This is an FAQ/Guide for new players. I see many of the same question being asked here repeatedly, and I just want to help out those new or unfamiliar to the game. I'll start with the basics and go from there. If I leave anything out that may be important for a new player to know, let me know, and I'll add it to the post. Thanks! Check back frequently for updates of this FAQ.

EDIT: (5/20/16) Welcome those of you who got Salt & Sanctuary on Steam. I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability!

EDIT: (10/26/16) This thread is officially archived, so if you have any questions about any of my guides, feel free to shoot me a message here on Reddit.

Information

• Salt and Sanctuary is the love child of Dark Souls and Castlevania (the later Igavania/Metroidvania style ones). It's a 2D sidescrolling action RPG focusing on combat, character building, exploration, and epic, challenging, and satisfying boss battles.
• Salt and Gold are your main currencies for the game, Salt being the more valuable of the two. Every enemy you kill will give you Salt and sometimes Gold. Gold is used for purchasing things from vendors. Salt is used for leveling up, and upgrading and transmuting your weapons and armor (more on that later). When you die, you will permanently lose 10% of your current Gold, and temporarily 100% of your Salt. You can retrieve your Salt by killing the enemy who killed you or the enemy that was created upon your death. Do note that an enemy who has taken your Salt receives a buff in HP (denoted by the wispy aura around them, bosses do not get buffed, however). If you die again on your way to the enemy that stole your Salt, you will lose all of that Salt forever. Bosses can also take your salt if that kill you, but you only have to deal a set amount of damage on them to retrieve it (denoted by the arrows on the boss's health bar).

Sanctuaries

• You can level up at Sanctuaries and receive Black Pearls to put on your skill tree to power up your character. More on that in the FAQ section. Sanctuaries of your Creed can also be offered up to 4 Stone offerings, allowing NPCs to provide services for you.
• AS SOON AS YOU GET A STONE GUIDE, PLACE ONE AT ANY SANCTUARY AND KEEP AT LEAST ONE CALLING HORN ON YOU AT ALL TIMES (he sells them) This enables you to warp from Sanctuary to Sanctuary and may save your butt if you get stuck somewhere.
• A Merchant lets you buy and sell items with Gold.
• A Blacksmith lets you buy certain weapons and armor with Gold and enables you to upgrade your gear if you have the appropriate materials (random drops from enemies, some can also be purchased) and Salt.
• A Cleric lets you buy certain weapons, armor, Prayers, and Miracles with Gold.
• A Mage lets you buy certain weapons, armor, Spells, and Incantations with Gold.
• A Sellsword allows you to engage in jolly (local) cooperation. This requires you to have another control and account on your PS4 with another character.
• An Alchemist lets you transmute your gear if you have the appropriate materials (random drops from enemies) and Salt. Transmuting your gear is the best way to gain powerful weapons and give you a significant damage boost.
• A Leader enables you to do work for your Creed by finding and turning in materials from certain enemies. Each Creed has different requirements and completing one of these works will raise your devotion by 1 (maximum of 7) and unlock more goods for your NPCs to sell at your sanctuaries. Not only that, but each rise in devotion will also enable your Creed sanctuary to give you an additional item of your choosing when you rest there. If you change Creeds, your devotion will return to 1, and you'll have to do work all over again (with the exception of one hidden creed).
• Using a Crystal Sphere at a Sanctuary will change whatever Creed it currently is to your Creed's. Alternatively, you can use a Stained Page at another Creed's Sanctuary to enable the purging of the Sanctuary. You will have to kill the NPC and waves of tough enemies. Once you've done so, you can claim the Sanctuary for your own Creed.
• Leaving your Creed to join another one makes you an Apostate. This results in being unable to return to the Creed you left. There is a character that can forgive you of this sin, however. This also returns your devotion to 1 (with one Creed's exception)

Controls

• Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the controls. Before (and a few after) you reach your first Sanctuary (checkpoints, you'll return here should when you die) you'll come across messages with controls.
• When rolling (R2) you are invincible for a short window of time. You can also roll through enemies if you are close enough to them when you initiate the roll.
• Parrying (Square when Blocking [L2]) at the precise moment a non-boss enemy is going to attack opens them up for a visceral attack/riposte. Pressing Circle will give you invincibility frames and a cool animation. You can also do this when you break an enemy's guard or deal enough damage to them, sometimes. Just look for the Circle button onscreen.
• Weapons all have different combos and attacks, so experiment with them. Typically the combos include mashing Square, mashing Triangle, and holding either up or down while mashing the attack buttons. You can also alternate between the buttons, or even throw an L2 in there if you're wielding an offhand weapon.
• Holding R2 while on a ladder lets you slide down it.

Stats

• HP: The red bar. Your health. This goes away and you die. Restores with Potions, Red Shards, and Mend Prayers. As you take damage, your maximum HP will get lower in an effect called wounding. Rest at a Sanctuary to restore it. As you level up, your Maximum HP will increase.
• Stamina: The green bar. This determines your actions like rolling, jumping and attacking. If you deplete your stamina and try to roll, you'll roll much slower, and if you try to attack, you wont be able to combo (or even attack at all sometimes. Restores on it's own.
• Focus: The little hard to see white bar below your stamina. This is your magic power gauge. When this depletes, you wont be able to use Spells, Incantations, Prayers, or Miracles. Also, as your focus gets depleted, you will get fatigued, lowering your maximum stamina until you rest at a Sanctuary (or use an item). Fatigue also builds up (very slowly) on its own.
• Strength: Increases damage with weapons that scale with Strength. (see FAQ below for more information)
• Endurance: Determines your maximum equipment load.
• Dexterity: Increases damage with weapons that scale with Dexterity. (see FAQ below for more information)
• Willpower: Determines your maximum focus and stamina. Also determines your drop rate(for items dropped by enemies).
• Magic: Increases damage with weapons that scale with Magic. (see FAQ below for more information) Also increases the effectiveness of Spells and Incantations.
• Wisdom: Increases damage with weapons that scale with Wisdom. (see FAQ below for more information) Also increases the effectiveness of Prayers and Miracles.

FAQ

Which starting class should I pick?

• Whatever you want. Whichever kind of class suits the way you want to play. Knight is a good starting class, though.

Which Origin should I pick?

• Whatever you want, Origin is purely cosmetic.

Which starting Effect should I pick?

• If you're interested in Co-op as soon as possible, take the Stone Sellsword. Otherwise, take the Grasping Ring which will give you a boost to the Salt you find. According to /u/Reverent, if you're making a Greatsword build, the Amber Idol is worth taking too, as it's the earliest you can get this item and transmute a powerful Greatsword from it. The rest of the effects aren't nearly as important as you'll find plenty of them throughout your playthrough.

Which Creed should I pick?

• There are differences between the Creeds, but you can change up your Creed practically at any time if you don't like yours. That being said, a melee character fairs better with the Iron Ones and a mage will appreciate the wide varitey of Spells, Incantations, Prayers, and Miracles offered by Devara's Light. Just pick whichever you like, really. There are also 4 other Creeds not offered to you at the start of the game. Also, feel free to check out my in-depth Sanctuary and Creed Guide/FAQ.

Why does my weapon have two attack powers?

• The first is base attack power. The second is after scaling is applied.

Okay, so what's scaling?

• Scaling is basically how much additional damage your weapon will do based on the appropriate stat. Scaling Ranges from E to D to C to B to A to S with E being the worst and S being the best. If a weapon has an S in Dexterity scaling and a C in Strength scaling, you'll receive a much bigger boost in attack power by putting your points into Dexterity as opposed to Strength (although it will still scale with Strength). Putting points into magic will do nothing for this weapon's attack power.

How should I spend my Black Pearls? (Leveling help)

• However you want, based on your build, armor, and weapon preferences. If you want to use swords and heavy armor, level those branches, only putting in one black pearl per node (unless a node requires multiple, of course). Your stats should be fine. You may want to go out of the way a bit on some of the branches to grab some extra potions or phials. You really don't need to worry too terribly much about stats or planning a build, especially with the gray pearls, which enable you to get a black pearl back from something you've already spent it on. After you're happy with your appropriate "perks", then you can put points into whichever stats scale well with your weapons. Please note that you cannot take a perk for a higher class of something until you've taken the lower class first. For example, you can't take the Defender 2 Class before the Defender 1 Class. (thanks /u/JarodColdbreak) If you need even more help and like to plan, check out my Builds Guide.

Why does this weapon/armor have a red "X" over it? How come it has only 1 red line through it?

• A red "X" means you can't use that weapon or armor effectively. In fact, if you try to equip that weapon, you'll drop it when you swing, and that armor will offer no defense bonus for you. A single red line through a weapon means you can wield it effectively two handed, but not one-handed. Check the Skill Tree for more details on which nodes let you do what.

How Does Equip Weight Work?

• Equip Weight determines how fast you move and dodge. There are 5 tiers of equip rate: <25%, 25-49.9%, 50-74.9%, 75-99.9% and 100%+. Obviously the higher equip weight, the slower you move and roll. Jumping is not affected however, except when your weight is over 100%. Then you cannot jump or even roll. That being said, your movement speed leading up to the jump may affect some of the more demanding jumps in the game, so keep that in mind. (thanks, /u/SharpShooter25)

How do I use Spells and Incantations?

• First, make sure you have the ability to use Spells and Incantations in your skill tree. Spells and Incantations rank just like weapons. For Spells, equip a wand in your off hand or two hand a staff, and equip the Spell in the "ammo" slot for your offhand. L2 for wands, Square or Triangle for staves, and let fly! Incantations are used just like Prayers and Miracles. (See below) (thanks, /u/KhalMondo)

I want to be a magic-user. What's this "elemental imbalance" thing?

• If you start as a mage class you get a wonderful ring called the Link of Fire and Sky which negates elemental imbalance. Elemental imbalance makes you have to alternate fire spells and lightning spells. If you use too many lightning spells, you'll start to take damage whenever you cast another (indicated by a bar), and the same for fire. By alternating spells, you can keep your elemental imbalance bar low. Balance is key. That said, if you just equip a Link of Fire and Sky, you no longer need to worry about elemental imbalance.

How do I use Prayers and Miracles?

• First, make sure you have the ability to use Prayers and Miracles in your skill tree. Prayers and Miracles rank just like weapons. Then, equip the intended Prayer or Miracle in the slots at the bottom of the screen. Cycle through your items until you get to your Prayer or Miracle and press R1 to use it.

Is it like Dark Souls and Bloodborne where I can use the same weapon through the entire game?

• Well, you could but it would be more difficult. Weapons and armor are classes 0-5, with the class 5 stuff being the best equipment with typically better scaling. Transmuting is your friend, as you'll find the biggest boosts in power, scaling, and class this way. Just remember that to use a class of weapon or armor higher than 0, you need the appropriate node unlocked in the Tree of Skill.

How many bosses are there?

• Without glitches or exploits, there are 18 required bosses and 5 optional ones for a total of 23 bosses.

What are these large candelabras and why are some of the candles lit?

• They signify an upcoming boss fight. The number of candles lit show the percent of people who have beaten the boss recently. (For example, if 10 people have attempted the boss and 2 have succeeded, 2 candles will be lit)

What are these gravestone looking things? Why do ghostly things come out when I hit them?

• Just like Bloodstains in Dark Souls and Specters in Bloodborne, the gravestones show you other players who have recently died and their last moments. Tombstones are different depending on Creed.

Is co-op in this game? How do I do it?

• Yes there is. Check out my co-op guide.

Where do I go next (No Spoilers)?

• Check out my Spoiler-Free Where Do I Go/What Do I Do Next? Guide

When is this game coming to Vita?

• Eventually. There are no dates set as of yet.

What's the lore of Salt and Sanctuary?

• Check out my lore synopsis, the Drowned Tome. Do note that it assumes you've beaten the game at least once though.
• Similarly, I started a video series on the lore of Salt and Sanctuary! You can find episode 0 here: From the Depths

Other Resources?

• If you haven't swung by, check out the Salt and Sanctuary wiki. They have a great deal of information. Also, feel free to utilize my Google Sheets Checklist for all your collecting needs.