Equipment and Inventory

Mastering your equipment and inventory is paramount to survival in the treacherous world of Salt and Sanctuary. This section will guide you through managing your gear, understanding item properties, and optimizing your loadout for various challenges.

Accessing Your Inventory

To access your inventory, pause the game and navigate to the "Inventory" tab. Here, you'll find a comprehensive list of all items you've collected, categorized for easy browsing. The main categories include:

Weapons: Swords, Axes, Daggers, Whips, Bows, Staves, etc.
Armor: Helmets, Chestpieces, Gauntlets, Leggings.
Accessories: Rings and Amulets that provide various buffs.
Consumables: Healing items, buffs, and utility items.
Materials: Crafting components for upgrading gear.
Key Items: Story-critical items and permanent upgrades.

Understanding Equipment Stats

Each piece of equipment in Salt and Sanctuary comes with a unique set of stats that directly impact your character's performance. Pay close attention to these details when choosing your loadout:

Damage/Defense: The primary offensive or defensive value of the item.
Scaling: Indicates how well the item's damage or defense increases with your character's stats (e.g., Strength, Dexterity, Magic). A 'B' scaling is good, 'A' is excellent, and 'S' is exceptional.
Weight: Contributes to your overall equip load. Higher weight reduces your dodge roll distance and speed. Aim for an equip load below 25% for fast rolls, and below 50% for medium rolls.
Resistances: Protection against various damage types (Slash, Strike, Pierce, Fire, Arcane, Holy, Lightning, Poison).
Effects: Special properties like increased stamina regeneration, status effect buildup, or unique attack modifiers.

Equipping and Managing Gear

From the Inventory screen, you can equip items by selecting them and choosing the appropriate slot. Remember these key strategies:

Weapon Swapping: You have two weapon slots for your main hand and off-hand. This allows for quick switching between different weapon types or a weapon and shield. For example, carrying a fast Dagger for quick strikes and a heavy Greatsword for high damage can be very effective.
Armor Sets: While mixing and matching armor pieces can optimize specific resistances, wearing a full set often provides a balanced defense. Consider the Iron Mask, Iron Cuirass, Iron Gauntlets, and Iron Greaves for a solid early-game physical defense.
Accessories: Rings and amulets are crucial for fine-tuning your build. Early on, the Stone Ring (found in the Festering Banquet, near the first Sanctuary) can be invaluable for increasing poise. Later, the Mossy Ring (dropped by the Disemboweled Husk in the Village of Smiles) provides excellent stamina regeneration.

Consumables: Your Lifeline

Consumables are vital for survival. Always keep a healthy stock of these items:

Healing Potions: Your primary source of health recovery. You start with a few, and more can be found as loot or purchased from Merchants.
Flasks of Focus: Replenish your focus, essential for magic and prayer users.
Buff Items: Items like Weapon Buffs (e.g., Fire Paper, Lightning Paper) temporarily imbue your weapon with elemental damage, which can be critical against certain bosses.
Status Cure Items: Antidotes for poison, Bandages for bleeding, etc. These are often found near enemies that inflict these status effects.

Upgrading Equipment

Most weapons and armor can be upgraded at a Blacksmith (found in Sanctuaries). Upgrading requires specific crafting materials and a certain amount of Salt. Prioritize upgrading your primary weapon first, as this will yield the most significant damage increase. Look for materials like:

Iron: Common early-game material.
Steel: Mid-game material, often dropped by armored enemies.
Gold: Late-game material, found in more challenging areas.
Boss Materials: Unique materials dropped by bosses, used to craft powerful boss weapons or upgrade existing ones to their highest tiers. For example, the Kraeken Cyclops' Horn can be used to craft the Kraeken Axe.

Inventory Management Tips

Sell Unwanted Items: Excess weapons, armor, and materials can be sold to Merchants for Salt, which can then be used for upgrades or purchasing new items.
Deposit at Sanctuaries: Sanctuaries offer a storage chest where you can deposit items you don't immediately need. This helps keep your active inventory clean and manageable.
Check Item Descriptions: Always read the descriptions of new items. They often contain lore, hints about their use, or hidden properties.
Experiment: Don't be afraid to try different weapon types and armor combinations. What works for one area or boss might not work for another.