Symphony of the Night Weapons Weapons Runesword The Rune Sword, a one handed weapon, is one of my favorite sword. With a normal attack, it swoops out of Alucard's hands, flies at an arc and returns very quickly. Very cool. It's also very rare. Keep attacking the Dodo Bird in the Inverse Castle entrance (with all of those Dragon Riders) and you'll find it eventually. Yasutsuna Very quick and powerful, the Yasutsuna will attack with a very quick circle of blades in front of Alucard. He can also use this weapon while moving (he doesn't have to stand still.) Unfortunately, it's a two-handed weapon and it decreases the defense rating. This one's found by killing the Werewolves in the inverted Colisseum. Crissaegrim Arguably one of the coolest swords in the game. It's vaguely similar to the Yasutsuna, but it shoots out vacuum waves instead of the circular blades. Although on the status screen, it's weaker the Yasutsuna, its speed and number of hits infliced more than makes up for it. It's one handed and it doesn't lower your defense. Keep killing the Schmoos (those flying ghosts) in the inverted Library to get this. Osafune Katana A two-handed weapon, it's pretty strong. However, execute a fireball motion (down, down-forward, forward, attack) and Alucard will transport forward, swing a few times very fast, and then return. You can find this behind the waterfall in the inverted Underground caverns. Muramasa An interesting two-handed sword, the Murasama is also swung very fast, creating the circular blades like the Yasutsana, but it isn't quite as fast or powerful, and you must stand still when using it. Described as a bloodthirsty sword, when it is equipped, you will have the Dark Metamorphosis spell permanently cast upon you. Keep killing the Vandal Swords (ghosts that come out of the Sword Lords) in the Clock Tower to get this. Sword of Dawn The sword itself has no interesting attack, but there is a cool spell... do a fireball motion, and you'll summon a Warrior of Dawn...an archer, warrior, or magician. Occasionaly, you'll even get a small army of red-clad soldiers. The best things is that you can make a whole slew of these guy on the screen at one time. You'll find it in the inverted Castle Keep. Right where you found the Jump Stone in the normal castle, hit the wall until it crumbles. Sword Familiar When your Sword familiar reaches level 50, you can deequip it and use it as a sword. While it has no special power, the higher the level of the Sword familiar, the more powerful it is. At level 99, it will have an attack strength of 161. This basically makes it the most powerful sword in the game strength-wise, although many prefer the speed of the Crissaegrim. Shield Rod The special power of the Shield Rod make it the most revered weapon in Symphony of the Night. Found in the lower-left corner of the Colisseum (in the room with all the butchered meat) equip the Shield Rod in one hand and a shield in the other. Press the left and right hand attack buttons (Square and Circle) and a special spell will be executed, depending on the shield. Here are the listings: Alucart Shield Attempts to cast Alucard shield spell but fails. Leather Shield Summons a cow that rases defense. Medusa Shield Causes a gorgon to appear that fires rays ahead of Alucard. Knight Shield Summons a stallion that rases defense. Iron Shield Summons a warrior who throws two swords ahead of Alucard. Axe Lord Shield Summons an axe lord who will walk ahead of Alucard and attack the first enemy it meets. Herald Shield Summons a sprite that gives protection from fire and thunder. Shamen Shield Summons a magical creature that rases intelligence. Goddess Shield Summons a Goddess who gives protection from dark attacks. Skull Shield Summons a group of skulls that fires a bolt accross the screen. Fire Shield Summons 3 flaming serpents who fly across the screen. Dark Shield Summons a dark skull that does damage to all enemies on the screen. Alucard shield Summons all other shields and turns the Alucard shield into a soul stealing weapon. Hitting enemies with your shield will give you life and hearts. Mablung Sword This is another relatively unknown sword. It's basically just like the Shield Rod, but it will raise your Defense a little bit and has a better attack strength (although the magic spells with the shields are no different.) Keep killing the Spectral Sword (surrounded by shields and spears) in the inverted Chapel (in the stained glass room.) Marsil Sword The Marsil Sword is a flaming blade that is quite cool...it can hit up to four times with its fire. Doing the famous fireball motion will cause flames to fly over the screen. Find this by repeatedly killing those big Fire Demons in the inverted Marble Gallery. Terminus Est A poison sword, an executioner's blade, rare item from a Nova Skeleton (various spots in inverted castle.) Jewel Sword Leaves jewels as items when killing monsters (though it usually drops those crappy Zircon rings.) Get this from the Discus Knight (found only in the Catacombs). You can also find it in that annoying passage near the beginning of the castle (where you have to break that big rock open at both ends, and run back and forth in the normal form, bat, and wolf until a room in the lower-left corner opens.) Spells Summon Spirit One of the simpler spells, Alucard will call out a single spirit that will track down an enemy on the screen and hit it a few times before disappearing. (MP 5) B, F, D, U + Square or Triangle Dark Metamorphosis A pretty darn handy spell to know for the beginning of the game. When cast, Alucard will turn red for a short amount of time. During this period, any enemy that sheds blood when you hurt or kill them will heal you (much like actually drinking blood.) Oddly enough, this doesn't work with the Bloody Zombie, the one of the most blatantly gory monsters in the game. (MP 10) B, UB, U, UF, F + Square or Circle Hellfire Every true Castlevania fan is wary of Dracula's main attack...transporting, opening his cape and sending three fireballs out. Hellfire is exactly that. Alucard will mimic his father's actions almost precisely. The time it takes to execute and its power make this spell usefulness questionable. (MP 15) U, D, DF, F + Square or Circle Soul Steal This spells will send out a few spirits that will actually take life away from enemies and give it to Alucard. Takes the most magic power of any spell, but very useful in various situations. (MP 50) B, F, DF, D, DB, B, F + Square or Circle Tetra Spirit Much like a Summon Spirit spell times four. Four spirits will be summoned to fly around the screen and wreak havoc. Much more useful than the normal Summon Spirit attack. (MP 20) U (Hold for 2 Sec.), UF, F, DF, D + Square or Circle Sword Brothers (with Sword Familiar) Requiring the Sword Familiar, this spell will summon a gigantic sword that will hover in the middle of the screen and then send out a powerful blast, harming everything in the vinicinity. Rather powerful and useful for those times in the inverted castle were you are absoultely overwhelmed. (MP 30) D, DF, F, UF, U (Hold for 2 Sec.), D + Square or Circle Wing Smash (as Bat) You often see Alucard's second Doppelganger using this attack. Turn into a bat and execute this manuever, and Alucard will charge forward very fast, causing damage to anything in its path. Great for flying enemies, especially since the bat form's fireballs aren't that powerful. (MP 8) Hold X, U, UB, B, DB, D, DF, F, Release X Wolf Charge (as Wolf) I pretty much still regard the wolf as almost useless, but this attack will at least give some purposde to the beast. It is very similar to the Wing Smash, only obviously the wolf is on the ground; he will charge the enemy quickly and inflict a good amount of damage. (MP 10) D, DF, F + Square or Circle