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After slaying your way through four distinct areas, it's the dreamlike Elder Copse that awaits you at the end of Salt and Sacrifice. This is the area that you've been working towards, and it's going to test every single skill, technique, and movement ability that you've gained so far.

RELATED: Salt And Sacrifice: Ashbourne Village Walkthrough

The area is sectioned into three distinct areas - the Copse and the Lake beneath it, the two towers on either side, and the central tower that holds the final challenge of the game. Here's how to sweep up the area's goodies and finish the game.

How To Get To Elder Copse

Salt and Sacrifice Falling Star Deck Tree

Getting to Elder Copse is a simple task of learning the rune combination from the talking tree at the top of The Falling Star in Dreadstone Peak. To reach this, you'll need to defeat enough Named Mages to access the ship and then slay the dragon on the deck.

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Elder Copse And Unprofaned Lake

Salt and Sacrifice Elder Copse

From the starting point, head to the west and drop down when you can. Go down gradually, being wary of the Skittering Maws who like to pin you down and have a feint designed to catch you at the end of a roll.

Salt and Sacrifice Kinetomancer Hunt

When you get as far west as you can go, leap up to the ledge with the shimmering air. This is the Kinetomancer Hunt starting point. There are only two mages in this area, and you’ll have to kill them both.

Check out our guide to these bosses here.

Salt and Sacrifice Unprofaned Lake Obelisk

In the southwestern corner of Elder Copse, you’ll find a door that leads to an obelisk. Grab it for convenience and head all the way through the Unprofaned Lake to the east.

The semi-hidden entrance underneath the second set of red stairs leads to a Beloved Idol in a sack and another obelisk.

Salt and Sacrifice Elder Copse Shortcut

Use wall jumps, your Ethercloth Bolt, and some Grappling Hook action to reach the top of the platforms on the eastern wall to find the Bibliomancer Hunt. From there, head west and ignore the grapple point underneath the platform. Instead, take the upper path and use the lever to produce a new grapple point that lets you get back up this way instead of making a whole loop every time.

Salt and Sacrifice Inphyrean Warden

Go back to the grapple point beneath the red platform and make your way over the gap. You’ll come to a building with an Inphyrean Warden inside, which you'll recognize as the boss of the tutorial. If you can beat it, you’ll get an Ashpyr Brick, and behind it in a chest is a Mosspyr Brick. Bricks are used to upgrade pieces of equipment to the highest level.

In order to access the central tower and complete the area, you'll need the Essence of Sky and the Essence of Fire. These are acquired in the buildings on the west and east sides of the map. You can tackle them in either order, but the Citadel Sky is a bit easier, so we'll list that first.

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Citadel Of Sky

Salt and Sacrifice Citadel of Sky Entrance

To reach this area, head west from the starting area on the upper level of Elder Copse. You’ll need to grapple across and unlock the sealed door.

The sack near the entrance has three Mosspyr Clusters. Nab them and use the updraft to get to the second level. Ignore the platforms that lead up for now, and head through the door to the east. There’s an obelisk here, and if you climb up a little, you’ll find the Royal Retinue.

Salt and Sacrifice Elder Copse Royal Retinue

The King’s retainer will give you a Divine Sight Elixir that will allow you to “see the truth.” If you drink it and then talk to the retainer again, he’ll give you an Elixir of Peace. These allow you to alternate between “seeing the truth” and not, and you can always pick up more Elixirs from the retainer if desired.

To see the effect of the Divine Sight Elixir, devour a mage and watch how the animation has changed.

Salt and Sacrifice Citadel of Sky Platforming

The Citadel of Sky is a pretty straightforward area. Simply keep climbing the building - there are pretty tough challenges that will make you use every traversal ability you’ve acquired so far, and the enemies here are quite tricky, too.

Always keep an eye out for grapple points that are very high up, and remember that you can gain extra height by wall jumping towards them.

Eventually, you’ll reach an obelisk just below a platform. Climb up to encounter the first boss of Elder Copse.

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How To Beat Icon Of Pandemonium

Salt and Sacrifice Icon of Pandemonium Nameplate

This horrific beast isn't too tough to beat, but it may take a try or two before you learn its attacks. It has a lot of moves in common with Electromancers, so if you're well trained against them, you'll have an advantage here.

Icon Of Pandemonium's Attacks

  • Thunderbolt Orbs: The Icon summons a few randomly placed orbs in the air that will shoot out tendrils of lightning. These are very hard to predict and quite tricky to run away from, so it may be best to defend against these attacks. They're not too damaging, at least.
  • Homing Lightning: The Icon summons a single orb that floats towards you for a moment before splitting into multiple homing shots of lightning. This is a very similar attack to the one the Electromancers use. You can usually roll through these very easily.
  • Lightning Cannon: The Icon holds a ball of light for a moment before firing some tendrils of lightning at you from it. These have a pretty decent range attached to them but are easily rolled through.
  • Lightning Burst: The boss gathers energy before expelling it in a pretty sizeable burst. This attack is very easy to notice and doesn't have that much range, just roll away from it or roll through it to punish the Icon immediately afterward.
  • Swarming Lightning: After rising high into the air, the Icon shoots two bolts of lightning at the ground, which then split and travel along it. These bolts can be rolled through or even jumped over.
  • Quick Swipe: This is exactly as it sounds - a very quick claw attack that the Icon uses when you get too close. It doesn't deal too much damage, though, and may not even stagger you.

Icon Of Pandemonium Strategy

  • The Icon's lightning attacks do Light and Cold damage, so consider equipping your best armor that defends against those elements, especially as a few of the boss' attacks are very hard to dodge.
  • The boss' hitbox is actually quite a bit larger than it looks. Don't be fooled into thinking you have to target the center of the creature with the large eye - you can attack the wings too.
  • Don't get greedy trying to get lots of aerial strikes in; that's just asking to get a Quick Swipe to the face.
Salt and Sacrifice Essence of Sky Sack

Head to the doorway that the boss was guarding. You'll find the Essence of Sky and a Frospyr Brick. There's a series of difficult updraft jumps to make here, and they lead to the Nameless Kinetomancer Hunt.

From the ledge behind the boss arena, use the Magnesin pulleys to create a series of shortcuts to the top of the tower, picking up a Shimmering Bud on the way.

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Temple Of Embers

Salt and Sacrifice Temple of Embers

The Temple of Embers is located opposite the Citadel of Sky, east of the starting point of the region.

The first part of the temple plays out in the same way as the citadel. Make your way up gradually, getting used to the incredibly annoying enemies.

The floating, chair-wielding Searing Confessors can teleport you to their chairs and deal a ton of damage to you - but they are knocked out of that attack very easily. Pack plenty of ammunition in case they float out of range, though.

Salt and Sacrifice Temple of Embers Platforming

There are two doors to the outside that you'll find on the western side of the building. The first is on the other side of a set of grapple points and leads to a shortcut you have to unlock, and the second, higher exit leads to that very shortcut. When using the Magnesin pulleys to make your way down to the shortcut, pick up the Shimmering Bud in a convenient chest on the way.

Salt and Sacrifice Temple of Embers Obelisk

Head back to the highest door you took to the outside and climb up the ladder. Head back into the temple and resume your climb. You’ll soon come to an obelisk and an updraft. Definitely take this obelisk, as this is one hell of a climb to redo if you die.

Be careful with the Candlebearer at the top of the updraft - he loves to shoot exploding balls that knock you right out of the air before you can get on the platform.

Behind the Candlebearer is a boss fight.

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How To Beat The Worm That Does Not Die

Salt-and-Sacrifice-The-Worm-That-Does-Not-Die-Nameplate-1

Of the two bosses you've fought so far, the Worm is easily the hardest. It uses devastating fire attacks that will be reminiscent of the Pyromancer you fought all the way back at the start of the game.

The Worm That Does Not Die's Attacks

  • Eruption: After a flame jet attack that you should avoid, the Worm will create a very large, bright, seven-pointed star behind it. Bursts of flame will erupt in a horizontal line from the Worm's location. Dodging this attack requires precise timing and it might be safer to just get out of the attack's range entirely.
  • Lava Geysers: After a flame jet attack, the Worm will summon some geysers of fire that will erupt constantly for a while. At first, only two geysers are summoned, but as the Worm gets lower in health, it will summon three, and then four at a time.
  • Meteors: After thrusting some fire into the sky, the Worm summons a black hole that fires small fireballs at you. The tracking of this attack is locked a moment before the fireballs start coming, so this is easily dodged with enough rolling.
  • Scythe Combo: This is a simple two-hit melee attack with the scythe.
  • Feinting Leap: The Worm leaps high into the air as if about to use a plunging attack that many other bosses in the game have used. It will then hover for a second before plunging. This move serves to catch you off guard and exploit any techniques you learned against similar moves. The Worm only seems to use this attack after around a third of its health has been depleted.

The Worm That Does Not Die Strategy

  • The three fiery attacks that the Worm uses can be identified by the way it moves the jet of flame at the start of the move:
    • A slow raising of the fist indicates an Eruption.
    • A single sweeping motion from the ground into the sky coupled with a glowing scythe indicates Lava Geysers.
    • A fist thrust into the sky indicates Meteors.
  • Punishing the Worm's Meteors attack is the easiest way to get a ton of damage dealt.
  • This fight gets more dangerous as time goes on, with fire damage stacking up and more hazards being introduced with the addition of more Lava Geysers. Rolling around in a panic will likely get you damaged, so try to plan your dodges.
  • It should go without saying that stacking a ton of fire defense is a great way to last longer in this fight. Consider the armor set and necklace that you can craft with Pyromancer materials.
Salt and Sacrifice Temple Amben

Exit the door behind the boss arena to find the Essence of Fire. Use the updraft above the boss arena to reach a new obelisk and a sack containing a Blazepyr Brick. There’s another updraft here that leads to Inquisitor Amben, who will fight you when talked to.

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How To Beat Inquisitor Amben

Salt and Sacrifice Inquisitor Amben

Inquisitor Amben is an aggressive foe but also quite fragile. Once you've learned how to dodge his attacks, he's not that tough.

Inquisitor Amben's Attacks

  • Minor Featherfall: Amben shoots two bursts of feathers into the sky, which then fall very quickly to the ground. The feathers are both fired in your direction, so roll through Amben to avoid this attack.
  • Grand Featherfall: Amben summons a rain of feathers from the sky. This is a very wide attack.
  • Dash: After striking a quick pose, Amben dashes forwards. Roll through this attack.
  • Featherfall Dash: Amben leaps into the air and dashes across, leaving a trail of feathers behind. These feathers then fall to the ground quickly.
  • Slam: A simple slam with his weapon. This is a very fast attack that is hard to see coming.
  • Somersault Slam: After leaping through the air, Amben lands into a somersault and then immediately attacks in your direction with his sword.

Inquisitor Amben Strategy

  • Like Inquisitor Selet before him, Amben is easy once you've gotten used to the timings of his attacks. He's an aggressive foe, but his attacks are largely well-telegraphed.
  • Grand Featherfall is hard to punish but is a good opportunity to get out of range and start healing.
  • Amben is quite slow to recover after using melee attacks. Try to roll through these attacks towards him and strike him once or twice before the next attack comes out.

For beating Inquisitor Amben, you'll receive the Strigid Set.

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Imperfect Shrine

Salt and Sacrifice Imperfect Shrine 1

You can enter this location with either the Essence of Sky from the west or the Essence of Fire from the east. The easiest way is using the grappling hooks from the platform above the Royal Retinue in the Citadel of Sky.

Climb to the bottom of the area and take the east exit. You can open up a shortcut to Elder Copse here. However, in the west exit, you’ll find an NPC who hints at the true nature of mages and what lies at the top of Imperfect Shrine.

Salt and Sacrifice Imperfect Shrine 2

Start climbing the shrine, using the Essences as you go to unlock the doors. Speak to the NPCs on the way to the top to learn more lore, and you’ll hit an obelisk after a set of updrafts. This is the final obelisk.

Head to the very top of the temple, ignore the figure stuck to the tree, and loot the sack behind him - it has the Cerulean Tome of Fates.

Now interact with the figure. This is the final boss.

Once you beat the final boss, you will be locked into the credits. If you want to do anything else in your current playthrough, do it now.

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How To Beat The Undone Sacrifice

Salt-and-Sacrifice-The-Undone-Sacrifice-Nameplate-1

This is it - the final challenge of the game. This is definitely up there as one of Salt and Sacrifice's hardest bosses.

The Undone Sacrifice's Attacks

  • Scythe Combo: This is the boss' main melee combo. It starts with two overhead slashes, followed by an uppercut, followed by a slamming attack that has the scythe stuck in the ground. When the Sacrifice pulls the scythe out of the ground, a large shockwave is emitted.
  • Plunging Scythe: The boss rises into the air and then dives at you, emitting a shockwave upon contact. This attack is usually followed up with a Scythe Combo, with the first hit sped up. When he is low on health, the boss will follow up the first shockwave with a somersault into a second scythe slam and shockwave.
  • Flying Knee: The boss lunges forwards with his knee held out. If this catches you, you'll be pinned to the ground, where he'll step on you twice before sending you flying with a scythe slash. You need to roll through this attack.
  • Spinning Uppercut: This is a melee attack that starts with the scythe being thrust into the air and then spun around.
  • Branch Eruption: The Sacrifice spins his scythe in the air for a moment before slamming it into the ground. He will then summon up a constant stream of spiked branches from the ground, right underneath your feet. Both the slam and the branches do a lot of damage, so it's best to roll through the initial attack and then stay on the move.
  • Branch Volley: This attack conjures a swirling mass of branches above the boss' head and then sends them in a fan at you. This is easily rolled through and is one of the best moves to punish, as rolling through the boss means no branch should be aimed at you at all.

The Undone Sacrifice Strategy

  • This boss takes on the classic strategy of getting far more aggressive than is necessary when he gets low on health. One of the main things you'll notice is that he'll entirely replace the slower version of the Scythe Combo with the fast one that he usually only used after the Plunging Scythe attack. You'll need to be wary of being near him at all times.
  • The only truly safe time to attack the boss is after rolling through a Branch Volley. You can also get a hit or two in during a Branch Eruption if you have a fast weapon or after the shockwave part of a Plunging Scythe attack by rolling through it.
    • When he starts using two shockwaves per Plunging Scythe attack, only try to him after the second.
  • Ranged attacks can work pretty well in this fight as the boss doesn't have the best gap-closer moves. This also means it's quite easy to find a moment to heal.

Once you have beaten the Undone Sacrifice, you are presented with a choice. Interact with the tree, and you can choose either to Climb it or Devour it. This will end the game.

You will be able to load up your completed save file and start a New Game Plus, which retains most of your items and equipment and boosts the difficulty.

You'll get an achievement depending on which choice you pick, but there's an easy way to get both achievements without having to complete the entire game twice. First, find a way to backup or duplicate your save. Once this is done, you can defeat the boss and get whichever ending you want. Now, load up the backup/duplicate save and defeat the boss again, choosing the other ending.

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NEXT: Salt And Sacrifice: Complete Guide And Walkthrough