Castlevania: Circle of the Moon/Weapons

Your main weapon will be the whip known as the Vampire Killed, however there are also several secondary weapons (called sub-weapons) that you can find throughout the castle. Unlike the whip, these weapons consume hearts when used, so you have a limited supply. However, hearts are found in the vast majority of candles and many enemies drop them. That, plus the fact that you can hold a large number of hearts (you start with a max of 50 and it goes up very quickly), means that you generally don't have to worry about running out of ammo.

You can only carry one sub-weapon at a time, so if you pick up a new one you will discard the old one. However, the discarded weapon remains on the ground for a few seconds, so if you change your mind you can pick it up again. Generally speaking, you're best off carrying the axe or boomerang with you at all times and only switching to the holy water and stopwatch when needed.

The weapons

 * Strength: The relative power of the weapon.
 * Hearts: The number of hearts normally consumed per use. Some card combinations modify this value.
 * MP: The amount of MP consumed only when the Pluto/Manticore card combination is used.
 * Range: Weapon's range, some travel the whole screen, others only a foot in front of you.
 * Hits: Whether or not a weapon can hit multiple targets/pass through walls.

Axe
The axe flies in a high arc and then comes back down, passing through ceilings, floors, and walls. Especially useful against flying enemies and the only sub-weapon that can hit enemies below you, the axe is potentially your most powerful and useful sub-weapon.
 * Strength: Very High
 * Hearts: 2
 * MP: 7
 * Range: Short (horizontally, but has long vertical range)
 * Hits: Multiple

Boomerang
AKA the crucifix. Another good all-around weapon - neither the best nor the worst in all categories. It is strong, but not as strong as the axe; fast, but not as fast as the dagger; longer range than the axe, but not as good as the dagger. Since it returns to you it can do extra damage if the enemy is still in its path. Plus, since it is somewhat slow, it can get multiple hits in against large enemies in each direction. Jump over it and it will continue on, hitting things behind you.
 * Strength: High
 * Hearts: 6
 * MP: 11
 * Range: Moderate (if you jump over it, it has full-screen range behind you)
 * Targets: Multiple

Dagger
The weakest of the weapons, and not surprisingly the first you find. The dagger flies straight forward until it hits either an enemy or a wall. The only advantage that the dagger has over the others is that its Item Crush used relatively few hearts and is particularly useful against many bosses.
 * Strength: Low
 * Hearts: 1
 * MP: 6
 * Range: Full screen, but cannot pass through obstacles
 * Hits: Single

Holy Water
A small vial of water is thrown at your feet and burns for a few seconds. Very useful against slow moving enemies and bosses, however it is not the best for every day use.
 * Strength: Low, but does damage based on time, so against certain enemies it can do massive damage
 * Hearts: 4
 * MP: 9
 * Range: Very Short
 * Hits: Multiple

Stopwatch
AKA the clock. Stops [most] enemies in their tracks for five seconds, allowing you to run away or beat them to death. Don't bother trying to use this against bosses, it is primarily designed to avoid the annoying flying enemies like Medusa heads. It would be nice to always have, but due to its high heart consumption, ineffectiveness against many enemies, and the fact that it means you can't carry something else, makes the clock another weapon that is only good in special circumstances.
 * Strength: N/A
 * Hearts: 20
 * MP: 25
 * Range: N/A
 * Hits: N/A

DSS Cards
Several DSS card combinations affect your sub-weapons.


 * Pluto/Salamander: Item Crush
 * Pluto/Serpent: Throws two sub-weapons simultaneously (no increase in heart costs). Does not work with the stopwatch.
 * Pluto/Golem: Creates a mimic of you - if you use a sub-weapon so does it (no increase in heart costs).
 * Pluto/Manticore: Uses MP instead of hearts (cost in hearts + 5)

Item Crush
The special move first introduced in Dracula X: Rondo of Blood modifies your sub-weapon to hit harder and more enemies at once, but at a high heart cost.


 * Axe: (8 hearts) Multiple axes fly outward in a circular motion, hitting everything on the screen at once.
 * Boomerang: Similar to the axe item crush, but with four boomerangs.
 * Dagger: Throws hundreds of daggers directly forward.
 * Holy Water: Rains holy water on the entire screen for a moment, hitting everything multiple times.
 * Stopwatch: Effect lasts longer (does not work on enemies the normal stopwatch doesn't work on).

Interestingly enough, the dagger has the most useful crush, despite being the weakest. The axe and boomerang crushes generally only hit enemies once, which isn't usually worth the heart cost. The holy water can hit multiple times, but not that many more. As for the stopwatch, five seconds is generally enough time. As for the dagger, the amount of damage that it can do is outstanding, especially against bosses, which generally have hundreds, or thousands of hit points but don't move as much as normal enemies.

Note
Regarding the name of the boomerang - it is sometimes called the crucifix. The naming confusion is supposedly due to Nintendo of America's old policies. When the first three Castlevania games were brought over to the US for the NES, Nintendo required that certain religious imagery be removed. As a result the crucifix was relabeled the boomerang. That said, those games also contained a cross item (which instantly killed all enemies on the screen) and the sub-weapon actually functioned as a boomerang, so this may just be an urban legend.

Regardless, of the history, the sub-weapon is referred to as a boomerang here because of its functionality and to avoid confusion with the insta-kill item found as far back as the original Castlevania and as recently as Lament of Innocence or the sub-weapon found in games like Symphony of the Night.