Introduction:
This is a boss guide for one of my new favorite games: Castlevania…er.. I mean Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. It brings back the feel of my favorite kind of Castlevania game, the classic. Check out the full review of the game.
Boss 1: Engine Dude (Glutton Train)
Jump on steps/pile of coal while he is pulling it and get close to the edge of the top “step”. Hit 4 times, back up, hit 4 more times, jump off before he pulls you in.
He will then release flames into the sky. Keep your eyes at the top of the screen and carefully dodge flames from sky.
He will then repeat the attack pattern.
When he is about to die he will pull the coal stairs halfway and release a giant laser… stand BEHIND the steps and you won’t be damaged.
Nightmare: same exact strategy, but you have more options with the multitude of characters available. The fireballs now rain down and stick to the ground, but can be extinguished with an attack. He will fire off a large fire blast at you after the fireballs rain down, which can easily be avoided by being on the top step.
Boss 2: Turtle (Focalor)
He will first fire a stream of bubbles, simply duck without moving. If using Miriam, you can slide under the bubbles to get close enough to attack. He will knock down the 3 icicles and clear the bottom of the screen. Simply jump over him. He will then put up a bubble shield; pop bubbles and attack him until he flies away. Miriam is best for added range, as the bubbles can quickly cause significant damage if you stay too close.
3 pairs of rocks will fall from the ceiling. Stay relatively still, then at the last moment walk to dodge the rocks.
After the final set of rocks, he will slam down spinning, so right after the the last set falls, start moving left or right.
Focalor will repeat the attack pattern from now on. Remember, the key is to get close enough and crouch, or slide beneath the bubbles with Miriam, before the bubble stream attack so that you can land a ton of easy hits. Judge the position of the icicles above and get as close as is safe. If the position of the icicles doesn’t permit you to get close enough to use Zangetsu, use Miriam instead.
Repeat until he performs his final attack which involves him leaving the screen then coming flying from left to right. Easy dodge and you win.
Nightmare: 3 sets of 3 rocks fall instead of 3 pairs of rocks. Slightly harder to dodge, but overall same fight.
Solo Zangetsu with Abilities: Jump and attack with crescent moon if you have it. Bring whip sub-weapon with you. A little bit tougher without Miriam’s added range.
Boss 3: Rich Dude (Valefor)
Valefor provides steps constructed of coins for your convenience. Jump up and hit him in the face repeatedly. Each time a new pile of coins will appear, but wait no steps this time?!
Just hit the coins to knock some off constructing steps of your own.
After enough hits he will use his two fists to bang the ground which creates a wave of coins that flings you upwards… if stand just left or right of mid-screen you will fly up in perfect position to hit him.
After the wave attack a boulder enemy and ghouls come from ceiling kill them and repeat the coin stair case strategy.
His final attack before dying will be to rain down coins. Dodge them by carefully walking left and right. At some point the screen will flash white making it impossible to see the coins, but it is only for a brief second so you will survive.
This boss, like most so far is very easy. I fucked up in the level and lost all characters except Zangetsu with around half health and beat him on my first try. The only real threat is the additional enemies.
Nightmare: same strategy as last time. I actually had lightning magic with Alfred this time so I spammed that before quickly switching to Gebel or Miriam. Also of note is he releases 2 boulder baddies and the scary scissor guy instead of the normal mode enemies. Still pretty easy.
Zangetsu Solo: Double Jump and use whip attack if you decided to get the double jump ability. The rest is the same, its still easy.
Boss 4: Dragon (Valac)
The battle begins with two of Valac’s heads exposed. They breathe fire balls, which can be attacked to be extinguished. I used Miriam to attack from a distance at first to get a feel for the boss. I then used Zangetsu to attack fireballs quickly and tank hits for the other characters, while attacking the bottom head… which I suggest you kill first.
After slaying the first head, move on to the top one. Gebel ended up being the best for attacking the top head from the safety of the bottom of the screen. Simply jump and and attack, the upward trajectory should easily hit the top head.
The top head releases weird exploding flesh balls that can cause some serious damage. The key to dealing with these are attacking them as they are forming, which prevents them from exploding. Again Gebel is the best choice.
The second phase involves a large scary head on the upper platform and a spiky body at the bottom. Stay on the bottom until he is done firing his massive fire beam. As soon as the beam stops, jump up on the platform immediately to avoid the spiky body that comes up and attacks the lower screen. Once on the upper platform strike quickly with Zangetsu or Miriam. Repeat until you win.
Nightmare: Use Alfred’s fire shield and switch to Miriam. Attack from bottom all out while you have fire shield. When bottom dies stand at the very edge of Miriam’s whips range and attack the top head. Instead of focusing on the head, always kill the two creepy flesh balls FIRST, then lay hits on the head. An alternate option is using Gebel again to attack the top head, but he died during the level for me.
For second phase, start by attacking the head quickly. Right before he finishes charging and unleashes the fire beam, jump down to the bottom. Stay as close to edge as possible on bottom so you can quickly jump back up when the beams over so you don’t get hit with spiky body, which seems to move much more swiftly than in normal mode.
Zangetsu Solo: No change. Packing a Holy Water can help slay the lower head quickly. The fight becomes easy once the lower head is slain.
Boss 5: Bird Jawn (Andrealphus)
The first challenging boss of the game. The wind really makes the fight more difficult.
He will fly back and forth. Use Alfred’s lightning magic while he is flying, which is available in a green lantern right before the battle.
Allow him to fly back and forth until he unleashes lightning rods that land at various points on the ground. Avoid and destroy them. He will settle to one side, get close to him and attack at least twice… and be prepared to jump if he lunges at you.
If he doesn’t lunge at you, he may also unleash a tornado that blows you off the side. Simply duck to slow the rate at which you fly toward the edge. Leaving a lightning rod near the edge will be helpful, you will take damage, but in the off chance ducking doesn’t slow you enough, the damage from the lightning rod will knock you back to buy you a little more time.
Keep dodging and laying on attacks every time he is on the ground and you will be fine. I find the best approach is to focus on dodging primarily and slowly whittle away at him with standard attacks when he is on the ground and lightning attacks when he is in the air.
Nightmare: Get the same lightning magic, The best approach is to wait for the boss to stop flying back and forth. When he picks a side to launch his lightening rods, unleash 3 lightning magic in quick succession. They will tear him up. Then switch back to Gebel and do standard attacks.
Like in normal mode, when he unleashes the tornado duck to prevent sliding and always leave a lightning rod before the edge you to keep you from accidentally sliding off, the damage from it will knock you back from the edge if ducking doesn’t keep you from sliding.
Zangetsu Solo: same approach as before minus the lightning magic. The best approach is to be patient and dodge, laying attacks only when he is on the ground. Trying to strike him in the air can get you hurt, and really isn’t worth it.
I would suggest using the Holy Water item to damage him while simultaneously attacking him with sword strikes to take him down quickly
Boss 6: Umbrella Girl (Bloodless)
Use Gebel. Attack the umbrellas to halt their movement, allowing you to use them as platforms. You can hit the middle one and ride the bottom one while it is still moving to set up attacks easily. She will also drop spikes that skate across the ground. Stay atop an umbrella to dodge.
Keep in mind it is important to destroy the black energy ball, because you can easily lose track of it while dodging her attacks and get hit.
She will then rain blood on you. Take cover under an umbrella or suffer significant damage. Keep attacking and she will become a tornado for her final attack. Survive the hit and you win.
Nightmare: Same strategy as last time. Best character to use is Gebel for easy hits due to the upward trajectory of his attack. Make sure you attack the annoying black ball as well that orbits around the level. Another key is saving one character, preferably Miriam with full health to tank the final tornado attack, which does a massive 5 damage each hit. I am sure there is possibly a way to dodge this, but I haven’t figured it out
Zangetsu Solo: If you have double jump and crescent attack use it to your advantage. The strategy otherwise remains the same. The middle umbrella is generally the best strategic position, allowing for jumping attacks. The top umbrella is dangerous, you can deal the most damage, but she will probably hit you if you get greedy. Once again always kill the black ball first, as it is easy to avoid her other attacks without this nuisance.
Boss 7 Pika-Mewtwo (Bathin)
Jump on the book platforms to avoid the electricity on the ground and attack him. He will have target reticules on all the books except one. Squeeze in some extra attacks then hurry to the untargeted one. He will destroy all the books, then perform a final strike on the one you are on, so jump off in time.
He will then shoot a laser out of his tail so duck to dodge it and lay down some attacks. Rinse and repeat.
Finally, a larger number of book platforms will appear. This is an indication that he is preparing for his final attack. He will strike all the other books as usual, then attack the safe one at the end, this time from 4 directions (all the diagonals, quickly dodge or tank the hit for the win.
Nightmare: some spikes will also be flying around the room this time. The can be destroyed with an attack. Also the transition between the electric beam attack (that can be ducked under) and the following set up attack that electrocutes the ground, is a nearly un-dodgeable rolling attack that, luckily, causes minimum damage. Otherwise it is the same exact strategy.
Solo Zangetsu: Same strategy as normal
Boss 8 Demon: (Gremori)
Stay on the platforms to avoid the little swarm of bats/locusts/whatever and attack when there an opening. She will also create a shield of green bubbles that can be destroyed with one hit to access her. The key is to kill her as fast as possible as to conserve health for the next phase.
After defeating this phase, you will be brought to the rooftop to do battle.
Keep in mind the following attack patterns can be done in any order and she will telegraph the attack in a small display above her head.
Crescent Moon: She will send yellow crescent moons at you, stand in the center of the screen and the will pause momentarily. Jump and attack each set of 3 moons on either side quickly. If you have Gebel, he is clutch at destroying these.
3/4 Moon: Red Crescent moons will attack you. Stand to the left of the boss, but face right. As the moons come down stay on the ground, don’t move. Attack them when they get to you to destroy them.
Then quickly walk to the right, but face left and attack the moons similarly as the come to you.
(I know this sounds complicated, but read it carefully and it is very simple to execute)
Full Moon: She will then shoot tridents at you with eyeballs and lanterns on them. Destroy the eyeballs/lanterns to create platforms that allow you to FINALLY be able to get up and land some hits. Miriam is ideal as she can attack from the top platform without jumping off, yielding the most hits. If you have Albert and his Electric Magic though, you can land hits even without the platforms. At some point in the battle destroying the eyes/lanterns can net you kunai for Miriam which can also hit the boss by the upward-diagonal trajectory of the weapon.
End Phase: She will later shoot off blue laser balls, while she charges a massive red moon attack which later slams down to crush center screen and then ignites the whole rooftop except the very edges so work your way to the edge of the screen.
Zangetsu Solo: follow a strategy identical to above and pack the whip sub-weapon. If you have double jump you can use the whip to land hits the whole match, no need to wait for platforms. When the platforms come make getting the magic bottles priority, but still attempt to climb the platforms and land conventional hits.
Nightmare: not available
Boss 9 Cloaked Man (Nightmare Mode Only):
Prep: In the anteroom, collect as much magic bottles as possible, get the extra life and pick up the Kunai sub-weapon. Try not to use any of your sub-weapon until phase 2.
Phase 1:
At the start the boss paralyzes Alfred and Gebel. Miriam must fight solo. The enemy slides across the screen and attacks. Jump over him.
He also grappling hooks across the ceiling and throws Holy Water-like flames on the ground. Before they light up get close as possible and stand in between them. He will then unleash a crescent attack, stay ducked down to dodge it.
He also has an attack that is identical to the above one, but adds a dragon arm flamethrower attack that Alfred helps block with his fire shield. Stay behind Alfred and attack the boss until he re-paralyzes Alfred.
He also has an attack that brings black spikes all over the floor. For this one Gebel breaks free and his bat form acts as a platform, quickly jump on him and attack the boss. Watch for the warning signs of this attack, as it is easy to miss the cues. Instead of grappling across the ceiling he will bounce off the walls. Get away from center screen as a sword will come flying down and damage you before he proceeds into the spike attack pattern.
Phase 2:
Gebel and Alfred are attacking him as well now, but you still control Miriam.
Blue flames are spewed out by Skulls while the boss charges up a scythe attack.
You must attack the blue flames, protecting Alfred while he is casting his final spell.
This boss is pretty tough, but there is a conveniently placed extra life in the room before the boss battle, so if you die you get infinite retries.