Castlevania: Circle of the Moon/Equipment

There is a variety of armor found throughout Dracula's castle. Most boost defense, but some affect other stats - and not always positively. Be careful not to lose all of your strength or intelligence when raising your defense. Unlike most games armor cannot be bought or found in treasure chests. It can only be found by defeating enemies.

As soon as you start a new game, fight Bats and Skeletons until you have the Leather Armor and two Wrist Bands

Armor
Armor that is worn over the body. Robes generally raise intelligence over defense, while armor and mail raises defense without boosting intelligence. Only one can piece be equipped at a time so you have to choose what works best for you. Generally speaking, favor physical defense over stronger magic, regardless of what mode you're using. Only in Fighter mode do you not need additional defense, however you have no magic, so robes are useless.

Arms
Amulets and gauntlets worn on the arm. While many raise defense, the main purpose of arm equipment is to raise your other stats. Luck boosting equipment is highly useful when going after items, equipment, and Cards, however they should be exchanged for something else when you have what you need.

Notes:
 * The Bear Ring turns you into a bear instead of a skeleton when using the Pluto/Black Dog DSS combination.
 * Double Grips are worn on both hands, and therefor cannot be equipped with another arm piece.
 * Star Bracelets boost stats based on what arm they are worn. Worn on the right they boost strength and intelligence; worn on the left they boost defense and luck.
 * The Toy Ring is just that - a toy. It does nothing.