-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Low Level Challenge FAQ/Walkthrough Version 1.1, May 9, 2005 by Aaron "falcon815" Bolner falcon at sandwich.net -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document Copyright 2005 Aaron 'falcon815' Bolner. This document may be posted in its original form ONLY, and ONLY with written permission from me. If you would like to put this on your Castlevania site, please ask! I'll take a look at your site and let you know ASAP. Sites allowed to post this FAQ: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ I am not affiliated with Konami Digital Entertainment - I simply enjoyed this game enough to put work into it. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents (CTRL-F any of the following strings of text to jump): 1. Introduction 2. FAQ 3. Common Terms 4. Walkthrough Boss 1: Living Armor Boss 2: Skull Knight Boss 3: Giant Merman Boss 4: Max Slimer Boss 5: Peeping Eye + Peeping Big Boss 6: Shadow Boss 7: Pazuzu Boss 8: Death Boss 9: Giant Bat Boss 10 Final Boss 5. Closing / Thanks -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction Castlevania: White Night Concerto (released in the US as Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance) was the second GBA Castlevania released. Made in the image of the wildly popular Symphony of the Night, it fixed the visual problems of its predecessor, Circle of the Moon. Unfortunately, the game's difficulty left much to be desired. Even the "No Magic" game added little to make the game more challenging. After my own No Magic run, I sat and thought about what might make the game harder. I decided to try skipping as many enemies as I could, so my level would stay low. I was impressed during the early game; it seemed that the Life Max Ups and Potions were conveniently placed for such a run to be possible. Though the game still ended up being simple in the end, the opening of the game was far more interesting, and I thought I'd get this out to the rest of the Castlevania community. If it revives anyone's personal interest in the game, or makes the game more fun, then my mission is accomplished. I will assume that, if you're reading this FAQ, you will have a basic familiarity with the game, its controls, its sub-weapons, its storyline, and its main objectives. If you do not, I suggest you read the opening of DMorgan's FAQ, or any of the others which are marked as "complete". -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. FAQ Q: What made you decide to do this? A: I spent years just playing games, but my love for Final Fantasy Tactics gave me an appreciation for personally set limits on gameplay. The time I spent on challenges in FFT were among my favorite plays of any game, and since then, I've been more open to creating or playing challenges in other games. Q: How low will my level be? A: The first time I did this challenge, I finished the game at level 19. I've since found ways to skip more bosses, and have finished at level 18. Q: Wait, wait. Skip bosses? A: Yeah. It may be a requirement to kill all bosses in the Maxim game, but to properly finish a Juste run, all you need are the Dracula relics. Q: What bosses are avoidable? A: Golem, Legion (saint), Devil, Minotaur, Minotaur Lv2, Talos, Cyclops, and Legion Core are easily skippable. Giant Bat would be, too, if one wanted to get the bad ending and finish the game that way. Q: Can't you get to Castle B and do the Clock Tower by killing Devil instead of the Giant Merman, for less EXP? A: You can GET to Castle B, but you won't be able to go through the passage to get the Crushing Stone unless you kill the Giant Merman. Q: Could you finish the game at a lower level by getting the bad ending? A: Since you need the Crush Boots and Griffin Wing to finish the game, no. Death is the last required boss in the game (if you go in order - see next question for details), and you absolutely need the Griffin Wing to finish the game regardless of how you do it. Q: Why is the Giant Bat not first? A: Three reasons. First, I didn't think you actually had to, but killing the bat lowers the drawbridge, which is required to finish the game properly. Second, killing him later reduces the EXP you get from him. Finally, killing him later makes the beginning of the game more challenging; though the EXP wouldn't make a difference at the end, that 66 EXP would make you one level higher for at least one boss battle in the early game. Q: Are there any non-boss enemies that you can't skip? I want my EXP as low as possible. A: Yes. There is one instance of a non-boss enemy that you cannot walk or otherwise get through; the Peeping Eye that appears before the Peeping Big boss battle cannot be skipped. He's worth 17 EXP. Q: What about non-boss enemies summoned by bosses? Aren't they worth EXP? A: No. The enemies summoned by the Giant Merman and Pazuzu are worth 0 EXP each. Q: Can I use magic? A: There's nothing saying you can't. I would recommend against it, as I easily completed the game at level 18 without it. But then, it's your call; you're the player. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Common Terms Throughout the guide, I will make reference to a couple things on a frequent basis. I will define them here. Multi-Dash - The Dash keys (L and R) are invaluable in this challenge. Dashes can be started in the middle of a dash, allowing for a chained dash in either direction. I will refer to this rapid tapping of either L or R as the Multi-Dash. Saveroom - The Save Room is available on the main menu after saving the game one time. When you use the Save Room, your data is saved, obviously. If you quit and load your save, your equipment, stats, and inventory from your Quick-save will be recalled at the previous save point at which you saved. At multiple points in this challenge, it is very convenient to get to an item, use the save room, and reload to return to the last save point. So, when I say "use the Saveroom", quick-save, then reload to return to the last save point. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Walkthrough --- Entrance --- Head to the right and whip the statue to advance forward. At the first opportunity, exit the screen at the top and grab the Leather Armor. Equip it and return down. Exit to the right, then immediately exit up and get the Leather Boots. Equip them and jump across to where the Skeletons are. Get past them however you can; multi-dashing worked well for me, as their projectiles did 8 damage, but simply ramming them only did 1. Acquire the Soul Orb, and return to the main hall. Jump over the Zombies, and take the first exit through the floor to get the Life Max Up to heal. Utilize the candle here to get the Book sub-weapon. If you wish to build Hearts quickly, this is a good place to do so by exiting and re-entering the room. Once you've acquired the Book, go back to the left, jumping the Zombies, and take the leftmost exit upward. Multi-dash under the bats, and continue upward. Grab the Potion to the left. Ascend the room, dashing through skeletons as needed. Be sure to get the Potion in the top-right corner. Exit the room to the top, and go to the save point immediately to the left. Exit the save room, wait until the skeleton gives you an opening, then get past him. Take the upward exit to grab the Heart Max Up, drop back down, and continue to the right to the door. --- Marble Corridor --- Here's where the damage starts racking up. Get by the skeleton knights however you can, exit the room to the right, and acquire the Castle Map 1. Avoid the spear enemies and proceed to the top-right exit. The next room is straightforward; exit to the lower right. Multi-dash past the Fleaman in the next room, take the first exit upward, and use the save point to your left. Exit the save room and proceed to the right, avoiding the Medusa Heads. Be sure to whip the candles on the way to get the $25. Acquire and equip the Leather Gloves. Exit the room to the right, then make your way to the top-right corner of the next room. Acquire and equip the Red Stone. Exit this room to the lower-right. Multi-dash all the way to the right, but do not exit. Instead, take the lower path, dodge / dash through the skeleton knights, acquire the Potion, and use the Saveroom. From the save room, proceed to the right again, again acquiring the $25. This time, exit the large room at the bottom, get the Holy Water from the first candle, acquire the Fairy Journal, and proceed to the right through the door. --- The Wailing Way --- Proceed to the right, fall through the gap, and immediately exit the screen to the right. Acquire the Monster Tome and the $25, then use the Saveroom. Make your way back to the beginning of the Wailing Way (again claiming the $25 from the passage just outside the save point), and fall through the gap. This time, do not go to the right. Move left, above the Rock Armor, and follow the platforms to the left. Multi-dash through the second Rock Armor, then fall, proceed to the right, then cut back to the left as soon as you drop from a platform. Exit the screen through the bottom. Exit to the right, and follow this room to the end. Get the $5 from a candle, as well as the Potion at the end. Drop down, jump over the Lizard, then drop through the floor. Proceed to the left, jumping over the Lizards, until you see platforms going up. Follow the path around this room, avoiding the bone pillars, and exit to the upper left. Jump over the Lizard and drop through the floor. To the right is a Save point; use it. Head to the left, go through the plot scene, and prepare for the first boss. --- Boss 1: Living Armor HP: 900 EXP: 110 Your level: 1 Your EXP: 0 Damage from whip: 11 Damage from Holy Water: 7 per hit, average of 4-5 hits A very simple boss. When it rears backward, dash away from it. Use your Holy Water to its fullest extent (11 uses), then just wail on him. Even if you do get hit, he only does 9 damage, so it's not very worrisome. Whatever you do, don't use any potions. For your victory, you will receive 110 EXP, a full heal, and the Lizard Tail artifact, which lets you slide. --- After defeating the Living Armor, hit the switch and proceed to the left. Use the saveroom, but do not reload; return to the first save point you used. --- Entrance --- Go three rooms to the right from the save point, then drop through the floor. Get the Potion. Go to the left in this bottom area and get the Life Max Up by jumping over the Lizards, if you need healing. Refill your hearts using the rightmost candle in any case. When your hearts are full, proceed to the right, dodge Medusa heads on your way down, and exit to the bottom left. Jump the Zombies, slide under the pillar (acquiring a Heart Max Up), then exit left, take the Lucky Charm (equip it if you wish, but I don't recommend it yet), and use the keyhole. --- Castle Treasury --- The skeleton boomerangs are hands-down the hardest enemies you've yet seen, but there's a surefire way to get past them. Try to get as close to them as you can, and duck. Their boomerangs will sail over your head. As you approach, they retreat. Push them back in this manner until you can get them beyond the edge of the screen, and then simply exit. Go to the right, and get the next potion. Proceed to the top of this room, making sure to grab the $25. At the top of this screen, exit to the right. Fall down the hole you see. Go all the way down, then circle back to the top and face off with the Gate Guardian. Whip him until he falls backward, opening a path. Follow that path to the merchant. What you do here depends on how difficult you want the next portion of the game to be. I highly recommend buying at least five potions, as this continuing stretch requires a suicide run through three enemies that are too large to jump over. You can use the $25 candle in the previous room to build as much money as you want. I would get a stock of around 10 Potions, but ignore the Castle Map 2. Once you've filled your potion stash to an acceptable level, go back to the previous screen and start your suicide dash to the right. For every third hit you take from the bomb armors, use a potion. Drop through the floor, then do one final suicide dash through the bomb armor to the left. You can save a little damage by waiting until the bomb armor and the skeleton knight are together, and crashing into the skeleton knight first instead. Drop through the floor as soon as you can. You can just barely clear the flail knights in one jump. Dodge as many as you can, and drop through the floor. Proceed to the first fork, and go to the left. Walk left slowly, ducking boomerangs, until you get a good opportunity to jump over the skeleton boomerangs while still dodging the Peeping Eyes. --- Cave of Skeletons --- Dodge the skeletons as best you can and exit this room to the bottom. Fall through the three platforms, and immediately go left. Jump over the skeleton spearman, whip the skull, and grab the $25. Head to the bottom right corner. Stay on the platform until the skeleton spearman is directly below you, then head left, jumping over the other spearman. Exit left. Get close to the Skeleton Ape to make him throw his barrel, then jump over him. Go up, whip the wood, and proceed left. Dodge the swinging axe, get through the plot scene, and proceed left again. This room is exacting. Use the same method as before to get past each skeleton boomerang. Simply kill the Red Skeletons; they give 0 EXP. Finally, at the end of the room, you reach a save point. Take heart! This was the longest stretch without a save point that you'll see in the game. The next screen is probably the single most difficult in the game. You'll see a Skeleton Ape above you. Multi-dash to the left as quickly as possible, and jump to the next ledge. Immediately duck; the barrel will sail over your head. The instant that happens, JUMP! This lets the next Skeleton Ape appear, and "chase" you, making him move to the left. Once this happens, jump over the Ape on your ledge, dash to the right, and go to the second level. Repeat this process. You'll have to dash through the third skeleton ape, as there's no room to jump over him. Now, to run the gauntlet on the other side. Wait for the flail knights to retreat to the edge of the platform and perform one attack. Once they're done with one attack, approach them, and try to jump between them and the ball of their flail. It's quite possible to avoid damage entirely doing this, though it's not easy. Once you get to the bottom, use a potion if you need to, then head into your second boss battle. --- Boss 2: Skull Knight HP: 1600 EXP: 339 Your level: 1 Your EXP: 110 Damage from whip: 11 Damage from Holy Water: 7 per hit This is a long fight, but he follows three fairly simple patterns. Attack pattern 1 - When he draws his sword, he'll thrust. Dodge backward. When he crouches, he's about to jump. Slide under him. Simple as that; just keep attacking. I recommend tossing a Holy Water at him when he draws his sword. Once you do enough damage, his sword and shield will fall away, and he'll respawn from his shield. Attack pattern 2 - His jump will come out a little faster now, but he'll jump farther, giving you a chance to react. His main attack comes in a charge. When he flashes and crouches, multi-dash or jump to the closest platform, jump to it, then jump up from it to avoid him. Keep attacking and he'll go through the same transformation sequence. Attack pattern 3 - His jumps are yet faster, but have a similar range to attack pattern 1, making it somewhat hard to react. He also walks around on occasion. His only attack aside from contact damage is a laser beam, which he telegraphs by rearing back in a flash of light. Get close to him if you can, duck, and keep attacking. Eventually, he'll finally drop, granting you 339 EXP, enough to level to 3. --- Proceed to the left and grab the Sylph Feather. Do not use the saveroom yet. The lower candle outside of this room drops $100; build your money to at least $4000; $2000 if you're feeling dangerous. Once you have the money you want, use the saveroom. Make your way all the way back to the fork in the center of the castle that you took to the left earlier. The Double Jump should be more than sufficient to dodge the enemies on the way. Take the right branch of the fork, into the Luminous Cavern. --- Luminous Cavern --- Double jump over the axe armor, and walk under the bats. It may be tempting to dash, but there's another axe armor later in the room to jump over. Exit to the right. Jump over the axe armor, avoid the curse balloon, jump over the next axe armor, dash under the bat, jump over the final axe armor, and exit to the right. Dash under the Witch and take the path upward to get the Turquoise. Refill your hearts at the bottom of this room as well. Return to the main path. Get through the two plants, exit to the right, and save your game. Return to the left, dash or jump by the first plant again, and drop through the floor. Follow this room to the left, sliding under the witches, then follow the next room to the right. Jump over the Axe Armor to acquire a Heart Max Up, and use the Saveroom. Exit to the right. Dodge the barrel from the skeleton ape, then jump over him. Go to the right and fall. To dodge the bone thrower, kneel near him, then jump over him after he's thrown a projectile. Exit down. Double jump over the bomb armor to the left, and exit down again. Proceed to the right; jump over the slime, and simply walk past the bouncing corpse on a stick. It won't hit you if you're on the ground. Exit to the right. Check your HP; if you have less than 36, reset. Quickly double jump and stand on the bone pillar. Proceed to the right, dash through the next bone pillar, then dash through the final bone pillar. Slide under the Sylphs and exit to the left. In this room, fall as far as you can and exit to the right. Say hello to our friend, the merchant. Don't bother with any equips; just buy Potions. If you buy about 40-50, they should be more than enough to carry you through mistakes. Exit the shop, and solve the puzzle in this room by pushing the block to the right until it falls, then left until it falls, then right until it falls, then left to the switch. Get the Life Max Up, then use the saveroom. Go to the left, and again go through the plant. Drop through the floor, then proceed left. Dash through the first two Axe Armors, heal, then jump over the next two. Drop through the floors in this room to get a High Potion, then walk to the right. Walk to the right in the next room, passing under the corpses on sticks. Dodge the Sylphs in the next room, exit to the left, get past the final plant, and use the keyhole teleporter. --- Sky Walkway --- Walk to the right to trigger a plot scene. Exit to the right. Walk under the Balloons, then jump up to get a High Potion. Exit to the upper right. Double jump over the Balloons, then use the platforms to jump over the big pillar. Jump over the Archers and fall down to their right. Exit to the lower right and save. Exit the save room, then fall down. Slide to the left as fast as you can, and fall down again. You won't be able to see much, but that's okay. Walk right. As soon as you fall, dash left to acquire the Face Guard. Equip it. Walk right. As soon as you glimpse a spike, double jump to the right. Continue in this manner until you fall down a screen. Continue in the same manner to the left. At one point, you'll have a choice between jumping and sliding; slide to acquire the Chaos Ring. Continue to the left and exit. --- Aqueduct of Dragons --- There are no enemies in this room; simply fall down. Once you enter the next room, get to the ground floor and slide to the right repeatedly to avoid the fish-men. Fall through the floor. Walk to the right in the next room, double-jumping over the mermen. Exit to the top as soon as you can, then go left to save. Return to the passageway, then go down two screens. Dash left, and jump over the slime. Jump to the top ledge in the next room and grab the Hard Gloves. Equip them in place of the Leather Gloves. Avoid the bats all the way down this room. Dash left after you exit, and go through the giant armor. Pause after you take your first hit and use a potion. You may take a second hit, you may not,but there's no way to survive a second hit. Double jump through the false stone wall and acquire the Nail of Vlad, then use the Saveroom. Now, again exit and drop through the floor, but this time, proceed to the right. Jump over the mermen and fishmen, and multi-dash under the dropping blades to get the Blue Stone. Equip it and use the Saveroom. Equip the Lucky Charm in place of JB's Bracelet. Proceed to the right from the save point to fight the next boss. --- Boss 3: Giant Merman HP: 3520 EXP: 1298 Weakness: Ice Strength: Fire Your level: 3 Your EXP: 449 Damage from whip with Red Stone: 12 Damage from just whip: 16 Damage from Whip with Blue Stone: 25 Damage from Holy Water: 12 per hit The Giant Merman has four attacks. Attack 1: The Merman points forward, directing a wave of water. Throw a Holy Water at him, and jump over it. Attack 2: The Merman rolls up into a ball and spins forward. Simply jump over him. Attack 3: The Merman stands in the right corner and summons two Fishmen. When the Fishmen both reach the bottom floor, go to the opposite side of the room and stand on the platform until they disappear. Attack 4: The Merman stands in the left corner and summons four Mermen. Stand on the platform at the opposite side of the room until they disappear. The attack pattern always goes: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 4, and loops infinitely from there with no variation. Attack him while you can between the attacks, and he should go down easily. The double damage from the Blue Stone, coupled with the occasional critical (helped by the Lucky Charm) make this a pretty easy fight. When you win, you'll advance to level 5. --- Return to the save point after you win. Proceed to the right, take the Life Max Up and Heart Max Up, then enter the Clock Tower. --- Clock Tower --- There are no enemies in the first room. Climb to the top and press the switch in the next room above. Slide to the right, through the Specters. Exit to the top; use this candle to refill your hearts. Navigate the spike pits to the left. Exit left and prepare to take some serious damage. Dodge the Harpy as well as you can, then exit to the left. Climb up and take the Night Goggles. Return to the previous room and exit to the right. Jump over the disc armor and dash under the Fleamen. Exit to the right. Slide quickly through this room. Make your way up in the next room, and take the second exit to the right to save. Return to the former passageway, and go down. Take the exit you originally skipped, dash quickly through to the right, then follow the passage around. Whip the Guardian Armor repeatedly until it gets caught in the gears and dies; take all the equipment it leaves behind and wear it all. Your defense goes from 49 to 107. Pretty sweet deal for no EXP. Use the Saveroom. Exit from the save point and keep going up to the boss room. --- Boss 4: Max Slimer HP: 3680 EXP: 1479 Your level: 5 Your EXP: 1747 Damage from Whip with either stone: 21 Damage from Holy Water: 14 This is hands-down the simplest boss in the game. Just attack. Use the Holy Water if you want it to go faster. When you win, you'll level to 7. --- Make your way to the top of the next room, and meet Death at the teleporter. You can now access the other castle at will. Do so. --- Clock Tower, Castle B --- Castle B's Clock Tower is FAR less dangerous than Castle A's. Fall to the bottom, make your way to the save point you just used on the other side. Proceed downward, and take the first exit to the right. Fall down through the first platform you see, and go down until you can exit to the right again. Lure the Bronze Guarder toward the left, and press the switch when it gets close enough. ***OPTIONAL: Acquire the Healing Mail*** Exit to the right, then go all the way down in the next room until you can exit downward. Press the switch, and multi-dash all the way around this room to beat the iron ball to the end of the passage. Slide to the right, and acquire the Healing Mail and Heart Choker. ***END OPTIONAL SECTION*** Use the Saveroom. Now, we're going to backtrack a little bit to get another relic. Return to the teleporter and go back to castle A. --- Clock Tower, Castle A --- Retrace your steps to the puzzle room we just did with the iron ball. Be careful to not slide into any of the flying barrels; only slide once they're past you. When you get to the left edge of the puzzle room, and you see a passage on the other side of the wall, slide through the false wall. Fall through the platforms, exit left, acquire the Fang of Vlad, and use the Saveroom. --- Clock Tower, Castle B --- Exit the save room, and head to the bottom for another boss. --- Boss 5: Peeping Eye + Peeping Big HP: 51 + 2000 EXP: 17 + 1981 Your level: 7 Your EXP: 3226 Damage from Whip with either stone: 25 You have to kill the Peeping Eye to continue. Do so. Once you do, the Peeping Big will appear. It has three basic attacks: Attack 1: Peeping Big will coil its tail, then throw it out along the ground. Jump to avoid it. Attack 2: Peeping Big will flail its tail around wildly, striking anything too close. Run away. Its tail will strike the ground audibly six times. Attack 3: Peeping Big will close its eye and become invulnerable. It will then bounce around the room. It will always do one complete circuit of the room, finishing where it started. Stay where you are, and slide under it or walk under it both times it approaches you. Peeping Big recoils from your attacks. Find a place a little over a whip's length away from either wall, and make it continually bounce against the wall to land in about the same spot. Keep whipping, and you will level to 9. --- Return to the save point and save. Return to the boss room, then go two rooms to the left. Drop down through the platform and head to the right. Navigate the spike room and drop down at the end. Use the candle to fill your hearts. Dash left, jump over the disc armor, and dash through the armored Fleamen. Fall through the floor. Double-jump over the Skeleton Boomerang and exit to the left. Jump over the Disc Armor and exit to the upper left. Exit right and whip the screw until it locks. Use the saveroom. Retrace your steps to the room before the spike room, but take the first exit down instead. Take the Crushing Stone and use the Saveroom. Retrace your steps again through the spike room, but this time, continue all the way down the room with the Skeleton Boomerangs. Exit left into the Aqueduct of Dragons. --- Aqueduct of Dragons, Castle B --- Exit to the left into the massive room of Fishmen and Mermen. Make it through however you can; there's no real best way to do it, as there are so many. Make your way left to the save point. Exit, go down, and exit to the right. Multi-dash your way to the end of the room, snag the Life Max Up, then use the Saveroom. Exit the save room, go down, and multi- dash your way left to the platforms. Go up, and multi-dash your way to the next platforms. Go up again. Avoid the poison skeletons and enter the Sky Walkway. --- Sky Walkway, Castle B --- Multi-dash your way to the right, and exit up. Multi-dash to the left and exit up. Snag the Turkey, then move to the right. Jump over the Axe Armors, exit up, then go right to the save point. Equip the Crushing Stone, break the wall to the right, and get the Heart of Vlad. Go back and save. Exit the save room to the left, then work your way left, jumping the Axe Armors and dashing under the flying barrels. Exit left. Drop through the first floor, then make your way left. Use the Crushing Stone to break the wall in the next room, then prepare to fight another boss. --- Boss 6: Shadow HP: 1600 EXP: 2362 Your level: 9 Your EXP: 5224 Damage from Whip with either stone: 28 Damage from Whip with Crushing Stone: 24 base, 71 charged Damage from Holy Water: 18 Shadow has three attacks, which cycle infinitely in the following order: Attack 1: Shadow turns into a wolf and runs back and forth. Jump over him. Attack 2: Shadow turns into a scimitar and follows you around. Hit him to make him recoil. If you get hit by Shadow in this form, you will be Cursed. Attack 3: Shadow turns into a moth and drops poison spores. Stay away from being directly below him and attack. If you get hit by Shadow in this form, you will be Poisoned. I highly suggest the Crushing Stone for this battle, as there is plenty of time to charge it between his forms. In addition, it allows for 3-4 charged attacks every time he turns into a Moth. As he only has 1600 HP, 71 damage shots whittle him down awfully quickly. When you win, you'll level to 11, and the next plot scene will be unlocked. --- Use the Saveroom when you win. Now, to avoid killing a boss, we're going to again take the long way around. Take the winding road all the way back to the teleporter. In short, by room exit: left, down, down, down, left... --- Aqueduct of Dragons, Castle B --- ...down, down, right and up, left, save. Right, right, right, right... --- Clock Tower, Castle B --- ...up, up, left, up and right, right, right, up to the save point. Go to the teleporter in the top right and go back to Castle A. --- Clock Tower, Castle A --- Retrace the same path all the way back to the double-sided save point in the Sky Walkway. Use the Night Goggles, assuming you picked them up earlier. --- Sky Walkway, Castle A --- From the save point, exit left by jumping over the Skeleton Archers and Balloons, then drop through the first floor of the next room and go left, just as you did to get to Shadow. Follow the path left until you get to Maxim, who will give you his bracelet. Use the Saveroom. From the save point, go back out, and exit the room to the upper left. Go left into the Chapel of Dissonance. --- Chapel of Dissonance, Castle A --- Jump over the first Skeleton Archer, and multi-dash through the second. Exit up. Dash under the Fleamen, jump over the skeleton archers, and exit up. Exit up, dash through the bone throwers, and exit up again. Take the fork to the right and climb. Get the Heart Max Up to the upper-right. Continue left, jump over the bone towers, and go left to the door. Climb to get a Life Max Up. Equip Maxim's Bracelet to open the door, and go through. --- Castle Top Floor, Castle A --- Go left to the teleporter. Kneel once to return to the Clock Tower and save; kneel once at the Clock Tower teleporter to return and fight the next boss. --- Boss 7: Pazuzu HP: 4500 EXP: 2640 Your level: 11 Your EXP: 7586 Damage from Whip with Crushing Stone: 27 base, 78 charged Damage from Holy Water: 18 Pazuzu has three attacks. Attack 1: Pazuzu jumps forward at you. He usually does this at least twice. Slide under him if you need to. Attack 2: Pazuzu rears backward, stands still, and points. Four small Imps are summoned to his aid. Kill them; they're worth 0 EXP. Attack 3: Pazuzu breathes multiple fireballs. Back away from him when he does this to make dodging them easier. When his health is below a certain level (25%?), he uses three sets of fireballs at once. I highly recommend the Crushing Stone for this battle. It's the best way to do a large amount of damage at once. Holy Water works well when he summons his backup, as well as when he's using his fireballs. It can easily rack up 100 damage, sometimes quite a bit more. Keep at it, heal if you need to, etc. When you win, you will level to 13. --- Exit the screen to the left to trigger the next plot scene. Go left again, step on the switch, then climb to get the Life Max Up and Heart Max Up. Fall down all the way and go right to the save point. Continue to the right, jumping over the Poison Lizards. Fall through all the platforms to exit this room at the bottom. Move right, and fall again. Save at the room to the left if you like. Take the elevator all the way down. Go down, then right and down, then right. Dash through the Axe Armors, go down, and take the next elevator all the way down. Go down, then left. This fork should look familiar from way back at the beginning. Take it to the left to enter the Cave of Skeletons. --- Cave of Skeletons, Castle A --- Jump over the Archers and go down. Immediately exit left. Push the bottom crate left until you can use it to access the top platform. Push the top crate off the right edge, push the left crate off the edge, then push the right crate on top of the left crate and double jump to the Heart Max Up. Follow the path and exit left. Here, push the bottom crate until it's almost touching the edge, then push the top crate off the left edge, then again off the edge, then all the way left. Use it to get to the Life Max Up on the upper right, then take the upper left exit. JAM on the L button to multi-dash through this room. Dash through the pitiful 1 damage enemies in the next room, and save. Dash or jump through the pathetic enemies here, and exit up. Exit left, ignore the enemies and exit left to the next block puzzle. Push the leftmost block off the edge, then push it to a point where it's over halfway off the next edge. Then, push the block that was next to it off its edge. Push that same block until it's over halfway off the first one, then push the final block all the way left, then off the second block to the right, then all the way to the right to use it as a stepping stone. Climb all the way up, multi-dash to the right, and claim the Floodgate Key. Use the Saveroom. Back at the save point, go back to the right, all the way to the fork in the Castle Treasury. Take it right to the Luminous Cavern. --- Luminous Cavern, Castle A --- Multi-dash past the Sylphs, and exit right. Make your way up and right, then multi-dash to the right to the save point, ignoring the 1 damage plants. Head right from the save room, go down, go left past the Victory Armor, go down, go right, jump over the axe armor, go down, jump over the first armor and through the second to avoid the Sylph, then exit left. Go to the bottom-left corner of this open room. Stand to the right of the Bone Pillars and wait for a Sylph to knock you through them. Exit left, use the Floodgate Key, and use the Saveroom. Exit left, plow through the plant, and fall. Go left, fall, go left, fall, acquire and equip the Leggings, exit right, jump over the skeletons, exit right, plow through the first skeleton, and make your way up to the next boss room. --- Boss 8: Death (x2) HP: 3920 / 2800 EXP: 4227 / 4406 Your level: 13 / 16 Your EXP: 10226 / 14453 Damage from Whip with Crushing Stone: 31 normal (86 charged) (form 1) 35 normal (93 charged) (form 2) Death has two forms. His first form is the traditional ugly skeleton in a big black robe carrying a scythe. This form has three attacks: Attack 1: Death rears backward, then physically attacks in front of him. Just get out of the way. Sliding under him and attacking him from behind is effective. Attack 2: Death brings his arm back, then throws his scythe straight ahead like a boomerang. Duck it, or get under him and attack from behind. Attack 3: Death pauses, and vertical beams of light make their way across the screen from left to right. Simply stay between two of the beams, and attack if you can. In addition to these attacks, there is a constant stream of bones that appears randomly throughout the room that do damage to you on contact. Kill them if they get in the way; otherwise, just dodge them. Sliding works well. When you finish form 1, Death transforms into a long, wormlike chain of rib bones between a tail and a head. The head is the only vulnerable portion. The rib bones will not hurt you, but the head and tail will. This fight is very simple; run away, charge to full, turn around and hit him. Repeat until he dies. When he dies, you'll level to 18. Go left and claim the Griffin's Wing. --- Use the saveroom and head to the right. Go up and break the wall with a charged whip to reveal another teleporter. Take it to Castle B. Once in Castle B, return to the big fork in the center of the castle, straight to the left of the save room below the teleporter. --- Castle Treasury, Castle B --- Take the fork... up? Yes, up. We're going for the first keyhole we took to Castle B. Go up and left, and follow that path to the yellow dot on the map. The enemies are truly insignificant at this point, so just plow through them. Use the keyhole when you get there. --- Room of Illusions, Castle A --- Exit right. Wait for the Zombie to get past you, then slide under and make your way out. As soon as you climb out of the hole, turn left and make your way to the Entrance. --- Entrance, Castle A --- Go up as soon as you can, then go left. High Jump over the barrier, and exit lower-left to get the Platinum Tip, then exit upper-left to another teleporter. Take it to Castle B. --- Entrance, Castle B --- Exit, then exit lower-left to get the Lure Key. Go right, down, and left to the save point. Make your way right to the Treasury. --- Castle Treasury, Castle B --- Make your way right five screens, then go up and save. Go right, then drop down, and go right to the Wailing Way. --- The Wailing Way, Castle B --- Go right, then down. Go right to the Life Max Up, then return left and jump to the higher platform. Avoid the Simons and Owls, and go left, then left again. High Jump over the left wall, then get by the Simons however you can. This will likely require a few potions. Make your way to the top-left and grab the Crush Boots. Use the saveroom, then return to the save point in the Entrance. Go back to the teleporter in the upper-left and take it to Castle A. Then, Kneel three times... --- Castle Top Floor, Castle A --- ...and exit to the right. Equip the Crush Boots and blast through the ceiling. Go up through another barrier to get the Life Max Up; whip the Destroy Hand for fun if you like. Go back to the big stairway and follow it all the way down. Double jump to the first platform on the right, walk right, and high jump up to the Eye of Vlad. Go back to the teleporter. Kneel once to return to the Entrance. --- Entrance, Castle A --- Go right until you enter the Marble Corridor. --- Marble Corridor, Castle A --- Go right until you see an exit upward. From there, go right two screens. In this screen, jump left on to the first platform you see, and follow that path up (to a Heart Max Up) and right to acquire Vlad's Ring. Now, return to the closest save point. We have one Dracula Relic yet to go, but there's some business we've got to take care of first. If you've played the game before, you know where the Rib of Vlad is; outside the castle in Castle B. But if you haven't been following the walkthrough, and you went to check the drawbridge, you would have seen it still trapping you inside. This drove me NUTS. I couldn't figure out why the thing wouldn't go down. As it turns out, there's a very specific requirement for dropping the drawbridge, and no other FAQ was able to explain what it was. What is it? Exit the save point, drop down, and go right to fight... --- Boss 9: Giant Bat HP: 400 EXP: 66 normally, but at level 18, you'll get 13 EXP for the win Your level: 18 Your EXP: 18859 Damage from whip with Crushing Stone: 39 normal (101 charged) This is it; your final obstacle to the last Dracula Relic. Are you ready? Are you psyched? Okay. ... ... huh? You killed him already? Oh. --- The Giant Bat will be the final EXP you acquire. The drawbridge is now down; time to head to Castle B to get the last relic. Go to the nearest teleporter and return to Castle B. --- Entrance, Castle B --- Go out, save, then go down all the way to the castle gate. Dash through the invisible Skeletons if you can; if not, be safe and jump over them. Slide under the Feather Demons by the gate and exit the castle. When you see the passageway above you, high jump into it. Break through the barrier above, and exit right to acquire the Rib of Vlad. Use the saveroom. Go back to the teleporter, return to Castle A, and kneel three times. --- Castle Top Floor / Castle Treasury, Castles A and B --- Immediately use this teleporter to go to Castle B. Exit right and go to the bottom of the stairway. Get the candle above to acquire the Cross. Follow the path left to the save point. Follow the path all the way down to the second elevator, and use the Lure Key on the door to the left. Use the teleporter to go to Castle A. Acquire and equip the Moon Armor, then return to castle B. Go back up, then all the way left, to open the door to the final boss. Exit left and save. Equip Juste's Bracelet, Maxim's Bracelet, and the Leggings. I recommend the Platinum Tip; you can also go with the Crushing Stone, if that's your style. Walk to the right, drop through the newly-opened door, and follow the path to the endgame. --- Boss 10: Maxim HP: 4800 EXP: 0 Your level: 18 Your EXP: 18872 Damage from whip with Crushing Stone: 39 (101 charged) Damage from whip with Platinum Tip: 53 This guy's the hardest enemy you'll face in the entire game, IMO. He has six attacks: Attack 1: Maxim draws a shuriken and throws it. Dash backward. Attack 2: Maxim attacks with his sword. Dash backward. Attack 3: Maxim jumps into the air, pauses, then launches a diagonal kick at you. Dash backward. Attack 4: Maxim jumps into the air, rolls into a ball, falls to the ground and charges you. Jump over him. Attack 5: Maxim yells, then summons a whole load of copies of himself that charge you. Hold your whip out and try to protect yourself by throwing it wildly around. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't; the closer to Maxim you are, the better it generally works. Attack 6: Maxim clones himself and starts attacking with the sword. Attack the real one; the fake can't hurt you. The fake can be spotted easily; simply dash one way or the other. The fake will move the exact same distance in the same direction; the real one won't. It really does come down to dodging as much as you can. He can really dish out the punishment. If you have enough healing items, you can just cheap your way around it. I recommend limiting yourself on healing for a bit of a challenge. Once you take him out... --- Final Boss: Dracula Wraith HP: 2250 / 6666 EXP: 0 Your level: 18 Your EXP: 18872 Damage from whip with Crushing Stone: 39 (101 charged) Damage from whip with Platinum Tip: 53 Damage from Cross: 38 per hit Immediately equip change from the bracelets. I recommend the Guardian Helm and Guardian Glove for optimum defense. The first form has two attacks. Attack 1: Dracula releases three fireballs. Jump over them and whip his head. Attack 2: Dracula releases six fiery rocks. Jump, duck, jump, duck, etc. Keep whipping his head until he dies. Now the longer fight begins. Form 2 has two attacks as well. Attack 1: Dracula shoots a laser across the screen. Duck. DO NOT PAUSE THE GAME WHILE THE LASER IS GOING. No matter if you hold down coming out of pause or not, you'll soak the 140+ damage from the laser. Not cool. If he's close enough, punish him with whip blows while he lasers. Attack 2: Dracula uses his pincer claw to hit you. There's not much you can do about this if he has you pinned or is shooting his laser; otherwise, dodge backward. Spam the Cross and whip him. This battle is ready-made for the Cross, really. It's a lot simpler than Maxim, but it's still pretty exacting. One hit from the laser will take over 2/3 of your HP, and one hit from the claw, over 1/3. You'll probably need 3-4 potions minimum to get by him, as sometimes, you just can't dodge the claw without taking a laser to the face. --- Once he's dead, congratulations! You've completed the game at level 18, and with the minimum (so far discovered) possible EXP of 18872. --- 5. Closing / Thanks I hope you found this an interesting way to play through Harmony of Dissonance / White Night Concerto. I found it to be enjoyable, especially as regards analysis of enemy behavior, and with the additional challenge provided by bosses in this format. This FAQ was written by myself, Aaron 'falcon815' Bolner, and was submitted to GameFAQs.com. It may be downloaded and kept as a personal guide if you so desire. If you would like to use it on your webspace, please contact me and tell me where you will be placing it, and I will make the decision on whether you may or not. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES may this guide be used for profit. Currently, only http://www.gamefaqs.com/ is allowed to host this guide. I am not affiliated with Konami USA or KCET - I simply enjoyed this game enough to put some work into it. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Please contact me if you see any way that I could lower the total EXP gained in the game. Thanks to: Andrea, my personal gamer girl, for proofreading and support. Love you, sweetheart. Gamestop, for their somewhat spotty online inventory; in this case, it worked perfectly. Jeff "CJayC" Veasey for running GameFAQs, and for allowing this guide to be posted on it. RPGamer, in spite of their ridiculously stupid screenshot captions (come on, guys; if a game is a direct sequel, is checking the previous one for character names so hard to do?), for posting the first Castlevania DS news, which led to me wanting to complete my GBA Castlevania collection. sqpat17, for sparking the challenge-gamer in me to do something outside of FF Tactics. You, for reading and participating in this method of play. --- This document Copyright 2005 Aaron 'falcon815' Bolner --- apb 05/09/05