Castlevania: Symphony of the Night FAQ/Walkthrough
Ver 1.00
by Wingchild
afn17933@afn.org
*'-.,.-'*'-.,.-'*'-.,.-'*'-.,.-'*'-.,.-'*'-.,.-'*'-.,.-'*'-.,.-'*'-.,.-'*'
Welcome to the Castlevania:SOTN FAQ. This FAQ was written for and by the
creator of Alucard's Shield (www.afn.org/~afn17933/castlevania), and is an
ongoing project (as I can never find the required time to finish it).
Currently, the FAQ contains full walkthrough information for both the normal
and inverted castles. While writing the FAQ, I achieved a score of 200%, so,
if the FAQ is followed, you should be able to see any of the four endings of
the game. While I'm not content with the format of the document yet, it should
have enough content to make up for it by now. :)
x-> Post Frequency
The FAQ will be posted on the Alucard's Shield site, and will be updated
occasionally. I can't guarantee better, because working for a living takes a
lot out of your time, surprisingly.
x-> Legal/Rights of use
If you wish to download the FAQ and use it for your own purposes, feel
free. If you wish to use it on your web site, that's fine too, but first
please notify me that you're going to use the faq, and second, leave all of
the information in tact/unaltered. If changes are to be made, I'll make them,
and repost the FAQ. Do not distribute this FAQ in an altered form, as,
technically, that's violation of the copyright on intellectual property.
x-> Errors, Omissions, Submissions, Questions, etc.
For any changes to the FAQ, please send mail to afn17933@afn.org . My
email can also be reached by visiting the Alucard's Shield website. Please put
something in the subject line that will clue me in as to what you're going to
want done (i.e., CASTLEVANIA CHANGE or something), as some weeks I tend to
file email for later reading, and that'll save a lot of time for everybody.
I try to always respond to email, so if something's on your mind, send
away. Unlike larger game sites, I run this one by myself, as a hobby, and
write the info that I put out. If something's wrong with it, I want to know,
so that I can give my readers the best information available.
x-> Table of Contents
Note. The sections are broken up by the main goal at that point in time.
Castlevania:SOTN has extremely non-linear gameplay. While there are some areas
that you must go to in order to get an item you need, you can, for the most
part, play the sections in any order that you want.
I label the sections as follows: Immediately follwing a section number
are the steps you need to take to reach the given goal. Then, between two
sections, there is usually a large body of text describing the exploration of
the area, what items there are to find, and instructions for moving towards
the next goal. This sounds more complex than it is; play the game with the
walkthrough, and you'll be fine.
I. Revision History
II. Walkthrough - Normal Castle
1. Richter defeats Dracula
2. Meeting with Death
3. Defeat Slogra and Gaibon
4. First Maria Meeting
5. Defeat Doppleganger10
6. Meeting with the Master Librarian
7. Defeat the Hippogryph
8. Defeat the Lesser Demon
9. Defeat Kurusaman
10. Defeat Minotaur and Werwolf
11. Defeat Olrox
12. Defeat the Succubus
13. Defeat the Scylla Worm
14. Defeat Scylla
15. Defeat Cerebrus
16. Defeat Granfaloon
17. Defeat Richter Belmont
III. Walkthrough - Inverted Castle
1. Defeat Darkwing Bat
2. Defeat The Creature
3. Defeat Beelzebub
4. Defeat Medusa
5. Defeat Doppelganger40
6. Defeat Akmodan II
7. Defeat the Doppelganger Heroes
8. Defeat Death
9. Defeat Galamoth
10. Defeat Shaft
11. Defeat Count Dracula
IV. Miscellaneous information.
1. The Alucard's Shield technique
2. Killing Guardians for fun and profit
3. The experience system
4. The mystery of the clock room
I. Revision History
Ver 1.00 July 12th 1999: I've made probably a dozen fixes to various parts of
the FAQ, and have a largish section to add in when I get around to it. bleh.
Man, it's hard to keep up with the FAQ. :)
Ver 0.95 September 19th 1998: Added in the last parts of the FAQ, and though I
really really really want to go back over the format and make sure that
everything looks good and is well laid out (i.e., I know it isn't), there've
been a lot of requests for the file. So, we post the updated form and let
people work their way through SOTN, answer questions, and hope we can find the
time to fix the format and add some flashy stuff to the content (as though it
needs it).
Ver 0.9 August 16th 1998: Finished off the basic information. Started
fleshing out some helpful tips on leveling, combat, and of course,
the Alucard's Shield.
Ver 0.7 August 14th 1998: Restarted the FAQ, stripped the design out and
filled it with pure information. Started finishing off the information;
hell, it's only been six months since I started the project, right?
Ver 0.5, February 21st 1998: FAQ taken from its preposting text form,
changed out to HTML, change back to Text because HTML isn't the right
format for this, modifications performed on sectioning, positioning, and
adding comments to the FAQ. Initial Posting.
II. Walkthrough - Normal Castle
Section: 1. Richter defeats Dracula.
Richter's Moves
Controller Combination Move
d,u Super jump
t,t Run
[Square] (hold) then d,f,u,f,d,b,f,etc Twirl whip
u + Square Extra weapon use
Triangle Special use of weapon
Note that you can twirl in all directions with different effectiveness;
if you're trying to hit something in front of you, twirl more forward.
Above, twirl more up. So on.
Using the special weapon w/o having an extra weapon equipped will cover
Ricthers whip in flame.
Special Weapon Attacks
Cross: Holy Cross, damages all on screen w/ holy attack.
Holy Water: A rain attack, causing small, repeated damage to all onscreen.
Before you ever get to Dracula, there's an area you can powerup. As you
finish walking up the bridge, there is a candelabra with a Cross weapon in
it. Immediately to the right of this candelablra is a low hanging part of
the ceiling. If you hit this once, you'll reveal a switch. Twice, you'll
lower a stairway from the ceiling which you can follow up and retrieve
items from. See the note at the end before taking this route, however.
Dracula
--
Warps around the screen, loosing fireballs. He'll fire three at once, three
times in a row. The fourth time, he'll launch two larger, faster,
horizontal lava balls, while saying 'Here's true power!'
The normal fireballs can be destroyed by whip swings; the larger lava balls
cannot, and must be avoided.
Strategy:
Have Richter get in close with either his normal whip or his flame whip.
Press and hold the attack button (square) to whip forward once. Note you
must attack Dracula's head to cause damage. If you hold the attack button
and rotate your control pad around (u, f, d, f, u, repeat) Richter will
twirl his whip. Doing this allows you to stand in front of Dracula, hit
him, and destroy his three fireballs without worrying about them getting
through or not.
His fourth teleport is a different matter, as you'll have to get away from
him, and find a way to avoid the two lava balls. Doing a backflip over them
works, but is tricky to perform. (Face away, as the first ball comes high,
the second low, so a normal jump won't work, and flipping backward while
facing towards Dracula will land you on the fireballs.) A superjump will
also work to get you out of harms way.
Continue this until Dracula dies. He will then transform into a large
purple-blue beast of some type.
Dracula2
--
The giant beast has a tendency to jump over you if you are close to it. It
will leap into the air in a long jump, which you can walk under. So, you
can get close to it and hit away without any real danger to yourself.
Occasionally, the beast will shoot fireballs; your warning is that it will
charge up beforehand, and you'll see a ball of light appear at it's mouth.
He'll fire one high, one low, one high if your're kneeling next to him.
Make sure to move. This creature is not as difficult as the first Dracula,
which wasn't hard to begin with.
Strategy
--
As Dracula transforms, run into him, and position Richter so that you'll
be directly between the new creature's legs. Kneel if it makes you feel
better, but it isn't necessary. Sit between Dracula's legs and keep using
your whip. Dracula will not stand still, however, and will hop around; if
he leaps into the air, simply follow him so that when he lands, you'll be
between his legs again. As long as you position yourself well, and Dracula
doesn't land on you, he can't hit you.
If all of your energy is taken in the battle, Maria (who at this point in
time is only 13) will appear at one end of the screen, and use her will to
revive you. At this point you will no longer take any damage whatsoever,
you're completely invincible, and your health refills from nothing to full.
D: "No, this cannot be! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
[Other]
This battle determines your starting stats with Alucard. The best stats are
gained from beating Dracula without getting any hearts or special weapons,
and without being hit. The worst stats come from getting everything, using
everything, and getting stomped on badly enough that Maria revives you.
Section: 2. Meeting with Death
Now you're Alucard.
Spells:
Summon Spirit - 5mp
B,F,U,D,square
Dark Metamorphasis - 10mp
B,HCF,square
Hellfire - 15mp
U,D,QCF,square
Note: Holding up at the end of the casting will make Alucard throw a pair of
lava balls, rather than triple fireballs.
Wing Smash (while transformed into a Bat) - 8mp
Hold X,U,3/4CB,release X
Wolf Charge (while transformed into a Wolf) - 10mp
QCF,square
Head to the right till you meet up with Death. After he strips you, head
right some more and climb up to the entry hall.
Section: 3. Defeat Slogra and Gaibon
Entry Hall
--
Cube of Zoe is at the top of the hall. Save point off to the left.
Save after obtaining the cube.
Life max halfway up on the right side, need bat or boots and double jump.
Head left to the Alchemy Lab.
--
Alchemy Laboratory
--
Hide cuirass, first floor, all the way to the left.
Leather shield, second floor, free-standing candle on the left side of the
room.
Life max up, first secret, bottom of the platform tower.
Heart max up, second secret, just to the left of the first one.
Go up the tower, across to the left. Hit the two floor switches to lower the
sets of spikes. Push the block onto the rightmost set, raise that set with
the switch. Hop up the block and to the right, follow the path up another
tower
and back to the left for the cloth cape.
On the way up to the left, check the ceiling for a hole. Go up there after
bat/gravity boots to find the Skill of Wolf. Lets him swim / bite.
Head left, save point on the left, climb up the tower. Take the passage at
the top right. Leads to Slogra/Gaibon.
--
Slogra and Gaibon
--
For future reference, Slogra is the skeletal bird-like creature; Gaibon is
the flying bat-like creature. The Axe works great on both of them, as you
can hit Slogra while he's being carried, and Gaibon whenever he's flying,
which is most of the time.
First; Kill Slogra. Avoid Gaibon, and jump and slash Slogra; he'll hop into
the air, and Gaibon will catch him. He'll then try to drop on your head;
step lightly to one side, and hit him again, repeat until he drops his
spear. Then, instead of trying to drop on you with a spear, he'll just try
to lunge through you with his nose. Same strategy applies.
Gaibon proves a little more tricky. His normal fireballs can be blocked
with your shield. Jump and slash him until he turns red; he'll loose more
fireballs at one time, and will also shoot giant fireballs more often. Your
shield can block it all. Gaibon will fire one giant fireball from the air;
run up to him and kneel. He'll then fire about eight at ground level, which
you can duck under and slash him while he shoots. For your troubles, you'll
get a 'life max' item.
Section: 4. First Maria Meeting -- Go through the bottom portal in the room to
the right of Slogra/Gaibon. Ride the elevator down, head left, sunglasses.
Take the elevator down further, head left, fire the cannon, destroy the wall,
grab the balisard. Move further left and you can drop down overtop of the
lame elevator that doesn't rise. Ride back up.
Middle pass of that room leads to a save point.
Upper path leads to a passage, leads to a double shaft room. Red door on
right. Going through the red door takes you to the marble gallery.
Head right, drop down one screen, and one over to the right is a save point.
Drop down again. Follow the path. Instead of heading right at the bottom, head
left, get the Spirit Orb. Head back to the right.
Follow the path out past Goliath/Cthulu, open the red door to the left, hit
the switch to lower the rock, grab the shield potion and you're back in the
entry hall. Save.
Climb back up to the marble gallery, continue heading right. You'll meet up
with Maria in the clock room. Get to the fourway passage room after the clock
room.
Upper Right = Blue Door Lower Left = dead end Lower Right = eyeball passage, go
through to the right to the red door, other side is the outer wall. --
Section: 5. Defeat Doppleganger10 -
Score the zircon immediately to your right. Don't bother heading down yet.
Climb up and to your left. Follow the path completely left and save. Go one
screen right/up from the save point to find the Doppelganger.
Doppelganger10 - In this long room you'll face yourself; a Doppelganger. He's a
level 10 copy of yourself. He can throw daggers (and does), attack with a
sword, transform into mist (to evade attacks), tranform into a bat (to
attack), etc. To kill him, lure him into a simple pattern; jump away. As you
jump, the Doppelganger will jump to follow. Turn around in mid air and slash;
you'll slam the Doppelganger, he'll fall, you'll fall. Jump away again, turn
back, slash, land, repeat. You'll get another 'life max' item.
Room to the right contains gladius sword. * warning, soul steal doesn't work,
he'll just go misty.
Section: 6. Meeting with Master Librarian -- After leaving to the right,
carefully scale the outer wall and throw the elevator's power switch. Obtain
the soul of wolf.
Go back up to the elevator power switch, turn into a wolf and do a running
jump to get to the porcelain thing, which has a heart max item.
Enter the red door just above the top elevator landing. Enter the portal,
which whips you back to the beginning, head right, claim the heart max up item
and drop the wall. Then save at the entry hall save point.
Head back to the outer wall, ride the elevator down to the bottom, use the
soul of wolf to get to the porcelain thing there, contains a life max item.
Ride elevator to middle landing, head to the red door just to the left of it.
Long Library -- Head completely to the left, get the bronze cuirass. Go back to
the stairwell and climb. Climb up and right, find the fairy scroll. Continue
all the way to the left to the Librarian. Note: This room is directly under
the librarian. If you do a super jump once you get the gravity boots directly
under him, and hit him, he'll give you either a heart max item or a life max
item.
Sell any gems you've acquired, make sure to purchase the castle map, the
jewel of open (for the blue doors), and at least one library card. Then
purchase whatever else you want.
Go back and hit the teleporter to the entry hall. Head to where you fought
Slogra/Gaibon, but keep going left and pass through the blue door. You'll meet
Maria for a second time. Head left to the Royal Chapel.
Section 7. Defeat the Hippogryph. -
Royal Chapel -- One screen to the left of the starting room is a save point.
Climb the great stairwell, head to the right. Find the Spectral Sword room.
Soul Steal tends to trash them; use it. Climb the ledges up to the left, do
some jumps and get the goggles one room to your left.
Go back into the sword room, go through the red door on the right for the
Knight Shield. Go back to the sword room, climb up and right. Enter the bell
towers. Climb to the very top of the first one, acquire the life up, strength
potion and the silver plate. Head right. Climb to the top of the second tower
for a zircon. Head right. At the end of the passage is the Hippogryph.
Hippogryph - A creature of legend, how it came to Castlevania is hardly a
mystery; nothing else in the twisted Chaos realm makes sense, either. :) The
Hippogryph has a few different methods of attack; It can swoop upwards,
possibly striking you. It can lay eggs that hatch into something - I've never
found out what, as you can destroy them before they hatch. The Hippogryph
will also fly around the top of the screen, then drop down and breathe fire
at you.
Don't be afraid of the fire; get right up to the Hippogryph and wail away.
Just before it releases the blast, hit the Triangle button to dash backwards.
You'll be just out of reach, flames lapping at your cloak, and in perfect
range to launch another attack (as the Hippogryph usually breathes fire in
bursts of two to four times).
Of course, the easiest way to kill the Hippogryph is to just use Soul Steal
two or three times. This is the cheapest way (and, consequently, one of the
most effective next to the 'Alucard's Shield' technique) to kill boss
creatures (or large rooms full of smaller denizens).
After smashing the Hippogryph, Maria enters. Follow her out to the right.
Section 8: Defeat the Lesser Demon. -- Keep going to the right from the
hippogryph room. As you enter the third bell tower, go right, and hit the save
point. Climb the bell tower. At the top is a potion and a cutlass. Head
through the red door to the right. Go to the end of the passage and enter the
Castle Keep area.
Castle Keep -
The red door to the right leads to another teleporter (Lion). "Horse" is the
first one, Scorpion is the second. Ride the elevators to the top, the room
to the right contains the Tyrfing, the cursed dark sword. Head to the left
from the elevators to get to the leap stone and turquoise.
Ride the teleporters back to the Scorpion, go to the long library again. In
the upper left section of the library, use the double jump to get over to a
higher platform. Note; there are two higher platforms, both just before the
librarian. You can only get to the lower of the two w/o the bat or mist.
The path leads to a save room. Past the save room is a rolling kind of area.
Drop to the bottom and head left; you'll fight the Lesser Demon.
Lesser Demon - The Lesser Demon has several attacks that make him difficult to
kill. One of them is a green bolt of plasma that he fires while flying; it
isn't difficult to avoid. Another favorite of the Lesser Demon is to summon
other, even lesser, creatures in to do his fighting for him. The LD tends to
summon skeletons, mudmen, ectoplasms, and things like that. (All are easy to
kill.) The LD will stalk around the floor, and fly around the room while
fighting.
The general strategy is just to pound him when you can. If he's summoning a
creature, he's invincible. Two soul steals plus a few normal sword hits will
do the trick.
Section 9: Defeat Karasuman - To the left of the lesser demon is a small area
that holds a frankfurter, onyx, and takemitsu, as well as a grate that mist
can pass through.
Head back up to the upper part of the rolling area. Going through the upper
right will lead to a room with a stone mask. The bookcase on the right can be
pushed out of the way to let you get at the Holy Rod and Topaz Circlet
(restores poison damage). The holy rod is a wonderful weapon.
Go back out of the long library, back to the top of the outer wall, to the
clock tower area.
Clock Tower - Make your way to the left, watch out for falling floors. Enter
the clock tower itself. Lots of medusa heads. On your way through the tower,
note that there are four gears on the outside walls that you can hit. Hit them
all until they click, and in the second tower room, a door in the lower left
will open. This leads to the steel helm, gold plate, and star flail.
In the upper right of the same section of the clock tower is a break-away
wall. It leads to an area with life max up and heart max up items.
Continue off to the left. Work your way to the left of the next room; at the
bottom left corner is a break-away wall. The secret room contains the healing
mail. Work your way back to the upper left of the room.
Two more rooms to the left is Karasuman.
Karasuman - Karasuman is a large winged demon, sort of a night-god of the
ravens. He will float around the room. If attacked, Karasuman drops to the
floor, and summons ravens from all around. Then, he'll leap up into the air
and release a steady stream of them to attack with. This stream of ravens is
very difficult to avoid taking damage from.
However, the general strategy makes him easy. Use the holy rod (which does
nice damage to him and knocks him around some) and attack. As he starts to
fall to the ground, attack again, which knocks him into the air a little. Keep
this up every time he nears the ground, and he'll never be able to summon the
ravens to attack with. Clean kill.
Section 10: Defeat Minotaur and Werewolf
Head through the red door to the left. This leads to an elevator. Go right
from the top of the elevator to a save point. Go up from the landing to find a
falchion. Go off to your left, drop down into the float stone's area, and head
to the right to the lion's head teleporter. Go back to the Scorpion
teleporter again. (Outer Wall)
Ride the elevator to the bottom, go down a screen or two to the red door and
go back to the eastern end of the marble gallery. Cut back to the four way
exit room, and head up and right to the blue door. Stomp the floorplate to
open up the two sections of pink floor in the marble gallery area. The first
pink floor area, just down and to the right of the blue door, holds a library
card and an attack potion.
** Note, the next two or three sections are interchangable.. I like the arena
part first. **
Head back to the Clock Room, ignoring the second pink floor area for now.
Wait around for about a minute, if necessary, and the top left statue will
move out of your way. Take your now-useful double jump and leap up there. The
first thing you'll find will be a life max item. Go through the red door to
the left.Enter Olrox' Quarters.
Olrox's Quarters - Climb the stairs, and get to the four way exit room. The
lower right path has a breakaway wall that leads to an area with cheese, onyx,
and a broadsword. Lower left = Colosseum Upper left = Dead End Upper right =
Giants, Hammer and Blade. You can go out through a red door at the end of
this hallway to reach the Goats Head teleporter.
Head over to the Colosseum area.
Colosseum - In the ceiling of the upper left room with the twin columns is a
breakaway panel. The secret room behind it contains a good weapon, but you
need the Soul of Bat before you can get to it. Read on.
Keep heading left. You'll find the switch to lower the stone wall that the
knight shield was originally behind. Head back to the right and down the
shafts before going into the actual arena area. One screen down and left from
the switch is a save point. In the lower left of this area is the shield rod,
as well as $1000. In the lower right is the Green Tea. Just across the area is
a red elevator; past that, to the lower left is the blood cloak, to the lower
right is a heart max item. A second save point is all the way to the right,
level with the one on the left side.
>From the left save point, go up one screen and walk to the right. Don't jump,
stay on the ground. Grab the library card and enter the Arena. Inside the
arena, our old friend Richter awaits. But, instead of being man enough to face
us, he summons his partners, the Minotaur and the Werewolf.
Minotaur and Werewolf - These two are tricky to defeat, as the majority of
their attacks work together. The minotaur will throw the werewolf, who is an
avid boxer, at you. The werewolf also likes to roll along the ceiling and have
the minotaur do a massive uppercut to him; at which point both fall to the
floor in a devestating wave of fire. The minotaur is also armed with a huge
axe, just in case things get boring.
The easiest way to drop these two is a concerted soul-stealing effort. The
werewolf will most likely die first, as it has the last hitpoints of the two
man combo. The attack patterns change when only one partner is present.
Go out the right side to obtain the all powerful Soul of Mist. Head back
across Olrox's Quarters to the goat's head teleporter, and warp back to the
Scorpion. Get back to the Long Library, to the mist grate just past the
battle with the Lesser Demon. Behind the mist grate is the Soul of Bat.
Take the Soul of Bat back up to the Long Library, and go across to the second
higher platform that was previously unreachable. Up in the left room from
there is the Antivenom, a potion, and the Faerie Card, which lets you summon
the faerie familiar.
Leave the Long Library, and go to the clock tower area, and use the bat to
fly upwards in the middle part of the first area. You'll find the shaman
shield, ice mail, and bekatowa sword on a set of pedestals. Then, fly to the
upper right of the same room to locate the Fire of Bat.
Section 11: Defeat Olrox
Head back down to the Scorpion teleporter, and go back to the Goat's head
one, at the outskirts of Olrox's Quarters. The first room you enter has a
hole in the ceiling. Fly up there as the bat.Collect the mana prism, the
resist fire, and the luck potion from the vertical shaft. After you get to
the top, head left. The Estoc, two handed sword, is on the left of the room.
Drop down through the floor.
If you head to the upper left of this next area, you'll run into Olrox.
Olrox - Olrox is another vampire that inhabits Castlevania. He is extremely
powerful with his magic, and uses spells that even Alucard can't touch. Common
attacks include a short wave of energy, a set of three or four pillars of
screaming agony that shoot up from the floor, a series of attacks with
floating skulls, and a series of attacks with purple bats. Olrox isn't too
terrible to beat (esp. with a Soul Steal or two), until you realize that
that's only half of the battle.
Olrox 2 - This giant green beast is much harder to kill. It has individual
components to destroy, notably the hands and head. Each does different damage
when struck. Common attacks include him spitting about twelve fireballs at
you, leaping into the air to crush you, and sending a small pocket of
explosive power at the ground. The shield rod only does about 11 damage, and
Soul Steal only does 1. (Note that even if soul steal only does 1, each hit
heals you for 8, so don't hesitate to use it for healing purposes.) Fast
attacking will save the day.
Take the bat and fly up and to the left from Olrox's room. You'll find the
Echo of Bat relic.
Head back over to the open area to the right of Olrox's room. In the lower
left is a passage that leads to a max heart item and a red door. Between the
heart max and the red door is a short passage of grey stone ceiling and floor.
Use Soul Steal a little more than haflway through the room to trigger a secret
passage; head inside to find the Sword Card (sword familiar).
Just beyond the red door is a statue that you can break to open up the
passageway, giving you access back to the Royal Chapel area (directly under
the bell towers).
Work your way back through Olrox's area to the Clock Room again. Using the
stopwatch in the Clock Room will open up a secret passage that leads to a max
heart item, the alucart shield, mail, and sword (cheap replicas of the real
thing).
Fly up the central shaft in the Clock Room. On the left will be a life apple,
potion, and hammer; on the right side are the Gravity Boots, a most useful
relic.
Go back to the Colosseum area, and fly through the ceiling in the
double-column room. In the secret room is the Holy Sword.
- Get back to the Marble Gallery. Go to the second pink floor area, one screen
to the left. Pass through the red door at the bottom to get to the underground
caverns area.
Section 12: Defeat the Succubus
Underground Caverns - Head one screen to the right for a save point, then two
to the left for a heart max item. The left wall is breakaway, so you can go
through one more screen and get the bandanna. Head back to the screen next to
the save point, and go down underground.
As you start to fall, use the bat, and fly off to your right. Follow the
paths and acquire the claymore and meal tickets. At the bottom of that area,
off to your left, is a save point. Off to your right is a pulsing pink thing
that looks like a save point, but is really a nightmare sequence.
Nightmare - The nightmare serves only one purpose; to get you into the battle
with the Succubus.
Succubus - The succubus is pathetic. It's the only word that describes her. The
standard attack is for her to float in the air and launch a six-way tenticle
attack that's very easy to avoid. You can easily demolish her by double
jumping and slashing her to oblivion in the top right corner of the screen.
For you troubles, you'll be rewarded with the Gold Ring, an important item if
you intend to make it to the inverted castle. Work your way back out of the
Succubus' area, and fall down the shaft to the Underground.
Section 13: Defeat the Scylla Worm
Off to the right as soon as you enter the underground is another save point.
Head straight down to the bottom of the twisty corridors, and go one screen
right to fight the Scylla Worm.
Scylla Worm - This thing does nothing but slowly strike for the last position
you were standing. It's a total cakewalk. You might want to use this time to
work on your tan.
Section 14: Defeat Scylla
Head to the right. Be careful when you enter the room, as the water level
will begin to rise. Water is deadly to vampires, so run through the room and
go up to the next one. Head left after you get up there to fight with Scylla
herself.
Scylla - Scylla's made up of a trio of Scylla Worms that all attack in tandem,
a pair of bear heads, and the torso of a woman up above them. She attacks
fast, with some varied movies. Use Soul Steal about twice to finish this one
painlessly.
The room to the left of Scylla contains the crystal cloak. Go back to the
start of the underground area. A scimitar is off to the right of the flooded
area, on your way up, and a resist ice potion is just underneath an overhang.
As you exit the room that had the Scylla Worm, break the lower left corner of
the floor out. Don't bother going down there yet; it becomes important in a
minute.
A screen or two to the left, and you'll find a toadstool. Climb up the ledge
and continue upwards through the shaft. Take the first passage to your left
and work your way all the way to the top for a life max item. Then head back
to where you got the toadstool, and continue left, as the rest of the shaft is
uninteresting.
Continue left. Push the box against the wall to drown the four spearguards.
Further to the left you'll reach the waterfall. Run and jump off the edge to
reach the far left side wall, then double jump back to the right for the
secret boots. At the bottom of the waterfall, head right for another life max
item. Continue far to the left to find the ferryman. Go where he takes you
for the Merman Statue. This lets you summon the ferryman.
Now, you're probably thinking 'Hey, I've already seen the ferryman!' The
other ferryman is down in that secret area next to the Scylla Worm's room. To
get back to there, you have to go out through the ceiling in the room to the
right of the ferryman, and through the red door.
Just outside the door is another life max item, and a switch that lowers a
wall. This area is back in the original entryway to the castle, before even
the entry hall. Just about where the giant wolves were. Head back into the
underground area, but be sure to pick up a few items before you do.
First, head far to the left, out to the front of the castle. Use the Bat form
to fly up to the top of the room where the drawbridge is, and acquire the
Power of Wolf and a life max item. The Power of Wolf makes the wolf invincible
when you're running. Head to the right, into the castle where the giant wolves
were in the beginning. Get to the room with the huge rock in the middle of it
(it's between a pair of wolf rooms). Go one room to the right, turn into the
wolf form, and run left (after breaking open both parts of the secret passage
on the rock; both sides open up). Run through the passage as the wolf at full
speed, and crash into the platform on the other side of the passage. When you
do, down at the lower left of the rock passage room, another secret should
open up. The Jewel Sword and a life apple are down there. (Note. If the
passage doesn't open, you may have to use the bat's special attack, from
right to left through the passage, to make it open. You also might have to use
both the bat and the wolf, one after the other.)
Fly up to the top of the room, through a hole in the ceiling. Head to your
left; one room over and to the left is a save point. Go up the stairs and
acquire the Holy Mail. Now, head back towards the entry hall. In the room
where death was, use the bat to fly halfway up and take the passage to the
left. You'll find a heart max item in there.
Head back to the underground any way you want; you've gotten all the nifty
items for now.
Fall back down the shaft to the area next to the Scylla Worm's room, and head
underground even further. Now, where nothing had been before, the Ferryman
will be waiting for you (due to the Merman Statue). Ride the boat across the
lake to the right. In a cave on the far right side, you'll find the Holy
Symbol (which looks surprisingly like a snorkel); you can now dive under water
without adverse effects.
Items to pick up on the way back include an elixir, onyx, a life max up, and
the knuckle duster weapon. Items over to the left of Scylla's area include
nunchakus, a life max item, antivenom, and a pentagram.
When you get the chance, use the bat to fly over across the waterfall area,
and press the switch in the cave over there. A barrel-tossing skeleton will
appear, allowing you to get the Herald Shield. A second skeleton will appear
over by the other wooden plank further to the right. Go over there, lure the
skeleton into throwing the barrel, and collect the heart max up and life max
up. This move also reveals a secret passage leading to the abandoned mine.
Section 15: Defeat Cerebrus
Abandoned Mine - A save point is all the way at the bottom, to the right. Go to
the right, through the Lion's mouth, and you'll enter a fight with Cerebrus.
Cerebrus - The hound of hell, guardian of hades. In this game, he's weak. Get
up close to him, kneel down, and flail away with your favorite blade. His
shots will cruise right over you. The only other attack he'll use is to jump
around, so just follow him when he does. Simplistic.
Follow the path and fall down the shaft. Go to your left immediately, and
collect the Demon Card. Cutting back across to your right leads to the fifth
and final teleporter, the snakes head teleporter. Fall back down the shaft
again.
At the bottom to the left, you can find a combat knife and karma coin. To the
right, you can find a passage that leads down to the catacombs.
Section 16: Defeat Granfaloon
Catacombs - Down to your left is a save point; to the left of that is the
bloodstone. Head far to the right, stick to the bottom right in the four way
room, and head to the top right in the next room over. You'll wind up in a
completely dark room. Use the bat's echo to navigate the heavily spiked area.
Follow the passage around to the right for the Spike Breaker armor.
Get back to the fourway room, walk to the lower left for some monster vials,
a max life and max heart item. Fight to your left until you reach the Discus
Lord. Go up, collect the max heart item from the porcelin thing, and break
open the secret passage to your left. Snare the Icebrand sword from its room,
and go back to the discus lord.
Keep fighting left, you'll come to a vertical area, up and right is a save
point. To the right of that is the walk armor. Head two rooms to the left, and
you too can face the most disgusting boss yet encountered, Granfaloon.
Granfaloon - This thing is a giant collection of other people's bodies. It's
not hard to kill; stay in the top right corner near the door and soul steal it
to death. You can alternate between that and attacks, but soul steal is the
redeeming factor. Wondering how it attacks you? Go sit down on ground level
and find out. Attacking the outer parts, then the central core, is the only
way to win.
The lower left exit leads to the black sword Moremegil. Work your way back
out of the catacombs. On your way back out, make sure you have the demon
familiar equipped, as he'll be able to hit a switch for you and open up a
secret passage.
The secret passage leads over to a shaft. Fall down it and break open a
secret wall to your left, and you can acquire the Power of Sire item, along
with some Peanuts.
There's nothing left in the catacombs; make your way back out to the
teleporter. Teleport over to the horse (entry hall), and walk back to the
Royal Chapel.
Head up the main stairway. Use the bat form to fly across to get all the
items that were inaccessable the first time you flew up. You can find a
mystic pendant, magic msisile, shuriken, ankh of life, tnt, and a boomerang.
Going up at the very end of the stairwell will let you find a porcelain thing
with a Morningstar in it. Continue along to the bell towers. Go to the left
passage that's full of spikes from the upper section of the first bell tower.
You'll need to use the spike breaker armor to do it. Through the blue door at
the end is Maria, again. She'll engage in some dialogue, leave, and to the
left will be the Silver Ring. You should already have the Gold Ring from the
succubus.
Head back to the clock room. On your way, be sure to stop by the room where
Slogra/Gaibon were. You can use the bat form to fly through the upper right of
the room, and acquire the bat card (which lets you summon the bat familiar).
Once in the clock room, equip both the silver and gold rings. The clock will
flip out, stop on six, ring thirteen times, and open up a passage into the
floor. Immediately to your left is a save point. To your right is a life max
and heart max item. Use the elevator to go down. Fall down one side or the
other, get to the elevator in the middle and you'll meet Maria for the fourth
time or so. She'll engage in some more dialogue and will hand over the Holy
Glasses.
Now, with the Holy Glasses, we can safely get to the inverted castle. On your
way, stop by the outer wall, and go down to the bottom of the area. You'll
find a mistable grate; pass through it to find the mirror cuirass and the
jewel knuckles. If you fight past the armor lord on the platform at the upper
left, and get into the empty room next to him, break open the wall at the
bottom left for a potroast.
Section 17: Defeat Richter Belmont
Head back to Dracula's Throne area, which you fought through in the intro.
Fly up to the upper right of the area, and enter the passage there. You'll
find two life max items, and two heart max items, as well as the ghost card
(for the ghost familiar). Dracula's throne area is just above where you got
the double jump pendant. Drop down to the area where the pendant was, and fly
up and to the left. There is a break in the stone ceiling with a small
passage. At the end of the passage is the Power of Mist, which lets you stay
in mist form. Go into the throne area.
As you enter, you'll have to pass through an entryway. The lower left stone
can be broken to reveal a switch. Hitting the switch drops a stairwell out of
the ceiling. Explore up there to find resist stone, dark, holy, and a set of
platinum mail. You can also find a good deal of food over to the left. A
porcelain thing just before the door contains a heart max item. Going through
the door puts you into a fight with Richter.
Richter Belmont - Richter attacks with a wide variety of holy special weapons,
as well as his whip. He'll use all the special weapons in the game except for
the stopwatch, and will use the special form of all of them except the dagger.
Favored attacks include the special form of the cross, and the special form of
the holy water.
Before entering the game, make sure that you outfit yourself with the
following equipment; Sword: Holy Sword Armor: Holy Mail Eyes : Holy Glasses
The holy mail will make most of Ricther's attacks hit for 1; the holy sword
will insure that you deal very little damage to him, and the holy glasses
will let you see the ball that's controlling Ricther. The object of this
exercise is to ignore Richter and destroy the ball. The ball is controlled by
Shaft, so it's best to use a holy weapon against it.
Note: Killing Richter before you ever posess the holy glasses will net you
the first ending. Wearing the glasses and killing Richter anyway will net you
the second ending. The best sword to destroy Richter with is the dark sword,
Mormegil.
After you beat the ball, Richter comes back to his senses. The inverted
castle gets brought out into the open. Alucard sends Maria and Richter away,
vowing to finish the job himself, and enters the inverted castle.
III. Walkthrough - Inverted Castle
Note: Using the library card will warp you back to the librarian.. in the
normal castle. There is no librarian in the inverted castle.
The inverted castle has precisely the same layout as the normal castle,
including all of the secret areas. These are all a lot harder to get to,
since the layout of the building is, as the name implies, completely inverted.
Since the layout is basically the same, rather than giving details
directions, I'll give what items are where, and some general tips on the
bosses. Bosses are in the same places that they were last time, with the
exception of Dracula. When describing a boss, I'll give its name first, and
then the name of the boss where it's found in brackets.
The entire object of this section of the game is to collect the pieces of
dracula, then find and defeat him. The order in which you accomplish killing
the other bosses is completely a matter of personal preference; unlike the
normal castle, which is structured, you already have all of the items you'll
need to survive and win.
Royal Throne area - The stairwell through the floor just outside the throne
room contains 3 heart max items, 3 life max items, the royal cloak, and the
bastard sword. Falling out the lower left leads to a room with several resist
items, and a high potion. The spot where the double jump pendant was has a
garnet. A library card is to the lower left, below the save point.
Section 1: Defeat Darkwing Bat
Clock Tower area -
Darkwing Bat [Kurusaman] - This is a huge bat. It will try to fly into you,
will curl into a drill and fly back and forth around the room, and will
stay in one corner, blasting you into the wall with wind. Soul Steal makes
short work of this beast, as does concerted attacks while it's flying by. Not
terribly difficult.
Killing the Darkwing Bat gives you the Ring of Vlad.
Note: Due to the number of medusa heads, when entering the clock tower area,
I recommend the use of the mirror cuirass, or a resist stone potion.
The secret passage in the next room (upper right) contains the moon rod. The
clock tower's secret area has a life max and heart max item. The gear secret
contains a diamond, life apple, and sunstone. Just outside the clock tower,
the lower left area contains a dragon helm. On the three pillars in the open
area are the Luminus, a smart potion, and a str potion.
Section 2: Defeat The Creature
Outer Wall - As you head up the outer wall, you can score a high potion, luck
potion, and max life item from porcelain containers. A heart max item is up
close to the telescope, out in the open. Going through the mist grate nets
you a hammer and a shotel. The secret wall behind where the plate lord is has
a Dim Sum set. The room to the left of the Creature has a luck potion.
The Creature [Doppelganger 10] - The Creature is some funky dude with a huge
hammer. He'll attack with it, but at very short range, so it's nothing to
worry about. When he gets seriously injured, he'll wrap himself into a little
ball, and run around the edges of the area. The best way to fight him is to
stay just within sword range (which conincidentally is just out of hammer
range), whomp on him until he goes into a ball, and then stay in the middle of
the room. Jump him when he passes, and smack him with the sword till he dies.
Long Library - The librarian's room has an opal, turquoise, and a library card.
The room in the lower right has several resist items. The room with the Lesser
Demon is now totally empty. The path past the mist grate has a staurolite
ring. The room with the movable bookcase now has a Neutron Bomb and a
badelaire.
Marble Gallery - Note; Watch out for spiked rollers that hide in the corners of
walls.
The first pink ceiling has an iron ball. From the bottom left of the four way
exit, through the blue door is a meal ticket. The second pink ceiling leads to
the underground caverns. From the clock room, down through the stopwatch
passage are four resist potions. Through the central passage is a life max
item, a heart max item, and a set of glass containers with every special
weapon in the game in them.
There is a shaft on the way up and out of the gallery that is absolutely full
of medusa heads. If you don't have the medusa shield, but want it, this is the
place to be.
Be very, very careful near the clock room, as the Gaurdians there will eat
you alive. The Guardians are in the rooms to the left and right of the clock
room.
Section 3: Defeat Beelzebub
Alchemy Laboratory - The long elevator shaft's first landing leads to a Goddess
shield.
Beelzebub [Slogra/Gaibon] - This boss, the Lord of Flies, can either be
insanely difficult or very easy, depending on what route you take. Beelzebub
drops maggots that can poison you, and has flies that encircle him to attack.
You can do a high jump next to him, and beat him in the head/chest area
without taking much in the way of damage. About seven repeats of this
procedure will kill him.
Alternately you can take parts of him off, like chopping his legs to pieces,
then his arms, his torso, etc. Every time you do, he adds more flies around
him until he's impossible to reach, and your hp will fall very quickly. Don't
do this. (See Granfalloon - same strategy.)
Beating him gives you a life max item. The room to the lower left has a Ring
of Arcana, a highly important relic.
A life max item is where the cloth cape used to be. The dual secret passages
in the single shaft room contain a katana (ceiling) and a heart max item
(right side).
Entry Hall - There's a heart max item laying on the floor. The passageway on
the left has a talisman. The passage just off Death's room has a life item.
The passage out of the floor in the rock passage room leads to a fire
boomerang; the secret room opened up by the bat/wolf forms contains an opan, a
zircon, opal and a beryl circlet. A hammer and antivenom are near the
entrance to the castle.
Section 4: Defeat Medusa
Royal Chapel - As you enter from the Alchemy Laboratory, a max heart item is
there. A second max heart item and a diamond can be obtained from porcelain
things down the grand stairway. A life max, mana prism and smart potion are
at the bottom of the first bell tower. A talwar is in the bottom of the
second. The Twilight Cloak is through the spike passage.
Medusa [Hippogryph] - Medusa, queen of the gorgons, is armed with a sword and
shield, along with her natural talent to turn people into stone. To beat her,
simply walk up and kneel. Attack with your sword. She will try to use her beam
on you, but it'll pass right over your head. When she backs up, advance and
kneel again. Simple.
Beating her nets you the Heart of Vlad.
The bottom of the third bell tower has a magic missile and bwaka knife. The
passage between the bell towers and Olrox's Quarters has a max life in it.
Section 5: Defeat Doppelganger40
Underground Caverns - Going up one screen and right from the pink ceiling entry
nets you a max life item, and breaking the wall to the right nets you a
diamond. Directly across to the left is a save point. Down in the succubus'
area is a max heal item, along with five more meal tickets.
In the secret passage next to the Scylla Worm's room, you can find an elixir,
a mana prism and the Force of Echo. In the Scylla Worm's room is Doppelganger
40.
Doppelganger40 [Scylla Worm] - The same strategy as Doppelganger10 applies.
Walk away, jump towards, strike. Repeat.
On the other side of the Dark Octopus room (Scylla's old area) you can find
the dark blade.
Where you see the mushroom (now out of Scylla's area), you can drop down and
explore to find an opal. Continue to the right from that area. Explore the
water above your head to find a max heart item, and in the second part of the
water, a life max item. Get a Garnet where the Herald Shield was. The passage
to the left of the waterfall contains the Osafune Katana.
Continuing all the way to the right, from the top of the waterfall's area,
leads to Alucard's Shield.
Section 6: Defeat Akmodan II.
Olrox's quarters - The upper path from the main open room leads to Alucard's
Mail. The lower right leads to Akmodan II.
Akmodan II - Akmodan II is an ancient mummy. He has a tendancy to use poison as
well as punch attacks and throws. The fastest way to beat him is with
Alucard's Shield.
If you follow the floor to the right you'll get a heart max item. From the
four white path in Olrox's quarters going to the upper left you can find The
Sword of Hador. If you go to the main open room and to the upper right,
you'll find a heart max item. If you use soul steal in the gray stone
passageway, you can get down to a heart refresh item.
Section 7: Defeat the Doppelganger Heros
Arena - Toward the bottom through the secret in the floor is the Fury Plate.
In the middle are two heart max items and one life max item. In the upper
right is the Gram. In the upper left after the elevator shaft is the Buffalo
Star.
Doppelgangers [Werewolf and Minotaur] - In the Arena you fight Doppelgangers
from the past. Alucard's Shield rips them into pieces. The three doppelgangers
are replicas of characters from Castlevania III. Specifically, you'll have
to fight Trevor, Grant, and Sypha - the three heroes. They all have varied
attacks, and when you beat any two of them, the third becomes much faster
and stronger (and the attacks vary). Use the Alucard's Shield technique to
beat them to a pulp.
Section 8: Defeat Death
Abandoned Mine - A save point is in the upper left of the entry shaft. In the
room where Cerebrus was, you can fight Death.
Death [Cerebrus] - Death has at least three forms of attack. The first is to
send multiple scythes flying at you from all around the room. After he takes
some damage, he'll summon a pair of red hell-scythes, and will fly at you and
attack directly. When damaged further, Death morphs into some type of skeletal
creature with a pair of scythes for hands, and comes at you again. All of the
forms are difficult to evade damage from.
Death can be fought with standard jump and dodge techniques, for the most
part. The Alucard's Shield can take him out in three hits.
Have your demon familiar throw the switch again, after Death's room, and go
to the secret passage beyond for a green tea, another power of sire, and a
life apple. Go up the shaft past Death's room and take the first right to find
Alucard's Sword. The first left leads to the snakes head teleporter. Up the
shaft and to the next right is another Power of Sire; to the left are the
inverted catacombs.
Section 9: Defeat Galamoth
Catacombs - As you enter, to the upper right is your first save point. To the
right of that is a room with a magic missile, and a secret panel that has a
Buffalo Star. Follow the path to the extreme upper left. After the spike room,
you'll wind up finding a set of porcelain things with two resist potions, a
karma coin and a buffalo star. At the end of the path is an elixir, and
behind the secret panel in the wall, a library card.
Circle back around and stick to the upper right, through the four exit room.
Just after the blood skeleton room you'll find a life max and heart max item.
Explore to the lower right after this room to find the Necklace of J. Cut
through more blood skeletons and go to the lower left of the next room for a
save point. A diamond is past it to the left. The lower right path leads to
the largest boss in the game, Galamoth.
Galamoth [Granfaloon] - Galamoth can be insanely difficult to beat. He uses a
wide variety of high power attacks, most of them lightning based. If you
acquired the Beryl Circlet from the inverted rock passage area, you're set, as
his attacks will heal you. If you have Alucard's Shield and use it
excessively, he'll also fall quickly due to the limited invincibility it
confers. However, if you have neither, it might be time to consider taking up
a new hobby.
The path to the upper right of Galamoth's room leads to a heart max and life
max item. Just past that is the Ruby Circlet and Gas Cloud relic.
Section 10: Defeat Shaft
Under the Clock Room - To get the clock room to open in the inverted castle,
you have to obtain all five pieces of Vlad (which are obtained from fighting
the bosses), and then go stand in the clock room. Entering the area,
immediately to your right is a save point. To your left is a heart refresh
item. Upon falling into the main area, you'll fight Shaft.
Shaft - Shaft spews some tripe about the dark forces consuming the world, and
then attacks with a series of green balls that float around him. He floats
inside of a ball himself. Use the shield, smack him to death within five
seconds, and move onto the final challenge - Count Dracula.
Section 11: Defeat Count Dracula
Dracula - Dracula has some type of despairing true form, which he endeavors to
tell you about. Don't get fancy, just use the shield technique, and rip him to
shreds. That's it - the last boss of the game, demolished, beaten, and
bruised by a single piece of metal, the Alucard's Shield.
IV. Miscellaneous
:- 1. The Alucard's Shield technique -:
As you go through the game, you'll probably find the shield rod. The shield
rod, while not an overly great weapon, has the ability to unleash the latent
power of shields that you find, for a small price in magic.
For example, when the shield rod is used in conjunction with the skull shield,
the shield will unleash blasts of laser-energy. When used in conjunction with
the knight shield, the shield will raise defense. To activate the shield rod,
I believe you have to press UP + Triangle, or Triangle + Square + Circle.
Most shields alter your attributes temporarily, increasing your resistance to
dark, light, fire, ice, lightning and such. The Alucard's Shield, however, has
a much grander purpose.
When you trigger the shield rod with the Alucard's Shield, all of the shields
in the game revolve around Alucard's for a moment. Then they all form into it,
the shield glows.. and nothing happens. (At least, nothing happens visibly.)
In truth, the Alucard's Shield is now endowed with the abilities of all the
other shields, plus some. (It's already resistant to nearly everything, so the
resistances aren't built in.) Here are the three largest effects, and the
driving reason that you'll wand to abuse this procedure.
A. The Alucard's Shield becomes a formidable weapon. Simply hold it out and
run into someone with it, and it will hit them for over 250 damage. (This
works wonders on Galamoth.) Note that this will place a small-but-continual
drain on your magic, so only keep the shield out when hitting things.
B. Whenever you hit something, you will regain 8 hp. This holds true of
hitting a candle, a creature, or even an invincible floating skull. (In fact,
the skulls are a great way to heal, either by way of soulsteal or by just
letting the shield rock them. They can't be destroyed, so it's limitless
healing.)
C. Whenever you hit something (same time as B), Alucard will become
momentarily invincible. The invincibility lasts for approximately 2 to 2.5
seconds. This enables Alucard to walk up to a huge line of enemies, smack the
first one with his shield, and just roam down the whole line without worrying
about getting hit from above/behind.
D. Whenever you kill something (monster or candle), you will gain one heart.
The hearts will float above the shield and disappear, automatically added to
your totals.
So, what you have in the end is Alucard, walking around with his shield,
healing, invincible, gaining hearts the whole while, and dealing 250+ damage
about four times a second while the shield's out. You just can't beat that raw
power.
Sadly, the Alucard's Shield hideously unbalances the game. I admit, it is
great fun to walk end to end in the castle, stomping things left and right,
but the actual gameplay gets reduced to .. well, walking end to end in the
castle, stomping things left and right. It becomes a platform jumping game
more than anything.
The shield is indiscriminate: it works on everything equally. Dracula and
Shaft fall just as easily as Galamoth does. In fact, You can take Dracula down
in approximately fifteen seconds with the shield, without taking damage.
:- 2. Killing Guardians for Fun and Profit -:
Far and away the easiest way to increase your levels of power in the game is
to take down the awesome Guardian monster. These beasts inhabit the rooms to
the left and right of the inverted castle, and are nowhere else. The rooms
will be laid out as follows; on the left and right sides will be a Guardian,
pacing around and looking extremely tough (much like the Armor Lords). In the
middle of the room, and prone to joining the guardian on whatever side you
enter, is one of the giant brothers - blade, hammer, that guy with the curvy
blades - one of them.
The Guardians are not easy to kill by any stretch of the imagination, even
with the Alucard's Shield technique. The Guardians use hard hitting wide range
power to stomp Alucard into a little quivering pile of flesh pudding. You can
tell what attack they'll use by how they gear up for it.
If they rear back, and start an advance, they'll use a flurry of swordstrikes
aimed at head level. It's not wise to jump into this.
If they rear waaaay back for a second, they'll probably use a long overhand
sweep that carries them forward a step. This is also not advisable to try to
get past.
If they cross their sword down to the ground in front of them, they'll be
using a ground-based flame attack. This can be jumped, and this is when you
make your move. When they use the ground flame, walk up to them and leap over
it as the flame is cast. Use your shield in mid-air to smack the head of the
Guardian once. (Guardian's have over a thousand hitpoints, and generally
refuse to die.)
Once you hit the Guardian, you're invincible for your 2.5s. Get in there and
stand with your shield out until he dies. Walk to the right, take out the
giant thing, and walk right up to the other Guardian (now you're invincible
from the giant) and smack him around. The Guardians are worth an insane amount
of experience, and will help you level very very quickly.
Be warned, though, that getting hit isn't exactly the best option. The hits
deal massive damage, and partially stun Alucard (by throwing him backwards
slowly.) Once hit, it's hard to get away from them, and you could easily die.
:- 3. The Experience System -:
You'll pick up on this while you fight Guardians. The amount of exp you gain
is relative to the following factors:
o How much exp the monster is worth
o Your level
o Its level
If a monster is of a lower level than you, you will recieve proportionally
less and less experience as you become more powerful. At the end of the game,
most monsters will give you 1 exp, due to the level difference. Conversely, if
a monster is of a higher level than you (as is often the case when you begin
fighting Guardians), you will recieve a greatly enhanced bonus for beating
them.
We'll use the Guardians for example. I believe they're level 60. If you enter
the clockroom hallway at level 40, say, and take down a Guardian, you're going
to get many thousands of experience. (Over 4k easily for one kill, might be
over 6k or 9k.) When you make it to level 60, the Guardians will give about
1.2k per kill. When you surpass them, they give 500exp.. 200exp.. so on, until
they're so worthless that the only way to level is to massively kill a bunch
of small, weak monsters, since everything's worth the same now.
:- 4. The mystery of the Clock Room -:
Ever wonder what time the clock keeps when you're in the central clock room?
Want to know -when- that once-a-minute time will come so that you can access
the upper left passage? Here's the key.
Aside from special times, such as when you have the rings, or when you go to
fight Dracula, the clock's hands are tracking your actual gametime. If your
gametime is at 6 hours, the clock reads 6 hours.
