terms of Defense stat contribution. Chest Armor contributes more to Defense than any other piece of individual equipment, but it also costs more resources to upgrade.
| Slot | Stat | Cloth | Leather | Plate I | Plate II | Plate III |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | Defense | 0 → 12 | 1 → 18 | 2 → 21 | – | – |
| Head | Bonus Effect | Movement Speed Lv 1 | Lightning Resistance Lv 1 | Daze Immunity | – | – |
| Chest | Defense | 2 → 21 | 3 → 32 | 4 → 41 | – | – |
| Chest | Bonus | Movement Speed Lv 1 | Lightning Resistance Lv 1 | – | – | – |
| Cloak | Defense | 0 → 12 | 0 → 13 | 0 → 14 | – | – |
| Cloak | Resistance (Almost Always) Lv 3 | Ice Resistance Lv 3 | Lightning Resistance Lv 3 | Fire Resistance Lv 3 | – | – |
| Gloves | Defense | 0 → 12 | 1 → 18 | 4 → 21 | 2 → 19 | 0 → 17 |
| Gloves | Attack | 10 → 30 | 11 → 33 | 10 → 34 | 11 → 35 | 12 → 36 |
| Gloves | Attack w/ Crit Lv 1 → 2 | – | 10 → 30 | – | – | – |
| Gloves | Attack w/ Crit Lv 2 → 3 | – | 9 → 29 | – | – | – |
| Gloves | Attack w/ Attack Speed Lv 1 | 10 → 30 | – | – | – | – |
| Gloves | Attack w/ Attack Speed Lv 2 → 3 | 9 → 27 | – | – | – | – |
| Boots | Defense | 0 → 12 | 1 → 18 | 4 → 21 | 2 → 19 | 0 → 17 |
| Boots | Attack | 9 → 27 | 11 → 33 | 10 → 34 | 11 → 35 | 12 → 36 |
| Boots | Attack w/ Crit Lv 1 → 2 | – | 10 → 30 | – | – | – |
| Boots | Attack w/ Crit Lv 2 → 3 | – | 9 → 29 | – | – | – |
| Boots | Attack w/ Movement Speed Lv 1 | 9 → 27 | – | – | – | – |
| Boots | Attack w/ Movement Speed Lv 3 → 4 | 8 → 26 | – | – | – | – |
| Sums | Defense | 69 | 99 | 118 | 114 | 110 |
| Sums | Attack | 60 | 66 | 68 | 70 | 72 |
| Sums | Attack w/ Crit Lv 1 → 2 | – | 60 | – | – | – |
| Sums | Attack w/ Crit Lv 2 → 3 | – | 58 | – | – | – |
| Sums | Attack w/ Speed (small) | 57 | – | – | – | – |
| Sums | Attack w/ Speed (large) | 53 | – | – | – | – |
Headgear
Headgear contributes ~17-18% of a set’s total Defense pool. The amount of Defense contributed by Headgear is similar to the difference in total Defense between each armor weight class, so equipping a non-upgradeable helmet is akin to reducing your weight class by 1 tier.
Headgear always has 1 socket for Abyss Gear and offers 1 level of Movement Speed for Cloth armor, 1 level of Lightning Resistance for Leather armor, and Daze Immunity for Plate armor.
Chest Armor
Chest Armor contributes to ~33% of a set’s total Defense pool. It’s by far the largest share and its upgrade costs reflect that.
Armor always has 3 sockets for Abyss Gear and offers 1 level of Movement Speed for Cloth Armor and 1 level of Lightning Resistance for Leather Armor. Plate armor has no special bonus.
Despite costing more total resources, you do get more bang for your upgrade buck when prioritizing chest Armor if your limiting reagent is Abyss Artifacts because you’re getting more Defense per Abyss Artifact by upgrading Armor.
Gloves and Footwear
Gloves and Footwear have identical stats and upgrade costs to each other. Both have 2 Abyss Gear sockets each and offer as much Defense as Headgear. They can also deal damage with unarmed attacks, and each has an Attack power range of ~28-36
Just like with Defense, Plate Gloves and Footwear have the highest possible raw Attack stats but have to trade some of that Defense to fully maximize it. Cloth armor can trade some Attack for Attack Speed and Movement Speed, respectively, and Leather can trade it for Critical Rate boosts.
Upgrade costs for Gloves and Footwear are identical to each other and have the same or similar to the cost of upgrading Headgear, though they require 1-2 different materials starting at upgrade tiers +3 and +5 compared to the Headgear and chest Armor.
Cloaks
Cloaks are weird. They have the same weight/material class labels but offer the same, low Defense of 0 → 12, have no Abyss Gear sockets, and all have the same Cloth-oriented upgrade costs. They also require Ivory past tier +4, and you can only find that in the Crimson Desert.
The only difference between Cloaks is which type of Lv 3 Resistance they offer. Cloth offers Ice Resistance, Leather offers Lightning Resistance, and Plate offers Fire Resistance. Disguise Cloaks offer Lv 5 Resistance instead, but they can’t be upgraded.
Fully upgrading any Cloak requires the follwing resources:
| Type | Cloth Piece | Fleece | Ivory | Long Hair Hide | Abyss Artifact | Aserion’s Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloth | 167 | 65 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| Leather | 167 | 65 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| Plate | 167 | 65 | 29 | 8 | 6 | 1 |
Accessories
Accessories offer small stat boosts and passive regenerative effects. You can hide them in the Language and Input Settings, if you want.
Necklace
Necklaces grant passive Spirit recovery at up to +0.4 Spirit/sec and offer increases to your Attack power. They come in 3 flavors:
| Type | Attack | Spirit Regeneration | Critical Rate Lv |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0 → 11 | +0 → 0.4 Spirit/sec | None |
| B | 0 → 5 | +0 → 0.3 Spirit/sec | 0 → 3 |
| C | 0 → 5 | +0 → 0.4 Spirit/sec | 0 → 3 |
There are also Necklaces that have Skills in place of lower Attack, no Spirit regen, nor any Critical Rate Boost. The Skills usually have long cooldowns and continue to count down even if the item isn’t equipped, so there’s little reason to use those in combat. Just equip them, use their effects, and swap them out.
In essence, you get to pick whether you want pure damage or prefer to divert some of that to Critical Rate. Some Necklaces on the Critical Rate side only go up to Lv 3, not Lv 4, so check the Item Details > Refinement Information to see its potential.
Critical Rate does have a maximum level, so it depends on the rest of your build whether or not it’s worthwhile to use a pure Attack Necklace.
There’s no point in adding Critical Rating you can’t benefit from, Spirit Recovery is a bit harder to come by, so I would recommend staying away from the Lv 4 Critical Rate Necklaces unless you really know what you’re doing.
Earrings
Earrings grant passive Health recovery at up to +0.8 HP/sec and offer increases to your Defense and, optionally, Movement Speed. They come in 3 different types. Every Earring is identical within their associated type, so you can try to get two that match, or don’t.
| Type | Defense | Health Regen | Movement Speed Lv |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0 → 10 | +0 → 0.8 HP/sec | None |
| B | 0 → 6 | +0 → 0.6 HP/sec | 0 → 4 |
| C | 0 → 4 | +0 → 0.8 HP/sec | 0 → 3 |
In essence, you get to pick whether you emphasize Defense, Movement Speed, or Health Regen.
I don’t recommend picking a Type A Earring that just offers slightly more Defense at the cost of no improvement to Movement Speed. As a percentage, sure, 40-60% more Defense sounds really good, but in absolute terms, it’s only a few points.
Movement Speed has a cap at Lv 15, so it’s easier to waste the benefit, but there aren’t too many sources of Movement Speed boost, so that’s unlikely, and the health regen becomes less valuable as you progress through the game.
In general, health regen from these Earrings is only going to offer a noticeable effect outside of combat because it’ll take like 10 mins to recover your full health bar, depending on your max health. My measurement was with 7/18 Abyss Artifacts invested in Health.
In combat, you need to eat food. The healing is genuinely worthless against the likes of Antumbra’s Sword and other such bosses. Movement Speed won’t do that much either, but the effect is far more noticeable when you’re just wandering around.
Rings
Finger Rings increase your Stamina regen rate by up to 8% and boost your Attack and, optionally, Attack Speed. They’re the offensive version of Earrings.
| Type | Attack | Stamina Regen Boost | Attack Speed Lv |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 0 → 7 | +0 → 8% | None |
| B | 0 → 3 | +0 → 6% | 0 → 4 |
| C | 0 → 3 | +0 → 8% | 0 → 3 |
Essentially, you get to pick whether you want higher raw Attack or a boosted attack speed with potentially reduced stamina consumption.
The absolute amounts of Attack are more noteworthy here. Weapons deal 30-40 damage at tier 9, so we’re talking about a 10% boost to damage output across the board in exchange for lower Attack Speed.
I don’t think the lower Stamina Regen really matters. It’s 2% faster on something that already recovers pretty quickly, so I recommend picking either the raw Attack on Type A or a maximum Attack Speed offered by Type B.
Attack Speed has a cap, so the only reason you’d want to consider Type C is if you’d be wasting the stat otherwise.
Glasses (and Signet Rings)
You can purchase little circlet crowns and Signet Rings from each Region’s Contribution Shop. They cost a ton of Contribution tokens but offer little to no stats and can’t be upgraded.
The only use they have is if you’re capped on Contribution tokens, you can buy one of those and continue earning.
Packs
Packs are specialized tools that enable you to use a Skill with (LT + RT | L2 + R2 | B) and can be upgraded with the Kuku Pack at Kilnden Workshop in Hernand. You’ll either equip one for a specific purpose or the slot will be empty.
