Vampire Killer/Stages 13 - 15

Stage 13
After defeating Frank in Stage 12, Simon will sneak his way into the dungeons of the Castle. These dungeons are guarded by some of the toughest enemies in the game, so maintain constant vigilance and be prepared to defend yourself at any given moment. Stage 13 is one of the geographically largest Stages in the game thus far – at 12 screens total, it’s tied with Stages 12 and 17 for the title of “largest Stage in Vampire Killer.” Despite its size, however, it doesn’t take very long to complete. Stage 13 is also the first Stage to use Red Skeletons, shown in their collapsed “bone pile” state on the provided Stage map. They’re extremely fast and take two hits with your Leather Whip to kill, so be very mindful of them. Stage 13’s Silver Key is located in the lower wall of D4, accessible by walking leftward from A4. This Key is located very close to the start of the Stage, so make sure not to forget to grab it! If you do forget, backtracking to the Key is hard, but not impossible. Path option 1, from C4: Path option 2, from C4: Both paths are equally viable, though the second option allows you to pick up an Axe weapon and contains less awkwardly placed enemies that can whittle down your health.
 * Silver Key
 * A route through Stage 13, from the starting point of A5:
 * 1) Right to B5. After defeating the White Skeleton on the starting screen (A5), head rightward into B5. You’ll find yourself facing off against a Fleaman and another White Skeleton. Wait at around the middle of the screen for each enemy to jump down and approach you before attacking them – it’s usually best to take out the Fleaman first, too. Once the enemies have been cleared out, head up the stairs and go left across the top platform.
 * 2) Up the stairs in B5, and left to A5. On the top floor of A5, you’ll notice a pile of red bones on the ground – this is the first Red Skeleton of the game. Red Skeletons are especially dangerous in Vampire Killer due to their speed and health (as mentioned earlier, they take two hits from the Leather Whip to knock out). As soon as you enter the screen, hold left, get to the stairs as quickly as possible, and climb them immediately. You should be able to get past the Red Skeleton before it can hit Simon in its pursuit of him. The left wall behind the stairs in A5 also hides a Merchant who will sell you the Throwing Knives; however, the Knives aren’t particularly great for Stages 13-15, as there are alternative weapons you can obtain from Chests for free. Also, getting the Knives here will likely mean taking a few hits from the Red Skeleton patrolling this area.
 * 3) Up to A4. As soon as you reach the ground level, head left to D4, collect the Stage’s Silver Key from the wall, head back to A4, and begin clearing the room. First, eliminate the Fleaman, either by rushing it and taking it out immediately or waiting for it to come to you before attacking it. Head up the stairs and destroy the White Skeletons, while being mindful not to collect the Black Bible from the right candle. Then head to the right. Optional: Before you progress onwards to the right, you can go to the left, into the upper area on the right side of D4, where you will find a Merchant (in the wall) who will sell you an Hourglass. If you can't afford it, or don’t think you’ll need the Hourglass just yet (it’s very useful for the next Boss), you can obtain it later on from a Chest near the end of Stage 15.
 * 4) Up the stairs on A4 and right to B4. This is a straightforward screen – make sure to grab the Health Orb while you’re here, after jumping down and destroying the White Skeleton.
 * 5) Right to C4. C4 throws four enemies in your face – this is one place where having the early Hourglass from D4 can definitely help. Once you’ve cleared out the Skeletons and Fleamen (or dodged past them), two diverging paths from this screen will lead to the exit door: going down the stairs in the floor or going up and to the right.
 * 1) Down to C5. You’ll be greeted by a gang of Fleamen upon entering this screen – keep your cool and deal with them one at a time. You’ll likely get hit once or twice, but so long as you don’t panic, you won’t get swarmed. Once you’ve cleared the room, keep heading down.
 * 2) Down to C1. Now you’ve wrapped around to the top of the Stage! On this screen, you’ll face off against two White Skeletons. Take out the first one on the raised platform as soon as you get off the stairs / get within range, then head down the second flight to defeat the other one. Don’t worry about getting hit by a couple of bones, as they do the minimal amount of damage possible. Make sure to grab the Morningstar Whip on this screen before heading down yet again.
 * 3) Down to C2. You’ll want to move quickly and decisively here – there are three Red Skeletons on this screen, and they’ll wake up shortly after you enter. Descend the stairs as fast as you can, and use the Morningstar to knock out the first Red Skelly in one hit. Move to the lower right platform, temporarily disable the second Red Skeleton, and use those few seconds of relief to descend the stairs to the bottom level of C2. Knock out the final Red Skeleton and head to the left.
 * 4) Down the stairs on C2 and left to B2. One final Red Skeleton right in front of you – knock it back into a useless pile of bones, and then hurry through the exit door to the left.
 * 1) Up the stairs on C4 and right to D4. Wait for the Fleaman to jump down to the floor below before attempting to cross the gap to the right-side ledge. If the Fleaman makes a big jump and lands on the same platform as Simon, quickly walk back to C4 and re-enter D4 to reset the screen and try again. Once you’re across, head up the stairs.
 * 2) Up to D3. Three Fleamen will immediately attack you as you ascend the stairs into this room, so getting hit at least once is guaranteed because of this. Eliminate all three of them (having the Hourglass helps massively with this), and break the central block in the wall left of the left-side raised platform to uncover a Chest containing an Axe. The Axe is probably the most effective weapon for Stages 13-15, as it can swiftly defeat even the toughest of regular enemies due to its high damage output. From here, head up the stairs to the next screen.
 * 3) Up to D2. Climb up to the ground floor, defeat the White Skeleton, and head to the left. Note that you can pick up Holy Water from a merchant in the right wall of the lower area of D2; however, it doesn’t have much practical use in Stages 13-15 and is pretty much just a waste of Hearts.
 * 4) Left through C2 to B2. Head through screens C2 and B2, knocking out the Red Skeleton ahead of you on each screen as you go, and head on through the Stage exit door.

Stage 14
Stage 14 is far shorter than Stage 13. Red Skeletons are mostly gone, and only two appear in the entirety of the Stage. This Stage is also where Axe Knights make their debut in Vampire Killer. Be cautious of their axe projectiles – either wait for them to return to their wielders or destroy them in midair to get close. Stage 14’s Silver Key is located on screen C1, inside the lower of the two floating breakable blocks. You can reach this Key by either dropping down and wrapping around from C2 or walking left from D1. Path option 1, from D1 – this requires a ranged weapon (Axe, Throwing Knives, or Cross) to do: Path option 2, from D1:
 * Silver Key
 * A route through Stage 14, from the starting point of E2:
 * 1) Up to E1. Head up all the stairs in E2 to reach E1 – the Axe Knight here seldom hits you, so you can usually climb straight up without worrying about taking damage. Once in E1, knock out the Red Skeleton and head up the stairs to the upper platform. Wait for the upper two Red Skeletons to move out of the way, then climb up to the platform and temporarily incapacitate both of them before heading off to the left.
 * 2) Up the stairs on E1 and left to D1. Defeat the Axe Knight in front of you on the top platform and head down the stairs to the lower section of the screen. From here, similar to Stage 13, you have two options on how to complete this Stage.
 * 1) Down the stairs on D1 and left to C1. Defeat the lower-left Axe Knight on screen D1 and head to the left across the bottom level, into screen C1. On screen C1, defeat the Axe Knight, climb the stairs to the raised platform, and use your ranged weapon to break the two stacked blocks to the left of you, revealing the Silver Key in the lower one. Jump and grab the Key, and then head to the left.
 * 2) Left to B1. Make your way to the left, defeating both Axe Knights as you go.
 * 3) Left to A1. Similar to B1, defeat both Axe Knights and then head through the Stage exit door.
 * 1) Down to D2. From the bottom of the stairs in D1, drop down into the hole on the right. You’ll find yourself on a small, raised platform in the middle of D2, with an Axe Knight to the left and another one below. The Chest to the right of you contains an Axe, which is handy if you either lost your previous one or didn’t pick the first one up. Next, defeat the left Axe Knight from a safe distance, jump to the left raised platform, and head left across the raised platform to C2. You’ll find a Chest containing a Shield A, which is very useful for tanking more hits from enemies. If you don’t have a Gold Key to obtain this item, you can get another Shield A from a different Chest later in Stage 15. Once equipped with the Shield A, return rightward to D2. Return to D2, defeat the left Axe Knight again, and safely drop down to the bottom floor of the screen (being wary of the lower Axe Knight’s axes). Grab the Speed Boots from the left candle, and then head left to the next screen.
 * 2) Left across the floor to C2. Defeat the Axe Knight upon entering this screen, grab the Health Orb from the left candle, and then jump into the hole on the left.
 * 3) Down and wrap around to C1. Falling into the hole on C2 will wrap you around the Stage vertically to reach C1, on the platform right next to the block concealing the Stage’s Silver Key. Break the blocks, grab the Key, and head to the left.
 * 4) Left to B1. Make your way to the left, defeating both Axe Knights as you go.
 * 5) Left to A1. Similar to B1, defeat both Axe Knights and then head through the Stage exit door.

Stage 15
Stage 15 is a mostly vertical Stage filled with Axe Knights guarding the way to the Boss’ chambers. This Stage isn’t very long, time-wise – or it wouldn’t be, if the game didn’t force you to redo half of it a second time to get the Silver Key. Stage 15’s Silver Key is located on screen B3, in a little nook high up in the wall. To obtain this Key, you’ll have to climb to the last screen before the Boss room, namely B1, and then fall down the hole and hug the left wall(s) as you fall to the Key’s platform. Once you have the Silver Key, you’ll have to redo the climb from B3 to B1, and then you’ll be able to fight Death.
 * Silver Key
 * A route through Stage 15, from the starting point of C4:
 * 1) Left to B4. After walking left out of the first, empty screen of the Stage, you’ll come face to face with an Axe Knight in front of you. Defeat it, being careful not to accidentally collect the Black Bible on this screen, and then proceed up the stairs to eliminate the second Axe Knight. Once the second Axe Knight’s been destroyed, jump to the raised platform on the right and proceed onwards.
 * 2) Up the stairs on B4 and right to C4. Head to the right across the top platform, and ascend the stairs to progress. Before you head up, though, hidden in the right-side wall behind the stairs is a Merchant who will sell you a Max Health Potion – if you’re running low on life, definitely invest in this.
 * 3) Up to C3. Upon climbing up to this screen, you’ll see an Axe Knight off to the left of you. Ignore it, and head straight to the right.
 * 4) Right to wrap around to B3. Going right from C3 will wrap you around to B3 – take note of the Silver Key here, out of reach on a raised ledge off to the left. We’ll grab this later. For now, jump onto the raised platform in the middle of the room, climb the stairs, and keep heading to the right.
 * 5) Up the stairs on B3 and right to C3. As soon as you enter C3 on the raised platform, immediately start attacking to the right. You’ll be able to block the first attack from the patrolling Axe Knight and quickly gain the upper hand. Once you’ve defeated the Axe Knight, climb the stairs to progress upwards. Also, if you lost your ranged weapon before reaching this screen, you can buy a Battle Cross from a Merchant hidden in the wall behind the stairs here.
 * 6) Up to C2. This screen presents you with two more Axe Knights – defeat the first one as soon as you climb up the stairs. You can, however, usually ignore the second one, as for unknown reasons, it rarely ever attacks you as you climb the stairs to the left side of its platform. Keep heading upwards.
 * 7) Up to C1. Climb the stairs to the screen’s floor and head to the left. There’s little reason to fight the Axe Knight here, as it’s guarding the right side of the screen, which leads to nothing of any importance for the sake of progression.
 * 8) Left to B1. Defeat the Axe Knight in front of you – you’ve now reached the exit door, but with no Silver Key in your inventory. Don’t worry, though, as obtaining that item is one of the next steps in this route. Walk off the edge of the hole here, and drop down to the screen below.
 * 9) Down to B2. If you drop straight down from B1, you’ll land on a small platform in the middle of the screen. There are two Chests on the tall walls on either side of you – the left one contains an Hourglass, and the right one contains a Shield A. Feel free to grab either item if you don’t have one or both of them in your inventory already (definitely grab at least the Hourglass if you don’t already have one from Stage 13). Once you’re done collecting items, jump back to the middle platform and jump diagonally off the platform to the left – you should be hugging the left wall as you fall off the bottom of the screen.
 * 10) Down to B3. So long as you were hugging the left wall of the shaft while falling from B2, you’ll land on the edge of the Silver Key’s platform in B3. Grab the Key, jump down, and begin your ascent to the top of Stage 15 once again.
 * 11) Repeat steps 5 – 7, and head left into B1. Once you’ve climbed back up to the top of the Stage with the Silver Key in your inventory, walk into B1, eliminate the Axe Knight, jump over the hole in the floor, and head through the Stage exit door into the fight against Death himself.

Boss 5: Death

 * See the Bosses page for more detailed info.

Dracula’s most loyal servant, Death, takes a stand to stop Simon at the end of Stage 15. He swoops around the boss room, spawning mini scythes around him that home-in and fly towards Simon.

Taking down this scythe-wielding DVD logo isn’t as straightforward as the last four Bosses, given there’s no way to break the entire fight (not even Hourglass + Holy Water will work here as Death barely touches the ground). The best things to do are to stay on the centre platform, dodge and attack Death as he swoops down, and destroy mini scythes when they get close. Using the Hourglass when Death is close to the platform will allow you to get several extra hits in – you can also use the Hourglass to regain control of the fight if you find yourself being mobbed by mini scythes.