############################################################################### #--------------------CASTLEVANIA: CURSE OF DARKNESS---------------------------# ############################################################################### MAGE-TYPE INNOCENT DEVIL FAQ version 1.0 (11/29/05) by Hero_100_Fights ------------------------------------- Table of Contents ------------------------------------- 1) Introduction/Updates 2) Mage Type IDs I. Basic Info II. Mage ID Names and Evolution Choices 3) Mage Type ID Skills 4) Contact Info 5) Credits 6) Legal Info ============================================================================== 1) INTRODUCTION/UPDATE INFO ============================================================================== This FAQ gives detailed info on every Mage-Type Innocent Devil you can find in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. It covers both the PS2 and Xbox versions. I've written it in essentially the format as my Battle-Type ID FAQ, so hope- fully once you read one ID FAQ the rest will be clear and easy to navigate. Sorry about the long delay between the FAQs, I didn't have access to my Xbox or my computer for over a week because my power got cut off. Update:11/29/05 First version, hopefully complete, but feel free to e-mail with any problems. ============================================================================== 2) MAGE TYPE INNOCENT DEVILS ============================================================================== I. Basic Info The Mage Type ID is one of the most unique types in the game. Mage IDs have incredible offensive skills and good defensive skills as well, but their generally relatively low DEF stat leaves them open to enemy attacks while using skills. As one would probably assume, Mages have huge MAG stat and some forms have MAG growth that borders on ridiculous. Most Mage forms have low HEART growth, however, and it's their low HEARTs that makes them tricky. Even though Mage skills cause massive damage, they're almost all 20 hearts or more to use, which means you must be careful when and where to best use your Mage's hearts. This also means you need to keep a close eye on the Mages hearts because an enemy attack that successfully hits your Mage will likely take away a fair amount of hearts, and if you've been abusing the Mage's skills without care, a few whacks from an enemy can leave you with no Mage when you desperately need one. Used correctly, Mage IDs can be utter killing machines in a completely different way than Battle Types. I should mention that Mage IDs attack auto- matically, like Bird and Battle Types, and actually do a fair amount of damage with a projectile attack that has a longer range than any other ID. For sheer brute force stick with Battle Type IDs, especially in a large crowd with foes that will attack your ID directly instead of just going for Hector. If you have a strategy or know of a particular weakness in a large group of enemies and you have the Mage to exploit that weakness, you can clear a room of enemies quick as lightning. Mages also have several skills without which you would be unable to access the whole map, and the Nautilus Rod Form is the only way besides using the "Hien" weapon to kill the pesky blood-skeletons that just won't die. Mage IDs cannot perform Chain Combos. You'll gain your first Mage ID well into the game, in the Cordova Town level towards the end. Mage IDs have three modes: Command, Guard and Auto. As with most IDs, I find keeping them on Command mode the best way to use them. They still attack of their own will, and their plethora of skills are available at the push of a button. I have never found a reason to put a Mage ID in Auto mode, and I strongly reccommend against it. Their guard mode is very useful however. It is the same as the Bird type Guard mode, the Mage prevents damage to himself. If you are low on hearts and your mage is in danger of taking a beating, put him on guard and he'll defend himself until you take it off, and hopefully by that time you'll have regained sufficient hearts to unleash some more of the Mage's killer skills. Evolving IDs: the game gives a pretty clear explanation for evolving IDs, so my guide assumes you know how. If you don't, look in the "Tips" section of your status screen. Tier System: After every ID name I will put a number that corresponds to the IDs "level" on the chart, so Wood Rod is "Tier 1," the lowest level of the chart, and Wood Rod's evolution options are "Tier 2", the next level on the charts. Final evolutions that cannot evolve any more will be Tier "F-#" with the "#" standing for the chart level. All Mage Finals are Tier F-4. II. Mage ID Names and Evolution Choices *Skill details are in the next section* WOOD ROD: TIER: 1 Wood Rod is the template for all Mage type IDs. A dark coat with the familiar ID crystal underneath, seemingly keeping him afloat, a wide-brimmed, pointy wizard hat and a wooden rod for spell casting. Mage Type IDs all follow this same appearance, with each ID's main distinguishing characteristic being it's rod, with the exception of the Twinkle Star final form. SKILLS: Time Stop, Lightning Strike WOOD ROD EVOLUTION OPTIONS Wood Rod-->Scissor Rod= 40 Knuckle/Sword crystals Wood Rod-->Talon Rod= 40 Axe/Spear/Special crystals SCISSOR ROD: TIER: 2 While still looking much like the Wood Rod, the Tier 2 Mage IDs both have a red coat and a grey hat. Scissor Rod has a sword tip on top of his rod. Scissor Rod has better skills, but less MAG growth than the Talon Rod, but both are good. You must choose Scissor Rod if you want to make the Nautilus Rod and/or end up with an Eyeball Rod Final form. SKILLS: Floating B, Sorcery Flame SCISSOR ROD EVOLUTION OPTIONS Scissor Rod-->Ogre Rod= 70 Sword/Axe crystals Scissor Rod-->Nautilus Rod= 70 Spear/Knuckle/Special crystals TALON ROD: TIER: 2 Just like the Scissor Rod, Talon Rod has a red coat and a grey hat, and it's rod is topped off by three claws. Talon Rod's skills aren't particularly good, but each level up gives a great MAG stat boost, although all of his other stats suffer because of it. If you want to end up with a Twinkle Star, you must go through Talon Rod to get there. SKILLS: Circle Scissors, Freeze TALON ROD EVOLUTION OPTIONS Talon Rod-->Ogre Rod= 70 Axe/Sword/Special crystals Talon Rod-->Goat Head Mage= 70 Spear/Knuckle crystals NAUTILUS ROD: TIER: 3 The Tier three mages all havev purple coats and wear tall brown hats with small "wings" at the top. Nautilus Rod's rod has a seashell on top. What makes the Nautilus Rod so valuable is Purify which costs nothing and takes out undead instantly. I suggest making at least one Nautilus Rod so you can access the area in the Bhaljet Mountains blocked by blood skeletons. SKILLS: Purify, Satellite B NAUTILUS ROD EVOLUTION OPTIONS Nautilus Rod-->Eyeball Rod(Final)= 90 Spear/Axe crystals Nautilus Rod-->Embryo Rod(Final)= 90 Sword/Knuckle/Special crystals OGRE ROD: TIER: 3 Ogre Rod has the same coat and hat as Nautilus Rod, but his rod is capped with the fist of a Red Ogre cloed around an eye. Ogre Rod has the highest Heart growth of any mage, and can end up as either the Embryo Rod or Crystal Rod. SKILLS: Agnea, Synchron Saucer B OGRE ROD EVOLUTION OPTIONS Ogre Rod-->Crystal Rod(Final)= 90 Axe/Special/Knuckle crystals Ogre Rod-->Embryo Rod(Final)= 90 Sword/Spear crystals GOAT HEAD MAGE: TIER: 3 Again sporting the same general appearance as the other Tier three mages, Goat Head Mage's rod has the head of a black goat on top. Goat Head Mage has huge MAG growth and is the only form that can end up as a Twinkle Star, but getting Salamander requires some serious patience (see skill section below). SKILLS: Argent B, Salamander GOAT HEAD MAGE EVOLUTION OPTIONS Goat Head Mage-->Crystal Rod(Final)= 90 Sword/Axe/Spear/Knuckle crystals Goat Head Mage-->Twinkle Star(Final)= 90 Special crystals EYEBALL ROD: TIER: F-4 The Eyeball Rod, Embryo Rod, and Crystal Rod all have the same general look, a green coat with a dark red hat. Eyeball Rod's rod has a big mass of eyeballs on top. Although Tension Boost and Homing can be usefull, I'd say all of the other Final Mages are better choices. SKILLS: Tension Boost, Homing EMBRYO ROD: TIER: F-4 Embryo Rod's Rod is capped with a shell that holds the tortured souls of demons inside. Demonic Disaster is a force to be reckoned with, which makes Embryo Rod a good choice for a Final Form. Any path you take to get there will give you an excellent mage. SKILLS: Explosion B, Demonic Disaster CRYSTAL ROD: TIER: F-4 Crystal Rod looks exactly like Embryo Rod and Eyeball Rod save for the blue crystal shard in top of his rod. Shield and Meteo are both excellent skills, and really any of the final mages will be a great ID. SKILLS: Shield, Meteo TWINKLE STAR: TIER: F-4 My first response to seeing Twinkle Star was kind of like getting kicked in the groin. Even the Final Fairy IDs looked cooler than this, but despite looks Twinkle Star can potentially be the most dangerous Mage ID. To describe what it looks like, think of a bigger Fairy ID with lots of pink and purple, and in place of a normal rod, a candy-cane bottom with a yellow star surrounded by clouds on top. Despite it's cutesy appearance, Twinkle Star's skills both do Holy damage, making her particularly usefull for later in the game. Also, the path taken to get a Twinkle Star will give you a very high MAG stat. SKILLS: Twinkle Star, Dancing Star ============================================================================== 3) MAGE TYPE INNOCENT DEVIL SKILLS ============================================================================== TIME STOP: COST: 40 CONDITIONS: Innate EFFECT: Stops time for enemies, while leaving Hector to beat on them unmercifully and unapposed. OPINIONS: Neccessary to go a few places, and can completely save you when you find yourself in a bad situation, but its high cost and the fact that it does not work during boss battles makes it less than ideal for routine use. Time Stop can be your best friend in the Tower of Evermore if you use it wisely (red ogres sit still and take your beating without moving), but be careful of using it too often. LIGHTNING STRIKE: COST: 8 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Wood Rod EFFECT: Rains lightning down on a foe (sometimes hits multiple enemies). OPINIONS: While at first I was unimpressed with this skill, I've found it to be the most cost-effective spell in any Mages arsenal. For only 8 hearts you deal out ridulous damage at higer levels mages with almost no concern for heart usage. Shoot one or two off right as you enter a crowded room and watch it hit four or five enemies each time. Definitely my most used Mage skill, and easily abused for massive damage. FLOATING B: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Scissor Rod EFFECT: There are a lot of Mage skills with the letter B after them, and all of these skills involve sending out various weapons/spells that revolve around Hector and damage opponents they touch. Floating B sends out three balls of fire. OPINIONS: Most "B" spells don't seem to be worth the cost, although some can be quite usefull at time, but Floating B is probably the worst of the lot. SORCERY FLAME: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Scissor Rod EFFECT: Your Mage shoots a beam of fire in a slow sweep across the room. OPINIONS: This spell can be pretty useful, in small rooms especially it causes good damage to anything it hits. Causes excellent damage against undead. CIRCLE SCISSORS: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Talon Rod EFFECTS: Similar to a "B" spell, Circle Scissors creates a glowing blue ring around Hector that damages anything that gets close. OPINIONS: Circle Scissors is relatively useless against most enemies because it does very little damage, but its very effective against the enemies like fleaman who are quick and hard to hit, but die easily. FREEZE: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Talon Rod EFFECTS: Freezes an enemy in a block of ice, allowing Hector to put some hurt on him, and also causes ice damage. OPINIONS: This skill takes up a lot of hearts, is only good when used in a big crowd, and often doesn't work very well. Overall I'd say just heal with a Fairy instead of wasting the hearts. PURIFY: COST: 0 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Nautilus Rod EFFECTS: This is the skill that allows the Mage ID to kill blood skeletons. Like many of the Fairy skills, Purify isn't activated, the mage performs it automatically. It affects all undead, not just blood skeletons. OPINIONS: Liquify some undead pests at no costs, and FINALLY get to see what's behind that door in the mountains. Purify doesn't activate very quickly or very often, but it can still be useful in later areas of the game that contain many undead monsters. SATELLITE B: COST: 20 CONDTIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Nautilus Rod EFFECTS: One of the only usefull "B" spells, Satellite B summons three small laser-cannons that shoot at enemies for decent damage. OPINIONS: Good for a "B" spell, but I'd still rather use other spells than see 20 hearts go towards it. AGNEA: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Ogre Rod EFFECTS: Your Mage shoots out holy chain-lightning that hits enemies in front of it at random. OPINIONS: Agnea is a frustrating spell. Sometimes it causes massive damage to tons of enemies, and sometimes it only hits once or twice. If enemies aren't in front of the ID (not Hector), nothing gets hit, so I only use Agnea in crowded rooms where I know it's going to nail at least a few enemies. I've found that using 2 or 3 Lightning strikes will almost always cause more damage overall. SYNCHRON SAUCER B: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Ogre Rod EFFECTS: Summons three floating saucers that attack as Hector attacks. OPINIONS: One of the most usefull "B" spells, Synchron Saucer B's floating discs shoot out in the direction Hector attacks, and add a pretty decent amount of damage. ARGENT B: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Goat Head Mage EFFECTS: Summons blades that rapidly fly around Hector, damaging any enemies that come near. OPINIONS: I rarely use "B" spells, and Argent B is no different. Like any "B" spell it can be usefull, but most enemies don't get close enough to make it worth the 20 hearts. What's good about Argent B above some of the other "B"'s is that the spinning blades also protect above Hector. SALAMANDER: COST: 30 CONDITIONS: Move with Hector for over an hour with Goat Head Mage equipped. EFFECT: Summons a serpent of fire that hits enemies at random, popping in and out of the ground for a short period of time. OPINIONS: Salamander is a decent spell that causes a lot of damage when used in the right places, but it's THE MOST ANNOYING SKILL TO LEARN in the entire game. My advice for learning Salamander is to head somewhere you can have Hector run in circles for a long time, and leave your controller upside-down for at least an hour, which should meet the requirement, but even after doing that you may have to run around a little more and go to different rooms/kill some enemies. Worth it to learn if you have the patience. TENSION BOOST: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Eyeball Rod EFFECT: Boosts Hectos ATK stat for a short time. OPINIONS: Great for finishing off bosses quickly, and the only Mage skill that directly enhances Hector's stats. It doesn't last very long, however, so don't abuse it or you'll run out of hearts fast. HOMING: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Eyeball Rod EFFECTS: Fires homing laser's at enemies. OPINIONS: Homing can be usefull sometimes, but unless I'm fighting enemies that are resistant to thunder, 3 lightning strikes will cause far more damage for less hearts. EXPLOSION B: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Embryo Rod EFFECTS: Summons three floating orbs around Hector that explode on conctact with an enemy, causing damage and knockback. OPINIONS: Think of three grenades just circling Hector. They cause come damage, but I would still rather save the hearts most of the time. DEMONIC DISASTER: COST: 35 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Embryo Rod EFFECTS: Unleashes a huge explosion that damages enemies over a huge range. OPINIONS: A great spell for clearing rooms, the only problem with Demonic Disaster is that it has about a 2-3 second startup time, and its high cost makes it hard to use as regularly as you might like. SHIELD: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Crystal Rod EFFECTS: Blocks one enemy attack completely. OPINIONS: I never found a justifiable use for this spell out side of boss battles. It works wonders when you know a boss is about to smack you with a high-damage/hard-to-dodge attack. For 20 hearts a pop, however, be carefull not to use up all your hearts on defense. METEO: COST: 40 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Crystal Rod EFFECTS: Summons a meteor from the sky to crash down on an enemy. OPINIONS: Meteo costs a lot, but for bosses that are weak to fire, or ANY enemy that gives you trouble, one shot from Meteo can cause ridiculous damage. Use sparingly, but definitely use Meteo. TWINKLE STAR: COST: 40 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Twinkle Star EFFECTS: Exactly the same as Meteo but with Holy element instead of Fire. OPINIONS: The Twinkle Star Mage may look a little lame, but the Twinkle Star spell will wreak havoc against any enemy. If you want to take a huge bite out of the end boss, this is the spell for you. DANCING STAR: COST: 20 CONDITIONS: Defeat a certain # of enemies with Twinkle Star EFFECTS: Essentially a "B" spell, Dancing Star summons three smiley-faced stars that circle around Hector and do Holy damage to enemies that come close. OPINIONS: The smiley-face stars make this by far the least cool looking spell in the game, but as far as "B" spells go, Holy damage is better than anything else. Especially usefull in the Infinite Corridor, or against any undead. There it is, all info about the Mage IDs and their skills. It's hard to choose one which is better than the rest, because any Mage ID will do some hard damage in the right setting. I advise making at least two Final Form Mages, and having at least one go through Nautilus Rod's route. ============================================================================== 4) CONTACT INFO ============================================================================== Feel free to contact me with any corrections/questions regarding Mage Type IDs or their skills. DO NOT CONTACT ME asking where to use each skill or for help when you're stuck I get enough spam in my mailbox as it is. My name on the message boards is Hero_100_Fights. E-mail me at: Micahlandsman@lycos.com ============================================================================== 5) Credits ============================================================================== Thanks to all the people on the board who helped when I needed it. Thanks to the people who read my other FAQs and Gave me positive feedback, I might not have even bothered to write any more if it didn't seem like they were helping. Thanks to Konami for Castlevania, especially. Never stop making them or I might get violent. Heh. Also thanks to IGA for finding new ways to keep me enthralled in every Castlevania. ============================================================================== 6) Legal Info ============================================================================== This FAQ is copyright 2005 by Micah Landsman. It may not be used on any site other than Gamefaqs.com for any reason, unless specifically granted permission by myself. Any trademarks or copywritten characters are Copyright or Trademarks of Konami.