Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Version 1.2 Castlevania: LoI Boss FAQ Written by: Peter McEntee a.k.a. thetimetraveler Email: deityultima@netscape.net ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Table of contents ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I. Introduction II. Version updates III. Brief synopsis IV. Play control/General tips V. Boss- Golden Warrior VI. Boss-Parasitic worm VII. Boss-Golem VIII. Boss-Medusa IX. Boss-Joachim X. Boss-Succubus XI. Boss-Doppelganger XII. Boss-Walter XIII. Boss-Death XIV. Boss-Flame Elemental XV. Boss-Ice Elemental XVI. Boss-Thunder Elemental XVII. Boss-The Forgotten One XVIII. Credits XIX. Legal stuff I. Introduction Hello and welcome to my first FAQ. Please bear with me as I explain the tough points behind each boss. My apologies that this FAQ is not finished but it will in time. I will also be conducting this walkthrough using the equipment, relics and sub-weapons that I used. By using this FAQ you may not only be able to beat these guys but look great doing it! So let's get started!!! II. Version updates -Version 1.0- FAQ post. -Version 1.1- Cleaned up some errors and added addition Boss info. -Version 1.2- Added Elementals and The Forgotten One bosses. III. Brief Synopsis For those who don't know, Castlevania is a long running series that has been around since the NES days of old. The story goes as follows: throughout the previous millennium (and even once in 21st century) the clan of vampire hunters known as the Belmonts has been charged with fighting and defeating Count Vlad Dracula every one hundred years. No one knew how or why this curse befell this clan, until now that is. Castlevania: Lament of Innocent takes place in the 11th century when the first of the Belmonts, Leon, sets out to find his betrothed inside a dark castle. His story explains the curse and how the battle between good and evil began... IV. Play control/General Tips The basic controls: Left analog stick- Move around the area Right analog stick- opens the action window (Items, Equipment etc.) X button-Jump, Double jump (in air) O button-Sub-weapon attack (the sub-weapons are: knife, axe, holy water, cross and crystal) Square button- Weak whip attack (Fast but weak) Triangle button- Strong whip attack (Powerful but less recovery time) R1 and R2 buttons- Guard (Very important!!) L1 button- Orb window L2 button- Relic window Start button- Start menu Select menu- Map Tips: -Take full advantage of Leon's combo attacks. Experiment with different attacks and even sub-weapons to create good combos. (Note: you can only do simple combos in the beginning but as you gain more abilities you can do more) Here's a favorite of mine from later in the game as an example: Weak, Weak, Weak, Strong, Weak and Red Orb/Holy Water. -Guard often, but not too often. Guarding is very important in boss battles. It could save your neck in the end. Remember not to just hold down the Guard button for if you block too many hits in tandem you will falter leaving you open for a second or two. -The quick step ability is you friend so use it! One of the coolest abilities in the game, the quick step is invaluable. Using it not only avoids an attack with ease, but you create a very nice opening for a counter attack as well. (Note: the quick step ability is not available right off the bat so you need to train until you get it.) -Heal often and always carry a sacrificial doll in your accessory slot. Try to max out on potions and other healing items before heading into a boss battle. Also carry a sacrificial doll with you (when equipped, if your HP reaches 0, the doll is destroyed and you are left with about half your max HP. This item can be bought at Rinaldo's shop for 2,000 gold). In a battle if the doll is destroyed try to find a safe spot to open your action window and equip another accessory to help you out. V. On to the first battle! Lone Armor! Golden Knight HP: 60 Description- Guardian of the last chamber of the tutorial rooms. Only special attacks are effective. Strategy: Not much of a fight, just a battle to test your newfound skills. Guard when he attacks and just pound away at him with different whip combos. Not much to him really.... VI. Next, a parasitic infestation.... Undead Parasite HP: 1,200 Description- Giant worm that guards the Blue Orb at the end of the House of Sacred Remains. Strategy: For your first real boss battle you are basically playing a game of whack a mole except replace the word "whack" with "whip" and "mole" with "throbbing core". The arena consists of five holes on the ground and some on the walls. The worm's head will consistently travel from wall hole to wall hole trying to ram you. Your job is to find the core (maybe tail?) that pops up from one of the holes in the ground and pound it. Remember that this is the target, not the head for the head doesn't take damage! The worm will summon minions called soulless to attack you but they go down pretty quickly or you can avoid them all together. On occasion the head will breath fire on you so be careful when it comes out of the hole. Just keep focusing on the core/tail and victory is yours. Treasure: Blue Orb and warp to Rinaldo's shop VII. 3rd battle! Rise and emeth rocky! Golem HP: 1,500 Description- Earth monster that guards the Red Orb at the end of the Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab. Strategy: You will first need the "e" stone to complete the inscription in the stone to fight the golem. Find the stone in the Garden area and place it in the hole in the golem's arena. The golem will pull himself together and begin the fight. He attacks you with punches that go right through your guard so don't bother unless you want to get hurt. Dodge often and hit him from behind if you can. When he's in front of you jump up and hit his head so the low punches don't get you. Use your shiny new Orb with your sub-weapons to take him out. When he finally falls to you.......he gets back up. Yeah, he has a second bar of health and now he's pissed! The battle escalates as he now can fire his hand like a spring loaded rocket at you to deal serious damage. He also cannot be hurt anywhere except the red circle on his head which is now exposed. You will see him prepare to shoot his hand at you when he holds it. Take this time to prepare to dodge. After he fires, dodge as quickly as you can. He now tries to recoil it back to his arm, slowly. While he's doing this run up, jump and smack that circle! Follow this pattern until he's gone for good. Treasure: Red Orb and warp to Rinaldo's shop VIII. Number 4! You will make a fine statue.....Hsssssss Medusa HP: 2,000 Description- Legendary snake monster that guards the Green Orb at the end of Garden, Forgotten by Time. Strategy- A brief cut scene preludes the battle with Medusa. Leon sees the statues of men that fought and failed to kill the legendary monster. Medusa and Leon have a little chat and then begin to fight. One dangerous power Medusa possesses is the power to turn things to stone so be extra careful here. Medusa has a variety of attacks that could really ruin your day. First and most frequent are her snakes on her head. They will snap at you so respond by either jumping or guarding. After you hit her a bunch of times with your whip she will bleed and drop damaging blood on the floor as she moves away so be sure to avoid those. Next is her stone stare which will, you guessed it, turn you to stone. Don't jump for you probably will land in the path of the gaze. Instead, dodge and attack while she's still gazing. Should you be turned to stone quickly rotate your left analog stick and push your four primary buttons to de-stone yourself. After you are frozen stiff, Medusa will curl into a ball and roll around the arena trying to hit you. If you use your controller like crazy then you will break out and her attack won't hit you. Use different whip combos and sub-weapon attacks. I used the Red Orb/Holy Water combo a lot but other combinations work well too. After you get her down to her yellow life bar she will use two new attacks. She will float high up in the air and release a river of snakes at you. Guard once or twice or roll out of their path. Also added is an attack where Medusa will levitate petrified stones that circle her and then are thrown at you. Guard and dodge left or right until they are all gone. Just follow her pattern of attack carefully, heal often and keep whipping away. After you defeat her, Medusa will utter something about the whip not being complete yet and then turn to stone herself. Treasure: Green Orb and warp to Rinaldo's shop IX. Battle 5! Phenomenal Vampire powers....Itty bitty living space... Joachim HP: 1,500 Description- Vampire that guards the Purple Orb in the Dark Palace of the Waterfalls. Strategy: Before you can fight Joachim, you have to activate the two switches in the dungeon: one to extend the bridge and the other to stop the water flow. When Leon steps inside he'll meet Joachim. Joachim mentions a powerful relic known as the Ebony Stone and tells Leon that if he defeats him in battle, he will tell him what it does. So, of course, the fight begins. You will notice that Joachim seems immune to your whip at first but run to any corner of the (small) room and you will see a floating blue sphere. These things have to be taken out first before you can hurt Joachim. He will attack you with the swords rotating around him both as a projectile and from underground. Simply run away from them and go for the spheres. On occasion a jet of flames will erupt from the ground to protect the sphere so watch out. The spheres only stand about two hits each. After taking all three out your ready for Joachim. Mix a good amount of offensive and defensive attacks for this battle. He will eventually regenerate the spheres and continue to attack so repeat the process. After beating him, the truth behind the Ebony stone will be revealed and another stone, the Crimson stone will be mentioned. Joachim dies before explaining though so take the warp back to Rinaldo's (P.S.-be sure to examine this cut-scene closely at the end...). Treasure: Purple Orb and warp to Rinaldo's shop X. Numero 6! Sexy and Deadly! Succubus HP: 1,000 Description- Evil temptress who guards the Yellow Orb at the end of the Ghostly Theater area. Strategy: Before you can enter the Succubus' lair you must find the bell item in the area first. Once you have it, stand in front of the stage and ring it 3 times. A cut-scene will now emerge with Leon looking towards the stage to see Sara standing there. He runs to her and tells her to follow him out. She suddenly attacks with his back turned and he evades. Sara turns into the form of the Succubus and Leon says he knew it was too easy. After a brief exchange, the fight begins. The Succubus' speed is much better then your own so as she dashes you need to stay one step ahead by whipping where she is headed next. She will try to get close enough to kiss you which proves deadly for Leon so keep you distance. She also shoots a stream of....stuff at you so guard against that. She will summon plants to rise from the ground to harm you as well as vines that travel along the floor to hit you. Dodge or jump around these. In terms of damaging her, well timed combos are your best bet. Attacking in the air works too so your not being hit by those vines. Heal often and whip away until she's down. After the battle she will mention Rinaldo and his daughter right before she dies. Take the Yellow Orb and warp to head back and hear the whole story. XI. Battle 7! Copycat, Copycat! Doppelganger HP: 1,500 Description- Dark impersonation of Leon who guards the top floor in the main castle area. Strategy: This battle shouldn't be too tough. For one thing, you now have the legendary Vampire Killer at your side and your clone doesn't. Also, since he is the dark you and uses the same sub-weapon attacks you do, you know how to get around them by now. Make him feel the pain of the whip by smashing him up with combos. He won't be a problem, just an inconvenience. Treasure: None XII. Battle 8! The King of the Castle! Walter HP: 1,500 Description- Dark Lord of the Night who started this whole mess. Strategy: Well you made it to the top floor, now let's kill this guy already! A cut-scene emerges with Walter congratulating Leon on making up alive. After some chit-chat, the fight starts. You run up to him and whack him with the whip. Another cut-scene. They go on about how the whip actually affects him (a previous cut scene explains why anything else wouldn't). So now we go back into the battle again. If you've ever played any of the previous Castlevanias, you may recognize Walter's attacks. He fires either one or three red fireballs around him which explode after a short time. Just stay away from him to avoid these. He also teleports often to different places but the camera will keep up with him so just follow suit. Good whip combos work wonders and be sure to use all your hearts up! (I'll explain why later) He has one super attack you should be careful of though. He charges up a great amount of energy that converts into a giant ball. It will hit the ground and create a massive fire shockwave. Though it looks and sounds threatening a simple guard prevents any damage. The reason its dangerous though is that if it connects it does a LOT of damage. Slay the vampire and victory is yours... Or is it.... Cut-scene. I won't say what happens, just that you got one more boss before you complete this epic journey. XIII. Final battle. Logically, can you really "kill" this guy.....? Death HP: 4,444 Description- Lord of the dead and the underworld Strategy: You look death straight in the face....and laugh. Well not laugh but you have to beat him anyway. Death transports you to a circular arena surrounded by the flames of Hell. He is always on the border of the arena and summons all his attacks from there as well. One important thing about Death is that Sub-weapons don't affect him (hope all your hearts were used on Walter...) so all your attacks should be whip-based. He starts off with 2 basic attacks. First he uses his infamous sickle against you. He either winds it up and throws it or does a simple slash. Dodge the throwing sickle and just back up from the slash. His second attack consists of summoning flaming skulls to suicide bomb Leon. While he's summoning whack him. When the skulls come at you, start dodging left and right as they come toward you. As they get close they start to turn red, this signals the self-destruct so keep moving. Death will teleport to another part of the border after every successful combo attack so keep up with him. After he goes down to the yellow health bar, he adds another attack to the mix. He sends bolts of fire down onto the arena and they radiate outward. Run to avoid the first strike and jump over the shock wave. He may do this twice in a row so stay on your toes here. Heal and attack, attack, attack. Eventually he'll fall. Congratulations! You beat Castlevania: Lament of Innocence for the PS2. Yay! And now the extras you may have missed.... XIV. Extra Boss battle #1: The Fires of Hell manifested... Flame Elemental HP: 1500 Description- Incarnation of Fire found in the Anti-Soul Mysteries Lab Strategy: For the first of the three secret elemental battles you face the Flame Elemental. It carries a long sword weapon that it will rush at you with. Guard and dodge as necessary. The Elemental will swing its sword from a distance to release fireballs that will follow a straight path. Just run or roll away from this. Its biggest attack is a large fire sphere that is created when it slams on the ground. Somersault backwards to avoid this as a guard won't help much. If you fought the Ice Elemental before this fight be sure to equip the Ice whip as it will double all damage even the Vampire killer would deal. Even if you don't have it this battle will not take very long. Heal accordingly as you go. Your primary attacks should be your longest combos for if you have the Ice whip equipped you can easily take care of this guy in fewer than 30 secs if done correctly. Treasure: Whip of Flames XV. Extra Boss battle #2: Feel the Arctic chill... Ice Elemental HP: 1500 Description- Incarnation of Ice found in the Dark Palace of Waterfalls Strategy: For the second of the three secret elemental battles you will face the Ice Elemental. This battle is similar to the previous battle in the Ice Elemental will rush at you with a long lance/sword weapon so follow the same idea: Guard and avoid. It will occasionally use a spinning attack but just guard against it. Another attack consists of ice balls that are thrown at you much like the Flame Elemental's attack so follow the same strategy of running or dodging. Also, the Elemental with fire a beam of concentrated cold air at you. Just dodge this one. It may also use an ice shockwave which may paralyze you. Try to equip an accessory with resistance to this effect or hit the buttons like crazy to get out. If you beat the Flame Elemental first use the Fire whip to make short work of this one. Like the one before it, long and powerful whip combos with the Fire whip in toe will spell a sweet victory. Treasure: Whip of Ice XVI. Extra Boss battle #3: Storms a brewin'.... Lightning Elemental HP: 1500 Description- Incarnation of Electricity found in the Garden, Forgotten by Time Strategy: First off there are two things that make this battle different from the first two. Number 1: The storm atmosphere on the way to the battle is really nice and number 2: there is no whip that will deal extra damage to this guy. Just the Vampire Killer is fine (unless you want the ice or fire effect to flash every time you perform a combo. It's up to you...). Same thing again with that stick so we all know what to do: guard and avoid. The Lightning Elemental will call down bolts of (hmm) lightning to hit you but you have enough time to run or roll away. Also the Elemental will use an Electricity sphere attack similar to the Flame's attack. Somersault to avoid this. Use a varied pattern of attacking such as short, quick and slow, powerful whip combos. Heal when necessary and keep attacking until the last crack of thunder sounds. Treasure: Whip of Lightning XVII. Extra Boss battle #4: Locked away for eternity, never to be found... The Forgotten One HP: 4800 Description- Enormous monster of darkness found in the Prison of Eternal Torture Strategy: Okay, get ready for the longest and most difficult boss battle of the game! There is a reason this monster was locked away in the basement of the castle, I doubt even Walter could control this monster. But enough about that lets get to defeating him! This battle is divided into three parts: Abdomen, Chest with Hands and the Head. You start with the Abdomen. You will see 6 or 7 pieces protecting the inner organ which resembles a heart (though I doubt it has one.) Simply jump up and do the five hit whip combo to deal damage. Use the fire kick (triangle) at the end to do a bit more damage. After a bit of time you will see small worms as well as a few large ones fall to the platform you're on. If these worms hit you it will result in a cursed status and therefore disable your air combos so use a uncurse potion immediately. This or an accessory with protection from curse is good to use. To get rid of the worms quickly use the whip twirl attack (360 degree turn on the analog stick plus the triangle button) to knock all the worms out as well as hit the Abdomen in the process. Once the worms are gone go for the Abdomen again. After a certain amount of damage is dealt, a piece will fall off revealing a small part of the abdomen itself. After all the pieces are removed the core will be your only target. Be careful that when you deal damage to it on occasion blood will spill onto the ground and result in poison if touched. Bring serums and accessory resistance. After the final blow the abdomen will shrivel up and the platform will rise to the second area of the battle. Now you are dealing with the Chest and Hands of the beast. There are two points of attack here, the ribs and the hands themselves, however the ribs are distanced from the platform and are resistant to your attacks somewhat so only focus on the hands here. The hands have 2 primary and 1 special attack(s). The hand will usually hover over you and then slam onto the platform in attempt to crush you. Simply wait for the hand to stop hovering and just before it moves somersault or roll out of the way. When the hand is on the platform start attacking. Whip attacks and sub-weapons are a good way to go here. You can also attack the hand while it's hovering in the air but there is the risk of getting hit so don't do it unless you feel cocky. The hand's second attack consists of it plating itself on one side of the platform and swing across to sweep you. Timing is key here, just prepare for the swipe and double jump right over the hand. Don't even bother trying to attack while it does this. After you bring it down to the yellow bar it will introduce its most dangerous attack. When the hand is hovering it may drop blood onto the arena which will damage you as well as poison. Again, carry serums and accessories with prevention. Watch your footing as this will reduce your space in area to move around. Simply follow these patterns of attack until the hands fall and the chest tips over in pain. Now we move to the final and most dangerous form of the Forgotten One: it's Head. The head itself only has two attacks but even 3 or 4 good hits could mean an instant game over. It will start off by yelling out and shaking the room. At some points during the battle when you try to attack the head it may seem invincible; its not but it is charging for an attack. First the head will call down 3 big rocks to hit you. Truth is these rocks help you. They usually fall in the same three spots: far left, center and far right so avoid these spots when they fall. After they fall you have a small time to attack the head to put in some damage. As soon as the head starts to go backward to charge up run behind one of the rocks. Now the head will release a devastating fire attack that can deal you a lot of damage. However, if you are behind a rock, it will absorb all the damage. The fire will sweep the area twice and leave the rocks weakened (you will see many cracks in the rocks that can only stand one more attack). After the fire stops unload on the head with all the attacks you got. Use your strongest whip combos and sub weapon attacks available. You only have a few seconds so get ready to run again. Once the head charges up again run to a rock that does not have any cracks in it. Any rock that does will be destroyed on the first fire attack and you will be hit by it. Follow the above strategy over and over. After 2 or more of the rocks are destroyed the head will summon more so adjust accordingly. It will be tough but it is possible to beat this guy so don't give up! After you deal the final blow the Forgotten One will fall and you may be out of breath. Congrats! Treasure: Black Orb (The most powerful in the game!) and some dignity Here's another strategy for the Forgotten One I received via email from jagstang 99 For the forgotten one- First form - the belly of the beast He drops maggots and squirts blood at you. Offset the chance of poisoning (doesn't always work) with a poison ring. The second artifact should either be a sacrificial doll (if the player's timing isn't so hot) or the one that increases attack rating (which I used). To crush the first form, just get right in front of the boss and double jump...whip combo. Repeat. If your timing is right, you destroy the first form without ever getting poisoned or cursed by the blood or maggots. Okay, second form - The chest of evil...there is no hope. Actually, this form is a push-over too. He can slam a fist down on you, sweep his arm over the whole platform, or squeeze out more poison blood. To defeat this form isn't much harder then the first. You have to watch for where his fist will come down, and avoid getting trapped on the ends of the platform. That aside, I only attacked him when his fist was on the platform. And, it seemed that if a whip strike hit both his body and his hand the damage counted up twice as fast. Basically, time your combos so you can be moving when he is about to drop a fist on you. If he chambers his arm to sweep over the platform (very obvious) learn the timing and jump up. As the arm is just about to collide with you, double jump over it. This really pulls the teeth out of this part of the fight once you can dodge that attack. Finally, when he squeezes out the blood. Do not let him pin you against the edge of the platform unless you like getting crushed. Ring or no ring, I seemed to get poisoned more often then not crossing the blood, but once you get the timing down, you CAN get by him if you stay moving. Also, I attacked his hand with air/ground combos every chance I got. That form down, we meet him face to face. I think Danzig should have got some royalties for that demon skull face, personally. The main thing about this fight it knowing when to piss him off, and when not to, also I recommend taking the axe with you as your sub weapon with the fast edge orb enhancement, or one of the ones that lets you throw it. Hang back and do not hit him, avoid him until there are at least three standing stones knocked down from the ceiling. You have to use these to avoid his hell fire breath (what HAVE they been feeding him. jeeze). Now that you have some places to hide, it is time to start whittling away at the boss. When he's howling to bring down more rocks, pop him with axes or whip combos, just make sure not to get hit by falling rock. A guard will save you most times, but not against double hits. When he starts the fire mouth....RUN. Also watch the stones you hide behind, they do get whittled away. It isn't really safe to hide behind one if it is cracked, because the next burst of hellfire and you'll take the damage. Also, sometimes he does a double sweep...so wait an extra beat after the flame passes before charging in to attack him to make sure it isn't a double pass. If you are down to one or two stones, stay away from him until he howls down some more. I am not 100% certain, but he seems less likely to do the fire breath if you stay away from him/stay behind the rocks. All in all, if you watch his pattern, easy to crush. XVIII. Credits Thanks to Konami for all the Castlevanias they've made and Sony for letting this great game grace their system! Also thanks to jagstang99@yahoo.com for his strategies. XIX. Legal stuff This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Copyright 2003 Peter McEntee a.k.a. thetimetraveler