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CASTLEVANIA: PORTRAIT OF RUIN - OLD AXE ARMOR LVL.1 CAP GUIDE
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Contents:
1. Version History
2. Introduction
3. Getting Started
4. Using LVL.1 Old Axe Armor
5. Walkthrough
5a. Castle Entrance
5b1. City of Haze
5b2. Boss: Dullahan
5c1. RE:Castle Entrance
5c2. Boss: Behemoth
5c3. RE:Castle Entrance
5d1. Great Stairway
5d2. Boss: Keremet
5d3. Great Stairway
5e1. Sandy Grave
5e2. Boss: Astarte
5f1. RE:Great Stairway
5g1. Nation of Fools
5g2. Boss: Legion
5h1. RE:RE:Great Stairway
5i1. Tower of Death
5i2. Boss: Stella
5i3. Tower of Death
5j1. Forest of Doom
5j2. Boss: Dagon
5k1. RE:Tower of Death
5k2. Boss: Death
5k3. RE:Tower of Death
5l1. Master's Keep
5l2. Boss: Loretta & Stella
5l3. Master's Keep
5m1. Dark Academy
5m2. Boss: The Creature
5n1. Burnt Paradise
5n2. Boss: Medusa
5o1. 13th Street
5o2. Boss: Werewolf
5p1. Forgotten City.
5p2. Boss: Mummy Man
5q1. Boss: Brauner
5r1. RE:Master's Keep
5r2. Boss: Death & Dracula
5r3. FINAL BOSS: True Dracula
6. Optional Quests
a. The Nest of Evil
b. 1000% Complete
c. Without getting any HP/MP ups
d. Defeating Death
7. Frequently Asked Questions
8. Contact Information
9. Legal/Copyright
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1. Version History
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Version 0.95 13/02/07 - Finished the first build of the FAQ.
Version 0.90 27/01/07 - Began writing.
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2. Introduction
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First off, I'd like to say that this is my first FAQ I've ever written so don't
hurl TOO much hate mail into my inbox eh?
So you've managed to beat every Castlevania game so far. You've conquered
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest without a guide, destroyed Galamoth in
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night while wearing no equipment and you've
completed the Nest of Evil in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin without using save
point once. What could be more challenging than that? My friends, I welcome you
to a whole new level of challenge in this Konami masterpiece: Old Axe Armor
with the level 1 cap.
Old Axe Armor is a playable character you can unlock by slaying one thousand
annoying Old Axe Armor and saving the game. If you've had the patience to
destroy that many then you've probably already had a play around with him. He's
automatically put at a disadvantage by not having the ability to heal, restore
magic, summon a partner or gain new equipment. Playing the game this way can be
hard to get used to, but it is possible. Even the nest of evil can be completed
using our lovable axe lobbing buddy. So is there any way to push this challenge
even further? You bet. By limiting his level to 1 and cranking up the
difficulty to hard mode.
But why an earth would you want to play the game this way? Well personally I
love Konami's games, and I love challenging myself by making the games as hard
as I possibly can. Luckily for me the makers of Portrait of Ruin decided to
allow such a hard way of playing without me having to make one myself (such as
the naked Alucard challenge in SOTN). Besides, what would be more satisfying
than walking up to your fellow jealous Castlevania friends and saying "I've
beaten Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin in Axe Armor mode with the level 1 cap"?
Since this mode is so hard, I'm going to run down every room you *need* to go
in to kill every boss and make it to the end. If you want to explore the castle
or want to try and get full map percentage (good luck!) by all means go ahead.
I'll try to be specific on each room which has monsters in and explain the best
way to get past them.
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3. Getting Started
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Before we can begin this insane way of playing, we have to unlock Old Axe Armor
mode first. To do this you have to kill 1000 Old Axe Armor and save the game.
After that you can start a new game and it will ask if you would like to start
it as Axe Armor. We also have to unlock hard mode for this challenge, which can
be done by simply completing the game.
The best way to kill 1000 of these blighters I believe is by opening up the
nest of evil, which is done by completing one of Wind's quests. On the 6th area
down after the room with Vapula and Amducias, and then the room with Heavy
Armor and a bunch of Amalaric Snipers, you will find 9 Old Axe Armor ready to
be smashed up. Once you've got there and destroyed the nine fiends, suspend the
game and reload it to find yourself back in the room with all 9 Old Axe Armors
ready to get pulverised again. Rinse and repeat. Sure it's a slow tedious
process but it's the only way to unlock Old Axe Armor mode. It took me about
30-40 minutes before I hit 1000. You can check by changing the map screen to
the status window by pressing select.
Once you've unlocked Old Axe Armor mode and completed the game once, we can
begin the torture that is Old Axe Armor LVL.1 Cap. Select an empty game spot
and pick Old Axe Armor with Level 1 cap.
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4. Using LVL.1 Old Axe Armor
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If you've played with Old Axe Armor before, you'll probably want to rethink
your strategy for playing. Sure, even in hard mode you can run around slashing
enemies to death with no problems and rush through the map after levelling up a
bit. But that isn't happening this time. You'll be level 1 when you start, and
you'll be level 1 when/if you finish.
Most enemies will make mincemeat out of you. Even the skeletons, zombies and
even bats will kill you in one or two hits. The only way you can increase your
defence, is by collecting max HP up potions hidden around the castle. But even
then it's not enough. You'll find each potion will only give you a slight boost
and enemies will still damage you way too much for them to have any use. It's a
better idea to not go hunting for these because it's usually WAY too much
hassle, since they're often guarded by enemies. So the reality is this: You die
in 2 or 1 hit from pretty much every monster, you can't protect yourself from
enemy attacks and you can't make yourself stronger.
You're going to spend a lot of time avoiding enemies. In fact, I urge you to
avoid enemies at ALL COSTS unless they truly block your way. Don't even bother
trying to challenge agile enemies such as White Dragons or Flying Armor,
because you'll end up getting killed. Old Axe Armor's reach is pathetic and is
only effective against monsters that don't move much such or delay a lot when
attacking, but even then it's a good idea to keep back and chuck axes.
Old Axe Armor has a few unique properties which can save his hide though. His
main weapon has rubbish reach and is slow. Attacking normally should only be
used if a small enemy such as a ghost is about to smack into you from the
front. Even then it's a sucky attack, and shouldn't be used very often unless
you think you can get an extra hit in on a boss or an enemy lagging after an
attack.
You main source of damage should be holding the axe up by simply pressing up on
the D pad. You'll be using this a lot especially in boss battles so don't
forget about it. Old Axe Armor can also hurt enemies by simply jumping. With
his axe in the air you can touch enemies to damage them, although this trick
should only be used on bosses which don't damage you when you touch them such
as the vampire sisters.
Next is your throwing axe, which can be executed by holding up and pressing Y.
It usually deals more damage than your usual axe swing, but some enemies it
won't hurt as much or not at all. Be careful when throwing these while standing
though because it gives you a slight delay before you can move, so always jump
before chucking an axe. Pressing select will change his throwing axe into the
throwing puppet from Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. I haven't found a real use
for this thing yet. At first I thought it was there to cross through areas
where you needed the toad/owl morph but it turns out that Old Axe Armor can
somehow cross those without any morphing or the use of the doll. Of course you
could use it to dodge out the way of enemy attacks but most of the time you'll
end up teleporting onto them.
Last but not least, Old Axe Armor can fly up in the air by pressing R in mid-
air. Unlike Jonathon, Old Axe Armor can constantly do this without delaying
when he hits the roof. This is THE best way to avoid enemies and their attacks.
Cowardly yes, but floating over most of the enemies is the only way you're
going to beat this mode.
I'd also like to mention that Old Axe Armor can use a few special moves by
inputting certain commands on the d pad. You're sort of invincible while you're
doing these combos but 90% of the time you'll wind up smacking into an enemy
and losing precious life, so it's best not to use these unless there's a save
point nearby.
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5. Walkthrough
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We begin the game outside, ready to take on Dracula's horde of 1-2 hit killing
beasties. If you want to turn back, now's the time to do so!
-----------------------
5a. Castle Entrance
-----------------------
Stroll into the castle as you would any vampire killer. There's nothing to see
in the first two screens and the bridge is already lowered for you. Since
there's no items or relics or anything there's no need to explore here and most
other places of the castle. Jump and fly over the zombies which are twitching
like freaks trying to rush you. Past the next empty room is another zombie
which you can easily dodge. Drop down the platforms here but look out for the
bat who will probably take your health down to 20 or so. Yes even the bats are
deadly. Chop or jump over the next zombie below and proceed to the save room.
Head back up and continue into the next room with the broken pillars. You can
break these quickly by holding up which will help when Behemoth shows up. No
need to panic though because you'll destroy those pillars so fast he won't get
chance to catch up. Jump up the platforms at the end and wait for him to run
off. Save again in the next room. Yeah, we only just saved but get used to
saving a lot because you'll be dying a lot.
Head up and left from there and fly over the skeletons that will proceed to
taking your health down to 25 with their bones if you're not careful. Fly up in
the next room and head left past the enemies here. In the next room, head down
into the area where Wind and Vincent usually are and save the game again. Head
back and push the switch to open up the hatch below you, and then go left into
the room with the first painting.
Note: This whole area is optional. Actually, all the first paintings are
optional in this mode since Old Axe Armor has the ability to fly around and fit
in small spaces. If you wish to simply complete the game quickly you may ignore
this whole area but if you ask me that ruins the challenge.
-----------------------
5b1. City of Haze
-----------------------
Walk right past the first warp point and fly over the enemies until you reach
the building. Jump and throw an axe at the skeleton here and fly up into the
next area. The Axe Armor will linger near a low ceiling so it's a good idea to
take him out so jump up and throw an axe at him. Continue through the room to
find some more low ceiling dwellers. Walk towards the skeletons and smack them
with your axe to get rid of them. In the outside area fly over the Andras into
the next building with a save point to the left. Fly up into the next room and
into the next, ignoring the death mask.
For whatever reason, Zacchino will get down on his knee and offer you a rose as
if you were Charlotte or Maria. Either smack him twice or fly over him, but
beware of that big jelly fish thing (does anyone else think that is way out of
place?). Ignore two more death masks in the room above and continue on through
the next large room to the left but be careful of the Axe Armor near the bottom
which might surprise any falling players. Go up from here past the next Axe
Armor to find yet another Axe Armor blocking the way. Chuck an axe at him and
continue into the next area.
Be extremely careful of the mini devils here as they enjoy floating around your
head, which could catch you as you're jumping or falling. The best thing to do
is to run for it or just smack them as they appear. Outside, fly past the
zombies and skeletons and throw some axes at the jelly fish in the next room
but be careful of the Axe Armor beyond the wall who might decide to throw an
axe at you. Head over the room and down below where that Axe Armor was and
continue left. Be careful of the peeping eye which decides to just float at you
as you enter the room. Either hack it with your axe or throw one at it from a
distance. Before you drop down take care of the bats hanging right below you by
throwing an axe above them. Drop down some more and repeat it with the next two
bats. Head left in the next room and save once again.
Continue right into the long corridor with a bunch of Andras in and an
Invisible man. One axe should be enough to take out each Andras without any
trouble but the Invisible man is a nightmare to deal with. The best way to get
rid of him is slowly walk towards where he is until he appears on the screen.
Double jump up and throw an axe, but as soon as you land jump up again and
throw another axe which should both hit him. As soon as you land the second
jump throw another axe and he should die, if not run away and try again. You
can just fly over him and the Andras but the problem that is that the Andras
often decide to jump back and catch you. Another strategy is to fly over the
invisible man and enter the secret above, and then jump down and the invisible
man will remain stationary and ignore you. After that room, head right past the
peeping eye and then fly past a room full skeletons and Axe Armor. Below
another peeping eye is a save.
Save, and then continue up into another room with some skeletons and a jelly
fish. Be sure to land and throw axes at the jelly fish though because it will
probably catch you trying to fly over everything. Hit the death mask in the
next room twice and then fall right and hug the wall before that mini devil
decides to fly into you. Jump over the next Zacchino and smack the mini devil
as it appears in the room after. Fly up but be careful not to hit that death
mask or the mini devil. As soon as you enter the next room walk forward
slightly and throw an axe to take out the peeping eye who will try to surprise
you. Continue forward into the warp room and then head up, taking out any
skeletons above. Save the game in the next room on the right.
Head back and up into the next room. Just run past the mini devils here. If you
get hit now, just head back to the save room because you're going to need the
health for the next room.
-----------------------
5b2. Boss: Dullahan
-----------------------
This is where the game starts getting extremely difficult. If you can't beat
this boss you may as well give up now because it's only going to get harder!
The first thing you'll notice about trying to beat this guy on lvl.1 Old Axe
Armor mode is that he WILL kill you instantly with his pink fireballs. You can
survive 1 hit if you touch him anywhere else. If he catches you when he spears
the ground it will usually mean death for you anyway, because he'll knock you
back into his spikes that come up from the floor. It's also incredibly hard to
hit him since he's always moving around. Finally, if you manage to dodge his
barrage of pink fireballs he'll launch about five at a time giving you little,
if any space to avoid the attack. I've never once been able to avoid it after
tons of tries with Old Axe Armor, so it's safe to assume if he decides to use
that attack you're brown bread. So how do we take him down? Thankfully, his HP
is very low (600) and you can do about that much to him in a few seconds if
you're quick.
As soon as the battle begins walk towards him and he'll probably jump forward
and spear the ground. If he does move back and hug the ceiling. As soon as the
spikes vanish and drop down to see what he's going to do next. If you see him
raise his spear to jump again, run back and hug the ceiling again. If he pulls
his spear back, fall back down to the floor but keep away from him as he's
about to charge at you. After he's finished charging run close to him and hold
up, this should damage him a bit. After that he should be too close to the
right side of the screen to launch another attack so he'll walk back slowly.
Use this time to follow him carefully and hold up, doing more damage to him.
Watch for his next move. If he is about to attach his head back on then it's
time to go all out. Run towards his leg immediately and hold up. If you've done
enough damage to him, he should be dead before the first projectile had chance
to collide with you (if he dies, it won't harm you). If not, dodge it and
attack as much as you can and hope he dies before he toasts you will his
multiple projectiles.
Really it's just a matter of doing as much damage to him as possible before he
uses that damn attack. If he does his charge attack twice and you manage to hit
him a lot with your up attack, he should definitely die by the time his pink
projectiles get chance to hit you.
Once you beat him, head back to the save point and save your game. Then, use
the below warp point to warp back to the start and exit the painting.
-----------------------
5c1. RE:Castle Entrance
-----------------------
When you arrive back at the castle go above the room you were just in to
activate the warp point. Then, make your way back to where Behemoth trashed the
place. Save at the save point to the right and head up and right instead of
left. Continue forward to fight, yep, another boss already.
-----------------------
5c2. Boss: Behemoth
-----------------------
Compared to Dullahan this guy is an absolute pushover. As soon as the battle
starts fly behind him and start throwing axes. He'll jump forward and run off
the screen. Wait for him to come back and then fly over him again. Chuck some
more axes before he runs away like a coward once again. That's all there is to
it really. It won't take long before he dies. Sure Behemoth has a few attacks
but they're not worth mentioning since he only executes them if you're in front
of him. Careful not to touch him when he jumps though because one hit from him
means death.
-----------------------
5c3. RE:Castle Entrance
-----------------------
Go back and save if you like. Continue past Behemoth's room and straight to the
Great Stairway. There's no point going to the Buried Chamber EVER since there
are no bosses or paintings down there. The only reason one would want to go
down there in this mode of play is either for the HP and MP boosts, or they're
crazy and want to get as much as the map completed as possible. Not worth it.
-----------------------
5d1. Great Stairway
-----------------------
Head right past the corridor with all the Persephones by hugging the ceiling a
lot. In this next room there is an Ukyoback so be careful. If you can't see it
then it means he's hiding behind one of the ways out and he WILL hurt you if
you try to walk past. If you notice he's in one of the doors or HAS been in one
of the doors (because he drops flames), just leave the room somewhere else and
come back. The room we're after is the one right below you, which is a warp
point. If you got hit, you might want to warp back to the first warp point to
save and heal (You DID activate that warp point right?). Go back up and
continue right past another corridor full of Persephones. In the next room
avoid the skull archer and the skelerang and head for the bottom right door,
which is a save point.
Once saved, head back up and go right again to face yet another boss.
-----------------------
5d2. Boss: Keremet
-----------------------
Another monster that seems out of place... Anyway, this guy is a pushover too.
Not as easy as Behemoth because he can catch you often with his little blob
monsters that like to creep behind you.
First hit his pot about five times and he'll show his blobby mass. When his
face appears throw an axe at it. It will hit him and he'll twitch for a second.
Wait for his face again and repeat. Sometimes he'll drop one of his little
buddies off which I *think* kill you in one hit so make sure you chop them if
you see one coming towards you. Be very careful not to throw an axe at his dark
ball he shoots out of his mouth, because if you it will split into little balls
which fall on you and kill you. Just time the axes right and he'll be dead in
no time.
-----------------------
5d3. Great Stairway
-----------------------
Go back and save the game. Continue past the boss room into a room where larva
continue to spawn. Be careful because these guys like appearing right next to
doors. Fly up and jump past Catoblepas in the next room. After the next room
drop down and go forward to meet your first Lerajie. Walk right up to her and
slash her 3 times to kill her before she shoots those hard to dodge bullets.
Drop down and forward into the next room. Jump over the first Persephone into
the save room.
Go back, jump over her again and drop down the first platform. You won't be
able to jump over the next one because if you try you'll end up head butting
the one above so you'll have to kill a few one of these. Be careful though
because they're quite unpredictable. Three slashes should take care of one.
When you reach the bottom go left to activate the warp point, and then head
right to enter the next painting.
-----------------------
5e1. Sandy Grave
-----------------------
Luckily for Old Axe Armor, you can skip a huge portion of this annoying level.
Head forward and fly past everything until you reach the Sand Worm. Technically
you can avoid the worm but there's a reason for removing it. Stand back from it
and throw axes. Three should do it in. After it's fallen stand where it was and
wait a while. You'll end up in the floor with a lovely HP up. Leave and
continue forward. Smack the first red skeleton and fly over the rest to the far
right top room, which is a save point.
Ok here's the shortcut. Go out the save room and simply fly up the ceiling.
This skips most of the map where there are ghosts, traps and other things which
would be a pain in the neck to get past. Unfortunately there are still a few
rooms full of enemies to pass. In the room above the save point, ignore the
mimic on the left and take care in slashing a fleaman which will try to drop on
you. If he gets you, go back and heal at the save point. Throw axes at the
skeletons here and just fly over the armor knight into the right room. Continue
past the warp point to find a room with an Elgiza. Throw axes at its hands and
head until it dies. If it decides to try and fall on you just fly past before
it comes back up. Ignore the Persephone and continue to the next room with the
skull archers. Jump up and go left for a save room.
Leave the save room and fly up the passage above you, but hug the left wall or
the skull archer will knock you back and damage you. If that happens just go
heal and try again. Fly over the Amphisbaena in the next room. Hit the switch
here by standing on it and axe the two skull archers. Now, I've never once been
able to get past the crossbow armor here without him blowing me to bits from
the front, so what I suggest you do is go back below him, hug the ceiling and
throw axes until he does. After he's down continue up. Fly past two more skull
archers and enter the room on the left. The one below is a warp point and the
one above is a save point.
Save and head up past the skull archer to face the boss.
-----------------------
5e2. Boss: Astarte
-----------------------
Hubba hubba. Astarte isn't hard in the slightest if you know what you're doing.
In fact this battle is more tedious than hard.
The strategy is simple. Chuck axes and hug the ceiling when she attacks. If she
says "Take this!" then hug the ceiling until her whirlwind passes. If she jumps
just stand back and she'll totally miss you. If she pulls her cape back just
jump over her, or hug the ceiling. If she says "Temptation!" run up to her and
hold up to get some free heavy damage in. Temptation does nothing to you as Old
Axe Armor. The only real threat in this battle is her actually touching you.
It's still a pretty low threat since she moves so slow. In fact she's so slow
you might even want to get some normal slashes in while she's waltzing around.
Just take care when she jumps and shoots lighting at you because one hit from
that is death. There really isn't anything to this battle, just don't overdo
the sneaky hits and she'll soon be defeated.
Once she's fallen, save, warp back to the start and exit the painting.
-----------------------
5f1. RE:Great Stairway
-----------------------
When you return head up to the save point, killing any Persephones who dare get
in your way. Save the game and head back into the room with the Lerajies and
skull archers and continue up and left. In the next room continue up killing
any skull archers that get in your way. Yeah it's the same deal as the
Persephones, if you try to jump over them you'll probably head butt the enemy
above. Go left into an annoying room full of larva, two Lerajies and an
Ukyoback I think. Anyway run left and climb up the first platform and take out
the first Lerajie while keeping an eye on the annoying larva roaming around
randomly. Take out the second Lerajie by throwing axes. Climb up again and
carefully exit the room while trying no to get caught by a larva.
As soon as you enter this room, take out the skelerang directly above you by
throwing axes. Destroy the next one by walking up to it and slashing it.
Continue axing any skelerangs above you and proceed. More Ukyobacks here so be
careful they don't get trapped in an exit. Activate the warp point on the left
then head above and left to enter ANOTHER Persephone corridor. Where's the
variety Konami?! Continue on to enter the staircases with the hill guards on.
Fly over them and hug the ceiling until you reach the next stair case. Go down
this one, jumping over any hill guards on the way. Jump over the Lilith in the
next room and throw axes at the skeleton flail until he dies. As soon as you go
outside hug the ceiling quick before the crossbow armor ends your life. After
that screen you'll see a Lilith. Just fly up here and head left to find another
warp point. Go back and throw axes at the skeleton gunmen above you. Just above
and right of them is *gasp* a save point! Finally! But before you save the game
head left a little before the painting room and attack the ceiling. You'll
enter a secret room with a MP up. Go back and save, then enter the painting on
the left.
-----------------------
5g1. Nation of Fools
-----------------------
Ugh. I hate this place so much. For poor lvl 1 characters, this place can be a
nightmare. Enemies will attack you from off the screen most of the time, which
isn't fun. Especially since it takes two hits to end poor Old Axe Armor's life!
So let's get this over with. We're going to head right and around the map that
way. But before we do, fly up from the first screen and go left for a warp
point. Make sure you get this one! Head right after that past a bunch of empty
screens until you reach a screen with two slimes crawling around. Avoid these
and enter the save room on the right.
Head down and right past some more empty screens to find a harpy, who you can
just hack to death easily. Fly up to enter the first annoying screen of this
world. Fly up but hold back until the armor knight turns his back. Then run in
and throw an axe at him. If you get chance throw another, hopefully killing him
and the one below him. If it didn't kill the one below, repeat the same process
but make sure he doesn't poke you from below. As soon as you enter the next
room "I SEE YOU!" Walk forward and duck Lerajie's sight to dodge her shot.
She'll then change angle so you might need to move and duck again. Wait until
the flaming... whatever it is gives you an opening when she isn't about to fire
and jump in and take her out. Be careful not to bump into her because you'll
fall back into a fiery death. She might also decide to jump at you, which is
annoying. If that happens just exit the room and try again, or try to attack
her. Continue right and take out the killer clown by throwing axes. Throw some
more axes at the armor knight walking on the right wall and then fly directly
up into the next room. Take out the bone spittle and the armor knights from the
bottom floor by throwing axes. Head right to a very cramped area with a slime.
Take extreme care getting past this guy. You can either try and hack him to his
slimy death or fly past while he's on a corner. Either way be careful because
these guys love to just jump at you. Head left to find a lovely save point.
Don't relax yet though because it's going to get tougher from here.
Fly up and avoid the swinging axe. Head up the next screen before the bone
spittle arrive. In the next room, hug the left wall and fly straight up. You'll
take out the bone spittle at the top and avoid everything else. Head right
here, then up, then left, then up, then right. Sheesh. Look out for that larva
too. Head up and left again past another cramped area and you'll find yourself
in another large room. Go left and all the way around the building here to
avoid the armor knight. The bone spittle will still be in the way though so
chuck an axe at it. Fly up into another large room crawling with slimes. Jump
on top of the first building and walk down the slope there. Avoid the first
swinging axe to find another swinging axe. Jump down into the ditch it's
rotating from and fly up over it when it's not in the way. Jump up this
building and axe the armor knight waiting for you at the top. In this next
room, fall down and attack the slime while it's in the corner until it dies.
More armor knights here so you should know what to do. Be careful they don't
poke you from below though. The next room consists of a single slime. Try to
avoid it if you can but if it gets close just slash it until it dies. Head left
and down from here to find another swinging axe. Dodge it and head left until
you find a hole in the floor. Drop down here but double jump as soon as you
enter the next screen so you can land on the tiny platform. If you don't, the
swinging axe in the next room will catch you. You don't want to die here! Take
extreme caution while dropping down this long shaft as it's full of swinging
axes. At the bottom, head left for the save point and right for the warp point.
Once you're ready enter the boss door and fall down to the bottom of the large
room to face the boss.
-----------------------
5g2. Boss: Legion
-----------------------
What's the best way to end an extremely annoying level? Simple, add an
extremely annoying boss at the end of it! I'm sick of seeing this guy now. I
mean ok first it was cool to see a big mass of dead zombies all humping each
other or whatever, with a core which has tentacles and fires lasers at you but
it's getting old now.
You should know how to beat this guy by now, by destroying all 9 parts of him
and then attack the center. Right? Well, you can try that at lvl 1 but have fun
getting toasted. The trick to killing this boss is by NOT removing all his
parts.
As legion appears, run to the right and jump up to the highest platform and
wait for him to descend. Once he's stopped stand at the tip of this platform
and begin throwing axes. The axes should hit his top and middle parts. Keep
this up until his tentacle and core are revealed. If you try throwing an axe
now you'll miss him totally, so hop down to the platform below. What you need
to do now is attack the core by jumping forward slightly and throwing axes. You
also have to be careful not to touch him, as it will kill you in one hit. This
is an extremely tedious process but if you destroy any other parts of his body,
more tentacles will appear and proceed to zap you. If by some accident you
destroy his upper left part, fly over to the other side carefully and aim axes
for the core over there. Eventually, he'll get angry and remove all his parts
automatically and begin attacking.
As soon as he reveals all his tentacles, drop down to the bottom platform and
check for those zombies. Wait for a clearing in the middle and jump there
minding for the zombies AND the tentacles which should be firing at by now.
From here, avoid legion as you would with any character by using the platforms
on the left. Once he's stopped his first attack, get back to the bottom floor,
jump and throw axes at him. He'll fire some lasers out now so stand at the
bottom left between his tentacles and throw more axes when you get chance.
He'll go back to using his first attack now so repeat the process until he
dies. It won't take long after that.
Just keep your cool, and don't get cocky. Only fly if you're about to get
flamed(?) by his first attack from the bottom. I'd avoid using this though
since you'll probably fly into his tentacle above.
Once he's down and out, fly back up to the save point and save. Warp back to
the start(See why I told you to activate that warp point?) and get out of the
painting.
--------------------------
5h1. RE:RE:Great Stairway
--------------------------
When you return, go to the warp point below and warp to the other warp point in
the Great Stairway. Dodge those exit dwelling Ukyobacks and head up and right.
Continue through this corridor but look out for the Glasya Labolas who will
probably pounce at you. Keep away from him and throw axes until he dies, but
hurry because he might decide to corner you. Continue on into the next area.
--------------------------
5i1. Tower of Death
--------------------------
Fly over the enemies in the first room and axe the hill guard in the next. Fly
up into the next room, and enter the bottom right door to find a warp point. Go
back and enter the top left room, which is a save point.
Before we fight the first vampire sister, we're going to get a little something
to aid our battle. Leave the save room and head right into the big room full of
cogs and medusa heads. Do your best to not get hit by anything here and enter
the room in the right. Jump through the tiny alcove here and jump up the
platforms. In this room you'll face a ton of imps, who are a pain. Either fly
up and try avoid them or take them out by throwing axes. If you choose to fly
up then be careful because the ceiling is covered in nasty spikes. Head left
into another medusa room. Same as before, try your best to not get hit by the
medusa here. There really isn't a strategy for them since they wave in such an
irregular pattern and appear at random. Jump up the cogs but don't fly because
there are spikes everywhere. At the top left of the room you'll find a HP up.
Carefully nab this and return back to the save point.
The reason we went out of our way to get that is because Stella will destroy
you with any single attack, and you stand more of a chance if you can get hit
twice. Head down and then left into the boss door.
-----------------------
5i2. Boss: Stella
-----------------------
Easily the toughest boss so far. Stella has a ton of HP and your attacks will
do little damage to her. It's possible but don't expect to do it in the first
few attempts. Your main offence will be your usual holding the axe in the air
by holding up, following her around while jumping with your axe in the air and
throwing axes when possible. Her attacks are plenty, so let's go over each one.
Firstly, if you're close to her she'll try to slash you. It's a bit hard to
tell when she's going to but after a few tries you'll notice that she delays a
bit before slashing. Follow her around with your axe for about 2 seconds and
she'll attempt to slash you, so move out the way before she does by either
flying or moving away from her. It's hard to explain but you should get the
hang of it eventually.
Her next attack is her ground slash, which summons a huge spark across the
ground. I'm not sure what she yells before she does it but as soon as you hear
it, fly up and try to land just after she's shot the spark off. Hold up and you
should hit her a few times before she flies off. You can even follow her after
as she flies off but be careful she doesn't slash you. She'll often do this
attack after she dodges one of your axes. Also take note that she will
sometimes fly off screen and do this attack, which causes a glitch. Her spark
will come from the ground where the doors are and won't follow the ground. I
think you can stand still if this happens but I'd just get out of the way if
you hear her when she's off the screen.
One of her favourite attacks is when she yells "Hurricane!" and throw a huge
wind projectile at you. She'll try to follow your vertical position when she
does this, so try to fly up from the ground as she lets go of the projectile.
She'll throw two of these. They're quite easy to dodge, and you can easily
throw an axe or to at her while she's following you around.
Finally, she'll yell "Please observe! Crescent Moon!", which is to tell you to
keep on the floor and jump and throw axes at her. She'll start leaving some
moon shaped projectiles which you should avoid at all costs. These moons will
stay still for a few seconds and then fly towards you. This is the hardest
attack to avoid since she doesn't wait around while the moons are flying
around. She'll try to slash, hurricane and shoot that ground wave at you, as if
it wasn't hard enough to dodge those things already! It really is a matter of
luck on what she does and where her moons are. Just do your best to dodge them
and keep your eye on her at the same time. It's a good idea to try and get her
to plant her moons at one side of the screen so you can run to the other and
have a better chance at avoiding the oncoming attacks. This won't happen very
often though since she tends to just fly wherever the heck she wants, and will
usually trap you between her moons.
Here's a strategy I managed to develop after about the millionth attempt to
beat her:
Throw axes at her until she says "It's no use!" and goes to use her ground wave
attack. Quickly jump over the wave to get behind her and hold up. JUST before
she flies off throw an axe which should hit her, but if not the same effect
will happen. She'll say "It's no use!" but will hardly move from her spot and
use the ground wave attack again. Fly up from here and land next to her, behind
her, and hold up again. Throw another axe before she takes off and she should
keep repeating the attack. Eventually she'll break loose and begin her crescent
moon attack though.
If you managed to beat her, go back and save and enjoy a big sigh of relief.
--------------------------
5i3. Tower of Death
--------------------------
Back to business. Go back into the boss room and... She's gone? Blast! Oh well
we'll have to take care of her later. Continue forward through a long and
boring corridor and past the screen with a single imp. Fly to the top of this
tall device and head into the top right door for a warp point, and directly
below is a save point.
Head into the room on the left and enter the next painting.
--------------------------
5j1. Forest of Doom
--------------------------
Head right past the warp point and fly over the frogs. Ignore the crows on this
tree because they even hurt you. Enter the building to find a bunch of killer
bees and a Malachi. Take care of the bees by throwing an axe at them and just
fly over the Malachi. In the next room fly over the red axe armor and head up
into the left room, but watch out for those killer dolls. Axe some more bees
here and fly up next area to the top room on the left. Get on the ground before
the Harpy shoot you in the next room and chuck axes at all 3 of them until they
die. In the next big room, fly over everything into the right hand exit. Here
you should find two blue crows, who can be avoided by hugging the ceiling and
moving forward. Throw a few axes at the witch directly in front of you. Drop
down here but hug the right side of the platform because there'll be an oh-so-
deadly student witch waiting at the bottom. Throw an axe at her from below and
take out the next one using the same method. Drop down here and immediately
take out the bees on the left by throwing some more axes. If they get too close
just slash them but be careful. Drop down hugging the left again to avoid the
killer doll. Drop down again and head right before some more bees get to you.
The next room has a few harpy in which should be taken care with because these
ones seem to just fly at you. Stay on the ground floor and throw axes at them
before they reach you. Take out these blue crows by jumping up and throwing
axes at them. At the end of them all, drop down to enter where the harpy were.
There's a ton of student witches here. Throw an axe at the first one you see
below you. Hug the ceiling and move left until you reach the wall and drop down
for a HP up. Fly back out this area and head right. Fly over everything outside
until you reach the next building. As soon as you enter throw an axe to take
out the blue crows. I don't think these attack you but just in case, dispose of
them. Throw axes at the Moldy Corpses in front of you. It's a good idea to take
these out one at a time. Above you should be the most annoying enemy so far.
Corpseweed. In hard mode they start out fully grown and can be a nightmare in a
few upcoming rooms. Anyway, from below throw two axes at it and it should die.
Fly up and enter the room on the right for a warp point. Then quickly jump up
and head right again for a save point. Phew!
Exit the save room and throw axes at the Moldy Corpses above, and throw axes at
the next one in front of you. Fly up and ignore the Dogether as you make your
way to the right door. As soon as you enter you'll probably get blasted out
again by the Corpseweed. This room is extremely hard to get past without
getting hit but as always, it's possible. As soon as you enter the room walk
forward just before it spits and hold up. This will protect you from its spit.
Now, throw an axe as soon as the spit hits your axe. Too early and you'll get
hit, and probably die. Too late and the thrown axe will hit but not stop his
next spit, which will hit you. Two axes will kill it if it hits his head and
the base. When you've finally got past the annoyance, head into the next room
and hug the ceiling again to avoid the two blue crows and the axe armor in the
room after. In the next large room jump on the platform infront of you to
attract a Dogether from the right. Throw axes at him before he gets close to
you and kill him. Jump down here over the first Maneating Plant and throw axes
at the one below you until it falls. Be careful of the small seeds which can
catch you from below once you've hit it a few times. Drop down, go left and fly
over the witch to enter annoying large and annoying room. Jump onto the
platform above you to spawn a Dogether. Kill him by standing back and throwing
axes. Then kill the Moldy Corpse above you to the right. Jump on the next
platform but WAIT. Right ahead of you is a Corpseweed who's ready to spit in
your face. Creep slowly forward until you see the tip of his face jogging up
and down. To be safe, you should take him out from here. Double jump up and
throw an axe a the tip of the second jump. It should hit his base once. Three
more axes should destroy him. Jump down two more platforms to see the next
Maneating plant, which you should take out with more axes. Careful of it's
seeds. Jump onto the platform it was standing on but before you jump down again
throw some axes. You should be able to take out two sneaky blue crows from
here. Make sure you hit both. Jump down to the ground from here and safely exit
this room. Hop down in the next room to enter the cave. Wait for your MP to
regenerate before entering another annoying room. As soon as you enter begin
throwing axes at the frogs ahead of you. You can fly over these but it's risky
since they jump high. After they're all dead jump up and continue to the next
screen while hugging the ceiling. When you reach the second platform there will
be a bunch of frogs on it. To be safe, keep still and hug the ceiling until
they all jump off to lower ground. Who knew frogs could be so scary? Fly up and
hug the sky in the next area. Hug it and move right until you reach a hole
which you should drop in. Ignore the Moldy Corpse and save the game in the next
room.
Head back out the cave and go right to fight the boss of this dreadful area.
-----------------------
5j2. Boss: Dagon
-----------------------
Another boss that seems way out of place. What's with the water? There's not a
spec of water anywhere else in the entire game. Did they expect you to know how
to swim or something? Did Konami expect everyone to buy Dawn of Sorrow and know
how to swim? Not that it's hard but meh... Anyway, it's such a relief to see
such a pushover of a boss after all the hard bosses and enemies so far.
The strategy for this boss is simple. Jump and throw axes at his head when he's
sitting on the ground. When he starts shooting the water back out his lower
mouth, hug the ceiling above until he stops. Walk under him when he swaps
sides. That's all there is to it. The only threat is those floating things he
spits out now and again, but you should be taking those out with the axes
you're chucking at his head. You die in two hits so don't try anything cocky.
Also take care when he decides to swap sides, it's hard to tell when he's about
to jump.
After he's dead, head to the warp point in the next room and exit the painting.
--------------------------
5k1. RE:Tower of Death
--------------------------
Exit the painting room and enter the warp point room opposite. Warp to the
other Tower of Death warp point. Save in the room above here.
Since we've been here before, I won't bother explaining how to do the next few
rooms up to the HP up we got earlier. Once you reach the room after that,
you'll see Gaibon. And if you're any sort of Castlevania fan, you know what
that means. Death is coming. Anyway, chuck axes at Gaibon until he dies. Either
kill Slogra the same way in the next room or just double jump over him. Fly up
here and past the killer dolls in the next room. As soon as you enter the next
Medusa room you'll probably see a sword flying at you. Meet the next annoying
enemy, Flying Armor. This room would be easier if it was just you and him, but
since there are damn Medusas, spikes and moving platforms everywhere it becomes
very tricky. You just have to be lucky. Run in and pray that the Flying Armor
didn't throw his sword. Jump down quickly dodging any medusa you see and turbo
it up the left side, avoiding the Flying Armor. Quickly make a break for the
exit on the left avoiding the spikes while being chased by Flying Armor and
probably a ton of Medusa heads. Don't relax yet, as the next room has some imps
who want to play. Destroy them by throwing axes, one axe should take out each
imp. Take a breather, then enter the next room. As soon as you enter, fly up
ignoring the duo in front of you and enter the warp point room. Then fly up and
enter the room on the right. Carefully jump up here avoiding the spikes and
enter the save room.
Note: I'm going to allow you to skip this boss because of how damn hard he is
in this mode. Remember that you can always come back to him when you feel
you're ready to take him on, but I recommend you give him a miss. Feel free to
try though. See Cheating Death below to find out how to skip him.
--------------------------
5k2. Boss: Death
--------------------------
Arghh!! I give up.
What can I say? He's death. The reaper has always been difficult on every
Castlevania game I've played, but this takes the cake. Almost any attack death
makes will kill you instantly. Touching his body kills you. Getting slashed
vertically or horizontally (which is hard to dodge) kills you instantly.
Getting grabbed by his hands kills you instantly. The only things that don't
kill you right off the bat are his spinning scythe and his mini scythes which
are EVERYWHERE.
As soon as you enter the room, he'll likely try to slash you horizontally.
Dodge this by flying up at the right time. As you fall down be prepared to
dodge or whack the mini scythes floating around. After that he'll either float
around trying to slash you some more or he'll begin his bouncing scythe attack.
As soon as you hear him laugh, get under him and hold up. You'll be doing
pathetic damage to him but it's the only damage you CAN do to him since he's
immune to throwing axes at this point. Once he his scythe hits the ceiling get
ready to move out the way. When he comes close to you again time it right and
get some more hits in, and run away when you think his scythe is going to get
you. It's really just a game of hit and run. When the chains break get under
him for some quick extra damage. If he grabs his scythe back you can do a bit
more damage to him before he does his next attack, but keep a look out for
those mini scythes coming from everywhere. If he doesn't grab his scythe he'll
summon up four portals and fly up high so you can't reach him. As soon as these
portals appear get away from them and wait for death to get closer to you (with
the portals). Hands come out of the portals from the top left, top right, then
bottom left and finally bottom right. The hands do this twice before vanishing.
Dodge them accordingly but don't get caught by them or its game over.
Afer you've done enough damage to him death will turn white. This is your
chance to do some real damage to him. Hold up when he uses his bouncing scythe
thing and throw axes at the same time. This will hurt him a lot but as soon as
he's finished that attack he'll probably change back. If you can keep this up
he should go down after a long while. Good luck. You're going to need it!
CHEATING DEATH: If you can't beat death you can avoid this battle completely.
Scroll down to optional quests to find out how!
--------------------------
5k3. RE:Tower of Death
--------------------------
Whether you decided to chicken out (wisely) or you somehow defeated Death
(SAVE. NOW!), continue to the elevator room and go up/down to enter the next
area.
--------------------------
5l1. Master's Keep
--------------------------
Drop down and ignore the succubus in front of you. Drop down to the right to
get a HP up. Go left and drop down again and head right for a save room.
Go back up and head left to find a room full of Razor Bats and two Malachi. Fly
over them all but be careful not to touch the Razor bat's wings when they're
high up. Enter the next room and fly up. Fly up the left hand wall and land on
the platform next to you. Quickly throw axes at the spin devil to take him out.
Fly up into the next screen and avoid the two Succubuses on both sides by
flying up the middle. In the next screen fly up ignoring the Dead Crusader and
enter the room with the Final Guard. Fly over the Final Guard by hugging the
ceiling and enter the next room. Continue right until you reach the warp point.
Then, fly up and enter the room on the right to find a save point. Head
directly to the left to face another boss.
--------------------------
5l2. Boss: Loretta & Stella
--------------------------
Believe it or not, I found this battle even easier than just the one vampire
sister on her own! Since the sisters share HP you can pretty much double the
damage you're doing if you hit the sisters at the same time. You can survive
one hit from most of their attacks. The attacks that you will NOT survive are
Loretta's blizzard attack, Stella's frozen sword and I think Loretta's Ice fang
will do you in too. It's also very hard to avoid Loretta's big ice obelisk
attack, since Old Axe Armor has no means of sliding under it.
While the sisters are idle and floating around randomly, you're free to throw
axes and follow them around while jumping to give them constant pain. Stella
only tries to slash you while Loretta is making a move.
For Loretta's icicle drop, the will idle in place for a while usually close to
the floor. Get close to her and hold up until she floats off and begins
dropping icicles on you. Stella won't slash you until the icicles are actually
dropping. When Loretta starts floating around just jump and stay close to her
until she screams and stops the attack. The sisters will idle for a short time
so get close and do some damage.
When Loretta shouts "Ice fang!" or whatever it is, try to get behind her
quickly. If you're not fast enough, Stella will make sure you don't pass by
smacking you with her sword. If this is the case, just dodge the frozen wolf
heads as best you can as they lunge at you. If you managed to get behind her,
stay back and throw axes because Stella will get aggressive during Loretta's
attack.
The easiest move to avoid is when Loretta and Stella try to double team you.
This is when Loretta freezes Stella's sword to smash you with massive damage.
Just follow Loretta around and keep jumping under her to keep the damage going.
Stella will always miss if you're behind her so you should have no problem
doing a ton of damage to both of them. Throw a few axes while you're at it.
I can't make up my mind which move is harder to dodge but anyway, when Loretta
yells "Say your prayers!" do as she says because you'll have a hard time
dodging the upcoming attack. You can't really avoid the huge obelisk with Old
Axe Armor because you can't slide under it or even crouch enough to let it pass
by you. Instead, you'll just have to fly and hug the ceiling just before Stella
smashes it. I think it might be possible to dodge by throwing the doll, but I
didn't try it when I played through.
Finally Loretta can chant "Blizzard Storm!" which means get behind her NOW. If
you get caught in this you'll get blown back into a frozen mess of sharp blades
of ice, alas killing poor Old Axe Armor. If you get behind her, just throw axes
from a distance like when she uses Ice Fang, because Stella will be on the
lookout for you.
This isn't too hard of a fight, despite the thought having both vampire sisters
trying to freeze and chop you at the same time. Keep close to them when they're
doing nothing, get behind Loretta often and pray Loretta doesn't use any of her
deadly attacks and they will eventually fall.
--------------------------
5l3. Master's Keep
--------------------------
Save the game and head back past the boss room into the main painting room. For
whatever reason, all the paintings are accessible except the middle one
(Brauner). So, choose your fate! You don't have to follow the order I do these
areas so feel free to mix and match the next four parts of the guide!
--------------------------
5m1. Dark Academy
--------------------------
I hate this place. The save points take too long to get to, the enemies are
tough, it takes forever to reach the end and worst of all, it's raining :(.
As usual, walk past the warp point and fly over everything until you reach the
building. Upon entering you'll be greeted by two Dragonflies. Throw an axe at
the one in front of you and if the other one comes down to party axe him too.
Head left into the next room to find a couple of Black Crows and a Light
Keeper. Quickly double jump and throw an axe to take out the crow before the
speedy Light Keeper gets to you. Once the bird is down, fly up over the Light
Keeper and over the next Black Crow into the next room. Continue left and fly
over the Vapula in the next area. In the room with the long shaft above you,
fly up to the very top and enter the structure here. Two imps will spawn, one
in font of you and one below. Throw axes at both of them when they get close.
Walk forward and you'll see *gasp* an Old Axe Armor! Be careful though because
an imp will appear near you, so take him out first. We need want head down to
grab a HP up, but right below you is another Old Axe Armor, who will sometimes
be blocking the way. To get around him, first go up and left into the next room
by flying over the Old Axe Armor above you. Go back out of that room and fly
over the Old Axe Armor again and dispose of the imps carefully. The Old Axe
Armor below should be on the left side walking slowly towards the right, so
quickly get below before he attacks. Of course, if he's not blocking the way
the first time just make a run for it. In the area here, fly over all the
enemies and grab the HP up and quickly exit again. Kill the imps with your
throwing axes again but watch out for the Old Axe Armor above you who will
block them and prevent the imps from getting hit. Once the two imps are dead,
go right a little and hug the ceiling here for a second and drop down. The imp
should try to follow you, proceed to axe him. Now try to lure the Old Axe Armor
above you to the left by waiting by the left door. When he moves, quickly jump
onto his platform and onto the next. Fly over the next Old Axe Armor into the
left room but be careful of the axes he throws around.
Hug the ceiling like crazy to avoid the Witches here. In the next room you'll
see a Ruler Sword, which we don't want to be touching. In order to get past him
without a fight, you'll have to lure him up by hugging the ceiling for a while,
and then by dropping down and running underneath him you can get past without a
scratch. In the next area, jump up and try to hit the dragonfly with an axe.
Jump over the Lesser Demon and wait on the left ledge for the other two
Dragonflies to attack you and throw axes at them. Head up and left from here to
find a room with a Final Guard. Fly over him by hugging the ceiling and get
ready to take out the Dragonfly right in front of you as you enter the next
room. Drop down but hug the right wall because there's a Toad at the bottom
which might decide to jump at you. Fly over the Minotaur and the Black Crow in
the next room. Head down here and kill any Student Witches in the way by
slashing them twice or throwing an axe. Go right and fly past every Witch in
the next room. Kill the Witch in the next area with three axes and do the same
with the next Witch at the bottom. Head right for a save room! Finally!
Go back and dodge the Witch again, who should just fly over you. To the left is
a room FULL of imps. Take out each one by walking forward slowly until one
tries to attack you, then move back and throw an axe at it. Head down in the
next room and go left. Fly over the Dead Warrior and Black Crows here and keep
heading left. In the room with the bloody hand prints (What the hell are these
for anyway?!), simply walk under the Black Crows and they won't harm you.
Immediately as you enter the next area, hug the ceiling and fly over the
Minotaur onto the platform on the left with a Toad on. Kill him by slashing him
three times and throw an axe at the incoming Dragonfly. Do this quickly though
because that Minotaur can still hit you from below. Jump up and kill or avoid
the next toad and head left. Fly over everything in the next few rooms and keep
heading left. At the end of the corridors, drop down to see the boss room on
your right. But before we attempt the boss, go left and save first.
--------------------------
5m2. Boss: The Creature
--------------------------
Me and ol' Franky have a kind of love-hate relationship. I love him cause he's
a cool boss to fight and he has some impressive firepower. But I hate him
because he can kill you quickly and he teams up with his brother later in the
Nest of Evil giving you an almost unfair fight.
Anyway, The Creature isn't too hard to topple. He has a few attacks which you
should be used to by now if you've killed at least one of them. The trick to
winning this fight is to stay very close to him and hold up in his face (or
body) as much as you can. Not only does this keep damaging him but it can also
block his machinegun fire if you keep the right distance. Sounds easy enough,
so what's the catch? If you touch him, you die. If he touches you, you die. If
he jumps on you, you die. If he blows you up with his missile, you die. Also
his lightning can kill you, but sometimes it won't. I'm not sure why but I
managed to survive somehow before when I was far away from him. The only thing
that won't kill you right away is his machinegun.
So as soon as the fight starts get close to him and hold up. DO NOT get too
close though, because if he decides to jump and you're too close, his knee will
poke you and you'll die. He doesn't seem to walk forward often when you're
close to him but he will try to move back, so try to follow him as he steps
back. The only problem is he'll try to grab you all the time, which again kills
you in one hit. If he tries to grab you, either run the opposite way or press L
(which will make you fly up since you SHOULD be holding up) but whatever you
choose to do, do it fast because he grabs pretty quick. If you fly up, he might
decide to shoot a missile at the ceiling which you can avoid by standing at the
bottom.
When he does his machinegun fire you can block almost every bullet if you're
standing close to him and holding up. You won't get hit at all and do a ton of
damage to him. If you've just avoided an attack or whatever and you're not
close enough when he starts machine gunning just hug the ceiling until he stops
or fly over him. When he jumps just move out the way, but try to get behind him
because it'll take him time to turn around and face you again. His lighting can
be a pain to dodge. If you're close he'll aim it right in front of him so you
can easily fly away, but if you're away from him it can be hard to tell where
he's going to fire. If you can, try to fly over him before he shoots it.
It's not a hard battle but it's not too easy. Just be careful not to touch him
and watch out for those damn missile explosions. He'll go down pretty quickly
if he keeps jumping around and machine gunning.
Once he's fallen, either go back and save the game or continue on into the
castle painting and save at the Master's Keep. Once saved choose your next
painting or if this is your last one, head for the big painting in the middle
once you return to Master's Keep and scroll down to Boss: Brauner.
--------------------------
5n1. Burnt Paradise
--------------------------
Oh man. As if the Nation of Fools wasn't bad enough.
From the start, head right to find two swinging axes. To get past these wait
until they swing to the right, get as close as you can to them and duck.
Somehow, it won't chop your block off. In the next room is a Guillotiner and
one of those flame ring things. The Guillotiner is right below you if you try
to jump down, so move forward a little first to attract it and make it fly
around. Jump down into the right door to find a save point.
Go back and head down, then quickly head left before the Tanjelly gets you.
Head left and fly over the two Minotaur until you reach the door at the left.
As soon as you enter the room run for the door and the Tanjelly here should
miss you. Just go out and back in if you took too long to move. Continue left
to find a room with a swinging axe. Avoid it and continue left. Ok this area is
a bit tricky. Stand still as soon as you enter the room and wait for the
Tanjelly to go away. Ignore the Armor Knight because he can't hurt you. When
you see the Tanjelly below crawling up jump onto the ledge to the left (where
the first Tanjelly was). From here throw axes down at the two Armor Knights
until they die, then fall down. Avoid any Tanjelly remaining in the building
and fall down again, but beware of that vice beetle roaming around. If you see
it, throw an axe at it but if not just head for the exit at the bottom. Drop
down once into the building where the Guillotiner is waiting and do battle with
him. He takes a while to die but is quite easy to avoid. Keep throwing axes and
dodging him until he dies. Once he's dead go right and drop down to the ground,
but immediately jump up onto the little platforms above you because there's a
Ripper jumping around. Jump across the structures, dodging any Tanjelly you see
until you have to head down. There's a bunch of Rippers here and there's no way
of getting round them other than hugging the ceiling and praying. They're too
agile to throw axes at, and you don't have time with that Tanjelly seeking you,
so you'll just have to make a break for it. Jump down and run left hugging the
ceiling as much as you can and leap for the exit! In the next room you'll see a
Tanjelly. Follow behind it when it's upside down to find the exit below.
Continue left until you reach a save point.
Drop down, ignoring the gorgon and go right. Don't be intimidated by the ripper
here because they can't get you. Walk right and drop down hugging the left
side. On the next screen move right a bit to avoid the Vice beetle poisoning
you. Hug the left wall and keep dropping down until you see the lower exit and
head for it. Take out the harmless ripper here by chucking axes and grab the HP
up at the bottom. Jump back up and head left. In here, go to the left wall and
fly up. Don't worry about the base of the Skeleton Trees because only their
head hurts you. In the next room, look both ways for Medusa and then fly up
into the room above for a MP up. Go back and take extreme care when dropping
down this tall room. Medusa heads can hide behind the ring of fire too so take
extra care. In the next room you'll see a swinging axe. Jump past and ignore
the Vice Beetle, then drop down. Wait for the Double Axe Armor to attack and
then drop down and run right. As soon as you drop down into the next large
room, immediately go left onto the platforms and throw axes at the Jack-O-
Bones. Once he's dead, go to where he was and throw axes below to take out the
other one. Once they're both dead head into the right room. Avoid the Swinging
axes here but keep at the top of the area or you'll get Ripper'd. Once you
reach the far right drop down and exit the area. In the next room check if the
Tanjelly is heading right or left. If he isn't going right then re-enter the
room until he does. When he finally does, go left and take out the Vice beetle
if it's close. Dodge the swinging axe then continue to exit the room on the
right. Another single swinging axe room here so just avoid it. You should be
used to dodging them by now. Continue right into the next room which should be
empty. Now THIS is an annoying room. It's a small square room full of upside
down rippers. As soon as you enter, run right and land on the ground. Begin
throwing axes like crazy until they all die, and pray they don't catch you with
their knives. Yes, they can reach you even from there. Also be very careful
that none of them enter one of the doorways because they WILL still be there,
much like the Ukyobacks. You'll most likely get hit here, which means you'll
have to do ALL this from the save point above without getting hit! Gross!
Anyway, the next room is full of harmless Yorick, swinging axes and Skeleton
Trees. Avoid the swinging axes and throw axes and the Trees. I don't think they
can even hit you from here but just in case, take em out. Exit by going down to
find the boss door, but we want to save first! Go right to see another
Tanjelly. Watch it until it enters the save room on the right. Now I don't
think Tanjelly actually stay in the doorways but just to make sure, quickly
follow it after you see it vanish. Save the damn game and head back to the boss
room.
--------------------------
5n2. Boss: Medusa
--------------------------
SNAKES ON A CASTLEVANIA. Sorry. Medusa sucks because she's constantly moving
about like a... Snake I guess. This has more chance of killing you than all of
her attacks. She has two attacks where you have to act fast too, or it's
instant death. Actually everything she does apart from "PETRIFY!", and her
Medusa head flurry kills you right away. Fortunately, Medusa's attacks aren't
anything special. The only real threat is her bobbing up and down all the time.
Your only offence here is your throwing axes.
When the battle starts begin throwing axes. When she flies back and waves up
and down like crazy then look away, because she's going to petrify you
otherwise. Right after that she'll turn into a snake. As soon as you see the
snake's tongue, run back and wait a second before flying up and dodging her
dive at you. She'll change back then so start throwing more axes. When she puts
her hand on her face and laughs stand back a bit and keep pressing attack to
hit any incoming medusa. You might need to dodge a little but usually your axe
will cover anything near you. If you see Medusa pull her arm back, run away and
hug the ceiling to dodge her bite attack. Lastly, she'll laugh and her snake
body will come out of the ground. If you're paranoid about getting hit by this,
just hug the ceiling until she stops. If you're more paranoid then head for the
right side of the room and stay there until she stops.
I hate this fight. She takes way too long to die with the throwing axes, but
it's the only safe way of hitting her. When you've been playing for a while and
you think you're going to finally take her down, she'll probably just float
into you and kill you. Extremely annoying. Just keep the hell away from her and
throw axes when you can. Also try not to throw an axe as she's about to attack
with her bite, because you won't have time to move. Keep your distance at all
times and she should eventually die.
Grab the orb to restore your health (if you got hit by a medusa head like I
just did, grr) and head left. Be extremely careful not to die now! Dodge the
medusa heads flying everywhere and go down and right. Pick the castle painting
and return to the save point. Alternatively you can go back and save via the
Tanjelly room. Once saved choose your next painting or if this is your last
one, head for the big painting in the middle once you return to Master's Keep
and scroll down to Boss: Brauner.
--------------------------
5o1. 13th Street
--------------------------
Head left and fly over any enemies on the long screen after the warp point.
Don't worry, there's no train to scare the crap out of you this time. One word
of advice though, when you get to the second Buster Armor you'll probably
accidentally enter a secret above. If you do, get the hell back out quickly
before Mothman pounces on you and spreads his poison all over you. Keep going
until you reach a save point, then head up.
Throw axes at the first Aliorumnas here (How do you pronounce that anyway?) and
keep going up, and take out the next one. Head left and then fly up, ignoring
the two Ghouls. Jump up the platforms and you'll see a Red Axe Armor. Chuck two
axes at him to temporarily knock him out, and then quickly throw axes at the
ripper above you. If the Red Axe Armor gets back up just kill him again.
Proceed through the room until you see the next Red Axe Armor. Drop down here
and try to land on one of the shelves. Drop down when you have a chance of
getting past the next Red Axe Armor here. Fly over the Dead Warriors outside
and take out two Aliorumnas in this room, and ignore the last one as you fly
up. Hug the ceiling here until the ripper follow you, and lure them over to the
right WHILE hugging the ceiling. When they're both over there quickly fly left
and make a break for the exit. Disable or dodge the Red Axe Armor here and go
down to take out the next Aliorumnas (That name is just bugging me now). Ignore
the ripper on the ground and head up and right. Fly over the Red Axe Armor and
head for the exit. In the next room fly over the army of Axe Armors and hug the
ceiling above the exit below. When you see your chance, drop down into the next
room. Fly over Vapula here and drop down. As soon as you enter the room, jump
over Mothman and head down before the Nyx has time to stab you. Go right here
for a save point.
Fly over the Heavy Armor and co here and activate the warp point to the left.
Jump, but don't fly, up the platforms here. You'll see a bunch of Red Axe Armor
here. You can't fly over these because the skeleton blaze in the above area
will hit you so you'll have to disable them really quick and run past. As soon
as you drop down quickly take out the Aliorumnas in front of you, and then take
out the next. Take out the sexy Nyx at the top of the platforms by throwing
axes below, then fly over the next one and enter the left room. As soon as you
enter, kill another Aliorumnas then drop down, and take out the next one. You
can ignore the last one here, so head left. Keep running left and the Ghost
Dancers here won't touch you. Fly over Malphas in the next room (I can't
believe this guy. First he was a tough boss, now he's turned into a normal
enemy!). Jump up and fly over the Final Guard in this room to find a HP up. Fly
back over him and head left. Ignore the Aliorumnas in front of you in the next
room and jump down, but be aware of the Ghost Dancer below you. Keep going
left, ignoring all enemies, until you find the boss room. Drop down below it
and go left for a save room. Head back up to face the boss.
--------------------------
5o2. Boss: Werewolf
--------------------------
Wow. Werewolf sure has grown since the last Castlevania! Shame he's an even
bigger pansy than before.
Werewolf has a few attacks which can ALL be avoided by flying over him. He's
always dancing around though so it's hard to get close enough to him to hold up
and suck the life out of him, so we'll just have to chuck axes at him until the
cries for mommy wolf.
The strategy is this. If he's idling and jittering around, you throw axes. If
he stops and runs at you, fly over him. If he tries to throw a lamppost at you,
you fly over him. If he howls at the moon, you fly and wait for his comrades to
pass. He can also try to grab you, but he's slow at doing it and you shouldn't
be that close to him anyway.
The biggest threat in this pathetic fight is that your finger might get tired
of tapping L too much and you may slip and fall on him. But guess what? If
you've been keeping up with the HP ups so far he won't even kill you in one
hit! If it wasn't for Behemoth, this guy would be the easiest boss!
When he shamelessly falls to his death, head left and pick the castle painting.
Once saved choose your next painting or if this is your last one, head for the
big painting in the middle and scroll down to Boss: Brauner.
--------------------------
5p1. Forgotten City.
--------------------------
This really is the forgotten city, because I totally forgot about it! I was all
pumped to fight Brauner and I thought wha? Bah! Oh well, let's get down to
business shall we?
Head left, flying over any mummies you see. When you reach the area with the
two Flame Demons and the Demon head, just stay on the ground and run left. Next
up is the Poison Worm. This is exactly like the Sand Worm apart from he has a
lot more HP. Throw axes like before, but get ready to run away when he comes
out, or stay close to him and throw axes for a TON of damage. If you touch him
it won't kill you right away but be careful because he comes out very fast.
When he dies, stand where he once was and get devoured by the sand to enter the
REAL forgotten city.
Drop down and head right, ignoring Laura. When you drop down to the next
screen, hug the left side wall and keep holding left until you enter the save
room. If you don't, that Armored Fleaman will get you. Save, and return to
Laura's room above.
Head left and then down to find a big room with two Armored Fleamen. Drop down
and try to aim left a bit so you can just see the Armored Fleaman here. He'll
begin his frenzy and start jumping about. Now fly to the right side until you
see him drop down to the right. Now quickly escape at the bottom, which is to
the left. In the next room, jump over the Old Axe Armor and head down again.
Jump over the Quetzalcoatl in the next room or hug the ceiling to avoid him,
and then quickly drop down into the next room. There's ghosts spawning
everywhere in here so just make a run for the exit below. The Old Axe Armor
won't get chance to attack you if you hurry. In the next room, jump over the
first Demon Head who spawns below you, and run under the next to make it to the
bottom. When you enter this screen, head right to find a save point.
Exit the save room, drop down and head right again. In the next room you have
to go down, but there's a Quetzalcoatl heading right for you. Don't try to make
a break for it because you will get hit, so instead fly over them both and go
into the right room. Come back out and fly over them again, but since they're
bouncing around to the right you should be able to get down there with ease.
More rushing in the next room, fall down as fast as you can to avoid the
incoming ghosts. Next up is one of those rolling stone rooms, you should know
how to get past these now. Fly over the Lesser Demons in the next room. Another
tall ghost room here, so just do what you did before and run for it. The
Ectoplasms shouldn't bug you here so just rush for the exit on the right. Fly
over the Jack-O-Bones in the next area to find yet another tall ghost room.
Quickly head down. A demon head will appear here, so quickly rush down the room
and squeeze past him. You should be able to before he appears. Don't be
intimidated by his wings! Fly over the mummies in the next area to find a warp
point and a save room.
Fly back over the mummies and rush past the demon head by flying up. Now the
tricky part, rushing UP the ghost room while avoiding blood skeletons and an
evil Jack-O-Bones at the top. Instead of flying, just jump up the platforms as
quickly as possible. You should have no trouble avoiding the Red Skeletons but
the Jack-O-Bones you'll have to take out. You'll probably die the first time,
not knowing where he is. Take note of where he is and spam him with axes the
next time you try. Hopefully the ghosts will be still wandering around before
they catch up to you. When he's out of the way, quickly make it up and out of
that room. Our old friend the Tanjelly is back here. You shouldn't have any
problems flying up past him. Just remember he won't jump if he's crawling
across a corner. Head up to enter a room with more Jack-O-Bones. Run into the
right room before the chuck bouncy bones at you. Next up is more Lesser Demons,
so just fly past them. Again, the Ectoplasm shouldn't bother you. In the next
room fly up and head left, ignoring the incoming Demon Head. Continue left and
you'll see an awkward room with Yorick in. This will probably be the first time
you've ever seen Yorick be such a pain in a Castlevania game. Stand here and
keep throwing axes at his body until he dies. Don't worry about his skull, it
won't bite. In the next room is an incoming Quetzalcoatl, so fly up and hug the
right wall to avoid it. Hug the ceiling and fly to the left to get past him.
The next room is exactly the same so repeat. The next room has some unique
traps in, but they're easy enough to avoid. You'll see the boss room ahead of
you next, and above it is a save room. Before we save though, fly up the thin
path here to find a HP up and a MP up. Lovely! Go back down, save, and enter
the boss room.
--------------------------
5p2. Boss: Mummy Man
--------------------------
I can't decide what's more annoying. His attacks or his name. Seriously, Mummy
Man? What happened to Akmodan II? Oh well whataever. This guy isn't hard at
all, but not as easy as Werewolf.
Mummy Man is horribly slow at moving, so he automatically qualifies for the
hold up attack. When he isn't attacking or is walking around ultra slow, you
should be close to him holding up. He'll die in no time at all if you keep this
up.
When he raises his hands to shoot off some homing string or whatever, jump
behind him and hold up. If the string circles round and gets close to you fly
over him and the string and hold up your axe up in his face some more. When he
summons those blocks below you just fly over them, or walk off them if they
picked you up. Lastly he'll summon up those bricks which will either twirl
around you and fly at you, or fly up above you and fly at you from there. If
you've played the game through once you should know how to dodge this by now.
The hardest one to dodge is when they circle around you, but since you can fly
it's still pretty easy. He can also teleport, which is futile because it's so
slow.
Really, the Mummy Man isn't hard in the slightest. He might catch you with his
bricks a few times and kill you but it won't take you long before you take this
guy down. Be careful he doesn't walk into you! :P
Go back and save, then go beyond his room to find the paintings. Choose your
next painting or if this is your last one, head for the big painting in the
middle once you return to Master's Keep and scroll down to Boss: Brauner.
--------------------------
5q1. Boss: Brauner
--------------------------
Done? Good! Make sure you go save before you fight Brauner.
Apart from Death, Brauner is easily the hardest boss so far. If you've been
following the guide and you've picked up every HP up I've mentioned so far,
you'll be able to survive a hit from all of Brauner's attacks. The attacks he
does however can be very hard to dodge. The other problem is that holding up
only does 10 damage per hit, and he has 6000 HP! Not only that, but since he's
always spamming up with blood art, paintings of the soul and what not, you
won't get much chance to hit him at all. Throwing axes you say? Forget it.
You'll be using them in this fight but not for damaging him. Well, let's go
over his attacks.
The first thing he'll do is "Blood Art Technique", where he paints on the
screen in different shapes and lives a big blobby trail of blood there which
damages you. Cleaning up this crap is a chore for poor Old Axe Armor, but it's
necessary to dodge most of Brauner's attacks, especially when he's flying
around in his painting. He does it in three shapes. X, > and =. If he does it
in an X shape just stand there and hold up until he's finished the first line.
Then use your normal attack and throwing axes to remove the blood, but be sure
to get to out the way quick because Brauner will soon start spewing blobs of
blood everywhere when he says "A painting of the soul!" While he's doing this
try to clean up as much blood as possible with your axes before he launches his
next attack. If he does the > shape quickly get away from him, then clean up
his mess as much as you can with your axe and throwing axes. If he does the =,
wait until his second line and double jump back over it, and clean it up with
your axe. Now we've covered that, let's go over what portraits he can throw at
you.
The first one is the painting that has a bunch of evil eyes on it. It will
split into two and create two freaks at the top and bottom of the screen. The
bottom one will come towards you, and then the top. This is really awkward to
dodge with Old Axe Armor for some reason so you might want to use the doll
here. If not, stay near the wall, but not next to it, and double jump over the
first while moving a little to avoid the second. Timing and positioning is
everything. These freaks will also disappear if Brauner is far away, but don't
count on it too often. If you get hit they will also curse you, which prevents
you from throwing axes to clean up that blood :(.
Next is the big weird green wheel of flesh which you have to walk with to
avoid. If you see this coming you'll need to run to the other end FAST. Since
two come out of it and go both ways, you can end up getting caught by both of
them if you're too close to Brauner. Also you'll get hit by both, so you'll die
instantly. If you manage to get out of the way before it appears, carefully
dodge it by walking under it at the right time. Don't walk too fast though
because you'll end up hitting one of the blades, and then the other one will
come from behind and kill you. What's really nasty is sometimes Brauner will be
near one of the edges of the screen and launch it really close to you, making
it impossible to dodge if you don't get out of the way quick enough. Screw you
Brauner :(. Keep in mind this always appears from the middle of the room, so
keep away from it if Brauner is near one of the sides of the room. This attack
also poisons you, which is meaningless in this mode.
His final painting is the one where he summons a bunch of heads which will
petrify you (you'll die anyway) if you touch them, kinda like medusa heads but
they don't in one hit. To get past these, throw an axe at them all and most of
them will be pushed down. From there you can fly over the rest. Easiest
painting to dodge so hope that he uses this one more often than the others!
Once he's finished the painting attack, he'll either begin another blood art
technique or summon his painting down and go for a ride. When you see it fall
down, run away from him because he'll try to fly into you as soon as he's in
it. He'll fly around now so don't jump until he laughs and swoops at you. If
he's close to you and you see him about to swoop at you, hug the ceiling and he
will miss you. If he's not so close just keep away from him and throw a few
axes if you can. You might even need to duck sometimes because he can fly
pretty low. He'll return to his vampire form shortly after he swoops at you.
This battle wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for that massive 6000 HP he has.
Even if you get used to his attacks, the amount of time it takes for him to
eventually die will wear you out. If you feel your fingers getting tired or
your hands are sweating, pause the game and have a break. Good luck!
--------------------------
5r1. RE:Master's Keep
--------------------------
Note: I haven't got this far with Lvl.1 Old Axe Armor so for the last bit of
the FAQ I've played with Lvl.50 cap without getting hit once. And yeah, it's
really really hard so good luck.
Once Brauner topples SAVE THE DAMN GAME! Fly up from the save point and get
ready to face good ol' Drac and Death. If you haven't beaten Death in the Tower
of Death then maybe you'll want to consider that first as a warm up. Yes, a
warm up...
Before we take them on, go outside before his room (where the music first
changes) and fly up to grab a MP up. Then, near the entrance to this area from
the right you can drop down to find another HP up. I'm not certain if these
will make any difference but the more hits you can take the better (even if it
is one). When you're done, save once more and enter the final boss room.
---------------------------------
5r2. Boss: Death & Dracula
---------------------------------
We've come a long way, but I'm afraid this is probably where you'll retire.
Dracula and Death are a pain, and you'll probably already know this from
fighting them normally. Well let's talk tactics. Death will fly around most of
the time and dive down at you with his Scythe which will probably kill you
right off the bat. This is easy to dodge but with Drac teleporting around and
launching crap at you it can get a bit tricky. Basicly you just have to fly
over Dracula's projectiles (or duck and jump if he uses meteors), but often
you'll find Death floating around above you. Timing and luck is everything
here. If you can lure Death away right before Drac attacks, you should have no
problem avoiding them both. Unfortunately Death won't do what you want, and
will just bump into you and laugh anyway. Just try your best. Death will also
sometimes split into multiple forms and attack downward. This is fairly easy to
dodge, but keep a look out for when his shadows appear. He doesn't do this too
often thankfully.
Now then, Dracula and Death do combo attacks on you after 3 or 4 of Dracula's
attacks. You can usually tell when they're going to because Death will stop
following you or float lower. They use their combo attacks in this order. Bat
Moon, the scythe-fireball move and then the huge atomic explosion. Bat moon is
easy to dodge, just hug the ceiling until the bats pass. The most annoying
combo attack they use is EASILY the scythe-fireball move. You'll often find
yourself stuck between a bunch of them with no way out. Attacking them doesn't
help because there's so many and they're all in hard to reach places for poor
Old Axe Armor. So what do you do? Well there are two options. If Death is
closer to the wall, you'll want to try and get behind Dracula. You can either
hug the ceiling and fly over him or use the doll. You have to be REALLY quick
to think about which way to go though, because it's very hard to tell when
Death is going to start spamming them. And if Dracula is against the wall you
obviously don't want to get behind him do you? So we have to go the other way,
but often it'll be too late and you'll be trapped. This is where you HAVE to
use the doll to escape. The Scythes will slowly be sucked into Dracula and
closer to you. If you throw the doll at the right time you'll avoid them all,
but RUN AWAY. If you're too slow, Drac will show you in meteors and it'll all
be over. Finally, the duo use the big atomic explosion thing. This is easy to
dodge, just run to the other side of the screen when you see Death transform
and wait for the explosion to settle. I've never once got caught by this with
any mode of play so you should have no problems.
So now we know vaguely how to not get hit, how do we attack? Well holding up is
out of the question because Drac is so tall, and death is always floating
around too high. So yeah, it's another throwing axe spam battle. Don't you just
love them? You'll be aiming for death because it does more damage. Don't bother
with Dracula, just avoid him and aim for death. If you dare look at their HP
you'll realise how long this battle is going to take. So it's the same
situation with Brauner. Concentrate, take breaks, and pray you don't lose your
sanity.
---------------------------------
5r3. FINAL BOSS: True Dracula
---------------------------------
Note: Since I haven't beaten Brauner yet I have no idea if you can survive
Drac's finger attack.
Before you get chance to celebrate and brag to your friends that you beat the
devious duo, you're thrown into the next and final fight without being able to
save first. I wouldn't mind this if it wasn't THE HARDEST DAMN BATTLE IN THE
GAME!
Well as soon as you start, he'll laugh at you. He knows it's futile to even
bother trying this with lvl.1 Old Axe Armor, and so should you so laugh with
him. Well what can I say? He's big, fast and has a ton of HP. I'd have a 3
minute break before starting. No longer though, as you'll probably lose your
touch and die right away.
His attacks are very fast. You'll have to have killed him a few times before
trying this because he will catch you off guard. His favourite move is punching
the floor where you're standing. This is the easiest attack to dodge and you
can see it coming. You can even get a brief moment to hold up next to him, but
don't get cocky with that because he can catch you while flying back up. Throw
axes if you feel unsafe. His next and probably most annoying attack is when he
tries to kick/knee you in the face. You just can't see it coming, but if you
can you can fly over him and hug the ceiling to avoid it. But really, my
reflexes aren't up to scratch so I always die here with any character. If only
Old Axe Armor could slide. Anyway, his next attack is when he flies lower and
summons fireballs all around him. You're forced to walk with him when he does
this, and it can often get you stuck in the corner and have no choice but to
die. What a cheating scumbag! Dodge them accordingly and carefully and he'll
eventually stop. Next up he'll summon big black scythes and launch them at you.
When you first see him start executing this attack, hug the ceiling and he'll
miss. Quickly run to the opposite side of the room and the second will miss.
Wait for the third to miss and continue your (futile) attack. His last and most
famous attack is the fingers of death or whatever they call it. He'll fly back
into the background and his big hands appear to the left and right. You SHOULD
know what to do here, but if not I'll explain. You have to hit each hand so
many times until they push back. If the hands get too close to the center it's
game over. To do this with Old Axe Armor, simply go to one of the hands and
hold up until it pushes back. Quickly turn around and attack the other one
before it gets too close. Rinse and repeat. Eventually Drac will fly back into
the arena. He loves doing this attack so get used to it.
Eventually (Yeah right) Dracula will fall to his knees, and the game will be
over. Congratulations! Watch the credits roll and enjoy your reward: Able to
brag to the world about how you've beaten Portrait of Ruin in the hardest way
possible.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
6. Optional Quests
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
---------------------------------
a. The Nest of Evil
---------------------------------
If for whatever reason you want to challenge yourself any further, try the Nest
of Evil. I however, haven't tried as I'm currently still fighting Brauner and I
believe you have to beat him first before unlocking the Nest of Evil for Old
Axe Armor. How hard is it? Well I'd say it's pretty damn hard. I'm almost
certain the two Creatures will crush you if you get that far. I've heard a
rumour though that you can just wait for the boss doors to open by hugging the
ceiling. Cheaty? Well yeah but do you really want to take on a bunch of Cave
Trolls RIGHT AFTER beating the Creatures?
If anyone has beaten this and wants to contribute some strategies for the
rooms, feel free to email me!
---------------------------------
b. 1000% Complete
---------------------------------
I *think* this is possible. Old Axe Armor can fly, squeeze into gaps and pretty
much get anywhere. Doing this on lvl.1 mode though would be extremely hard, and
I don't recommend even trying. If you manage this then I shall dub thee a
Castlevania God.
---------------------------------
c. Without getting any HP/MP ups
---------------------------------
You bet this is possible. The only reason you want to gather these anyway is so
you can chuck a few more axes now and again, and sometimes be able to take one
hit. Life insurance you could say. You might not want to bother getting any
just because most enemies will murder you in a single hit. But it's worth it,
especially for the Corpseweed area in the Forest of Doom.
---------------------------------
d. Defeating Death
---------------------------------
Optional? You bet. You can skip a lot of bosses in Old Axe Armor mode. These
include all of the first four Portrait bosses and Death. The portrait bosses
aren't really too tough, just annoying. But death is really difficult.
Thankfully Konami, for whatever reason, made the elevator accessible from the
start of the game. That means you can skip the death battle altogether! This is
how:
Warp to the Tower of Death warp point opposite the Forest of Doom painting.
Exit the warp room and drop down past the save point and head into the next
right hand room. Continue through here to find two Razor Bats. Take them out
with throwing axes. Hug the ceiling past the Succubus ahead and continue
hugging to avoid the next set of Succubus. Keep going and... Ta-da! The
elevator is already active! If you go up the elevator you'll see the boss door
is shut.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
7. Frequently Asked Questions
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
These are actually made up questions, or questions I asked but couldn't find
the answer to.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Q. What do you get for completing Lvl.1 Old Axe Armor mode?
-----------------------------------------------------------
A. Nothing. The only reward you'll get is self respect, and respect from any
other Castlevania fans and geeks around you.
----------------------------------------------
Q. Why would you want to complete it this way?
----------------------------------------------
A. I get this asked a lot. "Why bother?" Well the reason is challenge. Konami
make such fantastic games, usually with a high difficulty (See Gradius III
arcade). The portable castlevania series have gone on a downward spiral of
being too easy if you ask me (Minus Circle of the Moon) since the classics.
Sure they add harder modes once you finish them, but they're not really that
tougher. My brother bet me that I couldn't beat the game on level 1 Old Axe
Armor mode, and since then I've been determined to finish it. Some people find
hard games fun, others not. If you hate difficult, frustrating, insanely hard
gameplay, this mode is not for you :).
-------------------------
Q. Is this even possible?
-------------------------
A. Of course. As long as you don't file "Really really really really hard"
under impossible, then this is most certainly possible. I know a few people who
have gotten as far as True Dracula, and I know one person who has finished the
game. Why would they have it as an option if it wasn't?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q. I've found a better strategy for one of the bosses/areas. Can I submit it?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Sure! While writing this I've often struggled for words trying to come up
with a way to say "just be good at the damn game and you'll do this area"
without sounding like an ass. I'd appreciate any extra methods of beating
bosses or getting through areas. Be sure to try my methods first though, they
might work better.
----------------------------------------------------
Q. What's the hardest part of the game in this mode?
----------------------------------------------------
A. This is hard for me to decide, because I think every single bit of this way
of playing is difficult. For bosses I'd have to say True Dracula though, or if
that's too obvious for you then Death on his own. Luckily you can skip him
though. Brauner is also very hard, but more annoying because the battle lasts
so long. As for areas I'd say the one room in the Forest of Doom with the
single Corpseweed. It's so hard to get by its ridiculous! The ripper room in
Burnt Paradise is also one of my least favourite rooms. I swear that room is
just luck. Obviously the Nest of Evil is going to be harder than all of the
above, but I haven't been there yet.
If you've got a question, feel free to email me and ask!
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
8. Contact Information
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
If you wish to contact me please follow the rules.
1) All emails to me should include the subject "Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin"
or something along those lines.
2) No rants, flames or whatever. I'll be acceptable with things you don't agree
with but don't be rude about it.
3) If I don't reply, don't send me any mail asking if I got your previous
email.
If you think you can handle those three rules then feel free to drop me a line!
[email protected]
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
9. Legal/Copyright
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
You should only be able to find this FAQ on GameFAQS.com or on my website which
is http://gothic.34sp.com. If you wish to upload this FAQ elsewhere please
contact me using the email address above.
Casltevania, and all related characters/items/locations etc located in this FAQ
are copyright of Konami.
Copyright 2007 Cutmanmike
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