Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

Check the Armoury for a gap among the seven weapon families. Rose starts with a one-handed sword. Six early pickups cover the rest. Collect the two-handed sword from Joan’s roof, the spear from the upper chest at Fountain of the Innocents and the weapon-and-shield pair through the door to the right of Medusa. Return to Sewer Reservoir with Arcane Whip for the fist weapon behind its hidden wall. In the Catacombs, take the whip from Hall of the Fallen Angels and break the wall beside the lever in Crossroads of the Dead for the dual blades.

A convenient legendary weapon is the Vampire Killer. After beating Death in the Transept, follow the route to the infirmary in Deacon’s Quarter and speak to Trevor. If you have passed that point already, there’s another guaranteed pickup after Isaac at Heart of the Clock. Take the spear lying in his arena before you leave.

Open the Arcana screen, select a card and read its Works of Mercy. Equip the card before attempting its work. When the completion banner appears, return to Equipment → Arcanas and spend the blessing on one of that card’s Gifts. On the starting Cursed card, use Cursed Flame to land 20 hits, then spend the blessing on the larger fireball. Once you have that Gift, move on. The “???” line on this card has no second Gift to buy. Check the Gift slots on the other cards as you find them, including the Self after the four trials. Equip a card with unfinished spell challenges while you travel between collectibles.

For the Fallen, line up weak enemies in a corridor. Let one returning Holy Cross cut through five for its multi-kill work. For the Prophetess, petrify flying enemies over a drop so the fall kills them. For the Miser, keep spending mana on the same wheel to extend its spin. For the Shadow’s hidden puzzle, use the candle-count organ solution under Armed to the Fangs. If the Sage still needs save rooms, compare your mirrors against Narcissus. Recheck the card after an attempt to see which counter moved before repeating it.

Open the Armoury to see which of the seven weapon families has an empty slot. Each line below runs from the first slot to the fourth. After a fight, walk up to the weapon and collect it before leaving the room.

• One-handed swords. Start with Longsword. Find Bastard Sword in Justice District Sewers, Joyeuse in Path of the Penitent in the Notre-Dame Undercroft, and Valmanway at the Palace of Justice scale.
• Two-handed swords. Take the Burnt Sword of Fierbois from Joan’s roof in Prison Tower. Find Claymore in The Way of the Fist. For Durandal in Lisa’s Laboratory in the Library, bring Arcane Whip, Aerial Rush and Double Jump. Chapter 2 covers the latter two upgrades. Take Excalibur from Arthur’s pedestal in the Notre-Dame Chapel.
• Whips. Open the chest in Hall of the Fallen Angels for Whip. Grapple to the Fine Arts Shelves balcony for Thorn Whip. Use Aerial Rush to enter Inner Courtyard from Storerooms for Morning Star. Visit Trevor after the Transept fight for Vampire Killer.
• Dual blades. Break the wall by the lever in Crossroads of the Dead for Pair of Longswords. Clear the Watchtower platform challenge for Rapiers. Open the raised chest in Flooded Crypt for Almace and Hauteclaire. The Great Organ puzzle below gives War and Famine.
• Spears. Open the raised chest at Fountain of the Innocents for Lance. Look in Mechanic’s Ascent for Halberd, break the cracked block in Collapsed Path of Orpheus for Gungnir and check the floor after the Heart of the Clock fight for Chauve-Souris.
• Fists. Grapple to the hidden chest in Sewer Reservoir for Cestus. For Jewel Knuckles in Old Gallery, drop below the Alucard portrait and loop through the Dungeons to the switch. Smash into Builder’s Bureau for Fists of Talos. Take the Level Deviled mirror in Hall of Mirrors and clear its encounter for Bernhard’s Wrath.
• Sword and shield. Leave Medusa’s arena to the right for Rusted Harpè and Aegis. The four-orb puzzle below leads to Fleuret and Tower Shield in the Condemned Shelves. Cross the collapsing platforms at Notre-Dame’s Tower Entrance for Arondight and Lancelot’s Shield. Alucard’s set is hidden behind five blue flames.

War and Famine · the secret organ melody

1. Come back to Notre-Dame with Double Jump and Aerial Rush. In the Stained Glass Gallery near the Sealed Scriptorium, note the symbol and number of lit candles at every lit window. Put them in order of candle count. The window with one candle gives your first note. Keep going through the highest count you see, including a tenth note if your gallery shows one.
2. In the Great Organ Room, land on the matching floor keys in that order. Give Sun and Moon their own turns whenever their candle counts differ. Jump or air-dash over intervening keys. If you brush a wrong key, start from the first note again.
3. When the passage on the left opens, go beneath the stairs, pull the lever and drop through the hatch. Head right, sliding under the low gaps, and take War and Famine from the altar.

Fleuret and Tower Shield · the four orbs

1. After defeating Joan on the Prison Tower roof, head east from the Curiosity Cabinet into the Condemned Shelves. Find the globe with the figure of a man inside. From the ledge beside it, bounce on the four orbs around its lower half without touching the ground. Go far left → lower left → lower right → far right. If you hit a different orb, land on the ledge to reset and try again.
2. A larger orb appears above the globe. Bounce straight up from it through the hidden ceiling, then use the smaller orbs to climb. Hold to use Holy Light as you move left through the Chaos Shard walls. If you need height, release to make the wall solid, wall-jump from it, then hold again to pass through. With Aerial Rush you can dash across the gap.
3. At the left end of the passage, drop straight down to the chest and open it for the set.

Alucard’s Sword and Shield. Bring Arcane Whip, Aerial Rush from the Library’s Observation Tower and Double Jump from Leon in the Choir after Death.

1. Start at the Entrance Corridor save mirror. Whip Alucard’s portrait and climb to the red doorway above it. Go through the Wine Cellar and air-dash across the spike shafts in the Armoury. In the Archives, hit the wall switches to shift the blocks into a staircase. Take the upper exit through Path of the Cockroach, then drop down the centre of the Dungeon to the Grand Hall’s red door.
2. Strike the ceiling gear until the way up opens. Ride the lift, go right and climb to the portrait where Alucard points his sword upward. Jump and grapple the anchor overhead to enter the hidden passage.
3. Hit both blue flames on the upper landings of the symmetrical staircase, one on each side. At the Bridge of Knowledge, hit the flame beside the desk, then the one beside the portrait on the level below.
4. For the fifth flame, go to the left end of the outer bridge and drop into the gap between the crumbling platforms. Catch the glowing anchors as you fall and swing right. Climb into the lower room and strike its flame.
5. Return to the top of Alucard’s Tower. Use the shrine beneath the family portrait, climb the new platforms and take the set off the bedroom wall beside the bed. Check its slot in the Armoury before you leave.

In the real Master’s Quarters, go to Sanctuary of Solitude and find the tall hall with glowing grapple rings. Use them to reach the high balcony on the right. Slide under the low opening and operate the switch. Swing across to the balcony on the left, slide into its passage and operate the second switch. Both switches open a hatch in the middle of the ceiling. Swing back to the centre and climb through the hatch to enter the hidden room and earn the trophy. If the ceiling is still closed, check the switch on the opposite balcony.

The target is the completion percentage on one save file. Resume after the credits. First register both the normal and true endings on that file, then check the world map for unexplored exits and unfinished regions. In each one, look for unclaimed weapons, relics, heart fragments and the books that increase attack or defense. Strike the XP statues, open background doors and visit Ferryman’s Wharves as you sweep. Activate every Mirror of Life and finish your missing arcana and Works of Mercy for their separate trophies.

If the map looks full, compare your actual equipment slots and books with the rooms you visited. An arena marked as explored can still hold the reward on its floor. Check the spear after Isaac, the sword after Joan and the Gallery organ passage. If you used Absolution the first time, go back and let the final scene finish normally as well. The save percentage is the number to check after each pass.

If you’re down to a few missing pickups, compare that district on MapGenie’s interactive map. Its 100% checklist is handy for keeping track between sessions.

A set of four Brave Heart fragments increases health. A set of four Wise Heart fragments increases mana. Each of these eight regions contains three of each kind, for 24 Brave and 24 Wise. Read each line as health first, then mana. Some rooms have one of each in different spots.

• Paris Streets. Health in Court of Justice, Prison Tower and Undercity. Mana in Guard Storehouse, Street of the Tomb Masons and Torture Level.
• Cemetery. Health in Ancient Sewers, Mausoleum of the Kings and Ossuary of the Innocents. Mana in Cloister, Mausoleum of the Kings and Roman Baths.
• Catacombs. Health in Blood Pits, Catacomb Entrance and Circle of Greed. Mana in Chamber of Whispers, Hall of the Fallen Angels and Throat of Hell.
• Main Hall. Health in Armoury, Balcony and Mirror Rooms. Mana in Balcony, Entrance Corridor and Wine Cellar.
• Notre-Dame. Health in La Flèche, The Forest and Tree of Saints. Mana in Apse, Chapel of Patience and Tree of Saints.
• Library. Health in Library Foyer, Planetarium and Poetry Shelves. Mana in Fine Arts Shelves, Planetarium and Rhetoric Shelves.
• Hall of Mirrors. Health in Looping Hallways, Nightmare Atrium and Steps of Misdirection. Mana in Ballroom of Terror, Boudoir of Bewilderment and Chamber of Secrecy.
• Clock Tower. Health in Eastern Steps, Serpent Pinion and The Gauntlet. Mana in Central Fuel Reservoir, Upper Gallery and West Tower Base.

Ossuary health fragment. Look for the red tree beneath the chandeliers. Grapple to an upper ledge using a purple ring by either side wall, cross the chandelier tops and grapple onto the platforms in the middle to collect the fragment. If the chandeliers have fallen, leave the room and return to reset them.

Strike the breakable candles on walls and stands as you pass. I’d start doing this in Paris and keep it up on return journeys to the mirrors and Ferryman. You need 666 individual candles, so a long stretch of corridor with several in reach is better than making a detour for a single flame. Leave any remaining count until after your map and item sweep.

Rose starts with The First Card. For the other 39, examine notes, speak to spirits and inspect the objects they point out. Open Tarot → Browse Clues. Use the arcana a missing clue belongs to as your search area. These are the rooms to revisit.

• Self, Fallen and Warrior. Gallery of the Four Virtues for the Prophecy. Path of the Rat and Ruined Market for the Fallen. Burned District and Upper Tower for the Warrior.
• Prophetess and Builder. Fountain of the Innocents, Pauper’s Grave, Sepulcher of the Knight and Roman Baths for the Prophetess. Abandoned Workshop and Daedalus Crossing for the Builder.
• Artist and Occultist. Old Gallery, Elevator Tower, Gallery of Eternal Night and Brauner’s Atelier for the Artist. The Atelier also has the clue about Carmilla. Look for the others in the secret area at Natural Philosophy Shelves, Astronomer’s Office, Drawing Room and Observation Tower.
• Shadow. Charnel Galleries, La Flèche, Collapsed Crypt, Great Organ Room, Transept and Sealed Scriptorium. Talk to the spirits even if you already know their organ melodies.
• Miser and Whisperer. Read all three eye clues in the Bishop’s Office, inspect the Gate of Flesh in Circle of Greed and check the Hospital for the stolen Oboles.
• Zealot, Temptress, Brittle King and Judge. Mechanic’s Ascent, Glass Gallery, Notre-Dame Chapel and Palace of Justice respectively.
• Sage. Heart of the Maze, Looping Hallways, Builder’s Bureau and Steps of Misdirection. If Eleanor has left the Hall of Mirrors, return to the Heart for her message.

Interact with each Mirror of Life so it becomes a usable save point. The district counts below total 34. The ones in the Hall of Mirrors are behind the optional quest that starts at the chained mirror in the Main Hall.

• Paris Streets (5). Burned District, Central Sewer Drain, Gate to the Stone Bridge, Prison Tower, Undercity.
• Holy Innocents’ Cemetery (4). Ancient Sewers, Cloister, Overgrown Crypt, Pauper’s Grave.
• Catacombs (2). Quarry Elevator, Realm of Old Night.
• Notre-Dame (3). East Gallery, Notre-Dame Undercroft, West Triforium.
• Main Hall (9). Archives, Ballrooms, Boudoirs, Elevator Tower, Entrance Corridor, Servants’ Quarters, Storerooms, Torture Chambers, Waterworks.
• Library (2). Exhibition Room, Rhetoric Shelves.
• Clock Tower (3). Eastern Summit, Foundry Apex, Mechanic’s Ascent.
• Hall of Mirrors (5). Familiar Way, Heart of the Maze, Nightmare Atrium, The Descent Into Memory, Threshold of Vision.
• Master’s Quarters (1). Sanctuary of Solitude, on the real final route.

Travel a total of 19.86 km with Rose. Walking back to a mirror, exploring a dead end and crossing an area for the second time all give you opportunities to add distance. Keep exploring on the collection file first. If this is still locked after your sweep, run back and forth along an already cleared stretch of corridor on that save.

Choose a fresh save slot and beat Dracula’s rooftop form before the file reaches 4:00. A fast trip to the false throne room only gives the bad ending. I’d take the normal ending and leave the four virtue trials for your collection file.

The short route is Fallen → Joan and Medusa → three-key Catacombs gate → Ferryman → bridge illusion → Talos and Carmilla → Brauner’s Atelier → cathedral painting → three organ tunes → Death. Go through Deacon’s Quarter to the Choir and speak to Leon to learn Double Jump. Now equip Soul Harvest, disarm the green clock once, climb the red-clock route, beat Isaac and finish Dracula. Chapter two lists the notes for all three tunes. Use mirrors to save along the way and quit to the title screen for breaks. Players have earned this with increased outgoing damage in the gameplay settings if you want shorter fights.

Use one save to explore the castle, earn the three endings and finish the collection. Then start a new game in a separate slot and beat the real final boss in under four hours. Check your PS5 trophy list before starting that run. If the opening boss trophy is missing after a demo import, you can earn it on the fresh file.