Making Money in Crimson Desert Takes Guts, Walls, And Fireplaces

Crimson Desert has a funny way of making a guy feel broke before he’s even really started. Strolling up to the bank only to find out it costs a hundred silver just to open an account, and then another gold bar before that balance does anything useful, feels like a punchline. Who knew parking your money would come with a cover charge? Still, for a game where pocketing loose coins is oddly difficult and stealing feels more like a hobby than a career, banking turns out to be a surprisingly solid move.

That Gold Bar Vanishes Based On Luck

Lucky for anyone strapped for cash, Crimson Desert hands over a gold bar practically on a silver platter right near the beginning. Lioncrest Manor sits just northwest of the city, and while getting inside might’ve caused some head-scratching for anyone tangled up in Bruna’s Request, the solution is almost comically simple. One just has to wander around the back, scale the wall to the right of the door, and pop open a window.

No invitation required. Is this really all it takes to walk into a manor and snatch a gold bar? Once inside, the real fun begins. Heading downstairs to the entrance chamber, a fireplace with a stone lion’s head perched above it practically winks at the player. Putting out the fire reveals a hidden compartment just below the mantelpiece, and with a quick press of a button, Kliff shoves a hand in and pulls out a nice, shiny gold bar.

It almost feels too easy, like the manor owners were just asking for someone to come along and swipe their valuables. Investing that bar starts the slow drip of interest, though whether the bank account swells or shrinks depends entirely on luck and whichever investment risk a person feels like gambling on. Who wouldn’t want their hard-stolen gold to vanish based on random chance?

This Gold Bar Recipe Is Fire, Literally

For anyone looking to pad that bank balance even more, Crimson Desert has other tricks up its sleeve. Completing the Spire of Insight puzzle down in southern Hernand rewards a gold bar recipe pinned to a bookshelf during the final riddle. That little discovery lets a player craft gold bars at the Witch’s Lair vendors unlocked in Chapter 3. How many games make a person solve riddles just to learn how to make money?

The recipe calls for three Brimstone, three Mercury, and ten Silver Ore. Silver Ore itself isn’t too bad—one can find a deposit in the Heart of the Saint cave north of Three Saints’ Falls and Hernand city. Getting in requires a stab attack to push through the waterfall and a Force Palm to smash the rock blocking the entrance, but the cave yields enough ore to craft multiple bars.

Golden Apple Remains A Complete Mystery

Now, Mercury and Brimstone remain a bit more elusive in Crimson Desert. No reliable deposits have turned up yet, though they’re likely waiting in later regions. Here’s a fun twist: the unpackaged trade good called Brimstone is not the same as the crafting material version. Discovering that after hunting down the wrong item is the kind of facepalm moment that makes a player laugh through the frustration. Isn’t it always the way that the thing needed turns out to be something completely different?

Crimson Desert also offers another route: crafting gold bars from gold ore and a golden apple. Taking down Marnie’s Excavatron in Karin Quarry yields a map that, when consumed, marks gold ore veins on the world map, like the one in Anvil Hill Cave northeast of Anvil Hill. The golden apple, however, remains a mystery for now. A person could spend ages chasing that apple, wondering if it’s hidden behind some obscure side quest or tucked away in a spot nobody has thought to check yet. Doesn’t that just add to the charm of the whole treasure hunt?

Crimson Desert Makes You Work For Wealth

Tracking down materials, sneaking into manors, solving puzzles, and risking silver on fickle investments—Crimson Desert turns building wealth into a ridiculous, winding road full of small victories and odd setbacks. Each gold bar feels less like currency and more like a trophy snatched from the game’s clutches.

One moment, a player is climbing through a window to rob a fireplace, the next, they’re crafting bars from ore mined behind a waterfall. All that effort eventually piles up in the bank, slowly earning interest while the world outside keeps spinning. And honestly, watching that number tick upward after such a chaotic journey makes the whole absurd process worth every ridiculous step.