Crimson Desert’s Lightning Surge Imbue is earned by completing a chain of abyss puzzles – spanning the Secret Garden, Vault of Vengeance and the Courtyard of Precision – and is primarily a utility focused element that empowers traversal puzzles and imbues your attacks with electrical damage.
The Courtyard’s aerial target arrays and the vault’s precision panel placements emphasize careful timing and skill use – Focus Shot, Force Palm, Force Current, Nature’s Grasp. Once unlocked, Lightning Surge lets you electrify weapons and abilities for combat synergies. This guide provides a step by step walkthrough to solve the Secret Garden, Vault of Vengeance and Courtyard of Precision Abyss challenges and obtain the Lightning Surge Imbue Element.
Secret Garden Abyss Challenge
Hidden beyond the Sanctorium of Insight, The Secret Garden is an abyss restoration puzzle that tests vertical navigation and mirror laser logic. Players must read the room – platforms that shift underfoot, tethered mirror nodes and sleeping lasers – and restore the circuit that frees the central relic.
Path to the Secret Garden
Before you can reach the Secret Garden, you must complete chapter 4 of the main questline – the chapter concludes at the Spire of Stars. You’d have to complete the Sanctorium of Insight abyss challenge to progress to the Secret Garden.
After you have restored the Sanctorium of Insight, you need to get behind the structure where you collect the Abyss artifact. You’ll see a gateway, go through it and a platform activation device will appear. You use the Axiom Force to turn the device, which arranges the floating platforms in their correct order and you can get to the other side.
Go down below as shown in the above first image which is followed by some more platforming, then eventually you’ll reach the teleporter which will teleport you to The Secret Garden.
Restoring the Secret Garden
After you’ve been teleported to the Secret Garden, head upward through the floating platforms.
You’ll notice that there are 2 light emitting orbs that you need to carefully align such that the light is reflected through the floating mirrors onto the target that are visible above the door on the opposite side.
You’ll also notice that one of the orbs is deactivated. To activate the left orb, you need to fix the chip in place as shown in the above picture. I recommend you to learn the Force Current skill if you haven’t already, it just makes life easier in game when you are trying to solve these puzzles.
After you’ve activated the left orb, use Axiom Force on the back of the orb to control it. Move the laser onto the marked mirror as shown in the above picture, make some adjustments until the reflection falls on the right target on the door.
Then change the right orb’s laser direction onto the mirror marked in the above picture, make some adjustments and the reflection should end on the left target on the door. This will unlock the door for you, go through the door and there’s a fan underneath. Use Abyss Wings to gain altitude.
Above, you’ll come across a conduit that you need to reconnect to restore power to the large button that is on the ground.
Use Force Palm on the button to restore The Secret Garden Abyss and you can claim the Abyss Artifact.
Vault of Vengeance Abyss Challenge
Crimson Desert’s Vault of Vengeance is a precision focused Abyss puzzle that tests platforming, timing and puzzle tools rather than combat. From activating energized cubes and dodging laser grids to using Focus Shot and Force Palm at the right moments, this gauntlet rewards careful observation and skillful use of abilities and hands out valuable Abyss Artifacts and chests for those who solve it.
Path to Vault of Vengeance
After you’ve restored the Secret Garden abyss, turn around from where you found the Secret Garden’s Abyss Artifact and you’ll see a gateway that leads to the next abyss destination.
After a brief amount of platforming and traveling on floating platforms you’ll eventually reach the Vault of Vengeance.
Restoring Vault of Vengeance
To enter inside the vault, you’d need to place 2 energized cubes at the designated position as shown in the above picture. The first energized cube is pretty visible at the entrance, you’ll have to use Axiom Force to move it to any of the marked positions.
If you turn left from the entrance, you’ll notice the second energized cube. Move it to the other designated position and you can enter the vault.
For the next part of the puzzles, I recommend getting the above mentioned skills – Marksmanship lvl 2 along with Focused Shot. The reason is because you’d have to shoot multiple targets within the time frame to solve the puzzles.
Aim your bow, enter the Focus Mode, then mark the 2 targets and then shoot. This is going to unlock the big door but you’d still have to use Nature’s Grasp to lift the door up.
Then you’re going to reach a room full of lasers, you’ll notice that there are 4 targets as shown in the above image, you’d have to enter focus mode and shoot these 4 targets simultaneously. This will deactivate the lasers and make your way to the prized possession – The Golden Sword.
This is a good one handed weapon, it could be useful or not depending on your story progression. But as you can see, I have a full on golden theme going on with the Golden Greed Armor set which you can check out the guide to get the complete set here – Golden Greed Plate Armor Set and the Golden Sword makes the set whole.
Then the sword’s platform is gonna make its way down and you’ll reach a room full of lasers again. There are no targets to deactivate the lasers this time, you’d need to evade them.
Then place the chip in its place and the teleporter that is right in front of the chip is going to activate. Hop on the teleporter and you’ll be teleported to the final part of the puzzle.
Use Axiom Force on the battery and fix it in place, this will activate the big button on the wall and then use Force Palm or Force Current on the button and head above.
This will restore the Vault of Vengeance and you can claim the Abyss Artifact.
Courtyard of Precision Abyss Challenge
If you look around the end of the abyss puzzle Vault of Vengeance, you’ll see a gateway that leads to the next abyss destination. Go through it and after a brief amount of platforming and going through teleporters, you’ll eventually reach the Courtyard of Precision.
Restoring the Courtyard of Precision and Obtaining Lightning Surge Imbue
After you’ve reached the Courtyard of Precision, make sure to activate the Abyss Nexus and head forward.
If you look above in the air, you’ll notice floating targets that you need to shoot simultaneously within the time frame. So I recommend getting the Focus Shot and Marksmapship lvl 2, if you haven’t already. You’d need to shoot the targets in order to activate the device beneath it, there are four of them and one of them is already activated and the rest, you must activate them.
After you’ve activated the first device, repeat the same with the other two, which are on your right and opposite.
After activating the devices, the big fan in the middle turns on. Use your Abyss Wings while you are on top of the fan to gain altitude and the next part requires speed and precision.
While you are in the air, you’d have to shoot two sets of targets which can be found in the two big rings in the air above the big fan.
Hitting the targets successfully is going to power up the button on the floor, use Force Palm on the button and The Courtyard of Precision is restored.
After you’ve completed the Courtyard of Precision Abyss Challenge, the Lightning Surge Imbue is automatically unlocked in your skill tree. Now you can use electrified attacks in combat to deal massive damage to enemies and stagger them with the electricity.
Obtaining the Lightning Surge Imbue was fun, guides on remaining Imbue Elements are coming soon, so follow us to stay updated.
