Since my friend Shelby has professed interest in Salt and Sanctuary, I figured I'd create a beginner's guide. It'll be very bare bones, focusing on the very beginning of the game.
First off, the 3 beginning creeds. Without upgrading anything, The Three, Devara's Light and the Iron Ones determine which items you can purchase at the beginning vendors. At level 1, both The Three and The Iron Ones stone merchant sell Pitchfire, a fire buff, Fire Pots, a potent firebomb that can carry throughout the game, and Red Shards, a consumable heal that doesn't replenish at sanctuaries and candles. Also, the Iron Ones are the only creed that sell Shock stones, a lightning buff that's potent throughout several bosses.
Devara's Light, however, sells Light Vessels in lieu of Fire Pots, and they do holy damage instead of fire. All three have equitable heals, though the Water of Blessing grants the protection buff, which is 2x your current defense rating.
Devara's Light's blacksmith sells the Flintlock Pistol at level 1, the other 2 sell at at level 3.
And finally, the Iron Ones have two changes at the Cleric and Mage; the mage sells lightning storm(a tier 3 incantation, so you can't use it right away if you're a mage) instead of wildfire(which is tier 1, and can be used as a mage right away), and the cleric is the only creed that sells War Horns, which increase stamina regeneration during combat, which is a great buff during boss fights. This is why I say to choose the Iron Ones as your starting creed, place down the stone merchant, cleric and guide so you can warp back to this sanctuary to replenish supplies, as you can still buy from abandoned creed's merchants.
Second, I've seen that new players can have trouble finding certain weapons if they don't know where to look. The Kureimoa(aka Claymore) can be found in the Village of Smiles, in a hidden room that you may not see due to level geometry hiding the light that tells you about a hidden room.
The Infantry Poleaxe can be found early if you're willing to brave the Bandit's Pass to the right of the Devara's Light sanctuary, and later on if you return there through proper progression.
The Haymaker(A Grim Reaper style scythe) is found after defeating the Queen of Smiles, following the lower path and opening the gate.
The Warhammer is found by entering the Sunken Keep from the upper path out of the Watching Woods. The lower path leads to an elevator that leads to a boss.
And finally, the Outlaw Greataxe is found in the locked door in the Bandit's Pass outside Castle of Storms. the key is found on your approach from the Sunken Keep.
The game does not teach you how to parry. Looking at the controls does not tell you how to parry, but by holding block and pressing attack, it allows you to parry with nearly every weapon. The only weapons that do not parry that way are the bow, crossbow, pistol and wand. The crossbow and pistol take a cue from Bloodborne and utilize that timing, and the wand allows you to use one equipped spell.
And lastly, the game doesn't accurately tell you how certain abilities affect how you handle weapons. Daggers, shields, wands, staves, bows, and whips are all their own skill to use. But other weapon skills count for multiple weapons.
1 handed swords and greatswords both use the Swordfighter skill. All 1 handed hammers and axes fall under the Berzerker Skill. Greathammers and Greataxes, however, fall under the Heavy Macefighter skill. And finally, all Spears, Reapers(Scythes) and Poleaxes all fall under the Pikeman skill.
Lastly, starting gifts. They don't tell you what they do at character creation. Red Shards are a consumable healing item. Stone Sellsword allows you to summon a friend at your first sanctuary. You can find one after the 1st boss. The amber idol is a transmutation material, and it's only useful if you know what kind of weapon you want to transmute into. The Grasping ring grants you 10% more salt from every kill, so it's a staple for most builds. and lastly, the Crystal Sphere allows you to convert a sanctuary for your chosen creed. These aren't really useful until after you've started leveling up your creed and want its bonuses.
Oh, and one more thing; desecrating a sanctuary. The game does not tell you how to do this, and if you're new, DO NOT DO THIS! It's only required if you want the Order of the Betrayer as your creed, and you don't get access to it until nearly the end. But in order to do this, you take the Stained Page, your arcane weapon buff, and place it on top of sanctuary icon you want to desecrate. You'll then be attacked by all merchants you placed/that are already there, and then be attacked by 2 waves of sanctuary guardians. Defeat all them to clear the sanctuary, and if you're Order of the Betrayer, you'll get creed level up items.
And if you're intending to join the Betrayers, you need to either die at your first attempt to desecrate a sanctuary, or use the Bell of Return to avoid the fight. You'll get the bloody writ, which you'll need to join the Betrayers near the end of the game.
And finally, here's the fextralife wiki for Salt and Sanctuary. It covers both the Enhanced version(only available on PC) and the standard version. https://saltandsanctuary.wiki.fextralife.com/Salt+and+Sanctuary+Wiki
Hopefully, this will help anyone coming to Salt and Sanctuary without overloading them. But until next time, Stay Beautiful Freaks!
