It's a little unclear what Contribution is at first in Crimson Desert—you do a good deed and suddenly you're earning points that appear in a little bar on the screen. At first it looks like some kind of karma or faction rep system, and while the latter is kind of true, it doesn't properly reflect what you can do with Contribution.
Below I'll explain what you can use Contribution for, where to find the shop that'll let you do that, plus the various ways you can either gain or lose this currency.
How to earn and spend Contribution in Crimson Desert
When you first arrive in Hernand, you'll likely notice that certain actions, such as giving money to a beggar, reward you with Hernandian Contribution and fill a progress bar. While this might look like faction rep at first, Contribution is actually a currency you can spend to get special items at the Contribution Shop.
Each region has its own progress bar and shop, but in this case, it's located in Hernand Castle, just through the door down and to the right of the interior gate that leads to the main keep. Each time you fill the Contribution meter all the way, you'll get one point—you can see your overall points by looking at the top right corner of the map.
So how do you earn Contribution? There are a variety of methods:
- Completing requests from the notice board, such as Turnali's Request or Rhett's Request
- Completing any of the Bounties that unlock in Chapter 2
- Giving money to beggars
- Completing certain main quests
- Freeing Pailunese refugees from bandits
- Liberating bandit hideouts and strongholds
And you can lose Contribution by:
- Committing crimes—stealing items in particular will always decrease your Contribution whether you're caught or not.
Generally, the most time-effective ways to get Contribution are completing Requests and Bounties if they happen to be near where you're already going.
It's worth noting that you can also sell any Contribution items you've purchased to get the exact same amount back at the Contribution Shop, letting you recombine your overall point value to buy whatever armour or items you want.
