,-'  ______`-.
   ,'  ,-'      `-.\      ,   __                                  /\
  /  ,'               _  /|  / /        /|   ____             _   \/
 /  /     ,'`._  ___,'/_/ |_ | |  ,-'\  \ \  \  /   ,'`._ /\,' \  /\    ,'`._
/  /    .'|`. / / __,'|_   _|| | | |\ \  \ \  \ \ .'|`. / | ,'\ \ | | .'|`. /
|  |    | | | || \__/\  | |  | | | |_\ \ | |   | || | | | | | | / | | | | | |
|  |    | | | | \  __ \ | |  | | |  _,-' | |   / /| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
\  \    | | | |  \/  \| | |  | | | \     | |  / / | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 \  \   | |,' | /\___// | |_ | |  \ `._  | `.' /  | |,' | | |_| |_| |_| |,' |
  \  `. |_,'|_//____,'  \__/ \_/   `.__/  `-.,'   |_,'|_/ |_,'|_,'\_,'|_,'|_/
   `.  `-.______,-'/
     `-.________,-'    THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO JULIUS BELMONT VERSION 1.0
  ' )  /                                      /)    /  )
   /--/ __.  __  ______  __ ____  __  ,   __ //    /  / _  _   _   __.  o __
  /  (_(_/|_/ (_/ / / <_(_)/ / <_/ (_/_  (_)//_   /__/_</_/_)_/_)_(_/|_<_/ (_
                                  /      />                /
                                 '      </                '
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 ______________________________________
|                                      |
| Author: Zimmygunnar (GT: romertremor)|
|                                      |
| Guide Started: August 31, 2011       |
|                                      |
| Guide Completed: September 1, 2011   |
|                                      |
| Email: [email protected]         |
|______________________________________|

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===============================================================================

1.0---PREFACE

Hello, I'm romertremor. I also go by Rome, RT, Tremor, and Chocolate Thunda.
There are a couple of reasons I'm writing this guide. First off, it's because
of the way I see a lot of people playing Julius. I'm not saying there's a right
or wrong way to play this game, but it seems like people ignore a lot of his
potential. Rarely do I see anybody whipping through walls, or using Omnia
Vanitas correctly, or consistently using subweapons. Second, it's because this
game has matured enough to the point where I feel comfortable writing a guide
without having to worry about a patch changing the metagame and invalidating
what I've written. Finally, it's because I feel like it would be a waste not to
give anything back to the community after 90+ hours of experience with Julius.
So without further ado, I present The Complete Guide to Julius Belmont!

===============================================================================
===============================================================================

-----------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
1.0---PREFACE
2.0---Who is Julius Belmont?
3.0---The Vampire Killer
3.1---Magnes Points
4.0---Subweapons
5.0---Martial Arts
5.1---Omnia Canceling
6.0---Dual Crushes
7.0---Boss Strategies
7.1---DLC Boss Strategies
8.0---Online Etiquette
9.0---Fun Facts
10.0---Shoutouts/Contributions
11.0---Legal

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===============================================================================

2.0---Who is Julius Belmont?
   ____________
  |            |
  | Background |
  |____________|

  Julius Belmont is, canonically, the last Belmont to ever fight Dracula. In
1999, with the help of Dracula's son Alucard and a team of Japanese priests,
Julius defeated Dracula and sealed his castle (and by extension Dracula
himself) inside a solar eclipse. These actions cost him his memory, however.
   ________________
  |                |
  | Aria of Sorrow |
  |________________|

  In 2035, there is another solar eclipse. Soma Cruz and his friend Mina
Hakuba are sucked into it, along with supporting characters Hammer,
Genya Arikado, Yoko Belnades, Graham Jones, and a man known only as J. When
they wake up, they find that they are inside Dracula's castle! As Soma makes
his way through the castle looking for a way out, he eventually learns the
truth: that he is the reincarnation of Dracula and that the castle had
summoned him there to become its new master. Graham and J learn of this too,
and both eventually try to kill Soma. J remembers that he is in fact Julius
Belmont, last of the Belmont bloodline. It is currently unknown if he had any
children. After a short fight against Soma, Soma makes Julius promise to kill
him if Soma ever turns to the dark side. Julius obliges. If Soma loses the
final battle against Chaos, the game will show a bad ending with Soma sitting
on Dracula's throne and Julius arriving to honor his promise to him.

   ________________
  |                |
  | Dawn of Sorrow |
  |________________|

  In 2036, a cult leader named Celia Fortner is attempting to find a
replacement for Dracula, believing that there must always be a balance between
good and evil. She tries to kill Soma Cruz, believing him to be a road block
in her scheme. Soma follows her to a castle, where he finds that she has
summoned monsters from Castlevania to stop him. Julius, Arikado (eventually
revealed to be Alucard in disguise), Yoko, and Hammer have also gone to the
castle. Soma encounters Julius several times throughout Dawn of Sorrow, the
last of which sees Julius using his remaining strength to destroy a barrier
so Soma can get through. There is a plot event in the last hours of the game
where Soma can turn to the dark side. If this happens, the game will show a
bad ending much like Aria of Sorrow's where Julius goes off to kill Soma.
   ____________________
  |                    |
  | Harmony of Despair |
  |____________________|

  Julius Belmont was released alongside Yoko Belnades as DLC on
October 27, 2010. When Julius is on the ground, he can whip in five directions.
While airborne, he can whip in eight directions. Compared to Jonathan, his whip
is longer, swings faster, and does more damage. He has fewer subweapons to
level up and has higher intelligence than Jonathan, meaning his subweapons will
do more damage. On a minor note, he can also use the Vampire Killer to
swing from Shanoa's Magnes Points (more on that later).

===============================================================================
===============================================================================

3.0---The Vampire Killer

  The Vampire Killer whip is the Belmont clan's ancestral weapon, dating all
the way back to the late 11th century. Every Belmont that has ever killed
Dracula has wielded it, and Julius is no different. Four characters in
Harmony of Despair use the Vampire Killer: Jonathan Morris, Julius Belmont,
Richter Belmont, and Simon Belmont. The way Julius uses it is probably the
most interesting, though: where the other whip users can only swing at what's
in front of them (and in Jonathan's case, what's diagonally under him), Julius
can swing at what's in front of him, above him, and even what's underneath him.
The fact that his whip has added length means he can kill monsters through
walls before other characters can even get into the same room as them. It also
means that he doesn't have to put himself in danger to deal damage. As
mentioned before, he can also utilize Shanoa's Magnes Points. One final
note: in Harmony of Despair, the Vampire Killer's attack power grows as you
level up your subweapons. For Julius, the attack power caps at 68.

3.1---Magnes Points

  These are of fairly limited use. The few paths available through Magnes
Points usually have a high ledge at the top, requiring momentum that only
Magnes can give. That being said, there are still some routes you can take,
such as the top floor in the large room with three levels in Chapter 2, the
left and right sides of the map in Chapter 5, and the path in Chapter 9
directly after you exit the first long hallway on the ground floor. There is a
special technique you need to use to be able to take the last two shortcuts
known as Magnes Jumping. To Magnes Jump, whip up at a Magnes Point, jump after
you get launched upwards, whip down at the Magnes Point for an extra boost,
jump again, then whip up at the next Magnes Point. Repeat the process until
you've made it up. This video shows the process in greater detail:

http://tinyurl.com/3ebmy2u

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===============================================================================

4.0---Subweapons

  Julius, while not having as many subweapons to choose from as Jonathan, only
has to level up half as many to reach his full potential. The subweapons are
as follows:

Knife - You begin the game with this. It can't be sold, nor can it be found
anywhere. The Knife moves in a straight line until it hits an enemy or a wall.
If you have a long, straight path filled with enemies (like the beginning of
Chapter 4) then feel free to spam until they're all dead. Just be wary of how
quickly the MP cost builds up.

Axe - Axe Armors drop these. This should be the first new subweapon you find.
The Axe is thrown in an arc to hit enemies directly above you. Using the Axe
as Julius is kind of a moot point. You can already whip straight up for free.
Why would you want to waste MP on this?

Holy Water - You can find this in purple chests on Chapters 4 and 6 on both
difficulties. Throw down a bottle of holy water that burns anything in front
of it. This is a passable subweapon at best. The damage dealt isn't
particularly noteworthy. It costs as much MP to use as a Bible or Cross with
none of the area coverage. Level this up, then put it in storage forever.
Side note: don't be fooled into thinking the flame can hit flying enemies.
It might look like it can, but they have to either be on the ground or at
least really close to it.

Cross - You can find this in purple chests on Chapters 5 and 6 on both
difficulties. My personal favorite of the original subweapons. It packs a
bigger punch than the Knife, penetrates enemies, covers a lot of ground,
and has holy element. Don't leave home without it.

Ricochet Rock - Lerajies drop these. You know, the annoying guys with the
rifles? The Ricochet Rock bounces off of walls and into enemies. If the Rock
itself were just a bit larger, I could see myself using this. As it stands,
however, you're spending valuable MP on a very small projectile that will
probably go around its target instead of through it.

Bible - You can find this in purple chests on Chapter 2 on both difficulties.
When used, the Bible moves in a spiral dealing damage to any enemies it passes
through. This is more useful to other whip users than to Julius, mostly because
it can go through walls. That's not to say Julius can't use it to snag enemies
that are just out of his reach, though. Side note: this is a godsend in rooms
with Medusa Heads. Your teammates will thank you for throwing down two or
three of these.
---
The weapons listed above are the ones Julius needs to level up to make the
Vampire Killer stronger. The ones below are added by DLC. Leveling them up
will not increase Julius's attack power at all.
---
*Download Chapter 10 and there will be a new category in the shop
called "Hunter Skills". Belmonts can purchase the retro dagger and retro axe
for 120,000 gold each.*

Javelin - You can find this in purple chests on Chapter 8 on both difficulties.
The Javelin is thrown in an arc straight ahead and sticks in the ground for
a short amount of time. Maybe it's just me, but I really don't see the use in
the Javelin. Okay damage, okay cost, and okay range. Overall, just okay.

R. Dagger - Purchase this from the shop. The Knife's older brother who smokes
and has tattoos. Costs less MP and does more damage at the cost of range and
speed. The range is still respectable, but nothing spectacular. It really
comes down to personal preference.

R. Axe - Purchase this from the shop. Throw axes in an arc directly above you.
When leveled up, you can throw more than one axe at once. I still can't see the
point of using any kind of axe as Julius. The area coverage provided is nice,
but still not enough to justify taking a slot.

R. Boomerang - You can find this in purple chests on Chapter 10 Hard. Throw a
small cross in front of you. The R. Boomerang does as much damage as swinging
the whip, hits multiple times, and costs less MP than the normal Cross at the
cost of speed and area coverage. There really isn't a good reason not to use
this. In fact, why not use this AND the Cross together?

R. Firebomb - You can find this in purple chests on Chapter 10 Hard. Throw
down a bottle of holy water that burns anything standing in it. This is what
the Holy Water should have been in the first place. It doesn't move ahead of
the enemy. It hits for incredible amounts of damage. It's cheaper than the
regular Holy Water. Like with the R. Boomerang, you really don't have any
reason not to use this.

Note: I'm not going to cover grinding techniques here because that's universal
for most of the characters in the game. Here's a link to a guide in case you
wanted it:

http://tinyurl.com/3dmddtm

===============================================================================
===============================================================================

5.0---Martial Arts

  Julius only has two martial arts to choose from: Uppercut and Omnia Vanitas.
Those of you who have played Aria of Sorrow should remember Omnia Vanitas: it's
the move where he glides along the ground and avoids all damage. Well, it's
back and it's exactly as you remember it. It is, bar none, the best dodging
move in the game. It covers the most distance, makes you invincible longer than
the other dodge moves, and only costs 5MP to use.

  And the Uppercut? Ehh, not so much. The problem with Julius's uppercut is
that Konami messed up big time with the hitbox on it. See, Jonathan and Richter
can use their uppercut to hit enemies in front of them. Poor Julius has an
uppercut that's nearly vertical. You have to come up right under an enemy to
reliably hit them with it, and that's a big no-no in Hard mode. Worse still if
you're wearing Berserker Mail. Something's going to die if you try to pull that
off, and you'd better pray it's not you.

5.1---Omnia Canceling

  Omnia Canceling is a technique where Julius uses Omnia Vanitas very quickly
to cover large amounts of ground fast, similar to Richter's Slide Kick. To
Omnia Cancel, begin your Omnia Vanitas. When you start to slow down, swing
your whip. The whip-swinging will end what's left of the Omnia Vanitas
animation. As soon as you swing your whip, backdash. The backdash will, in
turn, cancel the whipping animation. As you're backdashing, begin another Omnia
Vanitas. Repeat until you're at your destination. Be aware that prolonged Omnia
Canceling is very taxing on your MP bar and it's not very reliable for dodging
enemies. This is strictly for quick movement. With practice, you'll eventually
be able to use Omnia Vanitas multiple times per second.

================================================================================
================================================================================

6.0---Dual Crushes

  Here is a complete list of the Dual Crushes available to Julius.

Holy Cross: (Crush with Jonathan, Richter, or another Julius.) Summons giant
crucifixes that deal holy damage to enemies.

Blood Cross: (Crush with Soma or Alucard.) Summons a giant red cross that
does heavy damage to enemies and returns a small amount of health to the users.

Thunder Cross: (Crush with Shanoa, Yoko, or Charlotte. Julius must initiate
the crush.) Summons X-shaped electricity that covers a huge area.

Phlegethon: (Crush with Charlotte. Charlotte must initiate the crush.) Summons
fire that covers the floor and walls.

Cocytus: (Crush with Shanoa. Shanoa must initiate the crush.) Summons an ice
storm that deals heavy damage to enemies. The ice will fly to whichever side
Shanoa is standing on when she initiates the Dual Crush.

Thor's Hammer: (Crush with Yoko. Yoko must initiate the crush.) Summons bolts
of electricity that deal heavy damage to enemies. This works the same as
Cocytus, meaning that it will go to whichever side Yoko is standing on.

Aura Blast: (Crush with Maria, Simon, or Fuma.) Summons a web of energy that
covers a huge area.

================================================================================
================================================================================

7.0---Boss Strategies

Gergoth: The real problem here isn't Gergoth, but rather all of its flunkies
that you'll have to deal with once it breaks through the floor and falls. Either
deal with them beforehand or hope there's enough space left to whip them without
taking damage. When Gergoth rushes at you, go to the corner and duck. When it
tries to suck you in and bite you, run the opposite direction. When it uses the
horizontal laser beam, just duck. When it uses the diagonal laser beam, move
under its mouth and duck. When it slides at you on its stomach, jump kick
off of its head or use Omnia Vanitas. Every so often, Gergoth will duck for a
few seconds. That's how Gergoth tells you it's going to shoot out intestines at
you. Jump kick off of its back while it's ducking. Easy.

Puppet Master: Puppet Master has two attacks: spewing dolls from its mouth that
will inflict curse status if they hit you, and putting a mannequin in an iron
maiden then switching your position with the mannequin's. The iron maiden will
kill you if you don't destroy the mannequin. There's a trick to how
the mannequin works, though: if you're invincible when the iron maiden closes
on the mannequin, you won't have your position switched with it. Use Omnia
Vanitas as soon as the mannequin stops moving and you won't have any problems.
Side note: the Puppet Master will move around the stage to different iron
maidens if you haven't sealed them with the crates conveniently located next to
them. Make sure you take care of that before you start the fight.

Menace: Menace looks tough, but it might as well be a giant kitten for how
harmless it is. Menace has four attacks: stepping on you, jumping on you, trying
to kick you, and spawning blobs with teeth. The thing is, Menace is even easier
to read than Gergoth. You always have ample time to avoid Menace's attacks
because of how long it takes to telegraph them. Menace has three weak points on
its body: one on its knee, one on its chest, and one in its mouth. You shouldn't
have any problems hitting the knee thanks to your handy-dandy 8-way whip. To
hit the weak point on Menace's chest, go back to the left side of the stage.
Climb the ledges until you reach an area with no wall on the right side. From
here, you can throw knives at Menace's chest and hit his weak point.

Brauner: Brauner is the first real challenge you should face. He has three
types of attacks: Blood Art Technique, summoning, and flying around inside a
painting. There are two versions of the Blood Art Technique: two lines (one
above you and one below you) or an X. Both are easily dodged and cleaned up
with the Vampire Killer. He can summon three different types of monsters: a
pack of Cyclops heads, two flying statues that will curse you, or two giant
green pinwheel monsters that will poison you. All three are easily dodged with
Omnia Vanitas. His final attack is a bit trickier: he will merge with a painting
and fly around the room in it. I've never been able to get a good read on
exactly where he will go when he does this, so I just use Omnia Vanitas
whenever he gets too close.

Death: Death is my most hated boss. It's not because I don't know how to fight
him. It's not that I can't dodge his attacks. It's because Death constantly
spawns sickles around the room, often right where I'm standing. It gets even
worse in online play because he starts teleporting around due to lag. Other than
the random sickle-spawning, Death has six attacks. He can jump in the air and
bring his scythe down on your head very quickly, he can charge along the ground
and swing his scythe at you, he can summon three pairs of crescent blades that
go after you, he can spawn a barrage of sickles from his hand, he can summon red
skulls that orbit around him, and he can fly in an arc while spawning sickles
underneath him. You can neutralize both of his sickle attacks with the Vampire
Killer and Omnia Vanitas through the rest of his attacks. Ignore the Magnes
Points in the boss room. There's nothing to be done with them except for
launching yourself over his charge attack.

Dracula 1st Form: Whenever he appears, jump over him and start whipping him from
behind. I guess the Lord of Darkness AKA the Scourge of Humanity AKA the
King of the Night has gotten stiff from sitting down so long, because he won't
even turn around to face you once you're behind him. If you can't get behind
him, he has three attacks for you. If you've ever played a Castlevania game
before, you know what's coming. If you haven't, here they are. Hellfire: Dracula
lifts his cape and shoots a row of fireballs at you. Jump over this or use Omnia
Vanitas. Dark Inferno: Dracula shoots larger, darker fireballs at you
alternating high and low. Jump over them and duck them, but DO NOT USE OMNIA
VANITAS. You might dodge two or three fireballs doing that, but you'll be eating
a fireball as soon as the animation ends. Fire Pillars: he'll summon fire from
the ground. Just step away from the fire and beat down Dracula until he
teleports away.

Dracula 2nd Form: Dracula will transform into a monster once you've done enough
damage to him. This form has four attacks. Monster Dracula can use a laser beam
similar to Gergoth's, send spirits after you to curse you similar to how
Dullahan does, shoot a fireball at the ground that creates a wave of fire
similar to a Final Guard's, and jump across the room spreading poison under
himself. To dodge the laser, run to the opposite corner of the room and double
jump as soon as he fires it. To dodge the spirits, run to the opposite corner,
double jump, kick down, and slide. To dodge the wave of fire, simply double
jump over it. To dodge the jump, run to the opposite corner and stand there
until Dracula lands. Simple.

Dracula Final Form: This form may look imposing, but it's a lot easier to kill
than it looks. Julius's whip is actually long enough to be able to hit Dracula
from outside of his hands, so you'll have a leg up on dodging most of his
attacks. This form of Dracula has seven attacks. One changes depending on the
difficulty you're playing on. Dracula can swipe at you with his hands, use
Aura Blast, use an enlarged version of Demonic Meggido, attempt to Charm you
or a teammate that is using a female character, summon rainbow-colored
triangles that deal a lot of damage, bring up pillars of fire that chase you
around the room, bring up pillars of fire and bolts of electricity (hard
difficulty only), or dropping a fireball that creates two fire waves (normal
difficulty only). Aura Blast might be a problem, just because Julius is
slightly larger than other characters when crouched and so even if you put
yourself in the right position you can still get hit by it. To dodge Demonic
Meggido, stand in the corners. On Hard difficulty, there will be pillars of
fire in the corners, so you will have to wait for them to disperse before you
can get in there. For Charm, try to predict where the gap in the hearts will
be and duck in a spot where you can take advantage of that gap. If you're not
confident about being able to predict that, use Omnia Vanitas. The rainbow
triangles might just be his most annoying attack. To dodge them, pick a corner
to stand in. As they come toward you, jump over them, jumpkick past them, duck
under them, whatever you have to do to make sure they don't touch you. They
will either kill you on contact or take away a huge chunk of your life bar.
The flame pillars that chase you can be easily dodged by sliding around the
room. For the fire+electricity combo attack, get between two pillars of fire
and just duck. Side notes: If you position yourself in the exact center of
Dracula's body, right between his three heads, it's possible to hurt him with
the Uppercut without taking damage yourself. This is extremely risky,
however, as he will usually pull out his triangle attack and kill you
on the spot.
------------------------------------------------------------
The bosses listed above are available through the base game.
The following are available through DLC.
------------------------------------------------------------
7.1---DLC Boss Strategies

Astarte: Astarte is a fairly simple boss to defeat. She will attempt to
Charm you, shoot a tornado out of her staff at you, jump backwards while
shooting Delta Spark out of her staff, or attack you with her cape. The
cape and tornado can both be jumped over, while the Delta Spark just needs a
single backdash. The Charm attack isn't hard to dodge, but we all make mistakes
sometimes. She will announce it with a "Come hither!" Either Omnia Vanitas
through it as it comes at you, or jumpkick off of Astarte's head as soon as
the hearts appear so they miss you completely.

Legion: Not really much to say about Legion. Strip his shell with your whip,
Cross, Bible, Ricochet Rock, or whatever you want. Just make sure you're not
standing under him. When his shell is removed, stand to the right of him,
jump, and whip diagonally at him. This keeps you out of the way of his laser
attack and gives you some leeway for his fire attack. To dodge the fire
attack, just ascend the platforms as the fire gets closer to you and descend
once the fire changes direction. Or, if you're feeling adventurous, you can
try Omnia Canceling through the fire.

Beelzebub: Beelzebub is a boss you'll want to fight with your screen zoomed
out. Click RS if you didn't know how to do that. The reason you want your
screen zoomed out is so you can keep track of his flies. This isn't a
particularly difficult fight, but the flies can surprise you if you aren't
prepared for them. First, kill all of the flies orbiting around Beelzebub.
When they're gone, bring out your favorite area-clearing subweapon and start
taking Beelzebub apart. Or, if you have a fellow whip user on your team, get
underneath Beelzebub and use Holy Cross. He can't attack you directly, nor can
he move away from your attacks. When the flies come, stand on the lowest ledge
that's closest to him. That's seriously the bulk of the fight. The flies will
go under that ledge, but they will almost never go through it. Occasionally
Beelzebub will send out flies in groups to attack all of the ledges. When he
does this, drop to the ground and Omnia Vanitas through the flies. That's
really all that needs to be said about this fight. Side note: skeletons can
still be hit by the flies even if they're standing on the ledge. I don't know
why this happens.

R. The Count 1st form: The first form has two attacks. The first attack is to
send out very fast waves of fireballs. You can avoid this by doing a very short
hop the moment he opens his cape. The second attack isn't really an attack, but
I'm counting it as one since I've seen so many players get killed by it. If
The Count teleports and there are players behind him when he reappears, there's
a chance that he will move backwards very quickly. This is to deter people who
think they can fight him the sameway as Dracula. Overall, fairly simple.

R. The Count 2nd form: This fight is actually pretty easy. The Count can
charge at you, send out fireballs in a spiral pattern, or jump at you. When he
charges, just double jump and whip down at him as he passes. When he sends out
the fireballs, get away from him and jump/duck through any gaps you find. His
jumping shouldn't even be an issue because of how far away you can be while
whipping.

Oxocutioner: Your whip is long enough to breach his swords, so waiting for an
opening won't be an issue here. When he sends out his swords, duck/jump them
and throw a R. Firebomb at his feet. The Oxocutioner moves so slowly that even
if it gets out of the firebomb's range, it won't matter because the firebomb
will have already done a lot of damage to it already.

Decapiclops: You're going to be using subweapons a lot here. The reason I try
to do as little whipping as possible here is because Decapiclops's projectiles
can cover a lot of ground if it isn't killed before any of the other bosses,
and I want to be able to Omnia Vanitas out of danger at a moment's notice. When
Decapiclops starts moving along the ceiling, drop what you're doing and get out
of the way. It will start dropping skulls on you. Omnia Vanitas into the
direction that Decapiclops is coming from and throw a Cross at Decapiclops as
it passes. R. Boomerang, Cross, and R. Dagger are the best things to use
for this fight.

Chimyriad: As with Decapiclops, you're going to be using subweapons a lot here.
If you get backed into a corner, Chimyriad will destroy you. By using subweapons
you can ensure that you'll still be doing damage even while dodging attacks. If
Chimyriad puts its back against a wall and it's touching the ground, get ready
to jump. Like with R. The Count, you can whip down at it as it goes past. If
Chimyriad presses its back against the wall and it's elevated off the ground,
then you're in luck. Omnia Vanitas behind Chimyriad and start uppercutting it.
You should be able to take off a ridiculous amount of health from Chimyriad, if
not outright kill it.

Ryukotsuki 1st Form: Ryukotsuki will jump, shoot fireballs, and teleport. That's
all he does. Crouch and whip him whenever he shoots fireballs, or throw a
R. Firebomb at him and dodge. Repeat until he dies.

Ryukotsuki 2nd Form: Before he finishes materializing, throw a R. Firebomb at
him. His shield will block most subweapons you throw at him, so it's better
to take advantage of them while you can. All Ryukotsuki can do in this form is
throw knives at you and teleport. Jump/duck the knives and whip him until he
goes down.

Ryukotsuki 3rd Form: Ryukotsuki has six attacks at his disposal this time. He
can shoot three fireballs that can't be destroyed until they bounce off a wall,
he can shoot a wave of very small fireballs that are easily destroyed with a
diagonal whip swing, he can punch you, and he can summon the souls of
Oxocutioner/Chimyriad/Decapiclops to shoot fireballs at you. Treat the summons
the same way you would treat the actual minibosses, but bear in mind that when
Oxocutioner is summoned, Ryukotsuki will shoot out fireballs as well. Now, you
may have noticed that you can't damage Ryukotsuki at all. The way that works is
that Ryukotsuki is invincible until he tries to punch you. At that point, you
have a three to four second window to get in there and attack the orb. Also,
Ryukotsuki is guaranteed to try to punch you after he performs a summon.
Side note: if somebody enters the boss room and ends up behind Ryukotsuki, he
will shoot fireballs behind him until the player is dead or has moved back in
front of him.

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8.0---Online Etiquette

At its core, this game is all about cooperation. The only aspect of this game
that is even remotely competitive is the scoring system. Any actions you take
should help a teammate, even if that teammate is being obnoxious and
ridiculing you for it. Leave the competitive mindset behind, and your team will
be much better off for it. That being said, here are some general tips for
making the most of your online experience:

1. Bring super potions. I know you haven't made any mistakes, but that doesn't
mean other people haven't. When a health potion is used, any teammates close
to you will receive that effect as well. That means you could potentially save
your teammates from death, making your job easier and keeping them happy.

2. Don't ignore blue chests. Too often have I played with people that insisted
going for the Water of Life was unnecessary and was just wasting time, only to
be killed by something they didn't see coming and having to spend the rest of
the level trailing behind the rest of the team.

3. Dying is acceptable, but don't blame it on anybody but yourself. You'll make
yourself look like an idiot and will probably get mocked by the other players,
or worse: get kicked.

4. Using voice commands is fine, but don't spam or be a dick with them. If a
teammate dies and you're there to see it, say "sorry" instead of "good work".
If you're the only player left alive at the end of the chapter
and you're standing in front of the boss chest, don't sit there spamming
"all yours" or "good work". Nobody likes a player who's full of themselves.

5. Julius and Fuma are probably the best projectile-removers in the game. Your
teammates will appreciate you clearing out the clutter for them, be it Death's
sickles, Ryukotsuki's fireballs, or Ukoback fires, even if they don't say it.

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9.0---Fun Facts

-Every whip user can hit enemies behind them as they begin swinging the Vampire
Killer. That backswing can be incredibly useful if you time it correctly.

-Julius and Richter recover almost instantly from falls.

-Julius and Yoko have the fastest slide recovery in the game. Combine this with
Slide Boots for best results.

-In Chapter 10, you can uppercut enemies through the floor as long as the floor
is sufficiently thin.

-In Chapter 6, you can uppercut one of the Final Guards through the floor.

-If you change your Julius's color, his beard changes color too.

-Other players can jumpkick off of Julius and Jonathan while they're
uppercutting.

-You can hold down the attack button to manually control Julius's whip.
For some reason, this doesn't work if you hold RB.

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10.0---Shoutouts/Contributions

-DonkeyOfDestiny writes: "You can use short hops and
downward whips to attack things above/behind you a bit faster."

-Shoutout to http://patorjk.com/software/taag/ for their free ASCII
art generator

-Shoutout to the Castlevania Wiki for stat checks

-Shoutout to caffeine for keeping me awake while I wrote this

-Shoutout to Jesus for taking one for the team

-Shoutout to Konami for creating Julius

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11.0---Legal

  THIS STRATEGY GUIDE COPYRIGHT ME PLEASE DON'T STEAL

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