Castle of Storms

You have three objectives in this area:

1. Grab the Grasping Ring. Equip the ring to boost the amount of salt you receive from each defeated enemy. The ring is useful whenever you need to farm salt to level up and invest Black Pearls in skills that allow you to equip your main weapon and a decent armour set, while remaining below 70% equip load.
2. Farm for the Armor Guardian's Ashes. This is an ingredient required to transmute the Warhammer to the Obsidian Pillar. The Obsidian Pillar will be your main weapon for the rest of the playthrough.
3. Receive the Shadowflip Brand. This brand is required to access various areas in the game. You must defeat the area boss to collect the brand. The Obsidian Pillar can make easy work of the boss.

17. Castle of Storms, Salt and Sanctuary

Start from the sanctuary of the Castle of Storms. You should now have farmed enough materials to offer to the Leader NPC in exchange for one reward. Interact with the Leader NPC and choose the option "Work" to find out which materials you need to farm. For example, in the creed The Three you can offer Skullbat Wing x 3 in exchange for a reward and similarly for Drowned Soldier's Ear x 3. These items can be farmed from enemies at The Festering Banquet and in the area above the sanctuary of the Village of Smiles. Offer Skullbat Wing x 3 to the Leader and choose Imperial Shockstone as your reward. Offer Drowned Soldier's Ear x 3 to the Leader and choose Imperial Shockstone again as your reward, or Imperial Pitchfire if you want. These "Imperial" versions of Shockstone and Pitchfire replenish whenever you rest at a sanctuary or shrine, obviating the need to purchase Shockstone and/or Pitchfire from the Merchant NPC. Some enemies and bosses are vulnerable to lightning (the effect of Shockstone) and fire (the effect of Pitchfire). It is well worth your time to farm for the relevant materials and hand in to the Leader NPC.

Beware of various pressure plates on the ground. Stepping on a pressure plate would trigger an environmental trap that shoots a horizontal beam of lightning. Enemies can trigger the pressure plate.

Notable loots:

• Stone Guide. On a platform above Caged Man x 3.
• Silver Leaf x 2
• Ray of Searing. A Prayer; also sold by the Cleric NPC.
• Sack of Salt
• Stone Blacksmith. From the same shiny where you collect the Sack of Salt.
• Lightning Barrage. A Spell that outputs lightning damage. Can also be purchased from the Mage NPC.
• Impen Crest Ring. Equip to boost your defense against fire. Useful during the fight against the area boss.
• A Soldier's Poem x 3. From the same shiny where you collect a Silver Leaf. These should allow you to upgrade the Warhammer III to Warhammer IV. It is important to upgrade to Warhammer IV, then transmute the weapon to obtain the Obsidian Pillar III. If you transmute Warhammer III to Obsidian Pillar II, you require a Drowned Locket to upgrade Obsidian Pillar II to Obsidian Pillar III. At this point in the game, Drowned Lockets can be farmed from Saltless found at The Watching Woods.
• Stone Merchant. In a treasure chest to the right of the arena of the area boss.
• Grasping Ring. Equip to boost the amount of salt you gain from each defeated enemy. Found on a platform underneath the arena of the area boss.
• Jagged Key. Can only be obtained after defeating the area boss. Use to unlock a door guarded by an Armor Guardian and Emberskull x 2. The door is located underneath the sanctuary of the area. Unlock the door to find a Gray Pearl on a platform high above. Underneath the door is a passage leading to a treasure chest that contains the Titan armour set.

18. Farm for Armor Guardian's Ashes at Castle of Storms, Salt and Sanctuary

Before moving on to fight the area boss, spend some time to farm for the Armor Guardian's Ashes. The material will be used to transmute the Warhammer to the Obsidian Pillar, which you can take to endgame. Equip the Brightcoral Ring and the Kismet Stone to temporarily boost your item find rate. Equip the Grasping Ring to gain extra salt from each defeated enemy. Armor Guardian's Ashes are dropped by Armor Guardians. An Armor Guardian can easily be defeated by at most 3 hits of a two-handed Warhammer IV. Buff the weapon with (Imperial) Shockstone and the Armor Guardian should be dispatched of in at most 2 hits. Transmuting the Warhammer to the Obsidian Pillar requires the following ingredients: Armor Guardian's Ashes, Amber Idol, and 10,000 salt. You should have chosen the Amber Idol as your starting item in the character creation menu. Farming the enemies at Castle of Storms should easily give you 10,000 salt. If you have not already done so, teleport to either the sanctuary of Shivering Shore or the sanctuary of The Village of Smiles and spawn the Alchemist NPC. Interact with the Alchemist, choose the option "Transmute", and transmute the Warhammer IV to the Obsidian Pillar III. You lose one upgrade level whenever you transmute from one weapon to a different weapon. That is OK in the case of the Obsidian Pillar because you now require Drowned Lockets to upgrade the weapon. Drowned Lockets can be farmed at The Watching Woods and available to be collected later in the game.

Kraekan Wyrm

19. Kraekan Wyrm, Salt and Sanctuary

This boss is weak against lightning. Buff the Obsidian Pillar III with (Imperial) Shockstone. Occasionally the boss would breathe fire on the ground. Equip the Impen Crest Ring to boost your fire defense. During the fight, jump and aim your attack at the boss' head.

20. Shadowflip Brand & treasure hunting, Salt and Sanctuary

Defeat the boss to unlock the passage to obtaining the Shadowflip Brand. From the boss arena, head left and drop down along various platforms. Continue right and drop down various platforms again until you meet the Despondent Thief. You will encounter the NPC at three other locations. Complete her quest line and she would reward you with the Frozen Tome. Interact with the Despondent Thief and exhaust her dialogue to receive the Shadowflip Brand. You can now jump and bounce off walls, allowing you to access various areas that were previously inaccessible. In particular, you can now collect the following notable loots:

• Impen's Charm. Boosts your attack with fire damage.
• Heater Shield. Underneath The Village of Smiles, accessible after defeating the Queen of Smiles. Accessible via an obelisk.
• Lamprey armour set. One of the best armour sets in the game. Found at the outskirt of Sunken Keep, to the left of the arena of The False Jester and accessible via an obelisk. The complete set is contained in two treasure chests. Each piece of the Lamprey armour set reflects a percentage of damage back to the attacker, even if you block with a 100% physical block shield.
• Split Mask. Equip to boost your Endurance by 3 points. Found at the Castle of Storms. The item is on a platform, underneath which is a Split Swordsman. Can be equipped and taken to endgame, especially for a Strength build
• Scrimshaw Cane. On a platform after you enter the gate protected by an Armor Guardian. The weapon is especially useful for a Mage build.

At the Castle of Storms, the Shadowflip Brand allows you to access a lever that unlocks the gate to the Red Hall of Cages. The lever is protected by an Armor Guardian. Before entering the gate, find the Nomad merchant sitting on a platform above the lever. Purchase anything you need from him. In particular, you might want to stock up on Lock of Hair, A Soldier's Poem, and Stained Page. Locks of Hair and A Soldier's Poems will be used to upgrade the Chain armour set (minus the head piece) and the Split Mask. We will take these armour pieces to endgame. Enter the gate, drop down various platforms, and you should meet the Scarecrow NPC. Exhaust his dialogue to advance his quest line. Enter the Red Hall of Cages, run past all enemies, and rest at the sanctuary as soon as possible.