Sunken Keep

9. Sunken Keep, Salt and Sanctuary

Start from the sanctuary of The Watching Woods and head right. Use the Mossy Key to unlock the door to Sunken Keep. Your objectives in this area are:

1. Collect the Warhammer. The weapon will be your main weapon for many upcoming areas of the game. At a later area, you will farm a material to transmute the Warhammer to the Obsidian Pillar, which you can take to endgame.
2. Defeat the Kraekan Cyclops to obtain the Green Key. The key unlocks a door leading to an NPC that grants you the Vertigo Brand. This brand is required to access the Castle of Storms, where you will farm a material to transmute the Warhammer. The Vertigo Brand can also be obtained by defeating the other boss of the area, i.e. The False Jester. You only need to defeat one of two bosses of the area to be granted the Vertigo Brand.

Sunken Keep is littered with Retchfeeders, a type of enemies that is invisible at first and becomes visible if your character stands next to their spawning points. Do not rush through Sunken Keep because you would most likely run past the spawning points of multiple Retchfeeders, and the enemies would appear and chase after you. Every once in a while stop to look for any visible Retchfeeders that run after you.

10. Farm salt & gold at Sunken Keep, Salt and Sanctuary

Ensure you at least have the skill Class 3 Heavy Macefighter in order to two-hand and one-hand the Warhammer. Farm enemies at Sunken Keep as necessary to collect enough salt to acquire the above skill. Two-handing the Warhammer should allow you to one-shot most enemies at Sunken Keep. Although not necessary for now, aim to acquire the skill Class 4 Heavy Macefighter before venturing beyond Sunken Keep. Use Lock of Hair x 3 and A Soldier's Poem to upgrade the Warhammer to Warhammer III. Visit the Nomad merchant at The Festering Banquet to purchase Locks of Hair as necessary.

While the Warhammer can one-shot most enemies at Sunken Keep, the particular enemy you should be wary of is the Heartseeker. This enemy tends to float in the air, can be tricky to fight, and requires multiple hits. The Heartseeker protects whichever enemies are closest to itself, shrouding them in a white aura of invincibility. As long as the enemies are protected by the white aura, you cannot deal damage to the particular enemies. Dispatch of the Heartseeker first, then deal with the remaining enemies. Alternatively, lure the enemies away from the Heartseeker, far enough away for the aura of invincibility to disappear so you can deal damage. Buff your weapon with a Blessed Page or Pitchfire to help you quickly defeat the Heartseeker.

Notable loots:

• A Soldier's Poem. On an elevated platform after entering Sunken Keep. Save this for upgrading the Warhammer.
• Stone Blacksmith. On the same shiny as where you collect A Soldier's Poem. Offer this item at the sanctuary of Sunken Keep to spawn the Blacksmith NPC, but doing so is not necessary because you can use the Guide NPC to teleport to whichever sanctuary already has the Blacksmith.
• Crystalmoat Ring. Reduce by 50% the effect of fatigue on your maximum Stamina. The longer you fight enemies in an area, the more fatigue you accumulate and the lower would your maximum Stamina become. Equip the Crystalmoat Ring to reduce the effect of fatigue on your Stamina. The ring is located underneath an elevator, to the left of the arena of the Kraekan Cyclops.
• Bell of Return x 6. Three are found near a grated gate that leads to Hager's Cavern. You cannot unlock the gate at the moment.
• Warhammer. On a ledge below a tower, above which you collect Bell of Return x 3. You should be able to at least two-hand the weapon by now.
• Link of Fire and Sky. At the far right of the sanctuary at Sunken Keep. From the sanctuary, head right and navigate various platforms, some of which are breakable.
• Blessed Weapon. A Prayer that buffs your weapon with holy damage. If you do not have the required Prayer skills, the Blessed Page is a viable alternative.
• Stone Mage. Found at the far right of Sunken Keep. From the lowest depth of Sunken Keep to the right of the boss arena, head right and pass Heartseeker x 2. Continue into Red Hall of Cages to find a treasure chest guarded by a Torturer.
• Red Shard x 5. From the same treasure chest where you collect the Stone Mage.
• Stone Merchant. On a ledge accessible by interacting with a wall. The wall is located to the left of the sanctuary at Sunken Keep.
• Pack of Salt. From the same shiny where you collect the Stone Merchant.
• Crystal Sphere. Hidden by the canopy of various trees. Crush a Crystal Sphere at a sanctuary of a different creed and the sanctuary would be converted to your creed.
• Plated Band. Equip to increase your Strength and consequently your attack power. Useful for a Strength build.
• Light. A Prayer that illuminates your immediate surrounding. Not as useful as the Torch if you cannot afford to invest in Prayer skills.
• Stone Leader. On a platform underneath the arena of The False Jester.
• Green Key. Automatically added to your inventory after defeating the Kraekan Cyclops.
• Kraekan Cyclops' Horn. Automatically added to your inventory after defeating the Kraekan Cyclops.

Kraekan Cyclops

11. Kraekan Cyclops, Pitchfire, Salt and Sanctuary

12. Kraekan Cyclops, Stained Page, Salt and Sanctuary

13. Kraekan Cyclops, Blessed Page, Salt and Sanctuary

This is usually the first difficult boss in the game. Two-hand the Warhammer III and buff it with Pitchfire, Stained Page, or Blessed Page. If you are far enough away from the boss, you might want to throw a few Birian Firepots to chip down the boss' HP.

14. Vertigo Brand & treasure hunting, Salt and Sanctuary

Use the Green Key to unlock the door underneath the arena of The False Jester. Ascend an inclined path to find a lever, pulling which would open a grated gate leading to a shrine. Head right, ascend a platform and go left to find the Mad Jester. Interact with the Mad Jester, answer "Yes" to his question, and you would be granted the Vertigo Brand. The brand allows you to interact with various obelisks that has the effect of inverting gravity for your character. With the help of the Vertigo Brand, you can now access areas that were previously inaccessible. Use the Vertigo Brand to collect the following notable loots:

• The Chain set: Chain Coif, Chain Hauberk, Chain Gauntlets, Chain Chausses. The chest piece, gauntlets, and leggings are recommended for a Strength build. You can equip these armour pieces and take them to endgame.
• Silver Leaf
• Stone Alchemist
• Stone Merchant
• Crystal Sphere
• Bronze Key. Unlocks a door right before you enter Castle of Storms.
• Sack of Salt and Askarian Scutum
• Voracious Charm. Leeches HP from enemies. Might not be as useful as the Bloodflower Charm for a Strength build. You can always buy Red Shards from the Merchant and top up your HP bar.
• Gray Pearl
• Sparkling Ring and Stone Guide. Dropped from the Bronze Knight atop a platform at The Festering Banquet.
• Black Pearl

The False Jester

15. The False Jester, Salt and Sanctuary

The boss is weak against arcane damage. Buff the Warhammer III with a Stained Page.