Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance/Castle A

Entrance

 * Map: 5.7% complete
 * Collect: Relic "Soul Crystal Ball"
 * Note: Character can raise to about level 3 if you don't do the repeat kill trick.

After the starting plot,as you take control of Juste, walk forward until you see a pile of scrap something and jump over it. As you do so, the pile of scrap awakens, and it will advance. It cannot be destroyed with what you have, but you can still run away when you reach the drawbridge. Drawbridge and the bridge will rise, causing the golem to fall into the gap. When the door finally opens, walk into the castle. Remember to press select so you can see the map and so you will have an idea where you're going.

Inside the castle, you can try to hit the torches and some other "breakable" things, to collect minor items such as gold, subweapons or hearts (used as ammunition). Walk forward to a platform, hit the pillar to collapse it so you can continue. You will notice two bookcases which have an opening for you to jump up.

Going up the first bookcase, pick up a leather armor, equip it and continue through the path forward. Look for an opening and jump up, beat a few simple monsters and repeat doing so until you reached the top floor, turn left and you reached your first save point.

Following the save point, there's a platform step up and a path forward. Jump up first, there's a Heart Max (fills your heart supply to maximum according to your current level), the area beyond require a higher level of jump skill (Relic) so head back and go forward the previous floor's path. A red door shows the way to Corridor of Marble. Proceed if you want.

You can also turn back from here to the second bookcase at the entrance corridor, jump up to pick up leather boots. Follow to the next room to pick up the first relic. The Soul Orb allows you to see damage you caused to the enemy, which is helpful. Go back down and forward the corridor to a red door leading to Heretic Grave which currently inaccessible because of a stone wall block. Going back the corridor, there is a gap to jump down, which has a Life Max in there, a yellow stone wall blocks this way down. This leaves you no other choice but to go back to the Corridor of Marble.

Corridor of Marble
Following the corridor into a room, a cutscene occurs where you first met Death in this game. He's not around here to fight you, but implies that there is a power other than Dracula. Continue forward and you will see a bigger room with many stairs. Pick up a piece of map (castle map 1) in the middle of the room. This map will automatically add a part of the castle (displayed in shadow) on your map screen.

Toward upper left, you there is a corridor and ledge which is too high for you to jump upwards. Jump to the platform in the middle,and push down the box to help you go up. At the end of this area, you find an Ice Spellbook and a Heart Max.

Back to the previous chamber, there's a gap going down lead to a new section, Room of Illusions. Go to the upper right for the moment. Following the path leads to the first Boss room (Boss room is marked by a flashing blue door which will open as you approach), but before entering, go to the step platform up and find another save point. You can continue to explore a bit and gain exp then go back to challenge the boss when you are ready; note that the boss room doesn't obstruct you from exploring, and you can enter the room from the other side.

Directly right of the save point, you can collect leather gloves, which add to defense. You can find a Red Holy Stone further to the right, with fire enchant to the whip you use. Also note that there are several items placed in relatively speaking inaccessible spots; you have to come back later to get them. Some points are also blocked by a locked door which you can't go forward until you find the keys. The relic Book of Faeries, found down and to the right of the boss room, to show enemies' names when you encounter them. And find the red door to "The Approach of Deprice". That's about time to go back and face the Boss, don't forget to save before walk into the Boss room.

Boss: Giant Bat
As the first boss you encounter, it is relatively an easy one. Its main attacks are: shoot small fireballs, and to scroll itself like a drill and attack from above. Both attacks are easy to dodge, but it will occasionally break into smaller bats to move around.
 * Level: 10
 * Hit points: 400
 * Experience: 66

Third boss: Golem
After Golem you will get the Lizard Tail relic ( to slide).

Fourth boss: Skull Knight
After Skull Knight you will get the Sylph Feather relic (double jump).

Fifth boss: Minotaur

 * No.: 41.
 * LV: 20.
 * HP: 1920.
 * EXP: 339.
 * No tolerance or weakness.
 * Dropped items: ??.
 * Damage: with 80 DEF, touching it deals 29 damage. Chop: 34-37. Spinning axe: 41. When charging, it deals normal touch damage.

The Minotaur is a large, slow moving boss with just three moves. The most difficult part about him is that he will block the room and make it difficult for you to escape from being closed in on. However, there are some windows of opportunity to get to the other side of him. The main thing to remember is that he can be knocked back. The knock back can be triggered repeatedly if you have good timing. The window for knock back is just before he starts to move forward.

When you walk into the room, run down to his feet and start attacking him. You can get in ~6 swings before he does anything. If you are lucky you will trigger a knock back or two.


 * Moves
 * General movement: Minotaur will slide forward towards Juste. The distance is about 2-3 times the width of Juste.
 * Chop: Minotaur lifts the axe for a moment, then brings it down in front of him. The chop covers a huge distance. The only way to avoid it is to distance yourself. Right after he lifts the axe he will slide forward once. Make sure you don't dash into him thinking he will stand still.
 * Throw: similar to the chop, Minotaur will lift his axe above his head and twirl it for one moment, then it will shoot out in front of him. This move is easy to dodge, but it can hit you multiple times so beware. To dodge it, jump on one of the two platforms and stand there, double jump over it, or duck. Ducking is the best strategy as you can attack his legs if you are close enough while this attack occurs. Beware of standing on the far left or right ledge, as these are slightly lower than the middle platforms.
 * Charge: Minotaur rears back, tilting its head back and lifting its arms in the air. It shakes for a moment, then flies horizontally across the bottom of the room until it hits the wall, where it gets stuck for a moment. You can easily avoid this attack by standing on the two middle platforms, the two side platforms, or double jumping. When it get stuck in the wall you can hit it 2-3 times before it jumps out of the wall. When it jumps, make sure to immediately dash towards the middle of the room to avoid getting touched.


 * Useful magic
 * Holy book + Ice Book: this ground wave will hit the minotaur multiple times if you are in close proximity. It will also knock it back once or twice if it is moving towards you. However, since this spell causes Juste to stand still for a long time, you may get caught on top of minotaur or in the way of an attack.

After Minotaur you will get a Life Max UP and the Wind Book.