Castlevania: Circle of the Moon/Battle Arena

The Battle Arena is a section of the castle where you can fight through 17 rooms filled with stronger-than-normal versions of regular enemies, as well as a few new ones. To access the arena you will need to get two relics: the Heavy Ring from the Underground Galley (defeat the Dragon Zombies) and the Roc Wing from the Underground Waterway (defeat Camilla). You can get to the Arena by going through the Chapel Tower. Head up to the third room from where you fought Adramelech. In the upper left corner of that room, drop down a bit and you'll see a passage blocked off by a wooden crate. Push it aside and go through the door into the long hallway. The hallway is two rooms long, and at the western most edge you'll see two doors: the lower one takes you to a warp room, and the upper one leads to the Battle Arena. Make sure you stick your head in the warp room so you can get back to the Arena much more quickly later on, should you have to quit the Arena early.

Once you go through the upper door you'll be in a large, outdoor section. Roc jump over the wall and drop down. There are two types of enemies around: a couple of Legions and a Fallen Angel. If this is your first time here, be sure to fight the Fallen Angel until you get the Saturn card, and get the HP Plus above the upper door and the MP Plus near where the Fallen Angel comes down from (and then retreat to save so you don't lose them if you die in the Arena).

Once you're done with that, head through the lower right door. You'll be in the entryway where you can get any sub-weapon that you want (get the boomerang if you're unsure). In the upper right of this room is the entrance to the actual Arena. Note that once you pass through that door you won't be able to leave the way you came in from.

Important notes
Before jumping into the fray, there are a few things you should know about the Arena:
 * Of the 17 rooms, you can only leave after odd numbered ones.
 * Escaping after rooms 3, 5, 7, or 9 will dump you in the Chapel Tower (the same room as the one that leads to the Arena entrance).
 * Escaping after rooms 11, 13, or 15 will put you in the Audience Room, right above the save room.
 * Clearing the last room (room 17) will leave you back at the Arena entrance.
 * Upon completion of the Arena you will get the, the best armor in the game (+500 defense, +10 other stats).
 * The enemies are much harder versions of common enemies — they have the same attack patterns and drop the same items, but much higher HP, strength, and defense. You gain much more experience for defeating them as well.
 * You cannot proceed to the next room until all enemies are defeated.
 * You can never go back a room without glitch.
 * After each room (3rd to 16th) you will be able to pick up 15 hearts from candles.
 * As soon as you enter the first room your magic will be depleted and you will not recover any while in the Arena, regardless of your intelligence stat.
 * That said, if you feel like cheating, there is a glitch to exploit that will let you get a summon off.

Do not underestimate how hard the Arena is; even the first couple of rooms can completely destroy you if you aren't at a very high level. You should be several levels higher than necessary to fight Dracula, have already found all of the power-ups, and have the Dark Armor and Double Grips, as well as a lot of restorative items. That includes antidotes and cure curses — you simply cannot wait around for an ailment to wear off. It should go without saying, but make sure you save before attempting this place.

Modes
As can be expected, how difficult the Arena is depends a lot on what mode you're playing. Some classes are built for this place, others are at a severe disadvantage.

From easiest to hardest:
 * 1) Fighter: Since the handicap in the Arena is not having magic, and the Fighter doesn't have any magic to begin with, the handicap is a non-issue. In addition he still has significantly higher HP, strength, and defense than other classes. Basically you can pass the Battle Arena with a normal progression, meaning a level of 35 or higher, though level 30 is enough to beat it.
 * 2) Thief: While the Thief does have lower stats than the VampireKiller, the fact that you can max out your potions and heart restorers before you enter the Arena gives you practically infinite health and weapons.
 * 3) VampireKiller: As with everything else in the game, the VampireKiller is in the middle. While stronger than the Thief, you'll have a hard time stocking up on items, making it a bit more difficult.
 * 4) Shooter: The Shooter has basically the same disadvantages as the VampireKiller, but even lower strength. The magic dagger will also be of limited help as it will take several hits to kill most enemies, will target whatever enemy it wants, will only deal single hits, and the tight spaces mean that enemies will be able to get a lot of hits in before you kill them.
 * 5) Magician: The only advantage that the Magician has over the other classes is his magic. Take the magic away and you're left with…nothing. By far the most difficult of the modes, and borderline impossible.

Obviously if you're willing to spent an extra 100 hours getting items, the VampireKiller, Shooter, and Magician will be on pretty much equal footing as the Thief. That list assumes that you aren't willing, and will have a limited number of restoratives.

Room 1

 * 1 Were-wolf
 * 1 Were-jaguar

A fairly easy room with only two enemies in it. It is possible to kill the Were-jaguar without having the Were-wolf noticing you if you stay far enough. To kill both simply jump to evade their attacks, you can also evade the Were-wolf attack by crouching. If you have summoning DSS, you may even try to unleash one, since your magic will disappear anyway.

Room 2

 * 2 Hipogriffs
 * 2 Catoblepas

Take out the Catoblepas first with boomerangs, then go after the Hippogriffs with the whip. Just make sure you don't get petrified by the Catoblepas' breath.

Room 3

 * 2 Wind Demons
 * 3 Witches

The first potentially challenging room. The first Wind Demon will go straight for you while the Witches fly about in a pattern, it is possible to kill the first Wind Demon without the second noticing you if you stay on the left edge. There is a fixed patern for the Wind demon attack, it can be dodged if you let his projectiles come close to you and then slide at the last moment. After the first Wind demon is killed you can lure the second on the left edge to avoid fighting the witches early. When both demons are down go after the Witches, one at a time.

After this room you get three large hearts and a chance to escape into the Chapel Tower.

Room 4

 * 3 Stone Armors
 * 12 Devil Towers

The Devil Towers are situated on four columns of three, and don't pose a problem unless you jump. You should not worry about Devil Towers until you killed the Stone Armors. You can destroy the rocks with your whip. Spinning your whip is a good way to protect yourself against rocks.

After this room you get three large hearts.

Room 5

 * 4 Skeletons
 * 4 Skeleton Bombers
 * 3 Electric Skeletons
 * 3 Skeleton Spears

Three groups of skeletons, with some on the floor and some on platforms. As soon as you enter the room, you should duck to avoid thrown spears and keep doing so as long as a Skeleton Spears is visible. If you wait, visible Skeleton Spears should come close enough to be killed with the whip. After taking care of Skeleton Spears you should defeat the skeletons group by group starting with those on platforms and finishing with Electric Skeletons. To kill Electric Skeletons, bait their attack and jump to avoid, then you can safely hit them once. Repeat this patern.

After this room you get three large hearts and a chance to escape into the Chapel Tower.

Room 6

 * 2 Fire Demons
 * 6 Bone Towers

The Fire Demons will rush right at you when you enter. Dodging the Fire Demons attack is easy and you can defend yourself against fireballs by spinning your whip, so the Bone Towers on the floor should be dealt with first. After the Fire Demons are down hit the Bone Towers on the celling from behind.

After this room you get three large hearts.

Room 7

 * 5 Fox Hunters

If you're strong enough to kill the Fox Hunters with a single slide-kick, simply slide-kick your way across the entire room, making it one of the easiest rooms in the Arena. If you can't, slide forward just enough so you are in range to whip the Fox Hunter, then kill it while crouching. Slide in front of the next one and repeat until they're dead.

After this room you get three large hearts and a chance to escape into the Chapel Tower.

Room 8

 * 3 Bloody Swords
 * 3 Poison Armors

You can lose a lot of life in this room if you get poisoned so use an antidote as soon as possible. After taking out one Poison Armor, the room gets easier as more space will allow you to take out the bloody Bloody Swords without having the Poison Armors' attacks reaching you. A way to beat this room without damage is to constently move away from the Bloody swords, going from edge to edge by jumping in between Poison Armors or dash jumping above them and hitting enemies when it is safe to do so, but this way takes A LOT of practice.

The Bloody Sword follows a fixed patern : it rotates towards you, stops for a moment and dash in the direction it stopped rotating. You can bait their direction until they stop rotating and take advantage of controling their movements (pretty useful for clearing the room without damage).

The Poison Armor attacks with a sword and throws a poison cloud each attack. The cloud slowly moves towards you and lasts long enough for a Poison Armor to summon up to two clouds. You can stand in front of the Poison Armor when he attacks and the poison cloud will not harm you, but you will have to jump away because it has time to come back to the Poison Armor and damage you. If you get in front of a Poison Armor, care for the sword attack too.

After this room you get three large hearts.

Room 9

 * 24 Abiondargs

Another easy room. If you're able to kill the Abiondargs in one hit, clear out a spot and then jump up and slide kick your way through, then slide kick your way back along the bottom. If you can't kill them in one hit, or just wish to play it safe, simply stand at the entrance and whip them as they come towards you. They won't be able to harm you.

This is also a good place to get a few potions if you're careful. It's best if you can slide kick your way through; otherwise, you'll have to make sure not to kill them on the bottom, as you won't have a way to reach the potions before they disappear. Consider jumping as far to the left as you can, and slinging a boomerang into the top level. As it clears them, jump up into the opening you've just made, grab any potions, and retreat, or start covering yourself with the whip.

After this room you get three large hearts and a chance to escape into the Chapel Tower.

Room 10

 * 3 Legions
 * 12 Marionettes

If you get cursed, use a cure curse immediately. You can't afford to wait for it to wear off, and you'll lose far too much life trying to slide-kick the enemies to death. You can control the amount of Marionettes that go after you by keeping your distance with those you do not want to fight. You should start by killing the first four Marionettes, then the two Legions.

Marionette's behavior : Marionette will first assess whether you are close enough for dashing towards you, if not, they will get closer by gently flying three times towards a fixed direction. Watch out when it flies three times, it can interupt this movement by dashing. Take advantage of the time Marionette takes assessing to hit it. Also, one of it's biggest flaw is that the dash is always horizontal.

After this room you get three large hearts.

Room 11
This fight could legitimately be considered as art. Minotaurs that aren't visible will not be coming after you, so most will tell you to defeat the first three Minotaurs and to take on the rest one at a time. There is a technique for clearing this room without taking damage but it needs a lot of practice (~10hours) and knowledge.
 * 7 Minotaurs

Minotaur data : The Minotaur hitbox is very related to his axe position. He has three stances. 1/Normal, the stance he uses for walking. Since his axe is far back, you can stand really close to him when he is facing you. 2/Axe in the air, the stance he uses right before or after his attack. The hitbox changes and he will damage you if you are too close behind him or in the air. 3/Attack, he swings his axe forward creating a shockwave in a straight line. The Minotaur behavior is simple, when close enough, he will constantly attack by using a 1-2-3-2-1 stance patern, otherwise he just walks towards you.

Technique : All you have to do is to constantly use your three jumps and pace them to match the Minotaur's attack patern speed and attack in mid-air. This way you can clear the room without taking any damage. As the special jump has a fixed duration, you will use the two jumps for pacing.

The goal here is to wait for a Minotaur (or many) to attack and evade by using your three jumps. Using your three jumps should take less than a second. The minimal Minotaur attack length is one attack (or more than one attack started at the same time). That is what you want because it is the safest time to attack mid-air. An exemple of a longer Minotaur attack length is when two Minotaurs attack one after the other, in this case, you will have to jump for a longer amount of time in order to evade the attack. When the length is longer, you should not attack. Instead focus on moving out of the second Minotaur's range of attack or move from one edge of the map to the other to create groups of Minotaurs. A group's attacks can be triggered all at the same time, reducing the attack length.

Pay attention to their stances, it is what will indicate when they attack and where to land your jumps relative to their hitboxes. Have a good timing and a good time!

After this room you get three large hearts and a chance to escape into the Audience Room.

Room 12

 * 3 Succubi
 * 3 Archanes

As soon as you enter the room, the first Archane will shoot a web on you. You can destroy them with your whip. You should deal with the first Archane before the Succubi. Watch out for the third Succubi, you can fight her separately if you stay near the left side of the map.

After this room you get three large hearts.

Room 13

 * 5 Demon Lords
 * 2 Alraunes

In this room, there is a patern you can follow for a no-damage clear. Take care of the first Demon Lord on the platform before anything else. There is a safe spot on the right edge of his platform. Go there as soon as you enter the room. Then kill the Demon Lord under you when he is not firing bullets and not covered by plants. If you want to be even safer you can wait for him to stop firing bullets when the plants are high and go only if there is an opening. The third Demon Lord can now be killed by using the same safespot technique but this time stay closer to the monster. After this comes the first Alraune, which is now safe to kill. The flower part is more resistant so try to hit the human part. The plants will not harm you when they are little so staying under the platform can be good for escape from little plants. To reach the third platform's safespot you will need to bait a first round of Demon Lords bullets. Go left and as soon as they start shooting quickly go to the right until they stop shooting. Be careful not to get hit by the bait round! Quickly go back to the left before the demons get ready to start shooting again and jump on the third platfrom's safespot. You can also time yourself with the plants just to be safer. Watch out for the last Demon Lord as he can face right and left. Bait his fire to the right, time yourself with the plants hit him only a few time to be safe and get back on the platform. The rest of the room should be easy.

After this room you get three large hearts and a chance to escape into the Audience Room.

Room 14

 * 8 Hyenas

As soon as you enter this room, whip through the wall to hit the leftmost Hyena from behind, then climb up. Only drop in the pit when the last Hyena fires. To be safer, hit once then jump back up. Keep this in mind when fighting the rightmost one, Hyenas that do not show up on your screen will not fire. To kill this last one, bait it's first shot, jump to evade and then run up to him. To be safer only hit it once and run back.

After this room you get three large hearts.

Room 15

 * 3 Devil Armors
 * 12 Evil Pillars

''Important: The Devil Armors drop the. You may wish to equip luck boosting equipment in order to increase your chances of getting a card.''

Just like the fourth room, but with Devil Armors instead of Stone Armors. The Devil Armors are technically a new enemy, but function just like the Dark Armors in the Observatory. Take out all of the enemies just like you did it room 4: jump and swing to knock out all of the Evil Pillars, then back up and boomerang the Armor to death. Rinse and repeat until they're all gone. Be careful as the lowest Evil Pillars can hit you even if you aren't jumping and the Devil Armors' projectiles have a much longer range than your boomerangs.

After this room you get three large hearts and a chance to escape into the Audience Room.

Room 16

 * 3 White Armors

''Important: The White Armors drop the. You may wish to equip luck boosting equipment in order to increase your chances of getting a card.''

The White Armors are exactly like the Holy Armors in the Underground Warehouse. Their beams are easy enough to avoid, but incredibly powerful. Use the standard tactic of defeat one, move forward until you see the next one. Also, use the age-old, but highly effective move of ducking.

After this room you get three large hearts.

Room 17

 * 1 Devil

If you're low on life or hearts, use whatever potions and heart restorers you can spare to boost yourself back into fighting condition — this is the last fight so you don't really need to conserve resources. If you're playing as a Fighter, you can pretty much just stand there and throw boomerangs at it, as you'll almost definitely kill it before it can hurt you too badly. For other modes, stay back until you see what he's going to do, move in when you have an opening and throw a boomerang or two, and then play defensively until you get another clear shot.

After this room you get the Shinning Armor and exit into the Arena entryway.

Afterwards
Congratulations, you've just beat the hardest part of this game. Take the from the pedestal in the next room. Of course, since you were able to survive the Arena without it, you're more than strong/skilled enough to survive the rest of the castle, making it more of a trophy than anything.

Now, before you take so much as one step outside the Arena, wait for your magic to recharge and then either heal yourself or activate Pluto/Unicorn (if you have it). The last thing in the world that you want is to die because you accidentally jumped into a Legion while trying to get out of the Arena. Proceed straight to the nearest save room (via the second warp room).

So what now? Well, if you are playing as either a VampireKiller, Shooter, or Thief, and you didn't get the Black Dog or Unicorn cards, you have to go back through the entire Arena for another chance (or you know, just learn to do without). If you haven't done so yet, go defeat Dracula in the Ceremonial Room.

For more of a challenge, you can always try and beat the Arena with a different class. Beating it with a Magician is pretty much the ultimate challenge of the game, but it shouldn't be difficult if you are familiar with the monsters in the Arena.