Crimson Desert: the best method to make money quickly

You started Crimson Desert, you're in Hernand, you have about 30 silver coins and an apple in the inventory. The Greymanes are asking you for money, the merchants sell everything expensive, and you're still out there hitting bandits on the road to pick up 3 coppers. We all know this struggle.

The good news: there is a method that combines several tips to make thousands of silver coins in a very short time. No need to farm ores for hours or visit every merchant in the open world. We're talking about a real combo: a free gold ingot, a card mini-game where the AI is ultra-aggressive (and that's good for you), and a banking system that can be manipulated with backups.

Before diving into the guide, if you want to know how Crimson Desert runs on your setup, we have a complete benchmark here on DropReference: dropreference.com/en/benchmarks/crimson-desert

Let's go, we attack.

500 pieces of silver. Free. That's what a gold ingot is worth when you sell it to the bank — and not to the traditional merchants who give you 190. The difference is huge, and it's the basis of everything that follows.

• A bandit mask — You can buy one from the underground merchant south of Hernand (behind the farm, east side of Muckroot Ranch). Otherwise, you'll catch some from bandits sooner or later.
• Ideally a key — At the same merchant, 30 coppers. Not mandatory for the ingot, but practical for the chests inside the manor.

The Crétéon Manor is located just to the left of Hernand on the map, next to the archery tournament. You will easily spot it. The thing is, the front door is guarded — so we go through the window, like civilized people.

Climb up the side wall, open the window, and go in. Small bonus: the building just next door on the left contains a rather stylish katana, if you're interested.

Once inside, go down to the ground floor. You will find a hearth (fireplace). Put out the flames to avoid getting burned, make sure no one is watching you, and use your lantern (LB / L1) to inspect the fireplace. The option "To steal" appears. And there, bingo: the gold ingot is yours.

Wait a bit for the crime indicator to disappear before going out. And above all, do not sell this ingot to a random merchant Heading to Hernand's bank, period. 500 pieces instead of 190, there's no room for discussion.

Ah, and the ingot respawns after a few in-game days (probably 3 to 7 days). So you can come back and steal a new one regularly.

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Before going to squander your coins at the card game, a quick stop at the bank is necessary. It is located right next to Hernand's Nexus, on the left side — it's the big building, you can't miss it.

First thing to do: buy the bank license for 100 silver coins. It is a mandatory investment to be able to deposit ingots and take advantage of the investment system. If you don't have the 100 coins, you can rob the bank itself (yes, really). Equip your mask, come at night when the guards are gone, and empty the safes on the shelves. This should earn you at least 60 silver coins. The rest, you do by selling loot from bandits.

Once the permit is purchased, deposit your gold ingot. The bank credits you with 500 silver coins on deposit. You can then choose an investment strategy:

• Low risk — 0 to 2% profit. Safe but slow.
• Medium risk — 15 to 20% profit. Correct for passive.
• High risk — 50 to 55% profit. That's the one we want.

The refresh is done every 3 days in-game. And here's the trick: backup 1 to 2 minutes before refresh , look at the result, and if you've lost money, reload your backup. The result is calculated at the time of refresh, not before. So you can retry until you get a good return. With the high-risk strategy, we're talking about +47% sometimes.

The more ingots you deposit, the juicier the returns. The ultimate goal is to accumulate 5+ ingots and let it run. Some players even let the game run while they are at work to accumulate investment cycles - with camp dispatch missions running in parallel, it's continuous passive income.

This is where it gets serious. The card game in Crimson Desert is THE method to farm hundreds of silver coins in a few minutes. But there are several taverns with different stakes, and it's not equally profitable everywhere.

It's not complicated. Here's how the hands are ranked, from best to worst:

1. Pair of 10 — The best possible hand. You won, period.
2. Any pair — Pair of 8, pair of 3... Two identical cards, that's very strong.
3. 9 points — Third best hand. Almost unbeatable except against pairs.
4. 1 to 8 points — The most common case. The highest hand wins. Above 6, it's playable.
5. Zero / Failure — Throw your cards. Seriously, lay down and wait for the next round.

It's the first tavern you come across. The stake is ridiculous — 15 coins — but it's the perfect place to practice. You will learn the rules, and above all, you can unlock the cheating skill there. It allows you to hide cards when it's your turn to shuffle, then swap them with your hand during the game (RB to look, Y / triangle to swap). Be careful though: if you get caught cheating, you lose your bet. Hence the importance of saving before each game.

Here, we get down to business. This village is located north of Hernand, after crossing two rivers. Look for it on the map — there is a building with a guard in front, right next to the well. That's it.

The bet is 150 silver coins, and that's why the gold ingot was essential as a base. And there you go the technique : you sit down, you wait to have a good hand (6 points or more, any pair), and you carpet The AI players in this tavern are ultra-aggressive - they almost always follow. As a result: with 3 players at the table, a single winning stack earns you 450 pieces of silver at once.

If your hand is bad, lie down and wait. If you lose a carpet, reload your backup. It's as simple as that. In 10 minutes, you can easily make 1000 to 2000 coins.

For the more advanced, there is a third tavern even further north, near the desert. The bet goes up to 300 coins, and the winnings are proportional: +600 to +900 coins per winning carpet. Same principle as the previous tavern — save before, carpets on the right hands, reload if it fails.

The bonus tip here: if you only have one player at the table, save, reload, and re-enter. The number of players is random each time you load. Ideally, you want 2 or 3 opponents to maximize the pot. With only one player, the pot is too thin and the pace too slow.

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OK, now that you have all the elements, here is the optimal routine from start to finish:

1. Buy a mask and a key at the underground merchant south of Hernand.
2. Steal the gold ingot at Manoir de Crétéon through the side window.
3. Exchange it at the bank for 500 silver coins.
4. Buy the banking license (100 pieces) if it's not done yet.
5. Train yourself with cards in Hernand's tavern (15 pieces per bet) to learn the rules and unlock cheating.
6. Go to the village to the north and plays at the tavern with a bet of 150 coins. Go all in on good hands, save/reload on bad ones.
7. Deposit your winnings in ingots at the bank (500 pieces = 1 ingot). Choose the high-risk strategy and save scum the results.
8. Repeat until you have 2000+ pieces. No need to go beyond — each stack of 1000 takes up one inventory slot.

Basically, you can go from zero to 2000+ silver pieces in less than 30 minutes with this method. And once you have a base of 5 ingots in the bank, the investment system works for you in the background while you do the game quests.

Good question. If you're the kind of person who enjoys mining, chopping wood, and cooking for hours, you may not necessarily need all of this. But for everyone else — and that's probably you if you're reading this article — here's why having a good stash changes life in Crimson Desert:

• Food — Go around the taverns and buy everything you need. No need to farm ingredients anymore.
• Resources and minerals — Buy directly from the merchants instead of mining veins one by one.
• Equipment and recipes — Merchants sell good stuff if you have the funds.
• Bloodstones — They restock at the camp regularly and are expensive.
• Research institutes of the factions — That's where it stings. Unlocking special armors, elixirs, and other faction bonuses costs astronomical sums. In other words, without money farming, you're going to struggle.
• Donations to the Greymanes' camp — Help your camp, unlock dispatch missions, and keep the war lance production running.

In short, money in Crimson Desert allows you to skip the most repetitive aspects of gameplay to focus on exploration, combat, and story. And given the size of the open world, it's honestly a significant time saver.

A few random things that community videos have revealed since the launch:

Let the game run. If you leave to work or sleep, leave your game open (not paused). Bank investments continue to run, and camp dispatch missions too. Some players report having accumulated over 150,000 coppers just by leaving the game running in the background.

Do the bounties. The bounty boards in towns offer quick missions — especially cleaning up bandit camps. A 20-minute loop around Hernand can earn you 3000 to 4500 coins with loot as a bonus. It's a good complement to maps.

Sell to good merchants. Merchants in large cities pay better than those in small villages. Relics and jewels found in dungeons can be worth +30% more in town.

The carts on the roads. You can steal merchants' carts and resell them to fences. It's not the most effective method, but it adds to the rest.

Beware of reputation. Theft lowers your contribution to Hernand (-5 XP per stolen item). Compensate by chaining bonuses to restore your reputation. It's not a problem if you manage the pace well.

It's possible. The aggressiveness of the AI in the cards is clearly a point that Pearl Abyss could adjust in a future patch. For now (March 2026, post-launch), it works perfectly. But enjoy it while it's there.

With the complete method (ingot + cards + save scum), it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to go from zero to 2000 coins. If you already have the ingot and the mask, it can go even faster.

Not necessarily. The tavern at 150 coins per bet is to the north, you have to cross two rivers. You can go there early, but you will pass through this area anyway as you progress through the chapters of the story. Start with the ingot and Hernand's tavern at 15 coins, then head north when you're ready.

Yes. Investment results are calculated at the refresh time, not when you deposit. So if you save just before and reload in case of a bad result, you can restart indefinitely. The only downside is that the game puts you back at the nearest fast travel point — you have to go back to the bank with each reload.

Not really for card farming. Each stack of 1000 takes up one inventory slot, and beyond 2000, you're better off converting them into ingots at the bank for investments. Keep a small reserve of coins for everyday purchases and put the rest into ingots.