How to solve the Arboria Castle puzzle in Crimson Desert

The Arboria Castle puzzle in Crimson Desert is all about repairing an elixir factory for House Celeste, and it’s perhaps one of the most elaborate I’ve come across in the game. It’s not that it’s necessarily super complicated, but it has a lot of stages, and it’s quite easy to go wrong. It’s even more of a mystery if you just wandered in there, since you can complete the puzzle, but without the prerequisite quest, there’s no reward.

Instead, “Restarting the Elixir Factory” is a quest you’ll need to have if you want to finish this puzzle properly, and that requires first completing the “Queen of the Silkspun Cradle” quest, which is seemingly a bit buggy in terms of when it appears for players. Either way, here’s how to fix the elixir factory if you’re currently doing the quest.

Crimson Desert Arboria Castle puzzle solution

As mentioned, you can only complete this puzzle as part of the “Abandoned Factory” quest for House Celeste. This unlocks after you defeat the spider bounty in the castle for them in an earlier quest—after that you’ll be tasked with repairing the elixir factory.

The video above shows the entire process, but I’ll also outline it step-by-step below. If you’re wondering about solving the Arboria Castle Strongbox, then it works the same way as the second of the Bluemont Manor Strongboxes, in which you have to adjust each piston so it jumps to the level of the picture on the box when you pull the switch on the right. It contains a book explaining part of the puzzle, so feel free to skip. Otherwise, here’s each step.

Activate the cultivation room control unit

(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)

When you first enter Arboria Castle, look to your left for a cylindrical tank with a conveyor belt coming out of it. Now:

Kick the wooden square with the yellow swirl by holding CTRL (LB on controller) and pressing the inputPush the handle that comes out all the way to the left to reveal a ladderClimb down, follow the corridor, and then push the handle on the rope to your right as you enter the room with the plants

Activate the ingredient dispenser and washer

(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)Climb back up the ladder to find a handwheel on your left that you can turn, making a lever pop out on top of the machineActivate the lever to start the conveyor beltDrop down on the other side of the machine and turn the other handwheel to start the sprinklers

Activate the crusher and the lift

(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)Head down the corridor following the conveyor belt and either jump Force Palm to get to the upper level, or keep going to find a set of stairs that curves back aroundTurn the handwheel next to the nailed-up “grinder instructions” to activate thatDrop down just below you, and find the big cylindrical device at the end of the conveyor beltOpen the door on the outside of the machine and press the button

Activate the compounder

(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)Turn around and run against the big button on the machine opposite to activate itTurn the left handwheel on the yellow liquid tank until it reaches the line at the topTurn the right handwheel on the red liquid tank until it reaches the line at the bottom—if you’ve done this right, the liquid will be yellow in the tank on the far right

Activate the heater and the bottling machine

(Image credit: Pearl Abyss)From the machine with the liquid tanks, head left through the archway and pick up one of the big oil barrelsCarry it back towards the stairs, where you’ll find a machine just to the right of them where you can place the barrelUse Force Palm to punch the barrel inside the machinePull and hold the handle that drops to turn on the heaterGo behind the machine directly to your right and pull the lever there

Wait until it starts producing elixir bottles and the “Produce the perfect elixir” objective is completed, then head back to the plant room down the ladder at the start and grab the Fertilizer Sprayer from the compartment just to your left. With that, you’re all done.