Crimson Desert: How to Clear Path of Trials for Ice Element

To clear Path of Trials in Crimson Desert and unlock the Ice element, go to the Sky Gate on Frostbitten Paradise (Bitter Paradise), activate the Nexus, follow the northern route to the exterior platforms, light every lantern as soon as you reach it to counter the cold, remove the battery from the mechanism, thaw the frozen plate with a fire arrow, restore power, then climb the central structure and activate the final monolith to claim the Abyssal Artifact and Frost power. If you are failing this trial, it is usually because of one of three things: missing a lantern, touching the freezing water, or carrying the battery before opening the correct path.

Where Path of Trials Starts

This Abyss trial is reached through the Sky Gate near the end monolith on Bitter Paradise. Once inside, do not look for a hidden side route or a separate puzzle trigger first. The intended path is direct: move forward, activate the Nexus, head north to the upper level, enter the left-hand gallery, and continue up the western slope until you reach the exterior section of the celestial island.

That opening matters because the trial looks more complicated than it is. The layout is vertical, but the route itself is linear. The real test is environmental pressure. The island constantly applies cold damage over time, so you are not solving a pure platforming course; you are managing warmth checkpoints while moving through it.

What to Have Ready Before the Outdoor Section

• A reliable fire source, ideally fire arrows or an ability that can ignite lanterns from range.
• Enough healing to recover from one or two bad jumps, but not so little that every mistake forces a restart.
• Stamina management in mind for climbing and gliding. The trial does not ask for perfect execution, but panic-jumping burns stamina fast.
• Your movement input understood before you start the long gap. Current walkthroughs describe a triple palm jump sequence using Jump + repeated R3/RS + Glide on controller; on keyboard, use the equivalent mapped palm-jump input.

The fire source is the non-negotiable part. Without it, the cold mechanic turns a manageable route into a race you are not supposed to win. Lanterns are your safe anchors. Reaching one and not lighting it immediately is one of the easiest ways to throw away a clean run.

How to Cross the Freezing Platforming Section

Once you step outside, treat every platform as a link between warmth points. Do not linger to line up perfect camera angles if the cold meter is already climbing. Move to the first reachable lantern and light it as soon as you arrive. That resets the pressure and gives you room to set up the next jump properly.

The next major hazard is the water below. Avoid it completely. This part of the trial is built to punish sloppy landings, and touching the water can turn a recoverable mistake into a death spiral because you lose time, position, and health at once. If a route looks like a shortcut through water or a low platform near it, it is almost never worth taking.

For the long crossing, use the triple palm jump sequence, then transition into a glide toward the opposite lantern. In plain terms, you want height first, not distance first. Players often fail here by gliding too early. Start with the jump chain, get the extra lift, then glide once your arc is stable. The goal is not just to reach the other side, but to reach it with enough control to light the lantern immediately instead of scrambling along the edge while freezing.

After that, climb the eastern wall toward the next lantern and continue to the upper platform. If your stamina is low when you start the climb, wait a second after lighting the previous lantern rather than forcing it mid-recovery. This section is much safer when you break it into two deliberate moves: secure warmth, then climb. Trying to combine both under pressure is what makes the route feel harder than it is.

Battery Puzzle: What to Move, What to Melt, What to Restore

After the platforming stretch, you reach the mechanism that controls the next phase of the Abyss trial. Take the battery out of the device first. That is the key item for the puzzle, but you are not meant to place it back into the same setup right away. Backtrack left and go up the stairs to the next interaction point.

Here is the part many players overcomplicate: you need to use a lantern to prepare a fire shot, then shoot the frozen plate to thaw it. Light an arrow from the lantern, aim at the ice-covered plate, and melt it. Once the obstruction is gone, install the battery into the restored mechanism.

Why this works is simple: the trial is teaching you to combine environmental fire with Axiom-powered devices. Carrying the battery around without thawing the correct plate first does nothing useful, and trying to brute-force the route with healing wastes resources. The battery step is the restore point for the Abyss mechanism. Some walkthroughs describe this moment as the point where Frost alignment is effectively restored, but in practice you still need to finish the monolith sequence to receive the actual reward.

Final Climb and Monolith Activation

Once the power is restored, move to the central structure. Climb it rather than searching for another side puzzle. The end of Path of Trials is vertical and fairly direct: ascend, find the core point, and use the palm strike on the central mechanism to activate the monolith.

This is the last place players lose time because they assume the fight is over as soon as the device powers up below. It is not. You still need to trigger the monolith sequence and reach the top. Keep the camera centered on the structure during the climb so you do not drift onto the wrong ledge, then continue upward to the reward point.

At the top, you collect the Abyssal Artifact and unlock the Ice elemental power. That is the actual payoff for the trial, and it is why this area matters for both progression and collectibles. If you are tracking the elemental set, this is one of the core power unlocks tied to the wider Abyss content.

The Most Common Reasons Runs Fail

• Not lighting lanterns immediately. Reaching safety and then hesitating is enough to let the cold keep ticking.
• Falling into water. Even if you survive, recovery usually costs more health and time than the shortcut saves.
• Gliding too early on the long gap. You need the lift from the palm-jump chain first, then the glide.
• Taking the battery before understanding the route. The battery belongs in the thawed mechanism, not in random backtracking.
• Entering without a fire option. The island is designed around lantern use. Healing through the cold is a bad fallback, not a strategy.
• Stopping too long on exposed ledges. This trial rewards steady movement more than cautious standing still.

If one jump keeps failing, reset your setup instead of retrying from a bad angle. In this trial, a clean re-approach is usually faster than trying to salvage a sloppy launch while the cold meter climbs.

What to Do After You Unlock Ice

After the reward sequence, reactivate the northern Sky Gate if it is available on your route, then move to the nearby islet and use the platform leading to the teleporter for the next Abyss area, Sanctorum of Darkness (Sanctuary of Darkness). If your only goal was the Frost unlock, the important result is already secured: Path of Trials gives you the Ice element and the Abyssal Artifact once the monolith is activated and the top reward is claimed.