Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/Weapons

The Shield Rod
This is by far the best weapon in the game, if equipped together with a shield. Press and hold psx: C to bring out the shield (in the left hand), then press psx: S to activate the Shield Rod (in the right hand).

Furthermore, if you press psx: Left Dpad, then psx: Right Dpad, then psx: S, Alucard will throw a small shield in front of him. That shield only stops enemy shots.

The Shield Rod is found in the Colosseum, before fighting the fifth boss (Minotaur & Werewolf). That means just 25% through the game, that is extremely early!

Shields
The first table lists the shields that can be obtained in Dracula's normal castle, the second table those that can only be obtained in the inverted castle.

After the Shield Rod
Once you obtain the Shield Rod you don't need any further weapon, but they will be listed here for completion.