Castlevania II: Simon's Quest/Rover Mansion

The second leg of your journey is fairly short, with only one town to visit. There are a handful of items to purchase, including garlic and laurels. You will need many of the items you find here throughout the game.

Denis Woods
When you exit right out of Berkeley Mansion, you will find yourself in Denis Woods. Denis Woods is not much different from Veros woods. However, beyond Berkeley Mansion, the enemies are much tougher. They are as strong in the daytime, as previous enemies were at night. That means the enemies here are stronger still at night, so be careful. Although you can break the lowest platform with Holy Water, it is once again safer to stick to the top route and avoid the poison marsh.

When you advance to the second screen, you will encounter a new enemy: the large spiders. They drop down from spools of webbing in an effort to attack you. They also launch spider webs in your direction. The webs are big and hard to avoid, but they can be whipped and removed from the screen. Continue walking all the way to the right to reach Dabi's path.

Dabi's Path
Dabi's Path is where you'll arrive if you come from either Denis Woods, or you exit the right side of the Town of Veros. However, if you arrived from Veros, you will be in the lower portion of the path, and must climb to the top to continue traveling in any direction. Dabi's path can be quite difficult for unprepared players. The enemies are stronger here, and you must contend with the rather persistent floating eyeballs. The eyeballs lock onto your position and continuously float toward you. They are much easier to fight when they are level with you, but that can be difficult to accomplish on all of the staircases throughout the path. If you are on your way back to Berkeley Mansion, head left through Denis Woods. Otherwise, proceed to the right.

When you reach the next screen, you will be walking along a high platform. After swatting away the bats and eyeballs that get in your way, you will eventually drop down several platforms to the floor below. However, before proceeding on to the right, it's worth exploring the region you just walked above to the left. The lowest platform can be removed with Holy Water. While carefully dealing with the eyeballs, make your way back to the left along the floor until you reach the wall at point A. If you use Holy Water at this point, the wall will wear away and expose a flame which you can collect. This flame is in fact the, a more powerful weapon than the Holy Water. But each use will cost you one heart per flame.

Aljiba Woods
Aljiba Woods is just like Veros and Jova Woods, so you should be quite familiar with your surroundings. The only difference is that you now have to deal with spiders throughout the entire area. Just head right for three screens, killing whatever skeletons get in your way. The spiders can be killed, but it's often easiest to dodge their projectiles and scroll them offscreen before they become and issue. Avoid heading backwards, as that often leads to being surrounded by spiders. In the second screen you'll find a set of steps leading down; ignore them for now and continue going to the right. Eventually you'll read the town.

Town of Aljiba
Head through the first open door that you see, break the floor with Holy Water, and then go to the very bottom to buy. Spend 100 hearts to get four cloves and then head back into town. The second door just contains a vague hint about Dracula's eyeball, so skip it and head all the way to the right side of town, up the stairs and into the building. Again, break the floor and head to the bottom. Buy four for 100 hearts. Back in town, head all the way to the very top left to find a man in black willing to trade your white crystal for a. Once you have everything, head back down and leave the town from the right side to get to the cemetery.



Quotes

Carmilla Cemetery
As soon as you get in, drop a clove on garlic on the ground and a man will appear. Talk to him and get the. That's all you can do here, so head back into town and then, if you gotten everything you need from Aljiba, head left, to get back into the Woods.

Lower Road
Head left, into to the next screen, until you reach the stairs that you passed by earlier. Go down and to the right. You'll be in a large cavern with nothing of particular interest in it. Fight your way to the right, take either the upper or lower path (as usual the upper is a bit easier and they both end up at the same place).

Yuba Lake
Outside the cavern you'll find yourself in front of a lake. Equip the blue crystal and kneel for a few seconds. Eventually you'll see the hidden path under the lake open up. Go down and to the right and you'll find yourself in front of Rover Mansion. If you have at least 50 hearts, head in.

Rover Mansion
Important items: Other items: Bosses:
 * 2 Books
 * 2 Books
 * None

When you first enter you'll see some familiar faces - the skeletons & knights from the first mansion. Watch out for the bones, ignore the stairs, and just head all the way to the right. Jump over the first pool of water onto the platform, and then jump over the second pool through the wall on the other side. Continue right, into the second screen. Head all the way to the right, ignoring all stairs.

Eventually, you'll come to a raised platform with a purple block sweeping back and forth, which can push you into the river if you're not careful. Jump on top of it and then up to the two blocks above it. Follow the upper path to the right, and watch out for fake floors. They line up with the metal gates in the background, so jump over them. Break the right wall to find the first of two books. Now, you need to get to the level right below you, but don't drop through the floor, or you'll end up falling onto spikes. Instead, head back to the platform with the moving blocks and then jump down. Buy an and then head back to the stairs that you skipped over earlier. Follow the straightforward path up four sets of stairs, then use the blocks to climb the narrow shaft on your left. At the top, break the far right wall for the second clue book. Then, work your way down the stairs and the second shaft, and head right to get to the crystal ball. Break it with an Oak Stake to get. Don't bother equipping it, and head out the way you came in. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts, so you'll have to go all the way back through the shafts and stairs.

Alas, the backtracking doesn't end there, as you have to go all the way back to Jova to get to Braham Mansion. If you need to heal, take the lower exit out of Dabi's Path to get to Veros.

Books