Post by Iron Blue Arremer on Feb 15, 2011 7:52:23 GMT -5
Introduction
Soma Cruz is the main character of both Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow. He is the reincarnation of Dracula who has been killed in 1999. In both games, he struggles with himself not to become the lord of darkness.
In his games, he has the ability to absorb so called "souls" from the enemies he kills, allowing him to use abilities related to them, such as mimicking their attacks, summoning them, transforming, etc. He also uses a variety of weapons, and is supported by quite a big NPC cast - his sort-of-girlfriend Mina Hakuba, the vampire hunter Julius Belmont, the witch Yoko Belnades, the bald-headed shopkeep Hammer and the mysterious Genya Arikado.
In Harmony of Despair, Soma is undoubtedly the best character in the game. He has the biggest variety not only in weapons, but also in magical abilities, reaching - with DLC - a total of 91 abilities he can get, both active and passive. He can use the best weapon in the game and has access to some of the best skills.
General Abilities
Overview
Soma, like most characters, utilizies a back dash, a jump kick and a slide kick. Soma also is the character who has the highest mobility. With Yorick soul, he is able to climb even the highest areas with comparable ease. He can take pretty much every shortcut any other character could take and beyond. Additionally, he can give other characters - at least those capable of jump kicking - shortcuts as well.
Aside from this, Soma is one of the 3 characters who can equip more than one weapon. While Shanoa is limited to 3-5 weapons, Alucard and Soma have access to a huge arsenal of weaponry. Soma cannot use several weapon types Alucard can use and shares most blade weapons with the half-vampire, however, there are a few swords only Soma can use. Additionally, all spears, axes, projectile weapons, snake swords and the majority of two-handed blades are exclusive to him. Soma also can hold two weapons, one in each hand, except of course two-handed weapons.
Some of the weapons have weapon specials. Those are triggered by pressing the "Hadoken" button input - Down, Down Forward, Forward, Attack.
This will trigger certain things, reaching from the weapon doing simply more damage to amazing and neat-looking specials, like firing projectiles, summoning minions, or attacking crazily fast.
All of the weapon specials cost unified 20 MP to use.
Soul Mechanic
When Soma kills an enemy, there is a chance that he will recieve a soul from this enemy. If this happens, the soul will home into Soma as soon as the enemy is killed, and a message will pop up stating you got the soul, among with a very easily identifiable sound. The only exceptions to this are the bosses, whose souls you can only recieve when opening their golden boss chest.
Souls count as standard enemy drops, and thus, you can influence your chances by equipping gear that boosts your LCK, as well as so called Soul Eater Rings, that will increase that chance even more. You can buy these rings in the shop.
Soma can get 9 copies of every soul, although there are a few souls that won't change their effectiveness even when collecting more than one copy (e.g. Peeping Eye, Puppet Master, etc.). You can check in the monster compendium how many of the souls you have collected, the little colored balls below the enemy picture show you that.
Soma recieves 3 types of souls, each with their own color - the red Bullet Souls, the blue Guardian Souls and the golden Enchantment Souls.
Bullet Souls are essentially Soma's version of spells, he can assign them to his 4 Hunter Skill slots.
Guardian Souls are Soma's personal skills. They are activated by pressing RB (at least on the standard control setup). They either grant Soma certain abilities (e.g. with Medusa Head, Soma floats in midair), or they summon familiars that fight along with him.
Enchantment Souls are sort of an additional item slot for Soma. These souls passively increase Soma's power, like rising a certain stat, having him resist poison, or heal HP with every enemy he hits with his weapon. Unlike the other 2 types of souls, these souls do not cost any MP.
Souls
Guardian Souls
Bat - Summon a bat as a familiar
Brauner - Draw in the air with cursed paint
Buer - Wear a cloak of tumbling fire
Death - Summon the Grim Reaper's scythe to attack enemies
Final Guard - Gain Iron-clad defense.
Gaibon - Summon Gaiben as a familiar
Ghost - Summon Ghost as a familiar
Medusa Head - Gain the ability to hover in one location
Persephone - Enable "Magic Vacuum" to consume enemy HP
R. Ghost - Summon an 8-bit ghost as a familiar
R. Grim Reaper - Summon the 8-bit Grim Reaper's scythe to attack enemies
R. Medusa - Gain the ability to hover in one location (lower MP cost)
R. Raven - Summon an 8-bit raven as a familiar
R. Skele-dragon - Summon an 8-bit skele-dragon as a familiar
R. Vampire bat - Summon an 8-bit bat as a familiar
White Dragon - Summon a White Dragon
Enchantment Souls
Aliomunis (sp?) - Increase MND
Bone Piller - Increse CON
Dead Warrior - Raise LCK
Ectoplasm - Increase resistance to curses
Imp - Increase INT
Mimic - gain money when taking damage
Minotaur - Increase STR
Peeping Eye - Identify breakable walls
R. Dragon Cannon - Increase CON
R. The Creature - Restore HP gradually
Succubus - Absorb HP when attacking
The Creature - Resotre HP gradually
Treant - Increase MP recovery speed
Zombie - Gain resistance to poison
Bullet Souls
Amalaric Sniper - Summon an archer to support you
Axe Knight - Throw an axe
Beelzebub - Summon flies to attack for you
Cave Troll - Attack with a tongue lashing
Chimyriad - Summon a Chimyriad
Decapiclops - Summon a Decapiclops
Disc Armor - Hurl a sharp-edged circular blade
Dracula - Launch a torrent of magical power
Dullahan - Unleash a vengeful spirit
Fire Demon - Shoot a devastating fireball
Fish Head - Throw a fish Head's head
Fleaman - Summon a Fleaman
Flying Flower - Summon a flying flower
Frozen Shade - Shoot pillars of ice
Gergoth - Fire devastating laser beams
Glasya Labolas - Generate poisonous bubbles
Gurkha Master - Throw Gurkha knives
Harpy - Shoot razor-sharp feathers
Hellmon - Summon a hellmont
Killer Fish - Launch torpedos in water
Kung Fugu - Fire a Kung Fugu's energy ball
Legion - Fire a beam at enemies.
Lerajie - Fire magical bullets that ricochet
Malachi - Summon a dark sphere that spews magical energy
Man-eating plant - Send pollen flying
Merman - Shoot a stream of water
Moldy Corpse - Fling poisonous spores
Mummy - Extend bandages arms
Nova Skeleton - Fire a beam at enemies
Oxocutioner - Summon an Oxocutioner
Perpillary - Summon a perpillary
Pejora's Mask - Summon a Pejora's Mask
Puppet Master - Throw a puppet and switch places with it
R. Axe Man - Throw 8-bit axes
R. Black Knight - Throw spears
R. Black Panther - Summon an 8-bit black panther
R. Eagle - Summon an 8-bit eagle
R. Fish Man - Summon an 8-bit fish man
R. Hunchback - Summon an 8-bit hunchback
R. Phantom Bat - Summon an 8-bit phantom bat
R. Queen Medusa - Summon an 8-bit Queen Medusa
R. Skeleton - Throw 8-bit bones
R. The Count - Summon the count
Ryukotsuki - Summon the arms of Ryukotsuki to attack for you
R. Zombie - Summon an 8-bit zombie
Sea Demon - Produce columns of ice
Skeleton - Throw bones
Skeleton Gunman - Fire bullets from your fingers
Slogra - Throw spears
Specter - Throw lanterns
Spittle Bone - Spew fire while spinning around
Thunder Demon - Generate orbs of lightning
Ukoback - Set fires
Une - Plant Une in the ground
Warg - Use fangs to tear at foes
Witch - Manipulate magical energy and launch it at enemies
Yorick - Kick a skull like a ball
Setups
This is the most commonly used and "best" setup for Soma:
Weapon 1: Valmanway+1
Weapon 2: Valmanway+1
Guardian Soul: R. Medusa (or Medusa Head) / Buer / Final Guard
Enchantment Soul: Minotaur / Succubus
Head: Samurai Helmet / Dragon Helm
Chest: Berserker Mail / Dracula's Tunic / Ancient Armor
Legs: Sonic Boots (or Winged Boots)
Back: Crimson Cloak
Accessory 1: Miser Ring (or Megingiord)
Accessory 2: Miser Ring (or Megingiord)
However, there are a lot more different setups you can take, hell, with Soma's many bullet souls and weapon types, so aside from using, say, an INT-geared build, you even can go for themed builds, like going for specific elements or fun themes.
Stat-based setups
INT
Weapon 1/2: Claimh Solais +1 (or Durandal)
Enchantment Soul: Imp
Head: Royal Crown (or Silk Hat)
Chest: Dracula's Tunic / Death's Robe / Berserker Mail
Legs: Sonic Boots (or Winged Boots)
Back: Blue Cape
Accessory 1: Artemisian/Apollonian Ring (or Satan's Ring)
Accessory 2: Artemisian/Apollonian Ring (or Satan's Ring)
MP Regeneration
Enchantment Soul: Treant
Back: Bishamon Raiment
Accessory 1: Chaos Ring
Accessory 2: Chaos Ring
LCK
Enchantment Soul: Dead Warrior
Head: Royal Crown (or Stone Mask)
Chest: Three 7s / Death's Robe
Legs: Sonic Boots (or Winged Boots)
Back: Ebisu Raiment / any other Raiment (or Cape of Invisibility)
Accessory 1: Thief Ring (Soul Eater Ring if you wanna go for souls)
Accessory 2: Thief Ring (Soul Eater Ring if you wanna go for souls)
"Infinite Spell" mode
Weapon 1: Valmanway
Weapon 2: Valmanway
Enchantment Soul: Succubus
Accessory 1: Astral Ring
Fun and themed setups
You can go crazy here! I'll give you a few examples.
Ice Soma
Weapon 1: Ice Brand
Weapon 2: Ice Brand
Bullet Soul 1: Fish Head
Bullet Soul 2: Frozen Shade
Bullet Soul 3: Sea Demon
Bullet Soul 4: Warg
Head: Viking Helmet
Chest: Ice Mail
Legs: Inuit Boots
Back: Blue Cape
Accessory 1: Crystal Necklet
Accessory 2: Turquoise Stud
Item: Cream Soda
Fire Soma
Weapon 1: Laevatain
Weapon 2: RPG
Guardian Soul: Buer
Bullet Soul 1: Fire Demon
Bullet Soul 2: Ukoback
Bullet Soul 3: Dracula
Bullet Soul 4: Spittle Bone
Head: Dragon Helm
Chest: Fire Mail
Legs: Engineer Boots
Back: Crimson Cloak
Accessory 1: Flame Necklace
Accessory 2: Apollonian Ring
Food: Beef Curry
Secret Agent Cruz
Weapon 1: Combat Knife
Weapon 2: Handgun
Bullet Soul 1: Lerajie
Bullet Soul 2: Skeleton Gunman
Bullet Soul 3: Disc Armor
Bullet Soul 4: Cave Troll
Head: Fedora
Chest: Olrox's Suit, Tuxedo Coat or Pitch-Black Suit
Legs: Wingtips
Back: Black Cloak or Assassin's Cape
Accessory 1: Black Belt
Accessory 2: Neck Warmer
Item: Tea
And so on!
Recommended Weapons
Soma uses the most weapons in the entire game, he has also a lot of different weapons. Some types are shared with Alucard, but most of them are exclusive to Soma. He uses these weapon types: Daggers, one-handed swords, two-handed sword, rapiers, knuckles, whip swords, katanas, projectile weapons, axes, spears and a few maces, as well as special weapons.
I will tell you which are fun and/or good weapons to use with Soma out of each class.
Daggers
Soma has not really any daggers worth using.
One-handed Swords
Valmanway, Valmanway +1: The feared and dreaded weapon. The Valmanway (and it's +1 counterpart), is the best sword and weapon in the game. When using it, the swordsman will do 4 long-ranged sword slashes (yes, 4 for 1 button input). You will do 8 very quick slashes when pressing both attack buttons in rapid succession. Now, while the Valmanway doesn't do much damage as is, it's insane speed and range make it an incredibly strong weapon. You also can move while constantly slashing, to top it off. This is the weapon that makes Alucard and Soma being called "blenders". This weapon has no special. Get 2 of them.
Location: Valmanway - Chapter 6, 7, 8 Hard, Boss chest
Valmanway +1 - Chapter 10 Hard, Boss chest
Milican's Sword: The user swings a small grey blade. It has petrification properties. This is less a powerful but rather a handy weapon. It can petrify enemies, which, obviously, doesn't work on every monster. However, there's an awesome part about this. If you hit a charmed ally, they will petrify as well. And as long as they don't mash buttons, they can stay petrified until the charm wears off, thusly not attacking their teammates. So this might come in handy against Dracula and, most importantly, Astarte. No special on this one. Get at least 1 of them.
Location: Chapter 5 Normal, Boss chest
Two-handed Swords
Terror Bear: Granted, it's not really a sword, but eh. Soma uses a giant stuffed bear, swinging it over his head. This weapon is actually really terrible, but since it looks so hilarious, people love to use it. It also has a special which makes the swing hit a few more times. You don't have to get one, but I felt this was worth mentioning.
Location: Very common on the higher stages (5, 6, etc.) in Normal.
Durandal: A pretty looking zweihander. Only use this weapon if you want to go for the pure INT-setup, otherwise stay away from it. The damage is terrible, it's slow and really, you only wanna use it because of the stat-boost. If you have Chapter 10, don't even bother looking for this sword unless you wanna grab a full item compendium, lol. Claimh Solais +1 blows this one outta the water. Special will have Soma slip forward a bit and deal more damage. Get 1 of them.
Location: Chapter 5 Hard, Green/Blue chests
Claimh Solais, Claimh Solais +1: Soma swings a beautifully crafted claymore. It is very big and deals Holy typed damage. Although this weapon does not have the highest ATK (at least not the normal version, I don't own the +1 version so I can't compare), the Holy property makes this weapon outdo the weapon with the highest ATK (Death Scythe). The special will summon a gargantuan glowing blue blade that deals massive Holy damage. You definitely should try getting your hands on this, aside from Valmanway, this is probably Soma's best weapon.
Location: Claimh Solais: Chapter 6 Hard, Boss chest
Claimh Solais +1: Chapter 10 Hard, Boss chest
Rapiers
Don't use them. No really, don't. Although Kris Naga I guess can be okay if you don't have anything better, but honestly... don't use 'em.
Snake Swords
Nebula: Although this weapon is classified as whip sword and actually was a whip sword in Dawn of Sorrow, in this game, it's actually the Nebula whip from Portrait of Ruin. Soma uses a shiny and long chain whip that homes into enemies. It deals alright damage at a fairly safe range, but the homing can be a bit awkward at times, and the damage output is not really that amazing. This weapon has no special. Get at least 1 of them and try it out if you like it.
Location: Chapters 3 and 11 Hard, Boss chest
Katanas
Muramasa, Muramasa +1: Like with any other katana, Soma creates a storm of slashes in front of him. It is red, though. He cannot move while doing it. The Muramasa is the strongest weapon power-wise, and is a very good weapon to own and use. It's amazing when backdash-cancelled. You definitely should have at least the +1 variation, if you don't own Chapter 11, be sure to get the standard version. Special is, like with most katanas, the rainbow slash that hits a few more times in rapid succession. Get 2 of them.
Location: Muramasa - Chapter 2 Hard, Boss chest; Chapter 11 Normal, Boss chest
Muramasa +1 - Chapter 11 Hard, Boss chest
Axes
Death Scythe: Soma swings the grim reaper's big scythe. This weapon is sloooooow, but it has an insane range, the best base ATK in the game, an amazing special and it looks just badass. The special summons a giant skull that bites towards the enemy, dealing a crapload of damage. This is a very good weapon. Definitely not Soma's best, but still very good. Get 1 of them.
Location: Chapter 5 Hard, Boss chest
Knuckles
Kaiser Knuckle, Kaiser Knuckle +1: Soma will throw out what looks like a swarm of fists. I'm only mentioning the standard version because it's Soma's only fist weapon and very useful against Astarte if you don't have the +1 one, which is an amazing weapon and the best knuckle in the entire game. It's powerful, quick and deadly. Soma's version of this weapon has no special. Get at least 1 of them.
Location: Kaiser Knuckle - Chapter 9 Normal, Purple/Boss chests, otherwise fairly common on other stages
Kaiser Knuckle +1 - Chapter 9 Hard, Boss chest
Maces
Mjollnjr is the only noteworthy weapon, and that one is pretty terrible, it's just somewhat fun to use. Better stay away from this weapon type.
Fire Arms
Silver Gun: Using a pistol, Soma shoots straight forward. You can't see the bullet, though. This weapon is only useful if you're good with backdashcancelling. And even then, there's usually better choices. But this can be bought in the shop and lets you stay on safe range, so try it if you're capable of the backdashcancel. This weapon has no special. Get at least 1 of them.
Location: Shop
Throwing Sickle: Soma tosses a small sickle that flies straight forward until hitting an obstacle. Although it seems a bit puny, the Throwing Sickle can be a nice addition to your standard attacks since you can toss and Soma doesn't even do an animation with it. Essentially you can throw it while doing pretty much everything else. Nice to get in a bit of additional damage while approaching, dodging or preparing another attack. No special. Get at least 1 of them, give 'em a try.
Location: Chapters 5 and 6 Hard, purple/Boss chests
RPG: Hells yea, a freaking missile launcher! Unfortunately, this weapon is fairly slow and doesn't deal a lot of damage, although the blast radius is quite nice, and the fact it has infinite range until hitting an obstacle is really cool. If you don't have access to any really good weapons yet, the RPG is probably one of your better choices - it has a long range, an alright damage output and it just looks awesome. No special, though. Get 1 of them.
Location: Shop
Spears
Longinus: Some uses a divine crested spear. It deals Holy damage and is, out of the spears, the one with the highest ATK. Longinus is probably one of the weapons you will use when farming for your first Valmanway and such. It's a nice weapon - spears are fairly quick, the damage output is good and it's pretty common. The special simply deals more damage, so it's not much worth using. Combined with another weapon like the Throwing Sickle or RPG, this is a great weapon to start farming for. Get at least 1 of em.
Location: Chapter 6 Hard, Green/Purple chests
Gungner: Soma uses a bright red spear with a weirdly shaped "blade". Although this lance has about half the ATK as Longinus, it is able to easily hit 2-3 times with one swing, making up with the lesser attack power. It has lightning property, so there's little enemies resistant to it (I only remember the Thunder Demons). Its special shoots a giant beam of infinite range that also is able to hit multiple times, so it's probably worth trying out. Alongside the Longinus, this is the best spear. They're both worth trying and fun to use, although Gungner is a rare boss drop, so you probably won't get it all too soon. Get at least 1 of em.
Location: Chapter 4 Hard, Boss chest
Special Weapons
Here, Soma only has access to the Nunchakus, and they're pretty terribad, so don't use them.
Progressing Soma
Although Soma has souls, they level up by collecting more copies of them. Leveling up his souls will not affect his actual power, though, although it is rumored to have influence on all of his souls.
In any case, Soma's power mostly comes from the weapons and equipment he puts on. Thusly, you want to collect as many high-level equipment as possible.
Soma Cruz is the main character of both Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow. He is the reincarnation of Dracula who has been killed in 1999. In both games, he struggles with himself not to become the lord of darkness.
In his games, he has the ability to absorb so called "souls" from the enemies he kills, allowing him to use abilities related to them, such as mimicking their attacks, summoning them, transforming, etc. He also uses a variety of weapons, and is supported by quite a big NPC cast - his sort-of-girlfriend Mina Hakuba, the vampire hunter Julius Belmont, the witch Yoko Belnades, the bald-headed shopkeep Hammer and the mysterious Genya Arikado.
In Harmony of Despair, Soma is undoubtedly the best character in the game. He has the biggest variety not only in weapons, but also in magical abilities, reaching - with DLC - a total of 91 abilities he can get, both active and passive. He can use the best weapon in the game and has access to some of the best skills.
General Abilities
Overview
Soma, like most characters, utilizies a back dash, a jump kick and a slide kick. Soma also is the character who has the highest mobility. With Yorick soul, he is able to climb even the highest areas with comparable ease. He can take pretty much every shortcut any other character could take and beyond. Additionally, he can give other characters - at least those capable of jump kicking - shortcuts as well.
Aside from this, Soma is one of the 3 characters who can equip more than one weapon. While Shanoa is limited to 3-5 weapons, Alucard and Soma have access to a huge arsenal of weaponry. Soma cannot use several weapon types Alucard can use and shares most blade weapons with the half-vampire, however, there are a few swords only Soma can use. Additionally, all spears, axes, projectile weapons, snake swords and the majority of two-handed blades are exclusive to him. Soma also can hold two weapons, one in each hand, except of course two-handed weapons.
Some of the weapons have weapon specials. Those are triggered by pressing the "Hadoken" button input - Down, Down Forward, Forward, Attack.
This will trigger certain things, reaching from the weapon doing simply more damage to amazing and neat-looking specials, like firing projectiles, summoning minions, or attacking crazily fast.
All of the weapon specials cost unified 20 MP to use.
Soul Mechanic
When Soma kills an enemy, there is a chance that he will recieve a soul from this enemy. If this happens, the soul will home into Soma as soon as the enemy is killed, and a message will pop up stating you got the soul, among with a very easily identifiable sound. The only exceptions to this are the bosses, whose souls you can only recieve when opening their golden boss chest.
Souls count as standard enemy drops, and thus, you can influence your chances by equipping gear that boosts your LCK, as well as so called Soul Eater Rings, that will increase that chance even more. You can buy these rings in the shop.
Soma can get 9 copies of every soul, although there are a few souls that won't change their effectiveness even when collecting more than one copy (e.g. Peeping Eye, Puppet Master, etc.). You can check in the monster compendium how many of the souls you have collected, the little colored balls below the enemy picture show you that.
Soma recieves 3 types of souls, each with their own color - the red Bullet Souls, the blue Guardian Souls and the golden Enchantment Souls.
Bullet Souls are essentially Soma's version of spells, he can assign them to his 4 Hunter Skill slots.
Guardian Souls are Soma's personal skills. They are activated by pressing RB (at least on the standard control setup). They either grant Soma certain abilities (e.g. with Medusa Head, Soma floats in midair), or they summon familiars that fight along with him.
Enchantment Souls are sort of an additional item slot for Soma. These souls passively increase Soma's power, like rising a certain stat, having him resist poison, or heal HP with every enemy he hits with his weapon. Unlike the other 2 types of souls, these souls do not cost any MP.
Souls
Guardian Souls
Bat - Summon a bat as a familiar
Brauner - Draw in the air with cursed paint
Buer - Wear a cloak of tumbling fire
Death - Summon the Grim Reaper's scythe to attack enemies
Final Guard - Gain Iron-clad defense.
Gaibon - Summon Gaiben as a familiar
Ghost - Summon Ghost as a familiar
Medusa Head - Gain the ability to hover in one location
Persephone - Enable "Magic Vacuum" to consume enemy HP
R. Ghost - Summon an 8-bit ghost as a familiar
R. Grim Reaper - Summon the 8-bit Grim Reaper's scythe to attack enemies
R. Medusa - Gain the ability to hover in one location (lower MP cost)
R. Raven - Summon an 8-bit raven as a familiar
R. Skele-dragon - Summon an 8-bit skele-dragon as a familiar
R. Vampire bat - Summon an 8-bit bat as a familiar
White Dragon - Summon a White Dragon
Enchantment Souls
Aliomunis (sp?) - Increase MND
Bone Piller - Increse CON
Dead Warrior - Raise LCK
Ectoplasm - Increase resistance to curses
Imp - Increase INT
Mimic - gain money when taking damage
Minotaur - Increase STR
Peeping Eye - Identify breakable walls
R. Dragon Cannon - Increase CON
R. The Creature - Restore HP gradually
Succubus - Absorb HP when attacking
The Creature - Resotre HP gradually
Treant - Increase MP recovery speed
Zombie - Gain resistance to poison
Bullet Souls
Amalaric Sniper - Summon an archer to support you
Axe Knight - Throw an axe
Beelzebub - Summon flies to attack for you
Cave Troll - Attack with a tongue lashing
Chimyriad - Summon a Chimyriad
Decapiclops - Summon a Decapiclops
Disc Armor - Hurl a sharp-edged circular blade
Dracula - Launch a torrent of magical power
Dullahan - Unleash a vengeful spirit
Fire Demon - Shoot a devastating fireball
Fish Head - Throw a fish Head's head
Fleaman - Summon a Fleaman
Flying Flower - Summon a flying flower
Frozen Shade - Shoot pillars of ice
Gergoth - Fire devastating laser beams
Glasya Labolas - Generate poisonous bubbles
Gurkha Master - Throw Gurkha knives
Harpy - Shoot razor-sharp feathers
Hellmon - Summon a hellmont
Killer Fish - Launch torpedos in water
Kung Fugu - Fire a Kung Fugu's energy ball
Legion - Fire a beam at enemies.
Lerajie - Fire magical bullets that ricochet
Malachi - Summon a dark sphere that spews magical energy
Man-eating plant - Send pollen flying
Merman - Shoot a stream of water
Moldy Corpse - Fling poisonous spores
Mummy - Extend bandages arms
Nova Skeleton - Fire a beam at enemies
Oxocutioner - Summon an Oxocutioner
Perpillary - Summon a perpillary
Pejora's Mask - Summon a Pejora's Mask
Puppet Master - Throw a puppet and switch places with it
R. Axe Man - Throw 8-bit axes
R. Black Knight - Throw spears
R. Black Panther - Summon an 8-bit black panther
R. Eagle - Summon an 8-bit eagle
R. Fish Man - Summon an 8-bit fish man
R. Hunchback - Summon an 8-bit hunchback
R. Phantom Bat - Summon an 8-bit phantom bat
R. Queen Medusa - Summon an 8-bit Queen Medusa
R. Skeleton - Throw 8-bit bones
R. The Count - Summon the count
Ryukotsuki - Summon the arms of Ryukotsuki to attack for you
R. Zombie - Summon an 8-bit zombie
Sea Demon - Produce columns of ice
Skeleton - Throw bones
Skeleton Gunman - Fire bullets from your fingers
Slogra - Throw spears
Specter - Throw lanterns
Spittle Bone - Spew fire while spinning around
Thunder Demon - Generate orbs of lightning
Ukoback - Set fires
Une - Plant Une in the ground
Warg - Use fangs to tear at foes
Witch - Manipulate magical energy and launch it at enemies
Yorick - Kick a skull like a ball
Setups
This is the most commonly used and "best" setup for Soma:
Weapon 1: Valmanway+1
Weapon 2: Valmanway+1
Guardian Soul: R. Medusa (or Medusa Head) / Buer / Final Guard
Enchantment Soul: Minotaur / Succubus
Head: Samurai Helmet / Dragon Helm
Chest: Berserker Mail / Dracula's Tunic / Ancient Armor
Legs: Sonic Boots (or Winged Boots)
Back: Crimson Cloak
Accessory 1: Miser Ring (or Megingiord)
Accessory 2: Miser Ring (or Megingiord)
However, there are a lot more different setups you can take, hell, with Soma's many bullet souls and weapon types, so aside from using, say, an INT-geared build, you even can go for themed builds, like going for specific elements or fun themes.
Stat-based setups
INT
Weapon 1/2: Claimh Solais +1 (or Durandal)
Enchantment Soul: Imp
Head: Royal Crown (or Silk Hat)
Chest: Dracula's Tunic / Death's Robe / Berserker Mail
Legs: Sonic Boots (or Winged Boots)
Back: Blue Cape
Accessory 1: Artemisian/Apollonian Ring (or Satan's Ring)
Accessory 2: Artemisian/Apollonian Ring (or Satan's Ring)
MP Regeneration
Enchantment Soul: Treant
Back: Bishamon Raiment
Accessory 1: Chaos Ring
Accessory 2: Chaos Ring
LCK
Enchantment Soul: Dead Warrior
Head: Royal Crown (or Stone Mask)
Chest: Three 7s / Death's Robe
Legs: Sonic Boots (or Winged Boots)
Back: Ebisu Raiment / any other Raiment (or Cape of Invisibility)
Accessory 1: Thief Ring (Soul Eater Ring if you wanna go for souls)
Accessory 2: Thief Ring (Soul Eater Ring if you wanna go for souls)
"Infinite Spell" mode
Weapon 1: Valmanway
Weapon 2: Valmanway
Enchantment Soul: Succubus
Accessory 1: Astral Ring
Fun and themed setups
You can go crazy here! I'll give you a few examples.
Ice Soma
Weapon 1: Ice Brand
Weapon 2: Ice Brand
Bullet Soul 1: Fish Head
Bullet Soul 2: Frozen Shade
Bullet Soul 3: Sea Demon
Bullet Soul 4: Warg
Head: Viking Helmet
Chest: Ice Mail
Legs: Inuit Boots
Back: Blue Cape
Accessory 1: Crystal Necklet
Accessory 2: Turquoise Stud
Item: Cream Soda
Fire Soma
Weapon 1: Laevatain
Weapon 2: RPG
Guardian Soul: Buer
Bullet Soul 1: Fire Demon
Bullet Soul 2: Ukoback
Bullet Soul 3: Dracula
Bullet Soul 4: Spittle Bone
Head: Dragon Helm
Chest: Fire Mail
Legs: Engineer Boots
Back: Crimson Cloak
Accessory 1: Flame Necklace
Accessory 2: Apollonian Ring
Food: Beef Curry
Secret Agent Cruz
Weapon 1: Combat Knife
Weapon 2: Handgun
Bullet Soul 1: Lerajie
Bullet Soul 2: Skeleton Gunman
Bullet Soul 3: Disc Armor
Bullet Soul 4: Cave Troll
Head: Fedora
Chest: Olrox's Suit, Tuxedo Coat or Pitch-Black Suit
Legs: Wingtips
Back: Black Cloak or Assassin's Cape
Accessory 1: Black Belt
Accessory 2: Neck Warmer
Item: Tea
And so on!
Recommended Weapons
Soma uses the most weapons in the entire game, he has also a lot of different weapons. Some types are shared with Alucard, but most of them are exclusive to Soma. He uses these weapon types: Daggers, one-handed swords, two-handed sword, rapiers, knuckles, whip swords, katanas, projectile weapons, axes, spears and a few maces, as well as special weapons.
I will tell you which are fun and/or good weapons to use with Soma out of each class.
Daggers
Soma has not really any daggers worth using.
One-handed Swords
Valmanway, Valmanway +1: The feared and dreaded weapon. The Valmanway (and it's +1 counterpart), is the best sword and weapon in the game. When using it, the swordsman will do 4 long-ranged sword slashes (yes, 4 for 1 button input). You will do 8 very quick slashes when pressing both attack buttons in rapid succession. Now, while the Valmanway doesn't do much damage as is, it's insane speed and range make it an incredibly strong weapon. You also can move while constantly slashing, to top it off. This is the weapon that makes Alucard and Soma being called "blenders". This weapon has no special. Get 2 of them.
Location: Valmanway - Chapter 6, 7, 8 Hard, Boss chest
Valmanway +1 - Chapter 10 Hard, Boss chest
Milican's Sword: The user swings a small grey blade. It has petrification properties. This is less a powerful but rather a handy weapon. It can petrify enemies, which, obviously, doesn't work on every monster. However, there's an awesome part about this. If you hit a charmed ally, they will petrify as well. And as long as they don't mash buttons, they can stay petrified until the charm wears off, thusly not attacking their teammates. So this might come in handy against Dracula and, most importantly, Astarte. No special on this one. Get at least 1 of them.
Location: Chapter 5 Normal, Boss chest
Two-handed Swords
Terror Bear: Granted, it's not really a sword, but eh. Soma uses a giant stuffed bear, swinging it over his head. This weapon is actually really terrible, but since it looks so hilarious, people love to use it. It also has a special which makes the swing hit a few more times. You don't have to get one, but I felt this was worth mentioning.
Location: Very common on the higher stages (5, 6, etc.) in Normal.
Durandal: A pretty looking zweihander. Only use this weapon if you want to go for the pure INT-setup, otherwise stay away from it. The damage is terrible, it's slow and really, you only wanna use it because of the stat-boost. If you have Chapter 10, don't even bother looking for this sword unless you wanna grab a full item compendium, lol. Claimh Solais +1 blows this one outta the water. Special will have Soma slip forward a bit and deal more damage. Get 1 of them.
Location: Chapter 5 Hard, Green/Blue chests
Claimh Solais, Claimh Solais +1: Soma swings a beautifully crafted claymore. It is very big and deals Holy typed damage. Although this weapon does not have the highest ATK (at least not the normal version, I don't own the +1 version so I can't compare), the Holy property makes this weapon outdo the weapon with the highest ATK (Death Scythe). The special will summon a gargantuan glowing blue blade that deals massive Holy damage. You definitely should try getting your hands on this, aside from Valmanway, this is probably Soma's best weapon.
Location: Claimh Solais: Chapter 6 Hard, Boss chest
Claimh Solais +1: Chapter 10 Hard, Boss chest
Rapiers
Don't use them. No really, don't. Although Kris Naga I guess can be okay if you don't have anything better, but honestly... don't use 'em.
Snake Swords
Nebula: Although this weapon is classified as whip sword and actually was a whip sword in Dawn of Sorrow, in this game, it's actually the Nebula whip from Portrait of Ruin. Soma uses a shiny and long chain whip that homes into enemies. It deals alright damage at a fairly safe range, but the homing can be a bit awkward at times, and the damage output is not really that amazing. This weapon has no special. Get at least 1 of them and try it out if you like it.
Location: Chapters 3 and 11 Hard, Boss chest
Katanas
Muramasa, Muramasa +1: Like with any other katana, Soma creates a storm of slashes in front of him. It is red, though. He cannot move while doing it. The Muramasa is the strongest weapon power-wise, and is a very good weapon to own and use. It's amazing when backdash-cancelled. You definitely should have at least the +1 variation, if you don't own Chapter 11, be sure to get the standard version. Special is, like with most katanas, the rainbow slash that hits a few more times in rapid succession. Get 2 of them.
Location: Muramasa - Chapter 2 Hard, Boss chest; Chapter 11 Normal, Boss chest
Muramasa +1 - Chapter 11 Hard, Boss chest
Axes
Death Scythe: Soma swings the grim reaper's big scythe. This weapon is sloooooow, but it has an insane range, the best base ATK in the game, an amazing special and it looks just badass. The special summons a giant skull that bites towards the enemy, dealing a crapload of damage. This is a very good weapon. Definitely not Soma's best, but still very good. Get 1 of them.
Location: Chapter 5 Hard, Boss chest
Knuckles
Kaiser Knuckle, Kaiser Knuckle +1: Soma will throw out what looks like a swarm of fists. I'm only mentioning the standard version because it's Soma's only fist weapon and very useful against Astarte if you don't have the +1 one, which is an amazing weapon and the best knuckle in the entire game. It's powerful, quick and deadly. Soma's version of this weapon has no special. Get at least 1 of them.
Location: Kaiser Knuckle - Chapter 9 Normal, Purple/Boss chests, otherwise fairly common on other stages
Kaiser Knuckle +1 - Chapter 9 Hard, Boss chest
Maces
Mjollnjr is the only noteworthy weapon, and that one is pretty terrible, it's just somewhat fun to use. Better stay away from this weapon type.
Fire Arms
Silver Gun: Using a pistol, Soma shoots straight forward. You can't see the bullet, though. This weapon is only useful if you're good with backdashcancelling. And even then, there's usually better choices. But this can be bought in the shop and lets you stay on safe range, so try it if you're capable of the backdashcancel. This weapon has no special. Get at least 1 of them.
Location: Shop
Throwing Sickle: Soma tosses a small sickle that flies straight forward until hitting an obstacle. Although it seems a bit puny, the Throwing Sickle can be a nice addition to your standard attacks since you can toss and Soma doesn't even do an animation with it. Essentially you can throw it while doing pretty much everything else. Nice to get in a bit of additional damage while approaching, dodging or preparing another attack. No special. Get at least 1 of them, give 'em a try.
Location: Chapters 5 and 6 Hard, purple/Boss chests
RPG: Hells yea, a freaking missile launcher! Unfortunately, this weapon is fairly slow and doesn't deal a lot of damage, although the blast radius is quite nice, and the fact it has infinite range until hitting an obstacle is really cool. If you don't have access to any really good weapons yet, the RPG is probably one of your better choices - it has a long range, an alright damage output and it just looks awesome. No special, though. Get 1 of them.
Location: Shop
Spears
Longinus: Some uses a divine crested spear. It deals Holy damage and is, out of the spears, the one with the highest ATK. Longinus is probably one of the weapons you will use when farming for your first Valmanway and such. It's a nice weapon - spears are fairly quick, the damage output is good and it's pretty common. The special simply deals more damage, so it's not much worth using. Combined with another weapon like the Throwing Sickle or RPG, this is a great weapon to start farming for. Get at least 1 of em.
Location: Chapter 6 Hard, Green/Purple chests
Gungner: Soma uses a bright red spear with a weirdly shaped "blade". Although this lance has about half the ATK as Longinus, it is able to easily hit 2-3 times with one swing, making up with the lesser attack power. It has lightning property, so there's little enemies resistant to it (I only remember the Thunder Demons). Its special shoots a giant beam of infinite range that also is able to hit multiple times, so it's probably worth trying out. Alongside the Longinus, this is the best spear. They're both worth trying and fun to use, although Gungner is a rare boss drop, so you probably won't get it all too soon. Get at least 1 of em.
Location: Chapter 4 Hard, Boss chest
Special Weapons
Here, Soma only has access to the Nunchakus, and they're pretty terribad, so don't use them.
Progressing Soma
Although Soma has souls, they level up by collecting more copies of them. Leveling up his souls will not affect his actual power, though, although it is rumored to have influence on all of his souls.
In any case, Soma's power mostly comes from the weapons and equipment he puts on. Thusly, you want to collect as many high-level equipment as possible.
