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 twin Zombie Dragons) 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 transporter room, and the upper one leads to the Battle Arena. Make sure you stick your head in the transporter room so you can get back to the Arena much more quickly later on.

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 the first time here, be sure to fight the Fallen Angel until you get the Saturn card, and get the HP and MP Pluses (and then retreat and save once you do 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 certain ones.
 * Escaping after rooms 3, 5, 7, or 9 will dump you in the Chapel Tower (the same room as the one with the Wooden Crate).
 * 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 entrance of the Arena.
 * Upon completion of the Arena you will get the Shining Armor, the best armor in the game (+500 defense, +10 other stats).
 * The enemies are much harder versions of common enemies - they have the same attacks but much higher HP, strength, and defense. You get more experience for defeating them as well, though they drop the same items.
 * You cannot proceed to the next room until all enemies are defeated.
 * You can never go back a room.
 * After most rooms you will be able to pick up 10 - 20 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 the aliment 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 class.
 * 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, so you'll probably want to be at a fairly high level.
 * 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, 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 Thief, VampireKiller, Shooter, and Magician will be on more equal footing. That list assumes that you aren't willing to and will have a limited number of restoratives.

Room 1

 * 1 Were-wolf
 * 1 Were-jaguar

Room 2

 * 2 Hipogriffs
 * 2 Catoblepas

Room 3

 * 2 Wind Demons
 * 3 Witches

Room 4

 * 3 Stone Armors
 * 12 Devil Towers

Room 5

 * 6 Skeletons
 * 5 Skeleton Bombers

Room 6

 * 2 Fire Demons
 * 2 Bone Towers

Room 7

 * 5 Fox Hunters

Room 8

 * 3 Bloody Swords
 * 3 Poison Armors

Room 9

 * 24 Abiondargs

Room 10

 * 3 Legions
 * 12 Marionettes

Room 11

 * 7 Minotaurs

Room 12

 * 3 Succubii
 * 3 Archanes

Room 13

 * 5 Demon Lords
 * 2 Alraunes

Room 14

 * 8 Hyenas

Room 15

 * 3 Dark Armors
 * 12 Devil Towers

Room 16

 * 3 White Armors

Room 17

 * 1 Devil