How to solve the Sanctum of Absolution puzzle in Crimson Desert

Solving the Sanctum of Absolution puzzle in Crimson Desert can be confusing, especially as one of the parts you need is very well hidden—it took me a fair while looking around to find it. This sanctum is also more complicated than others, like the Sanctum of Benediction, because it houses one of the Antumbra bosses: Antumbra's Sword.

Though nowhere near as fearsome as Beloth, this guy is a bit of a beast if you face him early on, so remember that you can always come back later when you've got more Abyss Artifacts invested. Either way, here's how to cleanse the Sanctum of Absolution and find the secret chest concealed in the ruins.

Crimson Desert Sanctum of Absolution puzzle solution

First off, you'll have to liberate the Sanctum of Absolution before you can cleanse it, and that means you need to slay the Antumbra Order enemies around the sanctum and defeat the Antumbra's Sword boss.

This guy is pretty tough to handle, but the key tips are to bring lots of food, Palmar Pills to revive, refine your weapons and gear, and add Abyss Gears to them, and make sure you've invested adequately in health and stamina—all the usual boss tips.

Once done, you can cleanse the shrine and even find a hidden chest, though as far as I can tell, you will need the Kuku Pot from the Kiln Repair quest in Chapter 4 to do it. Both the puzzle and hidden chest are featured in the video above, or you can follow the instructions for the puzzle below:

1. From the central pot-like sanctum structure, turn around and head up the stairs into the dark room and turn left through a door to find a floating Fusion Reactor Core you can grab with Axiom Force and seal in your Kuku Pot.
2. Head back outside, discard the core from the Kuku Pot in your inventory, and place it on top of the back left pillar with Axiom Force—as with previous sanctums, don't worry about getting it exact.
3. Climb up on top and use Force Palm while jumping to push the core into place.
4. Now head around the other side of the building, where you fought the boss, and up the stairs into the indoor corridor with the broken floor and the spike traps.
5. Hop over these to the pile of jars at the end and smash these to reveal a battery you can grab with Axiom Force.
6. Bring this back to the main sanctum structure, slot it into the left side, and Force Palm it into place.

With that, you've completed the sanctum. Watch the video above (after the section doing the puzzle) to learn how to grab the secret chest, too, and get the Sunset Reed Cloth Boots from the Reed Devil's outfit.