Combat Mechanics

Learn about weapon differences, attack scaling (E to S), and elemental damage in Salt and Sanctuary. Understand how stats affect your damage output.

Weapon Differences: Each weapon category in Salt and Sanctuary has unique characteristics, including attack range, attack speed, Stamina consumption, delay between attacks, and visual animations that influence effective range. One-handed weapons are typically faster and use less Stamina but deal less damage. Two-handed weapons are slower, consume more Stamina, but inflict higher damage. You can equip a two-handed weapon with one hand if you have the required skill; this slightly reduces damage output and alters attack animations. Attempting to use a two-handed weapon in one hand without the necessary skill significantly reduces both damage and attack speed.

Attack Scaling: Attack scaling indicates how effectively a weapon's damage increases based on your character's status attributes. Weapons have a Scale Rating from 'E' (lowest) to 'S' (highest). Each point invested in a relevant attribute yields a different increase in attack power depending on the weapon's Scale Rating. For example, a weapon with 'E' Strength scaling might increase attack power by 1 per Strength point, while a weapon with 'S' Strength scaling might increase it by 10. Higher Scale Ratings are generally preferable. However, a weapon's base damage can sometimes compensate for a lower Scale Rating, especially if you have fewer points invested in the corresponding attribute. Weapons with multiple Scale Ratings (e.g., Strength, Magic, Dexterity) can also be advantageous if you have allocated points into each attribute, as they offer multiple sources for damage increase, potentially outperforming a weapon with a single 'S' rating if your attribute distribution aligns.

Elemental Damage: Enemies in Salt and Sanctuary have elemental weaknesses that can be discovered through experimentation. Bosses' weaknesses are noted in their respective sections. While exploiting weaknesses on regular enemies is less critical, weapon enchantments are almost always beneficial. Enchanting a physical damage weapon with any elemental property typically increases damage by adding elemental damage on top of the base physical damage. Elements do not stack on melee weapons; you cannot apply both Arcane and Lightning damage simultaneously using items like a Stained Page and a Shockstone. However, elemental ammunition, like Fire Arrows, can provide a damage-over-time effect and a slight elemental damage boost. It is possible to enchant a Bow with Pitchfire and then use Fire Arrows for a cumulative damage bonus.