THE NAKED ALUCARD CASTLEVANIA:SYMPHONY OF THE NIGHT
CHALLENGE
Copyright Acid Angel 13 2003
ver 2.5
ONE MILLION THANKS TO GMAN94 FOR LETTING ME KNOW THAT I
MISTAKENLY POSTED THE WRONG GUIDE LAST TIME I UPDATED!!!
NO ATTENTIVENESS POINTS FOR ME!!!
CONTENTS******************************************************************
i INTRODUCTION
ii THE RULES
iii FAQ's
iv HELPFUL TIPS
v THE WALKTHROUGH
vi HOPES AND DREAMS
vii OPTIONAL STUFF/HALL OF FAME
viii LEGAL STUFF
ix VERSION HISTORY/AUTHORIZED SITES
************************************ i *************************************
INTRODUCTION
A few years ago, I came across a beautiful treasure for the Playstation
system. It was called Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I've been a fan
of the Castlevania series since I was like ten, so it was a must-have.
And then I played it. Combining elements from my two favorite genres,
side-scrolling action and role playing games, it instantly became, and
still remains, one of my all-time personal favorites.
After playing so many times I'm surprised the disk hasn't melted, it
occurred to me that, while laying waste to the minions of Dracula is a good
time, once Alucard has the right equipment, it isn't much of a challenge.
It just doesn't seem right to be able to calmly walk up to a gargantuan boss
like Galamoth, laugh in his face, and then administer him a beating the
likes of which are rarely seen (unless you watch the Detroit Tigers play
baseball, anyway).
So, during my hundredth or so replay, I said to myself "Self, what's a
really good way to make this game INSANELY difficult?", to which I answered,
complete with `duh' head slap, "Your strength lies in your equipment, so
DROP THE EQUIPMENT!!"
And why not? This game has a lot of RPG elements, and most of the
`challenge' walkthroughs I see for RPGs are "no such-and-such helpful items"
walkthroughs.
And so it begins: The Naked Alucard Castlevania:SOTN Challenge!
************************************ ii *************************************
THE RULES
i: Thou shalt not, AT ANY TIME, EVER, equip any, that means ANY, armor.
That's head and body items! No beryl circlets, no walk armors, no blood
cloaks. Never!! (EXCEPT in the case of the Gold and Silver Rings, and
Holy Glasses)
ii: Thou shalt not equip any weapons or shields. The only thing Alucard is
allowed to have in his grubby little paws at any time are restorative
items such as food, potions, and elixirs. No 'resist' items, either.
iii: Thou shalt not use any spells. AT ALL. If you're getting pounded by a
boss, suck it up. No Hellfires, no Tetra Spirits, and absolutely, under
no circumstances, ever, no Soul Steals.
iv: Thou shalt not reap the benefits of any acquired relic, unless instructed
to do so. As a side note, in this guide I often say "go into the menu
and turn off this relic". That is a personal preference, to avoid, um,
`accidentally' using Form of Mist to avoid getting trashed (yeah, that's
it.) You don't actually have to take that step, as long as you follow
the rules and don't use whichever relic it is. If it is a relic that
automatically denotes a benefit (such as the various pieces of Dracula)
you must turn it off.
************************************ iii ************************************
FAQS (that I made up)
First, let's get "the big one" out of the way:
Q: Can this even be done?
A: Absolutely yes. In fact, I composed this guide WHILE I played, rather
than going off memory and saying to myself `yeah, that could work',
like a lot of `challenge' FAQs I find (that is NOT directed or meant
to demean, discredit, or offend anyone who publishes any FAQ).
Furthermore, it's a lot easier than one might expect (but that might
be because I tried to keep my levels super high, out of higher
expectations for the boss fights).
Q: What about this-and-that location where I have to fly, or pass through
a grate?
A: This guide will tell you when you have to fly or pass through a grate.
Q: What about the Spirit Orb and/or Faerie Scroll relics? They don't
boost Alucard's stats.
A: The purpose of this challenge is to defeat the game without adding
beneficial equipment to Alucard. If you absolutely must know the
name of the creature that's kicking your ass, or how pathetic the
damage you're dealing to it, by all means, leave them on.
Q: Why isn't this guide complete? I don't have the whole castle filled
out!
A: This guide is for a specific challenge. First off, there are a lot of
places in the castle that are inaccessible barring use of certain
items. Secondly, this guide assumes you've beaten the game before
(I would recommend that), and therefore do not require a complete
walkthrough. If you're trying this for your first time playing, good
luck, and you're more of a man than I am.
NOTE: I tried to make this guide as descriptive as possible, for
those of you that are more of a man than I am.
Q: Couldn't you make up more than four questions?
A: No.
************************************ iv *************************************
HELPFUL TIPS (or, Some Stuff You May Have Forgotten)
i: The triangle button (Default controls) makes Alucard slide backward.
Aside from looking cool, this skill is incredibly useful in avoiding
enemy attacks, especially the Wargs you must kill before you get a
chance to level up.
ii: Always, ALWAYS, keep a heal item in your secondary hand. You'd be
amazed how many enemies can land an attack in the split-second it takes
for the menu screen to come up, go back down, and you to hit that
button. Also, keep in mind that potion items take time to come into
effect, so it may be beneficial to have a food equipped to keep you
alive to enter the menu, equip, and use a potion.
iii: Save Points are your friend. In case you haven't noticed, save points
restore your HP to full. Use EVERY save point you come to. Not only
will this restore lost HP, it will save you a lot of time and trouble in
the long run. And, for your own good, never assume that, just because
you've played 700 times or think you have a 'feel' for the game, that
it's a good idea to skip a save. It isn't. (That's your fair warning.)
iv: Kill everything you see. Without the Cube of Zoe, the only way to fund
your developing potion addiction is to get cash and jewels from the
devilspawn you kill.
v: Get yourself a turbo controller. In order to make yourself worthy for
combat, you'll need to do some serious leveling-up very early on. The
best way to do this is the "out to lunch" method, i.e. setting up your
controller so that the attack button fires itself, placing Alucard in
the path of respawning enemies, and letting the game run for several
hours by itself. Unless you've got 30 or 40 hours with nothing better
to do, you're going to want this.
vi: Finally, most importantly, if you're the "get mad and throw the
controller" type (you know who you are...), get your Prozac
prescription filled, or get a few extra controllers. The point: You
ARE going to die. Probably several times. That's why it's the Naked
Alucard Challenge, and not the Naked Alucard Cakewalk.
************************************ v ************************************
THE WALKTHROUGH
Let's get down to business, shall we?
FINAL STAGE: BLOODLINES
You start out as Richter. Walk up the steps. Kill Dracula. No problem,
right?
Well, we're starting off on the right foot. No special items for Richter,
either. Just you and a whip against the Lord of the Undead.
Actually, this is still pretty easy. When Dracula teleports, slap him in
the head with the whip, then whip the fireballs. Every fourth turn, Dracula
will launch shadow balls. Duck the first, jump the second. Hit him if you
can. This may take a while, as the vampire's only vulnerable point is his
head.
When Dracula changes forms to the big demon thing, try to get under it,
crouch, and whip like mad. If you can get the transformation to take place in
the corner and get under Drac, he will actually just stand there and fire
harmless fireballs while you thrash him! (Normally, he jumps around the screen.
If this happens, just dodge and hit.)
In any event, if you should "die" during this battle, Maria will appear and
grant you invincibility, so you can't lose.
(I've read in several places that Richter's performance in this fight
affects Alucard's initial stats; I don't know if this is true, but if you're
interested, check one of the 'complete' walkthroughs located on
www.GameFAQs.com)
CASTLE ENTRANCE
You start off just inside the castle. Open the menu. See all Alucard's
nifty equipment? Nice, huh? Yeah. Now, make like a stripper and take it all
off. Not so tough now, are you, Billy Badass? Nope, now you're just a guy in
a castle full of creepy-crawlies that want to kill you, with a cold breeze
blowing up your butt.
Well, get on with it. There's a Warg waiting for you in the courtyard. Run
in, punch, slide to dodge its lunge, and put it down while it recovers. About
4 hits will kill it.
Enter the castle. More Wargs here. Punch, slide, punch. Move on.
In the next room, punch the Bats down. 1 hit kills them, and, if you're
lucky, they'll drop you a Potion. Bust open the rocks for a Pot Roast, then
drop down and beat some Mermen. 1 or 2 hits takes them out, and you'll gain a
few levels pretty quickly. Don't be afraid to sacrifice the Pot Roast and
potion to survive and level up.
-MERMEN TACTICS-
These are fairly easy to kill, and give quite a bit of EXP early on. Not
only that, but aside from the usual array of hearts and money bags, they also
occasionally drop zircons, which can be sold to the Master Librarian at 150
gold a pop.
The only danger Mermen pose is their tendency to gang up and try to
overwhelm you with superior numbers. To avoid this, go to the far left side of
the room (under the bats), and back against the wall in the bottom of the room.
From this position, the enemy has only one avenue of approach. The Mermen will
jump onto the ledge and advance; Let them come to you. When you step out to
collect items, slide back as fast as you can. If you get severely outnumbered,
jump up to the stairs above.
There are three kinds of Mermen, each with its own unique trait.
-Yellow: There seem to be the most of these. Their specialty
is a slide move, where they jump forward and slide at
you, and it covers a good distance. Like all Mermen,
they also launch fireballs. One of their favorite
tactics is to double up with another Merman, and slide
while the other launches fireballs.
-Pink: These guys only shoot fireballs, but their land speed
is twice the rate of the others. They try to catch
you from both sides and close in, which will juggle
you between them for at least two successful hits.
-Red: Slow moving and relatively rare (NOTE: that's
`relatively'. There's still plenty of them.), these
guys are nothing to worry about. Their only effective
attack is their giant fireballs, which are more
powerful than the others'. They tend to wait until
you're outnumbered and distracted to attack.
NOTE: All fireballs can be destroyed with a punch, so you don't
have to dodge everything.
When the Mermen stop giving you more than 1 EXP, move on to the next room on
the right. More Wargs here. Punch, slide, punch. Be careful when the lights
come on, Zombies start rising from the floor and can box you in pretty quick.
You'll find a Turkey in the block at the bottom of the far right stairs.
In the next room, Death appears and swipes all that cool equipment you
weren't using. Let him think it bothers you and move along. Go right into the
tower, climb up and left across the hole in the bridge.
Back in the castle, you'll kill a Skeleton who drops a Short Sword. Go
ahead and pick it up... But don't you dare equip it!! Same goes for the Red
Rust the next Skeleton drops. Use the Save Point, second door up on the left,
and continue up. Grab the Cube of Zoe if you want- Then go into the menu and
turn it off.
-"But how am I supposed to get any money?" you ask? The Cube of Zoe only
makes candles drop items. Enemies will drop stuff no matter what. You want
money? Kill, kill, kill!
Go through the hallway to the left and enter Alchemy Laboratory, then turn
around and come back. Entering the Lab, even for a second, removes the Wargs
from the rooms below. Go down and right to the hole in the bridge, above the
room where Death took your stuff, and drop through the hole in the floor.
Hold left while you fall, as Slogra and Gaibon are waiting in Death's place,
and you don't want to take them on just yet. Dive through the door to the
Zombie room ASAP.
Remember up in the Tips and Hints section (if you read it), I told you to
get a turbo controller? Now's the time to put it to use. Set the primary
attack button (whichever button you use for Alucard's sword normally) to auto-
fire, or turbo and use a rubber band to hold it down, then step down off the
ledge and let the respawning Zombies walk into Alucard's fist. Now, go out to
lunch. Mow the lawn. Take a bath. Call Taiwan for an hour. Do whatever you
want for as long as you want. Al will be okay (I let my game run like this
overnight), and he'll gain a sick amount of EXP. This is probably the best
room to do this in, and you might as well start early.
NOTE: Sometime during or after this process, you may want to go
collect some cash. If you do, head back to the Merman room and
kill Mermen for money bags and zircons. Don't forget to kill
the Bats for a couple of potions to hold you through the first
couple boss fights before you get to the Library.
After you reach level 17 or so, which will put you in triple digit HP, you
should be able to proceed if you like (This took my game about 4 hours).
Personally, I let my system run overnight; This put me at LV 26 with 150 HP at
just under 15 hours game time. When you head back through the room where
Slogra and Gaibon are, take your licks and get by them into the tower. They
have the advantage in this room, plus you have to fight them later whether you
fight them now or not, so save the HP. Hit the Save Point on your way back up
to...
NECROMANCY LABORATORY
Head left across the first room. There's a Hide Cuirass in the globe; Take
it if you like, but don't equip it. Go up the ledges to the next room. Head
left again. In the candle or burner or whatever-it-is you'll find a Leather
Shield. Take it if you want, but don't... Oh, you get the picture.
Go up and out the left. Both the floor and the left wall of this vertical
chamber will break away; To the left is a Heart max up you can collect if you
want, and below is a Life Max up... but I haven't found a way to break floors
bare-handed.
UPDATE!!: Bladesmaster9 points out that the kick attack can break
floors. Being foolishly unaware that this attack could be used
without the Gravity Boots, I never tried it. And I quote:
"To perform this attack, simply jump as high as you can (that includes
your second jump), and when you are near the top of the jump (before\
or after doesn't matter), press a downwards direction, like diagonal
forward or straight down, and press X. Be aware that if you succeed
in connecting with an enemy you are sent back up into the air, but
if the foot of Alucard doesn't hit the enemy first you will get hurt
and have to recover from the hit.
This technique can be performed at the beginning of the Alucard
section of the game, and can used even if the passage is no more than
a head taller than Alucard. You just have to be quick about it."
Go up and out the top left. There's a Resist Thunder in the burner if you
like. Up and left again.
Kill the Spittle Bone running around the ledge and go left. Watch out for
the spikes. Now, if you took the time to level up, you should be able to take
the Axe Knight out with a single hit! Bide your time (this ain't a speed run,
people), wait for an opening, and throw your punch. Kill both Axe Knights and
head out the left.
NOTE: Occasionally, Axe Knights will drop an axe special weapon. No,
you can't use it. If you feel temptation will overwhelm you,
stand in a corner somewhere so you can't hurt anything and use up
all your hearts.
Todd Parker (
[email protected]) suggests that if you pick up an Axe,
you may want to trade it in for a Cross weapon (this requires you to
know where the Cross is, of course, then switch on the Cube of Zoe,
get the Cross, and turn the Cube back off). Since the Cross draws
obscene amounts of hearts, your temptation will soon be sated.
Be careful of the Spittle Bones as you drop down and climb up the vertical
chamber. They spit out little droplets that will poison you (Note: This is
bad.). The first door up on the left is a Save Point. SAVE!
Go up to the top of the vertical chamber and to the right. Prepare for
combat!
SLOGRA AND GAIBON
If you boosted your levels, this is nothing. Move into the room until they
start chasing you, then slide back to the left. You can duck under the
horizontal fireballs the both bosses fire, and Gaibon's (that's the flying one)
diagonal fireballs aren't hard to avoid.
The key here is to get them to chase you left until Slogra (that's the other
one, with the spear) is below the lowest platform. Jump on the platform, run
across, and drop in behind him. Do your best Bruce Lee scream and level him
with your fists of fury. If you're lucky, Gaibon will try to come after you by
diving under the same platform. Get behind him while he's trapped in this tiny
space and fold him before he knows what hit him. Seriously, I beat him so
quickly he didn't even turn red! He just laid down and died!
Collect a Life Max up for that little bit of work.
Head out the right side door, kill the skeletons in the hall, and climb up
to the second door in the vertical part of the chamber. Save Point. Use it!!
From here go up and out the top right. Be careful in this corridor, the
Bloody Zombies can be pretty tough customers against a naked half-vampire.
The next room contains Axe Knights and Spittle Bones. Take a leap of faith
off the platform and kill the Axe Knight, then break the globe in the lower
left corner for a potion. Go right, kill another Axe Knight, climb up, and
exit stage right.
MARBLE GALLERY
Only one way to go in the first room. Keep moving right and time your
punches to hit the Axe Knights on the run; If you keep moving, they don't even
toss their axes. Same goes for the Axe Knight waiting just inside the next
room. Kill him and drop off the ledge. Go right, kill the Quija Table, and
use the Save Point.
Go back out, kill the table again, and go up and right to the first clock
room. Kill the annoying Flea Men and go to the central clock room to meet
Maria. When she's done flirting with you, go right through another clock room
(what does a vampire need so many clocks for anyway?). Kill another Flea Man,
and continue right through the Gallery. Head up and right through the next
room, right, and, in the X-shaped room, down and right.
Kill the Diplocephaluses (about 4 hits apiece) in the long room with the
creepy floating eye in the background and continue right. Watch out for the
Stone Rose seeds (they turn you to stone), kill the plants, then exit right
to...
OUTER WALL
As soon as you enter the Outer Wall there's a vase to smash. Destroy a
priceless antique, gain a zircon. Go up the stairs. The only way out of this
room is left, so go. The blue Axe Knights in this room are tougher than the
green ones (around 3 hits to kill). Just get in there and lay the smack down.
Go left through the next room to another Save Point. Do I need to tell you to
use it? Didn't think so. Go up and right from here to face...
DOPPLEGANGER 10
This guy's a pushover. Jump in, attack, slide, repeat. Pressing diagonally
down and toward while jumping and hitting the attack button causes Alucard to
kick instead of punch, giving you a much better attack range. If the
Doppelganger jumps onto you or backs you into a corner, crouch and get a free
punch on him, then start the pattern over. I dropped him with about 10 hits.
Your prize is another Life Max up.
NOTE: You have to go back to the center of the room to collect the Life Max
up. If you leave it, you lost it.
Go right and grab that Gladius sword you'll never use, and on out to the
wall again. If you time your jump right you can get the vase; Inside is a
Life Max up. Head up, past the door.
Take out the various enemies(the Spear Guard is easy if you jump over him
while he thrusts and hit him from behind)- that just sounds wrong..., and keep
going up to the next door you find. Step through to the teleporter and warp
down to the Entrance.
CASTLE ENTRANCE
Step on the switch to lower the wall, get the Heart Max up, and head right.
This room's familiar... Go up to the Save Point, use it, then go back to the
teleporter and warp back out to the Outer Wall.
OUTER WALL
Time to get that elevator working. Step out of the teleporter room and go
up. Dodge the Medusa Heads and the Sword Lord (or kill him, about 4 hits) and
go up the stairs to the right, then left across the platforms to the hanging
switch. Punch it a few times (until the "Elevator Activated" message appears)
and the elevator is yours to command.
Go back down to the elevator and grab the Soul of Wolf relic. There, now
you can transform into a bluish-purplish wolf-dog critter. Enjoy the moment,
then open the menu and turn the relic off. No wolves in this game, guys.
Stand on the elevator platform and press down to got to the door you passed
before. Go through it to...
LONG LIBRARY
Head left, killing the Dhurons as you go. Try to jump kick them, as they
can do decent damage. Ignore the left doorway in the next room and go up the
stairs. Kill the Ectoplasms. They give you 'curse' if they touch you, but
'curse' only affects weapons use, and we aren't using weapons, are we? Your
bare fists are just as effective as they always were, so use them to show these
"tortured souls" the true meaning of pain.
Continue up and thrash the Spellbooks while you glow pretty colors (if you
got 'cursed', anyway). Go all the way to the top right and collect the Faerie
Scroll. All it does is display enemy names, so leave it on if you want (see,
I'm not so mean after all). Kill the three Magic Tomes (about 4 hits apiece),
and all the Spellbooks (about 3 hits), as they randomly drop the 1000 gold bag
item.
Once you've got the Scroll, it's back to the left and down. Enter the
bottom left door and go left into the Master Librarian's chamber. Sell the
crazy old bastard any gems you picked up, then pay him some of your hard
earned cash. You're going to need that Jewel of Open, 500 gold or not, so you
may as well suck it up. After that, pick up any Potions, High Potions, and
Elixirs you might be able to afford, but, whatever you do, don't waste that 103
gold on the map!! If you MUST have a map, Eastpaw has done an excellent job
of mapping castle 1, and J. Mason's Richter castle map shows outlines of both
castles. Both of these maps are available in the In-Depth FAQ's section for
Castlevania: SOTN at www.GameFAQs.com.
When you're done here, head back out to the Outer Wall and ride the elevator
up to the teleporter. Warp back out to the Entrance.
CASTLE ENTRANCE
Use the Save Point here and go back to Alchemy Lab.
ALCHEMY LABORATORY
Go back through the Lab as you did to get to Slogra and Gaibon. When you
get back to the vertical chamber with the two Spittle Bones and the Save Point
(remember to use it), climb up and exit through the top left door. Pass
through the glowing blue door and talk to Maria again, then go left to the...
ROYAL CHAPEL
I know it doesn't seem like you've gone far, but use the Save Point on the
left anyway. Humor me. Leap up into the Chapel and go left. Smash another
priceless vase for an Aquamarine, then head right, up the steps. To fight the
Bone Pillars, jump in, punch, and jump or slide back before it fires off its
flame (the slide move puts you just outside of the flame's range. I told you
it was useful.). When the bottom head is destroyed (about 3 hits), jump over
the top head as it tries to roll over you.
When you get to the Corner Guard, jump in to taunt it into sliding at you,
then beat it down while it recovers. Go all the way up the stairs and exit
right.
Pass through this room to the next, large room with the Spectral Sword. The
Spectral Sword can hit hard, so it's your choice if you fight or flee. Go
through the top right door and across the next room to the confessional. Take
the time to sit in the chairs and let the ghosts talk, occasionally you'll
receive a Grape Juice for your trouble. Be careful, some of the ghosts will
try to kill you.
If you sit in the left chair and a blue priest appears, you're good.
If the priest is white, MOVE!!
If you sit in the right chair and a pink ghost appears, you'll be fine.
If she's blue, GET OUT!!
When you're done here, go up past the Skelerangs and climb the bell tower.
The Winged Guards here are easy to avoid or kill, but the Crows can be
nuisances. Be prepared to take some damage from them. At this point, you'll
probably want to avoid the Hunting Girl and continue on your way. At the very
top of the tower you'll find a Life Max up, a Str. Potion, and a Silver Plate.
Get them all, if you want, even though only one of them is of any use.
In the next room, be careful of the Bone Halberds. You can duck under their
attack, but they can hit an undefended Alucard pretty hard if they catch you
unaware, plus they have good range and can move extremely fast. About 2 hits
kill these guys. Also, kill as many of the Bats as you can, maybe they'll drop
you a potion. Fight through these creeps to the next tower and climb it. At
the top is a zircon. Get it and move along.
Another hallway full of Bone Halberds and Bats. Take them out and prepare
to fight...
HIPPOGRYPH
No problems here. Start the fight by boldly jumping in and landing a kick
to its head. Yes, you will take damage from this maneuver. Don't worry about
it.
Jump to hit the Hippogryph on the fly (which will also damage you most
times), or play it safe and wait for him to land.
When the beast is on the ground, run in and pummel it. Sometimes it will
charge from this position, but most often it will rear back and charge its
flame attack. When it does this, take a cheap shot at its exposed belly and
slide, which will put you just out of the flame attack's range.
If the Hippogryph lays any eggs, smash them immediately.
Keep the heat on and the beast will fall quickly. Collect another Life Max
up and have a flashback with Maria (if you're a long-time Castlevania player,
this round of dialogue, particularly the little thought bubbles, are kind of
amusing.)
Exit right to yet another hall full of Bone Halberds and Bats. Show 'em
who's boss and cross the bottom of the next bell tower to the Save Point. Get
back any HP you lost in the Hippogryph fight and climb the tower. Smash the
vase at the top for a potion and grab the Cutlass if you want, then go through
the door to the right.
CASTLE KEEP
Beat your way through the Axe Knight and walk the length of the room. WALK!
If you jump, the annoying little Flea Riders will dive in on you. Kill the
rest of the Axe Knights and enter the room with the floating platforms. Cross
the room to the door and go through to another teleporter. Warp down to the
Entrance, save, and return.
Ride the floating platform up and go left. Now you HAVE to contend with the
Flea Riders, but at least you've got more space to do it in. Kill as many of
them as you can, they drop Turkeys. Head all the way left for the Leap Stone.
Double jump, yay! Jump up to the ledge and get the Turquoise and punch out the
wall for a Turkey. There, now that I've given you two freebies, enter the menu
and turn the Leap Stone off. No, you don't need it to get out of this room.
Go back the way you came.
Now might be a good time to warp back over to the Outer Wall and visit the
Librarian for some more potions, but, if you feel lucky...
Head back to the Marble Gallery, and go to the X-shaped room. Go to the top
right this time, through the blue door. Step on the platform until you hear a
bang. This opens the pink blocks in the floor of the Gallery. Head back out
the upper left door and go to the newly opened passage in the floor. Go down
and through the door to...
UNDERGROUND CAVERNS
Where else would you expect to find a cavern, in the sky? At any rate...
Be wary of the Spear Guards waiting for you and head down a few platforms
until you come to doorways on both sides of the screen. Take the left door
first, and go past the Spear Guard and Bone Archer to the hole in the floor.
Drop down through the next room until you find another leftward doorway. Go
through it and climb up to the Life Max up in the ceiling, then retrace your
steps back to the room with the two doorways. Go through the right door this
time, save if you like (use this one or the next, or both), and drop all the
way down into the cave. There's another Save Point on the right, use it if you
skipped the other one. From here, drop down and enter the doorway to face...
SCYLLA WYRM
Slide into the lower left corner of the room. When the Wyrm stretches
toward you, jump and punch. When it's dead, go through the right side door.
Head right and keep moving. This room fills with water that hurts you if it
gets high enough. Jump through the hole in the ceiling and go right to a vase
containing a Pot Roast. Get it and go all the way left to fight...
SCYLLA
Stand just to the right of the first column, at the water's edge. Crouch
and punch anything that comes your way. When the three Wyrms are defeated,
jump across the platforms and hit Scylla's body with all you've got (which is,
of course, your fists). Keep an eye on your HP and be ready to fall back and
heal if you need to, then get back in there. Keep the pressure on and bury
her. Grab that Life Max up you earned. Go into the room behind Scylla for a
Crystal Cloak you can't wear, then go back the way you came.
Make your way out and up to the Save Point and save. Leave the save point
and go west, young vampire (that's left for you non-magnetic types). Grab a
Shiitake 'shroom (why would you put anything beginning with the word 'shiit' in
your mouth?) and kill some Toads. Push the wooden box all the way to the left
and watch some Spear Guards drown. That was cruel, but it felt good, didn't
it? On the ledge to the right is another Shiitake. Grab it and continue to
go left.
Keep going to the waterfall and jump down. Hold left as you fall and try to
get the two mushrooms on the left wall. At the bottom, brave the water and go
through the semi-hidden doorway on the right to a room containing a Frozen
Shade and a Life Max up. Kill the ice queen and grab the goods, then go back
out and left. Thaw some more Frozen Shades and go up through the ceiling (you
can ride the boat if you want, but there's no real point).
Another shiitake in this room. Get it and go left through the door to the
Castle Entrance.
CASTLE ENTRANCE
Grab yet another free Life Max up and stand on the lever to lower the wall.
In the next room, you can hang out and slaughter some more Mermen if it makes
you feel good. When your business is done, go up and out to the right. Make
your way back through the castle to the Marble Gallery.
MARBLE GALLERY
Go back to the main clock room, where you first met Maria. Turn your Leap
Stone back on and wait for the left statue to move, then double-jump up through
the opening. Turn the Leap Stone back off and grab the Life Max up, then go
through the door to...
OLROX'S CHAMBERS
Climb up, killing the Skelerangs as you go. Try to get onto the platforms
and inside the arc of their boomerangs as they throw them to avoid taking a
hit. Go up to the main room and head right first. Punch out the wall and go
into the long room on the other side. At the end of this room are more
antiquities to break for a cheese, an onyx, and a Broadsword. Take them and
go back to the main room, then go left, under the Spectral Sword, to the left
door.
COLOSSEUM
Drop down to the room directly below the entrance and save. Go back up and
left through a room full of Blade Soldiers. Go up when you come to the grate,
and left through the long room. The Blade Masters here are your greatest
threat. They deal out decent damage and take about 4 hits. Kill everything
and keep going left to the wall by the Knight Shield. Step on the button to
lower the wall and get the shield if you want it, then drop down to the Save
Point below. DEFINITELY use it.
Go back up and right, into the shadowy corridor. Grab the Library Card on
your way by and enter the main arena to do battle with...
MINOTAUR AND WEREWOLF
After Richter finishes babbling his nonsense, get ready for a TOUGH fight.
These guys are here to make up for all those easy boss fights you've previously
done. They are fast, precise, and hit HARD!
As soon as the battle starts, get in close to the Werewolf (that's the
little guy on your left, in case you can't tell the difference between a
werewolf and a minotaur) and pound him. Do your best to ignore Minotaur for
now, the goal at this point is the remove the pair's devastating combo-attack
ability by removing one of the variables, namely the weaker Werewolf, from the
equation. Dodge any of the dual attacks and stay on the Werewolf until he
falls.
When Werewolf dies, it's time to get stupid. Get in close to Minotaur and
hammer him! Keep an eye on your HP- This guy hits HARD!! He's too tall to
jump over unless he charges, and his axe has an incredible reach. This is
basically a battle of attrition; The up side is you have the capability to
restore your HP. Just keep hitting him and healing until he goes down.
Collect a Life Max up for winning this tough fight and head right.
Jump over the switch in the floor and grab the Form of Mist. Mist through
the grate (wasn't that neat?), then go into the menu and turn the relic off.
Head right and down to the Save Point. SAVE!! You don't want to do that fight
over, do you?
Go up and exit the Colosseum back to Olrox's Chambers.
OLROX'S CHAMBERS
In the main room, jump up past the Spectral Sword and go right. Go through
the upper right door to a long room containing two enemies, a Hammer and a
Blade. You'll encounter Hammer first. When you see him, slide backwards and
let him come to you; This way, you can take him on without Blade joining the
fight. Hammer is almost like a boss. He hits hard, has great defense, and a
long reach. Duck in, strike, and slide out. Be as aggressive as you dare.
When Hammer goes down, continue right. Blade is shorter than Hammer, so you
can jump over him and keep going. Move right through the next room to the
door, and use the teleporter to warp back to the Outer Wall.
OUTER WALL
Use the elevator to go down to the Library entrance.
LONG LIBRARY
Make your way back through the Library. Go out of your way to kill all the
books for the chance at a 1000 gold bag, then go to the far left stairway. If
you can afford it, visit the Master Librarian; If not, stop at the ledge just
above the two Spellbooks. Turn the Leap Stone on and jump up to the platform.
Kill the Corpseweed and turn the Leap Stone back off. Head left through the
doorway to a Save Point. Save. Go through the left door and enter a room full
of Dhurons and Flea Armors. Advance slowly and try to take them on one at a
time.
In the next room, drop down and take out the Flea Armor. Go left and
fight...
LESSER DEMON
Jump in and hit him with a kick to start the fight. Lesser Demon will take
to the air. Jump and punch.
Lesser Demon will summon other, weaker enemies into the battle. Keep in
mind that, while he is summoning (he's surrounded by a column of light), he is
invulnerable to attack. Kill the smaller enemy and turn your attention back to
the Demon.
Collect a Life Max up and continue left.
Go down the stairs to more antiques. Smash them for a Takemitsu sword, an
onyx, and a Frankfurter.
Turn the Form of Mist on and mist through the grate for the Soul of Bat.
Now you can turn into a bat. Then, you can turn the relic off. Mist back
through the grate and enter the menu. Turn the Form of Mist off and the Leap
Stone on. Climb back up to the Dhuron/Flea Armor room and fight your way back
to the Save Point.
Turn off the Leap Stone, save, and go back down to the Master Librarian.
Sell your onyx and buy any potions you can afford.
Exit the Long Library and go up the Outer Wall to the teleporter. Warp to
the Castle Keep.
CASTLE KEEP
Enter the floating platform room and ride the platform up. Stand on the
upper left side of the room, below the hole in the ceiling, and activate the
Soul of Bat. Fly up into the next room, turn the Soul of Bat back off, and
ride the swirly-color platform up to light the lion-head torches. Go to the
Save Point on the right and save.
Drop back down in the lion-torch room and go through the door.
CLOCK TOWER
You've just stepped into a boss fight against...
KARASUMAN
Jump in and drop a kick to his head to start off on the right... 'ahem'...
foot. Try to stay directly under him when he's flying. If he shoots his blue
spears, you'll be in the perfect position to avoid them. If he launches shadow
balls, do your best to dodge.
Karasuman's most common attack, though, is to summon shadow crows and
launch them. This attack fans out from Karasuman's body, blanketing one side
of the screen... But, if you're below him when he calls the crows, you can
move behind him while he launches them. Not only are you in no danger, you can
beat him senseless while he's locked in this animation!
Collect a Life Max up for your superior fighting form and go right.
Go straight through the next room. You can break down walls for items you
can't use if you like.
Head right and down through the pendulum room. You'll find Sword Lords in
this room, and, when you kill them, they'll turn into semi-invisible Vandal
Swords. The Vandal Swords are fast, but their sword is always visible, so
they're easy to track. Kill them all and head right, into the actual clock
tower.
Try to avoid the Medusa Heads as you carefully cross the room to the upper
right wall. Punch the wall out and pass through the opening. Kill Flea Armors
as you go right and up.
Jump up into the roof peak. A Cloaked Knight guards a Heart Max up and a
Life Max up. Avoid him or kill him and collect the Life Max up on the left.
Jump back down and go back out, across the tower, and back into the pendulum
room. Fight your way back past the Sword Lord/Vandal Swords, climb up, and
swing on the pendulums to reach the door. Go left back to the Keep.
CASTLE KEEP
Ride the lion torch platform back up and save, then go through the left door
to the broken stairs. Activate the Soul of Bat and fly left. Dodge the Flea
Riders and go to the stone outcropping below Dracula's throne room. Collect
the Power of Mist relic... And turn it off.
Fly back across to the Save Point. Use it.
Drop down to the teleporter and warp back to the Outer Wall.
OUTER WALL
Ride the elevator all the way down. Go down the stairs and drop through the
hole next to the vase. In this room, go down the stairs. Take the door back
to the creepy-eye corridor of the Marble Gallery.
MARBLE GALLERY
Kill the Stone Roses and Diplocephaluses and head left. Go through the
X-shaped room and exit the upper left. In the next room, drop down through
the hole and head down to the Underground Cavern.
UNDERGROUND CAVERN
Avoid the Spear Guards' attacks and go down through the room until you come
to a hole in the floor. Turn on the Soul of Bat and step through the hole.
Take bat form and fly right through the door. Turn the Soul of Bat off and
proceed right. In the next room, smash the vase for a Claymore sword if you
want it, then drop down and exit.
The bottom right vase in this room contains the Moonstone; The rest hold
Meal Tickets. Collect all the Meal Tickets, and the Moonstone if you want,
then go through the bottom LEFT door to find a Save Point. Do your business
and exit, this time, go through the right door to find a strange, glowing
purple Save Point. Use it to enter...
NIGHTMARE
The game takes over for you here. Watch Alucard talk to his dead mother
(Norman Bates, anyone?), then prepare to fight...
SUCCUBUS
Jump in and hit her as soon as you can. When she flies up to the top of the
screen, enter the menu and turn the Leap Stone on. Succubus spends a lot of
time at the top of the screen, and double jumping is the only way to reach her.
Stand under her while she decides what to do. She will either extend spears
from her wings (which you can avoid by standing below her), or create a row of
clones. If she clones herself, you must dodge the pink energy balls the clones
all fire and attack each one until you find the real Succubus.
Succubus will also launch pink flower petal things in an attack that mirrors
Karasuman's shadow crows, and you can avoid and counter this attack exactly as
you did with him.
When she falls, you return to the castle. Turn the Leap Stone off, collect
the Gold Ring, and use the Save Point.
Climb back up and left, and fall down the vertical shaft into the cave.
Head left all the way to the waterfall.
At the waterfall, activate the Soul of Bat and fly left to the door. Enter
the room and push the switch. A Skeleton Ape appears and breaks open the
floor, allowing you to get the Herald Shield if you want. Kill the Skeleton
Ape and fly back across the gap. Turn the Soul of Bat off and go back the way
you came.
In the room with the wooden bridge, you will now find another Skeleton Ape.
You'll have to kill him and continue right to the next room, then turn around
and come back.
Kill the Frogs and Toads, then SLOWLY go left until you see the Skeleton
Ape, then slide back. Wait until the Ape is on screen again, and slide. Do
this until you're standing on the wooden bridge. Let the Skeleton Ape throw
his barrel, destroying the bridge, and drop down to the Heart Max up and Life
Max up. Collect them and drop down to the door. Enter...
ABANDONED MINE
Drop to the bottom of the gold room and save on the right. Use the Leap
Stone to get back onto the lowest platform, turn it back off, and climb up to
the dog-head door. Enter and go right to face...
CERBEROS
Run in and punch him. Move in as he backs away and keep hitting him. He
will shoot fireballs, either one at a time or several in rapid succession, all
of which can be ducked under. When you back him into a corner, he will try to
jump on you.
Just do your best to avoid his attacks and heal when necessary. Beat him to
earn a Life Max up.
Go right and drop through the green room. The next room is only one screen
tall, and you might fall clean through it! Get back into this room if you fall
through and head right. Kill the Gremlin and his fires (you can wait a few
seconds for the fires to burn out) and go through the door to the last
teleporter. Warp up to the Entrance, save, and return.
Head left from the teleporter, kill the Gremlin again, and drop down to the
bottom of the next room. Exit to the right and go down to the door to...
CATACOMBS
Drop down through the first room and go left to the Save Point. Save and go
back to the right.
The Wereskeletons in this room have great reach. They throw bones, and whip
their necks. Kill them and the Bone Ark, which must be approached with
caution, as it will fire lightning balls when you get close. Head right.
More Gremlins in this room. Proceed carefully to avoid their fires and drop
down to the lower left door. Enter a room full of sarcophagi (that's stone
coffins). Walk casually through and keep your hands to yourself, like a
museum. If you punch the coffins, they will release Skeletons and Blood
Skeletons... So don't!
In the next room you'll find a Heart Max up and a Life Max up. Grab them
and go back past the sarcophagi to the Gremlin room. Cross the bottom of the
room and enter the lower right door.
Keep going until you come to a large room with a floating platform. You can
kill the Slimes in this room with your fists (about 3 hits for the Green
Slimes, about 5 for the Large Slime), but be careful of the Bone Ark. Climb up
to the door on the upper right and enter a dark room.
Open the menu and activate the Form of Mist and Power of Mist relics. Turn
into a cloud and float blind through the dark room (roughly, go right, up, righ
just a little, down, right, up, and right). Try to zig-zag a little, as there
are several tiny ledges to get hung up on, and it's almost impossible to tell
if you're moving at all once you get to the center of the room and have no
point of reference. Materialize on the light platform to reveal the spikes
lining the walls of the room. Turn off the Mist relics and go right.
Kill the Wereskeletons and pass through this room. Drop down into the next
room and kill the Bone Ark. There is a hidden Pork Bun in the lower right
corner of this room. Grab it and go left past several Wereskeletons to a long
room, at the end of which you will find the Spike Breaker armor. Don't equip
it yet.
Go back, past the Wereskeletons, to the hole in the ceiling. Turn on the
Soul of Bat, fly up, and deactivate the relic in the next room. Head left.
In the spike room, equip the Spike Breaker and turn on the Leap Stone. Make
your way left to the end of the room, then remove the armor and turn the Leap
Stone off again.
Go left through the Slime room and head back to the Save Point. Save and go
up and out of the Catacombs.
ABANDONED MINE
Equip the Leap Stone and climb up through the green room. Collect two
Shiitakes on the way if you missed them coming down. When you exit the room,
turn off the Leap Stone and go right to the teleporter. Warp up to the
Entrance.
CASTLE ENTRANCE
Go up to the Save Point and save. Continue up to Alchemy Lab.
ALCHEMY LABORATORY
Go back through the Lab to the Royal Chapel.
ROYAL CHAPEL
Head through the Chapel to the first bell tower. Climb the tower to the
platform with the Hunting Girl. Fight the Hunting Girl if you think you can
take her, or continue up, over the bottom bell, and drop down to the door on
the Hunting Girl's left. Enter the room and equip the Spike Breaker and Form
of Mist relic. Go all the way left, past the blue door, and break the bad news
about Richter to Maria.
After she goes into denial and leaves, grab the Silver Ring behind where she
was standing and go back to the bell tower.
Turn off the Form of Mist and remove the Spike Breaker. Drop down to the
bottom of the tower. Go left, back to the room with the Spectral Sword, drop
straight down, and use the lower right door to enter the Colosseum.
COLOSSEUM
Use the Save Point directly below the door. Climb back up and head right.
If you're feeling brave, go down the shadowy corridor, through the empty
arena, and step on the button in the floor to use the elevator. Ride down one
floor and go right. Take out the Hunting Girls, and climb up to the Save
Point.
If you're more conservative, or less lucky, climb up above the arena and
cross through the Blade Soldier/Blade Master room, and down to the Save Point.
Regardless of the path you chose, save and climb up to the door to Olrox's
Chambers.
OLROX'S CHAMBERS
Head right and sneak under the Spectral Sword. Drop down and kill the
Skelerangs. If you're fast enough, you can hit them before they see you
coming. Go down and through the door.
MARBLE GALLERY
In the room where you picked up the Heart Max up and Life Max up, equip
both the Gold and Silver Rings. Go right and fall down into the main clock
room.
The clock should react to the Rings. You'll see a flash, then the clock
hands spin around, point straight down, and the clock chimes 13.
Scary...
Drop down through the new opening and go right for a Heart Max up/Life Max
up combo. Go back and ride the spooky elevator down to the room below. Fall
down to the bizarre room within a room. Fall down off the top of the inner
room and go under it to the hieroglyph decorated platform in the floor.
The platform will raise you up into the inner room, where Maria will move
from denial to acceptance, and give you the Holy Glasses. When the cut scene
ends, turn on the Soul of Bat and fly back up to the elevator. Ride it up and
use the Save Point on the left, then fly up to the main clock chamber.
Turn the Soul of Bat off and go right.
Head back to the Outer Wall.
OUTER WALL
Go up and left, along the same path you took to fight Doppelganger 10. Use
the Save Point and go up, right through Doppelganger's room, and back out to
the Wall. Go up the stairs and ride the elevator up to the Long Library.
If you can afford it, visit the Master Librarian (even if you can't, you can
try killing Spellbooks for the chance at a 1000 gold bag); Otherwise, continue
up to the teleporter room and warp to the Castle Keep.
CASTLE KEEP
Step out of the teleporter room, ride the platforms up, and use the Soul of
Bat to fly up through the hole in the ceiling. Ride the swirly color platform
up in the lion head torch room and use the Save Point on the right. DO NOT
SKIP THIS SAVE!!!
Follow the red carpet left to the broken stairway and fly diagonally
up-left to the door. Turn the Soul of Bat off and equip the Holy Glasses.
Stand near the tall candle holder, jump, and punch the lower left corner of
the wall to reveal a stairway. Climb it and start breaking stuff! The
antiques on the left contain a Frankfurter, a Pot Roast, a Turkey, and a
Sirloin. There's no real point in going right, since you have no use for a
Resist Stone, a Resist Dark, a Resist Holy, or the Platinum Mail, but get them
if you like.
Go back down the stairs and left. Break open the vase on the table for a
Heart Max up if you want, and enter Dracula's throne room to fight...
RICHTER BELMONT
NOTE: If you are consistently losing this fight, it might be a good
idea to go back down to the zombie room in the Castle Entrance
and level up. A lot. I first attempted this fight at LV 28, with
a total of 252 HP, and lost in a matter of seconds. After
several more tries with similar results, I decided this isn't
just a good suggestion, it's pretty much a necessity. After 23
hours of killing Zombies, I was at LV 35, with 318 HP.
Actually, you're not here to fight Richter at all. See that little green
ball floating above him? It's controlling Richter. That is your target.
Of course, the possessed Richter isn't going to just stand there...
The legendary vampire hunter will initiate battle by using the Cross item
crash. This surrounds him with flying crosses and eventually fills the screen
with holy light. No matter what, this attack will hit you.
Richter possesses amazing speed and power. He will employ his whip and the
Holy Water, Axe, and Boomerang Cross items in a no-holds-barred effort to
destroy you. In addition, he has an arsenal of special moves, including the
Uppercut and Whip Dash.
You, on the other hand, have only the benefit of a single point added to
your Defense rating and a handful of potions and snacks that will only postpone
the inevitable.
Unfortunately, luck is the greatest factor in this fight. Richter has a
definite advantage in speed, power, and weapons. Even after hours of leveling
up, your Defense is only going to be 3 or 4, with the Holy Glasses equipped.
However, all that leveling up WILL grant you enough HP to survive more than a
few attacks, and boost your Attack to shorten the fight.
Richter will set the pace for the battle. If he unloads on you with
constant attacks, you're going down no matter how fast you can heal. There's
no nice way to say that. If he hangs back and tries to be strategic, you stand
a chance.
There's no real strategy I can offer, but this is how I ended up beating
him:
Run up on Richter, don't jump (or he'll toss axes and knock you away), and,
if you're lucky, when you get too close for his comfort, he'll use his Whip
Dash. If you're quick enough to jump this attack, Richter will fly across the
screen. Meanwhile, the little green orb will slowly follow him. Hammer the
green ball while it is separated from Richter, who is its only defense. If
your Attack is high enough, you can destroy it before it gets back above
Richter and end the fight.
Pat yourself on the back and watch the cut scenes. Alucard will
automatically warp to the Inverted Castle.
REVERCE KEEP
Equip the Soul of Bat and fly up out of the teleport chamber. Don't bother
to turn it off, unfortunately (for the purpose of this challenge, anyway) the
Inverted Castle requires you to fly just about everywhere. Leaving the relic
on, however, does not entitle you to employ the bat form special moves, so
don't think you're getting away with anything. Go left and smash the vase
hanging from the table to get a zircon, then drop down below the stairs and
smash more antiques. To the right you will find a Life Max up, a Heart Max up,
another Life Max up, and a Bastard Sword. To the left, a Heart Max up, Life
Max up, Heart max up, and a Royal Cloak. Fly up out of this room and go left.
Drop down outside the castle and go left. Kill the Yorick skeleton and
enter the room. According to the rules, technically you can only collect the
High Potion in this room.
Go back out and fly straight up from the doorway to the red carpet door.
Go inside and left to save.
Fly up to the door and go left to the Reverse Clock Tower and fight...
REVERSE CLOCK TOWER
DARKWING BAT
The greatest threat here is Darkwing Bat's slow speed. Often, you will
crash into the flying turtle during attacks, and you will take a lot of damage
from this.
Jump in and punch the bat as he slowly flies around the room. When he
positions his body vertically, get below him to avoid his wing flap attack,
which causes a gust of wind that will throw you against the wall. If the
mechanics of this attack seem familiar, the method of counterattack should,
also. Get behind the bat and pound it while it's locked in this animation.
Darkwing Bat will also fly down and try to catch you between his wings, but
this attack, like the rest of his movement, is slow and easy to avoid...
Unless he catches you in midair as you jump.
Defeat the bat for the Ring of Vlad, a relic that would grant you a +10
bonus to your Intelligence rating, if you were leaving it on. Turn it off and
return to the Save Point.
Head back through Darkwing Bat's room and left. When you reach the room
with the Bomb Knights, jump to avoid their bombs and kill at least the closest
of the two (about 5 hits), and ride the spiked platform to get over the second.
Keep going left until you reach a vertical wall, and use bat form to fly up to
the stone platform with a Bomb Knight and a small spike platform. The Bomb
Knight cannot hurt you, he's too close to the ceiling. Avoid the spike
platform and kill him, then run over the top of the platform. Go left to the
broken stairs. You will see a Bomb Knight directly below you; You can engage
him or hold left as you fall through the hole in the stairs. Get onto the
stone platform directly above a large spike platform. Drop down onto the spike
platform and ride down. Kill the two Bomb Knights, then ride the second spike
platform up halfway or so, and jump left to the stone platform. Jump up and
right to the next stone platform, then fly through the hole in the stairs.
Continue left through the door.
Go straight across this room, ignoring the Cloaked Knight, and punch out
the left wall. Go through the hidden room and drop down into the Clock Tower
attic. Avoid the Cloaked Knight and grab the Life Max up on the left, then fly
back up into the hidden room and go back to the main Clock Tower.
Go right back through the door and make your way back past the Bomb Knights
to the vertical wall. Fly up and continue right and down to the door. Go back
to the Save Point in the Reverse Keep and save.
REVERSE KEEP
Fly up through the hole in the ceiling and ride the platforms up to the
door. Go to the teleporter, then turn around and come back. Head through the
right doorway.
Run up to the Tombstone and punch, then slide to avoid being jumped on. Hit
it again while it remains stationary; You should be able to destroy it (5
hits) before it jumps again. If the Tombstone hits you, you will be cursed,
but big deal, right?
Continue right to...
ANTI-CHAPEL
Fly up the bell tower to the Save Point on the left. Save. Fly across to
the hall on the right. Rapidly punch the Balloon Pod to break it open and
destroy its poisonous seeds. Avoid the Black Panther by throwing a punch at
it as it runs toward you; It will turn into a puddle and flow past you. Keep
moving so it doesn't run up behind you. Go through the pink-tinted door to
fight...
MEDUSA
Jump in close to her at the beginning of the battle , duck, and hit her a
couple of times. She will back away; Follow and keep hitting her until she
backs into the corner. Get right next to her, duck, and start tapping the
attack button.
The hardest part of this fight is the amount of time it takes to wear
Medusa's 1100 HP down with only your fists. By ducking, you will avoid her
sword slash and stone gaze attacks, so you can actually win this fight with no
damage incurred.
Collect the Heart of Vlad, which gives you the useless ability to avoid
curse. So turn the relic off.
Head back left and fly across the bell tower to the Save Point. Save.
Go back right, through Medusa's room, and down another hallway full of
Balloon Pods and Black Panthers. Fly up the next bell tower and go through
the door on the right.
There are several Black Panthers in this hall, and you're bound to get boxed
in. Just keep moving and ignore them.
Drop into the roof of the last bell tower and smash the vase on the right
for a Life Max up, then fly up the tower.
When you reach the door to the spiked hallway, duck inside. Step back out
and fly left under the wooden platform, then around the left side and above it,
back to the center, and straight up. If you do this quickly enough, you can
void damage from the Snipers of Goth. Fly up into the Chapel and dodge around
the Snipers to the door on the left to enter...
DEATH WING'S LAIR
Go left to the hall with the Flying Zombies and Cthulu. Be careful;
Somehow, I managed to break through the floor in this room, and the only
purpose this seems to serve is so the Cthulu can knock you backwards through
the hole, which resets all the enemies in the room. If you break the floor,
you might as well die and come back.
Kill the Flying Zombies by throwing a standing punch or two to destroy the
upper body, then crouch and punch the legs to death.
Get past this room to get another Life Max up.
Continue left past more Flying Zombies and another Cthulu. Try to lure the
Zombies away from the Cthulu, who will fly harmlessly back and forth until you
get too close to him.
Exit the room and drop down past the Medusa Heads to the broken platforms.
Cross to the left and enter the Save Point. Save.
Go back right across the broken platforms. Drop down off the right platform
and run under the Karasuman through the lower right door.
Head down the hall. When you reach the blocks on the ceiling that you can't
walk past, use bat form to fly below them and continue through the gold door to
fight...
AKMODAN II
Akmodan II is a hard hitter and can be a difficult boss to get in close to.
Unless you know what you're doing, this will be a tough, frustrating fight.
The key lies in your speed. As soon as you enter Akmodan's chamber, run
straight across and crouch in front of the coffin as it opens. The Alucard
sprite should be directly in front of the coffin's lid. This should put you
within punching range as soon as the mummy appears.
Start punching like mad. When the mummy starts taking damage, he will lapse
into his "ouch, I got hit!" animation and be unable to recover, and will simply
stand still until he dies or you stop punching him. Simple. If you lose any
HP in this battle, you did it wrong (well, I guess it's not wrong if you win).
Collect the Rib of Vlad (CON +10) and turn it off.
Leave Akmodan's chamber, avoid or kill the first Karasuman, and fly up to
the broken platforms. Go left to the Save Point.
Drop down to the lower left corner of the main room and fall through the
hole in the floor. Smash the vase for an Aquamarine and head left. When you
come to the spikes in the floor, wait on the platform for the Ghost Dancer,
kill it, and fly left to the next platform. Kill another Ghost Dancer, fly
left. Keep doing this until you reach the hole in the ceiling.
Fly up through the hole to the top, then take the door on the left and
teleport back to the Reverce Keep. Save and return.
Go right form the teleporter. In the room where you encountered Hammer and
Blade in the `normal' castle you will find Ghost Dancers and Malachais. Kill
the Ghost Dancers, duck below the Malachias and let them fly over you, and
keep going right to the main chamber.
Fly up and left. Break down the wall and enter the hidden room. There are
a Malachai and two Ghost Dancers in this room; Kill the Ghost Dancers and
ignore the Malachai. Go all the way left and stand on the ledge to jump and
break the vases for an opal, Sword of Hador, and a high potion.
Leave this room and fly up through the hole in the ceiling. Go left, then
take bat form and zig zag around all the platforms as you proceed up to the
door. Go left to...
BLACK MARBLE GALLERY
Go left and fly up to the central clock. Drop down the long center shaft
to a room full of glass cylinders holding the subweapon items (stopwatch,
knife, etc.) Ignore them and head right for a Life Max up. Fly back up to the
central clock and head left. To my knowledge, there's no way you can take on
the Guardians in this room in Alucard's current state, so hug the ceiling and
fly across. Continue left through the next room.
As soon as you enter you encounter a Jack O' Bones. Carefully time your
jump to kick him, and jump immediately afterward to avoid the spike trap on
the floor.
Go down the stairs. Another Jack O' Bones waits in another spike trap, but
the real threat is the Nova Skeleton. Take them both out and go right.
Another Nova Skeleton waits on the platform. Kill it and get to the floor
to take out the Jack O' Bones; If you wait on the platform, he will throw his
bouncing bone cross up and can shave off your HP pretty quickly.
Go left past another spike trap and into the next room.
Drop down onto the spike trap as soon as you enter the room. Carefully
cross the spike trap and kill the Nova Skeleton. Fight your way past more
Jack O' Bones and go left into the X-shaped room.
Get to the center platform and fly up and left. Go under the pink opening,
through the spike trap, and exit left.
The Stone Skulls in this corridor are invulnerable; Ignore them and go left.
Deal with a few Jack O' Bones and keep going. After the room's halfway point,
you'll only encounter Thornweeds. Keep going left to the door and enter...
REVERSE OUTER WALL
Drop down off the end of the platform and go right, across the hole in the
floor, to a room full of Paranthropi. Fight or jump over them and go right
across the next room to the Save Point.
Drop down outside the Save Point and go through the left door to face...
THE CREATURE
All the Creature does is roll around a lot, and occasionally swing his
hammer at you. Unless he actually hits you, he's pretty harmless.
When he rolls, just jump over him again and again until he stops (he rolls
5 times). Try to be behind him when he stops and hit him repeatedly until he
turns around. Stay in the center of the room to give yourself space to clear
him when he rolls, and keep up the jumping/hitting pattern until he dies.
Collect the Tooth of Vlad for a STR +10 bonus that you're turning off as a
reward for this easy (but time consuming) battle.
Go left, grab the shield potion, and go through the door. Jump over the
Jack O' Bones to the platform and smash the vase for a high potion.
Fly up and go right, back through the Paranthropus room to the Save Point,
then backtrack and fly up to the door to the Black Marble Gallery. Since
you're flying up, and going to be right next to it, smash the vase across for
the door for a Life Max up, then go back to the Gallery.
BLACK MARBLE GALLERY
Go right, past the Thornweeds, Stone Skulls, and Jack O' Bones to the
X-shaped room. Go right and down.
Get past the spike trap and Jack O' Bones in the next room, kill the Nova
Skeleton and fly up through the pink door in the ceiling. Go left and fly up
the next room to the door.
REVERCE CAVERNS
Smash the vase for a zircon and head up. Use the door on the left to save,
then go right. Kill the Jack O'Bones and Nova Skeleton and go through the
right door for a Life Max up, then break down the wall for a diamond.
Go left back to the main room and head up until find the door on the left.
Go through it and left past more Jack O' Bones and Nova Skeletons.
In the next room, kill the Jack O' Bones and smash the vase for a Heart Max
up if you want, then fly up, carefully navigating past the Balloon Pods, and go
through the upper left door.
All the vases in this room contain Meal Tickets. Collect them all and go to
the top of the room. To the right is a Save Point. To the left, in the room
where you found Nightmare in the `normal' castle, you will find peanuts hidden
on the floor. But these are no ordinary peanuts. Grab them, leave the room,
and come back to collect them again...And again...And again.
Stock up on peanuts to your heart's content (or until you get 99, all you
can carry).
NOTE: To use peanuts, equip them and push the button to throw the
peanut high into the air, then get under it and press up to eat
it for 50 HP. Not bad for a little thing!
Head back out to the main chamber. Fly straight up into the cave and go
left to the Save Point.
Go right from the Save Point. In the next room, stand in the doorway and
wait for the Jack O' Bones to jump at you and fall down through the hole in the
floor, then fly across and grab the Shiitake. Head right and drop down and
left for another Shiitake, then continue right. Deal with the Rock Knights as
you did the Bomb Knights in the clock tower (dodge the rock, run in, and punch;
11 hits kills them). Lure the Rock Knights left as far as you can to kill
them, then run right and hammer on the Venus Weed as it opens. When it dies,
slide and lure the Rock Knight back to kill it, then run right and kill another
Venus Weed.
Continue right. There are more Rock Knights, but that was the last Venus
Weed you'll be seeing. Exit right and fly up through the hole in the ceiling
of the next room to the door.
CAVE
The first thing you'll hear in this room is the telltale flapping of
Gaibon's wings. Go to the center of the room and jump to make him come after
you. Kill him and fly up from the center of the floor to the first platform.
When the next Gaibon appears, return to human form and fall back to the floor
(he will chase you), then kill him as well.
There are two more Gaibons above; Kill them in the same manner and use the
upper left door to save.
Drop down from the Save Point, dodge the Gaibons, and enter the dog head
door. There are two Slogras in this room; Take them on separately and go
through the left door to face...
DEATH
Death fight in two forms, so I'll address each separately.
Form 1
This is the standard form you've likely seen in previous Castlevania titles:
He flies around the room and spinning scythes appear to attack. The scythes
are easily dodged, but if you get cornered you can kill them with a punch.
Keep moving back and forth across the floor to avoid being cornered and punch
Death when you get an opening.
After taking a certain amount of damage, Death will hover in place and
summon two energy balls. Pound him relentlessly while he's motionless and then
dodge the slow moving energy balls and scythes while you hit Death until he
hovers in place again (If you're fast enough, he will skip the floating energy
ball part I just described and go to this).
Pummel Death while he hovers again, until he summons either two large, red
scythes that float near him or two giant pentagrams that produce fast, ghostly
skulls. If you get the skulls, you're probably going to see the Game Over
screen soon, but not definitely. Get in another hit and Death will call the
red scythes.
When he throws the red blades, back off and avoid them until they fly back
up to Death, then run in and hit him until he throws them again. Repeat this
until he changes form (you should level up from killing the first form).
Form 2
Death turns into a big flying skeleton thing with two scythes. Try to stay
as close to him as you can, running back and forth directly below him. When he
raises his arms, run under and behind him. He will drop and swing his scythes
down, and you can pound him. When he begins to recover from this attack, slide
and start the pattern over. Jump occasionally to keep Death flying high enough
for you to run below him unharmed.
If he throws his scythes, jump to avoid them (they boomerang, so you need
to dodge twice).
Collect the Eye of Vlad (LCK +10) and turn the relic off.
Exit left and fly up slowly to avoid the bats hanging from the ledge.
Carefully navigate this room and go out through the top. In the next room
head left to the door and use the teleporter to warp to the Reverce Keep.
REVERCE KEEP
Leave the teleporter and drop down to the Save Point. Save and head right
below the red carpet. Fly back across to the inverted throne room and go all
the way right to the teleport tower. Drop into the tower and press up to warp
back to the `normal' castle. Head right to the teleport room and warp down to
the Outer Wall.
OUTER WALL
Drop down to the elevator and ride to the door to Long Library.
LONG LIBRARY
Head back through the Library and sell your gems to the Master Librarian,
then buy some potions.
After you stock up, head back up to the teleporter and choose your destiny.
You now possess all the pieces of Dracula, and can open the path to him and
engage in the final battle; Or you can warp back down to the Entrance and
level up.
NOTE: There's a third option available for you at this point: Cheat.
My wife says if you came this far, you've earned it. Since
there are only two bosses left, and you probably don't have a
week or so to sit around while your system levels Alucard up, go
ahead. If you have a Gameshark, use the following code to level
up fast:
80097bec ffff
Now or then, when you're ready to face the Lord of the Undead, warp up to
the Castle Keep and go left to the throne room. Use the warp tower to return
to the inverted castle. Use the teleporter in the Reverce Keep to warp to
Death Wing's Lair.
DEATH WING'S LAIR
Go left to the main chamber and fly up to the Black Marble Gallery, then up
to the central clock. The clock should react in the same way it did to the
Gold and Silver Rings in the `normal' castle. Fly up through the ceiling and
go right to save, then ride the spooky elevator up.
Fly around the room within a room and drop into the chamber where Maria
gave you the Holy Glasses to fight...
SHAFT
There isn't much strategy here. Pound on Shaft's flying machine as fast and
often as you can.
Shaft employs six green orbs that attack in pairs.
The first two glow rainbow colors and bounce around the room; They're
fairly easy to dodge and you can continue your assault while they make their
rounds.
The second two fly down and fire flame bursts; To avoid them, crouch in the
corner.
The last two spread out to either side of the room and fire lightning
between them, then move up and down. You can't avoid this, so ignore it and
hit Shaft if you can.
When he falls, the path to Dracula opens!
DRACULA
The battle begins with some dialogue. As soon as the dialogue ends, get in
the lower left corner of the room and crouch as Dracula moves into the
foreground, then mash the attack button as fast as you can. You will avoid
most, if not all, damage from this position, and you can put a few good hits
on the Lord of the Undead in the process.
When Dracula flies into the background, he will create an energy ball and
fire it forward. Stay put until the last possible second and jump over the
energy ball, then get back into the corner before Dracula moves back up.
Dracula's three dragon heads will take turns trying to hit you, but they
can't reach you. When the dragons stand straight out, they create a triangular
energy field that will break up and hit you. Let it. You'll take more damage
trying to avoid it, so ignore it and keep hammering on Dracula.
Dracula also conjures up bosses you've faced and smashes them into a gory
mess. This is only for effect and really does nothing.
Just keep pouring it on, use any heal items you have if you need it (there's
no reason to save them now), and Dracula will fall in time.
CONGRATULATIONS!! You just completed the Naked Alucard Challenge!
************************************ vi **********************************
HOPES AND DREAMS
Though I seem to be the first to have made a guide for this quest, I'm in
no way stupid enough to assume I'm the first to complete it. Nor do I claim to
be a great gamer. Probably not even a good one. For those that have been here
and done this already, or for those that are inspired to undertake the task by
this guide, I have this list of things I would like to add to the guide. Any
submissions will be given due credit and be greatly appreciated:
1) Any additional strategy, for any boss covered in this quest, or any
not on the path I set (provided, of course, you can get to the boss
and combat it without breaking the rules). Which leads me to:
1b) A battle strategy to fight and BEAT Galamoth (if such a thing is
possible; I can imagine the arguments already). Come on, guys.
There has got to be some uber-gamer out there with the skillz and
the cajones to pull this off.
2) Level suggestions for any particular area/ boss. If you can
conquer this at LV. 47, say so. I'm the kind of guy who still
maxes out my character stats before I fight Sephiroth for the
thousandth time.
3) A way to navigate any part of the inverted castle without relying
on the Soul of Bat/Leap Stone so much. I feel like a dirty cheater,
flying around that castle so much. (On the other hand, if nobody
can tell me otherwise, it'll ease my conscience some.)
4) Any items (especially HP Max ups) that I couldn't get to but you
can.
5) Can anyone tell me why Alucard bears such a striking resemblance to
Setzer from Final Fantasy III/VI (3 on the SNES, 6 on PSone)? Look
at the Castlevania manual art and Setzer's sprite and tell me I'm
wrong!
************************************ vii ************************************
OPTIONAL STUFF/HALL OF FAME
Let me know about any side-quest you devise, complete the quest in
record time, or show off your sick skillz in some other way, and I'll
immortalize you in print!
IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!
This is it, THE strategy for the hands-down baddest-ass boss in SOTN.
That's right. So you took on Dracula with nothing but a loincloth.
You beat Werewolf and Minotaur with 1 measly HP left. You even spanked
Richter with a mere 4 points added to your DEF rating. But I ask you,
can you make Galamoth beg for mercy with no one and nothing but the gods
on your side?
gman94 (
[email protected]) did, and here's how:
(NOTE: I'm George W. Bush, and I approved this strategy...)*
Ok, when you get to where Galamoth resides, go to the checkpoint to
the left of his room. Before you save make sure everything is on that
you need, which is the gravity boots, the leap pendant, and you will
want alot of elixers/high potions/heal apples if they're aloud, not
sure. (NOTE: They are) A couple of shitakes or peanuts are good cuz
you will probubly have time to heal during the thunderball attack.
Ok, save and enter his room. now it becomes fun. Walk up to him so
he stands up and the scary music plays (which will become annoying in
about five minutes, if you got a big tv I would suggest doing this in
PIP) back up. He will usually initiate battle by throwing his magic
wand up into the air and calling his thunderball friends. Ok are you
watching? STAND OUT OF THE WAY OF THE THUNDERBALLS!!!
Good, and he will quit. Now he usually will lean over you and make some jolt
lightning, just waiting to shock you. Well, when he tries, super jump
into the air, and get ready to kick him in his head. Now, the only
thing that hits you is his giant horn, so don't touch that. After you
hit him once, you will careen upwards, jump, and kick him in the back
of his head. Then, once again you'll be flying upwards, and the faster
you do this kick, the better chances of you getting in a fourth kick.
You better experiment and get your own rhythm, that way you can always
get that fourth kick in. Now you'll either have to go over his wand or
underneath, and I would recommend over. Now, usually if you go over he
will send the shockwave thing at you. Just don't jump and you wont get
hit by it.
Rinse wash repeat until Galamoth falls. The only thing to watch out
for is to always get on his side farthest away from the wall.
So if he pins you into the wall, you will die. And thats about it.
"TO ALL I SAY THIS, *Galamoth fall down and go BOOM*"
* Yes, I realise I stated clearly that NO relics were allowed, however,
I'm letting the Leap Stone and Gravity Boots slide for anyone with the
guts to try this out. It's Galamoth! He's two friggin' screens tall!
How much of a 'hole do you think I am?
ALTERNATE GALAMOTH STRATEGY
Hubert Cumberdale (
[email protected])offers this alternative:
I have an easier way to beat Galamoth with only your fists. Its a bit
cheap, but so is galamoth, and pulling if off to begin with is quite
tough anyway. Its basically a variant of the whiplash method, only
somewhat tougher because your fists have no reach. Galamoth has to be in
just the right position for this to work, and lucky enough, he starts
out in such a position! He'll usually use his continous lightning bolt
attack first(otherwise, he'll do it second, after the black lightning
ball attack). Get over and around Galamoth somehow(if you can do this
without gravity boots, kudos to you!) and onto the platform above on the
right side of the room.
After he finishes his attack, he'll back up. Here's the tricky part: the
SECOND he turns around, you have to jump into the air and hit him in the
head, and then fall back on the platform. If you do this right, his head
will jerk back. Now you have to do it again, without wasting a fraction
of a second, before he recovers. Fortunately, you don't have to jump in
circles like a maniac forever. After a good 4 or 5 hits, he'll usually
be within range of your fists, so just land as far to the edge of the
platform as you can and just mash the punch button repeatedly.
If you can get this far, you're likely to win. That's a big "if" though.
There's a split second window of opportunity to get that first shot in.
However, he can break free, and if he does you'll have to resort to
kicking him in the head while he's doing his lightning attack, because
its almost impossible to get him into the right position to repeat the
whiplash strategy.
A TWIST ON THE CHALLENGE
Nicholas Sculley <
[email protected]> suggests that, if you
should find the Naked Alucard Challenge not quite enough of a challenge,
begin the game with the 99 Luck code (enter name as X-X!V''Q) to reduce
your stats to ridiculously low levels and make it incredibly hard to gain
levels. Then, have your head examined.
************************************ viii ***********************************
LEGAL STUFF
Castlevania, Alucard, and all related terms are copyright Konami.
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night copyright Konami 1997.
This guide is copyright Ryan Goss (Acid Angel 13), 2003.
If you want to post this guide or parts of it, send me an e-mail for
permission first. It'll only take a minute, and it's not like I'll say no.
Well, I might...
Also note that if you choose to do something stupid, like steal MY property
(this guide), keep in mind I have this on my hard drive, as well as the
handwritten original, and I WILL make your life hell over it.
This guide may be distributed freely, in whole or in part, by any means.
Any portion of this guide taken from the complete version must be credited
to me. This guide is for FREE distribution, which means nobody (except me)
may get any amount of money for it. Unless you sell it to your little brother
for a penny- I guess I'd let that pass.
To contact me for whatever reason, e-mail me at:
[email protected]
Use Castlevania as the subject, or I'll toss it along with all the spam I get.
Any corrections, revisions, additional strategy, or whatever, will be
greatly appreciated and, if relevant, posted in further versions of this guide.
What's more, I love getting e-mails about my work. If you send me a mail,
even a nasty one, you WILL get a reply. If you don't I didn't get it. Check
back with GameFAQs and look at the newest version of this guide to make sure
you have my current address, and try again.
************************************ ix ***********************************
VERSION HISTORY (or, Some Stuff You Probably Don't Care About)
6/13/2003- Ver 1.00: Finished copying the hand written quasi-guide I made
while actually playing onto the computer. Made up some FAQs, and a few
lame jokes.
6/10/2004- Ver 1.05: Slight changes. Added Authorized Site list.
5/17/2005- still Ver 1.05: had to change e-mail carriers. Yahoo blows...
9/2/2005- Ver 2: Added Galamoth strategy by gman94, revised Site
Authorzation policy, added contact message
9/30/2005- Ver 2.2: Due to an incredible influx of mail about the guide
(yes, three mails in a couple day's time IS incredible), yet ANOTHER
update, as well as fixing some formatting errors I missed in revision 2
12/21/05- Ver 2.5: Added alternate Galamoth Stretegy, Nicholas Sculley's
challenge suggestion... I guess that's it.
2/22/06- Still Ver 2.5: Actually POSTED this version, after having it pointed
out to me that I've had not only the WRONG guide, but an INCOMPLETE
guide, hanging out on GameFAQs in its place. gman, I can't thank you enough.
Yes, I am a stupidass.
AUTHORIZED SITES (or, People Who Didn't Rip This Off)
The last time I got asked for this from a site other than GameFAQs, I
got jerked around by said site and was utterly unable to register, let
alone actually upload my work. Since I have a real life, and DON'T have
time to waste trying to get this onto a site when I could seriously care
less if it's there or not, from now on I will remain completely loyal
and suservient to the site that introduced me to online gaming strategy.
www.gamefaqs.com is the ONLY site that will ever carry my work. If you
find it anywhere else, it's stolen, and I'd like to know about it.
