Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Julius Mode Guide [v 1.10]
By LordKarasuman - 2005
===============================================================================
This Guide (Copyright 2005) was made by LordKarasuman. This Guide may not be
altered in any way without my consent, and may not be distributed without my
name as author on. This FAQ may be distributed, but not sold.
===============================================================================
Table of Contents:
[[0. Guide History ]]
[[1. Introduction ]]
[[2. How to get Julius Mode]]
[[3. General Information ]]
[[4. The Characters ]]
((Julius Belmont))
((Yoko Belnades/Fernandez))
((Adrian Fahrenheits Tepes, AKA Alucard))
[[5. Character Comparison ]]
[[6. Leveling Tips ]]
[[7. Boss Strategies ]]
((Flying Armor))
((Balore))
((Dmitrii Blinov))
((Malphas/Karasuman))
((Dario Bossi))
((Puppet Master))
((Gergoth))
((Zephyr))
((Rahab))
((Bat Company))
((Mini-Paranoia))
((Paranoia))
((Aguni))
((Death))
((Soma))
[[8. Other Player Strats ]]
[[9. My Boss Rush Strategy]]
[[10. Fun Stuff ]]
[[11. Special Thanks ]]
===============================================================================
[[0. Guide History ]]
3/06/06: The first update of the year! With tons of new Other Player Strats!
[v 1.10]
12/22/05: Revised quite a bit in the Boss Strategies section, mostly in
regards to the use of Alucard. Also added a bit about Alucard using chairs in
his subsection. [v 1.05]
12/18/05: Added 'My Boss Rush Strategy', though I'm sure many people have
gotten lower times than I have. Also revised the recommended Boss Rush
characters for each boss subsection. [v 1.04]
12/01/05: Added the 'Other Player Strats' section. Added to the Leveling Tips
section. Added to the 'Gergoth' subsection. [v 1.03]
11/13/05: Added the 'Fun Stuff' section. Added to the 'Boss Strategies'
section, and to various subsections within. [v 1.02]
10/23/05: Added to the 'Yoko Belnades/Fernandez', 'Adrian Fahrenheits Tepes,
AKA Alucard', 'Abaddon', 'Death', and 'Soma' subsections. [v 1.01]
10/22/05: This guide was created. [v 1.00]
===============================================================================
[[1. Introduction ]]
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow's release was in 2005, fifteen years since the
release of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. That means it's been fifteen years
since we've ever had gameplay similar to that game, because Julius Mode is very
similar to Dracula's Curse. You can switch to another character in Julius Mode,
three in total: A member of the Belmont clan, a witch, and a half-vampire. Not
only is this a very awesome homage, this is one of the few extra modes in a
Castlevania game that actually has a story, however slight. This guide was
created in order to assist the player in Julius Mode.
===============================================================================
[[2. How to get Julius Mode]]
To acquire Julius Mode, you must finish the game with either the second bad
ending or the good ending in the regular mode. To get the second bad ending,
you must enter the "boss room" in the Garden of Madness that uses the fifth
Magical Seal without Mina's Talisman equipped. The result of the second bad
ending is a direct lead-in to Julius Mode. However, getting the good ending by
continuing through the game after having equipped Mina's Talisman before that
scene will allow you to acquire Julius Mode, anyway.
===============================================================================
[[3. General Information ]]
For the most part, controls are the same for Julius Mode- use the directional
pad to move around. B button is used to jump. Y is used to attack, as is X;
only one person on Julius Mode actually has a special attack.
Start does not bring the game to a menu screen, but rather, merely pauses the
screen as it is. Select has no function.
To activate the subweapon of your selected character, hold up and press the Y
button, as you would use Soma's Bullet Soul in the normal game. To switch
between the different subweapons of your selected character, press the R
button. This will allow you to cycle between what they have in their
repertoire.
Switching between characters require that you press the X button. The one
you're using currently will have a small portrait farthest to the left at the
top of the screen. The person you will switch to will have a portrait directly
to the right of the person that you're using at the moment.
There is no Julius Hard Mode.
===============================================================================
[[4. Characters ]]
((Julius Belmont))
"Ikuzo!"
"Let's go!"
Julius' mini-biography from the Library:
A descendant of a clan of vampire hunters, he wields a generations-old whip
named "Vampire Killer." He lost his memory when he defeated Dracula in 1999,
and only regained it during last year's incident. He now assists the Church in
their undertakings.
What with his name being in the name of the mode, it should come as no surprise
that Julius is the first character available. He has a subweapon repertoire
similar to his incarnation from Aria of Sorrow. Of the three characters,
Julius has the greatest range for his weapon. His defense is second-best,
though still distant behind Alucard. He has the slower walk, as well.
Holding the button will cause the whip's chain to hang, and you can use the
directional button to wave the hanging whip around. Useful for taking care of
projectiles.
Pressing the L button while standing makes Julius slide backwards. It backs
him away at a moderate distance and recovery.
Julius can double-jump by pressing B twice, and in addition to that, use the L
button to make a third leap that doubles as an uppercut (albeit with a tiny
hitbox). Julius can use the L button to make the uppercut leap before doing a
normal double jump, but this limits him from doing the proper triple jump.
Anytime in the air after pressing B twice, Julius can press B again to perform
a quick jumpkick that can be used for some brief extra mobility. The kick
itself has miniscule damage.
Holding down while crouching and pressing B will make him perform a slide. Yoko
is also capable of this, while Alucard is not.
Subweapon 1) Axe
This classic weapon looks the same as it has ever been: Julius throws an axe
which goes up for a bit, then comes back down. Its path is an arc, though it
actually seems slightly more unwieldy to use, though it might be me. Use this
on enemies from overhead.
Subweapon 2) Holy Water
Another old staple of the Belmonts, this weapon deals holy damage and can
strike even small opponents, such as human-sized bosses, four times when aimed
correctly. Deals high damage at a reasonable MP cost.
Subweapon 3) Boomerang Cross
Yet another Belmont subweapon passed down from previous generations, this
weapon also deals holy damage like the Holy Water. Requires distance to make
full use of it in the same way as Holy Water.
Subweapon 4) Cross Crash
Previously an item-crash of the Boomerang Cross, it has been made into a
seperate weapon. Julius can be interrupted out of the Cross Crash in its
start-up, though when it is actually being used, Julius is invincible. It does
impressive amounts of holy element damage, though it has a heavy MP cost in the
same fashion as Yoko's Lightning Magic subweapon.
((Yoko Belnades/Fernandez))
"Jama!"
"Annoying!"
Yoko's mini-biography from the Library:
A witch belonging to the church and an expert at secretly disposing dark beings
that threaten humans. She is a descendant of a clan that helped defeat Dracula
in 1476. She is friendly and nosy. Long acquainted with the Hakubas, she is
like an older sister to Mina.
Yoko can be acquired quickly after defeating the Flying Armor, located in the
room where her shop was in the regular mode. She has a slightly smaller
subweapon selection than Julius- however, they can be considered to be much
more powerful and greater in utility. Yoko's club has the shortest weapon range
and weapon attack power of all three characters in Julius Mode, along with the
weakest defense. However, she has a very fast walking speed.
Despite the range and attack power of Yoko's club, it has life regeneration
upon landing a hit. This life regeneration starts at +2 when you gain her as a
partner, and caps at +12 at Level 99. Also, unlike the other characters, Yoko's
club is used as an overhead attack, making it slightly easier for her to hit
opponents close and above her.
Yoko's attack is different while crouching. Instead of swinging her club, she
will kick at the enemy instead. Her weapon speed here is considerably faster.
Using this is best on enemies that stand still for a considerable portion of
time, as this requires you to be even closer than the regular club does.
Pressing the L button while standing causes Yoko to do a rather extravagant
flip backwards. This flip allows her to flip backwards to a very far distance.
Yoko has a double-jump, but lacks a jump kick.
Holding down while crouching and pressing B will cause Yoko to perform a slide.
Julius can also do this, but Alucard cannot.
Of the three characters, Yoko has the highest MP recovery rate.
Subweapon 1) Fire Magic
The first our blonde witch's magic spells. Yoko attacks the area directly in
front of her with a fire blast. The fire magic has good range, consumes the
least amount of MP, recovers quickly, and hits hard with a possibility of doing
two hits if Yoko is close enough to the opponent.
Subweapon 2) Ice Magic
The second of Yoko's spells. Yoko summons five large icicles which look similar
to the Frozen Shades' icicle projectiles. Specifically, one icicle shoots
towards the left, another top-left, a third directly upwards, one more
top-right, and a final one to the right. This ice magic is generally more
powerful than the fire magic, and should best be used on small targets or
enemies that are above and to the left or right of Yoko. It can hit certain
large bosses twice. Although it seems that Yoko cannot move after using her ice
magic, it is possible for her to backdash- this does not prevent Yoko's ice
magic from firing off, giving her an evasive choice against enemies as she
makes use of it.
Subweapon 3) Lightning Magic
Lightning magic is her final spell. Yoko shoots off three balls of lightning
that home in on their targets. The bolts run through the enemies, damaging them
more than once with devastating effect. This magic is best used against large
enemies and bosses, and it is recommended to attack with Yoko as the lightning
balls do their job.
((Adrian Fahrenheits Tepes, AKA Alucard))
"Shi ne!"
"Die!"
Genya Arikado's mini-biography from the Library:
A member of a top-secret Japanese government agency. Shrouded in mystery, his
true identity is known but to a handful of people. Although he is strikingly
beautiful, his cold and detached demeanor makes him difficult to approach.
Alucard's mini-biography from the Library:
The son of Dracula and Genya Arikado's [true] identity. He took to sleep in
1476 after defeating his own father and awakened in 1797 to aid the Belmonts.
He has sealed his own power to prevent Dracula's return. He hopes to stop Soma,
who has Dracula's soul, from becoming the dark lord.
To get Alucard in your team, you have to find him in the Demon Guest House.
He'll be in the same room where Soma received Mina's Talisman from him, meaning
you'll probably get him soon after fighting Dario in the Garden of Madness. Of
the trio, he has the fewest amount of subweapons. However, he has the greatest
amount of access to the castle, and this will be detailed below. Most notable
about Alucard is his high defense, greater than Julius or Yoko's, so he takes
the least amount of damage.
His weapon is in the middle in terms of range, functional but not quite as long
as Julius, nor as glaringly short as Yoko's club. The strongest aspect of his
weapon is that it has the shortest recovery of all three. This is to make up
for the fact that his subweapons are sorely lacking.
His walking speed is the fastest of the trio.
Alucard's weapon (which fans of SotN will recognize as the Alucard Sword), is
the only one of the three characters' weapons that has a special attack: the
teleport slash, which does higher damage than a regular attack and hits twice.
Pressing the L button while standing causes Alucard to slide backwards. He has
quick recovery, but he does not go back very far.
Holding up and then pressing the L button allows Alucard to do a super-jump,
similar to what he could do in SotN and what Soma can do with the Hippogryph
soul. This, along with Alucard's bat form, allows Alucard to head to higher
ground that neither Julius nor Yoko can reach. It is also interesting to note
that the Gravity Boots have an easier motion than in SotN.
Alucard has both a double-jump (press B twice) and a jump kick (press B again
while holding a downward direction on the pad).
Of the three, only Alucard can sit in chairs. What would've been nice is if
Alucard also had a hidden Ouija Table soul with this ability as well, but alas,
this is not the case.
Finally, Alucard lacks a slide. If you are heavily dependent on the use of a
slide, change your technique accordingly.
Subweapon 1) Hellfire
Alucard shoots off three fireballs from his cape in a manner similar to
Dracula. It is considerably easier to land all three fireballs on the same
enemy when Alucard is close to that enemy. Does moderate damage, considering
its cost.
Subweapon 2) Bat Form
This isn't really a weapon: Alucard transforms into a bat and can fly to
higher ground. This allows him to go through certain spike formations and
reach higher ground that the others can't reach. As you remain in bat form,
your MP will slowly be consumed. In that regard, it acts like a Guardian Soul
that is activated like a Bullet Soul.
===============================================================================
[[5. Character Comparison ]]
Julius Pros and Cons
+Longest Range
+Most Subweapons
+Slide
+Triple Jump
+Second-best Defense
+Good Weapon Damage
+Second-fastest Weapon
-Slowest Walk
-Lowest Damage Potential
-Slowest MP Regeneration
Yoko Pros and Cons
+Overhead Weapon Attack
+HP Regeneration Weapon
+Most Powerful Subweapons
+Second-fastest Walk
+Slide
+Best MP Regeneration
-Shortest Range
-Weakest Weapon Damage
-Slowest Weapon
Alucard Pros and Cons
+Fastest Weapon
+Gravity Boots
+Bat Form
+Highest Weapon Damage Potential
+Fastest Walk
-No Slide
-Lack of Subweapons
-Shortest Range
-Slowest MP Regeneration
===============================================================================
[[6. Leveling Tips ]]
At level 20, there is a room near the save point closest to Puppet Master that
has three Killer Dolls. Here, you can use Yoko's ice spell once and destroy all
three of them. Repeat this for constant experience. The EXP gain eventually
drops off around level 30.
Against Final Guards and Iron Golems, Julius is the best. The former due to his
damage and range, and the former due to Julius' hanging whip.
In the Pinnacle, there is a room with four Bugbears/Bugbairds. It is above the
save room near Aguni. A single use of Yoko's ice spell can take out all of them
for a total of 720 EXP.
If leveling up in the Pinnacle becomes too annoying for you, as it has for me,
then you might try leveling up in the Wizardry Lab instead, which in my opinion
has a far better soundtrack. In the lower left area of the Wizardry Lab, the
one that is not immediately accessible in the regular mode, there is a room
with Mermen. It is below the room with the ghosts and the invisible platforms.
Each of these Mermen give 60 EXP, which can build up quickly if you keep
whipping at them using Julius or constantly fire off Yoko's ice spell in a
manner similar to fighting the Bugbears/Bugbairds in the above suggestion. It
may be a slower method, but try this if you are in dire need of a change in
scenery.
===============================================================================
[[7. Boss Strategies ]]
First thing to note- the Recommended Levels listed are merely a guidelines,
and made in mind for those who have relatively low skill levels in playing this
game. It is absolutely possible to beat Gergoth at the level listed for beating
Dario, absolutely possible to beat Death at the level listed for Bat Company,
etcetera. Especially if you have the patterns down and make maximum use of your
MP (Yoko's ice spells, Julius' Holy Water, etcetera).
A note about Boss HPs listed: I know that they are not accurate because they
are the HPs for Soma Normal Mode. However, a general rule would be to increase
the HP to 1.5x its original number.
((Flying Armor))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Alucard
Recommended Level: Any
Theme: Evil Invitation
HP: 250
EXP: 500
In Aria of Sorrow, Flying Armor was just a utility soul. Here in Dawn of
Sorrow, you've actually got to fight him.
Against the Flying Armor, you will likely be able to use only Julius. Normally,
he just floats around, but he does have three attacks. One involves his two
swords pointing towards your character and moving at him or her. It's really
easy to step out of the way of this. Another involves the swords going
off-screen and then coming at you from both sides. Again, this is easy to
dodge, just jump. Finally, the Flying Armor has an attack where its swords
spin around itself. This is its most dangerous attack, but still easy to dodge.
Whichever person you use here, you'll take him down fast.
Yoko is nice because her club does excellent damage and uses an overhead,
making Flying Armor easier to hit. Alucard is also recommended due to the quick
recovery of his sword.
Finally, Julius can take him out with well-placed Cross Crashes, and at level
50 (which you'll be in Boss Rush), Flying Armor will take 80 damage from
Julius' hits.
Alucard, if you somehow manage to have him before fighting Flying Armor, can
easily take down Flying Armor with his constant attack speed.
((Balore))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Alucard
Recommended Level: 10
Theme: Evil Invitation
HP: 450
EXP: 1000
Balore, a returning boss from Aria of Sorrow, also has three attacks. One
involves pulling his fist towards him, to the ground, then suddenly punching
upwards. If you are hit, you will be sent upwards to the ceiling. The second
attack also involves punches: one punch on the upper portion of the screen,
easily evaded by remaining on the ground... And another punch, at the lower
portion of the screen, evaded by the proper jumping. Finally, Balore has an
eyebeam attack; the only way to dodge is to make sure you're ducking, or if
you're using bat form with Alucard and remaining at the ceiling. However, it
is unlikely that you will have Alucard by the time you fight Balore.
Use Yoko because at Level 50, the set level for Boss Rush, Balore will not be
able to keep fighting after two or three uses of Yoko's lightning magic.
Another interesting way to kill Balore with Yoko is to jump at Balore's face
and whack at him with Yoko's club. If you're positioned right, you can actually
hit Balore twice. He'll also go down quickly with this method.
With Julius, the Cross Crash can be very risky to use, and you could eat
Balore's fist or his eye laser when you're through using it. The axe is a good
choice for him to use.
If you've got Alucard, just keep jumping and slashing, and avoid as needed.
Alucard can actually take him down pretty quick due to his weapon recovery
speed.
((Dmitrii Blinov))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Alucard
Recommended Level: Any
Theme: Scarlet Battle Soul
HP: 1000
EXP: 2000
"Hmhmhmhmhmhm..."
Dmitrii the Mirror can start out by attacking you with the Malachi soul.
However, he can also steal your attacks like he can with Soma's souls. Thus,
hitting him with something like Yoko's lightning magic would be like giving a
robber the keys to your house. The easiest way to take down Dmitrii would be to
hit him with something easy to dodge, such as Julius' axe. He will continuously
use that and you'll be able to evade it everytime, taking him out easily.
Julius is needed for the axe trick, and it would be easier to just stay with
him and keep beating on Dmitrii. However, Yoko is also useful here: her ice
magic does a lot of damage. Though it seems unwise to use it on Dmitrii, you
can easily dodge it since you can use Yoko to shoot off her ice magic first.
Dmitrii will try the same, but he doesn't dodge- you can perform a light jump
and dodge easily. This will also kill Dmitrii quickly.
Dmitrii also has an attack with a knife. This one really won't come up unless
you're close enough to let him use this on you, so it's really negligible.
((Malphas/Karasuman))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: N/A
Recommended Level: Any
Theme: Evil Invitation
HP: 1200
EXP: 1500
Just as was the case with Aria of Sorrow, Malphas was a mere utility soul. Now
he's an actual boss in Dawn of Sorrow, complete with the sprites he had in
Symphony of the Night. He's not as much of a pushover in this game as he was
back then- he leaves himself open a lot still, but you can't merely hit him
once and then keep him down for the rest of the battle. Regardless... Malphas
is a terribly easy opponent. Perhaps harder than Dmitrii, but still.
One of his attacks involves him summoning ravens to his back. During this time,
he will be very vulnerable. After he is finished gathering the ravens, he will
jump up and release them. Merely be on the other side when he does so, and
you'll evade the raven mass completely. After that, he'll usually remain in the
air and perform one of two attacks: shoot off lightning four lightning balls
that have slight homing capability (just jump over them with the right timing,
if you jump too early you'll get hit), and shoot off feathers at both sides
(ensure that you are under him- Yoko is useful for hitting him while he uses
this). He has a fourth attack, which involves him flying around and possibly
swooping down on you, and he's not quite as open here as the others, but you
won't see this one much. He'll go down quickly.
((Dario Bossi))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Yoko
Recommended Level: 15
Theme: Scarlet Battle Soul
HP: 1500
EXP: 2500
"Eh...!?"
When you fight Dario, you'll likely only have Yoko and Julius available, or
even just Julius. When you have MP, use Yoko and ice magic. Due to the
different elements, this will drop his HP quickly. If you've consumed too much
MP, switch to Julius and make use of his long range whip. Again, he has three
attacks: a fireball, which can be jumped over or ducked under. It is an
especially good idea to have Julius as your character when he starts shooting
fireballs because he can duck, keep whipping, and still keep out of range of
Dario's second attack: his firewave, which he uses by slamming his fist into
the ground. This can easily be jumped over. Finally, he can summon three fire
pillars, which are his easiest attacks to dodge, because tell-tale signs
(in the form of flames) appear on the ground before they appear. Simply make
sure you aren't over any of these flames by walking around, and then return to
beating on him. Another relatively easy boss.
Interestingly, it is possible to keep him locked down with Yoko's magic if you
have the proper level (or level 50 in Boss Rush). Dario is pretty much as easy
as SotN Malphas, where he can be made unable to retaliate.
((Puppet Master))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Alucard
Recommended Level: 18
Theme: Into The Dark Night
HP: 1800
EXP: 3000
"Omae mo ningyo ni naru no da!"
"You too shall become a mindless puppet!"
Puppet Master is the second 'large' boss that you'll probably face, assuming
you're following the same path in Julius Mode as you did in the regular mode.
Puppet Master has four arms with which he can summon puppets, which can usually
be taken out in four hits regardless of what damage you can do. If you fail to
destroy these puppets (not a difficult task), you'll be switched in with the
puppet in the spike casket and take enormous damage. Puppet Master can also
summon smaller flying dolls, five at a time, that can pester your character.
As Yoko, it would be best to make use of the lightning magic, as this can take
out many of the annoying flying dolls and do a lot of damage to Puppet Master,
him being a large boss and all. Stand under him and you can whack away at your
club with relative safety, though jumping and attacking can allow you to get
two hits in at a time.
Julius also has an easy time. He can make use of the Cross Crash to do some
heavy damage- however, this might prevent you from being able to destroy any of
Puppet Master's spike casket puppets. Thus, it would be safer to use the Axe
and position yourself so that the Axe can get the maximum three hits in.
Alucard's strategy here is simple. Usually, every time you jump, you can get
two hits in with his sword. The puppets will be a bother, though, more so than
for the other characters. However, he can still pull off some consistent damage
and only have slight difficulty taking out this boss.
In Boss Rush mode, you can take out Puppet Master's puppets in two hits.
((Gergoth))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Alucard
Recommended Level: 30 and above
Theme: Into The Dark Night
HP: 3800
EXP: 4290
Yes, you read the level requirement right. For most people, Gergoth is simply
too difficult to take out without a relatively high level- in this case,
thirty. I listed 30 and above because 32's the level I managed to beat him at
in my first playthrough.
Gergoth has several attacks, but first, let's take into consideration his size
in comparison to the room. You likely had problems with Soma here. It's the
same for Julius and friends. Gergoth's body is just a dangerous weapon, and
when he's close, it's hard to be standing when Gergoth's towering over you. Be
careful and keep yourself ducked in the corner opposite from him when he is
close.
Gergoth has four main attacks: he'll pull his head back and start sucking in
dirt. He's going to try and take a chomp; to prevent this, jump away the minute
you see that there's no more dirt, and you'll be able to avoid it. Then
there's the laser attack, which can fill almost all of the screen. Try to be
somewhere right next to Gergoth and duck, whacking away at him as he completes
his laser attack. Gergoth, usually when he's backed off as far as he can into
the wall behind him, will try to jump. This is hard to dodge, and you have to
time a slide right so you can get behind him. Lastly, he can release poison gas
from his underbelly. Usually, you can avoid the gas by being as far away as
possible. Unfortunately the gas might cover the whole ground, and it's
unavoidable for either Julius or Yoko. Try to switch to Alucard and use bat
form there. He'll go down sooner or later, and possibly with more than one (or
even two) tries.
Actually, if you're quick enough, you can whack away at the poison gas before
it can get to you. However, it can still be pretty dangerous if you get hit by
it even once.
It is best to use up all of your MP from the outset. Use Yoko's lightning or
ice magic. The lightning is easiest to slam Gergoth with, but you can position
Yoko so the ice can hit twice. Either way, just keep shoving either spell at
Gergoth, then switch to either Alucard or Julius. It is also entirely possible
to just stay with Yoko and keep spamming the ice magic, her MP recovers fast
enough for this.
Julius has good range, meaning it's easier to attack Gergoth whenever you're
forced into the corner. His Holy Water also works wonders on Gergoth, though
not quite as much as Yoko. If you don't want to switch to Yoko, though, Holy
Water is fine.
Alucard has problems here. For the inexperienced, jumping may prove to be too
dangerous and you'll bump into Gergoth too much. His lack of slide kick makes
it inconvenient for him in regards to dodging Gergoth's jump. Although I said
before that 'he's still functional', he's actually 'really good' here. Keeping
away from Gergoth using Alucard's backdash and constantly jumping as long as
you're familiar with pixelsbreadth dodging, and it's possible to take Gergoth
out almost as fast as Yoko. But if it's just your first playthrough, using
the other two characters will be much easier.
((Zephyr))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Alucard
Recommended Level: 30
Theme: Into The Dark Night
HP: 1234
EXP: 5678
"Toki o tomare! ... Toki o ugoke!"
"Time stops! ... Time resumes!"
Zephyr is a fun boss. He's got scissorhands and red hair, he's friends with a
bunny, he sounds like an old man, and he can stop time with strongly Dio
Brandoesque quotes.
However, if you beat Gergoth, you'll find him a lot easier.
Zephyr has several attacks: one involves him jumping into the ceiling and throw
ing a knife at you, then jumping back at a diagonal path. Simply wait until he
throws the dagger, then moves backwards; but not too much. You'll probably end
up between Zephyr and the knife if there's enough space. If there is more space
towards the other way, then run or even slide forward. Whack away at him while
he tries to get up. But don't go overboard.
If he didn't start the battle doing this, he'll probably try it after doing the
ceiling jump. What he does is chuckle, crouch slightly, and "cross" his arms.
Some black silhouettes will appear around him. If he's still on the screen and
you remain on the ground, at the end of it he'll stop time and set up five
daggers over your head. Then he'll resume time and cause the daggers to land.
If you aren't already, try to be between the space of the daggers so you can
avoid all of them. However, it's possible to avoid this completely- get out of
the same screen space as him, or try to remain as high as you can from the air.
He won't perform any time attacks this way.
However, if you try to hit him he's crouched, he'll yell out either "Baka na!"
or "Toki o tomare!" and then do a slide dash at you- with a headstart before
you can jump, most of the time. When he reaches you he'll do a wide slash.
This is why I said not to go overboard with your hits. You may try to attack
him, and he'll use this, and you might not be able to time your evasive actions
properly.
Sometimes, if you're far enough away from you, he'll do the slide dash on you
anyway. This is much easier to avoid, though.
There are times when he'll just chuck daggers at you. It's possible hit the
daggers down, duck under them, or jump over them to counter this attack.
Really, though, in comparison to Gergoth and other bosses, Zephyr is quite
easy.
With Yoko, simply take into account the above and make use of her fire spell as
your main attack. It's possible to use the ice magic, but it's easy to waste
MP if you hit him while he's crouching: as he'll merely stop time to avoid
taking damage. However, it's a very safe maneuver to do.
Julius is really useful here. You can keep whacking away with him considering
the range of Julius' whip, and most of the time he can dodge Zephyr's time stop
-into-slide dash combo by moving away and jumping, though it'll be by a
hairsbreadth all the time. Holy Water is again really useful here.
Again, for the inexperienced, Alucard is likely not very useful. However, you
can still use the jump-and-slash tricks you've used on previous bosses, just
that a VERY good grasp on the timing of Zephyr's moves is needed. On the bright
side, this means he can take out the boss much faster than the other two, but
again, with higher risk (as was the case with Gergoth).
((Rahab))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Yoko
Recommended Level: 24
Theme: Evil Invitation
HP: 1200
EXP: 4000
The fish boss is easy bait. If you beat Gergoth and Zephyr before him, it's
likely you don't even need a strategy for Rahab, but let's run through him
anyway.
Most of the attacks that you had to experience against him when using Soma are
really of no concern, since you're automatically going to be at the bottom of
the water. It's actually easy to get hit by Rahab by his body, but the damage
isn't really of any concern. Both Julius' Cross Crash and Yoko's lightning
magic are extremely useful here, and for the latter, run along with Rahab to
keep him on your screen so that the lightning can do full damage. A few uses of
either will take him down quickly.
Alucard, on the other hand, might have a hell of a time if you try to use him
here, especially since it's usually too difficult to hit Rahab with all three
fireballs of Hellfire and not get hit. Memorize Rahab's movements here, and try
to be conservative with your attacks so the fish doesn't smack you. Teleport
Slash will be a good idea to use here, as well.
((Bat Company))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Alucard
Recommended Level: 35
Theme: Evil Invitation
HP: 1500
EXP: 5730
After a very cool homage stage, you fight a staple boss of Castlevania: a giant
bat made up of multiple bats. This giant bat's form is much more malleable than
previous giant bats, however, being able to take on three different forms.
The first form he takes is that of... A giant bat. The Bat Company flies
towards you, and it can actually be slightly difficult not to get hit by this
attack considering the Bat Company's size. The best tip is to remain on the
ground, then when the Bat Company starts to move towards you, jump over it.
After some time, the Bat Company will likely take one of two other forms, one
of which is a Gradius boss. The Bat Company will transform into a Moai Head
object from Gradius, and shoot laser rings at you. Luckily, these rings can be
hit away, so do so and attack the Bat Company when possible.
The other form has the Bat Company turning into a giant hand. This form has a
brief duration, and usually ends quickly when you avoid the Bat Company long
enough or you get caught in their squeeze. Just jump around it. If you get
caught by the hand, wiggle with the directional pad as you would against
petrification or imps.
Yoko's lightning magic is best for most of the forms. Throw it at Bat Company,
and the balls will arc back onto them, especially during Bat Company's giant
bat form. Whenever he uses the hand, it's probably better (but a lot more
dangerous) to use the fire magic.
Julius has a relatively easy time here, as well. Axes and Holy Water are nice,
the latter when the Bat Company will be able to take damage from it (especially
in giant bat form). Julius' range with the whip can help him keep out of the
hand form's range.
Again, Alucard has quite a time with a boss. Hellfire can contribute some
generous damage here, but you'll probably take damage as well. This might be
worth it if you're levelled up to a point where you've got a nice HP reserve
and you can just keep spamming Hellfire.
((Mini-Paranoia))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: N/A
Recommended Level: 38+
Theme: Evil Invitation
"Eh-hye-hye-hye-hya!"
The smaller version of the kyoma demon-jester is actually pretty easy. He has
two attacks: he'll float towards you, then when he's close enough, he'll
suddenly swoosh forward and make a stab at you with his dagger. His other
attack involves him returning to his mirror, poking his hand out of one of the
smaller mirrors, and shooting off a laser at you that'll reflect off of all
four mirrors. Watch for the path of the mirrors when they blink, and slide
around (or use Alucard's bat form if need be) accordingly. Most of the time, if
you're on one side, you can safely slide to the other.
With Yoko, make use of the fire magic but jump back, or use the ice magic and
be sure to back flip. The lightning magic won't help you much in comparison to
those. He'll go down quick if you use her.
As Julius, use the Holy Water or the Boomerang Cross, and just whipping away
will do fine.
Alucard doesn't have too much of a hard time here. Hellfire isn't recommended,
you're liable to get hit. Just slash at him and jump away, Alucard's got fast
enough recovery for it. Or just backdash.
It is possible to avoid this boss completely when playing through Julius Mode.
The black flames blocking the Mine of Judgment can be removed without fighting
Paranoia.
((Paranoia))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Yoko/Alucard
Recommended Level: 38+
Theme: Into The Dark Night
HP: 1700
EXP: 8000
"Yarou~! Gwahahaha!"
"Rascal~! Gwahahaha!"
The big version is actually easier than he looks. Bumping into his body is easy
to do if you're jumping around, and it's possible that his feet will touch the
ground and he'll try to remain over you, making it hard for you to avoid
taking damage from him. Other than that, he still has only two attacks.
When he's hovering over you directly, he's going to swoop down at you and hit
you. This should be easy to avoid, move to one side or the other, don't stay in
one place.
When he goes back into the mirror, he'll fire off a laser at you. But this time
he'll do it twice before coming back out. Watch the mirrors blink and you'll
probably be able to guess the path.
Yoko is the easiest character to use here. Ice magic is recommended, it's very
possible to get two hits on Paranoia, especially when he's hovering above you.
Remember that she can use the L-button backdash while using ice magic. You can
also use lightning magic here, considering Paranoia is a sizeable boss.
Julius can make use of the axe here, and again, the Cross Crash is a risky but
powerful attack. Jump and attack only when you have to.
This is another bad match-up for Alucard. The only way he can really fight
Paranoia is by jumping and attacking, and this is exactly the way you'll be
taking damage from the jester. He also can't slide, so you'll be using bat form
or running around for the lasers.
It is possible to avoid this boss completely when playing through Julius Mode.
The black flames blocking the Mine of Judgment can be removed without fighting
Paranoia.
((Aguni))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Yoko
Recommended Level: 41+
Theme: Portal To Dark Bravery
HP: 4000
EXP: 10000
This fire demon is quite easy, which may or may not have been the case your
first time through with Soma.
He's got a few attacks. The very first one he'll try is flying up, going
off-screen, and coming down covered in raging fire. When he lands, waves of
flame will emanate towards both sides of him. Make sure you're not standing
still as he does this, and jump when the wave comes.
Then he can either do that or again, or three other things. One of those things
involve zipping around the room. He'll usually lower while doing this, meaning
you'll get hit while standing. Duck under this.
He might also do three downward swipes with one of his claws, in rapid
succession, moving towards you if he needs to do so. Run away from Aguni enough
that you'll dodge a swipe, or if you're in the corner, make an attempt to run
past him pre-emptively. You'll be able to avoid these.
Finally, he can shoot several balls of flame from his mouth, which will explode
on the ground and turn into slow flame waves. Just jump over them and attack
his claw.
Yoko easily does the most damage here. Her ice magic can hit twice if you're
under him or his claw, and you can angle the jump over the flame waves of his
balls of flame attack while pre-emptively using your subweapon. Due to the
contrasting elements, this can do as much as 200+ damage. He'll go down in no
time.
Julius can use the Boomerang Cross or the Axe here, but he'll have a hard time.
I hate repeating myself, but Cross Crash can be powerful but a high-risk
tactic.
Alucard also has a tough time. Aguni is easy to attack when he starts shooting
the balls of flame, but don't try to attack when it seems like he's going to
start zipping around.
((Death))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Yoko/Alucard
Recommended Level: 45+
Theme: Portal To Dark Bravery
HP: 4444
EXP: 14444
"Hu-a, ha, ha, ha..."
Death sure is tough for the trio. However, against him, Alucard can actually
be pretty useful.
Death has two forms. His purple-clad first form has three attacks. The first of
these attacks, has the scythe spinning away from him a short distance, then
exploding into a full circle of mini-scythes. Whack away at them, at a distance
if need be. The second attack can only be used when he doesn't have his scythe.
He'll glow for a little bit, then three shades of him will appear above you and
slash in a pillar. Make sure you're between these shades rather than in front
of them, or you'll get hit. The last attack involves him swiping at you twice.
The first swipe is an overhead slash, so backdash or move away from it. The
second swipe is an upper slash which you can duck under.
After taking his HP down enough, he'll transform into a version where his body
seems to be made up of lightning. He has three attacks, again, and they're much
more dangerous.
One attack is the classic scythe throw, where the scythe will spin at you then
go back to him. Three small scythes will be summoned, one at a time, to attack
you while you run. Get away from him, and slide if you have to. Time your jumps
to avoid the small scythes as well. If you make the mistake of being on one
side of him as he throws his scythe, and going to his other side, you'll to
jump over the giant scythe because then it'll go all over the room rather than
just going back to Death.
Another attack has Death disappearing, then reappearing near your character.
His scythe will be in front of him, and he'll just slash like he's going to
pull your soul away. This can be hard to dodge, slide the side opposite him
the moment you see him. If he slashes at you more than once, then it is
probably a good idea to keep sliding in the other direction.
In Death's last attack, he'll stretch his arms out, then start shooting some
spirits one way, then the other way, etcetera. These things are giant skull
spirits that'll try to crush you with their teeth. The minute you see the giant
skull, walk the other way, then as it is closing its mouth, walk towards it to
avoid the giant skull that's coming from the direction you were just walking
in. Keep repeating this as giant skulls come at you.
Yoko is again one of the best here. Her ice magic does excellent damage, as
does her lightning. Her regular attack is really good for taking out some of
the small scythes from Death's first form. However, it's easy to run out of MP
her here, and not be able to take out Death.
Alucard actually has a better match-up than Julius! Because Death spends a lot
of time floating, not to mention he's rather tall, he's open to Alucard's
jumping slashes. However, remember that he can't slide, so change things up
accordingly against the teleport slashes on Death's second form by using
jumps or even the Gravity Boots.
Death is Julius' worse match-up, ever. Trust me when I tell you he's difficult
when using Julius, even at level 50. Whittle away his damage without using MP
on the first form. On the second, you'll probably have to use Cross Crash,
though the Axe is also a passable solution. However, Julius just does low
damage, and doesn't quite have Alucard's defensive capabilities. Good luck.
((Abaddon))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: Alucard/Julius
Recommended Level: 50+
Theme: Portal To Dark Bravery
HP: 4000
EXP: 12000
Other than Julius vs. Death, I consider Abaddon to be one of the greatest
challenges of Julius Mode.
Abaddon throws his locusts at you in four different formations: the U-curve,
the sideways curve, the triple line, and the waterfall. To avoid the U-curve,
remain at either the left or right corner and duck. It's possible you'll still
get hit. For the sideways curve, you should be at the corner opposite from
where the locusts will come from (the direction Abaddon is facing), then you
should be ducking there. For the triple line, try to slide under it to avoid
or at least minimize the damage. The waterfall is the hardest to dodge, and the
characters have different ways of dealing with it.
If you're having trouble watching which formation Abaddon is going to use, try
pausing quickly before Abaddon is about to conduct the locusts, and you'll
likely be able to be able to pause just as Abaddon makes his formation motion.
Julius has the easiest time here. In order to avoid the damage from the curves
and lines completely, you can make use of the whip's hanging chain or Holy
Water. Against the waterfall, time it so that you'll jump at the place where
the locusts will come from and whip away a lot of them with one hit. Hard to do
on a regular basis, and it might be a good idea for some to use the Axe instead
of the whip to get rid of the Waterfall locusts. On Abaddon himself, whip and
throw Holy Water.
Yoko has a difficult time here. Fire magic on Abaddon is your best bet, and it
does a hefty amount of damage. When you normal dodge the curves, kick or whack
away at the locusts with her club for HP regeneration. As was the case with
Julius, time your jump against the waterfall so you'll be able to destroy a lot
of them with fire magic, although lightning can also be useful.
Alucard has an easier time than Yoko. Bat form is your friend on the curves,
and use it accordingly to keep out of the way of locusts. For both the line and
the waterfall, you can make use of Alucard's special attack, the teleport slash
to evade.
Abaddon can be difficult, but he'll go down sometime as well.
((Soma))
Boss Rush Recommended Character: N/A
Recommended Level: 55+
Theme: Illusionary Song
"Kuru ga ii..."
"Come..."
Soma is classic Dracula. Illusionary Dance, first form with teleportation,
second monstrous form and all that.
In Soma's first form, he can teleport and uses two souls: a Gaibon familiar and
the Great Axe Armor bullet soul. By himself, he only has one attack- if you're
close enough, he'll use the Great Axe Armor- run the other direction when he
does. Usually, Gaibon will also attack by flying at you, but only after the
telltale sign of a squawkish roar. Otherwise you take no damage from him. He's
got several times when he's open.
For the first form, Yoko's ice magic is excellent. Use the L-button to backdash
when the Great Axe Armor soul comes at you, then use the ice magic again and
dodge Gaibon when necessary.
Julius is also useful, because he's got great range with the whip (you'll still
have to avoid the axe), and Holy Water is nice to use against Soma.
Alucard again has the toughest time. Short range sword makes for a dangerous
first form battle. You can probably use his teleport slash, but be careful of
Gaibon.
For Soma's second form, he'll transform into the same exact beast that Dracula
did in Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night (cheers from the fans!). Here,
he has two dangerous attacks.
The first, and most often used one, is actually a string of attacks. Soma will
jump up and release larvae. Then the Harpy will shoot off feathers, and
afterwards Soma will release an Aguni wave. To avoid this, you can do one of
two things: if you have enough space, you can move backwards until you've
avoided the first larva, and then you can try and jump over the rest of the
other incoming projectiles. Or, you can stay right next to Soma, and then when
he jumps, walk forward a little bit, then slide very quickly. You'll end up
behind Soma and avoid most everything, even the Harpy.
In the second attack, Soma will stand still for a moment, as if trying to
summon something up. After some time (in which he'll be open to attack), he'll
release a swarm of Abaddon locusts. Try to attack a little bit when he's trying
to summon the locusts, but get a head start and run away so you can keep your
distance. If you're out of space, you're probably going to have to switch to
Alucard and use bat form, though it is possible to never have this happen to
you as long as you avoid Soma's string of attacks with the two methods above
and manage the space between you and him.
Yoko's again useful against this form. Lightning magic hits really hard on
Soma, especially considering his size. Ice magic and fire magic are also just
as useful. Considering the amount of times Soma leaves himself open, you can
get some physical hits in to heal HP.
Julius is also useful here, because Holy Water can hit fully on him. Use that
subweapon a lot, and keep whipping away. Avoid as you need to.
Alucard has a bad time here. You can easily keep jumping and attacking, but
when you're out of space and you need to dodge the larvae/Harpy/Aguni attack,
Alucard can't slide. But Soma can be beaten with him.
===============================================================================
[[8. Other Player Strats ]]
This section was created for people who wish to send in their own excellent
strategies, whether it concerns bosses or other enemies.
---
From an email sent to me by Mark McCaroll, who has a great Death Strategy using
Julius that has stuff that really applies to the other two characters as well:
"Just want to start off by saying you did a great Walk Through and while I
haven't read your strategies past Death I think I may start to because the
bosses are getting increasingly difficult with learning their patterns and what
not, but I do have one objection. As I was saying, I've gotten up to Death so
far in the game and beaten him (I'm Level 34). I noticed how you said Julius
is the worst of the 3 to use against Death but I think he is by far the best.
If you want to add this strategy to your guide I give you full permission.
While I'm assuming it would be far easier at a higher level this is almost a
fool proof way to beat him.
Boss: Death
Character: Julius + Axe
At Level 34 I was doing 30 DMG with the Whip and 20 DMG with the Axe, the Axe
can potentially hit Death up to 3 times with 1 throw for a total of 60 DMG
which is pretty good for Level 34.
Form 1
Vertical and Horizontal Slash: This is the easiest of his moves to dodge
personally. When he does the Vertical Slash run then duck and face him.
During the Horizontal Slash you can hit him 3 times with your whip safely.
There are occassions when he will repeat this move 2 or even 3 times and he'll
back you into a corner. The safest way to avoid this is when you see him do it
again RIGHT after the first time (meaning he doesn't fly and come back down)
Slide TWICE. The first Slide will go through him and cause 1 DMG on him, the
second Slide is so that when he turns around his body won't hit you (which did
around 125 DMG to me at the time (x___x))
3 Beams: This is also fairly easy to dodge, just make sure you stay inbetween
them...there isn't much more to it.
Spinning Scythe: This is where Julius truly shines. When he gets ready to
throw his Scythe run a fair distance away and face the direction it's coming
from. Hold out your whip and do a circular motion on the d-pad and you will
demolish any Scythes that had a chance of hitting you.
Rinse and repeat until he transforms
Form 2
Giant Skulls: This is the best oppurtunity for some hits on him with the Axe.
When he is summoning the skulls he doesn't move so it's best to hit him with 2
or 3 Axes and at 3 hits each that's 180 DMG! Then just run back and forth like
a chicken with no head until the 4 skulls have disappeared.
Hook: I call this the hook...it's where he tries to rip you apart with 1
slash. The important thing to remember is this is VERY easy to dodge with a
Double Jump BUT YOU MUST BE ON THE GROUND. If you are in the air when he
appears, you are dead meat because your 2nd jump will just cause you to smack
your head against the roof and he's gonna hit you. So make sure you are on the
ground and after he appears immediately do a Double Jump to avoid it.
Spinning Scythe (Form 2): This is by far the hardest of the 3 attacks to avoid
and there are 2 different ways I've come to use. If he is near the West or
East Wall the best way to run to the opposite side and MOST LIKELY you'll
outrun it before it hits you. If he is in the middle run to one side until he
throws his Scythe then run to the opposite side immediately. It will come back
for you but it won't circle around back to Death meaning it's very easy to
Double Jump over. As for the 3 Mini Scythes, they are easily dealt with with a
well timed Double Jump (or make it a Triple Jump by adding the Up+L for some
tight areas, that's saved me MANY times).
It took me quite a while to beat him because I was so low but due to Alucard
not having a Slide and Yoko not having the range (or either of them not having
the Axe which does make a difference in my eyes when comparing DMG to SP costs)
I found it best to use Julius against Death...of course I've used Julius for
every boss battle so far and I've found it pretty easy (I still have yet to
fight Paranoia).
Anyways great guide but I thought I just might share my methods of beating
Death...I hope you enjoyed reading and keep up the great work man."
---
The next stuff is from a guy named Michael Chang, who just had some general
stuff to tell me:
"Dear Reynaldo,
Before I get on with the full message, I would
like to thank you for making such a wonderful FAQ.
Anyway, I have a two things to tell you. When using
Julius against Death's Second Form, there is a rather
simple way to get past his spinning scythe attack.
When it begins to spin, use Julius' Cross Crash
attack. During that time, he is impervious to damage.
The only thing to worry about is timing. I usually
perform the button sequence as one of the small
scythes get close to Julius. For some reason, they
dont hurt him. The cross crash should come out right
before the giant scythe starts its turn.
Also, against Soma's second form, when he jumps,
all you need to do is walk under him. You don't need
to slide under. I find that if I do your mentioned
method, I almost always at least get hit by one of his
larvae. Also, there is a chance that I get hit by the
Harpy's feather because it turns around and shoots
them if you go behind Soma. I'm not sure why you can
just walk under and avoid damage from his legs, but
hey, advantage for the player, right?
Thanks for your time, Michael Chang"
Other than the fact that I've just been referred to as Reynaldo for some
reason, that first tip is very useful to use against Death.
However, simply walking under Soma when he's throwing out larvae seems easy,
but for some reason I'm finding the timing hard to pull off when walking. I
find it easier doing what I do. Well, different strokes for different folks, if
you find the above emailer's walking strat to be more useful, then go for it.
---
Not much of a tip, this next one is from one Bob Johnson:
"I was reading your FAQ and it was very helpful, but I noticed one thing. You
never mentioned anything about Alucard being able to sit in chairs. I believe
that that is one Pro that wasn't mentioned anywhere.
Thanks for the FAQ"
Ah, I forgot about this, so yes, I've added his ability to sit in chairs in his
subsection. But then again, it doesn't actually do anything, so I can't really
list it as a Pro above the other characters in the Character Comparison
section, sorry.
---
Our next one, from Speedy, details a way to get all your party members while
fighting the fewest amount of bosses, as well as alternative strategies:
"Now, i must say i have no idea whether you'd be still updating this nice FAQ,
but i have some interesting (or at least, i think so) idea's for some battles.
First off, All bosses, except Dario, can be skipped before getting
Arikado/Alucard. Using Julius you can jump the bridge twice, then the L-button
punch gets you inside. Then, beating the incredible easy opponents of the Demon
Guest House you can go over to Garden of Madness, where you can go straight to
the teleport room. At the teleport room, suprise suprise, you're capable of
heading straight to the village! Thusly having skipped Flying Armor! Get Yoko
this way, then save and teleport back to Garden of Madness. From there, head to
where you fought Dario the first, this is the first boss battle and incredible
easy with Yoko's Ice, since Dario is really easily avoided.
Then, going on, you get Arikado! All three characters and only one boss!
Now as for Boss strategies.. This is NOT for Boss Rush, as you'll lose too much
needed MP. ;)
Flying Armor: Best way to deal with him is to spam it with attacks. While
Julius is best here, Yoko is handy for her hp recovery, and Arikado can too
pack a good punch. Craziest way of killing him? Julius' Cross Crash.
Balore: Using Yoko you can heal while spamming him with hits. If his fist goes
near you, just jump over it. Arikado is handy too- if he fires his beam just
continously press L, 'Hypoglyphing' to the ceiling truly avoids his laser.
Dmitrii: The easiest boss in Julius Mode, i'd say. Get Yoko and her FIRE
element power. Just beam Dmitrii once, and he continues to use it. From there,
you can easily slay him with Julius' whip and Arikado's special attack.
Dario: Lets say this happens- you are strangely Yoko-less and MP-less as well.
NO MATTER! You can avoid all his attacks, aside from the fire towers, and still
be attacking his head like there's no tomorrow. Just keep using the Skeleton
Kicker's move. Oh, right, that's Aria of Sorrow talk- i'd best explain. Jump
twice, and press jump again, aiming at Dario's head. If he starts laughing like
the crazy man he is, he'll fire the flame towers. Just jump to whatever side
he's NOT facing, and you'll avoid all of his attacks. How come? His first tower
is always right infront of him. The second far in front, usually where you
stand. The third is somewhere in the center. If you're BEHIND Dario, all three
towers will not even come near you.
If for some reason, he wont follow this pattern, you're still easily capable of
avoiding the towers.
Rahab: This damned aquatic creature is too easy for words- if you want it with
a good time, however, i cant help you.
Basically everybody's good for attacking it. Just go to the bottom. Attacks it
when it comes at you, then duck to avoid him. If he stops above you, just slide
away. In Arikado's case, walking or back-dashing does the trick too, i just
tend to slide. ;)
All other bosses are just too blindingly easy or dont need a different
strategy... >.>;
Well, i hope it was of any use."
---
D-devil/Gogo offers some alternative advice for avoiding Death's attacks:
"hey.
Its not much of a help, but if you're still adding things to your julius mode
guide i have something helpful for death strategy.
On the Skulls Summon attack that he uses; mind you this won't cause any damage
to death, but it will help by not making u run like a headless chicken, and
therefore lowering the chance of losing major hp; anyway, if you change to
alucard and use Grav. boots to go up and then change into a bat then "hug" the
ceiling, you can get away from the skull attacks unscathed.
Also, on the first form, if you attack fast enough with julius, as he has the
biggest range, you can hit his sythe when it's spinning before it explodes,
saving you the evading trouble.
Hope it helps. If you're still doing the guide that is.
Later. D-devil/Gogo."
---
Adam Michaud has tons of suggestions for a myriad of bosses:
"LordKarasuman,
I was recently rereading your Julius Mode Boss FAQ, and I have some
alternate strategies for you for a couple of the bosses.
Against Dario, I've found that fighting as Julius is the best, since his
whip has nice long range, and his Holy Water does decent damage and hits
multiple times. As long as you can stay a whip's length away from him, you can
whip away, and still have more than enough time to respond to his firewave
attack, and his puny fireball. When he does his pillars of flame move, you can
get in one or two more hits, then toss a Holy Water, and as long as it remains
on the screen, you continue to hit him. I've managed to take him down (without
getting hit) at level 8 using this tactic.
Against Zephyr, you don't give Alucard enough credit. When you see him
use his time stop move, use Alucard's teleport slash and watch Zephyr run off
in utter confusion.
Also, against mini-Paranoia, I found a rather ridiculous tactic that works
both in Soma's game as well as Julius'. If you lead Paranoia just a little to
the right of his mirror, you can use the stomp kick (far more effective with
Julius than with Alucard because of how his stomp hits), you can just keep
doing that until he retreats into his mirror. You -may- get hit once or twice,
I still haven't figured out why that happens, but it's a very unfortunate
glitch to have been left in the game, and makes the Paranoia encounter slightly
easier to deal with.
Finally, you're going about your Abaddon encounter entirely wrong. ;) The
only character you should need to use here is Julius, with his Holy Water out,
as you mention, but your defense for his patterns is all wrong. Against the
straight lines, whip once, then toss Holy Water to deal with the entire low
line and hitting Abaddon a few times for good measure. Against the waterfall,
jump OVER Abaddon, and run right to the wall that he's not facing. Then, turn
and whip, and watch as the waterfall cascades right over you. Against his U
formation, your best bet is to get near the center of the screen, and use the
downward kick to bounce off of the locusts and take no damage. Against the C,
you want to do a downward, forward kick, bouncing once and then twice, and then
landing safely in the corner as the locusts fly over your head. If you can
remember what to do in these situations, Abaddon goes down really quickly and
really easily.
Thank you for writing such an excellent FAQ about how to deal with the
boss encounters for Dawn of Sorrow; I found it refreshing to see different ways
to deal with the bosses, and to see strategies for some of the bosses including
the three characters included in the game."
Your thanks are appreciated, Adam!
I still think Al is faster than Julius in terms of taking out Abaddon though.
=P Not to mention that Julius is the least safe to use in terms of the trio.
I mean, if you make a mistake with Yoko, you can heal yourself on the locust
curves. Alucard just has a lot of defense, so he has a lot of room. Just
something to think about.
---
Dark_Assassin_220 has another Soma-related strategy for us:
"Hello. I was looking at your guide for Julius Mode in Castlevania: Dawn of
Sorrow, and I have a strategy for Soma that isn't listed. I beat Julius Mode
yesterday using this strategy and I was only at level 44. It was a pain in the
ass beating Death and Abbadon, but anyway.
Alright. In Soma's first form, use Julius. During this portion of the fight,
don't use ANY magic at all. You'll need it later. Now, when Soma teleports,
watch for where he is going to appear and get just close enough for Julius to
hit with the Vampire Killer. You can get one hit in and with a little practice
maybe get in two if you're good and Gaibon doesn't interfere. Now, as you're
getting those one or two hits in, Soma is getting ready for the Great Axe Armor
Soul. If you're using the Vampire Killer from a fairly good distance, you
should be able to back dash and dodge the attack. This is good because if you
pull this off with no damage, you'll be much better off in Soma's second
form...
When Julius manages to make Soma transform, as suicidal as it may seem, switch
to Alucard (*Gasp!*). Now, if you've managed to stay at near-full health
(though full health is better of course) and you didn't use magic in Soma's
first form, you're better off. This is the part where skill with timing comes
into play. Alucard should be attacking as he jumps since he has excelent weapon
recovery in the air. After maybe 5 hits (I can't remember exactly how many you
can squeeze in. Experiment with it) start in the opposite direction because
chances are thet the Larva attack. Now, I've noticed that when Soma uses this
attack, the first larva has a noticably higher trajectory than the other ones,
leaving an small opening between the first and second larva. As the first larva
comes out, run back towards Soma until you've passed the larva, then spam the
hippogryph jump. You should dodge the other larva, Soma's Aguni soul, and even
the Harpy soul's attack. Now just start hacking away with Alucard's jump attack
again, get in a few hits, then repeat the above. You may even be able to use
bat form to dodge all of the attack.
Now, if Soma doesn't use the larva trick, then he should close his eyes as he
starts summoning Abaddon locusts. If he does then you get a few extra hits in
on Soma, then run away and activate Alucard's bat form and hug the ceiling.
From there you'll dodge the bugs easily. You may have to move a little though.
As for Alucard's no slide attack problem, it is easily fixed. If Soma starts to
corner you, right after he ends an attack, turn into a bat. There's an opening
between Soma's head and the ceiling that the bat can easily slip through. And
as long as Soma doesn't use the jumping larva trick, you should come out
unharmed. From here, it is a matter of dodging Soma's attacks and keeping up
the jump slashing.
In a nutshell, the key points are to not take any damage in the first form
(Cause at level 44-45 Alucard's health will be almost, if not completely gone
in about 5 hits), do not use any magic in the first form, don't use Alucard's
fireball attack, and only use the bat to fly over Soma's head to regain some
breathing room or to dodge the larva attack. The rest is up to timing.
If you put this in your guide, you can credit me as Dark_Assassin_220."
I did realize before your email that Alucard was actually very useful against
Soma, despite what I initially said. I'll revise his little section against
Soma at some point in the future.
---
Black Mage Masta has two strats he wants to share with us, one related to
leveling and the other to Abaddon:
"(BlackMageMasta's Level Strategy)
There is a room in the Pinnacle with two Final Guards. To the left is an
empty, 1x1 room that leads back to the right and up (to a room w/2
Guillotiners, 1 Mushussu, & 1 Alastor). To the right is a 2x1 room w/3
werewolves.
Now that you know where to find it, get Alucard out. Have him go into the room
w/the two FGs. Have him get close and use the Hellflame ability. Dash away as
necessary, and if things get ugly, switch to Yoko and pound away (her backflip
is about enough to get away from the sword, and if you're agile on the buttons
you can whale away on it endlessly). Once they're both gone, head to the room
on the left, switch to Yoko, then rinse and repeat. It's slightly tedious, but
Alucard can do slightly more damage w/3 fireballs than Yoko can do w/1 ice
spear.
(BlackMageMasta's Abaddon Strategy)
Alucard is a capable combatant at levels as low as 44. As Lord Karasuman said,
use Alucard's Special Weapon Attack to dodge the waterfall and the lines.
However, when the U curves down-up, you can just jump into the middle of the
screen and dodge by jumping and double jumping (you shouldn't need your Super
jump). You're absolutely invulnerable here! When it curves side to side, run
TOWARDS the stream of locusts, quickly. Jump once, get maximum height with it
(still going forwards) then TAP the jump button again (still going forwards).
At worst you'll get hit once, and usually you won't get hit at all!
Last but not least: NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER }*NEVER*{ use Hellfire. Conserve
your mana for the Sp. Attack, no matter how tempting it may be to do a lot of
damage right then and there. The fireballs do not help you dodge at all, and
that dodging power will be your saving grace."
Although I've tried his levelling strategy, it's not bad but it's not as fast
as the other methods I've listed. But it's still good if you want a change of
pace.
---
From TheKewlImp comes another Alucard strategy for Soma:
"I was just looking FAQs for DOS and I noticed your boss guide.
I find Alucard can easily take down Soma if you use him right. When he does the
string of attacks, have him backed off. The first larva targets your character
head on, so you simply jump up. As cheap as this may sound, you continue to use
the Gravity Boots/Hippo Jump over and over under the rest of the attacks are
through. When the find is sent out, fall towards Soma and slash away. When he
does the Locus attack, simply back off in bat form in a corner and most of the
time the locus won't even touch. Rinse and repeat. It took me a couple of times
to get the timing right, but once you do, hes very easy with Alucard."
---
Mr M has some thoughts for us relating to Paranoia, "The Locust Guy" Abaddon,
and Soma (another Alucard-centric strategy at that!):
I noticed you had a segment for people to send in their own strategies with
bosses. I have some great Alucard ones that you might like to hear. You always
said that he had 'the hardest time', but if you use him right, he's an absolute
godsend.
Paranoia- I found it almost impossible to avoid the beams as regular
characters, and even if I thought I got it right, the last mirror would hit me
with a surprise angle, and when you're crouching underneath another beam, it's
impossible to dodge. That's why Alucard is so great- when Paranoia goes into
the mirror, transform into a bat and fly to the mirror that he sticks his arm
out of. If you're going to get hit by a beam, you can easily avoid it.
Attacking him by jumping and slashing is easy once you learn the bosses
movement pattern, and Alucard does lots of damage with his sword.
The Locust Guy- The locust waves are practically impossible to dodge unless you
use bat mode. There are ways, but bat mode makes it so much easier. Again,
slashing is good because the sword does a lot of damage.
Soma- Alucard was the only character I used to defeat Soma. In the first phase,
stand back when he uses Great Axe and respond with Hellfire. Then run in and
slash him. If the Familiar attacks early, jump over him and start slashing (he
can't damage you when returning to his original spot, only when he lunges). If
he doesn't attack at all, slash, but either way, you can get 2-3 hits in before
Soma teleports. The other scenario is you'll run in, slash once, then slide
backwards to dodge the late attacking Familiar.
In the second phase, keep slashing and periodically using Hellfire for big
damage. The Larva are easy to avoid, because there's a huge gap between the
leading one and the other ones where you can just stand without getting hit,
then you can jump to avoid the Dario wave. The thing is, Soma keeps jumping
towards you so you end up with no room to move, and going under him is
impossible because he sends about 3 or 4 Larva directly below himself when he
jumps. It's a much better idea to turn into a bat and fly over him when he's
standing still, then repeat. I used bat mode about 3 or 4 times before he
eventually died. When he uses locusts, go as far back as you can and just wait
for the locusts to disappear, before rushing in and recommencing the slashing."
Some words from me,
I actually think that it's quite easy to dodge the laser, but your strategy
is very good at circumventing laser-evasion problems when it comes to Paranoia.
Regardless, I stand by my statement that Alucard can be hard to use when it
comes to fighting Paranoia, especially when he's not entrenched in his mirror.
Dodging Abaddon is actually detailed very well by BlackMageMasta, above.
Evading the larva by running under Soma just takes some timing.
---
Our most expressive email yet comes from J. Hay, who has something to say when
it comes to fighting Death with Julius:
"Hey! I've read your FAQ for Julius mode a few times through, but there's
something VERY important for facing DEATH(!!!! man he was HARD!!!!!!!!!!) as
Alucard that wasn't mentioned in your guide. Did you know... that in DEATH's
2nd form, there's an easy way to dogde his attacks. Mainly the spinning scythe
and the teleport hook.
Spinning Scythe Throw: To dodge this one with relative ease, it all depends on
a little luck, and where DEATH is positioned when he does it. If he's in the
(relative) middle area, then you're out of luck. Good luck not getting hit!
But! If DEATH is near the sides of the room (and when I say "SIDES," I mean
close to the doors of the boss room!), then it's ssssooooo much easier to
dodge! As soon as DEATH begins to charge the attack (assuming he's close to one
of the doors), RUN to the OPPOSITE end of the room! The giant spinning scythe
doesn't go all the way across the room, so with a little luck, you should be
safe from the giant scythe! But there's still the matter of dodging the mini
scythes, but nothing a simple slash of the sword can't get rid of! (No
seriously! Several bosses w/ projectile attacks can have them blocked by
attacking w/ your weapon, i.e. Zephyr's knife throw, DEATH's mini scythes in
BOTH forms, heck even Dario's fireballs, etc., all with a little skill, some
crazy inhuman reflexes like mine, and of course, some luck as well! Does NOT
work for all bosses however, so don't try doing this on, say, Soma.)
The Teleport Hook: This attack used to be the death of me in my attempts in
killing DEATH, but I think I have found an alternate way of dodging it. Instead
of not jumping until DEATH appears, double jump to the ceiling AS SOON AS HE
TELEPORTS!!!! Yeah, I know! I'm crazy! Just bear with me, okay? Anyways, make
sure you jump in the OPPOSITE direction that DEATH is to you (i.e. if DEATH is
to your left, jump to the right), UNLESS YOU ARE IN THE CORNER, in which case,
you must jump in the SAME direction that DEATH is to you (and pray he doesn't
teleport in FRONT of you)! As SOON AS YOU HIT THE CEILING, DO A DOWNWARD KICK
IN THE SAME DIRECTION THAT YOU ARE JUMPING!!! This is key! If you are lucky,
then you'll downward kick away from the reappearing DEATH just barely fast
enough to not get hit! Unless, of course, he teleports in FRONT of you, in
which case you'll MOST LIKELY get hit!
It's more complicated than it needs to be, yes, but both of these tactics
worked wonders for me in defeating DEATH! DEATH was even harder to me than
Soma! A neat trick similar to the one where you run under him made Soma that
much easier than DEATH (man, let me tell you! When I fought DEATH and FINALLY
beat him, I kept wondering to myself "God! WHY WON"T THIS GUY JUST DIE?!?!?!"
about 10 minutes into the fight. The fight lasted close to 20.)
J. Hay.
P.S. I know this has been a long email, and I apologize for that (as well as my
mindless rambling), but about that trick for Soma 2nd form: Stand as close to
his feet as you can w/o getting hit, then as soon as he jumps, run underneath
him. As soon as you're past the larve he fires straight down, DUCK! Soma's
momentum from jumping will carry him safely over your characters head, and
ducking will ALMOST always cause the harpy's feathers to sail right past your
character's head. I've never been hit by the harpyby doing this, and Soma has
never landed on my head by doing this. And mind you, I did this w/ "JULIUS,"
the slow b*****d! LONG LIVE JULIUS!"
I had actually assumed that whipping away certain projectiles was common
knowledge.
Also, if you ever send me any more emails, try not to use quite so many
exclamation marks and capital letters next time, please? >=P
===============================================================================
[[9. My Boss Rush Strategy]]
This following strategy assumes that you've been playing the game for a while
and can understand very specific instructions. With this strategy, I've finally
been able to push my Boss Rush times down into numbers where I've actually
acquired the RPG (even though it's not possible to use that in Julius Mode). To
be exact, my current Boss Rush time for Julius Mode is 4:43:80, though it's
likely that using this strategy will place you closer to 5:20:00-ish times. It
just takes practice. Now to the strategy at hand:
Begin with Alucard.
Flying Armor: Easy. Spam jump attacks.
Balore: Easy. Spam jump attacks.
Dmitrii: Use Hellfire, first from a distance to get rid of the Malachi quickly,
then spam in his face until he's down to two regular hits' worth of HP. Then
just hit him regularly and move on.
Puppet Master: Easy. Spam jump attacks. Just watch out for the puppets and the
caskets.
Switch to Yoko after entering Dario's room.
Dario: Use Ice Magic, Dario suffers a knockback animation every time it's
used. Push him all the way back to the end of the room, and he'll die after he
gets there.
Rahab: While landing into the water, use Lightning Magic. To ensure that the
orbs hit him for the full duration, slide forward upon landing. When the
duration runs out, cast it a second time and move in the direction Rahab is
moving. He'll go down. Ensure that you take absolutely no damage.
Gergoth: Hit him with Lightning Magic once. Then...
Switch to Alucard mid-battle.
Spam jump attacks, and either hope that Gergoth never jumps at you, himself, or
time Alucard's run correctly when it looks like he's about to jump. Throughout
this, try not to take any damage.
Zephyr: Spam jump attacks. As tempting as it is to use Hellfire, don't. You'll
risk taking damage, and you'll need HP for the next battle.
Bat Company: Upon entering, hit him twice, take damage, hit him a third time
while on the ground and take damage one more time. Let him stay in the center
of Alucard and continue to take damage- however, spam Hellfire. Bat Company is
ridiculously weak to fire-based attacks. If you do this properly (that is, time
Hellfire so that Alucard doesn't get interrupted before Hellfire's animation is
stopped), you take out Bat Company very quickly. At this point, TAKE THE
REPLENISH ORB.
Switch to Yoko after entering Paranoia's room.
Paranoia: Ice Magic is your friend here. When Paranoia is directly above you,
the Ice Magic will hit twice. It is usually possible to do this to Paranoia
about three times. Then quickly jump up and attack at him before he
[predictably] goes back into his mirror. By this point you should know how to
dodge Paranoia's laser, so do so accordingly. Once he comes out, either whack
away at him or use Ice Magic again. He goes down fast. In order to cut down
your time by ten seconds, try to use Ice Magic on him four times. But this is
difficult to do.
Aguni: Ice Magic is definitely the best tool for the job here. Aguni is most
open when he's spewing flame waves (here, you can still hit him twice if you
use the Ice Magic in the middle of the jump then angle the jumps) or zipping
around (here, it's easy to get two hits, just backflip around with him each
time he moves, pressing down quickly in order to stop Yoko from moving too far
back and dodge Aguni's body at the same time). Keep in mind that it is easy to
incur a lot of damage here.
Switch to Alucard after entering Abaddon's room.
Abaddon: Spam jump attacks. Against the line and waterfall locust formations,
use the teleport slash. Against the U formation, just use the Gravity Boots to
remain in the center. Against the sideways-U formation, use either Bat Company
or an expertly timed jump. The latter is recommended, but it requires very
exact timing. I would suggest taking the Replenish Orb.
Switch to Yoko after entering Death's room.
Death: Speeding up your time against Death is definitely all about luck,
perhaps more so than even Aguni. It's possible to stand under him and hit him
with Ice Magic twice, but that's difficult to pull off. Regardless, the more
times it happens, the less time on your ticker. When his first form goes down,
I usually just spam Lightning Magic and use up the rest of the MP, and then
switch to Alucard. Again, spam jump attacks. Also, it is interesting to note
that when Death uses his teleport slash, you can duck under him and he'll miss.
He is also open to a single hit. Keep in mind that he might do this more that
once within the same interval.
Alternatively, I've heard that Julius can be used to take down Abaddon faster
than using Alucard if Julius makes use of Holy Water and timed jumps against
the locusts. Most of the time, however, I find that I do not use Julius for
any of the bosses.
Another alternative: use Alucard against Paranoia instead of Yoko. He can do
just as much damage as her, but you'll also take a lot more damage. But I've
been able to work with it and I see it as more or less a matter of preference.
===============================================================================
[[10. Fun Stuff ]]
Although it is impossible for the trio to attack Yeti or kill the Flying
Humanoid, Yoko can still use her lightning to summon Mothman in the room of the
Pinnacle where there are two Final Guards.
It is also possible for Alucard to get certain items like the Crown or the
Bell. Of course, they have no way to look at it or sell it after acquiring it.
It is the same for items acquired in Boss Rush Mode. It's still nice to be able
to get them, though.
An interesting challenge I tried some time after someone suggested it on the
GameFAQs board was to fight Dmitrii with Yoko, using only her club and after
giving him Yoko's lightning magic. If you try this in Julius Mode while your
trio is still in its early teens, this can actually be both challenging and fun
to do, especially since Yoko will have low HP at that point in your game.
One thing to try is single-character runs and see how fast you can make it
through Julius Mode, only using the other characters when you need to get past
an area that requires their abilities.
===============================================================================
[[11. Special Thanks ]]
I give my thanks...
-To the PSOSB and FD folk who have remained good friends over the years.
-To Konami for making the game.
-To GameFAQs for hosting this.
-To DoubleJump Books for the boss data.
-To all the Castlevania fans, including those at GameFAQs, the Castlevania
Dungeon, etcetera.
-To Mark McCaroll, Michael Chang, Speedy, D-devil/Gogo, Adam Michaud,
Dark_Assassin_220, BlackMageMasta, TheKewlImp, Mr M, and J. Hay for all of
their strategies.
-To Bob Johnson for pointing out Alucard's chair-sitting ability.
-To anyone else hosting this guide.
===============================================================================
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Julius Mode Guide [v 1.10]
By LordKarasuman - 2005
