To unlock Garden of Trials in Crimson Desert, complete Journey's End, then travel near Axiom Archive Abyss with the Charting the Unknown DLC installed. This post-story combat challenge contains 10 groups, and clearing each one enhances an existing skill.
You can enter alone or arrange Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane in a battle order. Defeated characters hand the fight to the next person, but food recovery is disabled. Your backup characters need preparation, too. These rules cover Crimson Desert: Enhanced's Charting the Unknown DLC in Version 2.04.00.
How do you unlock Garden of Trials?
Journey's End, the final main-story quest, is the unlock requirement for Garden of Trials. Install Charting the Unknown and update to Version 2.04.00 or later before heading to the entrance.
Use this checklist before making the trip:
- Complete Journey's End in the main story.
- Check that Charting the Unknown is installed.
- Confirm that your game has Version 2.04.00 or a later update.
- Look in the Journal for Garden of Trials: At the Threshold of a New Ordeal, the faction quest that directs you there.
Howling Hill and camp expansion are tied to the ocean quest A Wider World. Garden of Trials has its own post-story requirement, so finishing that earlier camp content will not unlock these battles.
Where is Garden of Trials located?
Garden of Trials is near Axiom Archive Abyss. The Axiom Archive sits in the Path of Providence, above Hernand on the Abyss map.
Travel to the Axiom Archive and approach the archive building. White Crow directs you toward Garden of Trials, where you interact with the trial cubes to select a group.
Reach the Axiom Archive Abyss
For other travel points across Pywel, keep the Abyss Cresset and secret places location guide handy while exploring between trials.
Can you enter alone or with a comrade?
You can challenge Garden of Trials alone or with comrades, with a maximum of three playable characters. The available roster is Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane.
Solo entry suits players who want to tackle the groups with one prepared character. Bringing comrades gives you additional characters who can continue the battle after your active fighter is defeated. For a first clear, a prepared team gives you more chances to finish a difficult group.
Choose your lineup based on the characters you have equipped. Adding Oongka or Damiane without checking their armor and skills leaves you with a backup who may struggle as soon as they enter.
How do you choose your characters and their battle order?
Before starting a Garden of Trials challenge, select your participating characters and arrange the order in which they enter combat. That order determines who takes over after a defeat.
Prepare every selected character
Check the armor, weapons, Abyss gear, and selected skills of Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane before committing to a full lineup. Food recovery is unavailable, so defensive equipment deserves attention alongside damage.
If a backup character needs more preparation, the skill system and progression guide explains the broader progression systems you can work on before returning.
Give each position a purpose
A practical order for learning a group is:
- Opening character: A well-equipped fighter whose attacks you know, so you can concentrate on the bosses.
- Second character: Another prepared fighter who can continue reliably if the opener falls.
- Final character: A dependable closer, with equipment and skills you trust to finish the encounter.
Saving your strongest build for the final position is one option when learning a group. The important preparation is having a capable character in every selected slot, rather than relying entirely on Kliff.
What happens when a character is defeated?
When your active character is defeated in Garden of Trials, the next character in your chosen order continues the battle. With a full lineup, that means the second character follows the first, then the third follows the second.
The bosses within a group are fought in succession. A full three-character defeat resets that group, so your last character needs to be ready to finish the fight rather than simply occupy a slot.
Can you use food to recover during battles?
Food items cannot be used for recovery inside Garden of Trials. If meals carried you through the main-story bosses, this restriction changes how you should prepare for their rematches.
Favor defensive equipment and pay attention to the attack patterns you learned during earlier encounters. Garden bosses generally retain their overworld movesets, making familiarity with those fights useful when you cannot recover with food.
How many groups can you challenge, and what do they reward?
Garden of Trials contains 10 groups, each featuring three bosses, for 30 boss encounters across the full set. You can choose available groups in any order, and every completed group enhances an existing skill.
Open Journal > Challenges to inspect the groups. If one is locked, select its node to check which boss you still need to defeat in the world before tackling that trial.
Check each group's requirements
Which skill does each group enhance?
Use the reward table to identify groups that improve skills you already rely on. Earth-Shattering Beasts, for example, grants recovery through successful unarmed attacks, while Harbingers of Death reduces the Stamina cost of maintaining Flight.
| Challenge group | Skill enhancement | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Anomalous Beings | Ascended Evasive Roll | Reduces the Spirit cost of Evasive Roll. |
| Battlefield Piercers | Ascended Stab | Shortens the charge time needed for Slash. |
| Earth-Shattering Beasts | Regeneration | Restores health and Spirit with each successful unarmed attack. |
| Earth-Trampling Giants | Ascended Lariat | Reduces the Spirit cost of Lariat. |
| Harbingers of Death | Ascended Flight | Reduces the Stamina cost of maintaining Flight. |
| Marni's Relics | Ascended Elements | Reduces the Spirit cost of imbuing elements on skills. |
| The Apparition Bearers | Ascended Forward Slash | Reduces the Stamina cost of Forward Slash. |
| The Deathbringers | Ascended Evasive Slash | Lets you quickly chain into Evasive Slash during another skill. |
| The Ironbound Warriors | Ascended Turning Slash | Reduces the Spirit cost of Turning Slash. |
| The Soul-Consumed | Ascended Blinding Flash Finisher | Applies certain Abyss gear effects during Blinding Flash Finisher. |
Reduce Evasive Roll Spirit cost
What do you get for clearing all 10 groups?
Completing the full Garden of Trials unlocks the Lumen Longsword, a two-handed light blade. After your final group, head toward the back pillar and collect the sword from the ground.
Individual groups also award Abyss Artifacts, with some providing Abyss gear and skills you have not learned. The existing-skill enhancement is the consistent reward attached to each group.
Common mistakes
Following the ocean quest instead of the trial unlock
A Wider World begins through Howling Hill and camp progress. For Garden of Trials, check Journey's End completion and return to the Axiom Archive Abyss area.
Preparing only your opening character
A defeated Kliff can hand the battle to Oongka or Damiane, depending on your selected order. Check their equipment before entering, not after discovering that your backup is poorly prepared.
Treating a locked group as a missing entrance
An inaccessible Garden and an unavailable group require different checks. Confirm Journey's End, the DLC installation, and your update version for access problems; inspect the group's node under Journal > Challenges for a missing boss requirement.
Pro tips
Start with bosses you recognize
Best for learning the gauntlet: choose an available group whose bosses you know. Harbingers of Death contains Reed Devil, Crowcaller, and Hexe Marie, so familiarity with those encounters can help you decide whether to begin there.
Reassess between groups
Garden of Trials is divided into 10 separate challenges. After completing one, review its skill enhancement and any new Abyss gear before selecting the next group. You can take time to prepare rather than pushing straight through every challenge.
Check Oongka and Damiane's updated attacks
Version 2.04.00 reduced the startup time of Oongka's Scatter Shot and Damiane's Shield Toss. If either character is in your lineup, account for those quicker startups when preparing their skills for the trials.
Frequently asked questions
Does Journey's End unlock every individual group?
Journey's End unlocks access to Garden of Trials. Individual groups can still require bosses to be defeated in the world; check their nodes under Journal > Challenges for the relevant requirement.
Do you have to bring all three characters?
No. Garden of Trials supports solo entry or a lineup of up to three characters selected from Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane. Your selected order controls who continues after a defeat.
Does one completed group award the Lumen Longsword?
No. You need to complete all 10 groups, then collect the Lumen Longsword near the back pillar. Each individual group instead provides its own skill enhancement and other group rewards.
For another combat completion goal after Garden of Trials, follow the Sword Mastery challenge guide to track the six Sword of Trials challenges.
