Walkthrough

Prelude to the
Dark Abyss		 House of
Sacred Remains		Anti-Soul
Mysteries Lab
Dark Palace
of Waterfalls		Garden Forgotten
By Time		Ghostly
Theatre
Pagoda of the Misty Moon




PAGODA OF THE MISTY MOON
Through the Great Door
Now that all five areas have been completed, stock up at Rinaldo's cabin, then return to the Castle Entrance.  All five orbs now glow from their pedestals within the entry hall, and the door along the north wall unlocks.  Save your game within the eastern hall and then return to step through the great door, ready to face whatever lies beyond.

Stepping through the door brings quite a sudden encounter -- Walter awaits beyond, but things don 't go quite as you might expect.  For one, the whip that Leon carries is useless against the vampire.  Watch a long series of cut scenes that follow in order to follow the story through one of its major episodes, and when it ends, Leon has the Vampire Killer -- a whip that does special damage to vampires and their like.  Leon may now have he edge that he needs to destroy the master vampire.

With the cut scenes finished, return to the castle and save again.  Now step through the grand door one more time to enter the Pagoda of the Misty Moon, this time in a quest to enter the throne room at the top of the castle.  This time when you enter the room you retain control of your character.  Head through the room, and continue up the stairs through the next doorway to the north.  Quite a treasure trove likes within this hall -- five yellow candles hold each of the five sub-weapons in the game, allowing you to return here whenever you need to take your pick.  Destroy the second candle along he west wall to take the Holy Water, then continue on through the doorway to the north.

In this next room you have another series of wooden walkways that crumble if you jump on them, flanked by the moving beams of force.  This time there is a bit of a twist -- rather than one moving beam, there are two.  Before heading onto the walkway, jump down and look behind the stairs leading back up to the entrance.  Here you find the third Super Potion of the game.  Take it, then climb back up to th walkway.  Now run across, taking care to judge which beam is going to intercept Leon's path, and step behind the shield to avoid it.  Don't let yourself get caught in between the two beams as they cross, or as one overtakes the other.    You cannot shield yourself from two at once.  When you reach the end of the walkway, step through the door to continue your trek north.

MP to Burn
A lot of the enemies in this coming area are very strong, and at the same time many can perform the special violet attacks that renew MP.  This makes it a perfect time to use the Saisei Incense, if you're still not at a Save Room and need to recover HP.  You can burn MP to restore HP, then recharge your MP against the next foe that uses special attacks.  A perfect pick-me-up!

Try to conserve your MP more when you near a Save Room.  The Saisei Incense is great for these final Boss Battles as well, but you need to have the MP left to power it!  If you find yourself ready for a Boss Fight but don't have any MP, return to the nearest area with foes that have a special attack to try to regain it before you battle.

Here two Spartacus lie in wait -- monsters that you have not fought since the House of Sacred Remains.  Make certain you move back away from the pair if one leaps up to prepare an attack, but otherwise just take them down as quickly as you can,  and continue to the north end of the hall.  Pause for a moment and prepare for a tough fight by equipping the Sacrificial Doll, the Heart Brooch, or the Bloody Cape, then step through the doorway.
Double Trouble
When you enter this next door you are greet by a disturbing sight -- Leon's Doppelganger has resurfaced, and now looks slightly different than before.  His coloration is different, and he carries no obvious weapon.  As he turns to face Leon it is obvious that a second fight is not to be avoided.

DOPPELGANGER
HPTOLERANCEWEAKNESS
1500NONENONE
As soon as the fight begins and the Doppelganger approaches, there is a trick that you can use to bring the odds into Leon's favor.  Once again you can use a sub-weapon to your advantage to help damage the Doppelganger severely.  As the foe draws near use the Cross Blazer attack, which is Holy Water plus the Purple Orb.  If this strikes the Doppelganger, it sends him flying up into the air, and when he lands he is vulnerable.  Let off another Cross Blazer attack as soon as he lands, and it strikes him before he can defend or begin to attack.  This way, you can simple let off a chain of sub-weapon attacks that continue doing damage until your Hearts have all been consumed.  Assuming the Doppelganger is still standing, the real fight begins.

This time the copy of our hero does not use the whip as Leon does, but instead uses bare fist attacks that strike for large amounts of damage.  As with many of the Boss monsters' physical attacks, trying to block against eh series of blows leaves Leon's guard broken, and sets him up to be pummeled severely with future attacks.  As soon as you see the Doppelganger flare red in preparation for an attack, use Quick Step to dodge aside.  You also must watch out for the Doppelganger's copies of the sub-weapon attacks, but these are the least of your worries.

As you dodge the copy's attacks, watch carefully for an opening.  After a long chain of attacks, you can counterattack.  If you know most or all of the weapon skills by now, try to pull off a large combination attack to do a great amount of damage.  At other times, only attack once or twice with a heavy attack in order to be ready to defend.

If you manage to whittle the Doppelganger down far enough with your sub-weapon attacks at the start of the fight, you only need a few more hefty combos to bring the creature to its knees.  Even without many sub-weapon attacks, if you watch your foe carefully, defend, and attack in turn, Leon emerges victorious over this tough adversary.

With the fight over, don't panic if your HP is low -- as the Doppelganger vanishes for the second and final time, a HP Max Up appears in the center of the room.  Take it to grow stronger and to heal up in one fell swoop.  Now prepare yourself -- new enemies abound with each new room, and these are some of the toughest in th game.  Pick up the Hearts from the candles around the room to restore those that you've used, and don't forget to re-equip your preferred items.  When you are prepared, head through the northern door to continue your quest.

In this next hallway you meet two of the aforementioned foes -- the Chaos Sword and the Gaap.  The Chaos Sword is similar to the Evil Sword and its brethren, but this version changes elements and abilities at will.  When it wishes to perform this change it pauses for a moment to bask in a burst of light, during which time it is invincible to attack.  This make the Elemental Whips a bad choice against it, because many become tolerant to whatever you are wielding at any given moment.

Here you meet yet another of the new foes, the Phantom.  This is another of the many skeletal creatures, but because of its coloration it is very difficult to see at times in the dark room.  Try to keep a close on its violet outlines, and be careful not to misjudge its location.  Be prepared for their special attacks at any time.  As before, when you are able to move again, head through the opposite doorway.

Here you face a second puzzle room, this one also containing the moving beams of force.  Here the floor holds no special treasures except for the candles holding Hearts.  When you are ready to move on, return to the entryway, then turn to the west and head along this walkway.  You have to leap over this moving beam to pass, but sections of it are made from eh wood that crumbles when Leon leaps on it.  So, move onto the first stone section, wait for the beam of force to draw near, then leap from one gray area to the next.  When you reach the western door, head through the next area.

In this next hallway, two more Chaos Swords accompany a group of Death Reapers.  These small enemies are much like the Flea Men, except that they hit a lot harder and take more damage to kill.  Try to use a sub-weapon attack to keep them far away from you.  Move out into the hallway and onto more open ground where you can attack more freely.  When all of them have been defeated, head into the next room to the west.

Here you face what seems to be a large group of Red Skeletons, but don't be fooled -- this is the Mirage Skeleton.  While all of these "copies" can damage you, only one is truly real.  When you destroy the real thing, all of the copies disintegrate as well.  To spot the real Skeleton among the group, watch for a Skeleton that moves away from you, looking for safety, while others surround you to attack.  Some of the copies may move away from time to time as well, but the one Skeleton that consistently flees should be the actual monster.  When you destroy the actual Mirage Skeleton you are free to continue through the next door to the west.

Which is Real?
A less than obvious way to spot which Mirage Skeleton is the real deal, is to simply check the floor -- the actual Skeleton will cast a reflection upon the floor as it's moving about, the fake ones will not.  So just simply chase after the one that has a reflection and try to ignore the others if you can.


Here in this small room at the end of the path you find an MP Max Up.  If you haven't burnt your Saisei Incense already, use it now before you recharge your MP.  Once you've claimed the MP Max Up, return to the room with the Mirage Skeleton, defeat it once more, and head to the south where a Heart Max Up waits for you.  With your MP and Hearts increased and and restored, head back to the other path in the room with the moving beams of force.

When you are back in the room with the wooden walkways, head back to the entrance along your former path.  Now you must head east.  Wait for the beam of force moving along the first eastern walkway to get as close to you as possible, follow the first section, and stand behind a shield in the southern portion of the room.  Wait for the beam to move past, and make a dash for the door.  Walk through the door to reach the hallway that holds the stairway to the second floor.
The Final Floor
Once on the second floor, ignore the nearest door for the time being.  Instead head west, and take the door at the end of this long hall.  Here you find another puzzle room, similar to one your recently solved in th Waterfall area -- six torches line this room, and to unlock the western door you must light all of the min the allotted time.  As an added challenge, one of the strange gooey "monsters" (that attacks Leon if you pause for a moment's rest) inhabits the room as well, so you must keep moving at all times.  Pausing to strike a torch invites an attack, so try to leap toward the torch as you attack, in order to avoid pausing on the ground as you strike out.

For the time being, don't worry about lighting the torches at all.  Just run through the southern door as soon as you enter the room.  In this southern hall, you face two Red Ogres, foes that you've faced before and should know how to handle.  This narrow hall is not an ideal place to fight them on th whole, but if you are lucky the narrow space causes them to hit each other as much as they hit Leon.  Finish them off, then keep moving on to the south.

The next room is blessedly empty, and better yet, it holds a Save Room.  After you save, return to the large ornate room, and leave the two doorways behind for now.  Instead, return north to the torch room, and head for the western door.  Light the two lower lamps, the one at the top of the stairs, the lamp by the eastern door, the lamp at he north end of the room, and complete the circuit by lighting the lamp in front of the western door.  A timer begins counting down as soon as you light the first torch, so you have no time to waste from that point on.

Get an area-effect sub-weapon handy as you head through the next door.  Here you are greeted by more Death Reapers and another Phantom.  This is a tough fight, so try to protect yourself as best you can.  Once you win your way past, head through the door to the south.

Here you fight a Red Ogre when you first head through he door, but don't dawdle too much, even if you wish to restore MP against its special attacks.  Also coming up the hallway are a second Red Ogre and a pair of Dullahans, even nastier large armored foes in the vein of Heavy Armors.  Not only do they have the normal strong attacks, but their shields can release jets of fire as well.  Use either the Whip of Lightning or the Vampire Killer to fight them.  Luckily, your sub-weapon can also do some nice damage.  Once you've finished here, head south once more.

Now you enter an oddly shaped room that is the first of a complete circle of connected segments.  Here a Gargoyle waits for you, but by now you should be practiced against this foe.  Take it out with a Extension attacks, and head through the door to the west.  Fight off the Death Reapers that appear in this next bit of hallway, using both normal attacks and your sub-weapon.

Continuing along the circle brings you to a group of Lizard Knights -- Lizard Men that are tougher and that carry nastier weapons.  Like other monsters before, those guys aren't weak against Holy Water but also don't have a resistance.  This means that the sub-weapon can still deal out enough damage to make the fight a lot easier.  Try to focus on one foe and take it out as quickly as possible -- it's a lot easier to defend yourself with only two-on-one odds.  When all are taken down, continue through the opposite doorway to reach the southern side of the circle.

Now you have a doorway to the north, as well as the normal door that continues to follow the circle.  Take the northern exit, and you find another darkened room, much like the one in the Ghostly Theatre.  As the spotlight moves to the next platform, follow it by double-jumping to the east, followed by a tricky single diagonal jump to eh northeast.  Next you have two single jumps of varying lengths to the north, and although the spotlight moves to a jump to the east, if you double-jump north (and slightly west) you should reach a new platform in front of a door.  Head through this door when you reach it to claim a HP Max Up.  The return through the door, back into the darkened room.

Now jump west to the smaller platform, and equip the Wolf's Foot.  Activate the relic, run west across the small platform, and leap once, a single-jump with the Wolf's Foot should take you to the edge of a hidden platform to he northwest of the room, in front of another door.  A double-jump can carry you there easily, but it's very hard not to over-leap the distance.  When yo reach the door, head inside, and here you take the Unlock Jewel from its stone altar.  This gemstone unlocks the prison found with the Castle Entrance, but that can wait until you finish exploring this portion of the Pagoda.  From the platform in front of this hidden room simple jump off into the darkness and you automatically return to he dark room's entrance, where you can step through the doorway and back into the circle.

Now you want to finish mapping out the circle here on the west side of the Pagoda, before returning to a Save Room, and using the Unlock Jewel.  Take the next door along he circle to find a pair of Executioners.  Watch out for their sweeping attacks in this small space, then continue on through the next door at he opposite end of the hall.  Here you meet up with a Flame Demon and a large group of Axe Knights -- your Holy Water can take the edge off the fight, especially against the Demon, and with so many special-attacking enemies you should be able to use your Saisei incense to good effect if you star taking too much damage.  But, try to save as much MP for laster as you can before using eh unlock Jewel.  Now head through into the next section.

Here a Gaap joins a Gargoyle in a fight, where you must guard from being petrified, but it should offer no real dangers otherwise.  If you can tell the Gargoyle from the Gaap in the confusion of battle, try to take this easier foe down first.  Go through the next door in line, which completes the circle, and returns you to the northern section of the hallway.
~~PRISON OF ETERNAL TORTURE~~
From the Save Room in the first floor of the Castle Entrance head east into the room of platforms and take the door to the south leading into the long stairwell.  Head down to where you once picked up a High Potion, and now prepare yourself carefully before saving along the west wall.  The next fight is tricky, to put it mildly, and you many have to reload a previous save.  It's best to make all the preparations first, so you don't have to go through them a second time.  Wield the Whip of Ice, and select the Red Orb to set up the Roaring Flames sub-weapon attack (using the Holy Water sub-weapon).  Equip the Sacrificial Doll, the Brisingamen, and a third powerful accessory such has the Talisman, or Draupnir.  The Saisei Incense is a good choice of a relic, as it can let you sue your MP as extra HP in this upcoming fight.  When you have fully prepared save your game here and then head to the other side of the room where the locked door waits.

Now press SQUARE in front of the door, and select "yes" at the prompt to unlock it using he Unlock Jewel.  Now take a second long, spiraling staircase down to B2F, and enter he door at the bottom.

Directions
In the following fight, the terms "right" and "left" refer to the side of the screen fore ease of reference.  They are not meant to reference either the Forgotten One or Leon's point of view.  Thus the hand on the right in this text, for instance, is technically its own left hand.

THE FORGOTTEN ONE
HPTOLERANCEWEAKNESS
4800FIRE, LIGHTNING
CROSS		ICE
MAGGOT
HPTOLERANCEWEAKNESS
45CRYSTALFIRE
HOLY WATER

As you step in through the doorway you automatically continue to run into the center of the room, where the camera pans up to reveal a horrifying creature.  The Forgotten One is a huge rotting form, imprisoned in this room for centuries.  The upcoming fight consists of three separate stages, each with its own full HP bar, so be prepared for a long battle.

FIRST STAGE
As the fight begins the HP bar fills up with the blue for the first time, but not the last.  This stage requires Leon to battle the torso of the beast, and is the lest deadly bay far.  Your goal is to try to attack as many of the muscle slabs in the front of the beast as possible, to lower the beast's HP as quickly as you can.  This is best done using the A Extension attacks, so as soon as you regain control over your movement run in and strike.

Although this is a torso that you are fighting, there are still a few counterattacks to worry about.  Periodically a jet of acidic blood begins to gush out onto an area of the walkway -- avoid this, or you are damaged and poisoned.  As the spasm from Poison breaks the momentum of a combo, you want to avoid this more than the damage.

The more obvious, and persistent, threat is the wave of Maggots that constantly falls from the Forgotten One.  These beasts grow over time and come in two varieties -- the purple maggots, which can Poison you, or the red, which Curse you and prevent your A Extension attacks until the curse wears off.  Leaping can take you away form their reach for a moment, but when they grow large enough, they can begin to leap as well.

Because the Maggots constantly appear and target Leon, you should pause in your attack from time to time to use a Roaring Flames attack.  The Maggots are weak against Holy Water, and this area-effect sub-weapon attack can wipe out the circle directly around Leon, giving you a bit more room to breathe.  If they do manage to get close enough to Poison or Curse Leon, use a Serum or Anti-Curse potion.

As you damage the slabs of muscle they fall away one by one, until just the heart of the beast is exposed.  Continue attacking this point to strip away the Forgotten One's remaining HP.  AS the last of the yellow fades from the bar, the remaining maggots disappear in a series of explosions, and the walkway that you stand on raises into the air to where you fight the next form.
SECOND STAGE
As the platform climbs, and the HP bar refills for the second wave of attack, take the brief opportunity to heal yourself using a Potion or the Saisei Incense.  As the walkway locks into place, you have to fight the hands and claws of this immense beast, a much trickier proposition than the first stage.

As the fight begins, watch the monster's hand on the right.  This is what you must truly fight -- it attempts to damage you, and you then take this opportunity to damage it instead.  It sounds like a straightforward battle, but it's a lot harder than it sounds.

It most cases the Forgotten One's hand hovers for a moment in one location, then slams with some force into the walkway.  This damage Leon if he is under it, or if he is within the radius of the brief shockwave that radiates outward as it connects.  Avoid the zone of damage, and stand close to rush in and attack the hand, before it is lifted back into the air.  You can judge where to stand by the position of the hand -- there are only four locations on the walkway there it slams down, and in each position he holds his hand in a different location.  If the hand is held just in front of the monster's body, it is going to come down at the left side of the platform.  It may take you a few turns being hit before you learn to judge just how the hand is held before each pin attempt, but keep healing as needed and study the attacks carefully.

There are a few other attacks that the Forgotten One may use during this stage as well.  The first of these is similar in appearance to the hand-slaps, but is marked by the dripping of blood that you had to avoid in the first stage.  It pours from the Forgotten One's hand onto the walkway as he holds it in position.  Try to keep to the edge of he platform closest to he camera and you may manage to avoid the pooling blood even if you have to run past.  If you can't avoid it, you are damaged and poisoned, and you should use a Serum as soon as you can -- once the threat is over.  While the blood is pouring from the hand, the Forgotten One may move it in between positions multiple times, but after a few moments he slams it down as normal, and the attacks begin again.

Rather than trying to squash you, the Forgotten One may attempt a long sweeping attack to knock you around.  Avoid this attack by using a double-jump perfectly, so that you just clear the hand as it sails past.  This usually requires beginning the jump as soon as you see the hand move into position for the sweep, but if you are at the opposite end of the walkway you should pause for just a brief moment before leaping.  If you can get to the hand after it makes its sweep, you can get in a few leaping attacks on it before it moves into its next position.  If you are caught by the sweep (and pinned by the hand) you may also get in a few attacks, but at he cost of taking damage.

This stage is difficult and damaging, but use the Saisei Incense, or any Potions as needed, and bit by bit you can whittle at the beast's HP by attacking the hand whenever you get eh chance.  As the HP bar empties for the second time, the walkway rises once more, giving you a very brief chance to heal.  Then with a third full HP bar to face, you enter the battle against the monster's third form.
THIRD STAGE
Now you face the monster's head in a battle that is pretty straightforward, but very dangerous.  One misstep causes Leon to take damage that can clear half his HP bar in one blow.  This is where you should make certain you have the Sacrificial Doll equipped, or else keep your HP bar completely full in order to prevent dying with the next attack.

The fight begins with he monster's head rearing back, and then forward to inhale heavily.  This pulls down huge boulders and smaller rocks over the period of time that the monster is breathing in.  Although being hit by these rocks is damaging to Leon, run in to the monster's head and attack full out.  You may take some damage, but you must take these opportunities to whittle down the beast's HP as quickly as possible whenever the Forgotten One inhales like this.  After one or more boulders are in place by the creature's head, stand directly in front of the boulder, and it protects from some of the rocks falling form overhead.  As you attack, try to keep an eye on where the large boulders are falling, so that you know where to run during the monster's other attack.

As the monster stops his giant inhalation, and pants for breath, watch carefully for its next move.  If it starts to inhale in the same manner as before, stay by the head and continue your attack.  If, on the other hand, you see a red glow in its mouth as it rears back its head, immediately dive for cover behind the nearest boulder.  The glow means that the monster is about to breathe out this time, unleashing its very damaging flame attack.  When this happens, standing with the boulder between the Forgotten One and Leon protects you from the attack.  Just keep a careful eye out for cracks appearing in your chosen boulder  -- this means that at he next pass of flame the boulder is going to explode, damaging Leon horribly if he is anywhere nearby.  So, if the stone begins to crack move out from behind it as soon as the flame finishes, and dive for cover behind the nearest intact boulder.

Try not to panic as the boulders crack and break, leaving you with less cover.  Eventually the monster begins to inhale again, and draws more boulders down in the process.  You should keep a very close eye on his actions s you stand behind your chosen boulder.  As soon as he begins to rear his head back without the telltale glow, dark out again to begin the attacks once more.  After a few rounds of this, the beast's final HP bar finally runs out, and the monster is defeated for good.

With the Forgotten One defeated, the walkway lowers back down to ground level, and the Black Orb appears within the room.  This Orb unleashes some of the strongest magic in the game, and like the other Orbs it heals your HP when you claim it.  Now, return to the first floor of the Castle Entrance to save your game in the eastern hall before returning to the second floor of the Pagoda to continue your main quest.
Return to the Pagoda
Now make your way back through the Pagoda to the second floor.  This time go directly thorough the east door at the top of the stairs.  Fight off the group of Lizard Knights and the Phantoms that greet you here, and make use of the wide-open spaces to try to stay away from the large group.  Move through the south door when you are done, and into another long corridor.  Here, more Lizard Knights await you alongside a Gaap.  Take out the Gaap first to prevent being petrified.  When you are finished, make your way through the long hall, and through the door at southern end.

Now you enter the first room of another of the circle of corridors, again guarded by a sole Gargoyle.  Defeat it, and head through the eastern doorway to fight off a group of Spartacus.  Continue on through the next doorway of the circle.  In this third room you fight a Gaap and a pair of Death Reapers.  Carefully fend them off, using sub-weapons as much as necessary.  Go through to the next room in the chain, and take out a pair of Dullahans.  Finally, step through into the peaceful corridor of the chain.

Here you can catch your breath before you enter the door to the north.  This time you are not faced with one of the dark rooms full of tricky jumps -- instead you are greeted by another empty hallway, and a door at the northern end.  Take this door into a room holding a sealed door, a strange stone statue, and a new item for you to take the "VI" Tablet.  Take it, and ignore the other items in the room for now, instead returning to the southern section of the corridor.

Now continue through the circle, taking the eastern exit out of this southern section of hallway.  Here you face a pair of Lesser Demons.  These flying foes like to attack using their special swooping attacks, and it may be hard to stop guarding for long enough to counterattack.  When they do give you a moment's respite, leap up to attack them briefly.  Continue through the opposite doorway into the next section.

Now you face a group of two Red Ogres, backed by a pair of Spartacus.  You've fought all of these foes before, so the main trick is to navigate through the hall and face the foes one on none.  Make use of your Holy Water as needed, then continue through to the next section where you find a group of Hanged Men.  Keep out of their reach when they make their grappling attacks, and battle through the waves of them that pop up.  After killing around ten of the enemies they finally stop returning, and you are free to head on through the next door, which returns you to the top of the circle.

Return through the hallways and room until you reach the Save Room on this same level of the castle.  Restore your HP and save your progress, then exit the door and go through the door on the opposite side of this ornate room.  Here you find a stone altar with a mechanism on top of it.  Press SQUARE to inspect this device, and when prompted use the "VI" Tablet in the empty space.  Now step to the right of the altar to where you see a lever.  Attack it once, and the symbols on the device reverse themselves, including your "VI" Tablet.  Press SQUARE in front of the altar again to remove the tablet, which is now the "IV" Tablet.  Save if you wish, then return to the room at the south end of the eastern circle where you originally found the "VI" Tablet.

When you enter this room, step to the west and inspect the large stone statue.  At the prompt, insert the "IV" Tablet into the hole.  This unseals the door in the north wall of this room, and you now step through to collect the Dragon Crest, an item that unlocks the throne room.  Return to the 2F Save Room, and save your progress before this last epic battle.
Endgame
With the Dragon Crest in hand, step out into the elegant room off of the Save Room, and head through the southern door into the last unexplored area on your Map Screen.  Once through the door, a long expanse of climbing stairs greets you under the night sky.  Climb the steps to the doorway above, then pause to prepare.

Equip the Vampire Killer, and while your sub-weapon is not very useful here, you should pair the Holy Water with the Black Orb for the best effect.  You should wear the Sacrificial Doll, Brisingamen, and Draupnir as your accessories.  Choose the Saisei Incense for your relic.  When your preparations are complete, approach the final doorway, and use the Dragon Crest to gain entry.

Now within the Throne Room the final showdown begins.  Walter lounges on his throne in anticipation, and he and Leon exchange their threats and final declarations before Walter moves to attack.

WALTER
HP
TOLERANCEWEAKNESS
1500KNIFE, AXEHOLY WATER
CROSS
The first thing to worry about is simply landing one blow on Walter.  When this happens all attacks stop, and the combat pauses while a cutscene plays showing Walter's surprise.  As he recovers, and the cutscene ends, the combat begins in earnest.  You should dive in for one full-out attack before the vampire teleports away, and begin the cycle that recurs for the rest of the fight.

The pattern for this fight consists of Walter stopping to attack, then he turns into a cloud of bats to fly elsewhere in the room.  He rematerializes in a glowing circle, and begins the next attack.  You need to avoid the attacks, and when the time is right, make a powerful combo counter-attack of your own.

You may also be able to strike with single blows, or with a sub-weapon after a few attacks, but be ready to break off and defend if necessary.  Try to focus more on physical attacks than on your sub-weapon -- even the Holy Water cannot do much damage to the vampire before he teleports away, out of danger.

The first attack to worry about is a straightforward shoulder attack.  Before this happens, you see Walter curl one arm in front of him, with the other arm held back.  He then begins to glow red, and launches forward in an attempt to barrel into Leon and damage him.  If you simply run back a bit (out of the way) he continues to follow for a short distance, so either dodge well out of the way, or use a Guard to blow against this.

The second attack has very little warning before it happens -- Walter quickly pulls back his right arm and then brings it forward, releasing a group of blue lights that streak forward in a slightly winding path.  Naturally if the lights touch Leon they damage him, so dodge or block them if you can.  The best way to avoid these is to be ready to defend at any moment, but being too cautious removes precious opportunities to attack.

Walter may also release either one (or three) glowing red balls of energy which hover in the air for a moment, then exploded in a burst of flame.  Leon can be damaged either by being struck by these orbs when they are released, or by being too close when they explode.  Try to stand well out of the way when they blow up, but watch for the purple glow that precedes the release of a single orb -- this is a special attack.  If you block it as the orb is released, you can absorb MP to refresh any that you've used up to this point.  If you can move around behind Walter just after he releases the orbs, so much the better -- you then have a moment to attack full-out, unhindered.

The last normal attack to watch out for is a series of energy explosions.  Avoid these by dodging where you see the glowing lights begin to appear, either just by running away, or by using Quick Step.  With this attack you usually get a longer opportunity to attack the vampire before he reacts again, especially if you can "lead" the lights back to the vampire, just as the chain is ending.  This allows you to attack as the last few fountains of energy rise up behind you.  Just be careful -- this is one of the enemy's more damaging moves.

While these pattern make up the majority of your fight against Walter, you also need to be careful of one other, special attack.  If the vampire teleports up to his raised throne area, break off your attacks, and run toward the door.  From this area your enemy releases a large unblockable inferno that radiates outward.  If you are caught in this, it does large amounts of damage  Once the attack dies away, dark back in to begin your dance of defense and offense anew.

If you begin to take damage use the Saisei Incense.  But if you watch for Walter's attacks carefully, and counterattack with your strongest combos when you get the chance, you should win through without much in the way of damage.  Don't relax though as Walter's last bit of HP die away -- you're not out of the woods just yet.

As the last blow falls and Walter runs out of HP -- and time -- the master vampire is understandably at a loss.  He still remain certain that he will be able to come back to life, and take revenge at a later time, but events quickly spiral out of his control.  Watch the events that follow, and you can really begin to understand the roots behind the Belmont Clan's quest against Dracula and the other children of darkness.  As the cutscene ends, the enigmatic figure of Death descends to challenge Leon to one final fight before he can claim complete victory.

DEATH
HPTOLERANCEWEAKNESS
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As this final fight begins, Death teleports himself and Leon into a strange new realm outside the normal stone confines of the castle.  Here Leon is trapped on a disc, while Death floats freely around the edge.  Your goal is to run up and attack Death as much as possible.  When Death releases an attack, he pauses for a moment, usually long enough for you to get off one combo.  Then, he moves quickly to another location at the edge of the disc, forcing you to run in pursuit.  The methods of attack (and the way to dodge them) vary greatly, so watch and listen carefully for the enemy's next move.  don't even bother using a sub-weapon attack -- these are useless.

The attack that is easiest to avoid (and easiest to counterattack) is the Skull Minion attack.  Death calls out the summons "Minions!" and a group of flaming, chattering skulls appear to chase Leon down.  It takes a moment between the reaper's call and the time that the skulls arrive near Leon, so if you are standing near Death when he calls out, you can get in a hefty combo attack before you need to worry about dodging.

When the skulls approach, run directly through them and away.  The skulls don't damage you simply by touching, but instead deal their damage if Leon is standing nearby when they explode.  Running very close to them is the trigger to make them "count down" to explosion, so if you run through the swarm, and then keep running out the other side you should be well away when they do finally blow up.  If any remain after the first explosion, run near the survivors, and repeat the process.  you may even then be able to make it back to Death for a few strikes before he moves on to his next location.

The second attack is a simple slashing attack that Death makes with his scythe, but this is rare, and only happens if Leon is standing close by when Death chooses to attack.  If you notice this coming, you can just move back out of the way of its reach.  The more prevalent scythe attack is preceded by Death twirling the weapon over his head, then releasing it to send it flying toward Leon.  To avoid this attack, perform a double-jump when you see it over the head of Death, and the scythe then sails directly under you.  Now dark in to make your attack on Death while he is preparing his next move.

The third attack is the trickiest and most damaging of the attacks during the first half of the fight.  It consists of a group of blue lights that Death summons, and sends streaking toward Leon.  To dodge these, perform a Quick Step, or series of Quick Steps, right as they are about to connect, and they streak past.  If you try to dodge too soon, or guard, they still curve in toward Leon and do a good amount of damage.  Whether they miss or manage to connect, take the opportunity to run in to attack.

As you attack, watch your HP carefully and restore it whenever they begin to drop.  This is the true Final Battle, so don't skimp on using the powerful Super Potions ,or on crushing a Diamond with the Jewel Crush Acc. if need be.  Also watch carefully for the blue to disappear from Death's HP bar, as he begins using another nasty attack during the second half of the fight.

Once Death has lost half of his HP he adds a new attack to his repertoire.  With a cry of "Living Tempest!" he summons forth two pillars of flame wherever Leon is standing, followed by two circles of flame that ripple outward.  To avoid being struck by the first flames keep moving as you hear Death cry out, then as soon as the flames strike, leap over the first wave of flames.  The next flames strike a moment later, so keep moving to cause them to explode at your heels, and leap over the wave that comes from that pillar a heartbeat later.  The timing is hard to get down because you are constantly in motion.

If you dodge the various attacks successfully, and take your opportunities to attack whenever you can, even Death loses the last of his HP and falls before Leon's onslaught.

As Death is defeated, the victory is bittersweet -- Death's master still lurks somewhere out in the world, and Death himself shall return, immortal.  Leon has struck a large blow against darkness, and Death must retreat for a while to recover, leaving Leon alone in a crumbling castle.

Watch the final cutscene as you sit back to enjoy your victory, and don't forget to save your game data after the game ends -- you can use it to an interesting effect!

~THE END~
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