How to farm Golden Apples in Crimson Desert: the hedgehog spots and Gold Bars

The question: where do Golden Apples come from, and is there a way to farm them?

The short answer: Golden Apples don’t grow on any tree you can see. Hedgehogs carry them. Go to one of three known spots, run back and forth to make small animals spawn, and look for a hedgehog with a glowing apple on its back. Hit it with Blinding Flash, the apple drops, and you take it. You don’t need a mask anymore. The apples are worth the most as Gold Bars: 1 Golden Apple plus 3 Gold Ore makes one bar at a witch.

One catch: patch 2.04.00 (October 29) reduced the spawn rate of Golden Apple Hedgehogs. The spots below still have them, but most guides were written before the nerf, so a run will take longer than they promise.

Where Golden Apples come from

The item’s own description says it: the fruit is only visible to hedgehogs, so you’re meant to watch the ground and follow any hedgehog with a glimmer on its back. Steam players agree it’s a chance spawn. A Golden Apple Hedgehog shares its spawn with rats, opossums, weasels, lizards and other critters, so you keep spawning batches until one of them is the right hedgehog.

The three farming spots

Grey Rock Dock (Demeniss)

The spot most guides send you to. It’s on the river that splits Demeniss from Hernand, on Demeniss’s northwestern edge. Fast travel to the Gate of Truth and head southwest, or follow the river south from Leafshade House.

If the area is still blockaded when you arrive, clear the enemies first. After that, walk the main road and the paths around the dock and watch the ground. Guides and Steam players say a hedgehog turns up every so often as you loop the area. If nothing spawns, walk away and come back, or rest or fast travel and return.

North of Tinkerton (Delesyia)

In the farm fields just north of Tinkerton, in the Eastern Hills of Delesyia, look for a leaning tower in the middle of a field and three small rows of white flowers next to it. Run from one side of the flowers to the other and back. Each pass spawns a crowd of critters. A Steam player recommends this spot, and TheGamer and PlayTheory describe the same patches.

Tariv (northern Demeniss)

Tariv is a small town at the top of Demeniss, with terraced crop fields of flax and cotton. Run from one end of the field to the other and hedgehogs come pouring out. AlcastHQ calls it the best spot because spawns are more consistent and nobody is around, and a YouTube guide by The Ginger Empire picks it for the same reasons.

How to get the apple off the hedgehog

1. Spot the glint. Golden Apple Hedgehogs look like any other hedgehog but with a shining apple on their back.
2. Hit it with Blinding Flash. The hedgehog gets stunned and drops the apple. It lands next to the hedgehog or under it. Shooting the hedgehog with an arrow also makes it drop the apple.
3. Use the “Golden Apple: Take” prompt. It’s a separate prompt from picking up the hedgehog, so you don’t need to move the hedgehog to grab the apple.
4. Run the field again to spawn the next batch.

Do you still need a mask?

No. At launch, taking the apple counted as stealing, so older guides tell you to put on a mask and run out of the red circle afterwards. Players on Steam say that changed in a spring patch, and PlayTheory tested it on patch 2.03.02: six apples at Grey Rock Dock and Tinkerton, no mask, none flagged as stolen. Pearl Abyss never listed the change in its patch notes.

One Steam player shot a hedgehog and never got a prompt to pick up the apple, with or without a mask. The other players in that thread suggested Blinding Flash instead, which they use themselves.

How often do they respawn?

There’s no fixed timer. The hedgehog is a random spawn, and you reroll it by running through the field or leaving and coming back. Patch 2.04.00 lowered how often the golden version shows up.

One unconfirmed report: a Steam player stopped seeing any more after about 15 apples. PlayTheory passes on similar Steam reports that a spot dries up after around 15 and takes a few in-game days to recover, but it hasn’t tested that yet. If a spot goes quiet, switch to one of the other two.

What Golden Apples are for

Gold Bars. That’s the main use. Once you know the Alchemy Formula: Gold Bar, any of the main witches can craft a Gold Bar from 1 Golden Apple and 3 Gold Ore. The formula is on a bookshelf on the third floor of the Spire of Insight. The entrance is blocked by brambles you burn away with Blinding Flash, and each floor has a small puzzle.

The same formula also unlocks two other Gold Bar recipes: 3 Brimstone, 3 Mercury and 10 Silver Ore at a witch, or 100 Gold Ore at a grindstone. The apple recipe needs far less ore.

Silver. TheGamer and games.gg say a Golden Apple sells for 114 silver on its own. Guides put a Gold Bar at about 500 silver at the bank, roughly five times as much, so it’s worth crafting before you cash in.

Good to know

• Keep Gold Ore on hand. Each bar needs 3 ore. A Steam player said they don’t bother stockpiling apples they can’t turn into bars right away.