I decided that, instead of doing a walkthrough, I would do a boss guide of
this terrific game. This should be helpful to you, since, even though you
can view the bosses stats and tricks to beat them, you can only view them
after you defeat them. (This guide could also be helpful to those that are
trying to win the battles through skill, maybe by using less equipment, or by
using the Luck cheat.)
Of course, this guide alone won't win you the fights. You'll need the proper
equipment and such, but this guide will be very helpful, so that you don't
have to get the very best equipment, in order to defeat the bosses.
Before you start off the game, you will play as Richter, will must defeat
Dracula. (This bit was taken from the Japanese game, Dracula X, I believe.
If I'm wrong, someone e-mail me with the true game.) You can defeat him, even
if you "die" (lose all your HP, and Maria will show up, and give you
invincibility.), but the true purpose of this battle is to decide Alucard's
starting stats.
Therefore, you'll want to do good. Taking damage, time elapsed, and the
amount of hearts used, all affect how Alucard's stats look. Dracula has two
forms, both of which you must kill. The first form attacks much like he did
back in Castlevania IV. There are two seperate ways to kill him. One being
the cheap way, and one being the harder way. I'll explain both:
The cheap way:
Grab the Holy Water in the room with Dracula. When Dracula appears, press
triangle to activate the Hydro storm. This will consume 15 hearts, and most
likely, will kill his first form in one shot. Simple.
The harder way:
This will take practice to pull off, but it will save you your hearts, and is
the better way to do things. You won't need any special weapons for the
first part, just some good ol' agility.
When you see Dracula appear, get far from him, but close enough to hit his
head, then jump and hit Dracula as he appears, and when you land, jump again
and him him, and then on your third jump, you'll barely miss the fireballs,
and hit him a third time. As you can guess, this is not as easy as it
sounds.
Of course, this isn't Dracula's only attack. After three times of this,
he'll launch two shadow fireballs at you. You can still manage to hit him
three times, but you must be good and quick. When he appears for the fourth
time, jump and hit him as he appears, land, jump and hit him again, duck,
jump over the 2nd fireball, and hit him for the third time. You can usually
get off two hits, but three is very hard to get. He'll repeat this pattern,
three times shooting normal fireballs, and then the fourth time, shooting
shadow fireballs. Like I said, it'll take some practice, but eventually,
you'll leave unscathed.
Dracula's 2nd form is that of a giant gargoyle-like creature. Your best bet,
is to have collected the Holy water in the room, and then use the Hydro
storm. That's what I do, and it'll save you a lot of time and energy. While
the Hydro storm is taking effect, whip Dracula into submission. The Hydro
storm will wear off, but you'll be able to kill him easily now. If he shoots
fireballs at you, use the air dash to blow right through him.
By the way, the only way you'll be able to get the least amount of time, is
by retrying the game after you beat it, so that you can skip by all the
dialogue and such. The game still tacks on the clock during these
interludes, thus, lowering your score.
You'll be using the trusty Short sword and leather shield for this, most
likely. It would help to have the Axe for this battle, too. Hit Slogra (the
spear wielding monster), whenever he's on the ground, and Gaibon (the flying
gargoyle) will lift him up into the sky. Get some free shots by launching
the Axe at them, or jump up and swing your sword at Slogra. Move away from
them though, so that Gaibon doesn't drop Slogra on you. Hit Slogra again,
and repeat the above steps. Soon, Slogra will fall.
Now its just Gaibon. Have your shield out at all times, so that you can
block any fireballs of Gaibon's. Try and hit him in the air if you can,
while blocking his shots. When he drops to the ground, try to get close to
him, so that you can hit him. Duck and swipe at his feet. His shots will go
harmlessly over your head. Keep this up, and he will reach his red form.
Basically, he shoots out fireballs faster, and has a powerful fireball. In
all though, he is pretty easy to beat, so long as you continue the same
strategy.
You'll probably still be using the short sword for this foe. (although its
possible you picked up the Jewel knuckles along the way... still, use the
short sword, simply because you don't want to get in close encounters with
him) As the name suggests, this is a clone of you.
Have your shield out at all times. Jump toward him and diagonally hit him.
Take a few steps back. Repeat. This is the basic pattern you can use to
beat him. It works fairly well, although sometimes he'll jump at you, or
swing his sword at you. If he does jump make sure to catch him in the
mid-air with a slash. Don't try to corner him, because he'll use the wing
smash, and it will HURT. Take it nice and slow, hitting him in the air, and
using the above pattern. Additionaly, you can use the Holy water to trap.
Lay it down on the ground, as he approaches. It won't take too much to kill
him.
This bird isn't too bad. When it flies in the air, keep in your scope, so
you know where it lands. When it's on the ground, get in close, duck, and
attack it. You'll avoid its fire, too. Watch out when he's on the ground
sometimes, though, since he may decide to dive at you. If he hatches an egg,
destroy it. You can try to attack this beast in the air, although you may
get hit when he decides to land. That's all there is to it.
Probably one of the easiest bosses, if you know what you're doing. The cheap
and easy way, is to beat it into submission, by repeatedly hitting it, so
that you don't allow it to touch the ground. If he starts charging up, and
then flies into the air, get below him, so that the bats don't hit you. Try
to stay below him, in case he's airborne. He might try to shoot out beams,
which will hit you, unless you're below him. In any event, the key to
winning is to just keep hitting him.
Coloseum - Minotaur and Werewolf
(Stats unavaliable at this time)
Now here's a tough team. This tag team will certainly give you a run for
your money, even if you know what to do. Concentrate your attacks on one of
them, until it falls. I would go after the Werewolf first. When the
Minotaur throws his axe, run toward him and jump over him when he does the
uppercut. You'll avoid their duo attack that way. When either of them kneel
down, prepare to jump, because they'll dive to opposite sides of the room.
Watch out for the Minotaur's jumping axe attack. You should try to keep both
of them in your sights, so that you know what to expect. The Werewolf may
also try launching a fireball, which will rebound off the Minotaur. After
defeating the Werewolf (which shouldn't take too much), you'll still have
your hands full with the Minotaur. Attack him with caution. His axe will
keep you at bay, and he can do a short range petrify breath attack. He'll
still do most of the attacks he did, when the Werewolf was alive, so keep an
eye out. Attack him when he uppercuts, or when he leaps in the air. I
wouldn't try to attack him when he's just standing there, because of his axe.
It can hurt. You might even be able to get a good hit in while he's diving
at you. Be patient, and he'll fall soon enough.
After the Minotaur and the Werewolf, this guy isn't too bad. When he's
roaming around on the ground, jump and strike at him, run back, jump and
strike at him, and repeat. This is to avoid the swipes he may throw at you.
When he goes airborne, jump and slash him when you can. He may try to summon
a monster, (at which point he is invincible) and if he does, destroy the
monster, and continue attacking him. Keep up the pace, and he'll die out.
This boss can be pretty tough. It has two forms. (You may have the Sword
familar. If so, have him out, so that you can get some extra hits in.) The
first is a green, almost human like sorcerer form, and the 2nd is a giant
green monster. Whenever you go to attack him while he's on the ground, duck,
so that you don't get hit by his energy blast. He summons up bats, and
flaming skulls. Destroy them as they appear, and continue attacking him.
Try to get in some hits while he's gliding towards the other room. He can
also summon up waves of fire. Get into a position where there is no fire
swarming on the ground, and duck. This will allow to avoid the walls of
fire, and the possibility of him shooting out an energy blast. Strike at him
when you can. When you finally weaken him enough, he'll do a transformation,
into his green monster form. This can get a little tough. Try to have your
shield out at all times, to avoid his sudden wave-fireball attack. Also,
when you see a wave of energy fly from his mouth, try using triangle to dodge
back, and then move forward if he tries it again. It may take some practice
to get the hang of. Basically, you'll want to keep swiping at him, but keep
some distance at the same time, because he may try to take a swipe at you.
He'll start getting more aggresive after he's taken a lot of damage,
resulting in a faster fireball fury, or constant energy blasts. As long as
you can avoid his energy blasts, and duck/have your shield out when he does
his fireball attack, you can avoid the blunt of his attacks, and come out on
top.
Not really that tough. Jump up to attack her, and keep pounding her. Try to
keep underneath her, so that you don't get hit by the tentacles she shoots
out. Also, she may try to make duplicates of herself. Just destroy the
duplicates until you find the real one. She'll fall rather quickly.
... the Scylla Wyrm was really part of another beast, the Scylla, which
becomes quite apparent when you reach the room with it. If you have the Holy
water, step back, and throw it on the pillar on the right. The Scylla wyrms
will be destroyed as they fly into it, eventually eliminating all of them.
Then, move in, and just jump and hack at the main beast's body. You'll
destroy it quickly.
It helps if you picked up the Holy Water in the beginning of this area. If
not, you can still beat him, but it might take a little longer. If you do
have the Holy Water, stand on a ledge above the beast, and throw it down on
him. You'll avoid his diagonal shots, and his horizontal shots. A few
volleys of Holy Water, and it'll be over before you can blink. Another way
you can beat him, is get in close, duck, and swipe at him. You'll avoid any
shots he dishes out at you. As he moves back, try to sneak in and get a few
more shots off, but try to watch it. You might get caught up in his
horizontal shots. Adjust yourself as necessary, if he leaps over you. Easy
enough.
Your eyes aren't deceiving you. Yes, this being is litterally composed of
dead bodies. Probably one of the sickiest beings you'll see in this game.
The screams add all the more enjoyment, too. The Axe is the weapon of
choice, although you can do fine with the Holy Water too. Your first
objective is to skin off some of his 'skin'. Take the Axe and chuck at its
body. Bodies will come flying off as you attack it, but they can be
destroyed with little or no effort. Get a few swipes in with your weapon of
choice as well, until parts start to break off. You'll want to reach the
middle part, and get rid of that, so that you can start doing some real
damage. Once you've exposed the middle area, being attacking at it. Use the
Axe, or just jump up and strike it. When you see a tentacle open up, get out
of the way of it, because it'll fire a powerful laser. This can be avoided
easily, provided you're paying good attention. Hack away at any bodies that
are in your way, and only concentrate your attacks on the middle body. Don't
try to skin off the rest of his body, because if you do, he'll go berserk,
sending out sporadic waves of lasers, which are damn near impossible to
avoid, or predict, even if you have the Power of Mist. Just go after the
middle part, and eventually, it'll fall.
The time has come to fight Richter. Of course, your objective here isn't to
kill him, it is to break the curse on him. In order to do that, you must
equip the Holy Glasses, in order to see the Orb controlling him. Get the
Gold Ring from the Succubus in the Underground Caverns, and the Silver Ring
from behind Maria in the hallway in the Chapel. (need the Spike-Breaking
armor to get through) Once you have those two items, return to the room where
you first met Maria. Equip them on yourself, and the path below will open
up. You'll Maria down there, and she will give you the Holy Glasses. Once
you've equipped the Holy Glasses, attack the Orb above Richter. With little
effort, it'll break, releasing the curse on Richter.
Now, if you actually want to kill Richter (maybe to see the other ending),
then equip a dark-based sword, because his element is holy. (Morgemil will
do quite nicely) He'll cheap you to death, first with a Holy Cross attack,
and then by trying to corner you with his Holy Water and whip attacks. A few
shots from the Morgemil will do the job. Then he'll unleash a Hydro Storm,
which will hit you no matter what. Hit him when you can, and he'll be
finished. Of course, this will net you one of the least favorable endings,
so the true way, is by defeating the Orb that controls him.
Reverse Castle
Your job is far from over. After saving Richter, you must head to the
Reverse Castle, which is the same as the castle you're in now, except that
it's been litterally turned upside-down. New bosses have been issued in
(except for the Reverse Keep), and Dracula lies in wait somewhere. Your new
objective now, is to find Dracula's 5 body parts, and then bring them to the
Clock room where you used the Gold and Silver Rings at. The way to Dracula
will open then.
An easy introduction boss to the Reverse Castle. Strike at it sporadically,
meaning, hit it, move back, hit it again, move away. This is to prevent him
from grappling onto you, or by making any sudden moves, and damaging you.
When he moves into a corner, and starts flapping his wings, try to duck in
the opposite corner, or better yet, get behind him, and hit him for some free
shots. Won't take long to kill him. You'll get the Ring of Vlad for beating
him.
Resembles Frankenstein. Slash at it, and use triangle to move back when he
raises its axe. When you see it kneel down, get ready to jump, because its
going to roll across the floor, hitting the wall, and then rolling back to
the other wall. Jump over it as it approaches you, and see if you can get in
a diagonal hit when you land. When he stands back up, continue attacking.
Nothing to it. The Tooth of Vlad is your prize.
Another easy boss. Attack at him from a distance, because he is surrounded
with poison mist. Also, he can hit you with his arm, or grapple onto you,
and throw you into the wall. Try using the Axe, the Holy Water, or any other
special weapon here. You can use your main weapon to strike at him, without
getting hit by the poison mist, if you're good. You'll get the Rib of Vlad
as the treasure for beating him.
ANOTHER easy boss. Get in real close, duck, and swipe at her. Move in as
she moves back, and duck and swipe. You'll back her into the corner, where
she'll be real easy to finish off. Her main attacks consist of a petrify
beam, and a sword slash (the reasons for the ducking). You'll get the 4th
body part, the Heart of Vlad. Move on.
Remember these guys from Castlevania III? They're not the real thing, but
rather, demon copies of the heroes from the legendary adventure/game.
Concentrate your attacks on one of them, until he or she falls. Grant goes
down pretty easily, since he's the weakest. Knock him down from the ceiling,
and pound away on him. He should go down with little to no effort. When
attacking Trevor, duck and swipe at his legs, while avoiding his Holy Water
attacks. You can counter this by using the Axe, or some Holy Water of your
own. Meanwhile, Sylpha will be trying to hit you with her Fire and Ice
spells. As long as you try to keep away from her, you can be safe. When it
comes time to attack her, though, move in, and jump/attack at her. If she's
the only one left, she'll try to create zombie clones. Kill them off, and
continue attacking her. The key to winning this battle, is to play smart.
Don't rush in and attack, but be patient, and get your hits in when you can.
Lord of the flies. This boss can hurt you pretty badly, by sending out it's
mutant flies after you. They take off a good portion of damage if they hit
you. Its highly recommended you have the Axe for this fight, but you can win
without it. Start off by hacking away at its legs, until they both go down.
Equip something like the Topaz Circlet to protect you from the poison damage,
and kill any flies that get in your way. After you taken out the legs, go
for the arms. Use your Axe to hit them, or you can try jumping up to hit
them, just be extremely careful you don't get hit by the flies. After this,
turn into a bat, and do a Wing Smash into Beezelbub's main body (Hold X, then
do a counter-clockwise rotation from the up position, then go to right. Can
be done clockwise to fly left, also.), hitting him for a good amount of
damage. Turn back into a Bat, and do it again. If it looks like some flies
are going to hit you, try turning into the mist to avoid them. It should
only take about 3 - 5 Wing Smashes to finish him off. (Also try using the
Axe, since this is a less riskier move, and it's much easier to beat him with)
Your evil clone is back. He's stronger, but then again, so are you. You can
actually beat him quite easily, too. He'll go mid-air a lot, and when he
does, catch him with a slash. He'll jump again, and you'll slash him. If
done right, you can go the whole battle like this, and beat him very easily.
If not, just watch for his attacks. He can do a bouncing ball attack, and
his sword his poison-tipped. Also, same as before, don't get him caught in a
corner, or else he'll Wing Smash you.
Death is back, and this time, you'll have to kill him. Don't be shy, get
right in there and hack away at him. Destroy the sickles if they're in your
way. Eventually, he'll try some other attacks. One is where he'll launch
two energy balls. Get out of their slow reach, and wait until they stop
moving toward you. Continue attacking. Then he'll launch two red sickles.
Move to each side of the room to avoid them (which pretty much means, stay
with Death), it may take some practice, but not too tough to get used to.
Once he's taken enough damage, he may try a final desperate energy attack.
This can be hard to avoid, so your best bet is to just wail away on him.
Then he'll enter in his 2nd form. Get in there and slash at him. When he
raises both sickles get out of the way, because he'll slam them down. When
one of his hands go up, try ducking, or getting to the either side of him,
because he'll boomerang one of his sickles. This form should go down easily
enough, so long as you don't take too much damage, of course. The Eye of
Vlad is the last piece of the puzzle, so now you can go and fight Dracula,
but you'll want some more challenge, right? Move onward. (besides, you can
pick up the Alucard Sword along the way to the Inverted Catacombs)
The slew of easy bosses ends with Galamoth. Galamoth is a strictly optional
fight, and for good reason, too. Packing 6,666 HP, standing two screens
tall, and able to give/take the damage, this fight is not one you can breeze
by, even if you are at a good enough level. First off, you'll will want/NEED
the Beryl Circlet equipped here. This will restore HP by lighting damage,
and he uses a few lighting attacks. (Find it by going to the beginning area
in the Inverted Castle, and break the rocks where you see the Merman in the
regular Castle. Both sides should be now broken. Now, starting from side,
turn into the wolf, and move to the other side. From there, turn into the
bat, and go back to the side you started at. I hope this makes sense... if
it doesn't contact me, and I'll try to be of further assistance. Now, a wall
will break in the northeast corner (speaking from the Inverted castle). The
Beryl Circlet will be inside.) You'll also want the best stuff equipped. The
Twilight Cloak, Alucard Sword, Alucard Mail, Dragon Helm and the Alucard
Shield should be the best possible lineup. For your two relics, try
equipping the Moonstone or the Sunstone to increase your stats. If you were
lucky enough to find a Ring of Varda from the Paranthropus in the Inverted
Outer Wall, EQUIP IT. This will raise your stats to God-like levels. For
the other accesory, try something that increases attack and/or defense. It's
up to you. Being at a high level will also be a big factor in this fight.
At, or around, 50 is fine. Now, its time to fight! When he kneels forward
with his staff, he'll do a big lighting attack. With your Beryl Circlet
equipped, you'll absorb this for HP restoration. Get in there and hack away
at his legs. If you're doing around 40 or 50 of damage, you're fine. With
the Ring of Varda equipped, you'll get at least close to 100 easy. When he
raises his staff high in the air, get all the way to the corner, because he's
throwing out shadow energy balls at you. These do NOT restore your HP with
the Beryl Circlet, so watch it. If they look like they're getting too close,
transform into the Mist. When he stops, resume attacking. He can also
thrust his staff down on you, but this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
(For extra hits, try equipping the Shield Rod and Alucard Shield, then press
Square and Circle at the same time, to get the Alucard Shield powered up.
Then hold the shield near his legs. It'll hurt him for a good amount of
damage, hopefully.) He is also vulnerable to attacks in his head, so you can
try mixing things up by Wing Smashing his head. If you're not doing around
40 or 50, you may need to level up, or find the right equipment. (If you do
need to level up, try fighting the Guardians near the Clock room where the
final confrontation with Dracula will take place) Keep up the damage, and
avoid his lethal shadow ball attacks, and eventually, he'll die out. Believe
me though, it WILL take some time.
Final Battles
Its time to take on Shaft and Dracula now. Reach the Clock Room (the same
one where you met Maria in the regular castle) in the Inverted Castle, and
with the 5 body parts in hand, unlock the area 'above'. If you had little or
no trouble with Galamoth, Shaft and Dracula won't be too tough to take down.
He may be a Dark Priest, but with your equipment, and such (assuming it's
good), he's rather weak. Avoid the balls floating around him, and attack
him. If you can catch it in time, watch for two of his energy balls to turn
to fire, and then duck in the corner, so that they don't hit you. Next watch
for his energy balls to start bouncing around the room. Try to avoid them,
or use the Mist power. When he charges his energy balls up with electricity,
turn into the Mist to avoid getting shocked. It really shouldn't take long.
Fighting Dracula:
Level: 98.
HP: 9,998.
Strong VS.: Fire and Thunder.
Immune: Poison.
Weak VS.: None.
Absorb: Dark.
Exp.: 0.
Dracula posseses hit points close to 10,000 HP, so if your stats are a bit
weak, this battle could drag on. Bring your Sword Familar with you, to get
in extra attacks. His first attack will be trying to swipe at you. Stay in
the middle, and avoid the claw swipes when he attacks. Get in your attacks
when possible. Then, when you see energy charging in the middle, he's
summoning a monster decoy to squash (and squash you), so duck in the middle
to avoid this. Then he'll move into the backround, and charge up a huge
energy ball. Turn into the wolf on one side, and run to the other when it
gets close, or simply turn into the Mist to avoid this. Turn into the Mist
when he comes back, because all three of his skulls be trying to hit you.
Then he'll have a delta attack, and pound you with energy triangles. As long
as you're in the Mist, you can avoid this. He then repeats all of his
attacks, so repeat your patterns of attack/defense as well. With good skill,
equipment, and levels, Dracula won't be tough to defeat, even with his high
HP. Dracula will fall, and you will have beaten the game! Congratulations!
I hope this boss guide helped you out a bit. One day, I plan on making a
walkthrough... maybe.
By the way, if you wish to use this guide, simply ask. I will allow you to,
so long as you give ample credit where it's due. That's not too much to ask,
is it?
Copyright 2000
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is a trademark of Konami.
