Area order: every area, its boss and how to unlock the next

SULFUR has ten areas in a fixed order: Caves, Town, Sewers, Hedge Maze, Dungeon, Castle, Forest, Shav’wani Fortress, Desert and Beyond the Veil. To open the next area you must clear every stage of the current one in a single run and, where there is one, beat its boss. A full clear also adds a permanent shortcut from the Church, so you never replay earlier areas to get back. Ask the Amulet “where to go next” if you lose track; it points to the next area.

How an area works

• Each area is a run of stages connected by doors. You cannot save progress halfway and come back to the same stage later.
• Around the middle of most areas a shrine refills the Amulet. A charged Amulet takes you home with everything you carry.
• If you die, you lose your carried gear (on the default Hard difficulty) and restart the area from the Church. See death and difficulty.
• Expect 20 to 40 minutes per area on a first clear, according to experienced players on the Steam forum.

Act	Area	Boss	Clearing it opens
I	Caves	Goblin Cousin	Town
II	Town	Black Guild Cardinals	Sewers
II	Sewers	None	Hedge Maze
II	Hedge Maze	None (Corrupted Amalgamations roam)	Dungeon, and later the Castle shortcut
II	Dungeon	Novanian Guard	Castle
II	Castle	St. Lucia	Forest
III	Forest	Terrorbaum	Shav’wani Fortress
III	Shav’wani Fortress	The Emperor	Desert
IV	Desert	Desert Claus	Beyond the Veil
IV	Beyond the Veil	The Witch	Ending, then Endless mode

Strategies for every boss are in the boss guide.

Caves

The cave mouth is to the left of the Church. The Caves have seven stages. Stage 4 always holds the Amulet shrine, stage 5 a mini-boss fight against a Goblin Barrel Boy that rewards an oil or scroll, and stage 7 the Goblin Cousin. A cargo lift returns you to the Church after he dies, and his first kill drops the Suitcase storage unit.

Goblins dominate, with a few Black Guild trackers, bruisers and dogs. Mushrooms, sticks, rocks, bread, butter, potatoes, cheese, water, broth and snails are common, so the Caves are a cheap place to restock cooking ingredients and to rank up a new gun. Cracked walls hide rooms with chests, oils or scrolls; any explosion opens them. Falling into a chasm costs a large chunk of health and can kill you.

Town

The Town entrance is also left of the Church. Black Guild cultists hunt the Guttercliffian civilians, who are not hostile to you. Flour, sugar and eggs are common, which makes the Town the baking area for cakes and pancakes. The last arena holds three elemental Black Guild Cardinals; beating them opens the Sewers.

Sewers

The Sewers entrance is right of the Town entrance. Many corridors are flooded, and enemies can attack from underwater. Black Guild and Corrupted enemies fight each other. Diving Fins and the Diving Mask make swimming easier; Oxygen Tank and Extra Lung stop drowning. Jumping into water clears Poisoned. Fatberg Chunks, Cotton Swabs and Green Globs drop here. A secret room behind a flooded tunnel holds the Refrigerator storage unit. There is no area boss: clearing every stage opens the Hedge Maze.

Hedge Maze

One large maze. At least four Corrupted Amalgamations roam it; they have effectively unlimited health and are the only enemies. They must stop to swing, so sprinting with the melee weapon held keeps you safe. Keep one hand on a wall and you will reach the exit. 1.0 cut the maze’s enemy count by 20%. Chests in the maze often hold oils.

The exit leads to the Dungeon entrance and, once you have entered the Castle at least once, to a shortcut into the Castle. You walk the maze again whenever you want to reach the Dungeon from the Church.

Dungeon

Black Guild riflemen, dogs, bruisers and assassins guard cells and torture rooms. The Novanian Guard, a giant whose helmet hides a glowing sun, is the boss; since patch 1.0.1 he is immune to electricity. 1.0 cut the Dungeon’s enemy count by 30% and 1.0.1 shortened each level. Flour, hard bread, liquor, Lussekatt, oats, Christmas spice and cacao are common loot.

Castle

St. Lucia’s castle. Rex, the Blond Magus, may sit reading here and sells combined scrolls. A storage chest stands before her chamber door, so you can swap gear before the fight. The Chest of Drawers storage unit can drop in this area.

Forest

A night forest held by the Craw and Corrupted. A graveyard mausoleum holds a weapon chest, but entering it raises more wraiths. A house with a stove has a basement with organs, a cauldron and an equipment chest. Jaques De Fector hides somewhere in the Forest and sells its mushrooms. Swing-Ding and Karl-Oskar mushrooms, nuts, berries, bark and milk are common. Terrorbaum, the tree boss, waits at the end.

Fortress

The Shav’wani Fortress of the lizard people, entered across the Shav’wani Bridge, with a sauna sub-area. Qiosk runs a food stall here and has other goods if she trusts you. Rice, matcha, fish, flat sandfish and seaweed are common. The Emperor, a worm that becomes a walking machine, is the boss; his loot sits on plinths in the room after the arena.

Desert

The edge of the world: open dunes in thick dust, with large side areas that are easy to get lost in. A faded path always joins the entrance and the exit. Magnified scopes see further through the dust. Crypts with the Trial of the Spirit appear on most Desert levels; Bill sells Crypt Keys. Desert Claus is the boss on the fifth level, and the game saves after he dies. See the crypt guide.

Beyond the Veil

The final area. The Amulet cannot take you home from here, so empty your bags at the Church before you leave the Desert. Your Priest’s Chest appears in the area, and 20 Rödsopp mushrooms grow there for Health Potions. The Witch is the last boss. Afterwards the story loops back to the Caves and Endless mode opens. See the Witch and Endless mode.