________ ,-' ______`-. ,' ,-' `-.`. / ,' `.\ , ,'/ /`. / / _ /| | | _ __ _ . _ `./ _ / / ,' `._ __,'/_/ |_ | | ,' \ ,'/ / ,' ,' `._ |\,' `. /`. ,' `._ | | / |`. ,' / _,' `. _|| | / |\ \ \ \ \ \ / |`. ,' | ,'| | | | / |`. ,' | | | | | | | (,-. | | | | | | \ \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \,-. \ | | | | | |,',' | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \ \ | | | | ) || | | | | ,' | | / / | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \ \ | |,' |_ /\_/ / | | | | \ `._, \ './ / | |,' |_ | | | | | | | |,' |_ \ `.'._,'\_/'.__,'/ './ './ `.__/ `._,' '._,'\_/ './ './ './ '._,'\_/ `. `-.______,-',' `-.________,-' <- L O R D S O F S H A D O W -> ============================================================================== CASTLEVANIA: LORDS OF SHADOW FAQ/Walkthrough Copyright (c)2010-2011 DomZ Ninja ============================================================================== Author: DomZ Ninja E-mail: domzninja[at]hotmail[dot]com Updated: 07/11/11 Version: 1.0 NOTE: This guide does contain spoilers! ______________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS ______________________________________________________________________________ See that series of numbers to the right of each section? If you want to find a specific section in the FAQ, press CTRL + F to open a search box. Type in the series of numbers for the desired section that you're trying to find and press Enter. Whabam! The search function will take you there in an instant. [1] VERSION HISTORY.................................................. [0100] [2] CONTROLS......................................................... [0200] [3] WALKTHROUGH...................................................... [0300] Chapter I....................................................... [0301] Chapter II...................................................... [0302] Chapter III..................................................... [0303] Chapter IV...................................................... [0304] Chapter V....................................................... [0305] Chapter VI...................................................... [0306] Chapter VII..................................................... [0307] Chapter VIII.................................................... [0308] Chapter IX...................................................... [0309] Chapter X....................................................... [0310] Chapter XI...................................................... [0311] Chapter XII..................................................... [0312] [4] MOVE LIST........................................................ [0400] Advanced Moves.................................................. [0401] Relic Moves..................................................... [0402] [5] MAGIC GEMS....................................................... [0500] Life Gems....................................................... [0501] Light Gems...................................................... [0502] Shadow Gems..................................................... [0503] [6] WEAPONS.......................................................... [0600] Relics.......................................................... [0501] Secondary Weapons............................................... [0502] [7] ACHIEVEMENTS..................................................... [0700] [8] BESTIARY......................................................... [0800] Enemies......................................................... [0801] Bosses.......................................................... [0802] [9] THANKS/CREDITS................................................... [0900] ______________________________________________________________________________ [1] VERSION HISTORY [0100] ______________________________________________________________________________ FAQ/Walkthrough #52 ------------------- Version 1.0 (11/19/10) - FAQ/Walkthrough complete and submitted. ______________________________________________________________________________ [2] CONTROLS [0200] ______________________________________________________________________________ .-----------------------------.----------------------------------------------. | D-Pad | Secondary Weapon Select | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Left Analog Stick | Move, Asborb Light Magic (Click) | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Right Analog Stick | Absorb Shadow Magic (Click) | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Start | Pause | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Back | Travel Book | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | X Button | Direct Attack | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Y Button | Area Attack | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | A Button | Jump | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | B Button | Secondary Weapon Attack | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Right Trigger | Grab/Use | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Left Trigger | Block, Dodge (LT + Left Analog) | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Right Bumper | Shadow Magic Enable/Disable | |-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------| | Left Bumper | Light Magic Enable/Disable | '-----------------------------'----------------------------------------------' ______________________________________________________________________________ [3] WALKTHROUGH [0300] ______________________________________________________________________________ NOTE: This walkthrough is based on the Warrior difficulty. ============================================================================== CHAPTER I [0301] ============================================================================== -~ Besieged Village ~- ============================================================================== You start off outside in the soggy weather as Lycanthropes storm the small village. The game is nice enough to give you an on-screen tutorial to help you through your first battle. Use X and Y to have Gabriel use direct attacks and area attacks respectively. You can alternate buttons to create attack combos, though for now your offense is pretty basic. Just kill the first wave of Lesser Lycanthropes. The game directs you to a nearby Health Font. These glowing green fountains restore your health if you approach them and press the Right Trigger. You are ordered to use the Health Font, even if you may not be low on health. Once you restore any lost health, another Lesser Lycanthrope shows up. Defeat him and pick up the Throwing Daggers he leaves behind. Each dagger pickup contains five daggers. You can use these Silver Daggers by pressing B; one direct hit will kill a Lesser Lycanthrope instantly. Continue slaying more beasts. When the game orders you to grab one with the Right Trigger, do so. When you grab an enemy, two rings appear onscreen. The large, outer ring will begin to shrink and move into the smaller, inner ring. When the large ring shrinks enough and meets with the inner ring, press any button immediately to perform a successful grab attack. The game holds your hand the first time, so it's no big deal. Keep on using your chain combos and any daggers left behind to take on more waves of Lesser Lycanthropes. You shouldn't have your hands full here. Defeating enemies earns you Experience; defeat five Lesser Lycanthropes to earn 25 EXP. Your Travel Book will open now that you have a a decent amount of Experience. Use it to purchase the "Guillotine" attack (under "Advanced Moves"). Exit the Travel Book and finish off the remaining enemies for a quick scene. ------------------. BOSS: Great Warg '----------------------------------------------------------- The Great Warg is a much bigger foe than the Lesser Lycanthropes, and much more powerful. He demonstrates this by leaping on top of Gabriel in an attempt to gnaw his face off. It's tough to get him off, but repeatedly tap the A button to kick the grizzly monster off of you. The boss only has two attacks, and the game takes you through both of them in an attempt to teach you how to dodge them. The Great Warg's basic claw slash can be blocked by holding down the Left Trigger. Like in any battle, block enemy attacks with the Left Trigger. However, his second attack is unblockable and must be dodged: hold down the Left Trigger and move the Left Analog Stick to either side to perform a dodge roll. Now it's all about avoiding damage and attacking the monster. Keep the Left Trigger held most of the time throughout the battle so you can block the Great Warg's quick claw strikes. It may be a large beast, but he is quick for his size. You know the unblockable attack is coming when a shimmer of light emits from the Great Warg's mouth. Block, dodge roll, and use X and Y to attack. The boss isn't that difficult at all; plus, there is another Health Font you can use if you are in danger of perishing. Once you have drained the Great Warg's health, follow the button command in the cutscene that follows to put the beast down for good. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The level comes to a close after the cinema that follows the boss battle. Nice, short tutorial level. -~ Hunting Path ~- ============================================================================== The level begins on horseback, as Gabriel is being tailed by some Lesser Lycanthropes riding Wargs. Press X and Y to attack the Wargs that run alongside your steed. You can also dodge their attacks by holding the Left Trigger and moving the Left Analog Stick. Stick to attacking one Warg at a time, so pick a side and attack with your weapon. Once you have damaged an enemy, you'll be able to hijack the Warg by pressing the Right Trigger (Grand Theft Warg, baby!). Doing so disposes of the rider and kills the Warg automatically. If you are hit, you will enter another ring sequence where you have to time your button press when the outer ring reaches the inner ring. If you mess up, you will fall off your horse. Regardless, Gabriel will be knocked off his horse sooner or later, as the level must continue on foot. When you fall off your horse, you'll end up in a clearing. Lesser Lycanthropes attack; the game teaches you at this time how to counterattack. Just before you are struck with an enemy, block the attack. Timing this perfectly slows down time for a second, allowing you to retaliate. Repeatedly tap X after a perfect block to unleash a counterattack. -~ Life Gem #1 ~- ================= In the clearing after the horseback sequence, walk south until you can go no further. You will find the remains of a fallen soldier lying against a tree; press the Right Trigger to examine his body and locate your first Life Gem. Continue killing off Lesser Lycanthropes; they often drop Silver Daggers. Eventually, your horse arrives again and the second horseback portion of the level begins. Nothing new here; use the same strategies as you did in the first horseback riding part of the level. After killing a couple Wargs, you will be knocked down to the ground. Either slay a few enemies or intentionally fall off your mount. You are greeted by a Warg and several Lesser Lycanthropes. Oh goody. Try to take down the Lycanthropes first before you duel with the Warg. Using area attacks with Y certainly helps damage multiple enemies at once. There is also a Health Font that you should use whenever you are low on health. Disposing of the Warg and the other monsters triggers another cutscene. The level ends at the conclusion of the cutscene. -~ The Dead Bog ~- ============================================================================== The Dead Bog, eh? Sounds like a particularly formidable area, but I sure do love the scenery. Walk through the canyon to reach the first clearing. -~ Life Gem #2 ~- ================= At the very start of the level is a fallen knight. Take several steps forward and inspect the body to find another Life Gem. His body is located right before the clearing. There is another corpse lying in the middle of the area; take the scroll from his body. Check it out in the Travel Book for a nice read. As the camera zooms in on a ledge, jump up to it and shimmy across the other side. Jump over the gap, then drop down on the opposite end. Gabriel is introduced to a Goblin, which as the cinema shows, isn't the most intelligent of creatures. If a Goblin throws a grenade, use the Right Trigger to throw it right back at them. Although, using your Combat Cross may be a much easier alternative. As you destroy Goblin after Goblin, a cutscene begins as one of the Goblin succumbs to the bog creatures. You may want to read the scroll you obtained earlier to learn more information about the Naiads that reside in the bog. Refrain from moving when you see bubbles come from the water's surface. If you do, you will be attacked. Before you get pulled under, complete the ring sequence to survive the ambush. After bubbles comes ripples in the water. It's usually safe to cross when you see water ripples. However, it is always safe to cross when the ripples cease and the water is undisturbed. This only happens for a second, as you will see bubbles appear right after. Also avoid the green clouds on the sides of the bog. Those areas are poisonous and will kill you if you venture too far out into the bog. When you reach the island in the middle of the bog, you will be presented with a choice: take the right path or take the left path. I actually suggest that you take both (which means backtracking), because both trails hold valuable items. Slosh through the left side of the bog until you reach the other side. Heal at the Health Font and take the stairs. Fight a handful of Goblins, then follow the path to the right. Hop over the tree trunk to reach another bog. Wade through towards the island in front of the giant dinosaur skeleton. -~ Life Gem #3 ~- ================= This Life Gem is found on the left path. Head up the stairs and follow the trail to the right. Jump over the tree trunk and crawl through the bog towards the island in front of the giant skeleton. Inspect the corpse to locate the Life Gem. Head back to where you fought the Goblins and proceed north this time. Go through the water and continue until you reach another Health Font. Refill your health and follow the trail to reach another pool of water. Go straight ahead (going right brings you back to the dinosaur skeleton). You will come to a third Health Font. It's at a dead end, so if you do not need it, continue through the bog and jump off of the edge to reach an area with a dead tree. This is the end of the left path. I suggest backtracking to the fork and going to the right now. It's a lot of effort, but we'll be getting cool stuff! Yeah! Go up the stairs and follow the trail; drop off of the first ledge and go through the water. On the other side, drop down from the second ledge. Here, walk to the right and hug the wall to find a hidden cave. -~ Life Gem #4 ~- ================= At the first intersection, take the right path. Climb the stairs and drop off of the first ledge. Crawl through the water to reach a second ledge. Fall down and walk to the right, hugging the wall as you go. You'll find a hidden cave with a Life Gem inside. Do away with the Goblins that enter the cave after you and exit with your reward. Continue forward and you will find another bog on the left. Try going through the water... you'll end up at the dinosaur skeleton that you saw on the left path. Yay for merging forks! There's no need to return here other than to prove that your paths merged. From the land, continue forward and drop down a third ledge to reach a dead end. For the record, taking the left path will bring you to this same area. The two paths meet at this area. Kill a Goblin with a grip attack and use the leftover grenade on the tree. With the tree uprooted, kill a second Goblin using the same methods and toss the grenade at the tree to knock it down. Finish off the remaining foes and climb across the downed tree. At the island, go to the left to find another dead body containing a scroll. Head back to the island and wade through the water (while avoiding Naiads) to the other end. The path to the mausoleum is inhabited by more Goblins. At the fork, go to the right to find a Health Font that's guarded by a Goblin camp. After healing, head back and go left to reach the mausoleum. Walk to the side of the mausoleum and climb up the ledges to squeeze your way inside. Approach the stand to obtain the Hook Tip. This relic gives the Combat Cross the properties of a grappling hook. Drop down and use the Hook Tip on the glowing blue grip point on the ceiling. Press the Right Trigger and climb up the side of the wall, then tap X or Y to smash through the window. As Gabriel exits the mausoleum, a creature pounces on him without hesitation! -------------------. BOSS: Swamp Troll '---------------------------------------------------------- This monster has been stalking you the entire time during your journey through the Dead Bog, and he has chosen the time to strike. The Swamp Troll seems to have picked a good place to do so, because he uses the surrounding objects to attack: the tombstones lining the cemetery. The Swamp Troll starts off the fight by picking up a tombstone and using it as a club. Most of the attacks are easy to dodge if you roll from side to side. At the beginning, all the boss does is swing the tombstone back and forth; it isn't too threatening. When he uses a ground pound attack, jump over the resulting shockwave. This will also break the tombstone. When the Swamp Troll's weapon is broken, he will either find another one or rely on his fists. He attacks the same way bare-handed than with a weapon, so the battle doesn't change all that much. Your basic combos should do the trick, so there's no need to be fancy with it. Daggers help too, considering you can find more daggers by destroying the remaining tombstones. Once you have depleted three-quarters of the boss's health, his eyes will glow red and cause the boss to move quicker and perform a new attack. When he stands still and leans forward, he's getting ready to perform a running tackle attack. Roll to the side and attack the Swamp Troll's back. Once you have depleted nearly all of the Swamp Troll's health, his body will begin to glow. Follow several ring sequences to significantly weaken the boss, then repeatedly hit A to finish the job. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After slaying the Swamp Troll, approach the shining box. Open the Brotherhood Ark to obtain the Dagger Upgrade +5 for your Silver Daggers: you can now hold ten daggers at a time! Use the Hook Tip on the grip point on the dead tree to escape the cemetery. If you are in need of health, follow the path around the back of the cemetery for a Health Font. Otherwise, head down the nearby stairs. Time for some platforming action! Jump over the hole and walk towards the edge of the platform. Drop down and continue dropping down, then shimmy around the ledge. Grab onto the grip point and rappel down the side of the pillar. Jump over to the next pillar and climb up the side. Once at the top, you will find a grip point that allows you to swing to the next platform. Instead of doing that, walk to the left and jump downward onto a small ledge. -~ Life Gem #5 ~- ================= At the top of the second pillar, ignore the grip point and move to the left. Look down to find a small ledge with a dead body; jump down onto this ledge and inspect the fallen knight's body to receive a Life Gem. Back at the top of the pillar, use the grip point to swing across the gap; press A to let go onto the next platform. Leap across to the other side; when against the high wall, use the grip point to climb up the side. Pull yourself up onto the ledge and enter the doorway to finish the level. -~ Pan's Temple ~- ============================================================================== Pan's Temple is a nice break, since there are no enemies to be found during the entire level. A meter appears on the right side of the screen as you enter the area; you must collect five Magical Runes in order to progress through the temple. The first Magical Rune is at the beginning of the level: inspect the shining circular carving against the tree to collect it. Continue down the trail and head around the bend. There is a second carving in the dense forest, so press the Right Trigger next to it for the second Magical Rune. Two down, three to go! Continue forward and climb over the large tree root to find a dead body. Collect the scroll from the corpse and move to the right. The third Magical Rune is very well hidden. At the bend, walk towards the screen and press against the wall (you should see some birds perched on a ledge up against the screen). From here, hug the wall and move slowly to the right. You should start moving along some foliage; keep going against the wall to the right and the camera should change directions. You should be in a secret area containing the third Magical Rune. -~ Life Gem #6 ~- ================= After collecting the third Magical Rune in the hidden area, press forward through the small crack in the wall. At the end, search the knight's body to receive the Life Gem. Return to the bend and go north down the main path. The fourth Magical Rune should be in plain sight, just at the entrance of a pond. Take it and proceed through the pond towards the humongous tree roots. Take the scroll from the dead knight at the base of the roots, then walk between the two tree roots. You will spot a Brotherhood Ark high up on a ledge, but you cannot reach it yet. Backtracking plays a huge role in this game, and you will need to replay certain levels once you have necessary equipment in order to find hidden items and upgrades. - BACKTRACK TIME! Once you have received the Seraph Shoulders, return to this area and perform a double jump to reach the ledge. Open the Brotherhood Ark for the Holy Water Upgrade +2. So we'll just have to come back later (a lot later) in order to reach the Brotherhood Ark. Bummer. Nevertheless, continue through the water and look to the right of the large stone in the center of the area to find the fifth and final Magical Rune. Head towards the glowing green circle at the end of the path. It prevents you from moving forward, but using Pan's Amulet on the shining carving. A fairy appears and presents you with a puzzle: one of many in this game. Luckily, this one isn't too mind-numbing. In fact, it's quite easy. A five-slot belt appears above the fairy with symbols matching the ones of the Magical Runes found on the right side of the screen. All you have to do is match the order of the rune symbols on the belt to the ones on the amulet. The order of the symbols above the fairy goes from left to right, so whichever symbol that is at the top of the amulet must go on the leftmost side on the belt. Press X to change the symbols on the belt so you get the correct order. Completing the puzzle lowers the green force field, allowing you to continue to Pan's Temple. Continue up the spiral pathway to reach the temple. Puzzle time! Read the scroll for information on the puzzle. I would suggest that you refrain from unlocking the solution in the scroll... because the solution to the puzzle is right here in this guide. Why waste it when you don't have to? There are three sets of rings in the room, with Marie lying in the center of the room. You must move the rings with either the Right Trigger (move clockwise) or the Left Trigger (move counter-clockwise). Here's the solution to the puzzle, in five easy steps: -> move center ring clockwise -> move center ring clockwise -> move middle ring clockwise -> move outer ring counter-clockwise -> move outer ring counter-clockwise Completing the puzzle without unlocking the solution nets you 200 EXP. Pan allows you to enter the Oblivion Lake. -~ Oblivion Lake ~- ============================================================================== A very drastic change of scenery from the last couple levels. Only proper for the land of the dead to be a frozen wasteland. Walk through the passage and past the dead trees towards the entrance to the lake. Side note: I love the snow effects in this game! Sticking to the screen... awesome touch. -~ Life Gem #7 ~- ================= There is a tall angelic statue near the entrance to the lake. Examine the knight's corpse at the base of the statue for the gem. Step out onto the frozen lake for a super-cool cinematic. -----------------. BOSS: Ice Titan '------------------------------------------------------------ This gargantuan foe towers over you, despite not even fully emerged from the ice. Even though the Ice Titan's legs are stuck in the ice, he can still move around the arena at surprising speeds. I am suddenly reminded of another video game when I see this boss... The boss has a total of three attacks. A simple punch may not seem like much, but the sheer size of his hand means that you can get hurt even if it's not a direct hit. The ensuing shockwave can knock you backwards. That's his only close-range attack, but the Ice Titan has two attacks that he will use at a distance. The Ice Titan can also stab the ice, resulting in a large narrow shockwave that travels towards you. This stream of ice crystals cannot be blocked, so you must dodge roll at the last minute. Sometimes, the boss creates a blue symbol on the ground as another one appears under you. If you don't move out of the way in time, you will be encased in an icy prison. The only way to destroy the prison is to endure a punch from the boss. The Ice Titan can only be brought down if you destroy the four runes covered over his body. The first one is situated on the titan's left arm. In order to get onto the arm, you must get the arm stuck in the ice. Bait the boss into punching the lake surface. Pay attention to the shadow of the colossus (obligatory reference) and dodge out of the way before being squashed. The Ice Titan must punch the same area in order to break the surface of the frozen lake. With his arm stuck in the ice, run up towards it and look for a shining grip point. Use the Hook Tip to zip onto the side of the arm. Once you are on the arm, the Ice Titan will frantically shake his arm. Hold down the Right Trigger to keep your grip and avoid getting shaken off. Once he stops, shimmy around the boss's arm and look for a break in the armor rings along his arm. When you reach a break, jump up to the next ring. Make sure to hold on tight whenever he starts shaking again. You should reach the Titan's elbow; shimmy around until you find a blue rune. Use X to stab the rune while gripping onto the armor when the boss writhes in pain. Stab the rune ten times to break it. The Ice Titan pulls his arm free and tries to swat you away with his right hand. Follow the directions and dodge roll to the side to avoid getting knocked off. If you fall off of the boss's arm, you must get him to punch the ice again. Okay, you have dodged the Ice Titan's hand. Good! Quickly use the Hook Tip to zip onto his right hand, then wait for him to move his hand into the air. A grip point appears on his chest (the entire chestpiece glows white), so grapple onto the boss's chest. Hold on for dear life as you slowly move towards the rune on your left. This time, you aren't safe while targeting the second rune. Occasionally, the Ice Titan will bring his left arm up and try and yank you off. When you see his hand move up to his chest, jump to the side to avoid getting plucked off and mercilessly thrown to the ground. Try not to get pulled off, because you will seriously be injured and have to go through the entire process to get back up to his chest. After destroying down the second rune, the boss's chin begins to glow as he leans forward. Grapple onto the chin to swing around onto the behemoth's back. Drop down from the grooves in his back towards the rune and shimmy onto it. As you attack the rune, the Ice Titan will reach back with his hand to try and pull you off. Again, when you see his hand reach over his shoulder, jump to either side. Destroying the third rune breaks off a piece of his neck. Climb up onto his neck, then use the Hook Tip on the grip point that appears on the back of the boss's head. Naturally, the Ice Titan shakes a lot more now that he's nearing death. Shimmy over to the right side of his head and target the rune where his ear should be. You'll have to grip more often than before, and you will also have to avoid when the boss scraches his head. When you see his hand move up to his face, jump to the back of his head. Endure his thrashes and hit the fourth rune ten times to end the fight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All that effort, and we didn't even kill the Ice Titan! The mysterious person (Zobek) that appears topples the Titan and gives Gabriel the Light Gem Medallion. Now you can use Light Magic! ============================================================================== CHAPTER II [0302] ============================================================================== -~ Enchanted Forest ~- ============================================================================== You begin your journey with a descent alongside a tall waterfall. Walk to the edge of the cliff and drop down onto the side, then fall to the ledge below. Drop onto the next ledge and note that a grip point appears where you are holding onto. Let go, then immediately grapple to the grip point so you don't fall to your death. Rappel down the side of the waterfall to find another grip point nearby. Grapple over to it and let go onto the platform. Take the scrool from the knight's corpse and go to the right, jumping across the gap to the other side of the waterfall. Hop down the ledge to the bottom of the waterfall. - BACKTRACK TIME! When you gain the use of Shadow Magic, return to the bottom of the waterfall and drop down into the stream. Walk behind the waterfall to enter a small cave; use Shadow Magic on the shining object on the wall to reveal another Brotherhood Ark containing a Dagger Upgrade +5. Follow the stream to find a Lesser Lycanthrope. Defeat the monster for it to drop Neutral Elemental Orbs. When absorbed (press the Left Analog Stick), they increase your Light Magic Container (at the southwest corner of the screen). Use your Light Magic power by pressing the Left Bumper. Attacking enemies while Light Magic is enabled will replenish your health, though it depletes your Light Magic Container. In order to fill it up, find Neutral Elemental Orbs; they only appear when you defeat an enemy with your magic turned OFF. Fall down to the lower level to find a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. These are used to easily fill your Light Magic Container; do so by pressing the Left Analog Stick. Jump over the log and start walking down the road. Lesser Lycanthropes meet up with you along the way, so try using your Light Magic to dispose of them. Head down the road to reach a fork. You can go one of two ways: left or right. Ugh, I hate when you are presented with multiple paths in video games. It's fine if you're playing, but totally uncool if you're a FAQ writer... There really isn't much on the left path aside from some Goblins and a bag containing 10 Silver Daggers. I suggest going to the right. To the right it is. Drop down into the pit, then climb up the other side. There is a dead tree on the other side of a gap here. Use your Hook Tip to grapple onto it, then repeatedly tap A to uproot the tree, creating a grip point. Before you use it, drop down below into the stream and defeat the wave of Goblins. -~ Light Gem #1 ~- ================== Here on the right path, drop down from the dead tree after you have uprooted it and created a grip point. Defeat the Goblins, then search the dead man's body for a Light Gem. Collect five to increase your Light Magic Container. Grapple up to the tree branch, then swing over to the next grip point. Climb up the side of the wall and jump up the step, then walk forward. Go across the bridge on your left; this is where the two paths meet. You should be at the arched bridge. Walk forward and use your Hook Tip to grab onto the grip point at the top of the wall. Climb up and press X when up against the stone circle to smash right through it. Pick up the Focus Scroll from the fallen knight. You now have access to the Focus Bar, which is at the bottom of the screen. Fill it up by fighting enemies and using various combos without being hit. Test out this new technique on the Warg that shows up. Frequently use dodge rolls and attack the enemy until the Focus Bar is completely filled. Once this happens, every hit you land will cause Neutral Elemental Orbs to appear. It's a great trick for skilled players that are lacking magic. Once the Warg is defeated, Goblins show up as well. In order to escape the courtyard, you must find a way to destroy the glowing stone door. The only way to break it down is to use a Goblin's grenade. Wait for one to throw a grenade, then avoid it and pick it up to automatically chuck it at the door. Hit the door twice to destroy it, then take down the remaining enemies before moving on. Go forward to reach a gigantic tree stump. Slay the Lesser Lycanthropes and walk around to the right to find a scroll. Walk around to the left to reach a wall you can climb across. Climb up the ledge, then use your Hook Tip when a grip point at the top of the structure appears. Climb up to the grip point, then shimmy around the side of the tower. Zip over to the next grip point at the end of a beam; swing across the room and let go to reach a ledge on the opposite end. From here, use a grip point on a tree branch to swing over to the large tree stump. Swing and jump into the tree stump to end the level. -~ Underground Caves ~- ============================================================================== So you've landed inside of a gigantic hollow tree stump. Now what? Sneak through the crease and creep through the narrow cave. Drop off of the edge and shimmey to the left. When you can go no further, press A to jump to the opposite ledge and pull yourself up. A Giant Spider sneaks up behind Gabriel and pounces on him. Press the designated button to free yourself and begin the fight. The Giant Spider is a big, nasty foe and takes a lot of effort to be brought down. Most of the attacks the spider uses are fairly easy to avoid. It can lunge at you with its fangs or shoot webbing at you. If you are encased in the spider's web, tap A to free yourself. Avoid getting poisoned by the Giant Spider's fangs. If you aren't so lucky, then activate your Light Magic to cure yourself. You can even use your Light Magic in order to damage the spider more than normal. With the Giant Spider exterminated, walk ahead and use your Hook Tip to climb to the top of the pit. Use your Hook Tip once more to escape the first cave. Dropping down to the ground triggers a pack of Lesser Lycanthropes and a Giant Spider to follow suit. The wolves often drop Silver Daggers, so use the ones you have on the various monsters. Jump up the ledges on the right and go through the tunnel. Fall off the edge and hang on, then drop downwards and use the Hook Tip to secure your fall so you don't plummet down the hole below. You should grab onto the ledge just below you. From here, shift over to the right and pull yourself up. Balance along the webbing bridge and grab the scroll from the corpse ahead. In the large room ahead, you are forced to make a decision regarding the direction your journey will continue. Right or left? It's up to you... Actually, it really doesn't matter since you have to go down both roads sooner or later. Lets go left first. Cross the webbing bridge and continue through the tunnel to reach a room with a large totem pole in the center. The glow on the totem pole indicates that it is an important structure, but we cannot tinker with it yet. Move past it to the left (note: a second path in this room takes you back to where you fought the Lesser Lycanthropes and Giant Spider). Proceed down the next tunnel to reach a clearing and a giant stone door. If there are no enemies present, then continue past the door for a lil' while before backtracking. You should find several Goblins in front of the door, for their grenades are needed in order to blow it down. Two grenade shots are needed in order to destroy the door. Defeat the last few Goblins and head through. Pilfer the dead body for a Runic Stone Key and return to the path. Follow the path to the left and heal at the Health Font before crossing another web bridge. You should eventually reach the mausoleum entrance. The main door is locked and two keys are needed in order to open it. We have one of them, so approach one of the locks and insert the Runic Stone Key. Go back over the web bridge and head to the right. Climb up the steps and swing across the gap; this is the tunnel that leads to the totem pole room, so walking straight ahead will bring you back to the forked area. We're done with the left path, so go right this time. Maneuver across the webbing and slay the Giant Spider ahead. With him out of the way, climb along the far wall using the ledges and enter the passage. Swing across the gap to land on a platform overlooking the mausoleum entrance. Take the second Runic Stone Key from the knight and fall down, using the second key to open the door. Inside, Gabriel stumbles upon the second relic: the Spiked Chain. Not only can you use the spiked chain to cut through obstacles, but you can choke the life out of enemies and tame them like a weird circus ringleader. You can use the Spiked Chain on the totem pole beyond the alter, but before you should really spend some time locating a Light Gem. Exit the mausoleum and take the right exit in order to return to the totem pole room. Now you can destroy it using the Spiked Chain. -~ Light Gem #2 ~- ================== Make sure to return to the totem pole room after obtaining the Spiked Chain. Don't exit the level just yet! Destroy the totem pole with your Spiked Chain and walk forward to find a dead end and a dead body (hardy har har). Inspect the corpse to find your second Light Gem. Return to the mausoleum and break the totem pole if you haven't already, then Hook Tip your way to freedom. -~ Labyrinth Entrance ~- ============================================================================== Drop down to the courtyard and inspect the sturdy door. Even Goblin grenades can't knock this bad boy down. Luckily for you, an alternate method storms onto the vicinity. First off, defeat the Goblins on foot before you focus on the Warthog. Attacking the Warthog enough will stun it, allowing you to jump on its back and ride it. After you've had enough fun trampling Goblins to death, run back in order to get a bit of a head start before charging headfirst at the door. Two successful blows will open the door. Now that the Warthog has been put to use, press the Left and Right Trigger to strangle it to death. Classy. There is a fallen knight to the right of where you burst through the door, so you should check his body for a scroll (if you're interested in light reading). Otherwise, go to the left to find a ledge you can climb up on. Use a combination of the Hook Tip and your amazing parkour skills to scale the side of the building. You'll have to carefully balance your way across the support beams ahead and judging by the ground below, you don't want to fall here. After crossing the first set of beams, you will reach a platform. -~ Light Gem #3 ~- ================== After crossing the first set of beams inside the labyrinth, walk to the right of the next beam to find a hidden staircase. Follow it to another corpse and a Light Gem. Return to the surface and cross the beam; pick up another scroll from the knight's body. To the left, jump onto the large pillar and shimmy around to the other side. Climb along the wooden beam and drop down once there's solid ground underneath you. Drop off of the ledge as a grip point appears above you. Grapple to it, then press X or Y to kick off of the wall. In midair, press A to jump across the ledge and down to the ground. You will eventually be led to a locked gate and a lever directly in front. In order to open the gate, simply grab on and turn it with the Left Analog Stick. To make things difficult, the game spawns waves of Lesser Lycanthropes to halt your progress. You can't really multitask in a situation like this, so make the monsters your first priority. There are gaps of time between each wave of Lycanthropes, so use this time to open the gate. On the other side, walk forward and across the bridge into a dimly-lit passage. Go to the right to find 10 Silver Daggers. To the left is the way to go; the jump across the pit here is tricky, so it may take a couple of tries. I had trouble on it, at least. - BACKTRACK TIME! Inside this passage, you may have noticed a portion of the wall that is significantly weakened. It can be destroyed, though you currently do not have the right tools. Return here once you have Shadow Magic and Cyclone Boots; break down the wall to find a Brotherhood Ark containing a Fairy Upgrade +2. You should end up in a large arena populated by pesky Goblins. They shouldn't give you much trouble, although the enemy that follows may give you some trouble... A Greater Lycanthrope drop down and scares off the remaining Goblins. This guy is very strong and very fast, so stay on your toes and dodge frequently. You can also use Light Magic to make things easier on yourself. The Greater Lycanthrope has a few swipe attacks, a jumping slash, and a fist pound attack; all can be avoided with a simple dodge roll except for the last (you'll need a few rolls to avoid the shockwave). Slay the Greater Lycanthrope by completing a ring sequence and a few button presses. When the coast is clear, take the wooden stick on the ground and walk over to the bull head statue. Stand on the right side of the statue and press the Right Trigger again to insert it in the side of the statue. Having successfully build a lever, spin it a bit to open the door and get outta here. -~ Waterfalls of Agharta ~- ============================================================================== My oh my, what a drop. There's a scroll behind you if you'd like one. Go down the trail and hop over the gap to trigger a battle with a Giant Spider. This time, you won't be killing the annoying arachnid: once you have weakened the Giant Spider, press the Right Trigger to mount it. Approach the glowing tree and press Y to have the spider use its webbing on it. Press A to uproot the tree a bit, creating a grip point. Unfortunately, we no longer need the spider's assistance, so you can go ahead and strangle it by pressing the Left and Right Triggers. Aww, we couldn't even walk around and kill stuff with it! -~ Light Gem #4 ~- ================== Your Giant Spider mount automatically drops a Light Gem once you kill it, so you cannot really miss this one. Swing across the downed tree and walk around the perimeter of the area. Shimmy across the ledges to reach another grip point. Swing up to the grip point to find a Greater Lycanthrope lurking around. Finish him off and you'll find yet another grip point above his little cave home. Climb up to the grip point and jump off onto the platform to your left. A quick scene displays the surrounding area. Walk forward to be ambushed by more Lycanthropes; Greater and Lesser Lycanthropes together. Focus on the weaker onces first, since they often drop Silver Daggers. I just spammed daggers on the Greater Lycanthrope like a boss, although this method may not be available to all players. Alternatives would be to use Light Magic or just regular combos. At the end of the road is a large statue head that can be destroyed using your Spike Chain. Walk across the ruined remains and swing over to a nearby wall, where you can rappel down to the ground. Jump up the ledge and you should spot a grip point in the distance if you look off to the right. Stand on the edge of the platform and use your Hook Tip to reach it. Oh ho ho, Small Trolls are so funny... and useless! Cave Trolls, however, are the exact opposite. You are forced into a battle with a Cave Troll and a horde of Small Trolls. The Cave Troll is where the challenge is at, since he's basically a replica of the Swamp Troll boss we fought earlier in the game. Take him very seriously, because he can kill you in a jiffy. The Small Trolls are basically used as fodder and a source for Neutral Elemental Orbs. Try to focus on the Cave Troll while avoiding his shockwave attack and the minions. Once you have stunned the Troll, hop on his back and knock around the Small Trolls for a bit. Then, direct your attention to the glowing boulder on the side of the arena. Strangle the Cave Troll now that you have opened the path up for you to continue. Swing across the gap and use the Health Font near the entrance to the pair of caves. -~ Light Gem #5 ~- ================== When you reach a fork, enter the cave on the right. It seemingly leads to a dead end, however going behind the waterfall will lead you to another downed knight and a Light Gem. Backtrack a bit and take the left tunnel this time. Step inside to find a totem pole blocking your path; take it down using the Spiked Chain. Another Greater Lycanthrope/Lesser Lycanthrope combo is waiting for you on the other end. Finish them off. Walk to the back wall to find a shiny ledge you can grab onto. Jump across the waterfall to the other side of the pillar and drop down. Go 'round the corner and use your Hook Tip to reach the grip point high up on the mountain wall. Up ahead, a Giant Spider totally screws you over by breaking a bridge in front of you. What a jerk. Repay the favor by damaging and then mounting the Giant Spider. Press Y near the broken bridge to create a webbing bridge of your own. Kill off the spider, then cross the web bridge. Not quite as sturdy, but it'll do. Refill your Light Magic Container over at the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. Enter the mausoleum to find the Shadow Magic Medallion. Like Light Magic, you can now use Shadow Magic. Shadow Magic is basically the polar opposite of Light Magic; even in button commands. Activate it with the Right Bumper and absorb Neutral Elemental Orbs by pressing the Right Analog Stick. You have a separate container for your Shadow Magic. Head back outside and stock up on Neutral Elemental Orbs (you can press down on the Left and Right Analog Sticks to absorb orbs for both Light and Shadow Magic simultaneously). Once the containers are filled, go back into the mausoleum and approach the shiny thing near the locked gate. Activate your Shadow Magic, then press the Right Trigger near the switch on the wall to open the gate. Walk down the slope to encounter a handful of Lesser Lycanthropes. You can now toy with both Light and Shadow Magic in battles; use Light Magic to regain health and Shadow Magic to deal more damage. These baddies aren't the best test subjects since they are painfully weak, but soon you will be able to implement both types of magic into your battle strategies like a pro. You must scale the wall in order to complete this level. A couple of the grip points force you to be a bit creative, such as moving back and forth while rappeling up a wall and so forth. It isn't all that tough, and the level's end is just at the end of the series of ledges and grip points. -~ Agharta ~- ============================================================================== Ha ha, you got beat by a girl! That kinda reminded me of Anima from Final Fantasy X. Anyways, the interesting part is over and you are unable to follow the strange girl. Instead, jump off the broken bridge and swing over to the other side. You can go to the right or left here; both paths take you to the same area. You'll likely fight some Small Trolls along the way. When you reach the lower area, defeat the Lesser Lycanthropes and go east. -~ Shadow Gem #1 ~- =================== After the battle with the Lesser Lycanthropes, go east to find a staircase leading up to a hole in a wall. Just before the staircase is a path branching off to the left. Follow it to a dead end, where you can take the Shadow Gem from the knight's body. Head up the stairs and squeeze through the opening in the wall. There is a glowing statue here that you cannot tamper with just yet. Finish off the enemies and go forward to reach a broken bridge. However, the gap is too large for you to cross by jumping, so don't even try it. Time to backtrack a bit. - BACKTRACK TIME! When you receive the Dark Gauntlets at the end of Chapter II, return to this spot: you will be able to push the statue aside to find another Dagger Upgrade +5. Return to the previous area (past where you found the Shadow Gem). Walk south and go up the steps. Continue along the road, hugging the southern end of the area (towards the screen) until you reach an opening. Continue south and you should reach a grip point. Use your Hook Tip to swing over a high wall to a new area. If you notice, the area north of here is the spot we were just at; the one with the glowing immovable pillar. The two areas are separated by another broken bridge. Inspect the bridge to trigger the appearance of a Warg. Like similar monsters, you will be able to mount the Warg once you have damaged it enough. You can use the Warg to jump across the destroyed bridge to the northern area. From here, run forward to the first broken bridge we found. Leap across and kill the Warg, then hurdle over the ledge. Troll time! More Small Trolls accompanying one large Cave Troll. Focus on the big guy and mount him when you get the chance. Wipe out the other Trolls and run down the ramp on the left to reach a circular arena. Smash the Lesser Lycanthropes and turn your attention to the metal gate; knock it down using your Cave Troll mount before killing him off. The gate is open and our path is cleared, but we still have an important item to pick up. Run back through the open gate and jump out of the arena. -~ Life Gem #8 ~- ================= From the area where you mounted the Cave Troll, go north and up the stairs. Follow the narrow trail to what appears to be a dead end. However, slowly walk to the north and you should drop down into a small chamber. Here you can find a Health Font, but more importantly, a Life Gem. Use the Health Font if necessary, then return to the gate that we smashed apart. If you want some Silver Daggers go west, but otherwise head east and climb up the ledge. Approaching the bridge makes another Warg appear... you know what you must do. Mount the thing and leap across the bridge. Even though there are more gaps to cross, dismount it. We must go on foot in order to obtain yet another collectible. -~ Shadow Gem #2 ~- =================== Jump over the first ruined bridge using the Warg. There are about three more that we must cross, but kill the Warg and walk forward a bit. Just before the second bridge is a small nook containing a corpse. Proceed into the corner and search the body for a Shadow Gem. We need to get another Warg. Run back to the broken bridge. Obviously we cannot jump across since we needed assistance getting to this side in the first place. There is a grip point on the side of the walkway that you're on... drop off the edge and fall to a platform below. Use another grip point in the distance to swing over to return to the metal gate we opened a few minutes back. From here, climb back up to find another Warg. Rinse and repeat. Once you are riding another Warg and have jumped across the bridge, leap over the remaining bridges and use the Warg to climb up the shiny vines creeping up along the wall. After the scene, strangle the Warg and drop down from the ledge. As you let go entirely, grapple up to the grip point to begin your descent. This action automatically completes the level. -~ Dark Dungeon ~- ============================================================================== You're still hanging from the grip point as you begin the level, so start sliding on down. Jump over to the shiny ledge on the left and begin shifting over and drop down one ledge. Leap across the waterfall to the other side; swing over to the first grapple point, then grapple to the second one mid- swing. On the opposite side of the shaft, shimmy to the right and grab onto the grip point. Rappel down and when you have a nearby platform in sight, push off of the wall with X or Y before completing your jump. Run forward and jump onto the wall, then continue to the left. There should be a grip point here. -~ Light Gem #6 ~- ================== From the grip point, rappel down but do not drop to the ground below. Proceed to the very bottom of your chain and do a push-off jump to reach a ledge concealed behind a waterfall. Grapple to the next grip point and so on until you are against another wall. It appears that you are stuck with nowhere to go, but if you run along the wall to the left you can jump onto a hidden platform where the Light Gem awaits. To return to the normal path, use the nearby grip point to land on the ground. Run through the hole in the wall to reach a damp and dreary area. Pick up the nearby scroll and ascend the stairs for a scene with the mystery girl. In order to follow the girl, you must activate the bridge using two keys. We obviously have none in our possesion, so it's time to go searching. Follow the light show to the left to encounter a new foe. Gremlins are pesky little foes, but are pretty easy to defeat. The first Stone Rune is just past the first batch of Gremlins. -~ Shadow Gem #3 ~- =================== Before scampering back with the first Stone Rune in hand, look behind the pile of rocks behind the dead knight to find yet another dead knight! This one is holding onto a Shadow Gem. There are some more Gremllins lurking around that you must deal with, so do what you have to do. Double back to the bridge and insert the first key. Doing so raises half of the bridge and gives you access to another portion of the level. Jump down on the ledge below the bridge and enter the cavern. A metal gate blocks your way, but fortunately a Giant Spider arrives. Why is that a good thing, you say? Well, mounting the spider and pressing Y will pull the gate open for you. Once you have completed this task, execute the spider and proceed through the gate. Heal up at the Health Font and take the second Stone Rune. A group of Gremlins stands in your way before you can place the Stone Rune in the keyhole. Now that the bridge is fully operating, move across. Leap onto the horizontal vine and climb up to the grip point using your Hook Tip. -~ Shadow Gem #4 ~- =================== It's time to begin your ascent out of this dungeon. Grapple up to the ledge above and move to the left. The camera changes position and reveals another ledge across from you that you can leap onto. Do not jump across. If you look below you, you should see in the corner of the screen a small glow. Leap to the left so you are above the knight and drop down to claim your prize. Return to the ledge and jump across this time. Grapple up to the grip point to find a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. Stock up and swing over to the platform. The number of Gremlins here is substantially higher than we have seen previously, so be on your guard. You should have sufficient magic so you can choose between using Light or Shadow Magic against these chumps. The Gremlins won't stop, but your little scuffle will be interrupted by an intimidating foe. It's only a cutscene, so no fighting this dude. At least not right now... -~ Sanctuary Entrance ~- ============================================================================== You must find and collect four crystal shards in order to form a Dark Crystal and get the heck outta here. To start things off, turn around and go south, then up the stairs on the left. A few Lesser Lycanthropes jump you along the way, but they should be no problem. Continue along and pluck the scroll from the deceased knight in the corner before leaping up to the ledge above. Run to the left and grapple to the opposite end before the ground collapses from underneath you. Here, slay some more Lesser Lycanthropes. The first crystal shard is actually tricky to find and I managed to stumble upon it. In this small wooded area where you faced off against the monsters, walk south and go behind the wall to find a strange purple glow. Inspect it to obtain the first crystal shard. Head northeast and through the next passage to find a grip point you can use to reach the platform above. -~ Light Gem #7 ~- ================== After collecting the first crystal shard, proceed down the hallway and use your Hook Tip on the grip point at the end. Climb out of the hole in the ceiling and instead of going north (where you are supposed to go), turn back around and take a few steps south to locate the Light Gem. Descend the stairs and do battle with the Lesser Lycanthropes here. A large gap ahead blocks your progress, but you can climb along the wall to reach the other end. Here you will find a Health Font, the second crystal shard, and of course, more Lycans. Defeat the enemies and take what you need and start to double back. FYI, we cannot open the gate on the far right end of the room just yet; we need another weapon upgrade that'll be found later in the game. - BACKTRACK TIME! Return to this spot once you get the Stake upgrade and use it to crank the wheel open. This raises the gate, giving you access to a Dagger Upgrade +5 on the other side. -~ Shadow Gem #5 ~- =================== Climb alongside the wall to cross back to the other end of the gap. Instead of going to the other side, first try climbing UP the wall; you should be able to find some ledges that leads to a small room containing a dead body and a Shadow Gem. Collect the Silver Daggers from the bag next to the dead knight, then climb back down to the wall and continue across. We aren't backtracking to the level entrance just yet. First, go around the corner; we cannot return to the platform above since it's too high up. First, jump up the first couple ledges to find a grip point, so grapple up to it. Proceeding along the ledge to the right will bring you back to the upper platform, but we don't want to backtrack just yet. Do not climb all the way onto the grip point; stay dangling on your chain a bit. Hopefully the camera changes here, because it reveals a grip point opposite of where you're hanging. If you cannot see it, push off the wall and jump, then press the Right Trigger to grab onto it. From here, run along the wall to the right and leap onto the shining ledge. Shimmy to the right and fall down onto the broken pillar below you, then leap to the balcony. No time to waste here! Quickly run along the balcony as it starts to fall apart; jump over the gap, then onto another ledge. Hop across the pit to the opposite wall and continue your platforming adventures as you shimmy over to solid ground. Phew! In the courtyard below, a Greater Lycanthrope attacks. That doesn't seem too bad, right? Well... two more join the party. To survive the assault, use Light Magic to keep your health in check or Shadow Magic to speed up the fight. Regardless, make sure to focus on one at a time. They should give up plenty of Neutral Elemental Orbs to keep your magic in check. There is a low wall in the northwest corner of the courtyard that you can use to reach the upper balcony. Run to the other end and climb out of the courtyard. Ooh, pretty waterfalls. Right after doing so, walk south towards the screen to locate crystal shard number three. Run forward onto a high ledge. Use the Health Font before jumping down to the room below. Here you will find the final crystal shard in the corner. Now that you have a Dark Crystal, you are able to use its hidden ability by holding down B. Doing so summons a demon that attacks all foes onscreen, but will shatter the crystal. I recommend that you avoid using this power, because you will have to go through the entire level collecting crystal shards. It would be a total waste of time and effort. The fourth shard was a bit easy to find. There must be a catch, right? Well, a Cave Troll strolls out of his cage and into the room. Defeat him using normal methods and avoid the cheap way out by using the Dark Crystal. Mount the Troll and use him to smash the glowing pillar. Kill him afterwards and jump through the hole to return to the beginning of the level. Place the Dark Crystal inside the glowing statue to create a beam of light that opens a nearby door. Remove the crystal from the statue before proceeding through the door. The beam of light dissipates, but it doesn't matter since we already have the door opened. You ready for a puzzle? And by "puzzle" I mean "a simple mind game that probably couldn't phase anyone"? There are three statues here and one locked door. You must rotate the statues in a certain pattern so that the beam of light hits the door at the northern end of the room and opens it. I'll provide a cheap little diagram anyways. _______________________________ | D | | | | | S1-------------------------S2 | D - Door | | ,-' | S1 - First Statue | | ,-' | S2 - Second Statue | | ,-' | S3 - Third Statue | | ,-' | | S3 | | | |_______________________________| Simple enough; you can figure it out easily without the use of this. Place the Dark Crystal in the first statue (S1) and rotate it so that the beam of light is hitting the second statue. Rotate that one so the beam of light travels diagonally towards the third one. One last rotation of the third statue should cause the beam of light to shoot towards the door and open it up. Now head on through the complete the level. -~ Sanctuary of Titans ~- ============================================================================== You know, this is one part of the game that annoyed me. I would have loved to see more Titan battles. Now I can live with only two; that's fine with me. The real problem is that they both occur at the early portions of the game - and consecutively! Should have spread them out if possible. >:( And just like the snow earlier in the game, the rain hits the screen and slides down. Very sleek... -~ Shadow Gem #6 ~- =================== At some point during this boss battle, make sure to search the far left side of the arena for a dead knight. Inspect his body to claim your prize. It's a little hard to find since the camera stays locked on the boss, so try hugging the wall/screen when you are on the western end of the arena. ------------------------. BOSS: Stone Idol Titan '----------------------------------------------------- Another Titan! This one is a lot bigger than the Ice Titan, mainly because this one isn't half-submerged in a frozen lake. The boss only has three attacks; the first is used every time she takes a step. She is such a large specimen that every step she takes creates a minor shockwave that you must jump over in order to avoid taking minor damage. The second only happens if you get too close to the boss. The ring of stones surrounding her head will catch on fire and begin to drop to the ground like a meteor storm. Make sure to back away from the Stone Idol Titan and avoid any shadows nearby. The Stone Idol Titan's third attack is also a method of attacking yourself. Every so often, she will throw a single flaming rock at you. They may look like pebbles in comparison to the boss, but they are pretty large boulders once they come hurtling towards your tiny frame. Perform several dodge rolls as it comes flying towards your face to avoid it. In fact, we don't want to avoid these meteors: we must use them to damage the boss. Once the boss throws a rock at you, press the Right Trigger at the last minute to catch the rock in midair with your Combat Cross. As the picture indicates, rotate the Left Analog Stick counterclockwise to send the rock back at its sender. Landing a direct hit is tough, since you have to time the speed of your rotations perfectly. It's all about trial and error. The good news is that if you stay far away from the Stone Idol Titan, she will only use this attack, so you will get plenty of more tries. The Stone Idol Titan will tumble to the ground after you hit her with the boulder. Run up to her left leg and use your Hook Tip on the shiny portion of her leg. Begin climbing up her quad, using the grooves on her leg to keep your balance. Whenever the boss begins to shake her leg, hold the Right Trigger to stay on the boss. When you get all the way to the top of her leg, grapple over to her right leg. Now you must climb down the boss's leg towards her knee. Take pit stops whenever the Stone Idol Titan tries to knock you off; you should eventually reach the first rune located on her kneecap. Stab it ten times to destroy it. As soon as you break the rune, drop down a few times to her ankle. The boss uses her hand to try and scratch you off, but you should be in the clear if you got off her kneecap. With her hand in position, grapple onto it. If you do not move in time and are swiped to the ground, you must throw a boulder at her. This time, though, you can jump right on her wrist. Time to climb up the Stone Idol Titan's arm. Make your journey up the Titan's left arm and to her elbow. Again, she will try and shake you off periodically throughout all of this, so make sure to hold the Right Trigger when necessary to stay on. Hold on! Claudia will distract the boss while you reach her left elbow. Make your way up to the elbow if you haven't already. When the Stone Idol Titan ignores Claudia and directs your attention to you, she will flail her arm without stopping. Hang on and wait for Claudia to gain the attention of the boss again. Take your time with your attacks and the rune on her elbow will be destroyed after ten hits. Just like the first rune, drop down a few notches so that you aren't knocked to the ground when the Stone Idol Titan reaches over with her hand. With you situated on the right wrist, the boss punches the ground and knocks you off. Have no fear; you can use the Hook Tip to zip right back onto her wrist. Continue up the side of the arm. The boss will move and groove her arm a bit, but she will stop in due time. No Claudia for distractions this time. Get up to the right elbow to find the rune and stab it a bunch of times. Once the rune is shattered, climb to the very top of the Titan's elbow so you avoid getting squashed by her left hand. A quick cinema points out a floating rock that you can grapple onto with your Hook Tip. When the rock floats in front of the Stone Idol Titan, grapple onto her crown and make your way up to the final rune. You can expect the Stone Idol Titan to move her head a lot harder and more frantically, so pace your stabs. This would be the worst possible time to lose your grip and fall all the way to the ground. Automatic death, fo' sho'. After hitting the rune ten times, Claudia throws the Dark Crystal up to you. Damn, that girl has got some arm if she can throw it up that high! Perform the ring sequence successfully to bring the Stone Idol Titan crumbling down. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hooray for defeating another Titan! Level over. -~ The Black Knight ~- ============================================================================== Interesting turn of events here. Claudia is dead, and her protector, the Black Knight, is clearly pissed about it. --------------------------. BOSS: Black Knight Golem '--------------------------------------------------- Honestly, the Black Knight Golem is a pretty unimpressive enforcer. Many of his attacks are pretty predictable and you should not have much trouble avoiding his attacks or damaging him. Not too intimidating in my eyes. The one thing to take note of is that many of the Black Knight Golem's attacks have a long range. The golem can create long lines of fire after some of his attacks, so rolling backwards won't cut it. He will perform a forward slash as flames erupt and travel forward; you must dodge to the side. He has a near- identical attack, but this time the flames are preceded by the boss scraping the ground with his free hand. The Black Knight Golem can also create a shockwave attack by punching the ground. I feel like most large enemies/bosses have some form of shockwave attack, so you should know what it looks like and what you should do in order to avoid taking damage. Lastly, the boss can also slash his sword. No flames, but it can still hurt. This is just an old-fashioned brawl. No specific battle strategies to follow specifically: just run up and start attacking like you would any other monster. Make use of your Light and Shadow Magic: use the former when you are in need of health and the latter to really pack a punch. Also note that while attacking the boss's back may seem like a clear-cut choice, the Black Knight Golem has a vicious backhand. Once you have depleted around a quarter of the boss's health, he will begin to glow. You cannot hurt him here, so press the Right Trigger and follow the button prompts to rip off a piece of his armor. Doing so will release some Neutral Elemental Orbs for your taking. Eventually, the Black Knight Golem adopts a new attack. He will plunge his sword into the ground and create a strange puddle of black goo that begins to pursue you. If it catches up to you, you will be immobilized and a sitting duck for the boss's next attack. The boss battle becomes especially annoying when he begins spamming the black goo attack like no other. I just get it over with by letting the goo catch me; only do this when you are far away enough from the Black Knight Golem that you can free yourself before he pulls off an attack. I saved all my Dark Magic up until this point so I could get this fight over with at a quicker pace. Follow a button prompt once the boss's health bar is drained to finish the job. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unmasked, the Black Knight is destroyed. Gabriel receives the Dark Gauntlet for his troubles... and Chapter II is over! And just for the record, this is by far the longest chapter in the game (at least in terms of levels). Most chapters only have around two to four levels... this one had nine... ============================================================================== CHAPTER III [0303] ============================================================================== -~ The Three Towers ~- ============================================================================== We will be able to use the Dark Gauntlet, which was obtained following the battle with the Black Knight Golem. The Dark Gauntlet is used by holding down the Left Trigger and pressing either X or Y. Hold down either button to charge up an attack: using X causes Gabriel to perform a rocket punch and using Y creates a large shockwave. Walk over to the statue and hold down X while blocking. Once the attack is charged, let go to punch the statue against the wall, causing the top part of the wall to crumble apart. Jump up to this spot on the wall to scale the wall. Defeat the Lesser Lycanthropes (by using the Dark Gauntlet if you wish) and go south to find a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. Fill up your Light and Shadow Magic Containers, then return to the first area by scaling the wall near the statue. Face the statue against the wall and activate Shadow Magic. Use another Tremor Punch (LT + X) with your magic activated to punch the statue right through the wall. Push the statue up against the cliffside to make a grip point appear on the statue and swing across the gap to the other side. Walk forward and underneath the archway. First, go south to find a Dark Crystal well. These glowing purple wells contain Dark Crystals, so whenever you are without one, press the Right Trigger to take one. Head back north and jump onto the island. Pick up the scroll and jump to the next island. You will come to an island with a Brotherhood Ark on the top. You can't reach the top, so you will have to settle for the ledge below. - BACKTRACK TIME! Once you have received the Cyclone Boots, come back to the island chain here. You will able to perform a sprint jump to reach the top of the island and the Brotherhood Ark, which contains a Fairy Upgrade +2. Shimmy along the ledge as a grip point appears overhead. Grab it, then push off the wall and jump. In midair, grapple to the grip point across the way. Climb up the ledge and leap across the waterfall, then use the grip point above you to reach the top of the cliff. An army of Lesser Lycanthropes is waiting for you here. Near the end of the fight, several Fairies arrive and distract some of the remaining Lycans. Once the battle is complete, the Fairies give Gabriel a Fairy Blossom Container and open the large door in front of you. Enter the temple and stock up at the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue on your right. The first of three towers is not too far from here. -~ Shadow Gem #7 ~- =================== There is a deceased knight lying on the ground right in front of the first tower. The body contains a Shadow Gem. Pretty hard to miss. -~ Light Gem #8 ~- ================== Next to the Shadow Gem is a high ledge with a shining rock sticking out from the top. Press the Right Trigger to grab it with your Spiked Chain, then repeatedly tap the button onscreen to tear down a portion of the wall. Climb up the wall and use your Hook Tip to swing across a gap, where you will find the Light Gem. Return to the temple and walk forward towards the first tower. Use the crank to open the two doors and proceed inside. Several Lesser Lycanthropes will ambush you here. There is a locked door that cannot be opened until you find and collect three Fairies. Exit the room to the left; you will find a Warg at the end of the pathway. Weaken the Warg enough so you can mount it, then ride it back through the central hub and to the right. Run to the end of the walkway and use the Warg to climb up the vines at the dead end. -~ Shadow Gem #8 ~- =================== After using the Warg to climb the first set of vines, strangle it and walk onto the eastern balcony to find the Shadow Gem. The western balcony contains a Health Font if you are interested. We need the assistance of a Warg to continue, so we'll just have to go back and get another one. Collecting the Shadow Gem was too important to pass up. Use the grip point above the hole in the floor to travel back down to the ground, then backtrack to the room where you encountered the first Warg. Another one will be here, so mount him and return to the second level. Or if you don't want to go through the trouble, you can just restart the level from the last checkpoint to end up on the second level with your Warg (you will still have collected the Shadow Gem here even when you restart). Exit onto the ledge and leap across to the other side. Use the Warg to kill the Lesser and Greather Lycanthropes before killing it. Open the gate at the other end using the dial, then go through. There are two exits here: the western exit through the hole in the wall and the eastern exit through a closed-off path. In order to open the gate, you must solve a minor puzzle. Leave the path closed and go through the hole in the wall first. Use the pair of grip points to swing out of the tower and onto the side of the wall outside. Climb along the giant face sculpture to reach the very top, where you will find the first Fairy. Take a few steps south to find a scroll and a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue, then use the series of ledges to return to the room below. Time to take the eastern exit this time. There are switches on the wall that can be charged up with either Light or Shadow Magic. Simply activate either magic and press the Right Trigger to trigger the switches. To make things simple for you: from left to right, use Light Magic on the first switch and Shadow Magic on the second and third. Doing so will rotate the giant head statue in the distance. Use your Hook Tip to swing across the large head sculpture to the second tower. There are two dials nearby: one inside this tower and one on the bridge to your left, though the only problem is that there is only one handle for both dials. The handle is interchangable, so you can use the handle on both dials. Walk onto the bridge and place the handle inside the dial here. As you attempt to crank the dial, a Greater Lycanthrope shows up. Sometimes he is nice enough to let you finish turning the dial, but other times he interrupts you. Either way, slay the beast and turn the dial so that the gate on your left opens. Do not go through yet. Remove the handle and head back inside the tower. Use the handle on the dial and turn it to open another gate right next to you. Go through this gate and climb to the top of the tower to find the second Fairy. Descend to the tower room and walk back onto the bridge. Swing across the gap to the third tower and start climbing up to the top. -~ Life Gem #9 ~- ================= When you reach the platform just before the top of the third tower, walk south (towards the camera) to reach the very end of the platform. There's a dead knight here that holds a Life Gem. Head up to the top of the tower to claim your third Fairy. Walk to the right to find a ledge where you can begin rappeling down the side of the tower. -~ Shadow Gem #9 ~- =================== As you climb down the third tower, you should find a small opening to a room just between the first and second grip points. Shimmy inside the room and inspect the corpse to obtain a Shadow Gem. Head down the remainder of the tower to end up on the second floor, back where you will still riding the Warg. Exit through the hole in the floor to return to the temple entrance. Run towards the hub room to find that the gates are closed again. Just how did that happen? As you try and turn the lever to reopen the gates, a pack of Greater Lycanthropes attack. In the scuffle, the lever is destroyed. Defeat the creatures first, then figure out a way to get inside the central hub room. On the right side of the area is a shiny rock sticking out of the wall. Use your Spiked Chain to tear it out of the wall, creating a series of ledges. Go up the ledges to reach a window leading inside. Now use the three Fairies on the door to open it, completing the level. -~ The Dark Lord of the Lycanthropes ~- ============================================================================== A Health Font and Neutral Elemental Energy Statue are placed right in front of the entrance in order to prepare you for battle. Once you are ready, go through the doorway at the bottom of the stairs. ---------------. BOSS: Cornell '-------------------------------------------------------------- The first stage of the fight is against Cornell, the Lycanthrope Dark Lord. He looks like a normal, rugged human (except for his long fangs). He wields a large hammer, but otherwise looks fairly unintimidating compared to some of the other beasts we have faced at this point. Cornell is pretty quick on his feet and will often dodge your attacks like yourself when facing enemies. The boss also has several attacks brought on by his hammer. A few of them are simple jabs, with one of them particularly dangerous because Cornell spins the top of the hammer around like a buzzsaw. He also slams the hammer down for a big shockwave. That's pretty much it. Since this is one of two stages, you ought to save your big weapons for the one after this. Don't bother using your Dark Crystal or any magic here; you'll need it for the second stage. Stay aware of the various attacks the boss uses and go on the offensive whenever he pauses. It's a really easy fight. -----------------------------. BOSS: Lycanthrope Dark Lord '------------------------------------------------ If you were expecting this guy to look more like a Lycanthrope... well, here you go. He's a full-fledged werewolf now. The Lycanthrope Dark Lord moves at an incredible pace and it'll be difficult to scout his attacks. Aside from various physical attacks (some are unblockable), the boss can use a swift dash attack and a ground pound. Both are particularly fast attacks, and the ground pound is harder to avoid, so keep your eyes peeled: the dash is preceded by a crouching stance (kinda like a fighter's pose), and watch for the boss's fist to be raised in the air before he punches the ground. Make use of your secondary items here. Silver Daggers are incredibly effective against all Lycanthropes - including this boss. Use all ten daggers on him throughout the fight. Also use your Dark Crystal, preferably somewhere near the start of the second part of the boss battle. It can deal just over a quarter of the boss's health. Other than that, all I can really tell you to is just dodge and attack. You know what advances combos you have purchased up to this point, so utilize them. I went with faster, smaller combos, because the long and powerful ones leave you unguarded for too long of a period and leaves you open for attack. Once you have drained the vast majority of the Lycanthrope Dark Lord's health, he will transfer the rest of his health into the eight pillars surrounding the arena. Don't bother attacking the boss directly; you cannot hurt him. Instead, run over to each of the pillars and destroy them. You still will have to dodge the boss's attacks, but you shouldn't have much trouble here. When all of the pillars have been destroyed, will begin an interactive cutscene. Numerous ring sequences await in this scene, but completing the scene slays the Lycanthrope Dark Lord. This interactive cutscene made me realize how much I dislike quick-time events. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Gabriel has slain the Lycanthrope Dark Lord and has received another relic: the Cyclone Boots. These bad boys allow you to sprint with ease! To exit the arena, double tap the Left Analog Stick to begin sprinting, then jump over the lava pit and through the doorway. Climb the wall to get the heck outta here. ============================================================================== CHAPTER IV [0304] ============================================================================== -~ Mountain Fortress ~- ============================================================================== You have stormed through the land of the Lycans and taken care of business, so now it is time to tread through the land of the Vampires. You start off at Crows' Pass, which is basically the entrance to the Vampire territory. Just remember: we can't stop here. This is bat country. >:) Walk along the mountain path as the camera zooms in towards a tower. You will be at that location by the end of this chapter. Stock up on Neutral Elemental Orbs here before reaching a wooden door. In order to get through, we will have to knock the door off its hinges. Activate Shadow Magic, then hold down the Left Trigger and move Gabriel. You will use the Cyclone Boots to sprint forward, barreling right through the door. -~ Life Gem #10 ~- ================== At the first intersection, go right to find a dead body tucked away in the corner. Grab the Life Gem from his body. Take the left path to continue. The walkway is destroyed, so you will have to climb along the side of the structure in order to get to the other side. Drop down off the edge and move to the left, then jump over the two pits to reach the opposite end. Defeat the handful of Small Trolls that spill into the hallway. The gap is too far to cross with a regular jump, so you'll need some assistance from your Cyclone Boots. Start by sprinting by double tapping the Left Analog Stick, then jump when you reach the edge. Take down another group of Small Trolls here. -~ Shadow Gem #10 ~- ==================== After performing the sprint jump and taking out the Small Trolls, look on the right side of the area. There is a fallen knight on the other side of a weakened wall. In order to destroy the wall and reach the body, perform a Shoulder Charge (activate Shadow Magic, then hold down the Left Trigger and move the Left Analog Stick). Collect the Shadow Gem from the body. Use your Hook Tip to cross the next gap (or use a sprint jump if you're feeling somewhat daring). I recommend using the grip point here, for reasons stated below. -~ Light Gem #9 ~- ================== Use your Hook Tip instead of a sprint jump here. When you grab onto the grip point, pull yourself up to it to grab hand of a ledge. Moving to the right reveals another grip point above you. Pull yourself up to the alcove to find both a Dark Crystal well and a Light Gem. Return to the trail and continue to the Mountain Fortress, using sprint jumps when necessary. The entrance is blocked, so take the scroll from the knight and turn to your left. You can use various ledges and grip points to reach a balcony above the entrance. Take on some Small Trolls as a cinema occurs. A large monster peers through the windows behind you and begins shaking the foundation of the fortress. Ignore the racket for now and continue annihilating Small Trolls. The gigantic Ogre eventually destroys the rubble blocking your path, allowing you to run to the right. Grapple to the grip point and swing to the next platform. Here, the Ogre punches a hole through the wall and sticks his hand out. He'll feel around in order to look for you, so stay to the left when his hand reaches out towards you. Whenever it moves back to the right, run over and begin attacking the hand. When he slams his fist on the ground, retreat to the left before you are grabbed and squished. Once you cause the Ogre's hand to retreat back into the wall, swing across the two grip points to encounter this monster face-to-face. ------------. BOSS: Ogre '----------------------------------------------------------------- This particular Ogre is the last of his kind, so it's not uncommon to feel slightly guilty after killing him. Nah, I'm just kidding: lets thrash this sonuvabitch. First things first: there is a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue on the far left side of the ring-shaped arena. Stand next to it and absorb some Neutral Elemental Orbs if you are low on magic at any time. Needless to say, it is impossible to block any of the boss's attacks due to his sheer size. He starts off with four attacks, and they are all painfully similar to each other. He will either smack the ground, punch the ground, smack the ground with both hands simultaneously, or clasp his hands together and drive them to the ground. The last one is the hardest to dodge since you have to avoid both hands. Dodge rolls may not be enough here, so keep in mind that you can use your Cyclone Boots to sprint out of trouble. They aren't only used for crossing long gaps and such; use sprints to easily dodge attacks. As you will come to learn, it's best to save your Dark Crystal for bosses. Do not use it at the start of the fight, as it'll come in handy near the midpoint of the battle. You can attack the Ogre if you get up against the edge of the ring and stretch out your chain. Otherwise, wait for the boss to attack before slashing at his hands and arms. When you have drained around half of the Ogre's health bar, it will turn gray. This means that you cannot damage the boss by conventional means. Wait for the Ogre to punch you, then dodge and press the Right Trigger to grab his shining fist. Peform a couple ring sequences to blind the Ogre in one eye. The boss will not incorporate a large boulder into his offense. He palms a boulder and smashes it on the ground periodically. This is the same as his punch/slap attack, but the boulder generates a shockwave that you will have to jump over or outrun. Attacking him is the same, although he occasionally pauses to grab his injured eye, giving you a nice window to attack. Use Light Magic to heal or Shadow Magic to damage the boss more when he is rubbing his eye. When the Ogre is down to just a sliver of health, you will have to perform another ring sequence to gouge out his other eye. He resorts to his sense of smell and can sniff out out. His attacks are sped up, as he will slap and punch at a faster rate, so spend the time dodging rather than attacking and wait to strike when the Ogre stops moving. By now the boss should have barely any health left. Make sure to stand in the center of the ring. Eventually, the Ogre will roar and lean forward as his head begins to glow. Press the Right Trigger and follow up with some ring sequences; if you are standing on either side when you trigger the ring sequence, you will not complete the battle. You must stand near the jagged rock sticking up from the middle of the arena when the Ogre roars so you can drive the boss's neck right into the sharp rock. Gory. Vicious. Lovely. I find this boss fight to be one of the easier boss fights, mainly because you have access to a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. That means a constant supply of magic, which means constant Light Magic, which means constant healing. Note that the Ogre isn't going to sit still when you regain magic, so only take them in short bursts so you aren't a sitting duck. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your actions in that boss battle have subsequently led to the extinction of a species. Cool! Fill up your Magic Containers and sprint jump from the right side of the ring into the fortress. Walk forward; you can sprint jump across the hole or drop down and climb out through the other end. The latter will net you a scroll. -~ Light Gem #10 ~- =================== After the Ogre battle, exit the arena and leap over the hole in the ground. Before you exit to the left, inspect the statue up against the northern wall. With your Dark Gauntlet, use a Tremor Punch to move the statue out of the way, revealing a hidden hallway. This hall takes you to a Fairy fountain and a knight containing a Light Gem. Return to the hallway and exit to the left. There is a dial on the right that you cannot access yet, so left is your only other option. - BACKTRACK TIME! When you have the Stake upgrade, come back to the dial and you will be able to open the gate. Behind the gate is a Brotherhood Ark containing a Fairy Upgrade +2. Taking the left path leads to a dead end. Climb onto the ledge on your right so you can reach the grip point above, bringing you to a new area. An army of Small Trolls awaits you here. They shouldn't give you any trouble; I always have so much fun fighting these guys because I just use my Dark Gauntlet to reduce them to a bloody pulp. However, a big guy soon joins the party. The Troll will pick up a wooden beam and swing it around like a maniac. Avoid this like the plague and attack the Troll to eventually break his weapon. Continue regularly to stun the Troll, then mount him. Wipe out the remaining enemies before targeting the metal gate on the far end of the area. On the other side, walk forward to reach the entrance to the Crow Witch's tower. Shortly thereafter, a Chupacabras sneaks up on Gabriel and steals all of his relics before poofing off in a cloud of smoke. You are left without your relics and magic. You still have your Combat Cross and its attachments (Hook Tip, Spiked Chain), but none of the fancy stuff. Luckily, you won't encounter any enemies as you try and get your stuff back. Follow the Chupacabras back down the stairs before it disappear again; jump over the wall on the left. Continue west and climb up the wooden pillars. Continue climbing up the ledges and shimmy across the beam at the very top to reach a high platform where the Chupacabras is taunting you. Drop onto the platform and grab the pesky Chupacabras to scare it off and retreive your belongings. Jump down to the right and return to the staircase. Go up the stairs to reach the front door to the tower. Approach the door and use a Shoulder Charge to crash through the doors and into the Crow Witch's domain. -~ The Crow Witch ~- ============================================================================== The door in front of you, below the large crow sculpture's head, is locked. Pick up the scroll nearby and head up either set of stairs. -~ Light Gem #11 ~- =================== At the start of the level, go up either set of stairs and you will find a knight at the top. Take the Light Gem from his cold, dead fingers. The staircase is blocked off at the top, but you can sneak through a thin crevice on the left side of the stairs to exit the tower. -~ Shadow Gem #11 ~- ==================== Once you have exited the tower, ignore the ledge on the right and instead drop down south of here. Fall down from the ledge, then use a grip point to swing over to a hidden cave on the outskirts of the tower. Inside, you will fight a number of Small Trolls. Once you have defeated them, inspect the dead body for a Shadow Gem. There's also a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue here as well. To exit the cave, walk behind the dead knight and go through the hallway. Use a Shoulder Charge to break down the door; this door just so happens to be the locked door at the very start of the level. Return back outside and climb up the ledge on the right. Use the grip point to reach the second floor of the tower. Shimmy to the left and onto the gargoyle to find another grip point above. Climb up to the top of the grip point so your feet are up against the stained glass window. Press X or Y to push off the window and come crashing back through. Proceed to the center of the room to encounter a Swordmaster. These strange and spooky spectres are very skilled at using swords, so strafe and strike accordingly to surprise the Swordmaster. Use quick blows and avoid stringing together long combos because the Swordmasters have a knack for interrupting combos with fast jabs. If you see one of them coat their sword in a white aura, it means that they will begin to use a cutter-like projectile on you. After taking down the first Swordmaster, two more appear out of thin air. Focus on one at a time and avoid their counterattacks while timing their strafes and dodges in order to capitalize. The Crow Witch sends a murder of crows to open a blocked door for you. Thanks a bunch! Head up the staircase; with your Hook Tip, grapple up to the third floor. How proper that you fight three Swordmasters at once on the third floor of the tower. Remember, single one out and finish him off first to take away the numbers game. Light Magic is particularly useful against these ghastly creatures. - BACKTRACK TIME! There is a staircase at the northern end of the third floor. When you have the Seraph Shoulders, you can cross the broken staircase to gain access to a Holy Water Upgrade +2. The game's camera then directs you to an exit high above. Approach the western end of the floor to find a grip point above you. Use it to reach one of the crow statues lining the room, then jump to the right and continue up to the walkway. You can find a Health Font if you walk counterclockwise around the walkway. Go clockwise to reach a balcony outside. -~ Life Gem #11 ~- ================== When you have reached the walkway at the top of the third floor, walk clockwise to reach a balcony outside. There is a knight lying up against a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue that is holidng a Life Gem. Fill up on magic and scale the side of the tower using the ledges on the left side of the balcony. The path up to the tower rooftop is straightforward, so you shouldn't get lost here. Guess who's waiting at the top? --------------------------. BOSS: Crow Witch Malphas '--------------------------------------------------- The Crow Witch spawns her own babies and forces them to fight you while she flies around the tower roof. She begins the fight by spitting out three eggs. Like in the Stone Idol Titan fight, the eggs will glow when they get close to you. Once one is close enough, press the Right Trigger to grab it. Rotate the Left Analog Stick and you will throw it back at her. If you're lucky, you will score a direct hit. Any egg that bypasses you will shatter on impact and release a Witch Child. Now even though these things were only born like four seconds ago, they are very strong and should be taken very seriously. They have a lightning-fast divebomb attack and can breathe fire. They are also quick in general and often flutter from side to side to avoid your attacks. When there are two or more Witch Children present, you will not be able to damage the Crow Witch Malphas. Focus on the children entirely unless the boss tries to use an attack. One of her main attacks is sending her crow army at you like a giant bullet. The camera zooms in on her before the crows start diving at you; sprint or roll out of the way. The Crow Witch can also use a supersonic scream to stop Gabriel in his tracks. If you see a series of black rings appear on the ground, avoid it at all costs. If you are caught in it, you will be bound to the ground. Tap the button shown onscreen to free yourself before the Crow Witch or her children can inflict further harm on you. The first part of this fight is focused more on the Witch Children than the witch herself. It isn't such a bad idea to use a Dark Crystal if you are ever faced off against three Witch Children at once. The only way to damage the boss herself is when she is deploying more eggs. The old-fashioned "egg throwback" technique is the only way to hurt the Crow Witch, so don't let these opportunities slip by (in other words, don't mess up when the eggs are coming your way!). When you take out around half of the Crow Witch's health, she will become dizzied. Run up to her glowing body and grab onto her as she takes Gabriel for a ride high up in the sky. During the cutscene, follow the button prompts to drive her down into the roof. Now that the boss has crashed and burned, run up to her still body and unleahs whatever you've got on her. Ignore any remaining Witch Children and go straight for the Crow Witch herself. Eventually she regains consciousness and repeats the battle strategy again. Finish off any remaining Witch Children as the boss rehashes her egg spit attack. Send them back at her and interact with the boss when she is stunned. Follow up on the second quick-time event to send the Crow Witch Malphas for a crash landing. She's on the ground again, so run up and attack with your Shadow Magic activated. One more cutscene will do her in as you rip the Crow Witch's head clean off. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Scene time! The tower collapses from under Gabriel, but he manages to escape, thanks to Pan. ============================================================================== CHAPTER V [0305] ============================================================================== -~ Veros Woods ~- ============================================================================== Back in the tundra again; nice change of pace, since I was missing the scenery back at Oblivion Lake. This level kinda pisses me off because there are a number of crossed paths and intersections in your way. The first one isn't so bad; you can find a Fairy fountain on the left path. Take down the pair of Goblins on either road you take. -~ Life Gem #12 ~- ================== Take the right path and hug the right side of the road to be led to a wall. Perform a Shoulder Charge to find yourself in a tiny area containing a Dark Crystal well and a Life Gem. Return to the trail and go forward. Another Chupacabras takes your relics and disappears, leaving you with the bare essentials. Run forward into the Goblin camp; the Chupacabras disappears again and leaves you to deal with the Goblins present. Defeat them and go north to exit the camp. At the next fork, go east. The Chupacabras escapes yet again, bringing you to a second intersection ahead. Take the western path to reach another Goblin camp. The Goblins are accompanied by a Warthog, which solves the problem of the wooden double doors at the far end of the camp. Try and focus on the Warthog, as you can take down the remaining Goblins while riding the creature. Mount the Warthog when you get a chance, then plow your way through the wooden doors. Kill your ride once you go through the door and heal at the Health Font. Pick up the scroll as well, then go and confront the Chupacabras. Of course, it flees again. Stand near the Health Font and climb alongside the wooden wall. When you reach the very top, you will be able to jump up to the alcove where the Chupacabras is. However, every time you grab onto the ledge, the pesky critter will knock you off. Instead, use a Fairy to distract the Chupacabras before leaping over to its location. Grab the Chupacabras to regain your lost items and powers. Grab the scroll and fill up your magic here in the small cave before falling back down to the ground. Proceed along the snowy trail and take down a few Goblins along the way before dropping off of a ledge. There is a weakened wall here near the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue, but ignore it and turn around. Go south to end up at the first Goblin camp where your relics were stolen. Now that we have our powers back, take the time to explore the earlier portions of the forest. -~ Life Gem #13 ~- ================== From the first Goblin camp, exit north. Take the western trail to locate a breakable wall near the Health Font. Knock it down using your Shoulder Charge ability to end up at another Life Gem/Dark Crystal well combo. -~ Shadow Gem #12 ~- ==================== From the first Goblin camp, exit north. Take the eastern trail to end up at the second fork. Instead of going west to end up at the second camp, go east to reach a breakable wall. Use your Shoulder Charge to find a Dark Crystal well and a Shadow Gem on the other side. Now return to the first Goblin camp and backtrack a bit to the west. When you end up at the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue, Shoulder Charge the stone wall behind it. Grab the scroll from the dead body and slip through the canyon. You will see a monstrous castle in the distance, complete with spooky music and lightning in the distance. Even closer is what appears to be an abandoned village. Move closer to the village to complete the level. -~ Wygol Village ~- ============================================================================== - BACKTRACK TIME! At the start of the level?! When you receive the Seraph Shoulders, go up the stairs towards the entrance to the eastern building. Use a Shoulder Charge to get inside, then jump up to reach the Brotherhood Ark on the high ledge. You will find a Holy Water Upgrade +2 inside. Proceed down the alley and into the main square for a cutscene. You'll find your old pal Zobek here. The two team up against a Ghoul that crawls out of an open grave. Ghouls are freaky little fellows that feed on corpses in order to increase their strength. Make sure to fend off Ghouls when they are feeding on any nearby bodies. Zobek will aid you as you take down the first set of Ghouls. When the coast is clear, run over to the large statue in front of the spawn hold. Use your Spiked Chain and call over Zobek to help you yank the statue into the hole. Once the hole is clogged, another one appears nearby. Of course, defeat the Ghouls before you tamper with the hole. The statue is farther away from the hole than the first one, so you will need to use a Tremor Punch to push the statue next to the hole before using your Spiked Chain on it. The final hole is at the north end of the cemetery. You must push the statue closer to the hole, but you cannot get behind the statue to do so. Locate a weakened wall on the left side of the cemetery and smash through it with a Shoulder Charge, then use a Tremor Punch. Plug up the final hole to solve the Ghoul problem. You will also partially open the gate at the cemetery exit; finish the job with a Shoulder Charge. -~ Shadow Gem #13 ~- ==================== Take some time out of fighting Ghouls to search the pile of dead bodies on the far north end of the graveyard. You can collect a Shadow Gem from one of the corpses here. Make a pit stop at the Health Font before entering the mausoleum. Inside, you will find the next upgrade for your Combat Cross: the Stake. Stakes aren't just used for killing Vampires; you can also use them to activate cranks that are missing a handle or lever. Go near the crank on the left and hit the Right Trigger. Perform a few ring sequences to turn the crank and open the door. Now head on through to wrap up a short level. -~ Abbey Catacombs ~- ============================================================================== With Zobek by your side, enter the open chamber for a quick cutscene. We finally get what we've been waiting for: Vampires. These Vampire Warriors are are very quick and powerful. They are able to hover in the air for a short time and usually use diving attacks up in the air. Use the Stake to finish them off and leave Zobek to his own enemy while you deal with one of the other two. Once all three are slain, grab the lever at the opposite end of the room and bring it to the dial in the center. Another trio of Vampire Warriors will rise from the ceiling after a short lull period. If they appear before you put the lever in place, kill them before attempting it. Once the dial is set, turn it to open the gate. However, letting go will shut the gate. Press Y to call over Zobek and have him hold the lever in place while you run through the open gate. You have to go back and save Zobek from the Vampire Warriors. Yeah, we have to play nice here. Push the statue in the middle of the room against the gate that closed behind you. With it against the gate, activate Shadow Magic and use a Tremor Punch to push the statue through the gate. Finish off any Vampire Warriors left over from the previous room and reunite with your pal. In the first room, take the lever from the dial and go back through the hole in the gate. The wooden door at the back end is locked, so you must find two keys in order to open it. The two keys are found down the left and right paths; both of which are sealed behind gates. With the lever in hand, place it in one of the dials in front of either door and use it to open the gate. It does not matter which path you take first, but I am going to the left. Open the gate on the left and bring the lever with you as you proceed down the hallway. The first key is floating on an island in the middle of the room. Place the lever inside the dial on the northwest corner and turn it to activate a lift. As the lift shifts next to you, call over Zobek and have him hold the lever while you jump on the lift. He will turn the dial as you move to the eastern side of the room. Jump off and proceed up to the Cloister Key. With the first key in hand, go south and move along the walkway to reach the other end of the room again. -~ Life Gem #14 ~- ================== Once you have obtained the first Cloister Key, walk towards the camera to end up on a narrow walkway. As you go along to reach the west end of the room and the exit, you will pass over a dead body. Make sure to take the Life Gem from the body before you fall down and exit the room. Before you return to the key room, make sure to take the lever with you. Place the first key into the lock and use the lever on the other dial to open the gate on the right. The ceiling begins to lower as you traverse through the empty passage. Zobek catches the first portion of the ceiling and urges you to run forward and catch the next section before you are both crushed. Repeatedly hit X to hold up the ceiling, then tap Y to send Zobek forward while still tapping X. He will then tell you to run forward and the process repeats itself until you reach safety. Pick up the Cloister Key and backtrack through the passage. Don't worry, the ceiling doesn't collapse on you this time. Place the second Cloister Key into the keyhole to open the door. Take the stairs to reach a courtyard above. The courtyard is home to a strange puzzle containing portals. There is an orange portal in the southeast corner of the courtyard; when you step through it, you will teleport to the orange symbols near on the western end where you came in from. Run to the eastern end and use a Shoulder Charge to break down a weakened wall to find a lever. Use it on the dial in the center of the room. By now, you'll be attacked by Ghouls and Vampire Warriors. You can take out the Vampire Warriors, but there is no way to plug up the Ghoul spawn holes and no real way to stop the flow of enemies. Luckily, they only appear in waves and you are given around 30 seconds of peace before another set shows up. When you grab onto the dial, you will be positioned so that you will view the orange symbols near the courtyard entrance. Turning the dial will rotate the location of the symbol and the landing place when you step through the portal. -~ Light Gem #12 ~- =================== Rotate the lever 90 degrees so the landing spot is at the north end of the courtyard. From here, instruct Zobek to hold the lever while you run through the portal. You will end up at the northern end, where you will locate a Light Gem. To escape, climb the wooden wall to the right of the corpse and jump through the tiny opening at the top. If you are in need of health, rotate the landing spot to the east end leap through the portal to reach a Health Font. Otherwise, rotate the lever 270 degrees so the landing spot is situated at the southern end of the courtyard. Now jump through the portal to reach the exit. Another gate opens up, allowing Zobek to join you. Yay! -~ Abbey Library ~- ============================================================================== Gabriel and Zobek arrive at the entrance to the Abbey Library. Start by going down the hallway towards the main entrance. -~ Light Gem #13 ~- =================== Before going through the main entrance to the library, continue down the hallway; the Light Gem is found just around the corner, at a dead end. Inside the room, Gabriel and Zobek are split up; the exit slams shut and a suit of armor is brought to life. Two Animated Armors will attack Gabriel while Zobek is helpless on the other side of the gate. Animated Armors are slow fellas, but have incredibly high defense. You won't be able to hurt them much at first due to their large shields. Stick with it and dodge the slow swing of their clubs or jump over their shockwaves they generate. After a while, their shield will glow, allowing you to rip it from their hand. From thereafter, you can deal much more damage to them than normal. After both Animated Armors have been disarmed and destroyed, Zobek finds an escape route as Gabriel fles the scene by himself. You will end up on the second floor of the library, where you are presented with a puzzle similar to the one in the Sanctuary Entrance: you must use statues to direct beams of light in order to open up the exits. To begin, pick up the scroll from the fallen knight and refill your magic at the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. There is only one mirror statue in this room, and as you can see, it is on a track. Push the statue north using a Tremor Punch so it is in line with the light, then rotate the statue to send the light shooting into the locked door. Easy. Go through the doorway to find that the beam of light stops at a wall. There are no statues here, so proceed to the second puzzle room. ______________________ | D | |____________ | D - Door ____________| |___________ L - Light | ________ S2| S1 - First Statue | |________| | S2 - Second Statue |L---------S1 ________ | X - Light Gem | ,' |________| | | ,' ________ | |_____,'_ __________| |_X| | | Once again, push the statue here south so it is lined up with the beam of light. Rotate the statue so the light bends towards the hallway you just came out of. It should be close to a 90-degree angle, but more to the left of the hall you came out of. Doing this does nothing at this moment, so leave it just like that. -~ Light Gem #14 ~- =================== In the second puzzle room, walk down the aisle to the right and past the long bookshelf. Go south to find a dead knight lying next to a pile of fallen books. Inspect the body for another Light Gem. ______________________ | D | |____________ `-. | D - Door ____________| `-._|___________ L - Light | _,-S2_______ | S1 - First Statue | _,--' |________| | S2 - Second Statue |L---------S1-' ________ | X - Light Gem | |________| | | ________ | |________ __________| |_X| | | From where you found the Light Gem, go up the hall to find the second statue. It's away from the action, but one Tremor Punch will change that. Push it so it is at the other end of the bookshelf, sticking out towards the rest of the room. Now return to the first statue and rotate it around. The light should reflect off the second statue and right into the door. The next room is a little big and far too complicated to depict with an ASCII map, so I'll just have to explain it more in-depth to you. Up the stairs, annihilate the Gremlins that fly over towards you. At the top is a statue you can move into place with your Dark Gauntlet. With the light hitting the statue, rotate it so the light travels to the left and hits another statue. -~ Shadow Gem #14 ~- ==================== Next to the first statue in the third puzzle room is a staircase leading to a small platform. Destroy the pile of books here to uncover a dead body. Death by books? Poor chap. Anyways, take the Shadow Gem from his body. Run down to the other statue and push it all the way down its track, towards its companion statue. Turn the statue so the light travels across the entire room and through a hole in the wall. Run to the other end and through the doorway. There is another statue here in this hallway. Ignore the light for now and push the statue all the way north. Some Gremlins will pop up here, so deal with them accordingly. Push the statue along the track to the into a side room. The statue should be tucked away in the corner, far away from the light. This is Mr. Lonely Statue. Notice the door here at the end of the room. We'll be using him to open the door very soon. To the right of the statue is a wooden door you can bust down using a Shoulder Charge. Do so. Dismantle the Animated Armor on the other side. There is another breakable wall on the right side of this room here. Destroying it will tear down the wall that was blocking the beam of light as it continues through this current room. With the light shining through, push the statue at the south end of the room north. With the statue in the way of the light, rotate it so the bright beam of light bathes Mr. Lonely Statue. Yay! Now rotate him so the light hits the door and opens it. Hooray! -~ Abbey Tower ~- ============================================================================== Hmm, I kinda forgot about Zobek. I guess we're just doing things by ourselves now. I can dig it. Run forward to the base of the tower as Ghouls and Gremlins halt your progress. You should probably take out the weaker Gremlins first before worrying about the Ghouls. If you should follow one piece of advice during this fight, it's to stay away from the Ghouls and their poisonous puke. Seriously, I hate getting poisoned because it sucks. The tower is in the middle of the area, but is surrounded by a pit of spikes. First, move into the stone passage on the right side of the area. -~ Life Gem #15 ~- ================== Go through the broken wall into the building. Before setting your sights on the end of the hallway, turn around and head south to find a deceased knight tucked away in the corner with his Life Gem in hand. Going down the hall takes you to the other side of the tower. Collect the scroll here and approach the raised bridge. Before you try and lower it with your Spiked Chain, make sure to slay any Gremlins in the vicinity before they start to bug you. Lower the bridge and cross it to the inner perimeter of the tower. A large swarm of Gremlins fly overhead, so use aerial attacks or grabs to finish them off. Next, use your Stake on the glowing crank to raise the gate. Go up the stairs and jump onto the ledge as you begin scaling the side of the tower. At some points during your ascent, the ledges will start to crumble from behind you. Don't stop at any point and continue to the next ledge or grip so you don't fall down with the rubble. Those spikes below you look mighty sharp... When you reach the upper grip pont, run along the wall to the right and leap onto the tiny platform. Pull yourself and run forward, using a sprint jump to cross the gap and onto the next ledge. -~ Life Gem #16 ~- ================== You can go either right or left here. Shimmy to the left and head 'round the corner. When you reach the end of the ledge, drop onto the tiny platform below you to find a knight holding a Life Gem. I wonder how this guy ended up in this obscure spot when he died... Return to where you started off and shimmy to the right this time. Jump back across to the upper portion of first part of the tower you were on. Shift to the left, then jump back to the other side. Continue around the corner and quickly get up to the grip point before the ledge falls from under you. Swing to the left to find another grip point back around the corner. Move along the ledge and pull yourself up to the boarded up window near the top of the tower. Kick off of the window and you will smash through it. At the end of the cutscene, you will receive Holy Water Flasks. Sheesh, now THAT is a short level. -~ Brauner ~- ============================================================================== As Gabriel returns to Wygol Village, he finds it burning to the ground. Stock up on magic and health before swinging over to the village square. Vampire Warriors appear in large numbers, but we have a new equalizer: Holy Water Flasks. Holy Water Flasks to Vampires is just like Silver Daggers to Lycanthropes: it works really well against 'em. Use Flasks on the first couple Vampire Warriors. It stuns them, leaving them open to an insta-kill grab attack. Instead of grabbing them and wasting too much time, deliver a couple slashes to finish them off in this weakened state. After a couple waves of Vampires, they retreat as the big cheese shows up. We are facing off against our very first Vampire boss! Exciting, I know. --------------------------. BOSS: Lieutenant Brauner '--------------------------------------------------- Lieutenant Brauner is much more formidable than the Vampire Warriors that we have been slicing and staking up to this point. He has giant wings, a tiny dagger, a large boomerang-like blade, and super-evil dreads! Kinda like the fight with the Black Knight Golem: there's nothing fancy about this battle; you basically just have to attack and attack and attack until he's dead. For the most part. The boss mainly uses melee attacks, so he will often fight to close the gap between you and him. It's important to fight for space and help distance yourself from the boss when you need to. Brauner doesn't really harness many unique or interesting attacks: he has a melee claw slash, a melee dagger jab, a melee blade swing, and one long-range attack where he shoots towards you like a bullet. Also, Brauner will sometimes shift his forms into an army of bats. When this happens, roll to avoid the bats as they dive towards you. He will then materialize right in front of you; just another way to close the gap between the two of you. One final attack: when the boss says something like "catch this!", it means he's getting ready to throw his boomerang blade at you. Your first thought would be to get the heck away from it, but stand your ground and don't budge. If you time things right, you can grab the blade and throw it back at Brauner to inflict a hefty amount of damage. Aside from using Brauner's own weapon against him, just get up close and use your Combat Cross. Flasks don't do that much here despite him being a Vampire, so I would save them for later use. The Dark Crystal is always a great option. Otherwise, stick with your best combos. When Lieutenant Brauner is at half health, he will be stunned. Approach the glowing boss and initiate a quick-time event. Two ring sequences in, and Gabriel will viciously rip the boss's wings off. Well, this doesn't actually change much, since Brauner rarely leaves the ground. The boss battle continues... and does not get any harder. My main method of attack was to wait for Brauner to throw his boomerang blade and just hurl it right back at him. When he's down to a tiny bit of health, perform one more quick-time event to end the fight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ That was certainly one of the more gruesome killings I have seen in the game so far. Sever, stab, stake. I like it. As thanks for protecting the village, the village folk reveal a hidden path that leads into the Vampire Dark Lord's castle: the castle sewers. Well, no one said it was going to be pretty. -~ Castle Sewers ~- ============================================================================== Enter the sewers to find a Health Font. Go down the stairs first and pick up the scroll from the corpse inside the pool of sewage. Don't tread through the sludge, or you may be dragged under by Naiads. Yeah, remember them? Also, if you are caught in the running sewage pipes, it'll push you into this pool. -~ Shadow Gem #15 ~- ==================== Wade in the sewage too long and you will eventually sink and die. You must not stay in the sewage for an extended period of time. However, there is a Shadow Gem on an island pretty far away. From the staircase, wade through the nasty sewage to the island to the right. Next, jump to the south and wade through the narrow part of sewage that isn't covered in poisonous fog. Brush off the Naiads and you should reach the island before you sink. Go back up the stairs and pull the lever to turn off the sewage stream next to you. Run across and stock up on magic at the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue, but only if you have to. Return to the first lever and pull it to seal both pipes. Here, you must sprint your ass off to get past the second pipe before both start up again. It's quite difficult and may take several tries. Ignore the second lever along the way for now and just get to the other side. Use your Stake on the crank as you are surprised from behind by a Skeleton Warrior. You would think that a skeleton enemy would be kinda flimsy, but they are far from it. These enemies are surprisingly powerful and have a wide range of attacks. Ranging from their sword slashes to their running dash and even a tornado attack. The most interesting aspect of a Skeleton Warrior is that you must defeat them using unconventional methods. After they have taken enough abuse, a Skeleton Warrior will fall apart. Even though it's just a pile of bones, it will reanimate if you don't take action. Use a shockwave-type attack that targets the ground (such as an Earthquake Punch) to finish them off once and for all. Resume turning the crank to open a gate in the distance. Double back to the previous area (the pipes are turned off for good) and pull the second lever to open up a gate right below you. Drop down and proceed through; use a sprint jump to cross the poisonous sewage to the other side. You'll find yourself faced off against another puzzle here in this hall. There are three things of note: a gate on the far end of the hall, a button next to you that is used to open the gate, and a spike trap floor between the two. The game says that you can punch the switch to activate it and open the gate. However, if one were to use a Tremor Punch on the button and run towards the gate, they will fall victim to the spike trap. Don't even bother trying it yourself; just trust me. Time to think outside the box. Note the bag near the switch that gives you an infinite supply of Silver Daggers. Think they play a role in this puzzle? They sure do. Run across the spike trap to the sealed gate. When you get close enough, the camera turns around so you are facing back at the button. Turn on your Shadow Magic, then use a Silver Dagger; the magic charges up the dagger and sends it all the way down the hall, activating the switch and opening the gate. Exit the sewers and swing to the grip point to wrap things up here. This chapter ends at the conclusion of the level. And by the way, we are now on Disc 2, folks! ============================================================================== CHAPTER VI [0306] ============================================================================== -~ Castle Courtyard ~- ============================================================================== You still have to climb out of the shaft from the sewers in order to reach the main entrance to the castle. Once you reach solid ground, run towards the giant door nearby. Do a sprint jump over to the door. It's closed shut and there's no way getting in, but you will find a bag containing Flasks here. Jump back across and go over to the Health Font on the other side. Heal, then climb up the structure behind it to get across the tall fence. Admire the neat architecture as you approach another gigantic door. This one cannot be opened either, but there is a crank that is used to open something around here. As soon as you try and turn it, two Animated Armors appear. You're bound to get hit while you try and turn the crank, so just accept the beating. Destroy them both before trying to turn the crank. Doing so opens the metal grating on the floor in front of you, allowing you to slip through. Down in the dungeons. Two Skeleton Warriors rise up and attack. Before they reach you, use the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue to gain some magic. While you deal with the two skeletons, some Vampires will open up a cage to release a Warg. Turn your focus to the Warg, since you will be able to mount it once it has been weakened. Now use the Warg to kill off the Skeleton Warriors. -~ Life Gem #17 ~- ================== Sometime during the fight against the Warg and Skeleton Warriors, run away from the enemies towards the cell door directly next to the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. Notice that it's a little beat up? Use a Shoulder Charge to smash through and collect the Life Gem inside. Once you have mounted the Warg and destroyed the Skeleton Warriors, climb up the pillar on the side of the dungeon. Eliminate the pair of Vampire Warriors using the Warg, then strangle it. If you walk across the beam to the left side of the balcony, you can find a Health Font, scroll, and Dark Crystal well. Jump down the gaping hole on the right side of the balcony and move into the passage littered with bones. As one would expect, you can imagine that a few will come to life and attack you. Just like that, three Skeleton Warriors materialize. I hate Skeleton Warriors with a passion, and if you feel the same way then you should probably use a Dark Crystal on their undead asses. When the coast is clear, turn the dial using your Stake. Grab some Elemental Orbs to go before taking the towering spiral staircase. -~ Maze Gardens ~- ============================================================================== Great... MAZE Gardens. I don't like the sound of that... Go forward to reach the first intersection of the level. Here, Mandragoras rise from the earth and begin draining away your health. These guys can be killed in two hits, but they appear in large groups and work together to quickly sap away your health. -~ Light Gem #15 ~- =================== At the three-way intersection, continue west. There is a locked gate nearby, but ignore it and proceed to the west. Eventually you should reach a dead end with a weakened wall in the northwest corner. Demolish it to spot a dead knight containing a Light Gem. Okay, return to the intersection again. This time, go north. -~ Life Gem #18 ~- ================== At the three-way intersection, proceed north. As you go down the path, ignore the first path to the left and continue going forward. In the corner here is a statue that can be destroyed using the Spiked Chain. Tear it down and inspect the corpse behind the rubble for a Life Gem. From this area, head south. Going down leads to a tall pillar that can be pushed with a single Tremor Punch. Push it along its track so that it rests up against part of the hedge wall. Run past the Mandragoras and climb up the pillar. Shimmy around it and jump over the wall to another pillar on the other side. To the right of your current location is a large greenhouse that is sealed away. Walk past it and ignore the other paths, going east to reach a corner of the maze inhabited by a Giant Spider. Mount it, then head back to the greenhouse. Create a webbing bridge to gain access to the building, but do not get off the spider just yet. Next, return to where you fought this beast and go north. On the right should be shiny door that you can open using the Giant Spider's webbing. Open it and continue north. Follow the trail to a second door; open it. If you recognize the area, it's because this is the location where we found the Light Gem earlier. -~ Shadow Gem #16 ~- ==================== While mounting a Giant Spider, return to the three-way intersection at the start of the level and go east. Follow it to where you found the pushable pillar and look to the left; there is a broken bridge that can be repaired by using the spider's webbing. Create a bridge and kill the spider, then cross it to obtain a Shadow Gem. With the Giant Spider dead, walk back to the pillar and climb it; jump across to end up back at the greenhouse. Enter the greenhouse to find a puzzle similar to the one in Pan's Temple: you must rotate the rings of the circle so that all of the statues on each ring is facing the fountain in the middle. This puzzle is actually pretty darn easy: -> move center ring clockwise -> move center ring clockwise Bam, done. You will receive the Vampire Key for your hard work. The Vampire Key can be used to gain access to the castle. From the greenhouse, proceed to the right. There is another Giant Spider here which you can mount if you missed any of the collectibles or need its assistance opening doors. Otherwise, run past it to the north. Head to the door you opened up on the right side of the path and squeeze through the opening. Up the stairs is the keyhole for you to use the Vampire Key. Interestingly, you end up near the start of the previous level. Sprint jump over the gap and climb over the fence near the Health Font. This time, you can enter the castle instead of scrounging through the dungeon. -~ Castle Hall ~- ============================================================================== We are in the lion's den now, so you can expect some nasty creatures roaming about. Three Vampire Warriors crawl out of a dark hole and confront Gabriel. Defeat all three using whatever methods (Flasks is always a great tool). Even though those three are now dead, more will appear until you plug up the hole. Run over to the wall on the left and yank the wooden boards off of the curtain. There are three boards and each one takes a bit of effort to remove, so you may have to pause and defeat another trio before you can remove all three. Once the curtain is exposed, grab the shiny tassels to move the curtain and cover the hole with sunlight. Do the same with the next curtain (no boards covering it, though), then open the door using your Stake on the crank. The next room contains more of the same features: three curtains and a Vampire hole. The curtain in front of the hole is the only one that's sealed up, so open the other two to get some light into the room. This won't seal up the hole, but it prevents where the Vampire Warriors can move and lowers their mobility a bit. In addition to the Vampire Warriors, you will also have to defeat an Animated Armor. Take care of him first. If you kill off the Vampires first, the suit of armor will still prevent you from ripping off the boards and opening the curtain, so he's the real problem here. Again, the process of removing all three boards and opening the curtain takes a while, so you will probably have to take down two waves of Vampire Warriors before you can get the job done. With the room totally empty, grab the scroll from the dead body at the north end and use your Stake on the dial here. This room is devoid of enemies, thankfully. Pick up the scroll in here as you must prepare yourself for another "guide the light" puzzle. -~ Life Gem #19 ~- ================== Inside the third room, climb up the ledge on the left side to reach a high alcove. Search the dead knight's body for the Life Gem. Push the statue here along its track all the way into the previous room. Return to the first room and head to the southern corner to find a statue here. Open the curtain to shine some light on the statue. Move the statue to the left and rotate it so the beam of light shoots into the second room. Now rotate the other statue so the light travels into the third room. The door in the third room should now be opened, so go on through. This room contains three switches that need to be activated with either Light or Shadow Magic. There are also two switches back near the door. Use Shadow Magic on the left rune and Light Magic on the middle and right switches. Back at the door, use Shadow Magic on both switches. Completing the puzzle will open a door back in the second room. - BACKTRACK TIME! Notice the Brotherhood Ark on the high ledge behind the three switches? When you get the Seraph Shoulders, you can jump up to this ledge to claim the Dagger Upgrade +5. The good news is that we solved the puzzle. The bad news is that the sun has now set and the Vampires can come out without consequence, so what I essentially mean is that whole "seal the holes with the light" maneuver ended up being a waste of time. Great. Multiple Vampire Warriors storm the room, so run back to the previous room and do battle. The door that opens here takes a long time, so you will have to wait for the door to open. Stall by fighting Vampire Warriors, and sprint through the second it creaks open to escape the monsters. A creepy girl demands that you play a game with her before you can proceed onward. Whatever. You can actually opt out of the game, but you will lose out on a Light Gem and a nice amount of EXP. The game is called Vampire Wargame, and it is similar to chess. You have a chess board with multiple pieces: two Vampires, two Lycanthropes, and two Necromancers. You must move your pieces across the game board to your opponent's side and attack the opposing pieces. In order to attack, you must be adjacent to an enemy piece. The object of the game is to destroy all of your opponent's pieces. When your turn begins, you will spin a wheel. Press A to stop it, and whatever piece the wheel lands on is the piece you can move that turn. Since you have two of each piece, you can choose which one you want to move/attack. When it is your turn, you can move your piece with the Left Analog Stick; you can only move on one of the red spaces shown. Press the Left or Right Bumpers to switch between the same type of piece. Pressing B will attack as long as you are close enough to an enemy piece, and X and Y will allow one of your pieces to perform special abilities. Each piece is special in its own right: -> Vampires can drain the life of an enemy piece; it's a weak attack, but it drains enemy health while healing your own. -> Lycanthropes have the strongest attacks out of any piece and can also move two spaces instead of one. -> Necromancers can attack two spaces away from an enemy piece and can also summon a Zombie piece on any open space on the entire board. Zombies act as an extra piece, yet can be destroyed in one attack. Remember that you must destroy all of the opponent's pieces in order to win. In order to view the health bars of all pieces, hold down the Left Trigger. When you or the enemy loses two pieces, you are given a second turn. When you or the enemy loses two more pieces, you gain a third turn. There's a bit of strategy involved, but it seems like a mindless game. -~ Light Gem #16 ~- =================== After winning at Vampire Wargame, walk to the other side of the game board to find a dead knight in plain view in the northeast corner; take the Light Gem from his body. Now that the little game is complete, you are free on your way. Take the northwest exit to wrap things up here. -~ Refectory ~- ============================================================================== You will soon enter the Refectory just past the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. You'll witness the daily routine as the Evil Butcher arrives with some grub and calls a group of Ghouls in to chow down before leaving to cook some more yummy treats up. Hey, even monsters gotta eat! Descend the stairs and interrupt the feast. Eliminate all of the hungry Ghouls here in the Refectory. Watch out, since they are all poisonous due to eating the food here. Your goal is to get inside the kitchen and slay the Evil Butcher, but you cannot get inside. We'll have to take the scenic route. First, destroy the table on the right to find a scroll underneath. Next, enter the pantry in the back corner to find a glowing vat of corpses inside. Pick up a thigh and lug it back into the Refectory, placing it on the golden platter where the Ghouls were feasting before. Just like the Evil Butcher did minutes ago, ring the bell to alert some more Ghouls to the next meal. When the chutes open to release the Ghouls (they are on the eastern wall), run up to them to find a grip point inside one. Grapple inside to enter the chute. -~ Shadow Gem #17 ~- ==================== Crawl through the chute until you reach the first intersection. When you do, go to the right (walk towards the camera) to find a tiny alcove containing the gem. Proceed the other way to enter the kitchen. --------------------. BOSS: Evil Butcher '--------------------------------------------------------- This is a fairly simple fight, mainly because the Evil Butcher isn't much of a fighter. He's just the cook for Pete's sake! However, he uses the items found inside the kitchen to his advantage, as they aid him greatly in this battle. The boss uses various tools to either attack you or aid him in the boss battle. The Evil Butcher has access to a large number of knives and cleavers; when you see him grab one off the wall, get ready to dodge it with a simple dodge roll. If you see the Evil Butcher pick up a red jug and drink it, get ready to back up as he will breathe fire. He does this three times before disposing of the jug. Get used to the placement of the items in the kitchen, because you will then be able to anticipate what attacks the boss will use depending on where in the kitchen he is going. Both cleavers and jugs can be found to the left and right of the oven; the utensils hang on the walls while the jugs are on ledges up against the oven. The Evil Butcher does also yield a gigantic butcher knife that will be used if you get too close to him, so he doesn't only rely on random stuff lying around. He has a two-hit slash attack and an unblockable slam that sends a line of fire straight from where the knife lands. You can use your secondary weapons against the Evil Butcher, but you may want to save them for a later use; this guy is easy enough without using a Dark Crystal or the ultra-effective Holy Water Flasks. It's up to you. A great time to attack is when the Evil Butcher is about to drink from the red jug. Run behind him so you dodge the flame breath completely and you can hack away at his backside. Also attack the boss when he runs to grab a random item to use. He turns his back to you and scampers around like a child, so follow him and attack as he goes to find something to use. When the boss loses a nice amount of health, he will regain some of it by eating a piece of unidentifiable meat (probably human). When you see him grab a leg, begin attacking him. You cannot stop the Evil Butcher from consuming it, but you'll be draining his health just as he regains some. It kinda balances itself out. Once you have depleted most of the boss's health, he will grab the pot on the open fire and drink it. His health bar turns gray, so you cannot damage him. To top things off, the Evil Butcher takes the pot and places it on his head. The boss gains super strength and speed, so you need to end this fight before it gets out of hand. You cannot target the boss directly, but you can stun him. Jump in the air and use an aerial attack on the pot lying over his head. You'll rattle his brains a bit as the butcher knife in his hand begins to glow. Interact with it and follow the button prompt to take care of business. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Darn, I really wanted to fit a Hell's Kitchen joke in there somewhere. Nevertheless, pick up the Evil Butcher Key that is left behind and use it on the door to the left to exit the kitchen. Kill the Ghouls back inside the Refectory and enter the pantry once more. -~ Life Gem #20 ~- ================== Go back inside the pantry after defeating the Evil Butcher. With the Evil Butcher Key, open the locked door on the side and search the fallen knight for another Life Gem. There's also a Dark Crystal well inside here. Now backtrack to the very beginning of the level. Stock up on magic along the way and you should find another locked door to the left of the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. Open it using your key and enter the giant room. Inside, get ready to face off against multiple Skeleton Warriors and an Animated Armor. Now I found this situation to be much more suitable for a Dark Crystal than the previous boss fight. With the enemies defeated, direct your attention to the switches against the wall. You must use your Light and Shadow Magic to activate the switches a specific way so they open the exit. -~ Shadow Gem #18 ~- ==================== There is a blocked staircase to the right of the switch puzzle. Go up the first couple steps to reveal a grip point above. Grapple up to it and climb along the wooden beam to the right to ultimately reach a ledge above you. You can find a scroll and a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue up here. If you cross the wooden beams near the statue, you will reach the opposite side of the room. Head down the stairs here to find the Shadow Gem. The fun part is backtracking the way you came to get back to ground level! Time for the puzzle. There are six switches in total: three to the left of the door and three to the right. I will number them one to six from the leftmost one to the rightmost one. DOOR L L S S L S Use Light Magic on the first one, Light Magic on the second, Shadow Magic on the third, Shadow Magic on the fourth, Light Magic on the fifth, and Shadow Magic on the sixth. Doing this correctly will allow you to escape. ============================================================================== CHAPTER VII [0307] ============================================================================== -~ Balcony ~- ============================================================================== Begin by exterminating the three Vampire Warriors that come your way, then walk out onto the balcony. You can drop down from the ledge on the left here. Carefully move along the narrow beam to the other side, where you will be presented with two ways to go: you can go either east or northeast. -~ Shadow Gem #19 ~- ==================== After crossing the beam, take the eastern path and drop down onto the ledge. Shimmy to the left to reach a platform containing a dead knight. You probably saw him while you were going across the wooden beam. Inspect the body to obtain a Shadow Gem. Return to the other side and take the northeast trail this time; a couple Swordmasters are lying in wait here. Haven't seen these enemies in a while. Flasks work very well against them, so use 'em up to dispatch these foes with ease. Once they're done, you can use the pillars on the western wall to climb to the very top. There is a keyhole here on the rooftop, but no key (there's a scroll nearby if you're interested). At the southwest corner is a broken part of the ledge where you can drop down from. Crawl over to the grip point and rappel down the side of the building. Here you can swing across an open window to the other side, but first drop down and search inside the window. Inside the first window is a scroll and a Health Font, but a Swordmaster is protecting the Health Font. Kill it, then heal and exit the room. Climb up to the grip point, then push off the wall and jump across the window to the adjacent ledge. Shimmy around to a second, then fall down and explore inside. You will find two Skeleton Warriors behind the second window. One of them drops a Balcony Key, which is essential for your journey. -~ Light Gem #17 ~- =================== There is a corpse lying behind the second window that is holding a Light Gem. It is yours for the taking as long as you destroy the pair of Skeleton Warriors first. Return to the rooftop and use the Balcony Key to continue your progress. Climb up into the next building, whose room is full of random junk. First off, pick up the scroll lying near the center of the room. -~ Shadow Gem #20 ~- ==================== Follow the room's perimeter as you walk behind the pile of junk on the right side of the room to find the Shadow Gem. Approach the glowing structure to begin the next puzzle. There are three columns, each containing see-saw-like paddles. You can drop a ball down either the left, middle, or right column to move the paddles in a certain direction. You have to make it so all the paddles are green (they all start off red). Here we go: -> drop the ball down the left column -> drop the ball down the middle column -> drop the ball down the middle column -> drop the ball down the middle column -> drop the ball down the middle column -> drop the ball down the middle column -> drop the ball down the right column This should solve the puzzle; the gate will rise, allowing you to move on to the next level. -~ Electric Laboratory ~- ============================================================================== Ugh, this entire level is like Puzzle City. And we're in Dr. Frankenstein's lab, yet we don't even get to fight Frankenstein's Monster. LAME. Going forward, you will find yourself in a room with strange electrical beacons and a switch on the floor. You will need to deactivate the electric fields in order to cross the room safely. .------------------------------------. | ( ) | | 1 x 3 | | x | | x | | x | | ( )xxxxxxxxxx( )xxxxxxxx( )| | x x | | x x | | x 2 x | | ( ) ( )| '------------------------------------' The "x"s are the electric field that you obviously cannot cross, and the numbers represent the switches in the room. Use a ground-type attack (such as Earthquake Punch) to activate the switches. Hit Switch 1, then Switch 2, then Switch 3 to be able to get to the next room. .--------------------------------------. | ( )xxxx( ) | | x 4 | | 5 x | | x | |( )xxxx( )xxxx( ) ( )xxxx( )xxxx( )| | .----. | | 2 | |3 | | '----' | |( )xxxx( )xxxx( ) ( )xxxx( )| | x | | x 1 | | x | | ( ) ( ) | '--------------------------------------' This next room is a lot bigger and has a lot more switches and electrical fields to tamper with. Push Switch 1 to not only shut down some electrical fields, but also move a beacon. -~ Light Gem #18 ~- =================== In the second room, punch the first switch, then head over to the southwest corner of the room to find a knight. The dead body has a Light Gem in his possession. Next, push the inactive beacon to the left of the central generator (2) along its track so that it is next to the generator (3). You will have to punch Switch 1 again to move the beacon all the way to the generator. You should be able to reach Switch 4. Return to Switch 1 and punch it again so you can reach the northwest corner of the room (5). Stock up on Elemental Orbs and Daggers here, then activate Shadow Magic and throw a Dagger at Switch 4. It'll disable a few electric fields; take a few steps so you are boxed in, then hit Switch 4 again to open the exit. .--------------------------------------. | ( ) ( )xxxx( ) | | x x | | x x | | x x | | ( )xxxx( ) ( )xxxx( ) ( )| | x x x | | x 3 x x | | x x x | |( )xxxx( )xxxx( )xxxx( ) ( ) ( )| | x x | | 2 [1] x x | | x x | |( )xxxx( )xxxx( ) ( ) ( )xxxx( )| | x x x x | | x 5 x x 4 x 6 | | x x x x | | ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) | '--------------------------------------' We go from small, to medium, and now to big. There is a lever here (1), but do not move it now. Instead, walk to the left of the lever to find a weakened wall: destroy it with a Shoulder Charge. Push Switch 2, then push Switch 3. Go north and inspect the glowing red orb to obtain the Red Lens. Taking a few steps will trigger a cutscene. ------------------------------. BOSS: Mechanical Monstrosity '----------------------------------------------- This room makes for a terrible boss arena, since the electrical fields confine you and the monster to a fairly small box. The Mechanical Monstrosity is somewhat slow, which helps when taking into account the small arena; you won't have to do as much frantic dodging. As far as attacks, the Mechanical Monstrosity doesn't have many of them. It can pinch you with one of its claw or jab both of them forward. When you see its tail light up, get ready to sprint to either side as the boss shoots bolts of lighting out of its two pincers. Despite the disadvantages, we have fought tougher battles than this. Begin by attacking the foe with your Combat Cross. When you deplete a quarter of its health, the Mechanical Monstrosity begins to recharge using a beacon connected to the ceiling. The first time around, the boss will heal to full health. Just deal with it. Deplete a quarter of its health again and the boss will return to its platform to heal. This time, use an Earthquake Punch on the switch at the back of the room. This will switch the charge of the beacon and instead of healing the Mechanical Monstrosity, the boss takes great damage. With the boss at half health, it begins attacking again. If you are having some trouble, you may want to use a Dark Crystal if available. If not, stay on the defensive and use Light Magic to heal yourself from time to time. Once you drain another quarter from the boss's health bar, it returns to the beacon. Hit the switch again to leave the Mechanical Monstrosity nearing death. You only need to repeat this process once more, for a total of three times. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A bit of luck allows you to escape the boss arena. You know what they say: curiosity kills the rat! Or something like that. Okay, back to solving the puzzle of the third room. Yeah, we aren't done here. Return to the lever (1) and rotate it to rotate the four nearest beacons. Turn the lever 180-degrees so the blue beacon is in the southwest corner. Head over to Switch 4 and pucn it and return to the lever. Turn it so the blue beacon is southeast, and you should be able to reach Switch 5. Push Switch 5 and proceed to the north end of the room. The floor in the northeast corner of the room is gone, and you must using a moving platform to get across. -~ Life Gem #21 ~- ================== Before you reach Switch 6, ride the moving platform in the northeast corner and you will pass by a dead knight. Search his body to get the Life Gem before the platform goes around the corner. Ride the platform to the southeast end and push Switch 6 to get the heck outta this damned room. Oh, and by the way, the Mechanical Monstrosity isn't down for the count just yet, as you will see in the end scene... -~ Chromatic Observatory ~- ============================================================================== If you need to heal or refill your Magic Containers, do so now. There is a large device in the center of the chamber that shines light through to the various doors surrounding the perimeter. Each door is labeled with a corresponding color, and you can only use various lenses to open their respective doors. We found the Red Lens in the previous level, so pull the lever next to the giant microscope thing. There are three slots along the base of the microscope that are used when you collect more lenses (you can combine lenses to create different colors). Move the Red Lens with the Right Trigger, then exit this view as the red door opens. Inside the red room, a stone floor lies between two staircases. As you enter, the four corners of the stone slab light up. You must activate the tiles surrounding the perimeter with your Shadow Magic. All of the tiles must be lit up together in order to gain access to the next lens. Some Vampire Warriors halt your progress, so destroy them before attempting the puzzle. In order to complete the puzzle, stand in one of the corners and use a Shoulder Charge to dash to the next corner. Do this until you move around the perimeter and all the tiles are lit. The door above you should open, so ascend the stairs and go through to find the Green Lens. The door closes behind you and will not open until you slay the Swordmaster that greets you. Once you victorious, go back to the observatory. You can now combine lenses since you have more than one. Combining the Red and Green Lenses creates a yellow light, so you'll be able to open the yellow door. Continue through to the yellow room. The yellow room is oddly similar to the red room. There is another stone tile puzzle and more Vampire Warriors to stake. Deal with the enemies first before focusing on the puzzle. This puzzle is identical to the last, but the stone slab is now shaped like a diamond instead of a square. All that means is that you must move in a diagonal line during your Shoulder Charges. Collect the Blue Lens and two Swordmasters appear. Finish both off before backtracking to the observatory. Technically we can leave this place for good, but you should probably explore the other rooms to collect some gems. At the giant microscope, move the Red Lens out of place so the light is only shining through the Green Lens. Stock up on magic if you need it and enter the green room. Kill off the trio of Swordmasters and move towards the pit. Jump in the air, then grapple to the grip point and you should be able to swing to the other side. -~ Life Gem #22 ~- ================== As you are swinging across the gap in the green room, take note of the dead knight in the right-hand side of the screen. He's tucked away in the far corner. When you jump to the other side, walk to this corner (the camera turns around so you have to walk to the left) and press the Right Trigger; you won't be able to see the knight at this angle, but you can still collect the Light Gem. This tile puzzle is in the shape of a zig-zag. A little harder, but still a breeze. Take the White Key that appears and... you guessed it: back to the observatory. -~ Light Gem #19 ~- =================== Combine the Green Lens and Blue Lens to create a cyan-colored light. This does not open any door, but instead agitates an Animated Armor. Destroy the Animated Armor to find a corpse where it was standing. There's your gem. Now combine all three lens to open up the white door. -~ Shadow Gem #21 ~- ==================== Inside the white room, walk to the left to find a grip point. Climb up to it and run along the scaffolding to a second one. Climb to the very top of the room and navigate across the support beams to the opposite end of the room. Drop down and use the White Key on the keyhole to reach the Shadow Gem. Back at the observatory, use the Red Lens and Blue Lens to create a purple light, which naturally opens up the purple door. Gabriel runs into that creepy little Vampire girl again and she sicks some of her toys on you. This totally reminds me of the movie "9", but in a totally unpleasant way. Deadly Toys are a pain in the ass. They're a lot tougher than a ragdoll would appear, and have a multitude of attacks. They can either slap you with their long, twisted arm or use the needles hanging from their back to impale you. When you see a Deadly Toy leap towards you, not only roll out of the way, but jump over the ensuing shockwave. On top of all that, they also have an attack that was seen in the Black Knight Golem boss fight, where they will spit out a pile of black goo that can constrict you. Taking down a Deadly Toy is a lot of work. They are durable creatures, but you cannot kill them as you would any enemy. If you see one glow, press the Right Trigger and follow the ring sequences to completely destroy it. If you attack while it is shining and kill it that way, the spirit left behind by the Deadly Toy will be used to animate another one. Destroying all three Deadly Toys will complete the level and the chapter. ============================================================================== CHAPTER VIII [0308] ============================================================================== -~ Outer Wall ~- ============================================================================== As you can see, we still have a ways to go if we are to reach the top of the castle. Take the scroll from the knight lying against the railing, then drop down onto the edge of the broken railing and shimmy to the right. You will be able to cover a lot of ground here by platforming a bit and using the grip points along the side of the tower wall. You'll eventually reach a Health Font at the top of the tower. -~ Shadow Gem #22 ~- ==================== You should be able to see the glowing knight when standing next to the Health Font. Jump up the step and walk to the left behind some rubble to reach him. There is a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue next to another magic switch puzzle. Waves of Vampire Warriors and Skeleton Warriors storm the ground after a short period of time, so wiping out the first group will only buy you some time until the next set appears. DOOR S S L S L L There are six switches in total: three on the left side of the gate and three on the right. Here's the solution on the left side, from closest to farthest: Light Magic on the first, Light Magic on the second, Shadow Magic on the third. On the right side, from closest to farthest: Light Magic on the first, Shadow Magic on the second, Shadow Magic on the third. Walk down the giant sculpture and onto the thick chain leading to the main tower. Halfway across, you will enter a circular room with a lever in the middle. The room is surrounded with a fence. Kill off the swarm of Gremlins that fly overhead before attempting to move the lever. Moving the lever rotates the outer fence, which also moves the doorway used to enter the room to the eastern side (the exit). However, the second you let go of the lever, the fence and doorway rotates back to its original position. There is no way to turn the lever all the way, then sprint to the right and somehow get through. Instead, you have to aim for a different exit location. There is a low staircase spiralling around the room that begins to the south and moves to the eastern exit. Turn the lever all the way until it cannot go any further. Instead of trying to run to the right, run south and sneak through the doorway just as it moves past you. You should fall down on the staircase below. Going up the stairs will reach the eastern exit. If you go across the chain to the main tower, you'll find that the door is locked. Instead, continue down the stairs into a chamber below. The corpse in the center of the room is holding onto the Tower Key. After taking it, the exit seals up as two Swordmasters appear. Kill both of them, then use the lever here to get out of the room. Head back up the stairs and across the large chain to the east to reach the locked door. Heal up at the Health Font here. -~ Light Gem #20 ~- =================== Found inside the room just before the level exit. Inspect the knight statue lying against the monster statue on the left side of the chamber. Use the Tower Key on the lock and proceed through. -~ The Clockwork Tower ~- ============================================================================== This should be a fairly peaceful stroll, since there are no enemies to be found in this level. Though there is a LOT of platforming in this level, so it kinda sucks at the same time. Walk along the plank to the circular platform, then go across the next plank to the opposite side of the tower. -~ Light Gem #21 ~- =================== Cross the two planks to reach the other end of the tower. Notice that the railing on the left side of this platform is missing. You won't be able to see your destination, but if you perform a sprinting jump you will land on a platform to your left containing the Light Gem. Jump back across and wait for the moving platform to come your way. Ride the platform to a horizontal gear mechanism against the wall. Ride the platforms on the gear as you rotate counterclockwise around the gear. The wall here is electrified, so you don't want to be pushed into it. Your goal is the ledge above the electrified part. When you are close enough to the wall, jump up and grab onto the ledge. There is a vertical gear that spins periodically. You must jump through the spokes in the gear when it stops. Jump through to the other side and land on another rotating gear machine. This one moves clockwise, so you will have to jump against the rotation of the gears. Jump across to reach an elevator and ride it up to a platform containing a lever. Using the lever here will raise the two planks you crossed earlier up to your level. Head across to the center of the plank device, then walk to the left to the next obstacle. There is a grip point at the top of the wall, but in between are two electric fields that prevent you from easily climbing up to the grip point. The upper one flickers on and off, but the lower one stays on all the time. Grab onto the grip point and move just under the first electric field. In order to get past, you must push off the wall and move above it. However, pressing X or Y once will not give you enough height to move above it in midair. Push off of the wall, then hit X or Y just as your feet hit the wall again to build some momentum and create a larger push-off. From here, you should be able to get above the first electrical field. Quickly run up the wall so you bypass the second so you can reach the grip point. Move to the right and wait for a platform on the rotating machine to move underneath you before dropping down onto it. Ride it as it moves counterclockwise towards the wall, then hop onto the shining ledge against the wall. It'll take you to a platform; jump across to another platform, then jump against another shiny ledge against the wall. There are a few electrified gears moving around just underneath you. Shimmy along the side of the wall, then jump onto the platform on the other side of the gears. Jump down to the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue below and fill up your Magic Containers. The wall behind you has some more electrical fields you have to avoid. They flicker on and off and you must time your jumps as you scale the wall so you don't get shocked and fall down. All I can say here is to memorize the pattern so you can get to the top relatively unharmed. -~ Life Gem #23 ~- ================== Once you reach the top of the electrified wall, drop down onto the platform and jump to the platform on your right to find another fallen knight. Search his body for a Life Gem. Swing to the grip point hovering over to the left to reach a platform in the corner of the tower. As you try and rotate the lever to raise the planks to the third floor, a familiar foe stops you. ------------------------------. BOSS: Mechanical Monstrosity '----------------------------------------------- The Mechanical Monstrosity is nearly identical to the first battle in terms of fighting style. It's a sneaky creature that uses its large pincers to stretch out and hit you from afar. The boss can either pinch you with one arm or jab both out in front at you. If you see the boss charge up its tail, get ready to avoid the lightning bolts it fires at you. Dodging works, but you may want to jump in the air to avoid this one. In order to stay airborne for a longer period of time, tap X or Y to do some aerial moves and keep you in the air longer. The boss does have one new attack it'll use on you. When you see the Mechanical Monstrosity create a green force field around itself, random junk will rise in the air and float above the boss. The battle will continue accordingly, but from time to time the Mechanical Monstrosity shoots some of this junk at you like a rogue bullet. Just another attack you have to dodge. Even though the two boss fights are similar to each other, they are also a lot different. This time, we aren't inside a laboratory filled with electrical fields and beacons. That means that the Mechanical Monstrosity cannot recharge its health when it becomes damaged. You also have a bit more room to do battle. You know what to expect from this boss, so you know how to damage it. Use whatever strategy you have in the first fight here as well. A Dark Crystal helps greatly, but otherwise use combos and magic to end this quickly. When the Mechanical Monstrosity is down to a quarter health, it'll become impervious to attack. Initiate a grab and follow the button sequences to finish this monster off, once and for all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Well, following that rude interruption, return to the lever and raise the planks up to the third floor. Walk across the plank to the center and stay here as it rises up to the ceiling. -~ Olrox ~- ============================================================================== Yep, time for a boss battle. Just like that. -----------------------. BOSS: Commander Olrox '------------------------------------------------------ We're much closer to the Vampire Dark Lord, but Commander Olrox is the last line of defense before we can reach the queen. He is similar to Lieutenant Brauner both in appearance and fighting style, but I would give the edge to Commander Olrox in terms of difficulty. The boss is much quicker than his brother and dodges most of your attacks, which can be frustrating. He has a speed and agility similar to that of a Swordmaster, who normally you cannot land a three-plus combo on because they shift back and forth all the time. Aside from dodging, Commander Olrox can also teleport around the ring. Fortunately, this boss doesn't have too many attacks. Aside from your basic physical attacks, Commander Olrox may pounce on you and begin to drain your blood. Frantically tap the button onscreen to free yourself and counter the attack. He can also throw his duel blades at you like a buzzsaw, but these cannot be caught. When you hear him speak, run to the side as he spins both blades towards you. Olrox is mighty fast, but countering his attacks is key. A great time to attack is just after he has thrown both weapons at you, because he stops for a second in order to catch them before resuming play. Just as he catches the two swords, throw a Flask at him to knock him down or just use a heavy combo. You can even strike as the blades are still spinning in the air and the boss simply stands and waits for them to return. The boss battle goes by surprisingly fast until Olrox is hanging on by a thread. A scene begins as the boss runs over to one of the iron maidens surrounding the ring. It opens up and he begins feasing on the dead Lycanthrope inside. He will heal until he's back at a quarter health left. You must put a stop to Commander Olrox by destroying the remains of the dead Lycanthropes inside each of the iron maidens. If you do not, the next time you reduce his health to a smidgen he will return to the iron maiden and refill his health bar. But if you destroy the corpse inside, he'll be out of luck. Destroy the first Lycanthrope corpse inside the first iron maiden. Now when you reduce the boss's health, he will pry open a second iron maiden and drink the blood of the Lycanthrope inside. Again, destroy the body and resume fighting Olrox. The same happens with a third iron maiden, and the boss is back up to a quarter health for the third consecutive time. Remove the corpse from the iron maiden and lower his health. Commander Olrox finds a fourth and final iron maiden containing a Lycanthrope and refills his health to one-fourth. For one final time, destroy the dead body inside and direct your attention back to Commander Olrox. With four iron maidens opened and four corpses destroyed, Olrox has no way to regenerate himself. Now when you drain his health bar, Olrox will begin to glow and you can grab him to initiate a quick-time event. This boss battle is all about patience and endurance. It seems to fly by at first, but it turns out to be very deceiving since every time the boss opens up an iron maiden he regains one-quarter of his health. So in a way, you have to deplete his health bar two full times during the course of the duel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -~ Shadow Gem #23 ~- ==================== There is a dead knight inside one of the iron maidens that Commander Olrox opened up during the boss battle. It's best to wait and collect the Shadow Gem after the fight has concluded. Commander Olrox has been slain, and his blood drains into an indentation in the center of the room. In order to solve the puzzle to continue forward, you must steer Olrox's blood through the channels and into each of the circular cups along the way. You must get from the bottom of the maze to the very top. The blue fireballs surrounding the maze repesents the remaining amount of time you have to reach a cup. The cups act as pit stops and the timer is reset once you reach a cup. [6] x .-----------.---xxxxx .-------.---. | | x | | | |-----------| x xxxxxxxxx | | | | x x x | | '---.---. '---xxxxx xxx[5]--|---'---. | | | x | | .---' xxxxxxxxx | x---.---' .---| | x x | x | | | | xxx[4]--. xxxxxxxxx---' .---' | | x | | | | | '---x-------'---. |---' .---|---.---' x | | | | | x xxxxx '---| xxxxx---|---| x x x | x x | | .---x x [3]xxx | x [2]xxx |---. | x x | x | x | x | | | xxxxx | xxxxxxxxx | x---| | | | | | x | | | |-------'-------'---x---' | | | x | '-----------' [1]xxxxxxxxxxx-------' This is the map of the channels where you have to move the blood from. The cups are numbered and you begin at Cup 1. The best path you should take when trying to go through all six cups (move the Left Analog Stick to steer the blood) is represented by the "x"s. Steer the blood in that direction through the maze to complete the puzzle and finish the level. -~ The Throne Room ~- ============================================================================== The final Dark Lord is found here in the Throne Room. Prepare for the upcoming battle with the Health Font and Neutral Elemental Energy Statue, then start heading up the staircase. -~ Light Gem #22 ~- =================== About halfway up the staircase, you will notice a dead soldier leaning up against the railing. Take the Light Gem from his possession before moving on. Go through the door for a cinematic. ----------------. BOSS: Carmilla '------------------------------------------------------------- I don't understand how this lady has any defense, considering how she's wearing nothing but a curtain. She must take this into account as well, since she seals herself inside a force field and floats above the center of the boss's arena. You cannot target Carmilla in here. Instead, she will summon Vampire Warriors to do her bidding. You'll usually find around five Vampires at a time. As if that wasn't bad enough, occasionally the boss lowers to the ground and shoots bolts of lightning at you. You can help out your case by drawing the lightning bolts towards the enemies you are fighting. She will follow you with the attack, so make sure that a couple Vampire Warriors are between you and Carmilla before she fires away... she'll instantly kill any Vampire Warrior that she (accidentally) hits with her spell. Since you cannot damage Carmilla during this phase, the only way to succeed is to wipe out her clan of Vampire Warriors. Try to save your items and magic for later parts of the fight when you'll really need it. A few more Vampire Warriors may appear after the initial die out, but you likely won't face any more than ten Vampires in total. -------------------------. BOSS: Vampire Dark Lord '---------------------------------------------------- Carmilla reveals her true colors and transforms into her true form as the Vampire Dark Lord. Additionally, the floor begins to crumble away so that you are left with a smaller arena to fight on. The Vampire Dark Lord usually summons about three Vampire Warriors to fight alongside her. Try to defeat them before you concentrate 100% on the boss. Using some attacks, such as Flasks, will be able to target both the boss and her minions. The queen isn't very big, but is quick on her feet and can use her gigantic wings to float around the room. She has some nasty close-range attacks, such as some claw swipes and a vicious uppercut that cannot be blocked. Also, the boss is able to use her needle-like fingers to impale Gabriel. If you are skewered, repeatedly tap the button onscreen to get free. If you have any Holy Water Flasks, use 'em at the start of the battle (the same should be said for a Dark Crystal). Try and use Shadow Magic to defeat the Vampire Warriors and damage the boss. The Vampire Warriors drop Elemental Orbs when defeated, so you should have a constant supply of magic. When the Vampire Dark Lord is down to half a health bar, more of the ground is destroyed and she begins using two new attacks. Both attacks are preceded by her taking flight. The boss will either create an energy shockwave on the ground or summon a pack of vampire bats that swoop down to pester you. If she is using the energy shockwave attack, jump in the air. If she sends some bats your way, constantly dodge roll until they disperse. When the queen is on her last legs, she flies in the air and casts another protective shield around her before firing bolts of lightning at you. Press the button onscreen for your Dark Gauntlet to absorb the lightning. Complete this and the boss falls to the ground, stunned. While she's on the ground (still inside her force field), use any Dark Gauntlet attack to trigger the final button sequence. From here, you're only a few short ring sequences away from exterminating the second Dark Lord. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ At the conclusion of the battle, Gabriel obtains the Seraph Shoulders. You can now perform a double jump, which is pretty darn useful in my eyes. ============================================================================== CHAPTER IX [0309] ============================================================================== -~ Bones Forest ~- ============================================================================== Only one more Dark Lord left to go... but it's Death himself. We still have a long ways to go before we get to kick his butt, but Gabriel ends up in a strange, murky forest. Bones Forest, to be exact. This level is basically a training ground for your Seraph Shoulders. You also unlock some new relic powers, so you may want to check 'em out. -~ Light Gem #23 ~- =================== At the start of the level, walk around the portal and jump over the low walls to find a deceased knight inside a little nook. Search his body for the Light Gem, then jump out. -~ Shadow Gem #24 ~- ==================== At the start of the level, go to the left of the portal towards the outer perimeter. You should be able to easily find a corpse leaning up against a wooden boat. Examine the corpse for the gem. You may be hurting for the previous boss battle, so use the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue and Health Font to get yourself back into tip-top shape. Proceed over to the back wall and you will find a ledge way out of your reach. However, using the Seraph Shoulders to perform a double jump allows you to reach the ledge. Continue along the wall to reach the very top. The gap in front of you is too far even for a basic double jump. You must first perform a sprinting jump, then tap A again for the second jump. Even if you don't make it, you'll land in a Troll-infested hole that you can easily escape from. On the other side, Gabriel encounters a new type of enemy: Headless Burrowers. Just as their name implies, the Headless Burrowers are submerged underground, but not before throwing their own heads at you. These heads will float around and knock into you. They mainly act as a distraction for the Headless Burrowers to come from behind and snatch you. Watch for a red aura to appear around you, then run away before they can grab you. You must destroy all of the heads in order to make the Headless Burrowers to emerge from the ground. That way you can target the bodies and destroy them; if you keep the bodies alive, they'll keep spawning heads and you'll get nowhere in this fight. Once they are all finished off, the tribal statues at the north end of the area collapse, leaving you with two options. Leave the eastern path for now and go west. You will reach another large pit, but this time there is no bottom. You must make the jump across. Even though you can reach the other side, your main target is the tunnel just below the ledge on the other side. If you want you can do a sprinting double jump, then once you reach the ledge you can drop down into the tunnel. -~ Shadow Gem #25 ~- ==================== Perform a sprinting double jump to leap across the chasm. Before you drop down from the ledge and into the tunnel, walk to a dead end to find a Shadow Gem in the corner. In order to escape the area, which has become enclosed, defeat the Headless Burrowers. Drop down into the tunnel and walk forward. You must traverse across a long spike pit using the grip points along the way. Double jump to the first one and swing across, then let go and perform another double jump to reach the second one. Just keep using your Seraph Shoulders to get across. A Chupacabras pops up out of nowhere and takes all your powers, including your new Seraph Shoulders. He runs away to the area where you first encountered the Headless Burrowers; we must find a new way to return to that area since we have none of our powers left. -~ Life Gem #24 ~- ================== After you get your powers stolen, look to the right to find a ledge you can climb up on the side of the rock wall. Shimmy onto the wooden platform to find the Life Gem. From the platform, continue to the top of the cliff and head inside the cave. In here, you will have to defeat and mount a Cave Troll. Be on the safe side, since you have none of your relics. Mount the creature and destroy the boulders to find an extension of the cave. Clobber the Small Trolls and smash another boulder to reveal the Chupacabras. Punch him a few times to stun the little sucker, then kill the Cave Troll and retrieve your things. Follow the cave will take you back to where you first fought the Headless Burrowers. Backtrack through the cave and fall back down to the ground. Use your Seraph Shoulders to cross over the pit. When you land on the second platform, it falls apart and you drop towards the darkness. Before you die, quickly grapple to the grip point and swing to safety. From here, climb across onto solid ground. Enter the small tunnel and stand on the edge of the cliff. Even though it looks like there's nothing to land onto, double jump out of the tunnel. In midair, grapple to the grip point that appears and swing across. Now scale the wall and continue using your Seraph Shoulders when need be to eventually reach the end of the level. -~ Woes Moor ~- ============================================================================== Basically, we have to collect three keys that are guarded by evil scarecrows in order to have a creepy old witch shrink you inside of a golden music box so you can be transported to the Land of the Dead. Sure, makes perfect sense... -~ Shadow Gem #26 ~- ==================== As soon as you gain control, walk south towards the exit of the previous level. Follow the picket fence to find a knight and a Shadow Gem at the end. Go north down the trail as a murder of crows fly on top of a piece of wood. Shake the wheel that begins glowing underneath the wooden post to shoo away the crows. As they fly to another post, shake 'em off that one as well (a few Mandragoras may appear in between, so defeat them first). A Scarecrow becomes awakened and battles Gabriel. I know these enemies have health bars, but I cannot consider them bosses or even mini-bosses. They're a bit stronger than your average foe, nothing more. Scarecrows are very fast and have some vicious scythe attacks, but you've dealt with worse. Finish it off with a grab attack to receive the first Music Box Key. The second Scarecrow is lying idle to the north of the first one. You must get the flock of crows to move north towards the Scarecrow. However, if you shake the post they are on, they will fly to the eastern post. Shake it again, and they fly back to where they were originally. No way for them to fly north. A second flock of crows flies in overhead. From the location of the second Scarecrow, walk to the right to find a pile of wooden boards blocking the way. Tear them apart with the Spiked Chain and continue up the stairs towards the base of the windmill. -~ Light Gem #24 ~- =================== Go up the stairs towards the base of the windmill and you should locate the knight containing the Light Gem quite easily. Shake the post to scare away the second flock of birds so they fly onto a new post. Continue pesting this flock of crows until they fly onto the post to the right of the first flock. Return to the first flock and shake the post. They cannot fly to the right since that post is occupied by the new bunch, so their only option is north towards the Scarecrow. Now that the Scarecrow has woken up, finish it off for the second Music Box Key. Two down, one to go. The third Scarecrow is located east of the first one. You'll need to do a little strategizing in order to get the crows in the right positions like before. -~ Life Gem #25 ~- ================== Walk behind the third Scarecrow and into the barn. On the right side of the barn is a dead knight tucked away in the corner. Search his body for the gem. To start, go south from the Scarecrow to find a boarded-up barn. Use your Spiked Chain to open it up to find a new flock of crows. -~ Light Gem #25 ~- =================== While trying to wake up the third Scarecrow, there is a barn you must open up in order to find the first flock of crows. Open the barn using the Spiked Chain and you'll find the Light Gem inside. There are two posts on either side of the Scarecrow. When you get the first flock to perch on one of the posts, another flock appears on the post next to it. You have two flocks to the left and right of the Scarecrow, but neither will perch on top of the Scarecrow if you shoo them away. Time for Plan B. Shake the post to the right of the Scarecrow; the crows should fly to the south. Leave 'em there. Go around the corner of the barn to the right to find a third flock. Continue shooing away this flock of crows until they perch on the post that was originally inhabited by the second flock. Head south to the crows you scared off originally. Normally, shaking the post would cause the crows to land on the posts either left or right of the Scarecrow. Since both are occupied, the crows will fly north to the Scarecrow. Voila! Eliminate the final Scarecrow to receive the third Music Box Key. Now you can return to Baba's hut with all three keys. -~ The Music Box ~- ============================================================================== This is a weird level, and I do not like it one bit. This is another puzzle level, as there are no enemies present. Pick up the Green Cylinder in front of you and inspect the music player nearby. The Green Cylinder will be placed inside the machine and you will be able to play music by pressing the rightmost button. The various cylinders found in this level are used to make music. While music is playing, various traps are disabled depending on the corresponding cylinder that's being played. Since you only have the Green Cylinder, the trap associated with the Green Cylinder will be disabled once you start playing music. To see which trap hallway corresponds to each color cylinder, pay attention to the color of the floors in each of the passages. The Green Cylinder deactivates the spike trap to your left. The spikes will retract periodically, so sprint down the hallway when they retract before you are skewered. On the other side, you'll find a Red Cylinder and a teleporter that brings you back to the center of the area. -~ Light Gem #26 ~- =================== Inside the green hallway is a dead soldier in the middle. You must sprint out and inspect his body to obtain the Light Gem while the spikes are retracted. However, you cannot do all this and still cross the hallway in time, so you will die while obtaining the gem. Inspect the music player again to insert the Red Cylinder next to the Green Cylinder. Make sure to switch the positions of the two so the Red Cylinder is all the way on the left and the green one is to the right of it. This means that the red notes will begin playing first, followed by green notes. In other words, the trap associated with the Red Cylinder deactivates first, with the green trap second. The red trap is the hallway to the right of the music player. Platforms spring up from below from time to time, so use it to cross the hole. To the left is a green hallway containing another green trap. Wait for the red notes to stop and for the green notes to begin: the green trap is now disabled. Sprint through the hall to find the Magenta Cylinder. The Magenta Cylinder is associated with the buzzsaw traps. There are buzzsaws that hang from the sides of the hallway. Jump over the low ones and dodge roll underneath the high ones. The order of the cylinders inside the music player (from left to right) should be: Red, Magenta, Green. Cross the red hallway on the right again. This time, follow the magenta hallway to your right. Dodge roll underneath the high gears and double jump over the low ones to reach the Yellow Cylinder. The green notes will play after the magenta, but there is no green hallway here so it doesn't matter. Teleport back to the music player. The Yellow Cylinder is associated with the flame traps. In yellow hallways, there are flame jets on the wall that shoot out fire. Wait for them to stop before crossing. For the order: Red, Yellow, Green, Magenta (the last two don't actually matter since we are only going through a red hallway and a yellow hallway). Go north from the music player and cross the red hallway. To the left is the yellow hallway. The yellow hallway is trickier than the rest of the traps and it takes a while to understand the pattern of the flames. If the yellow notes end before you cross the hallway in time, head over to the teleporter and go back to the music player and play it again. Crossing the red and yellow hallways leads you to the Blue Cylinder. Return to the music player again. The Blue Cylinder is associated with the electric traps. There are electrical fields blocking your progress. Like the flame trap, you simply must memorize the pattern of electrical fields when they flicker on and off. It's not too difficult. -~ Life Gem #26 ~- ================== In the music player, use the following cylinders: Red, Blue, Magenta, Yellow. Go north across the red hallway, north through the blue hallway, north across the magenta hallway, and west through the yellow hallway. This will lead you to a corpse containing the Life Gem. Place the cylinders in the following order: Red, Blue, Magenta, Green. With the cylinders in place, play the music once more. Go north across the red hallway and north across the blue hallway. Continue north through the magenta hallway, then lastly east through the green hallway. The Blue Rose will be yours for the taking once you escape the traps. The crazy old hag teleports you to the Land of the Dead. ============================================================================== CHAPTER X [0310] ============================================================================== -~ Titan Graveyard ~- ============================================================================== You end up in a very strange land; a dark area populated by bright purple crystals. It's a real pretty sight. However, you must climb out of this place at once. Even though the camera view and the area in general can be pretty disorienting, you shouldn't have any trouble finding your way out. When you exit, you'll catch a glimpse of the Titan Graveyard as you realize that you actually climbed out from inside of a dead Titan. Rappel down from the grip point, then jump to the ledge on your left and rappel down to the ground. Grab the scroll from the knight on the right side of the area and approach the mist in front of you. Like we've seen in earlier levels, this mist is poisonous and wading through it is a big no-no. Avoid the toxic sludge and double jump to the island, then double jump again to the far side of the river. There are a couple Skeleton Warriors and Creeping Corpses on the other side. You know how to tango with the skeletons, but you have never seen a Creeping Corpse before. Have no fear, as they are weak and pathetic beings. Wipe the floor with the monsters before searching for another scroll around here. -~ Light Gem #27 ~- =================== Climb up onto the downed Titan on your left. Crawl past its head and you'll notice that there is a large hole in its chest. Drop into the hole to find the Light Gem. Go back to the island in the middle of the toxic stream and double jump to the Titan's arm at the north end of the screen. Climb above the raised arm and stand on the outstretched fingers of the Titan before double jumping to the raised platform above where you fought those monsters. A Creeping Corpse crawls inside one of the coffins lying on the ground and turns into a Creeping Coffin. These enemies are big and kinda tough, but the easiest way to defeat Creeping Coffins is to prevent their existence entirely. Whenever you see a coffin, you can expect Creeping Corpses to come and live inside. Defeat the Creeping Corpses before they can get inside and voila, you don't have to fight a Creeping Coffin. There is a rune on the side of the platform that needs to be activated with some sort of key. Fortunately, the Creeping Coffin drops a Rune Fragment when destroyed. Don't use the Rune Fragment on the rune just yet. -~ Life Gem #27 ~- ================== Climb along the Titan's arm on the left side of the platform. Go all the way down the arm to reach another platform containing a Life Gem. Use the Rune Fragment on the rune to power up the Titan. It moves its arm out of the way and drops down in another location, acting as a bridge to a new part of the level. Cross the arm and drop down onto the island. The islands here are pretty far apart, so using sprinting double jumps so you don't land in the poisonous sludge between them. From the Titan's arm, jump to the island north of here. You can go to the left or right; you have to go both ways eventually, so it does not matter which way you go first. I'll shake things up a bit and go right first. Double jump to the Titan on the right side of the toxic pool. Walk down the trail to enter a small cavern. Inside are two coffins that are waiting to be inhabited by a Creeping Corpse. There are about five Creeping Corpses here and one of them is bound to get into each of the coffins, so don't worry if you have to fight some Creeping Coffins. After annihilating all of the enemies in the room, you obtain another Rune Fragment. Return to the island and jump to the left this time. This Titan needs to be powered up using two Rune Fragments. We already have one, so it's a start. -~ Shadow Gem #27 ~- ==================== When you are at the intersection on the island, double jump to the left to reach the Titan on the left, go north and jump over the wall to find a corpse slumped against the wall. Grab the Shadow Gem from the knight's body. Go south to reach the Titan's back and place the first Rune Fragment inside the rune. The Titan powers up a lil' bit and raises its hand. Walk back to where you found the Shadow Gem and double jump onto the arm. Spring jump down its arm and double jump to the platform across the way. -~ Light Gem #28 ~- =================== There is a dead knight lying underneath the raised hand of the Titan, just before the fight against the trio of Creeping Coffins. Take down the three Creeping Coffins over here to receive the second Rune Fragment. Next, use your Seraph Shoulders to jump up to the ledge above. When you get onto the outstretched hand of the Titan, then double jump over to the other Titan. The jump from hand to hand can be a bit frustrating for some players. Now you can place the second Rune Fragment inside of the rune and fully power the Titan. With its second arm outstretched, move underneath the right arm. Deal with the Skeleton Warriors and Creeping Corpses here, then climb up the ledges to reach the top of the Titan's arm. Proceed to the platform at the other end to wrap things up here. -~ Fire Pinnacle ~- ============================================================================== Pan challenges Gabriel to a fight to the death, as Gabriel must prove his worth by defeating Pan in battle. This one will be a doozy! --------------------------. BOSS: The Silver Warrior '--------------------------------------------------- -~ Part 1 ~- The Silver Warrior is a powerful foe that will certainly give you a run for your money. The boss is incredibly quick on his feet and carries a weapon similar to your Combat Cross. He can attack close-range with a quick slash, or extend the chain to hit you from a distance. Additionally, the boss is capable of using an unblockable flying uppercut. The boss is difficult in his own right, but to make things worse you are stripped of both Light and Shadow Magic; at least for the first part of the fight. You have no way of healing, so it is key to stay in a defensive position for most of this fight. Don't go overboard with the combos or else you'll be letting the boss tear you apart with ease. I'd spend the entire fight holding down the Left Trigger. Block the Silver Warrior's blows (but don't count on getting a counterattack... just block normally) and then dodge his unblockable ones. Like many agile enemies, don't use anything higher than a three-hit combo or you're just asking to be interrupted with a sword to the face. Dodge roll, quick attack, rinse and repeat. Just roll around the boss like a crazy monkey until you get an opening to strike. Like I said, it's much more important to play it safe than to try and end this stage of the boss battle quickly. You'll be able to grab the Silver Warrior once you take away around a quarter of his health. -~ Part 2 ~- At the start of the second phase, you receive your Light Magic back. This isn't an excuse to go all-out, since the Silver Warrior can still put an ass- whoopin' on you even with the power to heal. The boss also uses Light Magic of his own. A weird trick about this fight is that using magic against the boss while he uses the same magic is a bad idea. If you use a Light Magic attack while the Silver Warrior has his own Light Magic activated, it will cause significantly less damage. Only use Light Magic when you need to heal; otherwise switch it off and fight normally. The Silver Warrior does not develop any new moves, so use the same strategy you did in the first part, except occasionally use Light Magic to heal yourself. One the boss is down to half health, the third part begins. -~ Part 3 ~- The boss introduces Shadow Magic into the fight. He will use Shadow Magic as well as yourself. The same method as before applies here: if the Silver Warrior is using magic, do not use the same magic to attack. In fact, while using the same magic weakens your attacks, using the opposite magic makes your hits much more damaging. Same attacks as before, but the boss moves a lot quicker than normal. He will often only let you land one blow before he strafes to the side and lunges at you. Definitely be careful and use magic throughout this entire part. Even if you don't like to use magic that much, it really makes the fight that much easier on you. You'll have to switch between Light and Shadow Magic every couple seconds, but if you keep using the opposite magic on the Silver Warrior, you will triumph. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pan's sacrifice allows you to continue on your quest. -~ Fire Cemetery ~- ============================================================================== There is a giant canyon waiting in front of you, so you'll need to use the ledges and platforms in order to navigate across. Some of the ledges are weak and may crumble from under you, so be quick. Gabriel stumbles upon a small band of Zombies not too far into the level. These enemies are slow and pitifully weak, so you won't have to worry too much about 'em. -~ Light Gem #29 ~- =================== After defeating the first Zombie batch, take a right at the fork. Jump down into the pit to battle a few more Zombies. Once they're toast, walk to the far end and climb up the ledges to reach a knight containing a Light Gem. Return to the intersection and go left this time. Crawl across the ledges with a bit of pep in your step, since the ledges will disintegrate at any time. Swing over to the grip point and rappel down to the bottom of the canyon. Go forward to catch a sight of the vicinity. Stop by at the Health Font before approaching the edge of the cliff. You are one giant leap of faith away from reaching the other side; jump in the air, but take a very long pause before executing the double jump. When you get close enough to the other side, you'll be able to grapple over to a grip point and pull yourself up. When you get to safety, a Chupacabras appears and... takes all your powers. Typical. The little rascal teleports inside of a cage in the center of the area. Note the three flaming stone heads on the top of the cage. You must power up the stone heads using the pillars surrounding the puzzle area. -~ Life Gem #28 ~- ================== From your starting position, go to the left. There is a dead knight found in the southwest corner of the puzzle room. Examine the corpse to receive a Life Gem. -~ Life Gem #29 ~- ================== From your starting position, head to the right. When the path opens up, follow it to the north and continue to eventually find a fallen knight and the Life Gem lying inside of a tiny alcove. First, pick up the scroll in front of the cage. Then head to the eastern side of the area. Grab a Dark Crystal from the Dark Crystal well here and walk over to the shining indentation on the wall nearby. Placing a Dark Crystal into the hole will power up the pillar next to you. The track the pillar rests on turns purple, meaning that it is activated. You must move the pillar so that it can reach one of the three stone heads. Push the pillar all the way to the end of its track (you can use your Combat Cross to move the pillars), then rotate it so the energy beam hits the first head above the cage. For reference, this will be referred to as Pillar 1. Push Pillar 1 back to its starting point, then go southwest to find another pillar (what will be known as Pillar 2). Push Pillar 2 to the right. We cannot turn it on just yet since the Dark Crystal well has been sealed. If you don't have any Dark Crystals, you can use other activated pillars to power up ones that are not activated. Do this with Pillar 2 by using Pillar 1; rotate Pillar 1 so it hits Pillar 2 and turns it on. Now rotate Pillar 2 so the beam shines through the crack in the wall and hits the second stone head. Return to the indentation where you placed the Dark Crystal; inspect it to remove the crystal and power down Pillar 1. We won't be needing it anymore. Move Pillar 2 all the way to the left so it's at the end of the track. Proceed to the northwest corner of the area to find a third pillar. Use the Dark Crystal to power it up and push Pillar 3 down its track. Rotate so Pillar 3 hits Pillar 2 and powers it up. Lastly, rotate Pillar 2 so it hits the third stone head, completing the puzzle. Throttle the Chupacabras so it gives you your relics back. Heal up at any of the Health Fonts if needed, then head to the northern end. You must open the crematory by sounding the two gongs simultaneously. Clear the vicinity of Zombies before attempting this challenge. You must hit one gong, then hit the second while the first one is still echoing. You can only ring a gong with a Tremor Punch, hence the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue here. You'll need all the Shadow Magic you can get. Punch the first gong, then dash to the other and punch it. Charging up your Tremor Punches wastes time, so don't bother. If the Zombies start getting in the way (psst... they keep coming back), use a Flask to instantly destroy a whole group of 'em. With the crematory doors open, move on through. -~ Crematory Oven ~- ============================================================================== This is another level that starts off with a boss battle. Before you can target the Gravedigger directly, he summons a horde of Creeping Corpses your way. Use a Flask to defeat most - if not all - of the enemies before any of them can turn into a Creeping Coffin. If any of 'em do, then so be it. Destroy all of the enemies, then heal and stock up on magic before the boss. -------------------. BOSS: Gravedigger '---------------------------------------------------------- This Pyramid Head look-alike can be challenging, even though his weapon of choice is a shovel. the Gravedigger uses said shovel to unearth more Creeping Corpses to aid him during the fight. This large and imposing boss has many devastating attacks; most being unblockable. His signature attack may be an overhead swing that results in a shockwave. When you see the Gravedigger pull his shovel back and over his head, get ready to somersault or jump. The boss's other long-range attack is when he buries the tip of the shovel into the ground and creates a line of fire that shoots out towards you. A bit easier to dodge in my opinion. Sometimes, the strange mask the boss wears will split in half, revealing a mess of tentacles for a face. The Gravedigger then extends the tentacles out to pierce at you. All of the boss's other attacks are short-range shovel swings. Some of these attacks can be blocked if you don't feel like dodgin'. I would say that it is a lot safer to stay up close when battling the Gravedigger than to keep your distance. When you're down to about the halfway point in the fight, the Gravedigger digs up a handful of Creeping Corpses. It's tough enough worrying about the boss alone, but now you have at least three goons scurrying around. The logical way would be to focus on them before you go back to fighting the boss. This is probably the best way to go, although using a Flask while they are all grouped together will eliminate the Creeping Corpses and significantly hurt the boss. I found the Gravedigger to be a little sluggish, so I didn't have much trouble avoiding damage aside from his overhead slam and his quick tentacle sting. I fully recommend using Shadow Magic on this boss; you should have plenty of magic from the start of the level, and Creeping Corpses drop Neutral Elemental Orbs when defeated. Switch over to Light Magic if you're low on health. As like many boss battles, you are to enter a quick-time event once the Gravedigger is down to a sliver of health. However, DO NOT grab the boss! If you do, the boss regains a quarter of his health. Instead, examine the crank to the right of the Gravedigger and open up the furnace hatch. By now, the Gravedigger most likely regains consciousness and you must drain one-fourth of his health again. If this is the case, continue smacking him around until he is dazed. With the furnace already open, grab the Gravedigger and follow the ring sequences and button prompts to put a stop to him. Overall, not a terribly difficult boss fight; I found this guy to be a lot easier than the fight against the Silver Warrior. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Okay, well now you are in a predicament. Stuck at the bottom of the furnace, you must climb out of the furnace as the lava rises before you are engulfed in the liquid hot magma. It's all straightforward, and you've been in enough platforming situations to know exactly what to do. There is one note that I should bring to your attention, though... -~ Shadow Gem #28 ~- ==================== As you are climbing out of the furnace, you will reach a large metal ring just before the exit. If you hop up the ledges directly above you, you'll escape. However, to get the Shadow Gem you must shimmy to the right around the edge of the ring to another series of ledges. Go up these ledges to reach a small platform containing the gem. Climb back down and shimmy to the left again, then head up the ledges to safety. If the lava catches up to you and you die while backtracking around the ring, don't fret: you won't have to get the gem again as it stays in your possession. At the top of the furnace, you can relax a bit. But you're still not out of the woods yet! Double jump up the steps and grapple to the grip point. Climb to the top of the spire to find one last grip point that takes you out of here. We're getting down to the wire here; only two more chapters (it's really more like one) to go! ============================================================================== CHAPTER XI [0311] ============================================================================== -~ Necromancer's Abyss ~- ============================================================================== Well, this here is the last level. Not technically the last level, but the last level where you're actually walking around and doing stuff. The final two are just bosses. So here we go!! The entire level is made up of three towers floating in the skies. You must reach each tower and destroy the Necromancer that waits for you on the top of each one. Walk forward to the large structure thingy and grab the scroll. Approach the thing and examine to begin the zodiac puzzle. You muse turn the dial and select the correct dates to create an eclipse so that the light shines through the hole in the side of the tower. For the first slot, select the Virgo symbol. It looks kinda like this: `./\ /\ | | | | | |/\ | | | | | | |/ ,'\ For the second slot, pick Day 24. Then for the rightmost slot, select a filled- in black circle. This should create an eclipse and create a bridge to your right. -~ Shadow Gem #29 ~- ==================== Walk around the left side of the zodiac puzzle machine thing and drop down to a low ledge here. Keep going to the very edge to spot a deceased knight clinging on to a Shadow Gem. Walk to the far right side of the ring and go across the bridge to reach another puzzle. There are rows of tiles on the ground in front of you. Punching the tiles on the ground cause the beam of light found on the circular door to move in a certain direction. Starting from the inner ring (orange), it goes Down, Left (yellow), Right (red), and Up (tan). You basically have to replicate the design shown on the door in order to open it. As you can see from the door design, you must Earthquake Punch the following directions: Up, Right, Up, Up, Left, Down, Left, Up, Up, Right, Up Once you have done this, Earthquake the glowing tile in the center to complete the puzzle. Sprint jump through the opening and head through the portal up against the wall to be teleported on the other side of the wall. Some Reapers halt your progress, but these monsters are incredibly weak and can be destroyed with two hits. There's a catch: Reapers are very, very strong and three or four hits can drain a full health bar. They are weak, but be incredibly careful when fighting Reapers. -~ Life Gem #30 ~- ================== Approach the second portal after the Reaper fight and go south. Drop down the steps to reach a knight holding the Life Gem. One thing to note is that you retain your momentum when travelling through portals. So if you sprint through a portal, you'll be sprinting once you get out through the other side. For the portal here, jump through and you will be popped out in the air above where you entered. Perform a second jump to reach the ledge above the portal. Jump over to the ledge so you can reach a strange mirror on the other side. Inspect it to teleport somewhere else. Use the moving rock platforms to continue up the side of the first tower. You will fight a group of Reapers atop the first rock pillar. Defeat them, then perform a sprinting double jump to the next set of rock platforms. Examine the mirror to be transported to the top of the tower. -------------------. BOSS: Necromancer '---------------------------------------------------------- Shame; the Necromancer boss fights are all really easy. Easier than any other boss fight up to this point and only slightly harder than the Scarecrows we fought back in Woes Moor (why I decided to categorize these guys as bosses, I don't know). The Necromancer is not only very strong, but incredibly fast; he reminds me of the Swordmaster enemies. His attacks are deceiving, because you wouln't picture someone like him dealing so much damage with one blow. The boss has several quick staff strikes, two of which being stronger than the others. First is an uppercut-like move, where the boss swings his staff upwards and tries to knock you off your feet. The second attack is actually pretty terrible and can deal a lot of damage to you. It's a two-hit attack that starts off with a quick swipe, then follows up with an overhead slam that is basically identical to one of the Gravedigger's attacks: the staff hits the ground and a stream of fire extends across the arena. Additionally, the Necromancer spends a lot of the time summoning Zombie armies to distract you. The weird part is that for each Zombie he creates, he loses a bit of health. After a while, the Necromancer absorbs the surviving Zombies and he gains his health back. To make a short and easy boss fight even shorter and easier, focus on killing the Zombies instead of continuing to focus on the boss. Still pay attention to the Necromancer and his deadly attacks, but fend off the Zombies so he cannot absorb them. One Flask will do the trick, but otherwise your Combat Cross works nearly as well. This battle should fly by real fast. If you are hit by a few of the boss's knock-out attacks, use Light Magic to regain your health. The additional monsters present serve as a good resource for Neutral Elemental Orbs. Finish the fight off with a quick-time event. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Two mirrors appear once you have slain the first Necromancer. You have to go through both mirrors eventually, but the right path is more important and contains a Light Gem. Right it is! You'll find yourself in a realm filled with more portals. -~ Light Gem #30 ~- =================== In the right path, sprint jump across the ledge to your left. Jump into the portal here to appear above the portal and quickly grapple to the grip point on the wall. Push off of the wall and jump to the ledge to your left, then collect the Light Gem. Return to where you entered the area and jump through the portal on the right. As you appear in midair, jump a second time to reach the next mirror. You'll be teleported to the base of the second tower. Like in the first tower, you must ride moving platforms to eventually reach the top. However, portals are incorporated into the scheme this time. You must use proper timing in order to travel through portals and land on platforms as they are moving. For the first portal, you'll be teleported in the air above where the moving platform goes back and forth. Wait for the platform to move to the right (above the low portal) and jump through to land on the platform. If you miss the platform, you'll drop below and fall into a portal that merely takes you back to the starting position. From the platform, you can jump to the next one to reach a scroll and a bag containing a Dark Crystal. Otherwise, ride the platform to the left and jump off. Jump across the ledges and fight the Reapers at the top of the rock pillar. Teleport through the next mirror. A giant group of Reapers appears, so be extra careful. Defeat them, then Earthquake Punch the shining switch and go through the mirror. Back at the top of the first tower. This time, take the left path. Jump to the ledge on your left, then drop down into the portal. You appear in midair somewhere else; as you fall, quickly grapple to the grip point on the floating rock. You will swing onto a large platform. Take down the Reapers here, then go south and drop down from the edge. Shimmy to the left and jump across, then continue around the ledges to reach another grip point that takes you to a much-needed Health Font. Heal, then Earthquake Punch the second switch before continuing through the mirror. You will return to the top of the first tower. Go back through the left mirror. This time, go to the right instead of the left. Sprint jump through the portal floating in the air and you'll drop onto an island. Take down the Reapers before you and go through the portal here to be brought back to the starting position. Sprint jump through the portal on the right. This time, instead of landing on the island, do a second jump and use your Hook Tip to reach the grip point above you. Swing to the mirror and use it. You'll be in a small room with the third switch. Earthquake Punch the switch to open the gate back at the first tower. Go through the mirror to return to the first tower and go through the gate to the mirror. -------------------. BOSS: Necromancer '---------------------------------------------------------- The second Necromancer is nearly identical to the first one. This time, he uses one new attack: the boss charges up his staff, then slams it into the ground. The ground becomes coated in green electricity; use a timed double jump so you don't suffer the effects of the attack. The only other difference is that in addition to Zombies, the Necromancer may also summon Reapers. Reapers, as you know already, are much more dangerous than Zombies, so protect yourself from them and the boss. A Flask comes in handy when fighting Reapers so you can eliminate them in a quick flash without having to worry so much. The battle strategy is exactly the same here: attack the boss, guard his attacks, and focus on the minions he creates to lower his health. The new attack and the presence of Reapers makes the Necromancer a tad more difficult than his partner, but otherwise it isn't too bad. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Proceed through the mirror after killing the boss. Now on the third tower, sprint jump to the western ledge and begin climbing up the side. Use the two grip points to continue up and you'll reach a resting point. Do a sprinting double jump to grab onto the next series of ledges. Four grip points lead you to a portal. Jump once into the portal, then do a second jump once on the other side. In midair, swing to the grip point and jump off into the second portal. You'll appear high up above you; use your Hook Tip to grab onto the grip point here and hoist yourself to the top. One more grip point and you will find yourself at another mirror. -~ Shadow Gem #30 ~- ==================== You'll appear on the other side of the mirror facing a Health Font. Turn around and go to the left down a spiral flight of stairs. At the bottom, you will locate a corpse and a Shadow Gem. Go back up to the Health Font and heal. S'more platforming action awaits, so use the ledges; the level ends just as you reach the top of the third tower. -~ The Dracolich ~- ============================================================================== So, I lied. I kinda fibbed and said that there were only two Titans in the game. Well there's a third one, and he's a lot different than the other two you fought early on in the game: he's a dragon! The third Necromancer does not fight you and instead conjures up the Dracolich. -----------------------. BOSS: Dracolich Titan '------------------------------------------------------ Like in previous Titan battles, you must find a way to get onto the Titan before you can start attacking it. Gabriel stands on the top of the tower as the Dracolich Titan flies around the arena. It can take a little while for the boss to complete full circle as he flies around the tower, so in order to keep yourself busy, Zombies appear on the tower. The Dracolich Titan only has one attack here; when it flies over the tower, it'll breathe green fire onto the arena. Make sure to double jump as the flames coat the ground. Also, you may run into low-hanging parts of the Titan's body as he flies over you, such as its arms. In order to grab onto the Dracolich Titan, wait as it flies overhead. As its tail passes by you, use your Hook Tip to grapple to one of the bony spikes on the underside of the boss's tail. You'll grab on as the boss continues to fly high in the air. This will be a difficult challenge, and much harder than the other Titan battles. From the bony spike on the underside of the boss, climb up onto its spine. Now moving up the spine towards its head isn't as easy as you would think. You can only grab onto the whitened vertebrae; some are worn down and brown, so you cannot grab onto them. Right as you pull yourself up onto the spine, you'll find one to your left that you cannot get onto. Time for a little (more like big) detour. Instead of moving up its spine, start going to the right, down to the end of the Dracolich Titan's tail. Remember to hold the Right Trigger any time it starts to roar and shake. When you reach a vertebrae connected by a wooden plank, pull yourself up and walk across the plank. Drop down onto the other one and continue moving down the side of the tail. When you can go no further, you will be able to drop onto one of the bones protruding from the side of the dragon's tail. There are rows of bones flaring out from the side of the tail, so walk to the very end and crawl onto the edge. From here, you can jump from bone to bone back to the left. When you have reached the last bone and the others to your left are old and withered, look below to find another spike on the underside of the boss you can swing over to. Use your Hook Tip to reach the spike, then shimmy around and climb up onto the boss's spine. Now you're on the right side of the boss. You cannot go to the right, so start going to the left. Once you cannot go further, walk out onto the bones sticking out. Jump to the right to cross several bones. The key to doing all of this is to be patient, especially when jumping from bone to bone. Even though Gabriel motions that you can jump, wait for the bones to move close to you, because otherwise it'll be out of your reach and you'll jump and fall off. Pull yourself up to the spines and walk across a few more vertebrae, then drop down onto another set of bony protrusions. Go to the right until you reach a third spike and grapple over to it. Boy, this is repetitive. Lemme tell ya, moving across the boss is quite a chore. If at any time you fall off of the boss, complete the ring sequence to survive and return to the tower. You'll have to start all over again, but at least you are still alive. Climb up from the third spike back onto the left side of the Dracolich Titan's spine. Go and crawl onto the lone protrusion, then grapple to the fourth bony spike. When you go up to the right side of the boss's spine, you will find the first rune. Again, be patient here. Use X destroy the rune and pause to hold on whenever the boss gets restless. Ten strikes after, and you are one rune down. A portion of the Dracolich's Titan breaks off, allowing you to move from the right side of its spine to the left. But more importantly, you get a checkpoint! If you ever fall off of the boss and return to the tower, have no fear. When you grapple onto the Titan as it flies overhead, you will return to the first rune rather than the tip of its tail. Walk along the left side of its spine and drop onto the bony protrusions. Leap across the bones to find yourself at the second rune. Once you have broken it, the bony protrusion breaks off. Shimmy along the vertebrae to eventually reach the underside of the dragon. Traverse up the ribcage to reach the third rune. Once the third rune is down, complete a ring sequence to land next to the Dracolich Titan's head in a marvelous fashion. Climb down onto the bony spike and go around onto the right side of the boss. From here, you can move along the spine down to the fourth rune on the neck of the boss. The fifth and final rune is a bit tricky... mainly because it is inside the Dracolich Titan's mouth. The boss crash lands onto the tower and decides that flying around all that time was too tiring. It rests its hands on two spires and leans over the side of the tower. Again, the only attack the Titan uses is a fire breath attack. In order to get inside the dragon's mouth, use your Hook Tip when its chin begins to glow. As soon as you enter the mouth, the Dracolich Titan prepares to use a fire breath attack. Before it unleashes the attack and knocks you out of its mouth, punch the rune once to stop the attack. Hit the rune once more as the boss spits you out. Avoid a fire breath attack, then do the same thing once more to finally put an end to this fight. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The chapter is over, and we are inching closer to completion. One more chapter, one more level, one more battle. ============================================================================== CHAPTER XII [0312] ============================================================================== -~ Final Fight ~- ============================================================================== Well, you know what to expect here. So that is the Dark Lord of the Necromancers? I think a nice amount of people could have seen this coming. Well, the first part at least. The other revelations? Maybe not so much... -------------. BOSS: Satan '---------------------------------------------------------------- Having an unlimited amount of magic for the duration of the fight doesn't make it any easier. Satan is one tough cookie and can really catch you off guard if you aren't paying attention. He has a large arsenal of attacks, ranging from short-range and long-range to defensive spells. Just like any enemy or boss, Satan has his fair share of close-range physical attacks. The ones you need to worry about are the others. He has a massive ground quake attack: the boss slams his staff on the ground and causes a large earthquake. Make sure to use a timed double jump to avoid getting knocked around. If he creates a group of fireballs, that could mean one of two things. Either he will summon Reapers or create magic symbols on the ground that trap you in place. The Reapers come in two colors: red and blue. You can only damage them by using the opposite magic (use Shadow Magic on blue Reapers and vice-versa). In the case of the magic traps, you will be bound to the ground until you switch to the same color magic of the symbol. Otherwise, Satan uses this time to perform his ground quake attack. As you can see, the use of magic is incredibly important in the boss fight against Satan; not just for avoiding his moves, but also for damaging him. Like the battle against the Silver Warrior, you must use opposite magic than the boss in order to really hurt him. Pay attention to the color of his staff to determine what magic he is currently using. Satan switches back and forth between colors much faster than the Silver Warrior, so you will need to match his speed. Using the opposite magic against the boss not only deals damage, but every successful hit will heal you (not just using Light Magic, but Shadow Magic heals you as long as Satan is using Light Magic). After you drain one-fourth of Satan's health, you can perform a grab attack. However, getting close enough to the boss is the problem: Satan creates a force field that surrounds him when he is dazed. Each ring on the force field is either red or blue: you must go across each colored ring with the same color magic. Yeah, this time you must use the same magic as the color indicated on each ring. If you do not reach him in time, the boss recovers his lost health and you're back at square one. Following the ring sequence, Satan starts things up again with a new attack. The main one is a meteor storm spell that you will need to dodge from for a while. Satan summons meteors that rain down from above for a pretty long time, so stay away from the rings of fire where each one lands. The boss continues to fight while this one still goes on, so it's kinda double trouble. The boss battle continues as normal. Nothing really changes in the second half aside from the one new attack. Satan may swap magic moreso than often, but all you need to do is cancel your next attack and switch back over to the opposite one. I found the best way of depleting Satan's health is to use either the Holy Cross or Exploding Quake powers. Hopefully you have them by now and even though they take a couple seconds to use, they pack a real punch. Satan will seal himself behind some more magic barriers once he's down to a very small amount of health. This time, the barriers on the ground move around, so walking through them is a bit more difficult. Wait until you have a clear sight of the individual rings before you walk through with the correct magic activated. If you fail, Satan's health bar fills up to the halfway mark. Try your best so that this doesn't happen, and grab the boss to finish him off with one last quick-time event. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ So yeah, you just beat the game. Cool stuff. ______________________________________________________________________________ [4] MOVE LIST [0400] ______________________________________________________________________________ ============================================================================== ADVANCED MOVES [0401] ============================================================================== -~ Direct Attack Combo ~- ============================================================================== -> X x5 A linked series of direct attacks. The last hit of the sequence is a block breaker, and will expose an enemy to further attacks. -~ Area Attack Combo ~- ============================================================================== -> Y x8 A linked series of area attacks. Less powerful than a direct attack, but very useful for crowd control. -~ Rising Strike ~- ============================================================================== -> X, A This direct attack will lift up smaller enemies in front of you, allowing additional attacks to be combined with it. -~ Rising Assault ~- ============================================================================== -> Y, A This area attack will lift up all surrounding smaller enemies, allowing additional attacks to be combined with it. -~ Direct Counterstrike ~- ============================================================================== -> X, X, X (after performing a synchronized block) Immediately after a synchronized block, you can unleash a devastating direct counter attack. -~ Somersault ~- ============================================================================== -> LT + A While blocking (LT), use the jump button (A) to leap over and land behind an enemy. Recessary Relics: Cyclone Boots -~ Guillotine ~- ============================================================================== -> hold X (in the air) Press and hold the X button while airborne to use this direct attack as a finisher in any aerial attack sequence. Your chain will smash down any enemies in front of you as you land. Good for dispersing ground-based enemies! Hold the X button longer to perform an upwards blow after landing the Guillotine. -~ Spinning Chain ~- ============================================================================== -> hold Y (in the air) Press and hold the Y button while airborne to use this area attack as a finisher in any aerial attack sequence. Your chain will sweep around and hit any enemies around you as you land. -~ Air Grab ~- ============================================================================== -> RT (in the air) Press RT while airborne to grab an enemy and pull them into the air. Combine this with further aerial attacks to extend the combo. This attack only works on smaller enemies. -~ Downward Punch ~- ============================================================================== -> RT (in the air with an enemy near) If you are airborne with an enemy in the air nearby, press RT to blast it down to the floor below you. -~ Flying Kick ~- ============================================================================== -> RT (in the air) Press RT while airborne to grab an enemy and launch into them with a downward kick. This attack only works on larger enemies. -~ Area Counterstrike ~- ============================================================================== -> Y, Y, Y (after performing a synchronized block) Immediately after a synchronized block, you can unleash a devastating area counter attack that affects surrounding enemies. -~ Direct Heavy Combo Final ~- ============================================================================== -> hold X, X x9 Press and hold the X button to start a sequence of heavy direct attacks. Repeated X button presses will add further hits to the combo. This upgrade adds a final blow to the combo sequence that's also a block breaker. -~ Chain Breaker ~- ============================================================================== -> hold Y, Y Press and hold the Y button to start a sequence of heavy area attacks. You can control the direction of the attacks during the combo with the left stick. Enemies in front and behind can be hit with this series of chain attacks, too. With this upgrade, you can finish the combo sequence at any time with the second press of the Y button, which will perform a massive final hit that's also a block breaker. -~ Circular Chain ~- ============================================================================== -> X, Y, Y A combination attack useful in many different battle situations. It begins with a direct attack, closely followed by two area attacks. Use this to attack an enemy directly while keeping others at bay. -~ Chain Saw ~- ============================================================================== -> X, Y, hold X Shred any enemy in front of you with this chain spin attack. Holding the X button at the end of the combo will extend the duration of the spin. -~ Ground Cutter ~- ============================================================================== -> X, hold X, X (in the air) This variation of the Chain Saw attack can be used at the end of an aerial combo sequence. Press the X button while in the air, then press and hold the X button a second time. Make sure you are holding the button down as you land. Finally, press the button one last time to launch forwards into enemies with a spinning chain attack. -~ Somersault Strike ~- ============================================================================== -> X, X, X (after a somersault over an enemy) After leaping over enemies using a Somersault, immediately press X three times to attack them from behind before they can react. Necessary Relics: Dark Gauntlet, Cyclone Boots ============================================================================== RELIC MOVES [0402] ============================================================================== -~ Tremor Punch ~- ============================================================================== -> LT + hold X A powerful forward punch. Charge it up by holding LT and X until your Dark Gauntlet glows red, then release for extra devastation. This attack can knock back enemies in front of you, or even kill them in one shot. The Tremor Punch can also activate certain mechanical switches. Necessary Relics: Dark Gauntlets -~ Earthquake Punch ~- ============================================================================== -> LT + hold Y Powerful downwards punch. Charge it up by holding LT and Y until your Dark Gauntlet glows red, then release for extra range and power. This attack can knock back enemies surrounding you, or even kill them in one shot. The Earthquake Punch can also activate certain mechanical switches. Necessary Relics: Dark Gauntlets -~ Sprint ~- ============================================================================== -> Left Stick x2 Double-tap the left stick to perform a sprint. While you are sprinting, you can jump longer distances. Necessary Relics: Cyclone Boots -~ Shoulder Charge ~- ============================================================================== -> hold LT + Left Stick (Shadow Magic active) With Shadow Magic active, you can power up your charge into an attacking move. The shoulder charge can also be used to smash through weakened walls. Check for the tell-tale sign of falling dust and debris. Necessary Relics: Shadow Magic, Cyclone Boots -~ Flame Dragontail ~- ============================================================================== -> LT + hold A Dark Gauntlet assisted uppercut. This attack will lift up many nearby enemies, allowing you to continue the combo with additional aerial moves. Necessary Relics: Dark Gauntlets, Cyclone Boots -~ Double Jump ~- ============================================================================== -> A, A Tapping the jump button twice in quick succession will allow you to jump again in mid-air. Use it to reach new heights or change the trajectory of your jump. Necessary Relics: Seraph Shoulders -~ Holy Jump ~- ============================================================================== -> A, A (Light Magic active) With Light Magic active, a double jump will unleash beams of Light energy around you. The first attack made against a blinded enemy will inflict bonus damage, but will remove the effect. Necessary Relics: Light Magic, Seraph Shoulders -~ Sprint Thrust ~- ============================================================================== -> Left Stick x2, Y, X Finish off your sprint with a blast attack. Double-tap the left stick and then press Y followed by X when you are close to your enemy. The closer you get to your target the more effective this attack will be, often knocking even the mightiest foe to the ground. Necessary Relics: Cyclone Boots -~ Light Flash ~- ============================================================================== -> LT (Light Magic active) A synchronized block while Light Magic is active will detonate a flash of magical light that will blind nearby enemies. The first attack made against a blinded enemy will inflict bonus damage, but will remove the effect. Necessary Relics: Light Magic -~ Landslide Punch ~- ============================================================================== -> LT + hold X (in the air) While you are airborne, use this attack to swoop back down to the ground with a huge Dark Gauntlet punch. Press and hold LT and the X button, charge the Gauntlet for as long as you can, and then release to set off the attack. Necessary Relics: Dark Gauntlets -~ Avalanche Punch ~- ============================================================================== -> LT + hold Y (in the air) While you are airborne, use this attack to throw a wave of Dark Gauntlet power downwards. Nearby smaller enemies will be lifted into the air, allowing you to continue the combo with further attacks. Press and hold LT and the Y button, charge the Gauntlet for as long as you can, and then release to set off the attack. Necessary Relics: Dark Gauntlets -~ Erosive Chains ~- ============================================================================== -> X, hold Y (Light Magic active) With Light Magic active, this combo extends a cage of whirling chains around you. The cage draws surrounding enemies into it, while also damaging them and replenishing your health. Necessary Relics: Light Magic -~ Shadow Flames ~- ============================================================================== -> Y, hold X (Shadow Magic active) With Shadow Magic active, this combo creates a flaming vortex of Shadow energy from your Combat Cross. This fire is extremely deadly, but you will be rooted to the spot while you use it and cannot be adjusted mid-stream, so line up your enemy carefully. Necessary Relics: Shadow Magic -~ Flame Claws ~- ============================================================================== -> Left Stick x2, X Use the Dark Gauntlet while sprinting to throw several claws of damaging Shadow Magic energy towards your enemy. With your Shadow Magic active, double tap the left stick to begin the sprint, then press the X buttons at any time to use the Flame Claws. Necessary Relics: Shadow Magic, Dark Gauntlets, Cyclone Boots -~ Upward Guillotine ~- ============================================================================== -> X, A, A Using the Seraph Shoulders to double jump, this attack can lift enemies in front of you much higher into the air than the Rising Strike combo, creating more time to perform additional attacks on them. Necessary Relics: Seraph Shoulders -~ Whirlwind Flap ~- ============================================================================== -> Y, A, A Using the Seraph Shoulders to double jump, this area attack can lift enemies all around you much higher into the air than the Rising Assault combo, creating more time to perform additional attacks on them. Necessary Relics: Seraph Shoulders -~ Air Wave Flap ~- ============================================================================== -> LT + hold A, A After lifting enemies into the air with a Dark Gauntlet uppercut, you can flap the Seraph Shoulders to repel them away from you with this combo. Good when surrounded or in a tight spot to buy time! Necessary Relics: Dark Gauntlets, Seraph Shoulders -~ Holy Cross ~- ============================================================================== -> Y, hold X (Light Magic active) With Light Magic active, this combo creates a dazzling blaze of light energy from your Combat Cross. This glare can blind and damage any enemy caught in its beams, but you will be rooted to the spot while you use it, so select your target carefully. Necessary Relics: Light Magic -~ Exploding Quake ~- ============================================================================== -> X, hold Y, Y, Y, ... hold Y (Shadow Magic Active) With Shadow Magic active you can call forth a series of fiery explosions from the earth beneath your enemy's feet. The final eruption will release a larger shockwave against all nearby enemies. Tap the X button, then press and hold the Y button until you smash the Combat Cross gainst the floor to start the combo. Each subsequent Y press will create an additional explosion, climaxing with a final press and hold of the Y button for the last devastating attack. Necessary Relics: Shadow Magic -~ Ultimate Light ~- ============================================================================== -> hold LB + Left Stick Press and hold the LB button to activate the Ultimate Light mode. While you are in this state you will spin constantly, attacking any surrounding enemies. You can use the left stick to aim the spin in order to deal the maximum amount of damage. However, be aware of your Light Magic supplies! Necessary Relics: Light Magic -~ Ultimate Shadow ~- ============================================================================== -> hold RB + Left Stick Press and hold the RB button to activate the Ultimate Shadow mode. While in this state, the left stick will make the character perform powerful charge movements in the desired direction. Necessary Relics: Shadow Magic ______________________________________________________________________________ [5] MAGIC GEMS [0500] ______________________________________________________________________________ ============================================================================== LIFE GEMS [0501] ============================================================================== -~ Life Gem #1 ~- ================= In the clearing after the horseback sequence, walk south until you can go no further. You will find the remains of a fallen soldier lying against a tree; press the Right Trigger to examine his body and locate your first Life Gem. Location: Hunting Path -~ Life Gem #2 ~- ================= At the very start of the level is a fallen knight. Take several steps forward and inspect the body to find another Life Gem. His body is located right before the clearing. Location: The Dead Bog -~ Life Gem #3 ~- ================= This Life Gem is found on the left path. Head up the stairs and follow the trail to the right. Jump over the tree trunk and crawl through the bog towards the island in front of the giant skeleton. Inspect the corpse to locate the Life Gem. Location: The Dead Bog -~ Life Gem #4 ~- ================= At the first intersection, take the right path. Climb the stairs and drop off of the first ledge. Crawl through the water to reach a second ledge. Fall down and walk to the right, hugging the wall as you go. You'll find a hidden cave with a Life Gem inside. Location: The Dead Bog -~ Life Gem #5 ~- ================= At the top of the second pillar, ignore the grip point and move to the left. Look down to find a small ledge with a dead body; jump down onto this ledge and inspect the fallen knight's body to receive a Life Gem. Location: The Dead Bog -~ Life Gem #6 ~- ================= After collecting the third Magical Rune in the hidden area, press forward through the small crack in the wall. At the end, search the knight's body to receive the Life Gem. Location: Pan's Temple -~ Life Gem #7 ~- ================= There is a tall angelic statue near the entrance to the lake. Examine the knight's corpse at the base of the statue for the gem. Location: Oblivion Lake -~ Life Gem #8 ~- ================= From the area where you mounted the Cave Troll, go north and up the stairs. Follow the narrow trail to what appears to be a dead end. However, slowly walk to the north and you should drop down into a small chamber. Here you can find a Health Font, but more importantly, a Life Gem. Location: Agharta -~ Life Gem #9 ~- ================= When you reach the platform just before the top of the third tower, walk south (towards the camera) to reach the very end of the platform. There's a dead knight here that holds a Life Gem. Location: The Three Towers -~ Life Gem #10 ~- ================== At the first intersection, go right to find a dead body tucked away in the corner. Grab the Life Gem from his body. Location: Mountain Fortress -~ Life Gem #11 ~- ================== When you have reached the walkway at the top of the third floor, walk clockwise to reach a balcony outside. There is a knight lying up against a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue that is holidng a Life Gem. Location: The Crow Witch -~ Life Gem #12 ~- ================== Take the right path and hug the right side of the road to be led to a wall. Perform a Shoulder Charge to find yourself in a tiny area containing a Dark Crystal well and a Life Gem. Location: Veros Woods -~ Life Gem #13 ~- ================== From the first Goblin camp, exit north. Take the western trail to locate a breakable wall near the Health Font. Knock it down using your Shoulder Charge ability to end up at another Life Gem/Dark Crystal well combo. Location: Veros Woods -~ Life Gem #14 ~- ================== Once you have obtained the first Cloister Key, walk towards the camera to end up on a narrow walkway. As you go along to reach the west end of the room and the exit, you will pass over a dead body. Make sure to take the Life Gem from the body before you fall down and exit the room. Location: Abbey Catacombs -~ Life Gem #15 ~- ================== Go through the broken wall into the building. Before setting your sights on the end of the hallway, turn around and head south to find a deceased knight tucked away in the corner with his Life Gem in hand. Location: Abbey Tower -~ Life Gem #16 ~- ================== You can go either right or left here. Shimmy to the left and head 'round the corner. When you reach the end of the ledge, drop onto the tiny platform below you to find a knight holding a Life Gem. I wonder how this guy ended up in this obscure spot when he died... Location: Abbey Tower -~ Life Gem #17 ~- ================== Sometime during the fight against the Warg and Skeleton Warriors, run away from the enemies towards the cell door directly next to the Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. Notice that it's a little beat up? Use a Shoulder Charge to smash through and collect the Life Gem inside. Location: Castle Courtyard -~ Life Gem #18 ~- ================== At the three-way intersection, proceed north. As you go down the path, ignore the first path to the left and continue going forward. In the corner here is a statue that can be destroyed using the Spiked Chain. Tear it down and inspect the corpse behind the rubble for a Life Gem. Location: Maze Gardens -~ Life Gem #19 ~- ================== Inside the third room, climb up the ledge on the left side to reach a high alcove. Search the dead knight's body for the Life Gem. Location: Castle Hall -~ Life Gem #20 ~- ================== Go back inside the pantry after defeating the Evil Butcher. With the Evil Butcher Key, open the locked door on the side and search the fallen knight for another Life Gem. There's also a Dark Crystal well inside here. Location: Refectory -~ Life Gem #21 ~- ================== Before you reach Switch 6, ride the moving platform in the northeast corner and you will pass by a dead knight. Search his body to get the Life Gem before the platform goes around the corner. Location: Electric Laboratory -~ Life Gem #22 ~- ================== As you are swinging across the gap in the green room, take note of the dead knight in the right-hand side of the screen. He's tucked away in the far corner. When you jump to the other side, walk to this corner (the camera turns around so you have to walk to the left) and press the Right Trigger; you won't be able to see the knight at this angle, but you can still collect the Light Gem. Location: Chromatic Observatory -~ Life Gem #23 ~- ================== Once you reach the top of the electrified wall, drop down onto the platform and jump to the platform on your right to find another fallen knight. Search his body for a Life Gem. Location: The Clockwork Tower -~ Life Gem #24 ~- ================== After you get your powers stolen, look to the right to find a ledge you can climb up on the side of the rock wall. Shimmy onto the wooden platform to find the Life Gem. Location: Bones Forest -~ Life Gem #25 ~- ================== Walk behind the third Scarecrow and into the barn. On the right side of the barn is a dead knight tucked away in the corner. Search his body for the gem. Location: Woes Moor -~ Life Gem #26 ~- ================== In the music player, use the following cylinders: Red, Blue, Magenta, Yellow. Go north across the red hallway, north through the blue hallway, north across the magenta hallway, and west through the yellow hallway. This will lead you to a corpse containing the Life Gem. Location: The Music Box -~ Life Gem #27 ~- ================== Climb along the Titan's arm on the left side of the platform. Go all the way down the arm to reach another platform containing a Life Gem. Location: Titan Graveyard -~ Life Gem #28 ~- ================== From your starting position, go to the left. There is a dead knight found in the southwest corner of the puzzle room. Examine the corpse to receive a Life Gem. Location: Fire Cemetery -~ Life Gem #29 ~- ================== From your starting position, head to the right. When the path opens up, follow it to the north and continue to eventually find a fallen knight and the Life Gem lying inside of a tiny alcove. Location: Fire Cemetery -~ Life Gem #30 ~- ================== Approach the second portal after the Reaper fight and go south. Drop down the steps to reach a knight holding the Life Gem. Location: Necromancer's Abyss ============================================================================== LIGHT GEMS [0502] ============================================================================== -~ Light Gem #1 ~- ================== Here on the right path, drop down from the dead tree after you have uprooted it and created a grip point. Defeat the Goblins, then search the dead man's body for a Light Gem. Collect five to increase your Light Magic Container. Location: Enchanted Forest -~ Light Gem #2 ~- ================== Make sure to return to the totem pole room after obtaining the Spiked Chain. Don't exit the level just yet! Destroy the totem pole with your Spiked Chain and walk forward to find a dead end and a dead body (hardy har har). Inspect the corpse to find your second Light Gem. Location: Underground Caves -~ Light Gem #3 ~- ================== After crossing the first set of beams inside the labyrinth, walk to the right of the next beam to find a hidden staircase. Follow it to another corpse and a Light Gem. Location: Labyrinth Entrance -~ Light Gem #4 ~- ================== Your Giant Spider mount automatically drops a Light Gem once you kill it, so you cannot really miss this one. Location: Waterfalls of Agharta -~ Light Gem #5 ~- ================== When you reach a fork, enter the cave on the right. It seemingly leads to a dead end, however going behind the waterfall will lead you to another downed knight and a Light Gem. Location: Waterfalls of Agharta -~ Light Gem #6 ~- ================== From the grip point, rappel down but do not drop to the ground below. Proceed to the very bottom of your chain and do a push-off jump to reach a ledge concealed behind a waterfall. Grapple to the next grip point and so on until you are against another wall. It appears that you are stuck with nowhere to go, but if you run along the wall to the left you can jump onto a hidden platform where the Light Gem awaits. Location: Dark Dungeon -~ Light Gem #7 ~- ================== After collecting the first crystal shard, proceed down the hallway and use your Hook Tip on the grip point at the end. Climb out of the hole in the ceiling and instead of going north (where you are supposed to go), turn back around and take a few steps south to locate the Light Gem. Location: Sanctuary Entrance -~ Light Gem #8 ~- ================== Next to the Shadow Gem is a high ledge with a shining rock sticking out from the top. Press the Right Trigger to grab it with your Spiked Chain, then repeatedly tap the button onscreen to tear down a portion of the wall. Climb up the wall and use your Hook Tip to swing across a gap, where you will find the Light Gem. Location: The Three Towers -~ Light Gem #9 ~- ================== Use your Hook Tip instead of a sprint jump here. When you grab onto the grip point, pull yourself up to it to grab hand of a ledge. Moving to the right reveals another grip point above you. Pull yourself up to the alcove to find both a Dark Crystal well and a Light Gem. Location: Mountain Fortress -~ Light Gem #10 ~- =================== After the Ogre battle, exit the arena and leap over the hole in the ground. Before you exit to the left, inspect the statue up against the northern wall. With your Dark Gauntlet, use a Tremor Punch to move the statue out of the way, revealing a hidden hallway. This hall takes you to a Fairy fountain and a knight containing a Light Gem. Location: Mountain Fortress -~ Light Gem #11 ~- =================== At the start of the level, go up either set of stairs and you will find a knight at the top. Take the Light Gem from his cold, dead fingers. Location: The Crow Witch -~ Light Gem #12 ~- =================== Rotate the lever 90 degrees so the landing spot is at the north end of the courtyard. From here, instruct Zobek to hold the lever while you run through the portal. You will end up at the northern end, where you will locate a Light Gem. To escape, climb the wooden wall to the right of the corpse and jump through the tiny opening at the top. Location: Abbey Catacombs -~ Light Gem #13 ~- =================== Before going through the main entrance to the library, continue down the hallway; the Light Gem is found just around the corner, at a dead end. Location: Abbey Library -~ Light Gem #14 ~- =================== In the second puzzle room, walk down the aisle to the right and past the long bookshelf. Go south to find a dead knight lying next to a pile of fallen books. Inspect the body for another Light Gem. Location: Abbey Library -~ Light Gem #15 ~- =================== At the three-way intersection, continue west. There is a locked gate nearby, but ignore it and proceed to the west. Eventually you should reach a dead end with a weakened wall in the northwest corner. Demolish it to spot a dead knight containing a Light Gem. Location: Maze Gardens -~ Light Gem #16 ~- =================== After winning at Vampire Wargame, walk to the other side of the game board to find a dead knight in plain view in the northeast corner; take the Light Gem from his body. Location: Castle Hall -~ Light Gem #17 ~- =================== There is a corpse lying behind the second window that is holding a Light Gem. It is yours for the taking as long as you destroy the pair of Skeleton Warriors first. Location: Balcony -~ Light Gem #18 ~- =================== In the second room, punch the first switch, then head over to the southwest corner of the room to find a knight. The dead body has a Light Gem in his possession. Location: Electric Laboratory -~ Light Gem #19 ~- =================== Combine the Green Lens and Blue Lens to create a cyan-colored light. This does not open any door, but instead agitates an Animated Armor. Destroy the Animated Armor to find a corpse where it was standing. There's your gem. Location: Chromatic Observatory -~ Light Gem #20 ~- =================== Found inside the room just before the level exit. Inspect the knight statue lying against the monster statue on the left side of the chamber. Location: Outer Wall -~ Light Gem #21 ~- =================== Cross the two planks to reach the other end of the tower. Notice that the railing on the left side of this platform is missing. You won't be able to see your destination, but if you perform a sprinting jump you will land on a platform to your left containing the Light Gem. Location: The Clockwork Tower -~ Light Gem #22 ~- =================== About halfway up the staircase, you will notice a dead soldier leaning up against the railing. Take the Light Gem from his possession before moving on. Location: The Throne Room -~ Light Gem #23 ~- =================== At the start of the level, walk around the portal and jump over the low walls to find a deceased knight inside a little nook. Search his body for the Light Gem, then jump out. Location: Bones Forest -~ Light Gem #24 ~- =================== Go up the stairs towards the base of the windmill and you should locate the knight containing the Light Gem quite easily. Location: Woes Moor -~ Light Gem #25 ~- =================== While trying to wake up the third Scarecrow, there is a barn you must open up in order to find the first flock of crows. Open the barn using the Spiked Chain and you'll find the Light Gem inside. Location: Woes Moor -~ Light Gem #26 ~- =================== Inside the green hallway is a dead soldier in the middle. You must sprint out and inspect his body to obtain the Light Gem while the spikes are retracted. However, you cannot do all this and still cross the hallway in time, so you will die while obtaining the gem. Location: The Music Box -~ Light Gem #27 ~- =================== Climb up onto the downed Titan on your left. Crawl past its head and you'll notice that there is a large hole in its chest. Drop into the hole to find the Light Gem. Location: Titan Graveyard -~ Light Gem #28 ~- =================== There is a dead knight lying underneath the raised hand of the Titan, just before the fight against the trio of Creeping Coffins. Location: Titan Graveyard -~ Light Gem #29 ~- =================== After defeating the first Zombie batch, take a right at the fork. Jump down into the pit to battle a few more Zombies. Once they're toast, walk to the far end and climb up the ledges to reach a knight containing a Light Gem. Location: Fire Cemetery -~ Light Gem #30 ~- =================== In the right path, sprint jump across the ledge to your left. Jump into the portal here to appear above the portal and quickly grapple to the grip point on the wall. Push off of the wall and jump to the ledge to your left, then collect the Light Gem. Location: Necromancer's Abyss ============================================================================== SHADOW GEMS [0503] ============================================================================== -~ Shadow Gem #1 ~- =================== After the battle with the Lesser Lycanthropes, go east to find a staircase leading up to a hole in a wall. Just before the staircase is a path branching off to the left. Follow it to a dead end, where you can take the Shadow Gem from the knight's body. Location: Agharta -~ Shadow Gem #2 ~- =================== Jump over the first ruined bridge using the Warg. There are about three more that we must cross, but kill the Warg and walk forward a bit. Just before the second bridge is a small nook containing a corpse. Proceed into the corner and search the body for a Shadow Gem. Location: Agharta -~ Shadow Gem #3 ~- =================== Before scampering back with the first Stone Rune in hand, look behind the pile of rocks behind the dead knight to find yet another dead knight! This one is holding onto a Shadow Gem. Location: Dark Dungeon -~ Shadow Gem #4 ~- =================== It's time to begin your ascent out of this dungeon. Grapple up to the ledge above and move to the left. The camera changes position and reveals another ledge across from you that you can leap onto. Do not jump across. If you look below you, you should see in the corner of the screen a small glow. Leap to the left so you are above the knight and drop down to claim your prize. Location: Dark Dungeon -~ Shadow Gem #5 ~- =================== Climb alongside the wall to cross back to the other end of the gap. Instead of going to the other side, first try climbing UP the wall; you should be able to find some ledges that leads to a small room containing a dead body and a Shadow Gem. Location: Sanctuary Entrance -~ Shadow Gem #6 ~- =================== At some point during this boss battle, make sure to search the far left side of the arena for a dead knight. Inspect his body to claim your prize. It's a little hard to find since the camera stays locked on the boss, so try hugging the wall/screen when you are on the western end of the arena. Location: Sanctuary of Titans -~ Shadow Gem #7 ~- =================== There is a deceased knight lying on the ground right in front of the first tower. The body contains a Shadow Gem. Pretty hard to miss. Location: The Three Towers -~ Shadow Gem #8 ~- =================== After using the Warg to climb the first set of vines, strangle it and walk onto the eastern balcony to find the Shadow Gem. Location: The Three Towers -~ Shadow Gem #9 ~- =================== As you climb down the third tower, you should find a small opening to a room just between the first and second grip points. Shimmy inside the room and inspect the corpse to obtain a Shadow Gem. Location: The Three Towers -~ Shadow Gem #10 ~- ==================== After performing the sprint jump and taking out the Small Trolls, look on the right side of the area. There is a fallen knight on the other side of a weakened wall. In order to destroy the wall and reach the body, perform a Shoulder Charge (activate Shadow Magic, then hold down the Left Trigger and move the Left Analog Stick). Collect the Shadow Gem from the body. Location: Mountain Fortress -~ Shadow Gem #11 ~- ==================== Once you have exited the tower, ignore the ledge on the right and instead drop down south of here. Fall down from the ledge, then use a grip point to swing over to a hidden cave on the outskirts of the tower. Inside, you will fight a number of Small Trolls. Once you have defeated them, inspect the dead body for a Shadow Gem. Location: The Crow Witch -~ Shadow Gem #12 ~- ==================== From the first Goblin camp, exit north. Take the eastern trail to end up at the second fork. Instead of going west to end up at the second camp, go east to reach a breakable wall. Use your Shoulder Charge to find a Dark Crystal well and a Shadow Gem on the other side. Location: Veros Woods -~ Shadow Gem #13 ~- ==================== Take some time out of fighting Ghouls to search the pile of dead bodies on the far north end of the graveyard. You can collect a Shadow Gem from one of the corpses here. Location: Wygol Village -~ Shadow Gem #14 ~- ==================== Next to the first statue in the third puzzle room is a staircase leading to a small platform. Destroy the pile of books here to uncover a dead body. Death by books? Poor chap. Anyways, take the Shadow Gem from his body. Location: Abbey Library -~ Shadow Gem #15 ~- ==================== Wade in the sewage too long and you will eventually sink and die. You must not stay in the sewage for an extended period of time. However, there is a Shadow Gem on an island pretty far away. From the staircase, wade through the nasty sewage to the island to the right. Next, jump to the south and wade through the narrow part of sewage that isn't covered in poisonous fog. Brush off the Naiads and you should reach the island before you sink. Location: Castle Sewers -~ Shadow Gem #16 ~- ==================== While mounting a Giant Spider, return to the three-way intersection at the start of the level and go east. Follow it to where you found the pushable pillar and look to the left; there is a broken bridge that can be repaired by using the spider's webbing. Create a bridge and kill the spider, then cross it to obtain a Shadow Gem. Location: Maze Gardens -~ Shadow Gem #17 ~- ==================== Crawl through the chute until you reach the first intersection. When you do, go to the right (walk towards the camera) to find a tiny alcove containing the gem. Location: Refectory -~ Shadow Gem #18 ~- ==================== There is a blocked staircase to the right of the switch puzzle. Go up the first couple steps to reveal a grip point above. Grapple up to it and climb along the wooden beam to the right to ultimately reach a ledge above you. You can find a scroll and a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue up here. If you cross the wooden beams near the statue, you will reach the opposite side of the room. Head down the stairs here to find the Shadow Gem. Location: Refectory -~ Shadow Gem #19 ~- ==================== After crossing the beam, take the eastern path and drop down onto the ledge. Shimmy to the left to reach a platform containing a dead knight. You probably saw him while you were going across the wooden beam. Inspect the body to obtain a Shadow Gem. Location: Balcony -~ Shadow Gem #20 ~- ==================== Follow the room's perimeter as you walk behind the pile of junk on the right side of the room to find the Shadow Gem. Location: Balcony -~ Shadow Gem #21 ~- ==================== Inside the white room, walk to the left to find a grip point. Climb up to it and run along the scaffolding to a second one. Climb to the very top of the room and navigate across the support beams to the opposite end of the room. Drop down and use the White Key on the keyhole to reach the Shadow Gem. Location: Chromatic Observatory -~ Shadow Gem #22 ~- ==================== You should be able to see the glowing knight when standing next to the Health Font. Jump up the step and walk to the left behind some rubble to reach him. Location: Outer Wall -~ Shadow Gem #23 ~- ==================== There is a dead knight inside one of the iron maidens that Commander Olrox opened up during the boss battle. It's best to wait and collect the Shadow Gem after the fight has concluded. Location: Olrox -~ Shadow Gem #24 ~- ==================== At the start of the level, go to the left of the portal towards the outer perimeter. You should be able to easily find a corpse leaning up against a wooden boat. Examine the corpse for the gem. Location: Bones Forest -~ Shadow Gem #25 ~- ==================== Perform a sprinting double jump to leap across the chasm. Before you drop down from the ledge and into the tunnel, walk to a dead end to find a Shadow Gem in the corner. In order to escape the area, which has become enclosed, defeat the Headless Burrowers. Location: Bones Forest -~ Shadow Gem #26 ~- ==================== As soon as you gain control, walk south towards the exit of the previous level. Follow the picket fence to find a knight and a Shadow Gem at the end. Location: Woes Moor -~ Shadow Gem #27 ~- ==================== When you are at the intersection on the island, double jump to the left to reach the Titan on the left, go north and jump over the wall to find a corpse slumped against the wall. Grab the Shadow Gem from the knight's body. Location: Titan Graveyard -~ Shadow Gem #28 ~- ==================== As you are climbing out of the furnace, you will reach a large metal ring just before the exit. If you hop up the ledges directly above you, you'll escape. However, to get the Shadow Gem you must shimmy to the right around the edge of the ring to another series of ledges. Go up these ledges to reach a small platform containing the gem. Location: Crematory Oven -~ Shadow Gem #29 ~- ==================== Walk around the left side of the zodiac puzzle machine thing and drop down to a low ledge here. Keep going to the very edge to spot a deceased knight clinging on to a Shadow Gem. Location: Necromancer's Abyss -~ Shadow Gem #30 ~- ==================== You'll appear on the other side of the mirror facing a Health Font. Turn around and go to the left down a spiral flight of stairs. At the bottom, you will locate a corpse and a Shadow Gem. Location: Necromancer's Abyss ______________________________________________________________________________ [6] WEAPONS [0600] ______________________________________________________________________________ ============================================================================== RELICS [0601] ============================================================================== -~ Combat Cross Body ~- ============================================================================== Location: Default While most of the Brotherhood utilizes more conventional armaments, Gabriel has been gifted with the Combat Cross, a heavy iron crucifix which hides a retractable chain inside. The cross body was one of the first relics the Brotherhood acquired centuries ago; its full origin is unclear but it is remored to have been forged from the nails used to crucify martyrs. -~ Hook Tip ~- ============================================================================== Location: The Dead Bog This relic was also built by the renowned artisan, Rinaldo Gandolfi. The articulated metal tip can be used to grip objects and enemies from a distance, giving the Combat Cross the properties of a grappling hook. This also allows the wielder to climb, rappel, and swing around the environments when combined with the Combat Cross. -~ Spiked Chain ~- ============================================================================== Location: Underground Caves Rinaldo Gandolfi built two different chains for the Combat Cross but this one was never approved by the Brotherhood, for obvious reasons. The elders though that the spikes were too cruel for the holy nature of the weapon. However, instead of destroying it, the artisan hid the links in one of the mausoleums of the Order, believing that one day it might be needed. With the spiked chain, the Combat Cross can be used to saw through obstacles and to "tame" dangerous monsters by looping it around their necks. -~ Stake ~- ============================================================================== Location: Wygol Village The artisan who made the chain and hook tip for the Combat Cross, Rinaldo Gandolfi, wanted to give the weapon even more options for hand-to-hand combat, especially against supernatural creatures of the night, and so he designed the stake attachment which eventually gave the Combat Cross the nickname of "Vampire Killer". -~ Life Gem Medallion ~- ============================================================================== Location: Default These are usually worn by warriors of the Brotherhood of Light. Magical gems can be inserted into the empty slots and imbue the wearer with increased stamina. When all five slots are filled with green gems, the life bar's capacity is increased. -~ Light Gem Medallion ~- ============================================================================== Location: Oblivion Lake Many of the Brotherhood of Light carry these magical disks. They allow the user to transform Neutral Elemental Orbs into power for Light Magic. Magical gems can be inserted into the epmty slots and when all five slots are filled with blue gems, the Light Magic container's capacity is increased. This one was given to Gabriel by Zobek the first time they met. -~ Shadow Gem Medallion ~- ============================================================================== Location: Waterfalls of Agharta These medallions are worn only by a select few of the Brotherhood. Most fear the use of Shadow Magic and shun its application but some feel that, in order to defeat evil, one must learn both the light and dark aspects of magic. This disk allows the user to transform Neutral Elemental Orbs into shadow energy. Gems can be inserted into the empty slots and when all five recesses are filled with red shadow gems, the Shadow Magic container's capacity is increased. -~ Dark Gauntlet ~- ============================================================================== Location: The Black Knight This piece of Aghartian mage-smith technology was not originally part of the design for the Black Knight Golem but was somehow magically melded with the construct during the final stages of its creation. Claudia's father included it because of the sheer power and brute force that it gave the Golem and he deemed it necessary in order to protect his beloved child but, in truth, it has a much darker purpose... -~ Cyclone Boots ~- ============================================================================== Location: The Dark Lord of the Lycanthropes A gift to Cornell, these powerful boots were forged long ago. They allowed him to travel vast distances at tremendous speed. However, after he became the Dark Lord of the Lycans, he improved upon their design, using Shadow Magic to turn them into a powerful weapon, enabling him to charge down his enemies with incredible speed. -~ Seraph Shoulders ~- ============================================================================== Location: The Throne Room Carmilla, being one of the founders of the Brotherhood, received these magic shoulders as a gift from the Order for her devotion and purity of spirit. Crafted with the feathers of an Archangel, originally the Seraph Shoulders allowed the wearer to fly short distances but now, after centuries of misuse by the corrupted Vampire Dark Lord, only a fraction of their true power remains. ============================================================================== SECONDARY WEAPONS [0602] ============================================================================== -~ Silver Daggers ~- ============================================================================== These Daggers have been balanced to be thrown with extraordinary precision. They are made from silver, and have small bones of saints hidden in their grips; both characteristics give this weapon its destructive power against supernatural beings, especially those who are descendants of the Lycanthrope Dark Lord. -~ Dark Crystals ~- ============================================================================== These crystalline formations are the result of a phenomenon that occurs in zones with a high concentration of Shadow energy. In these places, the land, impregnated in magic, erupts abruptly creating the characteristic geode-like patterns. The crystals are pure Shadow Magic, and so they are much more volatile and dangerous than the gems from the medallions. They are so powerful that just one full crystal can be used to summon a demon from the Shadow plane. -~ Fairies ~- ============================================================================== Fairies are a race of mystical beings that have been driven into hiding by the spread of mankind and civilization. Sometimes called the "Sidhe", they dwell in forests and meadows, hiding amongst the flowers and blossoms there. Fairies are born of the soil, and take the form of beautiful flowers before emerging as fully-grown creatures. According to legend, the Fairy Queen sometimes bestows mortals with the care and protection of the Fairy folk. -~ Holy Water Flasks ~- ============================================================================== At first glance, these vials appear to be empty. However, when opened, there will always be a few drops of blessed water at the bottom. These are the endless tears of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and can be used to sanctify water which, in turn, serves as an excellent weapon against creatures of the night. The bottle breaks on impact and holy flames are released upwards, which are devastating to Vampires! ______________________________________________________________________________ [7] ACHIEVEMENTS [0700] ______________________________________________________________________________ Here are all the achievements found in the game, in alphabetical order. -~ Brawler (20) ~- ============================================================================== Buy 15 combos. -~ Chapter I (10) ~- ============================================================================== Defeat the Ice Titan. -~ Chapter II (10) ~- ============================================================================== Get the Dark Gauntlet. -~ Chapter III (15) ~- ============================================================================== Acquire the power of the first Dark Lord. -~ Chapter IV (15) ~- ============================================================================== Kill the Crow Witch. -~ Chapter IX (25) ~- ============================================================================== Persuade Baba Yaga to open a portal to the Necromancer area. -~ Chapter V (20) ~- ============================================================================== Gain access to the Vampire Castle. -~ Chapter VI (20) ~- ============================================================================== Leave the Refectory with the Butcher's Key. -~ Chapter VII (25) ~- ============================================================================== Survive the encounter with Laura. -~ Chapter VIII (25) ~- ============================================================================== Acquire the power of the second Dark Lord. -~ Chapter X (30) ~- ============================================================================== Vanquish the Gravedigger. -~ Chapter XI (30) ~- ============================================================================== Acquire the power of the third Dark Lord. -~ Chapter XII (30) ~- ============================================================================== Defeat Satan and save the world. -~ Crusade (30) ~- ============================================================================== Finish all levels in Knight difficulty. -~ Dark Collector (20) ~- ============================================================================== Gather all the 30 Shadow Gems. -~ Elenty Party (40) ~- ============================================================================== Get 110% completion rate in all levels. -~ Epic Victory (40) ~- ============================================================================== Finish all levels in Paladin difficulty. -~ Experienced (10) ~- ============================================================================== Acquire 1000 Experience Points. -~ Gest (20) ~- ============================================================================== Finish all levels in Warrior difficulty. -~ Green Collector (20) ~- ============================================================================== Gather all the 30 Life Gems. -~ Light Collector (20) ~- ============================================================================== Gather all the 30 Light Gems. -~ Master Achiever (50) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials. -~ Master Fighter (25) ~- ============================================================================== Buy all combos. -~ Master Improver (25) ~- ============================================================================== Find all the secret Brotherhood Arks. -~ Master Jeweler (25) ~- ============================================================================== Gather all hidden Magic Gems. -~ Master Philanthropist (20) ~- ============================================================================== Buy all the extra artwork. -~ Seasoned (15) ~- ============================================================================== Acquire 20000 Experience Points. -~ Skirmish (15) ~- ============================================================================== Finish all levels in Esquire difficulty. -~ Trials - Chapter I (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter I. -~ Trials - Chapter II (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter II. -~ Trials - Chapter III (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter III. -~ Trials - Chapter IV (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter IV. -~ Trials - Chapter IX (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter IX. -~ Trials - Chapter V (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter V. -~ Trials - Chapter VI (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter VI. -~ Trials - Chapter VII (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter VII. -~ Trials - Chapter VIII (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter VIII. -~ Trials - Chapter X (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter X. -~ Trials - Chapter XI (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter XI. -~ Trials - Chapter XII (25) ~- ============================================================================== Complete all the trials for Chapter XII. -~ Veteran (30) ~- ============================================================================== Acquire 100000 Experience Points. -~ Welcome to the Club (15) ~- ============================================================================== Buy a combo. ______________________________________________________________________________ [8] BESTIARY [0800] ______________________________________________________________________________ ============================================================================== ENEMIES [0801] ============================================================================== Enemies' resistances are ranked in terms of skulls and shields: each category bearing three each. Skulls mean that the monster is weak towards that type of weapon (one skulls means somewhat weak, two skulls is weak, and three skulls is very weak). Same goes for shields, but shields mean that the enemy has a strong resistance towards that particular weapon. -~ Lesser Lycanthrope ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Very Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Low "These creatures are humans that have been poisoned with an infectious disease known as the 'werewolf influenza', which is transmitted, in most cases, by the bite of another Lycanthrope. There is an old saying that goes like this: 'If you are bitten by a Lycan, better to let it gnaw', and like most proverbs, it is probably true. Once infected with the disease, the transformation process can be completed in only a few minutes, after which the victim's mind will have been replaced with the savage instincts of a ruthless predator." -~ Warg ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "Little is known about these fierce, wolf-like beasts, except that they appeared soon after the coming of the Lycanthrope Dark Lord. Despite their wild looks, Wargs are fairly intelligent creatures capable of being tamed by lesser Lycanthropes, who ride them in battle. Wargs are ferocious creatures that attack opponents with razor-sharp claws and sharp, deadly teeth." -~ Goblin ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Small Difficulty: Low "These diminutive, mischievous and crabby creatures usually avoid contact with humans. Goblins make their homes around tree roots and mossy damp areas, and like to hunt in packs. Although they can be aggressive, when threatened, Goblins usually prefer to keep far from men and their dwellings. Goblins are a species on th everge of extinction, and before too long will pass into history and then myth." -~ Naiad ~- ============================================================================== Size: Small Difficulty: Medium "A large part of the danger in the swamps lies in the hands of creatures known as Naiads. These living things are usually passive, lying inconspicuously on riverbeds and in muddy, damp places, waiting until someone stumbles within range. When they attack, their unfortunate victims usually mistake their limbs for branches and are soon drowned... and eaten. In days gone by, these once beautiful creatures were worshipped and sacrifices were made to them, but they are now forgotten by humans and have become evil predators, plaguing both wandering man and beast alike." -~ Giant Spider ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "These monsters are the largest type of known arachnids, and they are much more aggressive than any of the normal-sized varieties of Spider. Giant Spiders can be found in almost any environment, but they usually prefer dark, soggy places, such as old forest or grottos. Like their smaller counterparts, Giant Spiders can weave webs of sticky silk that they use to trap their prey before eating them. In fact, Spider silk is extremely strong and can even by used to make rope of incredible durability. THe Giant Spider population has shrunk in recent years due to mankind's encroachment on their natural habitat." -~ Warthog ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "The genealogy of these monstrous boars has been kept secret among Goblin tribes for centuries. It is a process that involves special breeding and feeding and large helpings of shamanistic magic. Warthogs are so scarce that having more than one of these mounts is something only a few Goblin tribes can aspire to. Goblins not only use them for riding into battle but also to consume all the rubbish and leftover scraps of food, thus helping to maintain a clean environment." -~ Greater Lycanthrope ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Very Weak | | Fairy | Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "Greater or 'pureblood' Lycanthropes are those spawned from the Dark Lord himself. In these cases, their condition is not considered a disease, as the transformation process has been deliberately chosen. The endowment of lycanthrophy, however, is not given to just anyone by the werewolf Dark Lord, and only a handful of his more loyal acolytes have received such a gift. The Dark Lord keeps these elite guards for special missions, and they are not only fearsome but incredibly intelligent and formidable foes in combat." -~ Small Troll ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Small Difficulty: Low "Biologically speaking, small and great Trolls are more or less equal. However, their behavior couldn't be more different; the large subspecies is fairly aggressive, whereas Small Trolls are cowardly and will quickly flee when outnumbered, often seeking the protection behind their bigger, more violent cousins, from where they will throw rocks at adversaries." -~ Cave Troll ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "Trolls are a dying species living mostly in mountainous areas. They are aggressive and territorial. This can sometimes result in attacks on humans who are foolish enough to encroach on the Troll's natural habitat. However, Cave Trolls are usually passive around their own kind and rarely attack each other, though they will often kill to protect their kindred. Men say that when Trolls die of old age they turn to stone and this can be clearly seen in certain rock formations if one looks closely enough." -~ Gremlin ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Small Difficulty: Low "Gremlins are small, winged imps, famous for causing havoc wherever they go. Gremlins travel in large groups, infesting buildings until the occupands either escape in fear or die. Gremlins are able to breathe fire, an ability inherited by their demon ancestors, but their small bodies cannot withstand too much punishment. They are very volatile and tend to explode if hit hard enough." -~ Chupacabras ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Very Strong | | Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Very Strong | | Divine Shield | Very Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Strong | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Small Difficulty: Low "Often portrayed as evil, blood-sucking monsters, the Chupacabras' only real obsession are magical relics. When in the presence of such artifacts, they will do anything to get them, however, the Chupacabras are not inherently evil creatures, and most of the time, after a short game of hide and seek, they will return anything they have stolen." -~ Swordmaster ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: High "'The spirit of a brave fighter never dies', according to a popular saying and, in some places filled with foul magic energy, the souls of slain warriors don't leave the material plane and remain trapped, their sole mission to torment living beings. These restless souls usually cover themselves in ragged clothes, maybe as a remnant of their living past. Apart from their fighting skills, they have lost all vestiges of humanity." -~ Witch Child ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Medium "These half human, half bird-like creatures are the progeny of the Crow Witch, Malphas. The Witch-children are able to breathe fire and are extremely volatile, oftentimes dying in a blazing explosion. However, like most magically-summoned entities, their existence is short-lived and they tend to die naturally a few days after their 'birth.'" -~ Ghoul ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Low "Despite most people believing otherwise, Ghouls are not undead creatures. In fact, their ancestors were human, but a diet of corpses and rotten flesh transformed them into horrible monsters that dwell in burial grounds and cemeteries. Ghouls usually live underground, but sometimes venture outside in small groups to scavenge for carrion. The vomit of the Ghoul is highly poisonous, but can be dispelled using Light Magic." -~ Vampire Warrior ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Very Weak | | Divine Shield | Very Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Medium "A Vampire can be born from many different creatures; the ceremony itself involves the exchange of blood between the 'host' and the soon-to-be Vampire. However, vampirism has to be accepted by the recipient, so it remains exclusive to intelligent creatures. The lowest ranked Vampires usually take the form of a creature with a bat-like appearance. Over the centuries, as they become more powerful, Vampires appear more human-like and are able to transform at will from hideous creatures into human form. One can usually ascertain the power of a Vampire by its appearance and any Vampires that appear totally human are usually incredibly powerful and extremely dangerous. These particular Vampire warriors show the signs of being recently turned and cannot hide the fact that they are low level creatures bent to the will of the Vampire Lord." -~ Animated Armor ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "These empty suits of armor have been given a temporary 'life' due to possession by a poltergeist. They serve the Vampire Dark Lord by patrolling and protecting the Castle's halls and corridors. The spirit of this poltergeist can move from armor to armor if it so wishes, though it can take many days for the spirit to recover when doing so. Once established within a suit of armor, the poltergeist can travel between dimensions at will, causing a huge electrical outage that signals an opening between our world and the spirit world. You can tell when armor is possessed because a strange unearthly, reddish glow emanates from within the suit, indicating that its ghostly inhabitant is awake." -~ Skeleton Warrior ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Medium "The human inhabitants of the Vampire Castle suffered a cruel fate once the Dark Lord set up her lair inside. While most of them changed into Vampire Warriors, a few, mainly those who were the Dark Lord's most loyal retainers when she was human, were made into Skeleton Warriors by the spell of the Puppeteer. Unlike other beings animated by this magic, the vestiges of a once human soul make Skeleton Warriors difficult to command and they are therefore rarely found in groups greater than two or three." -~ Mandragora ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Small Difficulty: Low "Common ingredients in the creation of magic potions, mandrake roots are an important resource for alchemists and mages the world over. However, the harvesting of mandrake roots is a dangerous activity; when the root is dug up, the plant will scream loudly, killing anyone near it. When they are fully grown, mandrakes become Mandragora, sentient beings who survive by draining the life force of nearby creatures." -~ Deadly Toys ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Medium "Laura, the 'daughter' of the Vampire Lord, has brought these puppets into existence using a dark spell of her own making. She is able to control these toys and transfer the temporary life force from toy to toy, thus making them very difficult to defeat. However, so long as the 'spirit' within is defeated, they cannot return. Inside the crude stitching is the source of the spell and, by opening up the deadly toys, one can destroy the spell. This, in turn, will destroy the spirit forever, rendering the toy useless." -~ Headless Burrower ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Medium "These undead creatures are the decapitated remains of warriors from the Brotherhood. Necromancer magic has reanimated them and they prey on fellow warriors who bear arms for the Brotherhood. Using their heads they can attack at will, biting and tearing their victims. However, it is their bodies that are their weakspot and anyone caught in a battle with Zombie heads would do well to remember that!" -~ Scarecrow ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "The Scarecrows are magical constructs of the Crow Witch Malphas that attack and kill anything that moves. Malphas created the Scarecrows to keep Baba Yaga under her watchful eye and, where possible, to nullify her power by restricting her movements. The Scarecrows are roused by the birds which follow the evil Crow Witch's bidding. The Scarecrows are extremely fast and attack with razor-sharp scythes." -~ Creeping Corpse ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Low "There is a strange, magical root that only grows in the land of the dead which feeds on the carcasses of dead creatures. This plant consumes all the organic material around it and, after it is satiated, evolves from the corpses it has ingested to become a living being. Once fully grown, the creeping corpse looks for living creatures to devour." -~ Creeping Coffin ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "Sometimes, a creeping corpse feeds directly from a dead body still in its coffin; in such cases, the plant doesn't leave but instead uses the coffin as armor. For mobility, the creature plunges its branches through the sides of the coffin and extends them, becoming a four-legged monster that's even more dangerous than usual." -~ Zombie ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Low "Zombies are the most basic creations of a master Necromancer and form the rank and file of the Lord of the Dead's army. These reanimated corpses are an amalgam of different body parts, sewn together in a rough humanoid shape, so it is not uncommon to see Zombies with more than one nead or multiple arms. Zombie carcasses are very fragile and weak, so they usually attack in large groups, using their numbers to overwhelm an enemy." -~ Reaper ~- ============================================================================== +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Very Strong | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: Medium "Only powerful sorcerers can summon and control these dangerous spirits. The Reapers are a corporeal manifestation of Death itself; their aspect depends on the beliefs of those who confront them, but most people perceive the Reapers as skeletal figures with long tunics, wielding large scythes." ============================================================================== BOSSES [0802] ============================================================================== ------------------. BOSS: Great Warg '----------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "Wargs are the principal strength of large Lycanthrope raiding parties. Some of them are 'blessed' by the Dark Lord himself which gives them new powers, such as improved strength and wound regeneration. Due to the nature of this 'blessing,' these powers are heightened by a full moon." The Great Warg is a much bigger foe than the Lesser Lycanthropes, and much more powerful. He demonstrates this by leaping on top of Gabriel in an attempt to gnaw his face off. It's tough to get him off, but repeatedly tap the A button to kick the grizzly monster off of you. The boss only has two attacks, and the game takes you through both of them in an attempt to teach you how to dodge them. The Great Warg's basic claw slash can be blocked by holding down the Left Trigger. Like in any battle, block enemy attacks with the Left Trigger. However, his second attack is unblockable and must be dodged: hold down the Left Trigger and move the Left Analog Stick to either side to perform a dodge roll. Now it's all about avoiding damage and attacking the monster. Keep the Left Trigger held most of the time throughout the battle so you can block the Great Warg's quick claw strikes. It may be a large beast, but he is quick for his size. You know the unblockable attack is coming when a shimmer of light emits from the Great Warg's mouth. Block, dodge roll, and use X and Y to attack. The boss isn't that difficult at all; plus, there is another Health Font you can use if you are in danger of perishing. Once you have drained the Great Warg's health, follow the button command in the cutscene that follows to put the beast down for good. -------------------. BOSS: Swamp Troll '---------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: Medium "Swamp Trolls are a rare subspecies of the larger Cave Troll. Although similar in appearance to their dry land cousins, the thick fur has been replaced with a slimy coating, similar to wet mould, which better suits the damper weather of their habitat. Swamp Trolls are ferocious in battle and display a cunning that belies their outward appearance." This monster has been stalking you the entire time during your journey through the Dead Bog, and he has chosen the time to strike. The Swamp Troll seems to have picked a good place to do so, because he uses the surrounding objects to attack: the tombstones lining the cemetery. The Swamp Troll starts off the fight by picking up a tombstone and using it as a club. Most of the attacks are easy to dodge if you roll from side to side. At the beginning, all the boss does is swing the tombstone back and forth; it isn't too threatening. When he uses a ground pound attack, jump over the resulting shockwave. This will also break the tombstone. When the Swamp Troll's weapon is broken, he will either find another one or rely on his fists. He attacks the same way bare-handed than with a weapon, so the battle doesn't change all that much. Your basic combos should do the trick, so there's no need to be fancy with it. Daggers help too, considering you can find more daggers by destroying the remaining tombstones. Once you have depleted three-quarters of the boss's health, his eyes will glow red and cause the boss to move quicker and perform a new attack. When he stands still and leans forward, he's getting ready to perform a running tackle attack. Roll to the side and attack the Swamp Troll's back. Once you have depleted nearly all of the Swamp Troll's health, his body will begin to glow. Follow several ring sequences to significantly weaken the boss, then repeatedly hit A to finish the job. -----------------. BOSS: Ice Titan '------------------------------------------------------------ +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Very Strong | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Very Strong | | Divine Shield | Very Strong | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Giant Difficulty: High "Buried deep below the surfae of an ancient lake, waiting to be found, are the remnants of a once great European civilization, among them, a Titan of war! Before Rome, before ancient Greece, this great empire possessed technology that surpassed all others, and this Titan makrs the pinnacle of their achivements. A great conflict known as 'The Necromantic Wars' obliterated this once thriving civilization and this great feat of engineering was lost. When the dark spell that isolated the heavens from our earthly plane was cast, the souls of the dead were drawn to this place and somehow gave new energy to the magic runes, reanimating the Titan one final time..." This gargantuan foe towers over you, despite not even fully emerged from the ice. Even though the Ice Titan's legs are stuck in the ice, he can still move around the arena at surprising speeds. I am suddenly reminded of another video game when I see this boss... The boss has a total of three attacks. A simple punch may not seem like much, but the sheer size of his hand means that you can get hurt even if it's not a direct hit. The ensuing shockwave can knock you backwards. That's his only close-range attack, but the Ice Titan has two attacks that he will use at a distance. The Ice Titan can also stab the ice, resulting in a large narrow shockwave that travels towards you. This stream of ice crystals cannot be blocked, so you must dodge roll at the last minute. Sometimes, the boss creates a blue symbol on the ground as another one appears under you. If you don't move out of the way in time, you will be encased in an icy prison. The only way to destroy the prison is to endure a punch from the boss. The Ice Titan can only be brought down if you destroy the four runes covered over his body. The first one is situated on the titan's left arm. In order to get onto the arm, you must get the arm stuck in the ice. Bait the boss into punching the lake surface. Pay attention to the shadow of the colossus (obligatory reference) and dodge out of the way before being squashed. The Ice Titan must punch the same area in order to break the surface of the frozen lake. With his arm stuck in the ice, run up towards it and look for a shining grip point. Use the Hook Tip to zip onto the side of the arm. Once you are on the arm, the Ice Titan will frantically shake his arm. Hold down the Right Trigger to keep your grip and avoid getting shaken off. Once he stops, shimmy around the boss's arm and look for a break in the armor rings along his arm. When you reach a break, jump up to the next ring. Make sure to hold on tight whenever he starts shaking again. You should reach the Titan's elbow; shimmy around until you find a blue rune. Use X to stab the rune while gripping onto the armor when the boss writhes in pain. Stab the rune ten times to break it. The Ice Titan pulls his arm free and tries to swat you away with his right hand. Follow the directions and dodge roll to the side to avoid getting knocked off. If you fall off of the boss's arm, you must get him to punch the ice again. Okay, you have dodged the Ice Titan's hand. Good! Quickly use the Hook Tip to zip onto his right hand, then wait for him to move his hand into the air. A grip point appears on his chest (the entire chestpiece glows white), so grapple onto the boss's chest. Hold on for dear life as you slowly move towards the rune on your left. This time, you aren't safe while targeting the second rune. Occasionally, the Ice Titan will bring his left arm up and try and yank you off. When you see his hand move up to his chest, jump to the side to avoid getting plucked off and mercilessly thrown to the ground. Try not to get pulled off, because you will seriously be injured and have to go through the entire process to get back up to his chest. After destroying down the second rune, the boss's chin begins to glow as he leans forward. Grapple onto the chin to swing around onto the behemoth's back. Drop down from the grooves in his back towards the rune and shimmy onto it. As you attack the rune, the Ice Titan will reach back with his hand to try and pull you off. Again, when you see his hand reach over his shoulder, jump to either side. Destroying the third rune breaks off a piece of his neck. Climb up onto his neck, then use the Hook Tip on the grip point that appears on the back of the boss's head. Naturally, the Ice Titan shakes a lot more now that he's nearing death. Shimmy over to the right side of his head and target the rune where his ear should be. You'll have to grip more often than before, and you will also have to avoid when the boss scraches his head. When you see his hand move up to his face, jump to the back of his head. Endure his thrashes and hit the fourth rune ten times to end the fight. ------------------------. BOSS: Stone Idol Titan '----------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Very Strong | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Very Strong | | Divine Shield | Very Strong | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Giant Difficulty: High "The Mage-Smiths were an order of Aghartian wizards who specialized in the creation of powerful artifacts. Most of their inventions were objects of common use, such as magical clothing or enchanted weapons and armor, but probably their most impressive creations were the Titans. These golems of gargantuan proportions were built for defensive purposes, but mages were forced to use them in the course of the war against the Dark Lords, during which most of them were destroyed." Another Titan! This one is a lot bigger than the Ice Titan, mainly because this one isn't half-submerged in a frozen lake. The boss only has three attacks; the first is used every time she takes a step. She is such a large specimen that every step she takes creates a minor shockwave that you must jump over in order to avoid taking minor damage. The second only happens if you get too close to the boss. The ring of stones surrounding her head will catch on fire and begin to drop to the ground like a meteor storm. Make sure to back away from the Stone Idol Titan and avoid any shadows nearby. The Stone Idol Titan's third attack is also a method of attacking yourself. Every so often, she will throw a single flaming rock at you. They may look like pebbles in comparison to the boss, but they are pretty large boulders once they come hurtling towards your tiny frame. Perform several dodge rolls as it comes flying towards your face to avoid it. In fact, we don't want to avoid these meteors: we must use them to damage the boss. Once the boss throws a rock at you, press the Right Trigger at the last minute to catch the rock in midair with your Combat Cross. As the picture indicates, rotate the Left Analog Stick counterclockwise to send the rock back at its sender. Landing a direct hit is tough, since you have to time the speed of your rotations perfectly. It's all about trial and error. The good news is that if you stay far away from the Stone Idol Titan, she will only use this attack, so you will get plenty of more tries. The Stone Idol Titan will tumble to the ground after you hit her with the boulder. Run up to her left leg and use your Hook Tip on the shiny portion of her leg. Begin climbing up her quad, using the grooves on her leg to keep your balance. Whenever the boss begins to shake her leg, hold the Right Trigger to stay on the boss. When you get all the way to the top of her leg, grapple over to her right leg. Now you must climb down the boss's leg towards her knee. Take pit stops whenever the Stone Idol Titan tries to knock you off; you should eventually reach the first rune located on her kneecap. Stab it ten times to destroy it. As soon as you break the rune, drop down a few times to her ankle. The boss uses her hand to try and scratch you off, but you should be in the clear if you got off her kneecap. With her hand in position, grapple onto it. If you do not move in time and are swiped to the ground, you must throw a boulder at her. This time, though, you can jump right on her wrist. Time to climb up the Stone Idol Titan's arm. Make your journey up the Titan's left arm and to her elbow. Again, she will try and shake you off periodically throughout all of this, so make sure to hold the Right Trigger when necessary to stay on. Hold on! Claudia will distract the boss while you reach her left elbow. Make your way up to the elbow if you haven't already. When the Stone Idol Titan ignores Claudia and directs your attention to you, she will flail her arm without stopping. Hang on and wait for Claudia to gain the attention of the boss again. Take your time with your attacks and the rune on her elbow will be destroyed after ten hits. Just like the first rune, drop down a few notches so that you aren't knocked to the ground when the Stone Idol Titan reaches over with her hand. With you situated on the right wrist, the boss punches the ground and knocks you off. Have no fear; you can use the Hook Tip to zip right back onto her wrist. Continue up the side of the arm. The boss will move and groove her arm a bit, but she will stop in due time. No Claudia for distractions this time. Get up to the right elbow to find the rune and stab it a bunch of times. Once the rune is shattered, climb to the very top of the Titan's elbow so you avoid getting squashed by her left hand. A quick cinema points out a floating rock that you can grapple onto with your Hook Tip. When the rock floats in front of the Stone Idol Titan, grapple onto her crown and make your way up to the final rune. You can expect the Stone Idol Titan to move her head a lot harder and more frantically, so pace your stabs. This would be the worst possible time to lose your grip and fall all the way to the ground. Automatic death, fo' sho'. After hitting the rune ten times, Claudia throws the Dark Crystal up to you. Damn, that girl has got some arm if she can throw it up that high! Perform the ring sequence successfully to bring the Stone Idol Titan crumbling down. --------------------------. BOSS: Black Knight Golem '--------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Strong | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: High "This Golem was created using similar techniques to those involved in the construction of the Titans. However, a human body was needed to imbue the armor with great power, so Claudia's father used the corpse of a mute killer and weaved his soul within the armor to forge this magical being. The Black Knight requires souls in order to function, so Claudia lures evil creatures so that he may devour them. Despite this, the Black Knight is not evil; the soul of a killer inside the armor hopes for redemption by protecting his ward, and sees a kindred spirit in the mute daughter of his creator, whom he has eventually grown to love." Honestly, the Black Knight Golem is a pretty unimpressive enforcer. Many of his attacks are pretty predictable and you should not have much trouble avoiding his attacks or damaging him. Not too intimidating in my eyes. The one thing to take note of is that many of the Black Knight Golem's attacks have a long range. The golem can create long lines of fire after some of his attacks, so rolling backwards won't cut it. He will perform a forward slash as flames erupt and travel forward; you must dodge to the side. He has a near- identical attack, but this time the flames are preceded by the boss scraping the ground with his free hand. The Black Knight Golem can also create a shockwave attack by punching the ground. I feel like most large enemies/bosses have some form of shockwave attack, so you should know what it looks like and what you should do in order to avoid taking damage. Lastly, the boss can also slash his sword. No flames, but it can still hurt. This is just an old-fashioned brawl. No specific battle strategies to follow specifically: just run up and start attacking like you would any other monster. Make use of your Light and Shadow Magic: use the former when you are in need of health and the latter to really pack a punch. Also note that while attacking the boss's back may seem like a clear-cut choice, the Black Knight Golem has a vicious backhand. Once you have depleted around a quarter of the boss's health, he will begin to glow. You cannot hurt him here, so press the Right Trigger and follow the button prompts to rip off a piece of his armor. Doing so will release some Neutral Elemental Orbs for your taking. Eventually, the Black Knight Golem adopts a new attack. He will plunge his sword into the ground and create a strange puddle of black goo that begins to pursue you. If it catches up to you, you will be immobilized and a sitting duck for the boss's next attack. The boss battle becomes especially annoying when he begins spamming the black goo attack like no other. I just get it over with by letting the goo catch me; only do this when you are far away enough from the Black Knight Golem that you can free yourself before he pulls off an attack. I saved all my Dark Magic up until this point so I could get this fight over with at a quicker pace. Follow a button prompt once the boss's health bar is drained to finish the job. ---------------. BOSS: Cornell '-------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Strong | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: High "The three founding members of the Brotherhood of Light were brave warriors who sacrificed their physical bodies in order to become spiritual beings, able to fight God's wars against evil. They performed a mystical ritual to transform themselves into angelic creatures. Their intentions were honorable, but they were deceived and their spirits were fractured; their good sides were transported to heaven as angelic beings, while their dark sides were left behind. Cornell was the youngest of the three, but he was also the strongest. Unlike his companions, he rarely used his magic powers, preferring to fight using a great sledgehammer that none but he could wield. On that fateful night, the spirit of Cornell left his body, and all the strength and anger left behind gave birth to the Lycanthrope Dark Lord." The first stage of the fight is against Cornell, the Lycanthrope Dark Lord. He looks like a normal, rugged human (except for his long fangs). He wields a large hammer, but otherwise looks fairly unintimidating compared to some of the other beasts we have faced at this point. Cornell is pretty quick on his feet and will often dodge your attacks like yourself when facing enemies. The boss also has several attacks brought on by his hammer. A few of them are simple jabs, with one of them particularly dangerous because Cornell spins the top of the hammer around like a buzzsaw. He also slams the hammer down for a big shockwave. That's pretty much it. Since this is one of two stages, you ought to save your big weapons for the one after this. Don't bother using your Dark Crystal or any magic here; you'll need it for the second stage. Stay aware of the various attacks the boss uses and go on the offensive whenever he pauses. It's a really easy fight. -----------------------------. BOSS: Lycanthrope Dark Lord '------------------------------------------------ +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Very Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Strong | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "The Dark Lord of the Lycanthropes is the personification of hate and violence. In his werewolf form he has superhuman strength and speed, far greater than even his mighty lieutenants. In addition to his natural abilities, he can also use the power of the Cyclone Boots, magical relics worn by his human counterpart. With them, he is able to jump great distances and perform powerful charge movements that can tear down most obstacles." If you were expecting this guy to look more like a Lycanthrope... well, here you go. He's a full-fledged werewolf now. The Lycanthrope Dark Lord moves at an incredible pace and it'll be difficult to scout his attacks. Aside from various physical attacks (some are unblockable), the boss can use a swift dash attack and a ground pound. Both are particularly fast attacks, and the ground pound is harder to avoid, so keep your eyes peeled: the dash is preceded by a crouching stance (kinda like a fighter's pose), and watch for the boss's fist to be raised in the air before he punches the ground. Make use of your secondary items here. Silver Daggers are incredibly effective against all Lycanthropes - including this boss. Use all ten daggers on him throughout the fight. Also use your Dark Crystal, preferably somewhere near the start of the second part of the boss battle. It can deal just over a quarter of the boss's health. Other than that, all I can really tell you to is just dodge and attack. You know what advances combos you have purchased up to this point, so utilize them. I went with faster, smaller combos, because the long and powerful ones leave you unguarded for too long of a period and leaves you open for attack. Once you have drained the vast majority of the Lycanthrope Dark Lord's health, he will transfer the rest of his health into the eight pillars surrounding the arena. Don't bother attacking the boss directly; you cannot hurt him. Instead, run over to each of the pillars and destroy them. You still will have to dodge the boss's attacks, but you shouldn't have much trouble here. When all of the pillars have been destroyed, will begin an interactive cutscene. Numerous ring sequences await in this scene, but completing the scene slays the Lycanthrope Dark Lord. This interactive cutscene made me realize how much I dislike quick-time events. ------------. BOSS: Ogre '----------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Strong | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Giant Difficulty: High "The Anubian Giants are an ancient species, as old as the Earth itself. This particular Ogre is one of the last of his race left in the world. He lives amongst the walls of this deserted mountain fortress, waiting for misguided travellers to stumble in, so that he can grind their bones to make his bread. However, this particular Ogre hasn't had much man flesh for quite some time, having to settle for the odd Cave Troll. Ogres have an extremely keen sense of smell and can sniff a man from half a mile away, making them very successful trackers. Fortunately their size and clumsy nature means that their prey can often see them coming!" This particular Ogre is the last of his kind, so it's not uncommon to feel slightly guilty after killing him. Nah, I'm just kidding: lets thrash this sonuvabitch. First things first: there is a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue on the far left side of the ring-shaped arena. Stand next to it and absorb some Neutral Elemental Orbs if you are low on magic at any time. Needless to say, it is impossible to block any of the boss's attacks due to his sheer size. He starts off with four attacks, and they are all painfully similar to each other. He will either smack the ground, punch the ground, smack the ground with both hands simultaneously, or clasp his hands together and drive them to the ground. The last one is the hardest to dodge since you have to avoid both hands. Dodge rolls may not be enough here, so keep in mind that you can use your Cyclone Boots to sprint out of trouble. They aren't only used for crossing long gaps and such; use sprints to easily dodge attacks. As you will come to learn, it's best to save your Dark Crystal for bosses. Do not use it at the start of the fight, as it'll come in handy near the midpoint of the battle. You can attack the Ogre if you get up against the edge of the ring and stretch out your chain. Otherwise, wait for the boss to attack before slashing at his hands and arms. When you have drained around half of the Ogre's health bar, it will turn gray. This means that you cannot damage the boss by conventional means. Wait for the Ogre to punch you, then dodge and press the Right Trigger to grab his shining fist. Peform a couple ring sequences to blind the Ogre in one eye. The boss will not incorporate a large boulder into his offense. He palms a boulder and smashes it on the ground periodically. This is the same as his punch/slap attack, but the boulder generates a shockwave that you will have to jump over or outrun. Attacking him is the same, although he occasionally pauses to grab his injured eye, giving you a nice window to attack. Use Light Magic to heal or Shadow Magic to damage the boss more when he is rubbing his eye. When the Ogre is down to just a sliver of health, you will have to perform another ring sequence to gouge out his other eye. He resorts to his sense of smell and can sniff out out. His attacks are sped up, as he will slap and punch at a faster rate, so spend the time dodging rather than attacking and wait to strike when the Ogre stops moving. By now the boss should have barely any health left. Make sure to stand in the center of the ring. Eventually, the Ogre will roar and lean forward as his head begins to glow. Press the Right Trigger and follow up with some ring sequences; if you are standing on either side when you trigger the ring sequence, you will not complete the battle. You must stand near the jagged rock sticking up from the middle of the arena when the Ogre roars so you can drive the boss's neck right into the sharp rock. Gory. Vicious. Lovely. I find this boss fight to be one of the easier boss fights, mainly because you have access to a Neutral Elemental Energy Statue. That means a constant supply of magic, which means constant Light Magic, which means constant healing. Note that the Ogre isn't going to sit still when you regain magic, so only take them in short bursts so you aren't a sitting duck. --------------------------. BOSS: Crow Witch Malphas '--------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Very Strong | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Very Strong | | Divine Shield | Very Strong | | Dark Crystal | Somewhat Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Giant Difficulty: High "It is said that this monster was once a beautiful woman, a Witch who inhabited the mountains that surround the fortress. She was treated with respect and admiration, with many people travelling from distant regions for her sage advice. During this time she fell in love with a Prince who lived in the Keep. Besotted with him, she used her powers to concoct potions of love and enchantment so that she could have him for herself. Alas, another Witch entrapped him and he met a most gruesome end. Mad with greif, Malphas threw herself from the top of the tower and landed on the rocks below. Incredibly, she survived the fall, though her body was horribly broken. The crows fed on her and she on them and over many centuries her powers grew until she transformed into the twisted, bird-like creature she is now, intent on feeding on corpses for food. Her cries of maddened rage fill the long, dark valleys below the fortress and echo around the tower that was once a place of love and hope." The Crow Witch spawns her own babies and forces them to fight you while she flies around the tower roof. She begins the fight by spitting out three eggs. Like in the Stone Idol Titan fight, the eggs will glow when they get close to you. Once one is close enough, press the Right Trigger to grab it. Rotate the Left Analog Stick and you will throw it back at her. If you're lucky, you will score a direct hit. Any egg that bypasses you will shatter on impact and release a Witch Child. Now even though these things were only born like four seconds ago, they are very strong and should be taken very seriously. They have a lightning-fast divebomb attack and can breathe fire. They are also quick in general and often flutter from side to side to avoid your attacks. When there are two or more Witch Children present, you will not be able to damage the Crow Witch Malphas. Focus on the children entirely unless the boss tries to use an attack. One of her main attacks is sending her crow army at you like a giant bullet. The camera zooms in on her before the crows start diving at you; sprint or roll out of the way. The Crow Witch can also use a supersonic scream to stop Gabriel in his tracks. If you see a series of black rings appear on the ground, avoid it at all costs. If you are caught in it, you will be bound to the ground. Tap the button shown onscreen to free yourself before the Crow Witch or her children can inflict further harm on you. The first part of this fight is focused more on the Witch Children than the witch herself. It isn't such a bad idea to use a Dark Crystal if you are ever faced off against three Witch Children at once. The only way to damage the boss herself is when she is deploying more eggs. The old-fashioned "egg throwback" technique is the only way to hurt the Crow Witch, so don't let these opportunities slip by (in other words, don't mess up when the eggs are coming your way!). When you take out around half of the Crow Witch's health, she will become dizzied. Run up to her glowing body and grab onto her as she takes Gabriel for a ride high up in the sky. During the cutscene, follow the button prompts to drive her down into the roof. Now that the boss has crashed and burned, run up to her still body and unleahs whatever you've got on her. Ignore any remaining Witch Children and go straight for the Crow Witch herself. Eventually she regains consciousness and repeats the battle strategy again. Finish off any remaining Witch Children as the boss rehashes her egg spit attack. Send them back at her and interact with the boss when she is stunned. Follow up on the second quick-time event to send the Crow Witch Malphas for a crash landing. She's on the ground again, so run up and attack with your Shadow Magic activated. One more cutscene will do her in as you rip the Crow Witch's head clean off. --------------------------. BOSS: Lieutenant Brauner '--------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "This Vampire is a powerful demon, turned by the Dark Lord long ago. It is well known that young Vampires are bestial in appearance, but as they become stronger, they are able to regain human form. Indeed, many of the oldest Vampires are mistaken for high-born aristocracy. However, this creature was never human and thus cannot take that form. Rather, he is a spawn of Hell, possessing vampiric powers, which make him a formidable foe." Lieutenant Brauner is much more formidable than the Vampire Warriors that we have been slicing and staking up to this point. He has giant wings, a tiny dagger, a large boomerang-like blade, and super-evil dreads! Kinda like the fight with the Black Knight Golem: there's nothing fancy about this battle; you basically just have to attack and attack and attack until he's dead. For the most part. The boss mainly uses melee attacks, so he will often fight to close the gap between you and him. It's important to fight for space and help distance yourself from the boss when you need to. Brauner doesn't really harness many unique or interesting attacks: he has a melee claw slash, a melee dagger jab, a melee blade swing, and one long-range attack where he shoots towards you like a bullet. Also, Brauner will sometimes shift his forms into an army of bats. When this happens, roll to avoid the bats as they dive towards you. He will then materialize right in front of you; just another way to close the gap between the two of you. One final attack: when the boss says something like "catch this!", it means he's getting ready to throw his boomerang blade at you. Your first thought would be to get the heck away from it, but stand your ground and don't budge. If you time things right, you can grab the blade and throw it back at Brauner to inflict a hefty amount of damage. Aside from using Brauner's own weapon against him, just get up close and use your Combat Cross. Flasks don't do that much here despite him being a Vampire, so I would save them for later use. The Dark Crystal is always a great option. Otherwise, stick with your best combos. When Lieutenant Brauner is at half health, he will be stunned. Approach the glowing boss and initiate a quick-time event. Two ring sequences in, and Gabriel will viciously rip the boss's wings off. Well, this doesn't actually change much, since Brauner rarely leaves the ground. The boss battle continues... and does not get any harder. My main method of attack was to wait for Brauner to throw his boomerang blade and just hurl it right back at him. When he's down to a tiny bit of health, perform one more quick-time event to end the fight. --------------------. BOSS: Evil Butcher '--------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Weak | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "This monster of unknown origin has somehow become the 'official cook' for the Vampires. The Dark Lord uses the Evil Butcher to feed the Ghouls, Wargs, and other creatures that live within the castle grounds. He carries a huge iron cleaver as his main weapon. He is not really a fighter but is dangerous and skilled with the tools found in his kitchen. However, due to his size, he needs constant 'refueling' in order to maintain his stamina." This is a fairly simple fight, mainly because the Evil Butcher isn't much of a fighter. He's just the cook for Pete's sake! However, he uses the items found inside the kitchen to his advantage, as they aid him greatly in this battle. The boss uses various tools to either attack you or aid him in the boss battle. The Evil Butcher has access to a large number of knives and cleavers; when you see him grab one off the wall, get ready to dodge it with a simple dodge roll. If you see the Evil Butcher pick up a red jug and drink it, get ready to back up as he will breathe fire. He does this three times before disposing of the jug. Get used to the placement of the items in the kitchen, because you will then be able to anticipate what attacks the boss will use depending on where in the kitchen he is going. Both cleavers and jugs can be found to the left and right of the oven; the utensils hang on the walls while the jugs are on ledges up against the oven. The Evil Butcher does also yield a gigantic butcher knife that will be used if you get too close to him, so he doesn't only rely on random stuff lying around. He has a two-hit slash attack and an unblockable slam that sends a line of fire straight from where the knife lands. You can use your secondary weapons against the Evil Butcher, but you may want to save them for a later use; this guy is easy enough without using a Dark Crystal or the ultra-effective Holy Water Flasks. It's up to you. A great time to attack is when the Evil Butcher is about to drink from the red jug. Run behind him so you dodge the flame breath completely and you can hack away at his backside. Also attack the boss when he runs to grab a random item to use. He turns his back to you and scampers around like a child, so follow him and attack as he goes to find something to use. When the boss loses a nice amount of health, he will regain some of it by eating a piece of unidentifiable meat (probably human). When you see him grab a leg, begin attacking him. You cannot stop the Evil Butcher from consuming it, but you'll be draining his health just as he regains some. It kinda balances itself out. Once you have depleted most of the boss's health, he will grab the pot on the open fire and drink it. His health bar turns gray, so you cannot damage him. To top things off, the Evil Butcher takes the pot and places it on his head. The boss gains super strength and speed, so you need to end this fight before it gets out of hand. You cannot target the boss directly, but you can stun him. Jump in the air and use an aerial attack on the pot lying over his head. You'll rattle his brains a bit as the butcher knife in his hand begins to glow. Interact with it and follow the button prompt to take care of business. ------------------------------. BOSS: Mechanical Monstrosity '----------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "The Vampires were not the first tenants of the castle; the previous owner was a scientist known as Friedrich Von Frankenstein. He used the castle to conceal his horrific experiments into artificial life. The Mechanical Monstrosity was one such foray. Frankenstein created this giant scorpion-like machine using the brain of a malformed medical experiment gone wrong. However, his creature proved difficult to control and now rampages through the castle killing anything it can get its claws into." This room makes for a terrible boss arena, since the electrical fields confine you and the monster to a fairly small box. The Mechanical Monstrosity is somewhat slow, which helps when taking into account the small arena; you won't have to do as much frantic dodging. As far as attacks, the Mechanical Monstrosity doesn't have many of them. It can pinch you with one of its claw or jab both of them forward. When you see its tail light up, get ready to sprint to either side as the boss shoots bolts of lighting out of its two pincers. Despite the disadvantages, we have fought tougher battles than this. Begin by attacking the foe with your Combat Cross. When you deplete a quarter of its health, the Mechanical Monstrosity begins to recharge using a beacon connected to the ceiling. The first time around, the boss will heal to full health. Just deal with it. Deplete a quarter of its health again and the boss will return to its platform to heal. This time, use an Earthquake Punch on the switch at the back of the room. This will switch the charge of the beacon and instead of healing the Mechanical Monstrosity, the boss takes great damage. With the boss at half health, it begins attacking again. If you are having some trouble, you may want to use a Dark Crystal if available. If not, stay on the defensive and use Light Magic to heal yourself from time to time. Once you drain another quarter from the boss's health bar, it returns to the beacon. Hit the switch again to leave the Mechanical Monstrosity nearing death. You only need to repeat this process once more, for a total of three times. ------------------------------. BOSS: Mechanical Monstrosity '----------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "The Vampires were not the first tenants of the castle; the previous owner was a scientist known as Friedrich Von Frankenstein. He used the castle to conceal his horrific experiments into artificial life. The Mechanical Monstrosity was one such foray. Frankenstein created this giant scorpion-like machine using the brain of a malformed medical experiment gone wrong. However, his creature proved difficult to control and now rampages through the castle killing anything it can get its claws into." The Mechanical Monstrosity is nearly identical to the first battle in terms of fighting style. It's a sneaky creature that uses its large pincers to stretch out and hit you from afar. The boss can either pinch you with one arm or jab both out in front at you. If you see the boss charge up its tail, get ready to avoid the lightning bolts it fires at you. Dodging works, but you may want to jump in the air to avoid this one. In order to stay airborne for a longer period of time, tap X or Y to do some aerial moves and keep you in the air longer. The boss does have one new attack it'll use on you. When you see the Mechanical Monstrosity create a green force field around itself, random junk will rise in the air and float above the boss. The battle will continue accordingly, but from time to time the Mechanical Monstrosity shoots some of this junk at you like a rogue bullet. Just another attack you have to dodge. Even though the two boss fights are similar to each other, they are also a lot different. This time, we aren't inside a laboratory filled with electrical fields and beacons. That means that the Mechanical Monstrosity cannot recharge its health when it becomes damaged. You also have a bit more room to do battle. You know what to expect from this boss, so you know how to damage it. Use whatever strategy you have in the first fight here as well. A Dark Crystal helps greatly, but otherwise use combos and magic to end this quickly. When the Mechanical Monstrosity is down to a quarter health, it'll become impervious to attack. Initiate a grab and follow the button sequences to finish this monster off, once and for all. -----------------------. BOSS: Commander Olrox '------------------------------------------------------ +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Somewhat Strong | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "Another demon-spawned Vampire, he and his younger sibling were both inhuman before the Dark Lord found them and turned them. In fact, they didn't belong to this earthly plane at all, being lesser nether demons begat in the deepest corners of Hell. How they came into our world is still a mystery but what is known is that the Vampire Dark Lord found them and used her influence upon them." We're much closer to the Vampire Dark Lord, but Commander Olrox is the last line of defense before we can reach the queen. He is similar to Lieutenant Brauner both in appearance and fighting style, but I would give the edge to Commander Olrox in terms of difficulty. The boss is much quicker than his brother and dodges most of your attacks, which can be frustrating. He has a speed and agility similar to that of a Swordmaster, who normally you cannot land a three-plus combo on because they shift back and forth all the time. Aside from dodging, Commander Olrox can also teleport around the ring. Fortunately, this boss doesn't have too many attacks. Aside from your basic physical attacks, Commander Olrox may pounce on you and begin to drain your blood. Frantically tap the button onscreen to free yourself and counter the attack. He can also throw his duel blades at you like a buzzsaw, but these cannot be caught. When you hear him speak, run to the side as he spins both blades towards you. Olrox is mighty fast, but countering his attacks is key. A great time to attack is just after he has thrown both weapons at you, because he stops for a second in order to catch them before resuming play. Just as he catches the two swords, throw a Flask at him to knock him down or just use a heavy combo. You can even strike as the blades are still spinning in the air and the boss simply stands and waits for them to return. The boss battle goes by surprisingly fast until Olrox is hanging on by a thread. A scene begins as the boss runs over to one of the iron maidens surrounding the ring. It opens up and he begins feasing on the dead Lycanthrope inside. He will heal until he's back at a quarter health left. You must put a stop to Commander Olrox by destroying the remains of the dead Lycanthropes inside each of the iron maidens. If you do not, the next time you reduce his health to a smidgen he will return to the iron maiden and refill his health bar. But if you destroy the corpse inside, he'll be out of luck. Destroy the first Lycanthrope corpse inside the first iron maiden. Now when you reduce the boss's health, he will pry open a second iron maiden and drink the blood of the Lycanthrope inside. Again, destroy the body and resume fighting Olrox. The same happens with a third iron maiden, and the boss is back up to a quarter health for the third consecutive time. Remove the corpse from the iron maiden and lower his health. Commander Olrox finds a fourth and final iron maiden containing a Lycanthrope and refills his health to one-fourth. For one final time, destroy the dead body inside and direct your attention back to Commander Olrox. With four iron maidens opened and four corpses destroyed, Olrox has no way to regenerate himself. Now when you drain his health bar, Olrox will begin to glow and you can grab him to initiate a quick-time event. This boss battle is all about patience and endurance. It seems to fly by at first, but it turns out to be very deceiving since every time the boss opens up an iron maiden he regains one-quarter of his health. So in a way, you have to deplete his health bar two full times during the course of the duel. ----------------. BOSS: Carmilla '------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Very Strong | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Very Strong | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Very Strong | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: High "The three founding members of the Brotherhood of Light were brave warriors who sacrificed their physical bodies in order to become spiritual beings, able to fight God's wars against evil. They performed a mystical ritual to transform themselves into angelic creatures. Their intentions were honorable, but they were deceived and their spirits were fractured; their good sides were transported to heaven as angelic beings, while their dark sides were left behind. The second of the founders, Carmilla, was a highly skilled healer, and her talents knew no equal. Pure of soul and chaste in mind and body, she was renowned for her love of all living creatures. When the spirit left her body on that fateful night, her love of life and her purity were corrupted, giving birth to the Vampire Dark Lord." I don't understand how this lady has any defense, considering how she's wearing nothing but a curtain. She must take this into account as well, since she seals herself inside a force field and floats above the center of the boss's arena. You cannot target Carmilla in here. Instead, she will summon Vampire Warriors to do her bidding. You'll usually find around five Vampires at a time. As if that wasn't bad enough, occasionally the boss lowers to the ground and shoots bolts of lightning at you. You can help out your case by drawing the lightning bolts towards the enemies you are fighting. She will follow you with the attack, so make sure that a couple Vampire Warriors are between you and Carmilla before she fires away... she'll instantly kill any Vampire Warrior that she (accidentally) hits with her spell. Since you cannot damage Carmilla during this phase, the only way to succeed is to wipe out her clan of Vampire Warriors. Try to save your items and magic for later parts of the fight when you'll really need it. A few more Vampire Warriors may appear after the initial die out, but you likely won't face any more than ten Vampires in total. -------------------------. BOSS: Vampire Dark Lord '---------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Weak | | Divine Shield | Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "Just like the Lycanthrope Dark Lord, the Vampire Queen was granted an animal- like manifestation of the dark parts of her spirit. It is pitifully ironic that for a healer with such a love for life, she would be transformed into a blood-sucking monster that consumes the energy of living creatures in order to survive. This ungodly bat demon uses the Seraph Shoulders to fly and can conjure up Vampire warriors at will from anywhere in the Castle to do her bidding." Carmilla reveals her true colors and transforms into her true form as the Vampire Dark Lord. Additionally, the floor begins to crumble away so that you are left with a smaller arena to fight on. The Vampire Dark Lord usually summons about three Vampire Warriors to fight alongside her. Try to defeat them before you concentrate 100% on the boss. Using some attacks, such as Flasks, will be able to target both the boss and her minions. The queen isn't very big, but is quick on her feet and can use her gigantic wings to float around the room. She has some nasty close-range attacks, such as some claw swipes and a vicious uppercut that cannot be blocked. Also, the boss is able to use her needle-like fingers to impale Gabriel. If you are skewered, repeatedly tap the button onscreen to get free. If you have any Holy Water Flasks, use 'em at the start of the battle (the same should be said for a Dark Crystal). Try and use Shadow Magic to defeat the Vampire Warriors and damage the boss. The Vampire Warriors drop Elemental Orbs when defeated, so you should have a constant supply of magic. When the Vampire Dark Lord is down to half a health bar, more of the ground is destroyed and she begins using two new attacks. Both attacks are preceded by her taking flight. The boss will either create an energy shockwave on the ground or summon a pack of vampire bats that swoop down to pester you. If she is using the energy shockwave attack, jump in the air. If she sends some bats your way, constantly dodge roll until they disperse. When the queen is on her last legs, she flies in the air and casts another protective shield around her before firing bolts of lightning at you. Press the button onscreen for your Dark Gauntlet to absorb the lightning. Complete this and the boss falls to the ground, stunned. While she's on the ground (still inside her force field), use any Dark Gauntlet attack to trigger the final button sequence. From here, you're only a few short ring sequences away from exterminating the second Dark Lord. --------------------------. BOSS: The Silver Warrior '--------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Very Strong | | Divine Shield | Very Strong | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "Pan, once revered as a God, rarely changes into this form, preferring peace and to protect all living things. The magical silver armor is a remnant of ancient times, a tool used for fighting the forces of evil that hasn't been worn by him for centuries. Now, out of necessity, Pan adorns his body in this ancient armor to test Gabriel one final time. Pan puts his trust in God, for no knight that is false can survive the test of arms. The loser will provide the ultimate sacrifice, according to God's will." -~ Part 1 ~- The Silver Warrior is a powerful foe that will certainly give you a run for your money. The boss is incredibly quick on his feet and carries a weapon similar to your Combat Cross. He can attack close-range with a quick slash, or extend the chain to hit you from a distance. Additionally, the boss is capable of using an unblockable flying uppercut. The boss is difficult in his own right, but to make things worse you are stripped of both Light and Shadow Magic; at least for the first part of the fight. You have no way of healing, so it is key to stay in a defensive position for most of this fight. Don't go overboard with the combos or else you'll be letting the boss tear you apart with ease. I'd spend the entire fight holding down the Left Trigger. Block the Silver Warrior's blows (but don't count on getting a counterattack... just block normally) and then dodge his unblockable ones. Like many agile enemies, don't use anything higher than a three-hit combo or you're just asking to be interrupted with a sword to the face. Dodge roll, quick attack, rinse and repeat. Just roll around the boss like a crazy monkey until you get an opening to strike. Like I said, it's much more important to play it safe than to try and end this stage of the boss battle quickly. You'll be able to grab the Silver Warrior once you take away around a quarter of his health. -~ Part 2 ~- At the start of the second phase, you receive your Light Magic back. This isn't an excuse to go all-out, since the Silver Warrior can still put an ass- whoopin' on you even with the power to heal. The boss also uses Light Magic of his own. A weird trick about this fight is that using magic against the boss while he uses the same magic is a bad idea. If you use a Light Magic attack while the Silver Warrior has his own Light Magic activated, it will cause significantly less damage. Only use Light Magic when you need to heal; otherwise switch it off and fight normally. The Silver Warrior does not develop any new moves, so use the same strategy you did in the first part, except occasionally use Light Magic to heal yourself. One the boss is down to half health, the third part begins. -~ Part 3 ~- The boss introduces Shadow Magic into the fight. He will use Shadow Magic as well as yourself. The same method as before applies here: if the Silver Warrior is using magic, do not use the same magic to attack. In fact, while using the same magic weakens your attacks, using the opposite magic makes your hits much more damaging. Same attacks as before, but the boss moves a lot quicker than normal. He will often only let you land one blow before he strafes to the side and lunges at you. Definitely be careful and use magic throughout this entire part. Even if you don't like to use magic that much, it really makes the fight that much easier on you. You'll have to switch between Light and Shadow Magic every couple seconds, but if you keep using the opposite magic on the Silver Warrior, you will triumph. -------------------. BOSS: Gravedigger '---------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Big Difficulty: High "THe Necromancers had to keep a constant supply of corpses in order to build their army of the undead. To sustain the immense cemeteries where all these bodies were kept, the Necromancers relied on the Gravedigger, an enslaved, nameless demon mutated and empowered with the tainted magic of these evil sorcerers. The Gravedigger uses a giant shovel to exhume the dead, and this also makes a formidable weapon in combat." This Pyramid Head look-alike can be challenging, even though his weapon of choice is a shovel. the Gravedigger uses said shovel to unearth more Creeping Corpses to aid him during the fight. This large and imposing boss has many devastating attacks; most being unblockable. His signature attack may be an overhead swing that results in a shockwave. When you see the Gravedigger pull his shovel back and over his head, get ready to somersault or jump. The boss's other long-range attack is when he buries the tip of the shovel into the ground and creates a line of fire that shoots out towards you. A bit easier to dodge in my opinion. Sometimes, the strange mask the boss wears will split in half, revealing a mess of tentacles for a face. The Gravedigger then extends the tentacles out to pierce at you. All of the boss's other attacks are short-range shovel swings. Some of these attacks can be blocked if you don't feel like dodgin'. I would say that it is a lot safer to stay up close when battling the Gravedigger than to keep your distance. When you're down to about the halfway point in the fight, the Gravedigger digs up a handful of Creeping Corpses. It's tough enough worrying about the boss alone, but now you have at least three goons scurrying around. The logical way would be to focus on them before you go back to fighting the boss. This is probably the best way to go, although using a Flask while they are all grouped together will eliminate the Creeping Corpses and significantly hurt the boss. I found the Gravedigger to be a little sluggish, so I didn't have much trouble avoiding damage aside from his overhead slam and his quick tentacle sting. I fully recommend using Shadow Magic on this boss; you should have plenty of magic from the start of the level, and Creeping Corpses drop Neutral Elemental Orbs when defeated. Switch over to Light Magic if you're low on health. As like many boss battles, you are to enter a quick-time event once the Gravedigger is down to a sliver of health. However, DO NOT grab the boss! If you do, the boss regains a quarter of his health. Instead, examine the crank to the right of the Gravedigger and open up the furnace hatch. By now, the Gravedigger most likely regains consciousness and you must drain one-fourth of his health again. If this is the case, continue smacking him around until he is dazed. With the furnace already open, grab the Gravedigger and follow the ring sequences and button prompts to put a stop to him. Overall, not a terribly difficult boss fight; I found this guy to be a lot easier than the fight against the Silver Warrior. -------------------. BOSS: Necromancer '---------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: High "Necromancy is the most evil of all the schools of magic and can only be performed by the followers of the Dark Lord of the Dead. Unlike vampirism and lycanthropy, the powers necessary to control the energies of deceased are not easily acquired. The Dark Lord only shares a small part of his power with his followers, who themselves must die in order to use the abilities given to them. Once dead, they become his thralls and their master is able to control them with his own considerable power." Shame; the Necromancer boss fights are all really easy. Easier than any other boss fight up to this point and only slightly harder than the Scarecrows we fought back in Woes Moor (why I decided to categorize these guys as bosses, I don't know). The Necromancer is not only very strong, but incredibly fast; he reminds me of the Swordmaster enemies. His attacks are deceiving, because you wouln't picture someone like him dealing so much damage with one blow. The boss has several quick staff strikes, two of which being stronger than the others. First is an uppercut-like move, where the boss swings his staff upwards and tries to knock you off your feet. The second attack is actually pretty terrible and can deal a lot of damage to you. It's a two-hit attack that starts off with a quick swipe, then follows up with an overhead slam that is basically identical to one of the Gravedigger's attacks: the staff hits the ground and a stream of fire extends across the arena. Additionally, the Necromancer spends a lot of the time summoning Zombie armies to distract you. The weird part is that for each Zombie he creates, he loses a bit of health. After a while, the Necromancer absorbs the surviving Zombies and he gains his health back. To make a short and easy boss fight even shorter and easier, focus on killing the Zombies instead of continuing to focus on the boss. Still pay attention to the Necromancer and his deadly attacks, but fend off the Zombies so he cannot absorb them. One Flask will do the trick, but otherwise your Combat Cross works nearly as well. This battle should fly by real fast. If you are hit by a few of the boss's knock-out attacks, use Light Magic to regain your health. The additional monsters present serve as a good resource for Neutral Elemental Orbs. Finish the fight off with a quick-time event. -------------------. BOSS: Necromancer '---------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Explosive Dagger | Somewhat Weak | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Weak | | Flask | Somewhat Weak | | Divine Shield | Somewhat Weak | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: High "Necromancy is the most evil of all the schools of magic and can only be performed by the followers of the Dark Lord of the Dead. Unlike vampirism and lycanthropy, the powers necessary to control the energies of deceased are not easily acquired. The Dark Lord only shares a small part of his power with his followers, who themselves must die in order to use the abilities given to them. Once dead, they become his thralls and their master is able to control them with his own considerable power." The second Necromancer is nearly identical to the first one. This time, he uses one new attack: the boss charges up his staff, then slams it into the ground. The ground becomes coated in green electricity; use a timed double jump so you don't suffer the effects of the attack. The only other difference is that in addition to Zombies, the Necromancer may also summon Reapers. Reapers, as you know already, are much more dangerous than Zombies, so protect yourself from them and the boss. A Flask comes in handy when fighting Reapers so you can eliminate them in a quick flash without having to worry so much. The battle strategy is exactly the same here: attack the boss, guard his attacks, and focus on the minions he creates to lower his health. The new attack and the presence of Reapers makes the Necromancer a tad more difficult than his partner, but otherwise it isn't too bad. -----------------------. BOSS: Dracolich Titan '------------------------------------------------------ +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Very Strong | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Very Strong | | Divine Shield | Very Strong | | Dark Crystal | Weak | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Giant Difficulty: High "Necromancers are evil wizards who can control the dead with dark powers. The most common belief is that this power is limited to deceased humans but, in fact, it encompasses all dead creatures, as demonstrated by this monster. This massive creature, a remnant of our pre-historic past, died long before the Necromancers came to this land and was buried under tons of rock, eventually becoming a fossil. When the Dark Lord built his fortress in this desolate land, he discovered the carcass and reconstructed it using magical runes to bind evil spirits to the ancient bones. Should the necessity arise, this monster is able to perform one last duty for its master..." Like in previous Titan battles, you must find a way to get onto the Titan before you can start attacking it. Gabriel stands on the top of the tower as the Dracolich Titan flies around the arena. It can take a little while for the boss to complete full circle as he flies around the tower, so in order to keep yourself busy, Zombies appear on the tower. The Dracolich Titan only has one attack here; when it flies over the tower, it'll breathe green fire onto the arena. Make sure to double jump as the flames coat the ground. Also, you may run into low-hanging parts of the Titan's body as he flies over you, such as its arms. In order to grab onto the Dracolich Titan, wait as it flies overhead. As its tail passes by you, use your Hook Tip to grapple to one of the bony spikes on the underside of the boss's tail. You'll grab on as the boss continues to fly high in the air. This will be a difficult challenge, and much harder than the other Titan battles. From the bony spike on the underside of the boss, climb up onto its spine. Now moving up the spine towards its head isn't as easy as you would think. You can only grab onto the whitened vertebrae; some are worn down and brown, so you cannot grab onto them. Right as you pull yourself up onto the spine, you'll find one to your left that you cannot get onto. Time for a little (more like big) detour. Instead of moving up its spine, start going to the right, down to the end of the Dracolich Titan's tail. Remember to hold the Right Trigger any time it starts to roar and shake. When you reach a vertebrae connected by a wooden plank, pull yourself up and walk across the plank. Drop down onto the other one and continue moving down the side of the tail. When you can go no further, you will be able to drop onto one of the bones protruding from the side of the dragon's tail. There are rows of bones flaring out from the side of the tail, so walk to the very end and crawl onto the edge. From here, you can jump from bone to bone back to the left. When you have reached the last bone and the others to your left are old and withered, look below to find another spike on the underside of the boss you can swing over to. Use your Hook Tip to reach the spike, then shimmy around and climb up onto the boss's spine. Now you're on the right side of the boss. You cannot go to the right, so start going to the left. Once you cannot go further, walk out onto the bones sticking out. Jump to the right to cross several bones. The key to doing all of this is to be patient, especially when jumping from bone to bone. Even though Gabriel motions that you can jump, wait for the bones to move close to you, because otherwise it'll be out of your reach and you'll jump and fall off. Pull yourself up to the spines and walk across a few more vertebrae, then drop down onto another set of bony protrusions. Go to the right until you reach a third spike and grapple over to it. Boy, this is repetitive. Lemme tell ya, moving across the boss is quite a chore. If at any time you fall off of the boss, complete the ring sequence to survive and return to the tower. You'll have to start all over again, but at least you are still alive. Climb up from the third spike back onto the left side of the Dracolich Titan's spine. Go and crawl onto the lone protrusion, then grapple to the fourth bony spike. When you go up to the right side of the boss's spine, you will find the first rune. Again, be patient here. Use X destroy the rune and pause to hold on whenever the boss gets restless. Ten strikes after, and you are one rune down. A portion of the Dracolich's Titan breaks off, allowing you to move from the right side of its spine to the left. But more importantly, you get a checkpoint! If you ever fall off of the boss and return to the tower, have no fear. When you grapple onto the Titan as it flies overhead, you will return to the first rune rather than the tip of its tail. Walk along the left side of its spine and drop onto the bony protrusions. Leap across the bones to find yourself at the second rune. Once you have broken it, the bony protrusion breaks off. Shimmy along the vertebrae to eventually reach the underside of the dragon. Traverse up the ribcage to reach the third rune. Once the third rune is down, complete a ring sequence to land next to the Dracolich Titan's head in a marvelous fashion. Climb down onto the bony spike and go around onto the right side of the boss. From here, you can move along the spine down to the fourth rune on the neck of the boss. The fifth and final rune is a bit tricky... mainly because it is inside the Dracolich Titan's mouth. The boss crash lands onto the tower and decides that flying around all that time was too tiring. It rests its hands on two spires and leans over the side of the tower. Again, the only attack the Titan uses is a fire breath attack. In order to get inside the dragon's mouth, use your Hook Tip when its chin begins to glow. As soon as you enter the mouth, the Dracolich Titan prepares to use a fire breath attack. Before it unleashes the attack and knocks you out of its mouth, punch the rune once to stop the attack. Hit the rune once more as the boss spits you out. Avoid a fire breath attack, then do the same thing once more to finally put an end to this fight. -------------. BOSS: Satan '---------------------------------------------------------------- +------------------+ | Resistance | +------------------+-----------------+ | Dagger | Very Strong | | Explosive Dagger | Very Strong | | Fairy | Very Strong | | Light Fairy | Very Strong | | Flask | Very Strong | | Divine Shield | Very Strong | | Dark Crystal | Very Strong | +------------------+-----------------+ Size: Medium Difficulty: High "The real mastermind behind these events, the fallen angel Satan was cast down to Earth as punishment for his rebellion against God. Satan has been searching for a way to re-enter Heaven and crush the Almighty once and for all. The God Mask is said to bestow a power that is supposed to be a key to God himself; a power that makes its wearer God's vassal on Earth, and Satan has manipulated Zobek and the other Lords of of Shadow to acquire it for his own means. Satan has unimaginable power to wield on this Earth and can use both Light and Shadow energy to cast destructive spells or summon demonic Reapers from other planes. However, he is not able to command his full strength while chained to the earthly plane, and thus remains weakened against Heaven's chosen." Having an unlimited amount of magic for the duration of the fight doesn't make it any easier. Satan is one tough cookie and can really catch you off guard if you aren't paying attention. He has a large arsenal of attacks, ranging from short-range and long-range to defensive spells. Just like any enemy or boss, Satan has his fair share of close-range physical attacks. The ones you need to worry about are the others. He has a massive ground quake attack: the boss slams his staff on the ground and causes a large earthquake. Make sure to use a timed double jump to avoid getting knocked around. If he creates a group of fireballs, that could mean one of two things. Either he will summon Reapers or create magic symbols on the ground that trap you in place. The Reapers come in two colors: red and blue. You can only damage them by using the opposite magic (use Shadow Magic on blue Reapers and vice-versa). In the case of the magic traps, you will be bound to the ground until you switch to the same color magic of the symbol. Otherwise, Satan uses this time to perform his ground quake attack. As you can see, the use of magic is incredibly important in the boss fight against Satan; not just for avoiding his moves, but also for damaging him. Like the battle against the Silver Warrior, you must use opposite magic than the boss in order to really hurt him. Pay attention to the color of his staff to determine what magic he is currently using. Satan switches back and forth between colors much faster than the Silver Warrior, so you will need to match his speed. Using the opposite magic against the boss not only deals damage, but every successful hit will heal you (not just using Light Magic, but Shadow Magic heals you as long as Satan is using Light Magic). After you drain one-fourth of Satan's health, you can perform a grab attack. However, getting close enough to the boss is the problem: Satan creates a force field that surrounds him when he is dazed. Each ring on the force field is either red or blue: you must go across each colored ring with the same color magic. Yeah, this time you must use the same magic as the color indicated on each ring. If you do not reach him in time, the boss recovers his lost health and you're back at square one. Following the ring sequence, Satan starts things up again with a new attack. The main one is a meteor storm spell that you will need to dodge from for a while. Satan summons meteors that rain down from above for a pretty long time, so stay away from the rings of fire where each one lands. The boss continues to fight while this one still goes on, so it's kinda double trouble. The boss battle continues as normal. Nothing really changes in the second half aside from the one new attack. Satan may swap magic moreso than often, but all you need to do is cancel your next attack and switch back over to the opposite one. I found the best way of depleting Satan's health is to use either the Holy Cross or Exploding Quake powers. Hopefully you have them by now and even though they take a couple seconds to use, they pack a real punch. Satan will seal himself behind some more magic barriers once he's down to a very small amount of health. This time, the barriers on the ground move around, so walking through them is a bit more difficult. Wait until you have a clear sight of the individual rings before you walk through with the correct magic activated. If you fail, Satan's health bar fills up to the halfway mark. Try your best so that this doesn't happen, and grab the boss to finish him off with one last quick-time event. ______________________________________________________________________________ [9] THANKS/CREDITS [0900] ______________________________________________________________________________ Of course, this guide couldn't have been made without some extra help. Here is a shoutout to everyone who made this FAQ possible: CJayC: For being an awesome host of an awesome site. Eternal Czar Smapdi: For being the best co-author anyone could have, and for being yourself. FESBians: Because you're cool. You: For reading this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LEGAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This document is copyright (c) DomZ Ninja 2010-2011. This document may be found on the following sites: * GameFAQs - http://www.gamefaqs.com * GameSpot - http://www.gamespot.com * IGN - http://faqs.ign.com * Super Cheats - http://www.supercheats.com * Neoseeker - http://www.neoseeker.com * HonestGamers - http://www.honestgamers.com The latest update of this document can always be found on GameFAQs. Other sites may use this document, but only with my permission. If you see this document on a website not listed above, please email me. Do not edit or alter this document in any way. Do not steal anything from this document. Do not host or distribute this document for profit. That is plagiarism, and it is against the law. If you have any questions, comments, or anything that you would like to add to this guide, then feel free to email me. My email address is found at the top of this guide. However, if you do email me, please include the name of the game in the title. Lastly, thanks for reading and using this FAQ. If you like this FAQ, then please recommend it to others by clicking the "recommend" button at the top of the guide. :] http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/52173.html "A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs" - The Temper Trap ______________________________________________________________________________ END OF DOCUMENT