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After the pretty standard mages that Ashbourne Village throws at you, you'll be excited to learn that Bol Gerahn has some very interesting characters to meet. And by meet, we mean devour. Salt and Sacrifice boosts up the difficulty with these spellcasters, so it's best to go in prepared.

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Things get a little more complicated in this area, and now is a good time to learn how the game's elements work, since most of the mages here will use more than one element at a time. Your equipment starts to matter more, and your tactics need to evolve.

Aeromancers // Aur Cyrus, The Wild Pandemonium

Salt and Sacrifice Aeromancer Nameplate

Fire / Cold

Aeromancers can be very annoying to fight, thanks to their love for attacks that throw you about. Fighting them in Bol Gerahn is especially dangerous as the chase will likely have you standing on precarious platforms halfway up the Praying Giants. As you chase them, Aeromancers summon the following enemies:

  • Angelus, detached heads with wings. They're easily beat, but their spinning attack can stunlock you, so beware.
  • Evangelus, large, armored angels. These are as bulky as they look but not too threatening.
  • Howling Blades, warriors made of bandages with swords and shields. They can create small whirlwinds, which are extremely annoying.

The Hunt For Aur Cyrus

Once you have the Magnesin Supply, head to the west side of the Praying Giants area, near the second massive tree. Just to the east of the tree should be a platform with a Magnesin pulley on it - activate it, and ride it up to the particle trail clue.

The chase will likely have you running around Praying Giants, ending on the eastern side of the area.

Aeromancer Attacks

  • Whirlwind: The Aeromancer summons a tall whirlwind that slowly moves to the right or the left. If caught in it, you'll be lifted up into the air and take constant damage. Whirlwinds may be summoned close to the mage and pushed away, or summoned far away and brought close. This is easily rolled through.
  • Wind Sickles: The mage lifts their hands (?) up and throws multiple spinning sickles of wind down at you. This is easy to dodge, just roll away - the sickles do not home.
  • Wind Sword Smash: The mage slams a glowing sword down on the ground in front of them.
  • Wind Sword Feint: This looks like the normal Smash attack, but is followed by a dodge backwards.
  • Wind Sword Sweep: This is a simple slashing attack that starts high, behind the mage, and sweeps along the ground.

Aeromancer Strategy

  • Aeromancers tend to be very aggressive and are great at capitalizing on a vulnerable target. If you get caught in a Whirlwind, you can expect to be hit a few times by the Aeromancer's melee attacks.
  • There's not much an Aeromancer can do when faced with a ranged combatant. The Whirlwinds they summon are easily dodges and they don't use Wind Sickles very often. Use this to your advantage - heal up in safety and pepper the boss with ranged attacks.
  • With high poise and armor, simply defending against the mage's onslaught of melee attacks is possible.

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Terramancers // Sto'h Karrig, The Immovable Bastion

Salt and Sacrifice Terramancer Nameplate

Physical

Terramancers are as brutish as they look and will knock you around the battlefield mercilessly if you let them.

The Hunt For Sto'h Karrig

The clue that starts this hunt is located in the Creeping Cave. You'll need to beat Aur Cyrus before you can get inside. The clue is found near the entrance to Forsaken Gulch, which is at the southwestern corner of the area. When chasing a Terramancer, you'll also encounter the following foes:

  • Mossmaws, small reptiles that don't take much effort to kill.
  • Pillar-that-Walks, a large stony giant that smashes the ground with its fists. They have a ton of poise, so don't expect to stagger them.

Terramancer Attacks

  • Stone Stomp: This is one of the mage's favorite attacks. They will stomp on the ground, instantly summoning a cluster of rocks to burst upwards. Immediately after the first rocks are summoned under the mage's foot, another cluster will burst up from underneath your location. You'll need to get the timing for this move down and learn to roll when the second rock erupts. The spikes erupt at an angle, facing away from the mage - dodge towards the mage if you can for greater success.
  • Stone Spikes: The Terramancer punches the ground, launching a horizontal trail of stone pillars to erupt from the ground in front of him. Roll through the Terramancer if you can, and you can punish the attack.
  • Boulder Rain: This attack is very obviously-telegraphed. The mage raises a fist, summoning floating boulders, and then sends them flying at you. The attack is slow and the rocks are easily rolled-through - this is a good move to punish with a flurry of attacks.
  • Boulder Crush: The Terramancer summons a boulder which he then crushed between his hands. This is followed up with the actual attack, which is a thrusting jab at ground-level. This deals a ton of damage if it catches you.
  • Ground Pound: The mage punches the ground in front of him. This has quite the wind-up, so you should be able to avoid it.
  • Flying Ground Pound: The Terramancer smashes the ground with both fists after leaping at you. Both the leap and the smash will deal damage, and the attack has a short telegraph.

Terramancer Strategy

  • If you look closely, you can tell whether an attack will be a Stone Spikes or a Ground Pound. He'll raise his fist for both, but with Stone Spikes he raises it far higher above his head.
  • The most important attacks to learn are the Stone Stomp and the Boulder Crush. They're the most disruptive to any strategy, as they'll throw you around the arena and possibly let the mage follow up with other attacks before you can recover.
  • This is one of the game's bosses that requires more dodging than usual. Try to go in with a light equipment load and craft accessories that boost your Stamina.

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Necromancers // Nix Ocifiris, Caretaker Of Dry Bones

Salt and Sacrifice Necromancer Nameplate

Dark / Physical

Necromancers are a true classic of video games, and Salt and Sacrifice does the legacy good. These mages are tall, skeletal scythe-wielders with attacks to match. This grim enemy summons the following creatures during the chase:

  • Skeletal Brutes, easily-slain skeletons wielding axes.
  • Wights, floating skeletons that have ranged attacks. Take them out with ranged attacks of your own if they are out of reach.
  • Katabaal Faithful, mages who fall quickly but can be very annoying if left alive. Take them out as a point of priority.

The Hunt For Nix Ocifiris

You'll find the Hunt for Nix Ocifiris inside Bol Gerahn Temple. You'll need to slay the Tireless Exalted to access this area. Once inside, you'll find the clue on the eastern side of the building, about halfway up - near the entrance to the Unclean Oasis.

Necromancer Attacks

  • Homing Skulls: The mage summons some skulls that will fly towards you. These have quite good homing properties, but can be rolled through easily.
  • Spraying Skulls: The Necromancer moves one hand across their waist, showering the area around them with a rain of skulls. Just move away from the boss when you see them do this.
  • Spewing Skull: The mage summons a single, large skull that opens its jaw and starts spewing a torrent of hazardous gas. The skull will very slowly angle towards you, but this is more of a stage hazard than an active threat.
  • Bone Slicer: The mage summons two curved bones, one either side of you. After a moment, they will fly into the center, passing each other and dealing damage if they hit. The important thing here is not to panic - stay in the middle of the bones if you can and roll when they would meet so that your invincibility frames avoid both of them at once. Rolling too early through one bone will get you clipped by the other.
  • Scythe Smash: A simple attack with the scythe, bringing it down quickly. This is hard to dodge, but has a small hitbox and is more likely to miss on accident.
  • Scythe Sweep: This is a heavily-telegraphed attack that begins with the mage raising the scythe into the air and sweeping it along the ground. Often followed up with a Scythe Smash.

Necromancer Strategy

  • Necromancers are quite fragile and don't take well to consistent, sustained attacks. Use their longer attacks, such as Homing Skulls and Spewing Skull to really put the hurt on them.
  • Spraying Skulls is usually used to make you roll away, but the attack is quite weak and tends to not interrupt your own onslaught. Taking the damage on the chin to get more damage into the boss is a valid strategy, just make sure you're ready for the next attack and dodge away to heal up.

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Thaumamancers // Padra Sakrev, Bearer Of Guilt

Salt and Sacrifice Thaumamancer Nameplate

Light

This holy mage could be the most difficult mage you've faced yet - they have hard-to-read attacks and hits like a truck. The enemies they summon are pretty tough, too:

  • Scourged Penitents, surprisingly nasty humanoids with flayers.
  • Saint's Vessels, large pillows with hand-legs. These can summon pillars of light and deal a ton of damage.
  • Traveling Saints, relentless attackers who can strike you at a range.

The Hunt For Padra Sakrev

You can start this hunt by interacting with the boxed skull found in the upper levels of Bol Gerahn Temple. You'll need to have bested all previous mages to access this part of the building, including the Necromancer, Nix. You can get inside through a sealed door at the top of Praying Giants, or by simply making your way up the temple itself.

Thaumamancer Attacks

  • Sacred Beam: The Thaumamancer summons a bright light that shoots a constant beam at the ground. The beam is easily rolled through, but eventually the light will start shooting small wisps at you.
  • Smiting Beam: The Thaumamancer raises their hand, which begins to glow. The patch of ground underneath you will also glow, and a moment later, a large pillar of light will strike that spot. Roll once you see the glow underneath you.
  • Whirling Light: This attack creates a cloud of light fog with constant slashes appearing inside it. This is easily avoidable, but may make the arena vastly smaller for a short period of time.
  • Light Mace: The mage summons a mace of light and smashes it on the ground in front of them.
  • Floating Light Maces: The mage summons multiple maces on your location before making them smash at you. Keep on the move to avoid the hits.

Thaumamancer Strategy

  • Whirling Light will usually be used to keep you away from the mage for a bit, but this is the perfect time to unleash hell with ranged attacks. Same your ammunition for these attacks, or use the breather to heal up.
  • Most of the Thaumamancer's attacks are devastating, but not the wisps of light from the second part of their Sacred Beam attack. You can just block them and not worry, instead of panic-rolling into what may be a brutal attack.
  • The key to this fight is keeping track of the moves the mage is using - moreso than other mages. You'll want to know whether they're summoning a Smiting Beam, a Sacred Beam, or some Floating Light Maces at all times.

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Sanguimancers // Ture Vasari, The Blood-Drunk Blade

Salt and Sacrifice Sanguimancer

Dark / Poison

Sanguimancers are Dracula-wannabes with an arachnid twist. Don't be fooled by their ostentatious appearance, though, they have some pretty devastating attacks. Not only that, but the enemies they summon can be pretty nasty, too:

  • Bloodspawn, small vampires who can teleport to your location before swinging their swords.
  • Bloodfiends, large vampire bats that can pin you and deal a ton of damage. Not much poise though - beat them down.
  • Bloodstone Beasts, flying gargoyles who are dangerous, but easily stunned.

The Hunt For Ture Vasari

You’ll need to head beneath Bol Gerahn Temple to find this Named Hunt, and to do so, you’ll need the Luminstone from Corvius’ Mire.

Head through the door one the west of the lowest level of the temple and make your way over the large gap you’ll find using the Luminstone grapple points. Loot the sack on the way and you’ll find the clue.

Sanguimancer Attacks

  • Leaping Thrust: This is a simple leaping attack that ends in a downward thrust. You can roll under this attack easily.
  • Foreleg Smash: The Sanguimancer leans down and uses the spider legs sprouting out of his back to smash the ground. He will always make two smashes, both of them in your direction - so if you roll through him to avoid the first smash, you'll need to roll again to avoid the second.
  • Thrusting Flurry: The Sanguimancer thrusts his sword in one direction multiple times, moving forwards as he does. He will be locked into this move once started, so you can dodge through him. After the initial flurry, though, he will make a final, large swing that is always in your direction. This is the mage's most dangerous attack by far.
  • Bloody Explosion: The Sanguimancer holds his sword for a moment, and then slashes the air whilst dodging backwards. This creates a large, horizontal burst of red energy. This attack is always followed up immediately with a Thrusting Flurry in the same direction as the explosion.
  • Bloody Orbs: The Sanguimancer summons three large red orbs and sends them across the arena. Simply roll through them to avoid.
  • Bloody Beams: The mage summons multiple small red orbs in pairs. The pairs will create a beam of red energy between them, which will travel slowly in your direction. If you get caught in a beam, you're likely to take a ton of constant damage - roll away from this attack.

Sanguimancer Strategy

  • This fight is purely about learning the Sanguimancer's attacks. You'll need to learn the proper timing for avoiding his Thrusting Flurry, and also how to recognize his Foreleg Smash. These are the most dangerous attacks that will often lead to a defeat.
  • The attacks you should punish are Bloody Orbs and Bloody Beams - the mage will be very pre-occupied during this move and you can get a lot of damage in, especially with fast weapons such as the Rapier.
  • Consider getting your equipment load to the lightest category - you'll be dodging a lot in this fight. Armor won't help that much when getting caught in a Thrusting Flurry is almost always certain death.

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