Mal's Floating Castle | Salt and Sanctuary Wiki

Full  Mal's Floating Castle Walkthrough

A full walkthrough including all the items, enemies and bosses is shown below. You can add links, images. and other details.

Mal's Floating Castle is an optional area that you can tackle if you are a Completionist, or looking for some extra loot. You need to have obtained the Hardlight Brand to reach the castle, however it is easier to also have and use the Dart Brand as well. To obtain those, you need to have completed the Dome of the Forgotten and potentially the Ziggurat of Dust (upper) respectively.

The quickest way to get to the Floating Castle is to travel to the Red Hall of Cages sanctuary, and head to the right, towards the Dome of the Forgotten. It is a long walk downhill, that then turns into an uphill climb again in steps. Start heading uphill, and have your Torch lit (using the Hardlight Brand). Right by the 3rd step going up, you will start seeing a cloud to the left of it. (Video)

You need to have your Torch lit, and then either use the Dart Brand (referred to as 'dart-jump' from here on) to jump towards the cloud which shall turn into a ledge, or otherwise use the exploit by pressing both the jump and dodge button at the same time (here-to-fore refered to as the 'long-jump' from here on). By using the long-jump exploit you are able to do this before completing the Ziggurat, however otherwise you can instead use the dart-jump to leap from the first ledge to the next that is left of the first one, slightly below it. Then repeat the same to reach the next ledge. At last you will see a tree with branch-ledge on it. Dart-jump (or long-jump) to it and then head up towards the Obelisk.

An alternative method to get to the Castle without Dart Brand, can be done using the sword-combo moveset, as shown in this video: here. It's debatably much easier than the above "dodge/jump combo" method explained above, because you have to rely less on keen timing with hitting both buttons at once. 

Use the Obelisk and do not move to the left or right whilst going the long ways up. You will land onto another set of wooden platforms. On the bottom-left-most platform will be a Guardsman's Halberd. On a platform to the right, will be a Stone Guide. Keep climbing up the platforms to the very top, where you will see 2 walls facing each other. You need to wall-jump your way to the top using the Shadowflip Brand. This will bring you the Mal's Floating Castle entrance.

Just to the right will be a door, that leads to an unclaimed Sanctuary. You can claim it for the Creeds of your choice by using their idol at the altar as usual. To the right of the sanctuary you will find another Stone Guide. Don't go any further as you will only fall to your death. Head out of the sanctuary to the left to find a set of stairs going upwards in the opposite direction. Climb them and open the door to enter the depths of the Floating Castle. The castle is more infested with Mimku than any area of the game visited thus far, so even if you do not follow this guide to the letter, be sure to test each chest first by attacking it. 

Inside you will find a giant Crypt Keeper. These dual-wielding beasts hit hard, but can reward a Shimmering Pearl upon death (useful for Transmutation of weapons). Head to the right to find a chest in the corner of the room, which is in fact a Mimku  that drops a Gray Pearl on death. Jump up the breaking wooden platform and then wall-jump on the wall to the left of it to reach the ledge on top, with an exit on it. Outside, jump up the ledge and then head left, into the next room, where you will find 2 Mother Merle and 2 Spear Imp. (Video)

In this room, you'll see a gate blocking off a Vertigo Obelisk. Use a combination of the Dart and Shadowflip brands to climb to the top of the room, and then drop down the pit to your left. The first chest you see will be a Mimku, which drops the Silversalt Charm on death. On the right will be a lever, which you can pull to raise the gate leading to the Obelisk, which you cannot reach from where you are. Heading to the left, drop down onto the breaking wooden platform, and then drop further to see a chest to your left. Once again, this is a Mimku, which drops a Crystal Sphere on death. Proceeding down the stone stairs to your right brings you back to the area where you fought the Crypt Keeper.

Follow the path you took before to return to the now accessible Vertigo Obelisk. Use it, and then head back to the area with the lever, this time on the ceiling. The left edge of the ceiling has a vertigo canceler, and you want to climb onto the left ledge, so you'll have to jump to gain enough momentum to grab the ledge once the Vertigo brand has been canceled. From here, use the Shadowflip brand to climb up. The top section of this room holds a chest on the left and a doorway on the right. The chest, obviously, is a Mimku. It drops a Frozen Reliquary on death. Head out the doorway.

You will find yourself outside. Head to the right. You should see a small ledge below you and a pillar across a gap with a ladder and a chest (probably Mimku) on it. Drop down onto the ledge, and then check the wall to your left to activate an illusory wall. The wall opens up to create a shortcut back into the room with the Vertigo Obelisk, where you can now access a pouch holding a Gray Pearl. (Video) (Don't bother trying any Vertigo shenanigans outside, there's a canceler hidden in the newly created doorway.) Climb back up one ledge so that you are on nearly equal height as the nearby pillar, then use the Dart brand to reach the pillar. Don't jump for the ladder yet, only the upper half of it is usable and you might fall to your death. Once you land on top of the pillar, you can lower the ladder to create another shortcut.

Now we can focus on the chest. Surprisingly, it's not a Mimku! Instead, it holds a Crystal Sphere. (This is the same item that a Mimku from before dropped, so obviously this chest is just here to keep us guessing.) Above you and to the left are three wooden platforms. Climb the first two, and then look to your left. You'll see the familiar candelabra that warns of an impending boss fight. The platform between you and the boss arena will break under your weight, and the boss fight will start as soon as you climb onto the arena, so prepare yourself here before jumping onto the breakable wooden platform.

The boss of this area is Murdiella Mal, the Queen of Moonless Sky. She is an insectoid Kraekan and fights primarily in a spellcaster style, using ranged attacks that deal Holy damage. For tips & strategies on how to defeat this boss, see the Murdiella Mal page.

After defeating the boss, head left and jump down the ledges to a floor with 2 chests on either end of it. The one on the left is the final Mimku for this area, and it drops a Box of Salt on death. The chest on the right holds the samurai armor set - Demon Haidate, Demon Kote, Demon Domaru and Demon Kabuto.

You are now done with this area. You can return to the sanctuary and travel away using a Stone Guide at the sanctuary, or use a Calling Horn to port away to another sanctuary. It is possible to escape by jumping off just left of the sanctuary, the way you came, this requires a fair amount of HP to survive, but is possible. Confirmed

It is also possible to leave the area via the area past Murdiella Mal, jumping down to the platform directly above the stairs, and jumping directly left with your torch lit (using the Hardlight Brand) and using both dash-jumps (using Dart Brand), you will land on a solid cloud, continue jumping onto the clouds, dashing every time. You will appear at Castle of Storms (Possible to travel both ways).

Mal's Floating Castle Video Walkthrough