For surviving the Battle Arena, see the Battle Arena guide.
General tips
This page contains strategies for specific enemies. For information on all of enemies, see the enemy data page.
All enemies are of a certain elemental type. If you are having difficulty surviving, equip the appropriate Neptune combination so attacks drain your MP instead of your HP.
Use items sparingly as they are rare. It's often better to backtrack to a save room instead of wasting all of your potions.
You are invincible while summoning, but using these cards defensively requires timing.
If you lose a lot of life in a room, once it's completely empty, fully restore your HP with Jupiter/Mandragora, then wait for your MP to restore itself before going into the next room.
The chance of an enemy dropping an item is determined by your luck stat. Equip Venus/Mandragora when item hunting to raise your luck by 25%.
Even when cursed you can use your sliding-kick attack and your Hawk familiar will continue to attack as well.
Axe Armors are fairly common throughout the Audience Room. Simply move in close, then duck, jump over, or whip the axe, and then attack the Armor.
Dark Armors are a particularly nasty enemy, found in the Observation Tower. They throw fast moving waves of darkness straight ahead or at forty-five degree angles. They have better range than you, so you can't stay at a distance and attack. Jump the wave, whip a few times, move back, and repeat. Difficult, but worth fighting since they drop Double Grips.
Devil Armors are Battle Arena version of the Dark Armors. They attack in exactly the same way, but are stronger. Equip luck boosting equipment before fighting them to increase the chances of getting the Black Dog card, as you will have to go all the way through the Arena for a second chance.
Earth Armors launch a wave of rocks along the ground, which can be double jumped over. If you are on a higher elevation than them they won't be able to hit you with the wave. Just don't let them get too close to you.
Flame Armors swing a burning sword at you while lunging. The lunge isn't that long, but long enough that you will have to move back to avoid it. Whip it until it raises its sword, then retreat a few steps.
Forest Armors attempt to flog you with a whip made out of vines. The tip of the whip is wide enough to hit you if you're ducking, however if you move in close enough you'll be able to duck under the whip. Just be sure to move back if they get too close.
Holy Armors fire a white laser at 45 degree angles or straight ahead. The beam is very powerful, but easy enough to avoid. Stay back far enough that they fire straight and simply duck.
Ice Armors throw frozen spears at you — first a high one that can be ducked and then a low one that can be jumped. Avoid the spears, then move in to attack. Be aware that getting hit with a spear will freeze you.
Poison Armors fire a mist of poison that slowly moves around on its own. It's best to just avoid them by running away or equipping the Neptune/Manticore combo to make yourself immune to them.
Stone Armors throw three rocks — one at a high arc that goes the furthest, then a lower one that lands closer to it, then a third that doesn't travel far at all. If you're strong enough, run under the first rock and whip it to death before it can throw the third, otherwise attack from a distance. When the rocks hit the ground, they break, and the debris can damage you.
Thunder Armors throw a ball of electricity that wanders around the room in a lazy pattern, homing in on you for a while. It's slow, but makes it difficult to get in and attack the Armor. You can get the pieces of equipment that they drop elsewhere, so you might want to just avoid the Thunder Armors all together.
White Armors are just like the Holy Armors, but exclusive to the Battle Arena. Like the Devil Armors, boost your luck as high as possible to increase your chances of getting the card.
Wind Armors swing very rapidly, letting loose several short range wind blades. As with the Flame Armors, move in and whip, then move back when it raises its sword.
Candles
The Trick, Mimic, and Scary candles are annoying, but not difficult. They look like normal candles (but it's obvious which one they are as it's a different candle type than the others in the room). Once you hit them, they dive at you and die on their own. You must defeat them before they vanish to get any experience or items from them.
You'll have enough time to get two whip strikes in before they die, so your timing has to be good and you also need to be strong enough to kill them in two hits, or you'll never defeat them. You can use card combos to boost strength, however since their drops rates are all incredibly low, it's better to use Venus/Mandragora and Luck Rings to raise your luck instead. If you are too weak, just level up by fighting Lilith. The Stopwatch can freeze the candles, but since you will have to kill each one numerous times to get the items, you will quickly run out of hearts.
Mimic Candle can be found in the long hallway off the east side of the Audience Room (where you found the Skeleton Athlete) after you defeat Death. Being one of the toughest enemies (only behind Devil and Franken), you'll need to use the Stopwatch item crush to keep it on screen long enough to kill, even if you are at a very high level.
Scary Candles appear in Iron Golem's room in the Machine Tower after you defeat the Dragon Zombies (though you might not be strong enough to kill it for a while). You can use Diana/Griffin to significantly boost your power, but you have to make sure you hit it with the bolt, not the whip.
Trick Candle appears in Cerberus's room in the Catacomb (lower middle candle) after you defeat Camilla. Kneel slightly past the candle (not directly under, or it might not jump in the direction you want), and use the spinning whip technique to break the candle. Immediately after you break it, stop spinning and start using normal whip strikes. You can in fact get two whip strikes and one slide kick if you are quick enough. This takes skill and very good timing, but with practice you can use three hits instead of two.
Another way to kill the candles is to use the Jupiter/Salamander. Whip the candle and let the DSS combo do the rest.
Earth Demons are one of the first enemies that you will encounter, and relatively strong. They'll summon a wave of rocks that move along the ground. Jump over the rocks, then jump and whip the Demon.
Flame Demons have two types of attacks. First, they can throw six fire orbs outward; simply stand where the orbs aren't going to pass through. Second, they can create several explosions that move at you; these are very difficult to avoid. Your best bet is to avoid the initial fire orbs, then jump and whip it to death before it can use the explosions. If you can't kill it that quickly, run away and come back when you're stronger. Note: The Battle Arena version has more HP and deals a lot more damage.
Ice Demons unleash a blizzard of ice blocks that can freeze you. While hard to avoid, the ice blocks can be destroyed with the whip. Or, you can just use Neptune/Serpent to make yourself immune to the Demon's attacks.
Thunder Demons send three lighting bolts directly downward at a time. You can see where the bolts are going to come from before they drop, so move in between them. Jump and attack with the whip during the Demon's attack.
Wind Demons summon numerous wind blades that fly around the room at random vectors. Very hard to avoid, and the items that they drop aren't worth the effort, so just avoid them to the best of your ability. In cases where you have to fight, jump and throw the Boomerang where they stop. After defeating Camilla, two of them will spawn right outside the leftmost save room of Audience room. To get good EXP and pots, you can defeat them, then leave and return to force them to respawn.
Demon Lords: all of these demons have only one attack without moving a bit: they shoot scattered bullets horizontally. The most notable difference is the sweeping times of different species. Simply crouch in front of them and you can whip them safely.
Electric Skeletons are found mainly in the Outer Wall, and attack by throwing a bolt of electricity along the ground. The bolt is longer than your whip, so you'll have to jump over it. Whip while coming down to hit the skeleton before it can fire again. There is a short delay as it has to charge the weapon first, so it is fairly easy to avoid.
Skeletons are found throughout the castle and are the same skeletons that have appeared since the first Castlevania. They throw bones in an arc at you and can aim fairly well. Slide through them if they are on the same level as you, otherwise jump and whip from below.
Skeleton Athletes are only found in the long hallway off the right side of the Audience Room (you'll need the kick boots to get in). Simply kick-slide your way across the room, killing them all in one go.
Skeleton Bombers are the first enemies that you will encounter. They throw bombs in an arc, and aren't particularly powerful (though you are at low levels when you first have to fight them). Jump and whip as soon as it throws and you'll probably take out the bomb and skeleton in one hit.
Skeleton Boomerangs like to hang out on ledges above you and knock you back with their boomerangs. Either hit them before they throw, or jump the boomerangs and hit them on your way down. Just be careful of the boomerangs when they return, as destroying the skeleton does not destroy the boomerangs.
Skeleton Knights simply wander around on whatever platform/floor they're standing on and attack you if you get too close. Simply whip them from a distance.
Skeleton Medalists are a secret enemy that can only be found in one place, late in the game. (see more)
Skeleton Soldiers, like the Skeleton Knights, simply wander around and can easily be killed from a distance.
Skeleton Spears throw spears at you, and can make jumping a nuisance. Jump over, duck under, or simply destroy their spears with the whip, then go after the skeleton.
Skeleton Medalist
This guy is an easter egg that is annoying to kill, but worth it for the humor of the item he rarely drops. He's in a hidden room off the left side of the pit that Dracula throws you down in the beginning of the game. While you can open the room by jumping down the pit, you only have one shot per jump and then you have a long walk back to the top. It is highly suggested to get him after obtaining Roc Wing. From the bottom of the pit, jump up, and up, and up. About halfway up the room, start whipping the wall as you fall. Equip the Jupiter/Manticore combo, as this can break the wall on the chance that you miss it with your whip. Once you break it, jump back up and in. Grab the HP Plus (39/43) and then break the ceiling on the right side. Once you jump up, you'll see the Medalist run off. Even the Pluto/Griffin combo will not speed you up enough to catch him; however, if you do a Roc Wing jump into the room while running left, you will be able to easily kill him before he gets going.
Since there is only a 1 in 100 chance that you'll get his rare drop, you'll want to activate your Venus/Mandragora combo to boost luck as much as possible. Or just skip it until you're playing in Thief mode. What you're trying to get is the Bear Ring, which will transform you into a cartoonish bear instead of a skeleton when you use the Pluto/Black Dog combo. It's something that's merely meant to be cute and does not help you out with the game. As such, unless you're a completionist, this can just be skipped.
There is only one Fallen Angel in the game, and she appears outside the entrance to the Battle Arena. You won't be able to reach her until you get the Roc Wing after defeating Camilla in the Underground Waterway.
To get to her, transport to the fourth warp room, which is the closest you can get. If you haven't walked to the room yet, you won't be able to warp over there. In which case, head back to the Chapel Tower. In the large room in the northwest (right before the room with the bells), is a non-hidden exit in the middle of the left side. Go through the door and head left until you can drop down and you'll have reached the warp.
Regardless of how you get there, from the warp room, head up and left to the Battle Arena entrance. Use the Roc Wing to get over the tower and drop down the other side. The Fallen Angel will probably notice you and chase you, but if not, walk right a little bit and do a single Roc Wing jump to get her attention. When she shows up, simply fry her with a Thunderbird summon. With any luck you'll take out the two Legions that are floating about as well.
Then, just run right, go in to the first room of the Battle Area and head back out. Head back to the same area and Roc Wing jump to get her attention. Fry her again, then repeat the process as long as necessary.
She gives very good experience, but that's not why you fight her (Lilith becomes available at the same point in the game and gives 3x as much exp, so fight her for experience instead of the Fallen Angel). The reason to fight her is for the Saturn card. It's a rare item, so equip two Luck Rings (or Gambler Armbands, if you have them) when you fight her. You can equip the Venus/Mandragora DSS combo to boost your luck by 25%, but that means being unable to summon, and the Fallen Angel is somewhat difficult to kill by whipping, especially since you have two Legions getting in your way and are pretty far from a save room. It's also much slower without summoning, so you'll actually get the card faster by using Thunderbird. She also drops Heart Exes and the Legions drop Cure Curses.
Harpies, unlike the other winged demons, have feathered wings, and fittingly attack by throwing feathers at you. The harpy will fly above you and then begin throwing feathers in a 90 degree arc, from horizontal to vertical. She doesn't move at this point, but will change directions if you run under her. When they're not shooting at you, harpies also dive at you. The best time to attack right when they stop, before they begin firing. If they're coming at you from below, you can also whip them without jumping when they pass by.
Basically a weaker version of Lilith (and incidentally, the Lilim are the daughters of Lilith in mythology). Lilim flies around, circled by six energy balls which she spreads around the room in a spiral, or occasionally flings at directly at you. Use the Thunderbird summon to kill her in one or two shots.
She appears in the Machine Tower after you defeat Death. As with so many things in CotM, you'd never find her if you didn't read a strategy guide or by sheer accident. She's in the hidden room off of the second large room of the tower. It's the large room with the C-bend in it and connects to the second save room on the left. At the very top of the left side is the breakable wall. Go through, drop down and go left to a Heart Plus (10/36) if you haven't gotten it already.
Along with 8000 experience points, Lilim rarely drops the Dark Armor, which gives you +550 defense, the highest in the game. It's as powerful as the Shinning Armor, which you can only get after beating the Battle Arena. The only weakness is that Dark Armor also gives you a -10 penalty to strength, intelligence, and luck instead of the +10 bonus that Shinning Armor grants (a trivial amount, as all which can be countered with various Rings). Lilim drops the Dark Armor very rarely, so wear a Luck Ring or two when you fight her.
Lilith is, without question, the best source of experience points in the game. Dropping 20,000 points per kill, she is second only to the Devil (Battle Arena version) in terms of experience dropped. While the Devil give 30,000 points, he is very hard to kill and you have to fight through the entire Arena to get to him (and if you can do that, you don't need to raise your levels any more).
She appears in the Underground Warehouse (in the hidden room off the long tower where you can get a Heart Plus (23/36)), but only after you defeat Camilla. She's very strong (only Dracula and the Devil are more powerful), fast, and surrounded by an energy field that can hurt you. She's basically a supercharged Fallen Angel. She also has very high defense and fairly high HP (660 points). Despite this, she's very easy to kill.
Just use the Thunderbird summon repeatedly. If you have reasonably high strength, you'll be able to kill her in two hits. As there is some randomness to the amount of damage done by the Thunderbird, make sure you have at least 600 MP going into the room so you can use it three times if necessary. Even at high levels you should continue to use the summon as she'll still be able to do about ~100HP in damage (and is hard to hit).
To get the most Exp out of her, you can use the Cockatrice summon and if you are lucky one of the rocks will turn her into stone right before the final hit, and at that moment you can change your DSS to Pluto/Mandragora (+20% Exp), then kill her to boost the Exp you will gain. This way, instead of getting 20,000 Exp points, you will get 24,000. Here is another procedure, broken down into three steps:
Uranus/Thunderbird: use this to reduce her life close to killing her.
Mercury/Cockratice or Mars/Cockratice (if you are strong enough, you can skip this step) to turn her into stone after some hits. Don´t kill her when she is turned into stone, not with this DSS combination. Mars/Cockratice is the better of the two combinations since the tonfers are stronger than the whip, but both of these DSS combinations will turn her into stone, so use the one fits better to you.
Pluto/Mandragora to boost your Exp points. After she´s turned into stone quickly change to this DSS combination, since enemies are turned into stone for a few seconds.
As you're invincible while summoning, you don't need to worry about your defense (besides, even if you have the best armor she can still tear you to pieces quickly), so equip luck boosting equipment such as the Luck Ring and Gambler Armband, and the luck boosting card combo Venus/Mandragora(+25% LCK). Eventually you'll get the Sage Robe from Lilith, which (in addition to being the fifth strongest armor in the game) boosts your intelligence by a whopping 500 points. This means that your MP will recharge incredibly fast, making it that much easier to repeatedly kill her.
Strength is another stat to worry about, since if you can't kill her in two or three summonings, you're probably at a low level and therefore might not have enough MP to cast a fourth time. However, if you're strong enough to defeat Camilla, chances are you're strong enough to kill Lilith in three or less summonings.
Despite the fact that you're invincible while summoning, you should keep an eye on your HP. There is enough time for her to hit you while you're pressing the button combination needed to summon. You should also save often in case something goes horribly wrong. The closest save point is the one above where you fought Death. A few Succubi and other enemies stand between Lilith's room and the save point, so use Jupiter/Mandragora to heal before making the trip. You do not want to kill Lilith 40 times only to be taken out by a Succubus.
After defeating Death, the Nightmare will appear in the hidden room below the first area of the Outer Wall, where you got a Heart Plus (7/36). She is not particularly strong and drops the Needle Armor, the best armor that you can get until Lilim appears.
Unlike the rest of her palette-swapped brethren, the Succubus is a common enemy. While there are a few places where she can be found, she is all over the Underground Warehouse. Instead of throwing energy orbs, she fires a three-way shot of bolts, as well as dives at you. Easier to dodge and hit than the other winged demons, you can jump and whip her, though in many cases it's best to just outrun her. She drops Intelligence Rings and the Manticore card.
.
, as you will have to go all the way through the Arena for a second chance.
to raise your luck instead. If you are too weak, just level up by fighting Lilith. The Stopwatch 
can freeze the candles, but since you will have to kill each one numerous times to get the items, you will quickly run out of hearts.
item crush to keep it on screen long enough to kill, even if you are at a very high level.
where they stop. After defeating Camilla, two of them will spawn right outside the leftmost save room of Audience room. To get good EXP and pots, you can defeat them, then leave and return to force them to respawn.
. From the bottom of the pit, jump up, and up, and up. About halfway up the room, start whipping the wall as you fall. Equip the Jupiter/Manticore combo, as this can break the wall on the chance that you miss it with your whip. Once you break it, jump back up and in. Grab the HP Plus
(39/43) and then break the ceiling on the right side. Once you jump up, you'll see the Medalist run off. Even the Pluto/Griffin combo will not speed you up enough to catch him; however, if you do a Roc Wing jump into the room while running left, you will be able to easily kill him before he gets going.
.
(10/36) if you haven't gotten it already.
, which you can only get after beating the Battle Arena. The only weakness is that Dark Armor also gives you a -10 penalty to strength, intelligence, and luck instead of the +10 bonus that Shinning Armor grants (a trivial amount, as all which can be countered with various Rings). Lilim drops the Dark Armor very rarely, so wear a Luck Ring 
