Golden Apples are one of Crimson Desert’s best-kept secrets for fast wealth building. Unlike traditional farming methods like pickpocketing, Golden Apple farming produces 8-12 Gold Bars per hour compared to just 3-5 from other methods. They’re easy to find, repeatable, low-risk, and accessible early in the game.
1. What Are Golden Apples?
Golden Apples are strange fruits that only hedgehogs can see. They grow on invisible trees that human eyes cannot perceive. The only way to get them is to find hedgehogs carrying them on their backs.
When you find a hedgehog with a Golden Apple, you’ll spot a bright golden shimmer or glow on its back. Golden Apples stack up to 50 per inventory slot, so you can carry a large volume per farming session. They count as stolen items, so you’ll need a Mask to pick them up.
2. Golden Apples Location
Golden Apples Location
The best and most reliable place to farm Golden Apples is Grey Rock Dock in the Demeniss region. Start from Hernand and head northwest into Demeniss. It’s across the river from Bradenfarm Farm and south of the Kingshield Mountains.
When you first arrive, the area is blockaded by Fundamentalist Goblins. Clear these enemies before attempting to farm. Once the area is liberated, you can return freely without resistance. Another location for Golden Apples farming is in Deleysia in Tinkerton village.
Tip: Hedgehogs appear most frequently near the house with pumpkins outside. Position yourself at the corner of this house to monitor spawns effectively.
3. Items Required to Farm Golden Apples
Equipping mask
- Mask (Most Important): Buy a Mask from the Back Alley Merchant (Grimrak) located southeast of Hernand’s Cathedral. It costs a small amount of Copper. Alternatively, loot Masks from defeated bandits once they start dropping them, or complete quests that reward Masks. Always equip your Mask before starting a farming run.
- Bow and Arrows: You’ll need a bow to kill or shoot hedgehogs. Keep your bow equipped throughout the run and maintain a full stock of arrows. Standard arrows work fine—you don’t need special arrow types.
- Gold Ore (Recommended): Gather 3 Gold Ore per Golden Apple before you farm. Gold Ore is required for crafting Gold Bars, and you can save time by farming these early. The best sources are Anvil Hill Mine (southwest Demeniss) and Heart of the Saints Cave (near Three Saints’ Falls in Hernand).
- Focused Shot Skill: If you want to maximize farming speed, invest in the Focused Shot skill from the green skill tree. This requires Concentration Level 2 and Archery Level 2. Focused Shot slows down time when activated, making it much easier to aim at moving hedgehogs.
4. Best Farming Times For Golden Apples
Hedgehog spawns follow an in-game time cycle. You’ll have the best results between 4:00 AM and 11:00 AM in-game time. During this window, hedgehogs spawn consistently and frequently. A secondary peak occurs between 4:00 PM (16:00) and 12:00 AM (Midnight), but spawn rates are less reliable than in the morning hours.
Outside these windows, spawns drop significantly. Plan your farming sessions around these times for maximum efficiency.
5. How to Farm Golden Apples
Scanning hedgehogs for Golden Apples
- Start at Grey Rock Dock and position yourself near the house with pumpkins outside, since this is the best place to begin the farm.
- Equip your Mask, keep your bow ready, and walk slowly around the pumpkin house area.
- Use Blinding Flash and look for a golden glow on a hedgehog’s back.
- Shoot the hedgehog, run over, and pick up the Golden Apple as soon as it drops.
- Leave the red wanted zone immediately, then wait for the alert to clear before going back.
- Return to the pumpkin house and repeat the same loop.
Tip: Travel to the Abyssal Nexus and return to Grey Rock Dock. This resets spawn locations and encourages new hedgehogs to appear. Alternatively, wait 2-3 minutes in the area and try again.
6. How To Turn Golden Apples Into Gold Bars
Golden Apples are a sellable resource item, it can be sold to any vendor for 114 Silver. However, their real value comes from converting them into Gold Bars. There are multiple ways to craft Gold Bars, but the route that matters here is the Golden Apple recipe.
Crafting Recipe: 1 Golden Apple + 3 Gold Ore = 1 Gold Bar
Gold Bar Recipe Location
Gold Bar Recipe location
The Gold Bar recipe can be found inside the Witch’s Hideout in Pailune, which is the other major pickup location besides the Spire of Insight.
- Travel to the Witch’s Hideout in Pailune.
- Enter the hideout and search the table on the right to pick up the recipe.
- Pick up the Gold Bar recipe inside the hideout to permanently unlock that alchemy formula.
- Once the recipe is learned, speak to the Witch to craft it.
How to Craft Gold Bars
Crafting Gold Bar
Use this process to craft Gold Bars with Golden Apples:
- Farm Golden Apples until you have a batch worth converting.
- Make sure you have 3 Gold Ore for every Golden Apple you want to use.
- Go to a Witch NPC at any location. The two practical witch locations to use are the Witch’s Hut in the Witchwoods and the Witch’s Hideout south of Pailune.
- Open the witch crafting menu and select the Gold Bar recipe that uses 1 Golden Apple and 3 Gold Ore.
- Craft as many Gold Bars as your materials allow, then head straight to the bank instead of selling anything on the way.
7. Best Ways To Convert Gold Bars Into Silver
Bank investment
Once you have Gold Bars, you have two options:
- Direct Sale: Sell Gold Bars directly to vendors for ~190 Silver each. This is quick but wasteful—you’re leaving money on the table.
- Bank Conversion: Take Gold Bars to the Hernand Bank and exchange them for 500 Silver each. This is the proper conversion rate and gives you more than double the direct sale value.
- Bank Investment: Choose a risk level: Low, Medium, or High. Over several in-game days, your investment generates returns.
The bank is located in Hernand. Talk to the banker and convert your bars immediately upon arrival.
8. Tips for Farming Golden Apples
- Farm Golden Apples for 40 minutes → Collect 15-20 apples
- Mine Gold Ore for 20 minutes → Collect 45-60 ore
- Craft Gold Bars at a Witch → Convert apples + ore into bars
- Deposit at the bank or pickpocket nobles on the way back
