The Trembling Woods Ruins puzzle in Crimson Desert is a troubling one. For a start, the surrounding area for this puzzle has plenty of threats to avoid from hostile creatures to towering cliffs, and then there’s the puzzle itself. Here, you’ll need to spend some time fiddling with a large golden dial to reveal a secret reward.
To help you with that so you can continue exploring Pywel, here’s the Trembling Woods Ruins puzzle solution in Crimson Desert.
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Crimson Desert Trembling Woods Ruins puzzle solution
Once you reach the Trembling Woods Ruins puzzle in Crimson Desert, you’re presented with a large golden dial covered in celestial symbols and made up of three layers, as well as three pedestals in front of the dial that you can interact with and rotate.
Rotating these pedestals will also rotate one of the three layers within the golden dial. Your goal here is to ultimately rotate the pedestals – and thus, the golden dial’s layers – so that all of the dial’s layers are aligned with one another correctly.
You should see that both of the upper layers – which are controlled by the left and middle pedestals – consist of metal circle outlines, while the bottom layer that’s coated in symbols – which is controlled by the rightmost pedestal – has multiple circular symbols that can fit nicely into the circles of the above layers.
For what it’s worth, here’s what each pedestal controls:
- Left pedestal: Controls the metal layers containing two small circle outlines.
- Middle pedestal: Controls the metal layer containing the large circle outline that has a point on it.
- Right pedestal: Controls the layer made up of celestial symbol drawings.
Turn the pedestal on the right so that the sun symbol is lined up with the other half of itself in the upper right-hand corner of the dial (pictured below).
You should now be able to clearly see the three symbols on this dial: the sun, a crescent moon, and a third symbol showing what looks like a solar eclipse.
Next, use the middle pedestal to move the metal layer that has the large circle outline with a point on it. Move this so that the large circle outline surrounds the sun symbol we just moved (pictured below).
Next, use the left pedestal to move the remaining metal layer, so that both smaller, metal circles line up with the two remaining moon-related symbols. The smaller outline needs to surround the moon symbol, while the slightly larger outline needs to surround the eclipse symbol we established earlier.
The only issue is that the left pedestal does not have an arm for you to use to push it like the middle and right pedestals do. Instead, you’ll need to use the stab ability (‘R1 + Triangle’ on PlayStation or ‘R1 + Y’ on Xbox) to plunge your sword into it, and use that to move it.
Once all symbols are aligned with one another, the puzzle will be solved and a glowing blue podium is revealed in a small room beneath the dial.
Head over to the podium (which requires a brief swim) to retrieve your reward: an Abyss Cresset.
Crimson Desert Trembling Woods Ruins puzzle location
The Trembling Woods Ruins are located southeast of Hernand City and north of Steel Mountains. It’s positioned directly between The Ironwood and Willow River on your map, with the surroundings being rocky cliffs you’ll need to carefully navigate as you approach the puzzle.
Here are the Trembling Woods Ruins on the map of Pywel, with thanks to MapGenie:
Good luck solving the Trembling Woods Ruins puzzle. For more on Crimson Desert, take a look at our guide to fishing, how to steal from others, and all fast-travel locations.
