Writing a Boss Guide! Please help!

[Godot343]

Good job on the guide so far. Maybe this is just me overlooking something, but on Death, he does summon more of those tiny scythes manually in two of his attacks in the boss room. The one where he just stands in front of you, puts his hand forth, and summons them, and then there's the one where he flies overhead, leaving behind two waves of the scythes. Whip users usually have no problem with either of them, since they can just dangle their whip and rotate it to block each scythe from progressing.

Again, not sure if you mentioned it or if I overlooked it.

[Chaos]

Yeah, that's Deathscythe Sweep and Storm. Based the name the attacks by the spell Charlotte gets.

[Chaos]

Well being the colossal faggots GameFAQs are the first version of the guide was denied citing it being incomplete despite my clicking the box meant to tell them that it was fucking incomplete![/b] So I'm finishing this thing before I try again.

Anyway, here goes. Dracula. I'm almost certain I've missed something somewhere. If there was any part of this game I needed your help with accuracy, it is this chapter. Please please please.

CHAPTER 6
BOSS: DRACULA
SPECIAL NOTES: Help me with this. If I have missed something, tell me. Dracula has three forms, and enough attacks to decimate a small army between the three of them. Not to mention some of them change or have little quirks to them on hard mode. I'll be breaking this up into attack and strategy by phases as opposed to trying to get them all at once.

ATTACKS - PHASE ONE:
Teleport: Being Dracula, it should come as no shock that he teleports around. He's done it since day one and he'll keep doing it till 1999 rolls around

Hellfire: The classic Dracula attack. Dracula draws his cape backwards for this attack before launching anywhere from three to five fireballs ar you. Attack them, jump over them, get behind Dracula before they launch. Anything you need to do in order to dodge this.

Dark Inferno: The other half to the classic Dracula coin. Dracula launches a series of dark meteors at you alternating in high and low patterns. Its just a matter of hopping and ducking. As he gets low on health he may or may not fill the room with fire pillars so you'll have to reposition yourself before you stop hopping and ducking otherwise you're likely to eat a ton of damage here. This is probably Dracula's most dangerous attack in phase one under the circumstances. Again, you can also get behind Dracula for this.

Fire Pillars: The oddball attack. Dracula calls two pillars of fire from the floor initially, then one more based on your position shortly after. If the pillars have a lot of space between them, just adjust as needed for the third pillar.

STRATEGY - PHASE ONE: This is it. This is the big fight. Dracula tosses his wine glass, rises from his throne, and teleports into the room. This phase is cake. Just whack Dracula in the head over and over and dodge the attacks. Getting behind him leaves him wide open. Even if you don't get behind him, these attacks aren't terribly hard to dodge.

HARD MODE - PHASE ONE: I can't think of anything besides the normal additional health and damage except for the fact that when he uses Dark Inferno, he'll launch more meteors.


ATTACKS - PHASE TWO:
Jump: Dracula's main way of moving around in this phase is jumping. Simple. Just don't touch him.

Destruction Ray: Remember the green ray attack from Order of Ecclesia? That's this. Dracula will jump a good long distance and fire three sets of three rays directly underneath him. Hitting the rays will poison you and its not something you can afford regardless of difficulty. He only seems to do this two ways. One if he's far away and wants to jump close, or if he's really close and wants to jump away. There's a slight pause before he does it to get away in whatever direction you need to. If he's getting ready to jump and he's fairly close to one side of the arena, be ready for this attack and get away.

Ghost Chaser: Same cursing attack as Dullahan (The big suit of armor who's head floats around if you don't know the enemy). The difference being that Dracula rapid fires it multiple times. It behaves the same way as Dullahan's Ghost Chaser though, so if you move after it fires it'll land where you were, not where you are. He's probably going to be facing you when he does this so its best to walk the same direction he's facing in a series of quick steps. This attack still does curse you. Charlotte and Yoko players need to avoid this at just about any cost that isn't going to get you killed.

Firewave: Dracula shoots a fireball at the ground which explodes into a fire wave exactly like the fire wave the Final Guards would cast as you made your way up to the throne room. Double jump over it or do whatever it is you did to avoid it so long as it isn't doesn't make you give Dracula a hug...even if he probably does need a hug after all the crap he's dealt with.

Gergoth Soul: I call it Gergoth soul since its not as corny as calling it death ray. Dracula faces one side of the room, charges the laser up like Gergoth, and fires down at you. The strategy for avoiding the attack itself is the same in single and multiplayer. If he's facing you head against the wall and double jump just as he fires. You'll end up with a safe patch to stand on when you land. In multiplayer you'll have to avoid Dracula as the force of the attack kicks him back. I've never actually seen him push up against the wall far enough to cause contact damage, so that's probably your best bet.

STRATEGY - PHASE TWO: Enough of this! GIVE. ME. POWER!!! Dracula transforms into the monster he changed into in Rondo of Blood and the prologue of Symphony of the Night. Dracula's bag of tricks is much bigger in this phase and it pretty much boils down to dodging. The only attack in this phase that will really catch you off guard is Destruction Ray. In phase two its best to just give your self a little distance as you attack. Whip users will want to use their subweapons and tip of the whip, casters can keep their range with typical spells but should try to melee when they can to conserve MP for the third phase. Dracula's second form is ultimately trial and error. Just reading this guide won't earn you a free ticket through. You just have to experience it and learn it.

HARD MODE - PHASE TWO: I can't honestly remember anything different about Dracula's second form in hard mode that's different. More health, more damage, that's it.


ATTACKS - PHASE THREE:
Swipe: Dracula moves to the side swiping with his claws. If you don't pay attention you won't see this attack coming. Watch for the hands to glow red. If the hand on your right glows red he'll swipe left, and vise versa.

Fire Pillar Chase: Far as I can tell this is telegraphed when Dracula draws his hands together and a red circle appears. Dracula targets a player and begins to call pillars under said target a series of times. Just keep sliding so you don't end up hitting Dracula's hands or something. This is just annoying solo, but in multiplayer you're going to have to watch for who has it and move with them if they're heading your way.

Purple Rays: Signified by a blue circle when he draws his hands together. I know this is a Dual Crush the player can preform and I'd like to know the name so I can call it by its proper name. Anyway, lines appear across the entire room and shortly after energy surges down them starting low then rising on each side simultaneously. I can't really find a completely reliable way of dodging. Ducking directly in the corner is a sure fire way to get hit, but ducking a little bit way from the corner will save you. Most of the time at least. If anyone could fill me in I'd appreciate that. No character specific ways please. I just need a general way to do it.

Fire Storm: Pillars of fire start brewing across the floor. Get between two of them and duck because he's about to box you in with lighting bolts everywhere. This attack seriously hurts. It may or may not be hard mode only. Clarification would be nice.

Seduction: Oh ladies! This one is especially for you! By which I mean if the boss room is a sausage fest then Dracula won't cast this. If Charlotte, Shanoa, Yoko, or Maria are present though, this attack will be cast and is probably the second biggest group killer. Signified by a blue circle like the Purple Ray attack, a circle of hearts appears and each fire straight outward. If guys get hit, they just take a boat load of damage. If the ladies get hit, they take damage before their hearts go all a flutter, they get funny feelings, and promptly maim their teammates all for Dracula's affections.

Gents you have two options here. One is to avoid Dracula AND the girls until it wears off, or kick chivalry to the curb and beat the tar out of your female allies. If this is multiplayer and you've only got one person seduced, chances are you can deal with it if you know the fight well enough. If you have two or more ladies thinking about what they want Dracula to do to them, then you're better off putting them out of their misery and using Water of Life to bring them back. If this is single player...well, enjoy taking contact damage and pray to god he doesn't cast...

Triangle Rays: This is one of the party killers. Dracula's three heads move and a rainbow colored triangle appears. Get to the far side of the room. Dracula then fires a series of these triangles at you. When going solo wait for the first three to fire before you move and double jump over them just in time for the fourth ray to fire high. This should give you room to work under and over the last of them. In multiplayer you're going to be stuck watching were they come from because they'll be fired at random players.

Demonic Megiddo: This is it. This is THAT attack. That one attack that will end your party in the blink of an eye. When Dracula draws his hands in and the circle that appears is white, black, red, yellow, and all sorts of other fiery colors, get your ass to the far wall because Demonic Megiddo is coming and touching it is probably going to get you killed. On hard mode Dracula wises up and blocks off the far walls of the room with fire pillars until right before he uses it so timing is everything with this attack.

STRATEGY - PHASE THREE: This is not the end. This is just the beginning! GAZE UPON MY DARK FORM! Dracula transforms into his final boss form from Symphony of the Night. In this form, Dracula will sit on the throne in the center of the creature. The massive hands guard against all damage leaving only the central body vulnerable. Unfortunately the only place to attack from is right next to this point and it is easily the most horrible spot to be in this form as this leaves you wide open to Swipe, Seduction, Demonic Megiddo, and Triangle Ray as there's little time to get back around the hands to get away. The most dangerous attack start up here is Triangle Ray as there will be almost no time at all to dodge.

Whip users might be able to take advantage of their length by jumping, and whip as they fall just near the hands and hit Dracula's main body from the outside. Everyone else is basically stuck in the middle. Whenever Dracula draws his hands in for an attack, almost the entire main body is vulnerable hands and all. Dracula's third form is almost completely trial and error. Even masters of this fight can be ended by badly timed Demonic Megiddos. The only real trick to phase three is to not get hit during phases one and two to maximize your margin of error. Good luck. You're going to need it.

HARD MODE - PHASE THREE: As I said before, Dracula protects the walls with fire during the start up of Demonic Megiddo. The fire only vanishes about one second before the attack, at which point you'd best be moving because I have NEVER seen anyone survive Demonic Megiddo on Hard.

[Kaiser98821]

Aura Blast is the name you're looking for. There's actually a really big blind spot directly underneath Dracula himself.

And you're right; Fire Storm is only used on Hard. In Normal that attack is replaced by Firewave; he shoots one to the left, and one to the right.

Another thing to note for Seduction is that he has two "patterns" for this attack; one you can just duck at an end of the room, the other one will require a hop to avoid.

Triangle Ray comes out with little warning, and depending on its orientation may or may not hurt people directly underneath him. In multiplayer, try to stay as divided as possible; if it's a two man group and you both go for the same side, you guys just made things a lot harder. Also, try not to get physically cornered by Dracula; a claw swipe to one edge CAN be followed up with the Triangles, which can spell doom if you and Dracula happen to be sharing the same corner.

[Chaos]

Amended the master copy. Thanks Kaiser!

[Chaos]

Aaaaand Chapter 7. I need your guys' help with Temptation here. Really I do. As I look ahead, I realize that the DLC bosses actually have very simple attack tables...

CHAPTER 7
BOSS: ASTARTE
SPECIAL NOTES: Soma players? Your blender weapons are useless here. Put your Valmanways away for once because they aren't going to do jack against a boss. In fact the only way to really get damage done is magical or strike damage. That means if you're Alucard or Soma you'll have to rely on things like fist weapons and maces. Magic users shouldn't be too bothered by this, and whip users can use Vampire Killer like any other day of the week. The cross is a great support weapon here. Consider bringing your Holy Water if its getting strong.

ATTACKS:
Temptation: Ladies and Gentlemen that play ladies! You want revenge for your team mates beating the snot out of you after Seduction in Chapter 6? Well this might be your chance. If you hear "Come hither" its time to get ready to dodge. The guys are a bit better off here because several of them have ways that'll avoid this quite nicely. The two that come to mind is Alucard's Form of Mist and Julius' Omnia Vanitas. I believe I've seen Soma players hold themselves in midair directly over Astarte with the Medusa Head soul. The pattern itself is different, but behavior is exactly like Dracula's Seduction. The difference is this affects the men, not the women.

As a Julius player I've never actually payed the pattern much mind. Far as I can tell there are two waves. They go left and right. The one that is in front of Astarte curves downward, the one going behind her curves upward. Seriously fill me in.

As with all attacks that spread out, you got the advantage of having bigger gaps to slip through at a distance.

Slide: Astarte draws her shawl back and slides forward, stabbing with it. Pathetic range. Easily avoided.

Hurricane: This attack is Astarte's second most dangerous attack. She pulls her wand back and swings it forward casting a hurricane forward. This travels parallel to the ground. The wand itself will also damage you so just make sure you're giving Astarte a little room in front. Double jump over the hurricane. This attack is easy to dodge but it hurts like hell.
Lightning Triangle: Astarte jumps up and back leaving green triangles of lightning behind her that grow in size slightly. If you're behind her you're going to have to run back behind her again before she lands and if you're in front just make sure you get back a little.

Strategy: If the attack list sounded like a joke its because...well quite frankly it is. Astarte is not a very difficult boss. Her attacks are predictable, she's easy to bait into vulnerable positions, and quite frankly the only thing that's tough is that she's open to certain types of damage. The only real risk comes in if you're stuck using a fist weapon or you get hit by Temptation. The trick to Astarte is that when she's walking forward, that's the direction her next attack is going to come from, so if you get behind her you can just beat her senseless. Just remember that if you're stuck attacking from the front to give her a little space so you can avoid her attacks. Come to think of it there's no good reason to attack unless you're behind her since her attacks hurt so much if they do land.

Hard Mode: You know the drill by now. More health, more damage.

[Commander Raze]

I can help you out loads with Astarte, I've beaten her without a scratch dozens of times. I was about to start an Astarte dodging school because randoms couldn't dodge her! xD

With temptation, the waves are a bit crazy. I can't tell you exactly how they move, but I know how to dodge them perfectly with any character. Even without speed boots.

In front of her: Back up from her about a backdash length away and wait for her to cast the inner "bubble." When that appears, jump over her head to avoid the ensuing upwards wave. Works every time as long as you are close enough to jump over and far away enough to not be struck by the bubble.

Behind her: Back up about the same distance, then when the inner "bubble" spawns, you have an additional option, you can slide towards her to dodge the downwards wave. Now, you can still jump the downwards wave, but, you have to jump sightly sooner than normal. It is much easier to slide towards her.

Also, about the hurricane, there is a dead zone where you cannot be hit by the hurricane right in front of her, under her arm. Just crouch and the wand and hurricane will pass harmlessly over you. Just don't let her strut that ass into you. xD

Edit: Oh, crucial point, temptation is 10 times easier to dodge on normal. There's literally like a quarter of the normal amount of hearts.

[Chaos]

I amended the master copy. Thanks again, man.

[Chaos]

Since the DLC bosses are actually pretty damn simple I've already got chapters 8 and 9 done for you. Also implementing a weakness and resistance section for each encounter from now on.

CHAPTER 8
BOSS: LEGION
WEAKNESSES: Strike, Lightning, Holy
RESISTANCES: Dark
SPECIAL NOTES: I'm going to go right ahead and consider Legion a two phase boss due to how dramatically the boss fight changes once the shell is off.

ATTACKS - PHASE ONE:

"The one who is many..."

Body Drop: Legion passively drops zombies on the ground who walk around slowly and deal contact damage, a simple hit of any kind will kill them. Legion does this for the entirety of phase one, but can only drop them from parts of the shell of bodies that are still intact.

Flamethrower/Laser Beam: If you've destroyed part of the shell and are standing in alignment with the exposed tendril it will either occassionally blow fire in a sweeping motion at you for a second or two, or fire off a laser That persists for about a second. The easiest solution is just don't stand near a section where the shell has been destroyed.

STRATEGY - PHASE ONE:
Phase one of the Legion fight is straight forward and rather easily dealt with if you know what you're doing. The shell has six sections sorted out like so.

XXX
XOX
XXX

Basically there's the 8 outer pieces and the one protecting the core itself. There are two ways to go about dealing with the shell. One is to destroy the entire thing manually and this is probably the safest for the most part. Just whack the shell till it comes off in one section, move on to the next. I recommend taking care of an entire side from top to bottom to avoid bodies falling on you.

The second way to deal with the shell is to destroy one of the side pieces, use long ranged attacks to expose the core, and proceed to damage the core. Unlike the shell, the core is the part of Legion with the monster's true health. Once it takes enough damage it decides enough is enough and sheds whatever the shell is left.

Either way once the shell is off, phase two begins.

Hard Mode: Right. A big ball of barely mobile bodies is going to do anything other than get more health, deal more damage with its exposed tendrils, and remain barely mobile.

These increasingly snarky comments about hard mode doing anything for you?


ATTACKS - PHASE TWO:

"Nice job pissing it off, hero."

Flamethrower Spin: The four tendrils pointing diagonally will ignite with use Flamethrower all at once and hold it as Legion begins to rotate, sweeping the entire room before stopping and going back the way it came. If dodged correctly, everyone in the room will end up back where they started once the attack is over. The best way to read this attack is to watch closely as Legion rotates. It'll scoot a little, pause briefly, then scoot again. At the second pause the process repeats except he rotates back the other way. Easy enough to dodge with some practice. The catch? Like all easy to dodge attacks, its going to hurt like hell if you mess up.

Laser Blast: There are two variants of this attack. There's one where Legion simply fires one laser, and another where after the first tentacle fires one it resumes firing from each tendril in either a clockwise or counter clockwise pattern until it gets past the first tendril. This is harder to dodge than Flamethrower Spin and hurts just as bad if not more. Your best bet is to move adjacent to the tendril that just finished firing and that will assure your safety.

STRATEGY - PHASE TWO: Truth be told the strategy is simply dodge the attacks. There's no real trick to it. You just need to practice playing what is basically "Simon Says".

HARD MODE: Truth be told, besides the standard more health/damage thing, I'm not entirely sure if there's anything different about Legion on hard mode. Faster rotations maybe?




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CHAPTER 9
BOSS: BEELZEBUB
SPECIAL NOTES: Laziest. Boss. Ever.
WEAKNESSES: Slash, Stab, Holy
RESISTANCES: Dark

ATTACKS:
Nothing: Literally. This guy just hangs there and dicks around the entire fight. Its his flies that suck.

STRATEGY:

For this battle, assuming your camera is set to the default, please take your camera out to the second largest setting. This lets you see the flies as they arrive as opposed to the last second.

Yeah, that's right, you read the attack section properly. Beelzebub himself has no attacks. His real threat and this entire strategy revolve around the flies. These little bastards are a pain. They can be destroyed but regenerate when called. One of their favorite things to do is to float around Beelzebub and prevent you from getting close. There's only two real tricks to dodging them. When they're circling him, get in the corner. When they converge together and start flying at you, start sliding towards Beelzebub.

Now how about when they're flying around like crazy? That's the second way to dodge them. I could go on and on and on all day about all the different patterns they fly in but by the time I was done I'd have carpal tunnel so I'm gonna make it nice and simple. See the bottom platform on the right side of the arena? Stand on that. You'll only ever have to do two things.

1.) Reposition yourself if they start circling Beelzebub.
2.) If they use the attack pattern where they come in three groups from the left side of the screen you'll either have to duck then jump, or jump then duck depending on if the middle group will reach you first or if the bottom group reaches you first. Other than that, you got all the time in the world. HOWEVER. I have heard rumors that Richter can't use this platform in the first place, but don't know myself.

Do note that as you damage Beelzebub body parts fall off and you'll often have to reposition yourself a lot during this fight. Just keep to that platform and you'll be okay.

HARD MODE: Don't get hit by the flies. Seriously. My Julius has Simon's Bandana, Plate, and Cloak, the Winged Boots, and two Artemisian/Apollonian Rings depending on the time of day and the contact damage will eat all 390 health in two or three hits. Other than that the big immobile idiot has more health.

[Kaiser98821]

When Legion fires his lasers consecutively, he always starts with the bottom-right tentacle. So I just stand in between that one and the bottom tentacle and attack accordingly (or get ready to move when he's about to shoot fire instead).

Also, I have never seen Legion shoot the lasers counterclockwise. I haven't done too many Legion runs though (got everything in less than 100 runs), so if you've seen him do this then okay.

If you're Charlotte, you can use her shield to block Legion's fire.

As for Beelzebub, well... hey, you try being an active corpse.