Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow: FAQ/Walkthrough by Schlave Version Final, Last Updated 2004-04-07 View/Download Original File Hosted by Gam eFAQs Return to Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA) FAQs & Guides Liked this FAQ? Click here to recommend this item to other users. +---------------------------------------------------------+ \ CASTLEVANIA : ARIA OF SORROW / Copyright (C) 2003 Ernest Ho GameFAQs Name: Schlave Best viewed in 72 characters max. document width, font Courier New. SYSTEM...................................GameBoy Advance LAST UPDATE..............................7th April 2004 VERSION..................................Final FAQ TYPE.................................FAQ/Walkthrough

NOTE: To all Game Guide websites intending to use this document, please request permission from the author at lisaho@singnet.com.sg. If not, you will be hunted down and destroyed. Thank you. ***NOTE***www.CheatCC.com is NOT to use this guide***NOTE*** This guide uses non-ASCII characters. If you have a browser set to auto-detect foreign characters, turn it off for now. If you wish to mail me a question, check the guide carefully before even beginning to type, or be prepared for a curt answer, or NO answer. However, if you want to mail me help, I'd gladly appreciate it. I rarely get a chance to check my email nowadays, so if you sent me help and the same information gets in here without your name on the Acknowledgements, I most probably spotted it myself (for the benefit of all those who did mail me help...thank you :-) ). The Table of Contents (below) has a search string for almost every individual section - it's on the right of the section and sub-section names. If you use Windows, type Ctrl-F to bring out the search window, and copy-paste/input the search string. Press Enter and you should be brought to the respective section/sub-section. _____________________________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S (1) Updates..............................................caos_update (2) Who am I?.............................................caos_intro (3) Controls...............................................caos_ctrl (4) Game Basics...........................................caos_basix 4.1 Soul Concept....................................._soul 4.2 Status and Attributes............................_stat 4.3 Levelling Up......................................_lvl 4.4 Elements........................................._elem 4.5 Save Rooms and Teleportals......................._sprm 4.6 Swimming........................................._swim

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Game Mechanics.........................................caos_mech 5.1 Attacking the Enemy..............................._att * 5.2 The Enemy Attacks................................._def 5.3 Magic Damage...................................._magdm 5.4 Julius Belmont...................................._jul Walkthrough...........................................caos_wthru Equipment.............................................caos_equip 7.1 Hand............................................._hand 7.2 Body............................................._body 7.3 Accessory........................................._acc Items..................................................caos_item Enemy List..............................................caos_nme 9.1 Enemy Soul Information \ 9.2 Enemy MP and HP > not in separate sections 9.3 Enemy Attributes _/ Tips and Tricks.........................................caos_ttg 10.1 Killer Mantle Soul............................_mantle 10.2 Tsuchinoko Soul.................................._tsu 10.3 The Extra Mile................................._extra Frequently Asked Questions..............................caos_faq Acknowledgements......................................caos_danke Legal Stuff...........................................caos_legal

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Note: * means not complete. "not separate sections" means that the information is listed under each enemy's section. _____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________ / caos_update-.-.-.// 1 \\-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-\ /\/\ U P D A T E S ____\/______________________________________________________\/____ /-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.\ Version Final (16th October 2003) All right, I think I've spent enough time on this guide, and all but one sub-section of the damage mechanics are complete. So, that section is about 90% complete =P In any case, I can't keep working on one guide, so I just calculated the soul powers and polished off any cracks. I'm finished with this guide; no other additions (save those that will contribute towards completion of any as-of-yet finished sections) shall be made. (correction made to the date in 7th October update) (errors in weapon and items lists corrected in 16th December update) (added the guy who helped me spot mistakes in the guide to the Acknowledgements section in 17th December update. Sorry, I forgot :) ) (added a tip on fighting Julius Belmont in 6th April 2004 update)

--------------------------------------- Finished subsection "Attacking the Enemy" in "Game Mechanics" - Added soul powers ---------------------------------------

Version 0.4 (26th September 2003) Hmm, I found some pretty interesting info about enemies and weapons, so I added them to the respective lists. Looking through the Enemy List, I discovered it wasn't as neat as it seemed -_-' so I just filled in the missing gaps and tidied up some formatting. And Julius' dash is a circle dash, not some phantom thing...it's corrected. Silly me :P I finished the walkthrough at long last. I looked through the Game Mechanics section, and with help from Terence, it's now 80% finished :] I think the section "The Enemy Attacks" is still a bit erroneous, though, but I'll get back to that in a while. Oh, and I'm still working on this guide. I've got a couple of exams that are sucking up a lot of my time, so bear with me :] --------------------------------------- Extra info added to Enemy List - Enemy List tidied up - Walkthrough finished - Game Mechanics section updated --------------------------------------Version 0.3 (3rd August 2003) Finished the Items and FAQ section. Also, my walkthrough is nearing completion...but I like putting off things, so it's still unfinished *blush* --------------------------------------- Finished Items section - Did some more of Walkthrough - Finished Frequently Asked Questions section --------------------------------------Version 0.2 (21st July 2003) - unsubmitted I gave the Game Mechanics section a total revamp after discovering an ugly little flaw :P I also completed the Tips and Tricks section and added some extra stuff to the Enemy List, thanks to Eizneckham's dumped Data lists. Still a long way to go...well, at least I'm almost done $ --------------------------------------- redid Game Mechanics section - Did some more of Walkthrough - added extra info to Enemy List --------------------------------------Version 0.1 (17th June 2003) - unsubmitted Whoa, that was a load of work. Finished Game Basics, Enemy List, a bit

of the Game Mechanics and the Equipment section. But I've still got a long way to go :( and I still need to finish the walkthrough :/ --------------------------------------- Game Basics, Enemy List, Equipment sections finished - Did some of walkthrough - Other basic sections (except FAQ) finished ---------------------------------------

______________________________________________________ / caos_intro.-.-.-.// 2 \\-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-\ /\/\ W H O A M I ? ____\/______________________________________________________\/____ /-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.\ Call me Schlave. Castlevania has always been a cool game, and since Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, it has embarked upon a mixed genre of RPG-Platform. This was also following the success of the daddy-of-RPGCastlevania, Symphony of the Night (PSX). I wrote a guide for Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, but it was as rushed and badly formatted as C: HOD was lackluster in the graphics sector. So, I guess you could call this guide a sort of redemption for the aforementioned disaster. Whatever it is, I had fun playing this game AND working out the damage mechanics (okay, so having to plot lots of graphs was not exactly my idea of fun, but...). The game actually masks a lot of information, like the MP of enemies, their attributes...the list goes on. The guys at Living in Tomorrow's Dream (blitz.phpwebhosting.com/roms/castleaos) are pioneers in cracking more secrets, and I have used the information they dumped well. Or so I hope :P The guide is pretty big, but I hope it is in no way disorganized or redundant. Enjoy my ninth guide ^_^

______________________________________________________ / caos_ctrl-.-.-.-.// 3 \\-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-\ /\/\ C O N T R O L S ____\/______________________________________________________\/____ /-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.\ In Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, you can change your button configuration if you find the default one too uncomfortable. Simply press Start to go to the start menu, and select "CONFIG" to bring up the panel of button configuration. Here are the default controls: Button B : Attack Button A : Jump

Shoulder Button R : Guardian Shoulder Button L : Ability Direction Pad Up : Soma slips his hand into his coat. Holding this down and pressing your Attack button will activate the equipped Red soul. Direction Pad Down : Soma ducks. Direction Pad Left : Soma walks left. Direction Pad Right : Soma walks right.

______________________________________________________ / aos_basix-.-.-.-.// 4 \\-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-\ /\/\ G A M E B A S I C S ____\/______________________________________________________\/____ /-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.\ This section gives a quick overview into how the game works, essential knowledge you need, and some basic techniques and skills. __/caos_basix_soul __ _/ _ __________________________________________________________ _ \_ S O U L C O N C E P T _ \ __/ In Circle of the Moon, you had DSS cards; in Harmony of Dissonance, you had Element Books; now, in the GameBoy Advance Castlevania's third instalment, you have Souls! What is a soul? It is a little spherical mass of energy that gives you various abilities, magic spells and attribute power-ups. Out of the 111 enemies in the game, 108 of them have souls, 1 for each enemy. When you kill an enemy, you either get an item it can drop, or its soul. If something flits out of the enemy's fallen corpse and you absorb it...congratulations! You are the proud owner of a soul! If that was your first time getting that soul, you will receive a panel containing a brief description of that soul's effects. Aside from killing enemies, you can get souls for free by smashing glowing candlelabras. These give you souls of enemies not present in the game, or ability souls, which are listed down in your ABILITY panel of the Start Menu. I: Equipping Souls Press Start to go to the Start Menu and select "SOUL SET". You will be brought to a panel which shows you the souls you currently have. There

are three types listed in the panel, so scroll down and select which ones you want. II: Soul Types Yellow souls are Attribute souls. They either increase your stats, or change your abilities in some weird way. You simply need to equip these to activate them. Red souls are sub-weapon souls. For those who miss the old Up+Attack subweapons, these souls are for you! They mostly are offensive bullet souls (i.e. a projectile is launched). As mentioned, to use them, press Up+Attack. At the very beginning of the game, you start with the Winged Skeleton red soul. Blue souls are guardian souls. Hold down your Guardian button to activate them. Guardian souls provide a sort of compatriot which either fights alongside you or gives you certain special abilities. Ability souls are found in some candlelabras - and in one exception, the enemy Kicker Skeleton. Only two of the souls are needed to finish the game, but you will not be able to explore 100% of the castle.

__/caos_basix_stat __ _/ _ __________________________________________________________ _ \_ S T A T U S A N D A T T R I B U T E S _ \ __/ Your character has six attributes: o Strength (STR) : A measure of basic attack power o Attack (ATT) : Your total attack power with equipment o Defence (DEF) : A measure of resistance against attacks o Constitution (CON) : Your total defensive power, plus equipment o Intelligence (INT) : Your ability to use Magic. It affects Guardian soul attack power only. o Luck (LCK) : How often enemies are liable to drop items and cough up their souls. You can change your attributes either by equipping yellow Attribute souls or altering your equipment. Below the LCK value in the Start Menu, there is a word "Status". It can be one of four things: o Normal : Nothing adverse is happening to you. o Stone : You are petrified, that is, turned to stone! By mashing the buttons you can wriggle out of this state. In this state, you take twice the damage you would take in normal status! o Curse : Your MP starts draining at an alarming rate. Unless you top it back up with Hearts and Mind Ups, your MP will drain to zero. You can escape from this state immediately if you use an Uncurse Potion. o Poison : Your ATT and DEF are a fraction of their original value. The original value will be restored after several moments. You can cure this state back to normal with an Anti-Venom potion.

__/caos_basix_lvl __ _/ _ __________________________________________________________ _ \_ L E V E L L I N G U P _ \ __/ Killing enemies gives you precious experience points. To go up a level, you must gain the required number of experience points (find out how much you need by looking at the blue bar in your Start Menu; "Next" indicates the number required). Each time you gain a level, your attributes increase slightly. You can also gain experience points by walking around with the Sherman Ring equipped.

__/caos_basix_elem __ _/ _ __________________________________________________________ _ \_ E L E M E N T S _ \ __/ An element is an attack type. Each enemy may be weak or strong, or completely neutral, towards any particular element(s). Spells and weapons have their own elemental attacks. Each element has its own icon as represented in the enemy book in the Start Menu. The elements in this game and their icons are: o o o o o o o o Fire Ice Stone Curse Holy Dark Poison Normal : : : : : : : : A A A A A A A A flame blue crystal grey oval black monster's head with red eyes white star black star green oval thing sword

Hitting an enemy with an element it is weak against does more damage (see the section "Game Mechanics" for more info), and similarly hitting an enemy resistant towards that element will do less damage to it. All hand weapons do Normal damage; some do, besides that, additional element damage. For example, Muramasa does Curse as well as Normal damage, and Hrunting does Poison as well as Normal damage.

______________________________________________________ / caos_mech-.-.-.-.// 5 \\-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-\ /\/\ G A M E M E C H A N I C S ____\/______________________________________________________\/____ /-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.\ WARNING: This section is those who have, at least, a basic knowledge of arithmetic and equations. Nonetheless, seriously speaking, this section

is not that hard to understand. Due to a small amount of error in terms of decimal places and significant figures, the damage you get may vary by a point or two (or even more). I doubt very much that the value you get will be totally off the actual one (say it is half of the actual one), but if there are any funny cases, please let me know. In the formulas I use abbreviations. ATT = attack strength, DEF = defensive strength. ________________________________________________________ Many thanks to Terence from the GameFAQs boards for helping me out with formulas in the "Attacking the Enemy" and "Magic Damage" sections, as well as the stats of Julius Belmont! I modified a bit of the stuff to suit my arrangements.

__/caos_mech_att __ _/ _ __________________________________________________________ _ \_ A T T A C K I N G T H E E N E M Y _ \ __/ ATT is a measure of attack strength. What damage you do to an enemy depends on your ATT as well as their DEF. The value of your ATT is the very foundation of the damage you do. It is affected by: (i) elements which the enemy is weak or resistant against (ii) whether you are poisoned (iii) whether you are on Hard Mode (iv) the value of the enemy's defence To calculate how much damage you will do to an enemy (damage for magical attacks are covered in another section), have a look at the very first step. STEP ONE : Elements which the enemy is weak or strong against Most enemies have one or more elements which they are either weak or resistant against. Naturally, if they are weak against it, you will do more damage using that element, and if they are resistant, you will do less damage. Depending on how vulnerable the enemy is to the element, you do the following calculation: ______________________ ATT x DamQ = BDam ______________________ o "BDam" stands for damage; it is not value is accurate o "DamQ" stands for "Base Damage". This is a temporary value for the true value of damage you will do. This at this step only for enemies with zero DEF. "Damage Quotient". This is a constant value

that varies according to the circumstances, as shown below. -------------------------------------.----------Situation DamQ -------------------------------------.----------1. Enemy is weak against element 2 (excluding Normal) 2. Enemy is weak against Normal element 3. Enemy is resistant against element 4. Enemy is neutral towards element 1.25 0.5 1

Double-Element Weapons All weapons (with the exception of the Null-element weapons, like those mentioned in the sub-section below) do Normal damage and have a second element, though; for example, Milican's Sword does Stone and Normal damage, and Hrunting does Poison and Normal damage. Some enemies can be either weak or resistant to any of the elements in such weapons. The situation table above is easily applied to weapons with only one element (e.g. Battle Axe) but to figure out which situation applies when you attack an enemy with a dual-element weapon, you need to refer to this truth table below. -----------.-----------.------------Normal Second Situation Element Element No. -----------.-----------.------------N N 4 W N 2 N W 1 W W 1 R N 4 N R 3 R R 3 R W 1 W R 4 Legend: o N stands for "neutral to" o R stands for "resistant against" o W stands for "weak against". Null-Element Weapons A couple of weapons have NO element whatsoever; this means that they don't even do Normal damage, and they have no second element. As such, each and EVERY enemy is neutral towards it, and to calculate damage, you should always refer to situation 1. Examples of such weapons are the Bamboo Sword and the Hammer.

STEP TWO : Are you poisoned? If your status is "Poison", you will find that you do less damage. Your BDam is reduced further like so: ________________________ 16 x BDam BDam = --------25 ________________________

STEP THREE : Are you on Hard Mode? Hard Mode is the mode in which you do less damage to your enemies. To find out more about unlocking and playing this mode, head over to Tips and Tricks>The Extra Mile. If you are not on Hard Mode, skip this step. If you are on Hard Mode, you shall have to multiply your BDam by 0.8 to get a new value of BDam, like so: ______________________ BDam = BDam x 0.8 ______________________ The BDam on the left is your original BDam multiplied by 0.8, so in that sense it is a new BDam. Hope it's not too confusing!

STEP FOUR : The Enemy's Defence At last, the value of the Enemy's defence comes into play. The formula looks excruciating: _________________________________________________________ (2 x BDam) - Def 256 - Def ---------------- x ----------2 256 _________________________________________________________ Calc. Damage = o "Def" stands for the enemy's defence value. All the values are tabulated in the Enemy List section. o And for the benefit of those who don't know their abbreviations, "Calc. Damage" means "Calculated Damage". The minimum value of the Calculated Damage is 1.

Belmont's Defence Julius Belmont has got a defence of 80. He is especially resistant against holy attacks (for obvious reasons -_-'''' ), which means Claimh Solais is rather useless in the face of his holy might! To calculate the damage Holy weapons do to him: __________________________________________

Calc. Damage - 20 ----------------- = Actual Damage 2 __________________________________________ Ulp! However, he takes 6.5 more points of damage for all weapon elements he is neutral to and resistant against (in other words, add 6.5 to the Calc. Damage value you obtain, and you get the damage you do to him).

__/caos_mech_magdm __ _/ _ __________________________________________________________ _ \_ M A G I C D A M A G E _ \ __/ Magic damage mechanics are pretty much the same as normal attack mechanics, except that the first step in calculation of BDam is a bit more complex. Other than that, Magic Damage is similar in all other aspects. RED (SUB-WEAPON) SOULS In the previous section, you will see that the first step is equating BDam to your current ATT value. Red souls are affected by your Strength (STR) and Intelligence (INT), and of course, the power of the soul itself. Let's take a look at the formula for the first step: _________________________________________________ (STR + 60) x Power) + (INT x 5) BDam = -----------------------------------160 _________________________________________________ o "Power" is the attack power of the sub-weapon soul. You can find the value in the Enemy List section. After you obtain your value of BDam, just follow the same old steps as shown in the section above (starting from step two). BLUE (GUARDIAN) SOULS The Base Damage for blue souls depends on, besides the soul's attack power, only your Intelligence (INT). ___________________________________ INT x Power ----------- + Power 16 ___________________________________ BDam = o "Power" is the attack power of the sub-weapon soul. You can find the value in the Enemy List section.

After you obtain your value of BDam, just follow the same old steps as shown in the section above (starting from step two).

__/caos_mech_def __ _/ _ __________________________________________________________ _ \_ T H E E N E M Y A T T A C K S _ \ __/ DEF is a measure of your defence. What damage the particular attack of a specific enemy does to you is dependent upon this value. Thankfully, Damage Taken is much easier to calculate! The general formula for damage taken is: ______________________________________________________________ (attack power of that attack - Your DEF) ---------------------------------------- = Damage Taken DefQ ______________________________________________________________ DefQ stands for Defence Quotient. This is a fixed number and varies according to the circumstances, as in the table below. -------------------------------------.----------Situation DefQ -------------------------------------.----------1. Enemy hits you with an attack when 1 you have neutral protection 2. Enemy hits you with an attack when you wear element armor resistant to that element (e.g. Demon's Mail, Armor of Fire and so on) 3. You are petrified (that is, your Status is Stone) 4. You are poisoned 2

0.5 ???

As you can see, if you are petrified, you take TWICE the amount of damage! If the attack power is lower than your DEF, you are only dealt one point of damage. (Last note from the author: Eizneckham's compiled tables show that the enemies have a "default" ATT, which is actually HALF of the power value of the enemy's main attack as listed in my Enemy List tables. How this works I am not completely sure of, but for now, my values will do.)

__/caos_mech_jul _/ _ __________________________________________________________ J U L I U S B E L M O N T \

__ _ \_ _ __/

So, you've unlocked Julius Belmont and would like to have a romp through the castle with him! For more details on all the moves he can do, look to Tips and Tricks>The Extra Mile (or just Ctrl+F and search for "_extra") for more details. Julius' statistics at the beginning are: 20 ATT, 15 STR, 12 CON, 10 INT and 20 LCK. This means that he starts with 800 HP and 500 MP. The Vampire Killer whip is also not a holy weapon; it is a Normal-element weapon. There is no equipment to boost your stats, but you can improve them by collecting the orbs bosses leave behind. Each orb has the following effects: - STR +25 - CON +20 - INT +18 And now, for his attack mechanics. Calculation of damage for all the attacks is the same as in the section "Attacking the Enemy", but the first step in calculating Base Damage (BDam) is different for every attack. DIVING KICK BDam is calculated in the first step by halving your STR. SLIDING KICK ________________________ BDam = STR x 37 / 40 ________________________ ULTRA JUMP ________________________ BDam = STR x 15 / 16 ________________________ WHIP SWING This attack refers to Julius allowing his whip to go slack, and/or swishing it around using the directional pad. This attack is similar to a Guardian soul with Power 8. So, the formula is: ____________________________ INT x 8 ------- + 8 16 ____________________________ BDam = SUBWEAPONS

Of course, to calculate damage, you use the BDam formula for red subweapon souls in the section "Magic Damage". -------------.-----------.---------------------Sub-weapon MP Used Element Power -------------.-----------.---------------------Axe 12 Normal 150 Boomerang 25 Normal, Holy 100 Crucifix 150 Normal 120 Holy Water 10 Holy 80

______________________________________________________ / caos_wthru.-.-.-.// 6 \\-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-\ /\/\ W A L K T H R O U G H ____\/______________________________________________________\/____ /-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.\ This walkthrough has been divided into chapters, so you can follow it easier. As the game begins, you are introduced to the main character whom you play as: Soma Cruz, a seemingly innocent high schooler. Trapped within the demon castle of Dracula, you meet a shady guy called Arikado, who saves your skin from an army of creatures at the very start, and introduces you to the soul concept. Then, your adventure into the world of Castlevania begins...

CHAPTER 1 : A Knife and Casual Clothes Equipment : Items : Abilities : 1. Short Sword 1. Mind Up 1. Grave Keeper 2. Cape 2. Potion (x4) 2. Flying Armor 3. Scarf 3. Castle Map 1 Soul 4. Leather Plate 5. Copper Plate _____________________________________________________________________ At the very start, you have a pathetic Knife as a first weapon, plus the spear sub-weapon that you got from the Winged Skeleton you killed at the very beginning. The spear sub-weapon is a handy sub-weapon and you should use it to get out of tight spots. Enter the castle, and into the Castle Corridor; now you will encounter the very first enemies of the castle, Zombies - these living dead will rise out of the ground and begin trudging towards you. They also drop Cloth Tunics, which serve as a better protection that your current Casual Clothes, so try to get one of these as well. If you want cash

and hearts, destroy the candles. But first, we want more beef in your scrawny, combat-inexperienced body, don't we? Train yourself up one level by killing Zombies. Head through the doorway at the end of the corridor and make your way downwards, stabbing Bats and grabbing the [SHORT SWORD] as you go. Don't go through the door at the bottom, but jump onto the platform above the pool of water and break the glittering candlelabra for your very first ability soul: the [GRAVE KEEPER]! __________________________________________________ Grave Keeper : Allows you to backdash a small distance by pressing L (or your ability button). Handy for dodging enemy attacks while getting in one yourself. __________________________________________________ Pesky Mermen will pop up like depth charges from the pool to assault you; simply cut them down with your Short Sword. Save your game in the room opposite and continue on upwards to the top of the stairway. Get the [CAPE] at the middle of the very top of the room for added protection and continue on through the doorway. Chop down numerous Skeletons in the following room as you go, and in the next area, you will be confronted with a tough foe: the Axe Armor. Use these guys in the area to level up one more level, then go through the boss door (the blue-lined gate) to encounter the very first boss! __________________________________________ / B O S S : Creaking Skull \_____________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------Attacks : - Charges up and fires a fireball - Swings its bone club The Creaking Skull is a whopping big skeleton missing its lower half. It drags itself s-l-o-w-l-y along the ground, so hitting it with your Short Sword should not be much of a problem! Just don't get bonked silly by its bone club (you can easily see it coming - the Creaking Skull will raise its arm) or get fried by the fireball it fires (which you can dissipate by just stabbing it or dodge by ducking). Don't worry if you don't get its soul though, there's not only ONE Creaking Skull in the castle... \_________________________________________________________________/ Victorious? Good...head out the room by the other side and get the [CASTLE MAP 1] opposite. This gives you a part of the castle map, which you can view with SELECT... go down and cut down the Bats and Peeping Eye, and facing the left wall at the bottom, hit it! Boomph - hey, it's starts to crumble! Keep at it until it crumbles, then enter and get the [MIND UP] inside. After that lucky find, exit and head through the doorway at the bottom. In the next room, leap over the ponds of water to avoid a tangle with Killer Fish and leap into the water at the end. Cut down the Bats and

Killer Fish as you swim right, and chop down the candlelabra in an alcove to claim the [FLYING ARMOR SOUL]. Equip this soul, and exit the room where you entered...and you're back in the stone stairway. This time, go all the way up to the top and through the passage. Start going up the tower, chopping down Skull Archers, Blue Crows and a rather menacing-looking Buer as you go. Mount the metal platforms to reach the top. Then, using the Flying Armor soul to slow your descent, traverse the gap to the doorway opposite. There! Head through and inside, snatch the [POTION] before the White Dragon can set you aflame, and kill it off before continuing on. In the next room, fight your way through the Zombie Soldiers (who are the unfortunate remnants of the Demon Castle War) and the Axe Armor to the right end of the room, where you can jump up one floor and grab the [LEATHER PLATE] from a ledge. From there head to the left, and get another [POTION] from a ledge. Go up another floor on the right, destroy the Skeleton Knight which guards a doorway, and head on. Cut down the Axe Armor and Skull Archer in the following corridor, throw a single spear to eliminate a cluster of Bats which assail you in the next area, then make your way up and through the room. Snag the [POTION] on a ledge just next to an Axe Armor at the top, and head to the right...whoa! See that ledge on the top right corner of the room? It's extremely difficult to make it there with a single jump and your Flying Armor soul...to reach it, you can either rely on an extremely well-timed jump and float down with your Flying Armor soul, or wait for the Axe Armor to fling an axe at you, jump up and let it hit you such that you are deflected onto the ledge. Regardless, when you reach there, enter the doorway beyond to find a Catoblepas waiting for you! Hop on top of its back and to the [COPPER PLATE] sitting on the ledge. Now you've earned yourself pretty tough armor! Now, exit the room and creep downstairs to the other side of the bottom floor. Destroy the White Dragon that stands vigilant over a [SCARF] on a ledge, then head back out and back out the room with Axe Armors and Skeleton Knights. Backtrack through the corridor with Axe Armors and Skull Archer and you will return to the hall with Skeleton Knights and whatnot. This time, go back down to the bottom and through the doorway at the right end, into a richly-curtained windowed corridor chock-full of Ghosts and Zombie Soldiers (if you're lucky, you might get the rare Combat Knife from Zombie Soldiers, which will stand you in very good stead for a long time). Cleanse the room as you pass by, buzz through the next room, and through the Zombie-filled corridor after that. Chop down a Skeleton Knight and proceed through the doorway. Get through the swarm of Tiny Devils, Skull Archers, and a Rock Armor and continue on...ho, it's a large shaft! First save in the room opposite, then drop down the shaft and take a left. Head through the winding stairway, chopping down numerous enemies as you go, then head through the right doorway at the bottom; inside there's a single Zombie Soldier standing guard over a [POTION]! Cut down the guard and get your prize, then exit the chamber, head left and hop over to the pool teeming with Mermen, then head through the doorway opposite. Splash through the next water-filled area to claim a bag of $500.

Exit and backtrack up and out the winding stairway back to the open-air shaft, and this time take a right. Through the corridor and into the door you go, and welcome to...the Chapel!

CHAPTER 2 : Say A Prayer Equipment : Items : Abilities : 1. Rapier 1. Uncurse Potion 1. Malphas 2. Silk Robe 2. Melon 3. Bastard Sword 3. Anti-Venom 4. Whip Sword 5. Broadsword 6. Heart Pendant 7. Cestus 8. Lucky Charm 9. Lance _____________________________________________________________________ Head through the very first area of the Chapel, ignoring the crumbled stairways and chopping down Ghosts that fade in to attack, and continue on through the doorway at the other end. Using the numerous platforms in this large room, make your way to a stairway at the upper right corner, go up it to a new area and take a left up some more stairs. Cut down the Durgas swiftly, then at the top, chop down some Bone Pillars and mount the platform above them. Go right and drop down the second platform to a ledge with a handy [RAPIER]. Then get back down to the bottom, and exit the room. When you're back in the richly-decorated large room, snag a $100 gold coin on a ledge at the upper right corner, and go down a passageway at the lower right corner of the room. Save your game in the first room to the left (there's going to be a pretty tough boss later on) and get through the doorway at the bottom. Cut down the several enemies in the following cavern (just be careful of the green Une plants; touch them not, or they will give you a nasty sting) and saunter through the boss door. __________________________________________ / B O S S : Manticore \_____________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------Attacks : - If you're far away, it will shoot a large fireball from its mouth (sometimes three) - if you get close, it will attempt to sting you with its poisonous scorpion sting Ouch...the Manticore is pretty tough, and its fireballs can easily burn off 60 health. Its tail poisons you also, reducing defence and attack. It should be pretty easy to dodge both, though; if you see the tail twitching, dash backwards to avoid getting nailed...and badly. The fireball from its maw should be pretty easy to see coming...just watch for the Manticore to open its mouth and start charging up. Keep stabbing it with

the Rapier and throwing all sorts of sub-weapons at it; you will eventually emerge victorious. \_________________________________________________________________/ After the battle, jump up the platforms on the right side of the room (taking care to avoid getting sliced by the buzzsaws), and through a doorway into a single quaint chamber. Cut down the single Skeleton Knight and get the [SILK ROBE]...but wait, there's more! If you have the soul of either the Une, the Skeleton or the Bat, you can attack the ceiling just above the tiny alcove to the left of the Silk Robe. When it crumbles, jump up into a secret chamber containing a $1000 bag! Then drop back out the chamber and get back to the boss room...drop to the bottom floor and make your way to the left doorway, avoiding a tangle with the tricky Quezlcoatl. Cut your way through the Rock Armors and Fleamen to the doorway at the other end, then in the next room pick your way to the bottom of the room amongst the Tiny Devils that accost you. Head through the door and the following corridor to the... -.-.-.-.-.-.-. Study -.-.-.-.-.-.-. Yes, there IS a place in the world worse than a school! :P Anyway, leap over the shaft and through the doorway opposite, and cut down several Durgas in the library you enter as you head to the doorway at the other end. Drop down the platforms in the shaft and enter the doorway at the bottom. Cut a bloody swathe as you dash through Student Witches and an irate Giant Ghost to attain a [BASTARD SWORD]! Backtrack out and through the library, then drop down the shaft in the first room of the Study. Avoiding getting a nasty cut from the buzzsaws and chop down any Winged Skeletons flying by. Drop through the hole in the floor below, and in the next marble-lined room, first get the [UNCURSE POTION] in a chamber to the left, then make your way right. Kill off several Evil Butchers (beware their throwing knives!) and cut down the Bone Pillars barring the doorway, before heading through. The next room is devoid of enemies, except for a moveable wooden box. What can this be for, hmm? Leave it; for now, drop down the shaft and go into the doorway. Kill off the Arachnes, Fleamen and Ectoplasms as you press on through the corridor that follows; don't bump into the Ectoplasms, as they can curse you and drain your MP! In the next sunlit room, you will have to get past the terrifying Catoblepas, a powerfully-built bull that breathes paralysing smoke. If you touch the smoke, you will be turned to stone, and in that state you will receive DOUBLE the amount of damage!! Cut it down and jump up the platforms above the Catoblepas; reduce the Rock Armor up there to scrap and hack at the wall to the left of it, at the top of a stairway; it will crumble, so go through and get a [MELON]. Food, glorious food...! Exit the room and hop to the other side for a $100 coin on a ledge. Then drop down and drop through the hole in the floor at the bottom. Save your game in the room to the left, then continue on right, staying on the top floor. Cut down the enemies in your path and head through

the doorway opposite. There, you will encounter another character: Yoko Belnades. Exit the room after she finishes talking to you through the right doorway and you will face up with two adversaries which make a formidable pair: another Catoblepas and a Minotaur. Be careful of the huge axe the Minotaur hefts! After you defeat them, head through the next room. Immediately take the doorway opposite at the top, and get a $100 coin; then exit and drop down the passageway. The path now splits. Take the right one and head through the doorway at the bottom. The corridor that follows has a gate which only opens when you have your back to it, and are a certain distance from it. Stand a short distance with your back to it, then dash backwards. You will enter another library...cut down the Catoblepas guardian and proceed along the linear path (cutting down any enemies in your way) to find a [WHIP SWORD] on a pedestal! It's just as powerful as your Bastard Sword, but gives more range AND looks just like the vampire-hunter whip of old. But enough history! Backtrack to where the path split and take the left way. Surprise! It's a boss room. __________________________________________ / B O S S : Great Armor \_____________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------Attacks : - Stabs with its blade - Hacks the ground Resilient? You bet. Difficult to kill? Not quite. With your Whip Sword, you should easily get in hits without placing yourself in danger of bumping into the Great Armor. Its stab and hack attacks are rather easy to dodge; simply dash backwards. You can also elude its hack attack by ducking at the ground just in front of it. \_________________________________________________________________/ And BOOM! The Great Armor crumples to pieces. With luck, you will get its Iron Plate, or the mighty Great Sword... Whatever the case, restore your health, then head through the doorway beyond. You will meet the shopkeeper, Hammer, for the first time; after he leaves, cut down the candlelabra for the [MALPHAS] ability soul! __________________________________________________ Malphas : Allows you double-jump, or jump again in mid-jump. __________________________________________________ Go back out of the boss room and up the shaft, and out of the following room. Keep backtracking; chop up the Minotaur and Catoblepas, cut down the Student Witch and Skull Archer, save your game and go back up the hole, cut down another Catoblepas as you return through the doorway on the right, cut down Arachnes and Ectoplasms and whatnot...until you return to the room with only a single box!

First, push the box to the left and through the gap, so that it falls to the bottom. Push it through the tunnel to the right until you come to a candle, then use the box to jump up to the platforms and to a ledge with a [BROADSWORD]. Excellent; a sword with a wide swipe! It should be easier for you to hit enemies now. Exit this room and reenter to reset the box's position; this time push it to the right until you reach a candle, then use it to jump up to a platform and through the hole above. Follow the path to a [HEART PENDANT]. Then exit the room with the box, back through the room with Evil Butchers and up the shaft with Winged Skeletons and buzzsaws, and exit the Study. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.Chapel -.-.-.-.-.-.-.Go back up the winding path in the first room you come to when you return to the chapel, past Tiny Devils and a Zombie Officer...see that doorway at the top left portion of the wall? Using your double jump and a bit of help from the Flying Armor guardian soul, you should be able to reach it. Inside, make your way up, chopping down Winged Skeletons and Zombie Officers to the doorway at the top. Head through and in the following cave, cut down the Rock Armors and Skeleton Knights and head through the doorway at the other end. The next room is massive, and stained glass windows fill the background. Make your way right and up the platform to higher ground, dodging the numerous Ghost Dancers gliding around. Take the first doorway to the left and inside the chamber, cut down the Unes and claim an [ANTI-VENOM] potion. Then exit and climb up to the top using the platforms above; at the top, stand at the right edge of the platform and leap right! Use the Flying Armor soul to slow your descent as you glide to the right...to find a $100 coin sitting on a ledge :P Get back to the top platform and head through. Look, it's a teleportal! These are marked as yellow rooms on your minimap. Walk over to it and press up. There's only one destination for now...it's above the spot where you began the adventure. Teleport away... -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Castle Corridor -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. And here we are, back again at the very first area we visited when this adventure began! Exit the teleportal room and make your way right. Kill off the Zombie Officers as you go along the winding stairway; at the top, jump up the grey platform above the Zombie Officer. From there, follow the path to the right, where a [CESTUS] lies in an alcove. Then return to the corridor just outside the teleportal room and drop down the thin metal platform (by pressing down + jump while standing on it).

Head left and through the door, back to the outside. There stands Hammer...talk to him and he will tell you that this is where he opens his shop. The items he sell change according to time, so come back if you need a more powerful weapon. After that, jump up the platform above Hammer and keep going to find a [LUCKY CHARM] in the tower above. Then go back down and back into the castle. Chop down the Zombies as you head through the corridor, and in the next room use your double jump to reach the upper path, skipping all the Mermen and madness below. Take the top right doorway, and cut down another couple Skeletons as you make your way through the room. Next, cut down some Axe Armors and jump up to the higher level in the area. Chop down another Axe Armor and the Skull Archer on the very left, then leap on top of the platform above the position where the Skull Archer stood. From there, double jump to the right and slow your descent with the Flying Armor soul, and you will reach a ledge leading further upwards! Go up the platforms and where the path splits, take a left. Follow the path to a [LANCE] weapon! Go back to where the path split and head upwards this time. Now pick your way along the winding stairways, chopping up Sirens that swoop at you as you go. At the top, jump up the passageway and enter the door. Head through the corridor that follows to a whole new area!

CHAPTER 3 : Live and Let's Dance Equipment : Items : Abilities : 1. Cutall 1. High Potion (x2) 1. Skeleton Blaze 2. Samurai Armor 2. Mana Prism 2. Undine Soul 3. Ninja Suit 3. High Mind Up 4. Hrunting 4. Mind Up 5. Copper Plate _____________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Dance Hall! And you will lead the first waltz! Jokes aside, make your way through the corridor. It seems empty, until you see a cloaked man at the end of the corridor. He's known currently as "J"; after your conversation, head through the door and staying on the bottom floor, cut down the Zombie Officer and proceed left. The next room is a ballroom, where numerous Ghost Dancers glide about...go left and jump up on the platform, then drop down the hole on the other side. Here we are, in the cellar of the Dance Hall. Evil lurks...now go downwards and take the first doorway to the right. Cut down the Zombie Officers and Creaking Skull as you go, then in the next corridor chop down another Zombie Officer and a Wooden Golem and proceed along the linear path, killing off the numerous enemies, until you reach the very end, where a candle containing a $500 bag awaits. Go back out of this area and back to the shaft. Keep going downwards and drop down the hole at the very bottom, into a mist-shrouded room (you will pass by a High Potion, which you can't get for now. Never mind...). Head right, ploughing through the enemies with several well-

placed slashes and go into the doorway at the end. In the next room, head to the bottom and save in the room to the right, before sallying forth through the boss door to meet the largest golem you have ever seen. 0_o! __________________________________________ / B O S S : Big Golem \_____________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------Attacks : - Thrusts forward with its huge arm - Belches forth a stream of stones GAAAaAAH! The Big Golem is a gigantic behemoth that lumbers towards you on clay legs and attempts to smash you across the room by giving you a hefty punch with its monstrous hand. When it raises its hand to its face, be careful; it preparing to vomit a stream of stones that can hurt you real bad! You can hit its upper body and legs, and if you have a projectile sub-weapon, use it. \_________________________________________________________________/ Go into the room beyond the Big Golem to claim the [SKELETON BLAZE] ability soul! __________________________________________________ Skeleton Blaze : Allows you to slide across the ground by pressing down + jump. You can get items in narrow crannies and slide under narrow gaps. __________________________________________________ The room also contains a mythical green snake, the Tsuchinoko. If you're unlucky, the creature will burrow into the ground upon your entrance. If you're lucky, it will hang around for a short while, spitting poisonous globules at you before burrowing into the ground. The Tsuchinoko is one-of-a-kind; kill it quick and hope to get its soul! Then leave the boss room and go back up and through the room with a Wooden Golem and Evil Butchers. Jump back up the hole in the ceiling and slide to get the [HIGH POTION]! Then go back up the shaft and back to the ballroom. Get the [CUTALL] from a narrow alcove at the second-from-bottom dance platform, then go back down to the bottom floor and head through the doorway to the left. Make your way up the winding staircases, chopping down Durgas and Zombie Officers, and at the top, there are two doorways that are accessible; first take the doorway at the to the left. Make your way through the relatively linear path to the teleportal room, but don't go through it yet; just have it marked out on your map, so we can return at our leisure. Now that's done, return to where the two doorways were and take the

right one. Surprise! You are at the top of the ballroom; make your way right and to the doorway at the top right hand corner of the ballroom. Jump up the pedestals in front of the doorway you headed through, to the another corridor; save in the room to the right, then head left through the corridor, chopping down the enemies as you go. Into the doorway at the other end you go, and you'll be confronted with a Minotaur; kill it, and start hacking like a madman on the wall behind it. Ah; it breaks! Go through for a nice kit of [SAMURAI ARMOR]! Get back out and leap onto the pedestal and up the hole above the Minotaur. Head right and kill off the curry-flinging Waiter Skeleton and the Zombie Officer and jump up the pedestals through the hole in the ceiling. When you get up, immediately take the room to the right, and inside chop down the enemies in there to get the $100 coin. Then exit and head left, leap onto the Catoblepas' back and to the other side of it, and head into the doorway. Inside, cut down the waves of enemies that confront you for another $100 coin. Get back out and there's the Catoblepas again; don't kill it, but get to the other side of it and entice it to move under the gap in the floor above, then jump onto it and leap onto the right portion of the next storey (if not for the Catoblepas, your jump would not be high enough to reach). Follow the path to the top storey, and kill only a few of the Bone Pillars at the bottom of the stack so that there are still enough to form a stack high enough for you to jump onto a reach the [MANA PRISM]! Go all the way back to the bottom and drop back down through the hole and backtrack left through the corridor and down the hole, past the Minotaur and go right in the corridor after that. Kill the several enemies you encounter as you go, and head all the way back right (saving your game in the rightmost room if you want), dropping through another hole in the floor and onto a pedestal above the stairways of Durgas. Take the top-right-hand doorway and make your way right, killing the Minotaurs and sliding under the gap in the wall. A short distance from the door at the very right, jump up and hack at the ceiling (using a wide-slash sword like the Broadsword). It soon crumbles. You can't reach it yet; what a pity, but at least you can leave it there so you can come back to it later. Now head through the door and you are in another new area of the castle! -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.Inner Quarters -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.Here, you'll be warmly welcomed by the maiden Persephone, who will NOT take your coat but proceed to batter your body with damaging karate kicks... Cut her down and make your way up the stairway, chopping up Durgas as you go. At the top, use a well-timed double jump to reach the right ledge in the ceiling dome, and from there you should be able to reach the [HIGH MIND UP] sitting on the left ledge. Head through the doorway at the top after that.

In the next room, kneel down and chop at the floor below the first stairway with a broad-swipe weapon (like the Broadsword). It's a fragile floor! When it crumbles to pieces, drop inside, mince the Student Witches and claim the [HIGH POTION]...then follow up by hacking at the right wall until it breaks, and inside, a Witch maintains vigil over a [NINJA SUIT]! Keep going upwards in the next room, ignoring all the other doorways until you get to the top (there's one particular room which you cannot explore; when you try to go further than the entrance corridor, a rabbit guy changes time around and you end up outside again). Save your game in the room to the left and head through the doorway to the right into a richly furnished living room; into the boss room you go! __________________________________________ / B O S S : Headhunter \_____________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------Attacks : - First head turns it into a rather docile crinoline-wearing female that wields a dagger and stabs at you - Second head transforms it into a crone that throws dragon's-head fireballs and summons lightning bolts - Third head morphs it into a gecko demon that lashes out with its tongue and exhales poisonous fumes The Headhunter may well be one of the more creative bosses in Aria of Sorrow. True to its name, the Headhunter has three head trophies on a mantlepiece in the background; the first transforms it into a beautiful woman with a dagger. It only thrusts the dagger occasionally, and when you hit it it will slowly retreat. The first form is easy meat and should go down rather quickly. The second form is another kettle of fish. The head turns it into an old hag which flings two dragon-headed, powerful fireballs, or summons lightning bolts to attack you. The hag will fly around, making it rather hard to hit. And that's not all! After the second form has been defeated, the Headhunter will unleash its final form, that of a gecko demon, which is expectedly the toughest. It leaps from ceiling to ceiling, attempting to catch you with its tongue or choke you with poisonous fumes. While it is on the ceiling, hitting it can be a chore, what with all those poisonous fumes it exhales; once it's on the ground, though, you can get at it rather easily, and its tongue can be avoided by simply ducking. \_________________________________________________________________/ When the Headhunter falls, replenish your energy using the orb, then head out the room. Jump onto the pedestal just in front of the doorway you head through, and head up the passageway into a open-air area. The sky is grey and spinning with the influence of Chaos...how beautiful!

Right! Start from the bottom and make your up the winding passages, killing the various enemies on your way. At the top, there are two alcoves, one right, one left. The left contains the poison sword [HRUNTING], the right the useful [UNDINE SOUL]. It's counted as an attribute soul, so to equip it you must choose the "Soul Set" option in the main menu. With your new-found riches, get back down and out of the area, and go down the staircase to the bottom of the room. If you want, take the room to the left and be introduced to the Kyoma Demon lurking in the mirrors...if not, go right to the fountain, equip the Undine soul, and jump in...Hooray! You see that you can walk on water, like Jesus Christ himself! Unfortunately, you're no god, and your friend will be dead meat if you don't keep going...hop up the staircase above and through the doorway and enter the next room. Run downstairs and into the doorway to the left. Forge a path through the stiff resistance you encounter from Valkyries, and to the teleportal room. Again, just make sure it's down on your map, then go back through the corridor of mirrors, back to the room with Curlies on the staircases above. Drop down the passageway in the floor, and in the next room, go down the hole at the bottom floor. Run left, killing Liliths and Persephones left, right and center as you make your way downstairs to the [MIND UP] at the end. And when you grab it...watch out, a Lilith will pop up! Slaughter it before it can give you a punch or a kiss! 0_o Then go back up and out the room, and in the previous room make your way left. Drop down another hole along the way, and enter the door inside the room you are in. Pass the corridor, and out of the room you enter. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Castle Corridor -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. This place looks familiar! Wait - you're at a previously inaccessible staircase in a hall you've been to! Step off and exit the area and back through the corridor of Axe Armors, and drop to the bottom of the large hall. Slaughter the Zombie Soldiers and Axe Armor and head into the doorway to the left at the bottom, get past the White Dragon, and drop down the tower, making mincemeat out of any enemies that sally forth to assault you, and drop down the hole at the bottom. In the cavern after that, make your way downstairs and through the doorway to the right at the bottom. With the Undine soul equipped, keep going until you see a previously unreachable platform above the large pool of water to the very right. Jump up and up the stairways, and find your way to a door to the Floating Garden!

CHAPTER 4 : A Stroll in the Garden Equipment : Items : Abilities : 1. Mystletain 1. Castle Map 3 1. Kicker Skeleton

2. Burtgang 2. Mind Up 2. Skula Soul 3. Pitch Black 3. High Potion Suit 4. High Mind Up (x2) 4. Bamboo Sword 5. Tasty Meat 5. Pendant 6. Mana Prism 6. Rahab's Sword _____________________________________________________________________ A word of warning: this labyrinth, owing to the doorways which bring you to different places sometimes, can get very, very confusing. Your main objective is to reach the Clock Tower! This guide won't quite let you explore the whole area, because you'd have to do a lot of confusing backtracking which wastes time. Rather, this is the fastest route through the Floating Garden. Right then, start off right...Yaaahh! A Cockatrice! This mythical rooster-gone-wrong can petrify you with its eye beam; chop it down as fast as you can and jump up the platform above a fountain. Take the right path at the top to another room containing [CASTLE MAP 3]. Then hop up the platform and up the hole in the ceiling. Ignore the Gorgon and go left, and in the next room jump up the platform and up the next floor, to avoid a tangle with the Gorgon below, and head into the doorway to the right. Dice the Red Crow as you go along, and hop over the holes to the doorway at the other end. Staying on the bottom floor in the room you enter, go right and cut down the Dead Warrior that gallops back and forth, as you head to the doorway at the other end. Repeat for the next room...except that as you go along, you'll see a skeleton tugging out a plant. Start chopping at the skeleton, but make sure you don't kill it until it pulls out the plant - a Mandragora! If you have a powerful enough weapon, you can kill off the Mandragora before it lets out its ear-piercing death howl! In the same room, there is a stack of Bone Pillars at the upper part of the room guarding a $1000 bag. If you're a goldgrabber, go for it. After that, you'll enter a purple-marble room. Inside, Altairs ferrying the very dangerous Rippers fly back and forth. Quickly make your way to the metal board in the ground and press down+jump when standing on it to drop further down; first save in the room to the left, then go right and confront the Kicker Skeleton. From it, you can get the optional [KICKER SKELETON] ability soul. You are strongly advised to get it, as it can make quick attacks a lot easier! When you are done, go back up and through the right doorway. Another Manticore lurks inside, and it is no less powerful than the one you fought in the Chapel! Kill it, then go back out through the left doorway. You'd expect to enter the purple-marble room again, right? WRONG! Instead, you find yourself in a room with Werewolves and the very real Devil! Stay on the bottom level and go left, through the stiff resistance that the Werewolves put up, and into the doorway. Head through the corridor into the... -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Clock Tower -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

At last, we arrive at our destination. Go left, and ho! It's good old Graham! After a brief, heated and shocking conversation, Graham struts away (he's supposed to be in a hurry, but he runs really funny ^_^ )...what the hell was that all about? Head through the doorway and go down the clockwork shaft, and the one after that (which has a Lightning Doll in an alcove and a Golem at te bottom, so proceed with caution!). Watch the spikes; they do great damage. At the bottom, head into the doorway. In the next shaft, cut down any Medusa Heads they drift by in the shaft as you make your way down. At the bottom, swiftly cross the light brown, crumbling platforms to the save room to geet some R&R. Then head into the doorway to the left. And whoa! It's Yoko again! After you talk with her, she leaves, and you can proceed left. Jump over the crumbling platform in the next room and head through; and you will meet the destructive Bomber Armor for the first time! Cut it down and continue onward. In the shaft you enter, take good aim and fling several spears (of the Winged Skeleton soul) at the wall opposite. It will soon crumble...but you can't get across without touching the spikes! To avoid getting a nasty hole in your body, get to the thin platform just above the part of the wall that crumbled, and hit down+jump and hold left to enter the tunnel. Inside the room, you will find the sword [MYSTLETAIN] on a couple of boxes, the first sword to pack holy power! After that lucky find, exit the room and keep on going up the shafts (after three more, green-faced Medusa Heads which can petrify you will start appearing) until you reach a room which does not contain clockwork of any sort, and has two ways you can go. Take the top path and follow it to...a Great Armor! Now that you are armed to the teeth, though, the Great Armor is simply another muscular thug...reduce it to scrap metal and enter the doorway behind it. Go up the shaft and before entering the boss room, make sure you save or swift, irreversible Death shall be yours... __________________________________________ / B O S S : Death \_____________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------Attacks : - First weapon is a normal scythe that Death throws at you - Second weapon is Death's ultimate weapon: the bone scythe, which he twirls around the room and whizzes around with it - Throughout the battle, sickles will appear out of thin air and fly at you Death is, at first, wielding the ordinary scythe that you would see emerging from the clock face as the battle begins. He only throws the scythe about at you, and it's not that hard to avoid. After a while, he will stop throwing it and concoct energy pillars that hurt real bad! Slide to avoid. Death is invincible at first, so you must destroy his scythe to make him reveal his second, mightiest form. Death will then unsheathe a large, double-bladed bone scythe that does more

damage than the ordinary one! He will either send it twirling around the room at two different speeds or dash with it held out in front of him. If he throws the scythe slowly, you can duck to avoid and from there, he will be open to attack for a while until his weapon returns. If the scythe boomerangs at high speed, you've got yourself in a pickle; you cannot duck to avoid, so you can only get in one hit while he is open, then you must double jump as his scythe comes zooming back to his hand! All through the battle, small sickles will appear out of thin air and fly at you; simply hit them with any weapon to dissipate them. \_________________________________________________________________/ When you emerge victorious, head into the doorway at the other end and claim from the candlelabra the [SKULA SOUL], which allows you to (finally!) swim in water! Don't you wish you had that instead of swimming lessons? ^_^ Now, exit the boss room and back through the shafts until you reach the water-filled room with a crumbling platform (it's after the one where you talked with Yoko). Break the platform and sink into the water using the Skula soul, then at the bottom, slide to the right to get rid of the Needle enemies, exit the water and head into the doorway beyond. The next room is perilously carpeted with spikes; the only way across is by jumping onto the swinging pendulums. To make thing more tricky, there are Medusa Heads (thankfully, not the ones that can petrify you) flying around to knock you into the spikes! Time your jumps correctly (with Mystletain, swift stabs should be enough to pick off Medusa Heads) as you make your way across, otherwise you will be bathing the spikes in blood...your blood! Your double jump and Flying Armor soul should help you tremendously; if you have the Medusa Head soul (which allows you to stop in mid-air), that makes the job even easier! If you fall onto the spikes, you will definitely get a nasty wound, but if you jump up immediately after you recover from your fall, you can avoid taking further damage. Making it across in one piece will bag you the stabbing cutlass that infuses you with defensive power, [BURTGANG]! Return back to the previous area with your new toy, and take the left path into a labyrinth of spikes placed in strategic locations. You have got to make laboriously accurate movements to avoid losing a whole lot of health to the spikes. 1. Stand on the right of the thin platform to the very left and press down+jump to drop down. Do this for the platform below. 2. Slide under the spikes to the right. 3. Double jump onto the part of the ledge where there are no spikes (first do a single jump to gain height, then from there jump over the spikes, so you won't touch them), then drop into the shaft, hugging the right wall, and you should miss the spikes.

4. Slide under another two bunches of spikes to the third thin, brown platform. 5. Stand on the right part of the platform and drop down it. From there, it should be easy enough to make it to the doorway. Make your way down the clockwork shaft to a small storeroom containing a [PITCH BLACK SUIT]! After that, return to the water-filled room and take the right way this time. Ah, back to the comforting clank of clockwork! If you find yourself short of Mana Points, enter the storeroom on the opposite wall at the very top of the clockwork shaft; inside two enemies guard a candle with a large heart. Go down the clockwork shaft and through the doorway at the bottom, to yet another clockwork shaft; descend it as well, and step lightly and swiftly across the crumbling platforms above the carpet of spikes to the doorway. At the bottom, enter the teleportal room to the right, and make sure it's down on your map; then exit and take the left doorway this time. Slide through the Needles and throw open the iron door, out of the Clock Tower into the... -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Castle Corridor -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Welcome back! Now we are gonna get some more goodies that we missed previously! Descend the shaft and into the right doorway. Massacre the weak enemies as you head through the corridor, and drop down the shaft after that. Take the right doorway and follow the corridor to return to the... -.-.-.-.-.-.-.Chapel -.-.-.-.-.-.-.Earlier on, we put off ascending the crumbled green staircases, didn't we? This time, ascend them and take a right. Go up the sloping pathway to the very right and eliminate any foes that you encounter; as you go up, hop onto the green church bells to get even higher; and at the very top is your prize, a [MIND UP]. Drop down the platform where the Mind Up stood, and make your way left along the corridors of enemies, leaping over the gap along the way, until the path opens up into a large chamber. Jump up on the left platform, and chop down the Axe Armor lurking there; from there, it should be as easy as 1-2-3 to claim the [HIGH POTION] and [HIGH MIND UP] from the pedestals above. With that, go back down, walk right and drop through the gap onto a ledge. Walk off the ledge and take a left; leap over the wall and to a lower stone platform. Then cautiously creep right, and slither up the

slope to a [BAMBOO SWORD]. Since you've got your Burtgang, the Bamboo Sword is close to useless now... Whatever it is, go all the way back down and out of this huge room. From there, find your way to the teleportal room in the Chapel, by using your map. It's easy enough; it's a yellow room just below and left of the large room you were exploring recently. From there, teleport to the room just above the area where we started our adventure (or simply just press down once when the map pops up). -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Castle Corridor -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Exit the teleportal room and drop down the metal platform, back into a corridor of Zombies. Forge past the enemies as you go right and into a cavern. Descend the stairway and into the long-forgotten door at the bottom. You step forth into a new place... -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Underground Reservoir -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Stroll down the cold stone stairways and into the doorway at the bottom, not forgetting the [PENDANT] next to the doorway as well. From here on, it is best that you keep your Skula attribute soul equipped, so you can navigate the waters in the Underground Reservoir with ease. Splash your way through the moat, dodging dangerous Killer Fish swimming idly around, and snag the [TASTY MEAT] goodie before heading down the shaft at the end. In the next room, descend a shaft full of pesky Needles to the bottom, where you should go left. Chop down the Man-Eater that blocks the way (be warned - it's a tough enemy) and into the chamber beyond to earn yourself [RAHAB'S SWORD], a sword of icy might! Then head back out and up the shaft to the very right, into the doorway above. Make your way down the sloping path of the room, dodging the deadly cursed tridents of Cagnazzos and avoiding the mid-air fires set by Ukobacks. Save your game in the first room to the right if need be, then continue on the the bottom. First, drop into the hole and slide through the tunnel to an easy [MANA PRISM], then slide back out into the doorway to the right. Cut your way past Nightmares and Unes into the doorway beyond, and boom! You've just entered one of the massive caves in the Underground Reservoir! Stay on the bottom floor and make take a right, chopping up the mass of weak enemies that sally forth, into a corridor that contains...oh my suds and body, a Mandragora! You know what to do - slice the skeleton pulling it up to bits before it can scream, as you head through the corridor. And you enter another humungous cave. Drop down the thin platform below the doorway to the bottom, and take a left. The following corridor is teeming with Tritons and Gorgons, and you might glimpse a blue sparkly speck zip across the screen...leave that for now, and chop your way through the numerous enemies to the other end. Don't jump down the shaft in the room you enter just yet; instead, jump into the doorway

opposite. Surprise! Here's Yoko...and Graham! Lovers? Well, if you count a dagger inside Yoko's body a show of love...as you enter, Graham curses and disappears into thin air, leaving a severely wounded Yoko and you! After the brief conversation, in which Arikado makes an appearance, exit left and before opening the iron door opposite, first drop to the bottom of the pool of water in the room and wallop aside the Needles for a [HIGH MIND UP] in an alcove. Then return and head past the iron door.

CHAPTER 5 : My Name Is Gladiator Equipment : Items : Abilities : 1. Laevatain 1. High Potion 1. Giant Bat Soul 2. Olrox's Suit 2. Pudding 3. Balmung 4. Rare Ring 5. Black Cloak _____________________________________________________________________ You step forth into the Arena, one of the few areas in the castle which tests your skill with your weapons against fearsome creatures. Head into the doorway and make your way up the stairways in the massive room. If you find the enemies too tough to snuff, use Mystletain - most of them in the room are prone to holy attacks. Jump up the hole at the top left corner of the room, and watch out for the Skull Millione that swoops upon you as you enter! First enter the teleportal room to the right to make sure it's down on your map, then make your way left, through the enemies; along the way, hop up the platforms to the passageway in the ceiling, and there, climb up the shaft. Hop into the doorway leading left as you ascend, and there, cut through the corridor of enemies that move to intercept you. At the end is a doorway which leads to a small alcove behind a brick wall, containing the fire sword [LAEVATAIN]! Retreat out the corridor and keep ascending, then hop into the doorway at the top for a [HIGH POTION] on a pedestal. Then head back down and out of the shaft, and take a left...forge past the numerous enemies, and at the very end there is a passageway with a jaguar's head sculpture above it; hop down and in the room you enter, first save in the Save Room on the left, then head through the doorway on the right. Now begins your trial. You may choose to use the lift to skip all the trial floors and descend to the bottom using the lift (to go down or up, press down/up on the direction pad where required), where the boss room lies through the left gate. But one must be thorough in castle exploration - and the boss that lies beyond is formidable, so we need some valuable experience! You may exit the rooms through the entrance gates if you find the going too tough, and retreat for R&R at the Save Room. There are three trial areas in all, one on each floor. If you go through each one successfully, you will reach a small room at the end containing a piece of equipment. However, a rack of spikes positioned above the front of the doorway will drop down, so don't just rush

ahead! Starting from the top floor: --------------------------------------------------------------------o 1st trial --------------------------------------------------------------------You have to fight your way through Lubicants; right from when you enter, two Lubicants sally forth to assault you with their tridents. Lubicants look like Cagnazzos, but they are MUCH faster and more powerful. Move and jump swiftly, and you should use Laevatain as your primary weapon; it works to great effect. You also have to avoid getting hit by the haunted statues of gods in the background; they periodically thrust their palms or feet forward to hammer you if you are unalert. A large iron ball suspended by a chain is present at the end of the room; strike it to start it swaying slightly, then increases its amplitude by striking it just as it starts to sway towards the brick wall. After a while, the ball will swing far enough to smash a hole in the wall; go through to find [OLROX'S SUIT]. --------------------------------------------------------------------o 2nd trial --------------------------------------------------------------------This room is the most difficult! Yoy have to leap onto conveyor belts over pits of spikes, and Erinys (the stronger version of Valkyries) swoops around stabbing you! What's more, Medusa Heads that can petrify you can cause you to drop onto the spikes while petrified!! Take along Laevatain (or Hrunting, which can do big damage to the Erinys) with you, and cut down the Erinys one at a time; don't attempt to outrun them, as the conveyor belt will slow you down. There is a small switch between two spike pits; jump onto it to reverse the conveyor belts' direction. That should help you. Along the way, an Arc Demon will come into the fray; equip the sword Mystletain and slash it down with a few strokes. After that, switch back to Laevatain and battle your way to the doorway at the end, where the [BALMUNG] magical longsword awaits. That weapon sure is worth all the trouble, trust me! --------------------------------------------------------------------o 3rd trial --------------------------------------------------------------------Ironically, this trial in "the deepest bowels of the Arena" is the easiest! You simply have to be careful. Enter with the sword Mystletain equipped, for there are many Beam Skeletons milling around on the bottom floor. Jump onto the platform in clear view in front of the doorway, and let it carry you below a black cross etched on the shield between two winged statues on a pillar. You have to press the direction pad as indicated by red dots that will flash on the black cross; as you go, more dots will flash and at quicker rates. If you fail to press the direction before the dot disappears OR if you press the wrong direction, a trident will scythe down and destroy the platform; if you get hit, you will suffer bad injury. Also, you have to fight your way back through the Beam Skeletons...!!

If you reach the end, which is marked by a brick wall, without screwing up, the brick wall will shatter and you can enter the doorway beyond, which contains a [RARE RING]! Still alive? BRILLIANT! Now you've got a kick-ass sword, armor and a useful accessory! Recover using the Save Room above, then return down to the boss room. __________________________________________ / B O S S : Balore \_____________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------Attacks : - Hammers the ground with its fists - Swings its fists around - Eyebeam sweeps the floor, sending a wave of flames gliding across The Balore is an evil encaged daemon with two fearsome eyes. It uses its two monstrous hands, which protrude out of the cage, to throw swift punches and to hammer the ground. Avoid getting hurled to the ground by the punches at all costs! The fists can be climbed on when they are moving slowly, but not if they are attacking. Attack the eye that is open. After a period of battering, the Balore will withdraw his fists and the daemon's other eye opens. An eyebeam is emitted, and the Balore sweeps it across the floor, kicking up a wave of flame. Jump to dodge and keep attacking the eye. As the daemon takes more damage, the eyebeam will sweep across the floor increasingly rapidly; jump once to dodge one wave, then double jump to avoid landing on another wave that comes rapidly. This way, you won't take too much damage. \_________________________________________________________________/ When the Balore is defeated, head through the doorway opposite and smash the candlelabra for your [GIANT BAT SOUL]! Now that you have got the Giant Bat soul, you can morph yourself into a bat and fly anywhere! It's rather MP-sapping, though, so do have some Mind Ups handy if you are low on MP. Then return to the boss room, and you will bump into J again! He reveals his name to be Julius Belmont, one of the vampire hunters of the legendary Belmont family...but let's not go into history for now. Exit the boss room and go back up the shaft. Save in the Save Room if you want to, and return up the passageway in the ceiling. Right, once you're up the passageway, equip the Giant Bat soul and morph into a bat, then fly up the hole in the ceiling just above the passageway, into a previously inaccessible room crawling with enemies. Take a right, and trash the Beam Skeleton there before entering the doorway beyond. Inside, there is a steaming pool...and a Succubus! If your draw closer, a Lilith will pop up too! Cut them down and claim your prize - a [BLACK

CLOAK] on a pedestal. Then exit and go up the rest of the room, along the staircases, and into the doorway at the top. Chop down the Killer Mantle and Weretiger there, and at the end, a behemothic, immensely resilient Giant Skeleton, guarding a candle with a $1000 bag, awaits! After it collapses (assuming you beat it -_-' ), slash the candle for your moolah, and head out of the corridor, get back down to the bottom and mosey out the room. From there, backtrack to the right out the corridor, past the wildly galloping Gladiator and out the corridor after that, down the staircases of the huge area crawling with all sorts of enemies and back into the doorway at the bottom, where you can exit the Arena. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Underground Reservoir -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Leap over the pool and into the doorway opposite, then make your way down the shaft full of enemies; watch the fires the Ukobacks light in mid-air. The left wall at the bottom is breakable; hack it to bits and enter the secret passageway for a [PUDDING]. Then exit and take the right doorway to yet another part of the Underground!

CHAPTER 6 : For We Are Many Equipment : Items : Abilities : 1. Gold Ring 1. High Potion 1. Galamoth 2. Armor of Water 2. Super Potion 3. Ronginus' 3. Ancient Book 1 Spear 4. Handgun 5. Eversing 6. Claimh Solais 7. Joyeuse _____________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Underground Cemetery! Zombiemen will emerge from various sarcophagi as you walk along; ignore them for now. Head right, past the enemies, to the doorway, and hop up the platform to a place with two doorways. The left one leads to a corridor full of Werejaguars, and a $2000 bag lies at the end; the right one leads to a Save Room. After you have claimed your riches and saved your game, jump back down the platforms and continue on right to the boss room. __________________________________________ / B O S S : Legion \_____________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------Attacks : - Hitting its shell will occasionally cause a zombie-man to pop out and start walking around the area it lands on

- After its core is exposed, mechanical arms firing lasers will stick out The Legion is a behemothic, sinister foe. Its soul is the only one that can be missed in the game; therefore, to get it, you have got to be careful NOT to destroy the inner core before getting rid of the outer grey quarters of the Legion's shell! Equip Mystletain; it packs holy power that the Legion is weak against, and its reach will not allow you to hit at the core too easily. Starting hacking at the surface of the Legion, making your slashes as shallow as you can. Also, run around the room a lot, only turning around to deliver a few blows on the Legion, so you won't get cornered and massacred. Always wait until you lure the Legion to either the top or bottom of the room, then you can easily slash-and-run. Hacking off the bottom half of the shell first is better; this way, you can slide under it as it drifts toward you and press the attack further. As parts of the shell of the Legion drop off, the inner core will be exposed; twisting, mechanical arms will stick out and start firing lasers at regular intervals. But these are inaccurate, so don't worry about them. The more shell you hack off, the more arms; after the four quarters of the shell are knocked off, concentrate ALL your attacks on the core, eluding the lasers as you go. Somtimes, the core will retract its laser arms and bounce around the room for a short period of time; slide and backdash to avoid getting hit by the core and keep slashing as it comes. \_________________________________________________________________/ When you inflict the final blow on the Legion core, the cage breaks, releasing a sparkling foetus which dissipates and gives you the soul of the Legion! After that, head into the doorway to the right and keep going until you reach a room with platforms leading up a tube. First hop up the platforms, and up there, you can take two doorways. The left leads to a chamber with an easy [HIGH POTION], the right leads to a corridor with Cagnazzos guarding a [GOLD RING] on a pedestal. Once you've snagged both, go back down and into the right doorway, then from there you have got to cut through the throng of Rippers who chuck showers of knives! At the end is a chamber containing a candlelabra; smash it for the [GALAMOTH] ability soul! __________________________________________________ Galamoth : Allows you to avoid being warped by time warper enemies. __________________________________________________ The Galamoth soul sounds a bit confusing, but you need it for later. So much for the Underground Cemetery! Start off left and keep going through the numerous corridors and out the boss room, past the corridor

with Biphrons and an Alura Une, and back to the... -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Underground Reservoir -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. Head back up the shaft and hop into the doorway at the top right. Splash your way through pools containing Tritons and Gorgons, and head into the doorway at the end. You will find yourself, once again, in a large cavern crawling with enemies. Staying on the bottom floor, make your way to the doorway on the very right and cut your way past Mermen and a Man-Eater for the [ARMOR OF WATER]. Then exit the corridor and jump up onto the moving platform drifting near the doorway; when it rises to the apex of its height, hop into the pool of water on the left. An Arc Demon will spawn; send it back to hell with a couple of well-placed slashes, then stand on the high part of land not covered in water and double jump to a platform moving left and right above. As it moves, you should see another platform just above, moving up and down; time your jump and mount it, letting it bring you to the top of the cavern. You can take two doorways: left or right. First take the left one into a teleportal room, then, making sure it's down on your map, take the right doorway. Chop down the Dryads and Poison Worm you encounter in the cave as you go, and you will come into another huge cavern, this time with a natural waterfall! In this room, there are a couple of items you can get. First, transform into a bat using the Giant Bat soul, and fly alllllll the way to the top left corner of this room. You need almost 250 MP to pull this off, so if you are low on MP, go smash candles for hearts or use a Mind Up. At the top left corner, there is a small chamber containing the holypowered [RONGINUS' SPEAR]. In the same chamber, there is a candle with a large heart, so use that to restore your MP - we are going flying again! After you top up your MP, transform into a bat again and start flying right, hugging the ceiling as you go...and you will fly into a highly secret chamber containing...surprise! A [HANDGUN]! Don't start getting jubilant yet; although it has whole-screen range, each bullet is just a bit more powerful than an ordinary punch -_-' Now then, drop back down the hole as a bat, and fly to a small pedestal. On the other side of the pillar is a Super Potion which we will get later; for now, drop down the waterfall...and immediately hold down right on your directional pad, such that you emerge from the waterfall and start hugging the right wall. Eventually, you will drop to a doorway. Enter, and defeat the guarding Flesh Golem for a [SUPER POTION]! Then exit the chamber and drop through the waterfall again, until you splash to the bottom. Head back to the very left of the room, and stand to the right of the doorway, such that no part of the cave entrance is above your head. Equip the Undine soul and stand on the water surface, then equip either the Manticore, Curly or Devil guardian soul. If you don't have either, you cannot get past the waterfall into the area behind; do a search in the walkthrough for either "Curly", "Manticore" or "Devil" to know

where the respective critters may be found. Once you have it equipped, stand on the spot mentioned in the above paragraph, and facing right, hold down the button to activate your guardian soul. You will transform into a monster that goes rushing across the water and towards the waterfall...if you still get knocked back by it, you are not standing far enough from the waterfall. If you got it right, your speed should blast you through the veil of water to the other side of the waterfall! You've made it! Also, the handsome suit of armor sitting on the other side, [EVERSING], is yours! Go through the doorway and head through the iron door into yet another new area. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.Forbidden Area -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.Go right, chopping down Dryads and watching out for any tell-tale uneven surfaces on the ground; they may pop up as Mudmen. Head into the doorway at the other end, and go up the shaft after that, cutting down Gargoyles that swoop down on you. Hop up the passageway at the top and mount the switch next to the left wall to open an iron gate. Hmm...head through the opened doorway and you come back to the... -.-.-.-.-.-.-. Study -.-.-.-.-.-.-. Wow, we are back at the Study! Quickly destroy the Bone Pillars before they singe you wit