Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin/Nest of Evil

The Nest of Evil is a bonus area that has an "arena" type format, much like the Battle Arena in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. There are 7 levels in the arena, and each, except for the last, is divided up into 6 rooms, with the last room containing a boss battle. The Nest of Evil features monsters and bosses that were exclusive to Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, as well as monsters seen in the rest of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and previous Castlevania games like Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, etc.

How to Unlock
You must explore a total map percentage of at least 888% to complete the quest "The Nest of Evil". If you find that you have 888% or more for your map rate, and Wind is not offering this quest, continue to complete other quests until he does. After you complete this quest, you will find the entrance to the Nest of Evil below the drawbridge to the castle (right in the beginning of the game). You will then find a save room, a teleport room,and finally the new painting that will transport you to the Nest of Evil.

Overview
When you enter a level of the arena, you can kill all of the monsters in each room before the door to the next room opens. Alternatively, if you wait about one minute in a room, the door will automatically open up. So you can technically "hide" in some levels, and just wait for the door to open. However, bosses must be killed. After you complete the first three rooms of a level, you'll enter into a safe room which is like a stairwell and leads to the next set of three rooms. The sixth room in each level contains a boss. If the boss room was small, the room after the boss room will be an empty one before entering into the next safe room stairwell and completing a level. There will be a teleport room available, which will allow you to teleport back to the first stairwell, and save and heal. Thus, you only need to manage through only one level before having to save or restock on items.

Also note that in a particular level, you cannot backtrack to a room you have already cleared. The door close behind you, so if you want to fight the monsters in that room again, you have to restart the level (unless you do the trick outlined in the tips and tricks section).

After you beat the Doppelganger in room 7.1, you will receive the reward of the final Dual Crash skill The Greatest Five. It's quite neat to watch in action, and also quite powerful as well.

I have numbered the rooms to represent the level, and rooms of the arena. So 3.4 refers to level 3, room 4.

Map
Legend: E - Entrance/Exit Painting S - Save Room T - Teleport Room

||||                             |              |                              |  E         S | ||   ||                                   |         |                                   |       T | |        |                                   |       T | |        |                                   |       T | |        |                                   |       T | |        |                                   |       T | |        |                                   |       T | |        |                                   |       S | ||-|   ||                    |                   |                    | 7.2    7.1        |                    ||-||
 * 1.3      1.2       1.1        |
 * 1.4      1.5     1.6          |
 * 1.3      1.2       1.1        |
 * 1.4      1.5     1.6          |
 * 1.4      1.5     1.6          |
 * 1.4      1.5     1.6          |
 * 1.4      1.5     1.6          |
 * 1.4      1.5     1.6          |
 * 1.4      1.5     1.6          |
 * 2.3      2.2       2.1        |
 * 2.4      2.5     2.6          |
 * 2.3      2.2       2.1        |
 * 2.4      2.5     2.6          |
 * 2.4      2.5     2.6          |
 * 2.4      2.5     2.6          |
 * 2.4      2.5     2.6          |
 * 2.4      2.5     2.6          |
 * 2.4      2.5     2.6          |
 * 3.3      3.2       3.1        |
 * 3.4      3.5       3.6        |
 * 3.3      3.2       3.1        |
 * 3.4      3.5       3.6        |
 * 3.4      3.5       3.6        |
 * 3.4      3.5       3.6        |
 * 3.4      3.5       3.6        |
 * 3.4      3.5       3.6        |
 * 3.4      3.5       3.6        |
 * 4.3      4.2       4.1        |
 * 4.4      4.5       4.6        |
 * 4.3      4.2       4.1        |
 * 4.4      4.5       4.6        |
 * 4.4      4.5       4.6        |
 * 4.4      4.5       4.6        |
 * 4.4      4.5       4.6        |
 * 4.4      4.5       4.6        |
 * 4.4      4.5       4.6        |
 * 5.3      5.2       5.1        |
 * 5.4      5.5     5.6          |
 * 5.3      5.2       5.1        |
 * 5.4      5.5     5.6          |
 * 5.4      5.5     5.6          |
 * 5.4      5.5     5.6          |
 * 5.4      5.5     5.6          |
 * 5.4      5.5     5.6          |
 * 5.4      5.5     5.6          |
 * 6.3      6.2       6.1        |
 * 6.4      6.5       6.6           T |
 * 6.3      6.2       6.1        |
 * 6.4      6.5       6.6           T |
 * 6.4      6.5       6.6           T |
 * 6.4      6.5       6.6           T |
 * 6.4      6.5       6.6           T |
 * 6.4      6.5       6.6           T |
 * 6.4      6.5       6.6           T |

Enemy List
This is a list of every monster that you will encounter in each of the rooms. The number in front of the name of the monster is the number of the monster, and the number after the name is how many copies of that monster you will have to fight in that room. All bosses fight alone, with the exception of room 6.6 in which you fight three bosses at the same time.


 * 1.1 - (#96) Dead Warrior x 2, (#113) Quetzalcoatl x 1
 * 1.2 - (#123) Demon x 2, (#124) Bone Ark x 1
 * 1.3 - (#102) Lightkeeper x 5, (#109) Mothman x 2
 * 1.4 - (#108) Minotaur x 4
 * 1.5 - (#83) Final Guard x 1, (#94) Jack o'Bones x 4
 * 1.6 - BOSS - (#130) Balore


 * 2.1 - (#89) Buster Armor x 2, (#112) Dragonfly x 7
 * 2.2 - (#81) Heavy Armor x 2, (#86) Ruler's Sword x 1
 * 2.3 - (#66) Dogether x 2, (#73) Skeleton Blaze x 3, (#128) Cave Troll x 1
 * 2.4 - (#90) Armored Fleaman x 9, (#106) Guillotiner x 1
 * 2.5 - (#121) Iron Golem x 1
 * 2.6 - BOSS - (#131) Gergoth


 * 3.1 - (#118) Lesser Demon x 3, (#125) Skeleton Farmer x 2
 * 3.2 - (#126) Alastor x 1
 * 3.3 - (#111) Yorick x 2, (#117) Demon Head x 3
 * 3.4 - (#127) Gold Skeleton x 5
 * 3.5 - (#122) DoubleAxe Armor x 5
 * 3.6 - BOSS - (#132) Zephyr


 * 4.1 - (#129) Amducias x 1
 * 4.2 - (#126) Alastor x 2, (#127) Gold Skeleton x 3
 * 4.3 - (#124) Bone Ark x 3
 * 4.4 - (#100) Vice Beetle x 10
 * 4.5 - (#86) Ruler's Sword x 2
 * 4.6 - BOSS - (#133) Aguni


 * 5.1 - (#149) The Creature x 2
 * 5.2 - (#128) Cave Troll x 9
 * 5.3 - (#121) Iron Golem x 1, (#122) DoubleAxe Armor x 2
 * 5.4 - (#111) Yorick x 9
 * 5.5 - (#107) Nyx x 1, (#114) Ripper x 9
 * 5.6 - BOSS - (#134) Abaddon


 * 6.1 - (#120) Vapula x 1, (#129) Amducias x 1
 * 6.2 - (#81) Heavy Armor x 1, (#91) Amalaric Sniper x 2
 * 6.3 - (#92) Old Axe Armor x 9
 * 6.4 - (#75) Wyvern x 1, (#128) Cave Troll x 2
 * 6.5 - (#82) Malphas x 2
 * 6.6 - BOSS - (#136) Fake Trevor, (#137) Fake Grant, (#138) Fake Sypha


 * 7.1 - BOSS - (#135) Doppelganger
 * 7.2 - PRIZE - The Greatest Five Dual Crash

The following monsters (excluding bosses) are ONLY found in the Nest of Evil.
 * (#121) Iron Golem
 * (#124) Bone Ark
 * (#125) Skeleton Farmer
 * (#126) Alastor
 * (#127) Gold Skeleton
 * (#128) Cave Troll
 * (#129) Amducias

Quests
These are the quests that involve the Nest of Evil in some way.

The Nest of Evil
When 888% of the map is filled, the path to the "Nest of Evil" will open at the castle gates.

As mentioned before, you need to complete this quest to gain access to the nest of evil.

Lost Page
Bring me "Tome of Arms p1" and "Tome of Arms p2". They're missing from my Tome of Arms.

These two pages are located in the safe room stairwells. Find both pages and return to Wind to complete the quest.

The Great Sage
Charlotte, the time has come for you to learn all of the great sage's spells.

The reason this quest involves the Nest of Evil is that (#129) Amducias is a monster that is only located in the Nest of Evil, and one of his drops is the spell Thor's Bellow, which is required to complete this quest. It can be quite annoying getting him to drop this, but refer to the tips and tricks section on a way to make things a bit easier.

Kill Gergoth
Charlotte, use the Blank Book to put Gergoth out of his misery.

Self-explanatory. Just use Charlotte to kill Gergoth with the Blank Book. You don't have to beat him down with the book for the whole fight, but rather, only the FINAL blow need be with the Blank Book to complete this quest.

Tips & Tricks

 * If you are at a lower level, be sure to stock up on healing items and potions. And remember that after every level, you can return to Vincent for more stuff.
 * You can use the Magical Ticket to teleport back to Vincent in the arena after you have cleared a room.
 * It is a good idea to unlocked the true vampire killer (by defeating (#153) Whip's Memory (aka Richter).) before attempting this place since the power of the special move of the vampire killer is quite useful here.
 * You won't have the Magus Ring on your first run through the Nest of Evil (excluding New Game+), but it is very handy to have when trying to get those monster drops.
 * Since some of the monsters in the Nest of Evil do not appear anywhere else, and since you can't easily "enter and exit" rooms over and over to respawn enemies, you normally have to go through an entire level just to be able to kill a single monster (in some cases like Iron Golem or Amducias). However, there is a trick to make things easier.

After you clear a room, DO NOT go into the next room. Instead, go into the menu and select the Suspend menu to suspend the game. When you resume the game, you will start the same room over again, with the monsters back alive! Couple this with a Thief Ring or two, and the Luck Boost spell to maximize your chances of getting the monster drops. This greatly helps in getting those drops from Alastor, Iron Golem, Amducias, etc.

To make the final battle with the Doppelgänger easier, just unequip everything off of BOTH characters before entering into the room (this includes skills/spells). After you enter the room, put your stuff back on and have fun whacking an unarmed opponent. Of course, if you want a challenge, do the opposite and equip your best stuff before entering. Generally whichever character is stronger and better equipped is the one the Doppelgänger will become.

The Doppelgänger is NOT the character that you enter the room with. Rather, it seems the Doppelgänger will choose whichever character is overall stronger, in terms of stats and equipment.