castlevania los trial

7/30/2019 Castlevania Los Trial

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_________ __ .__ .__\_ ___ \_____ _______/ |_| | _______ _______ ____ |__|_____/ \ \/\__ \ / ___/\ __\ | _/ __ \ \/ /\__ \ / \| |\__ \\ \____/ __ \_\___ \ | | | |__\ ___/\ / / __ \_| | \ | / __ \_\______ (____ /____ > |__| |____/ \___ >\_/ (____ /|___| /__|(____ /

\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/

.____ .___ _____| | ___________ __| _/______ _____/ ____\| | / _ \_ __ \/ __ |/ ___/ / _ \ __\| |___( ) | \/ /_/ |\___ \ ( ) ||_______ \\____/|__| \____ /____ > \____/|__|

\/ \/ \/

_________.__ .___/ _____/| |__ _____ __| _/______ _ __\_____ \ | | \\__ \ / __ |/ _ \ \/ \/ // \| Y \/ __ \_/ /_/ ( ) /

/_______ /|___| (____ /\____ |\____/ \/\_/\/ \/ \/ \/

___________ .__ .__ ________ .__ .___\__ ___/_______|__|_____ | | / _____/ __ __|__| __| _/ ____

| | \_ __ \ |\__ \ | | / \ ___| | \ |/ __ |_/ __ \

| | | | \/ | / __ \_| |__ \ \_\ \ | / / /_/ |\ ___/|____| |__| |__|(____ /|____/ \______ /____/|__\____ | \___ >\/ \/ \/ \/

Trial Completion Guide

Version 1.5

Written by: Glamadore-mail: foryouradsonly at gmail dot com

-----------------------------------------------------

\ Welcome /-------------------------------------------------

Greetings, this is Glamador. This guide is intended to provide theeasiest to perform, surefire strategies to complete each of the trialsfor Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. LoS is a reboot to the popularCastlevania franchise. However, its level structure bears similaritieswith the original Castlevania title and others in the "Belmont Era".

You will progress through 12 Chapters each with several Sub-Chapters I callareas. Though, a new addition to the forumula in Lords of Shadow are thepost-completion trials for each stage. These trials range in difficultyfrom ludcicrously simple to frustratingly challenging (and sometimes,

downright unfair). It is the goal of this guide to answer any questionsyou may have about these trials and help you power your way through them aspainlessly as possible.

*Legal Disclaimer*

Anyone is free to re-post, reference, or redistribute this work in itsentirety or in part, provided I (Glamador) receive appropriate credit and thework is not used in any way directly for financial benefit. I would, however,


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appreciate being notified (by e-mail) that you intend to host this work shouldyou choose to. This work may not be sold and will never be included in a paidpackage of any kind. If you paid for this guide then you (and I) have beencheated. All credit for concepts and suggestions provided by others are theirown, however, I wrote all text present in this work.

-----------------------------------------------------\ Table of Contents /-------------------------------------------------

General Info and Tips_________________________[TIPS]

Guide_________________________________________[GDE]

Chapter I:

Area 1___________Besieged Villange____________[CH1.1]Area 2___________Hunting Path_________________[CH1.2]Area 3___________The Dead Bog_________________[CH1.3]Area 4___________Pan's Temple_________________[CH1.4]Area 5___________Oblivion Lake________________[CH1.5]

Chapter II:

Area 1___________Enchanted Forest_____________[CH2.1]Area 2___________Underground Caves____________[CH2.2]Area 3___________Labyrinth Entrance___________[CH2.3]Area 4___________Waterfalls of Agharta________[CH2.4]Area 5___________Agharta______________________[CH2.5]Area 6___________Dark Dungeon_________________[CH2.6]Area 7___________Sanctuary Entrance___________[CH2.7]Area 8___________Sanctuary of Titans__________[CH2.8]Area 9___________The Black Knight_____________[CH2.9]

Chapter III:

Area 1___________The Three Towers_____________[CH3.1]Area 2______The Dark Lords of the Lycans______[CH3.2]

Chapter IV:

Area 1___________Mountain Fortress____________[CH4.1]Area 2___________The Crow Witch_______________[CH4.2]

Chapter V:

Area 1___________Veros Woods__________________[CH5.1]Area 2___________Wygol Village________________[CH5.2]Area 3___________Abbey Catacombs______________[CH5.3]

Area 4___________Abbey Library________________[CH5.4]Area 5___________Abbey Tower__________________[CH5.5]Area 6___________Brauner______________________[CH5.6]Area 6___________Castle Sewers________________[CH5.6]

Chapter VI:

Area 1___________Castle Courtyard_____________[CH6.1]Area 2___________Maze Gardens_________________[CH6.2]Area 3___________Castle Hall__________________[CH6.3]


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Area 4___________Refectory____________________[CH6.4]

Chapter VII:

Area 1___________Balcony______________________[CH7.1]Area 2___________Electric Laboratory__________[CH7.2]Area 3___________Chromatic Observatory________[CH7.3]

Chapter VIII:

Area 1___________Outer Wall___________________[CH8.1]Area 2___________The Clockwork Tower__________[CH8.2]Area 3___________Olrox________________________[CH8.3]Area 4___________The Throne Room______________[CH8.4]

Chapter IX:

Area 1___________Bones Forest_________________[CH9.1]Area 2___________Woes Moor____________________[CH9.2]Area 3___________The Music Box________________[CH9.3]

Chapter X:

Area 1___________Titan Graveyard______________[CH10.1]

Area 2___________Fire Pinnacle________________[CH10.2]Area 3___________Fire Cemetery________________[CH10.3]Area 4___________Crematory Oven_______________[CH10.4]

Chapter XI:

Area 1___________Necromancer's Abyss__________[CH11.1]Area 2___________The Dracolich________________[CH11.2]

Chapter XII:

Area 1___________The Final Fight______________[CH12.1]

Version History_______________________________[HIST]

Credits and Recognitions______________________[CRDT]

Use Ctrl+F to search for the section codes for quick navigation

-----------------------------------------------------\ General Info and Tips [TIPS] /-------------------------------------------------

The trials for each area are unlocked by completing the area on any difficultyand can be completed in any order. Difficulty does not matter for trialcompletion. Completing the area on Paladin difficulty is, however, requiredfor 110% completion rate.

Even though the trial indicator in the upper right of the HUD is still presenton subsequent playthroughs of each area (even for completed trials), it is notnecessary to re-complete the trial. Once successfully completed, the words"Trial Complete!" will appear on the stage summary after completing the area.Should you fail to fulfill the trial requirements while the trial is in


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progress the words "Trial Failed!" will flash on-screen momentarily. You canalso check trial status by looking for either a green check or a red X in theupper right of the screen.

In most areas trial progress will be saved at checkpoints. One exception tothis is Trial 5-5 which saves neither objects destroyed nor time remaining,instead resetting both upon restart. Everywhere else any counters or timerswill reset to the values they were when you first reached the checkpoint.

In general, subweapons will help tremendously in completing trials. For timebased trials your Holy Water will usually knock enemies down, allowing youtime to regroup or stall. Holy Shield (Light Magic Holy Water) will preventenemies from interrupting your actions, such as operating mechanisms andperforming grapples on the environment. Fairies will stun most enemies,notable exceptions being Animated Armor and bosses of all sorts. Even if anenemy is strong against fairies he might still be distracted by them, even ifhe is not "dazed". Additionally, the Dark Crystal subweapon can skip entiresections of boss fights and reduce an impossible situation to a minorinconvenience.

Remember, any upgrades or collectables you acquire can be used in any stagefrom then on. If a particular trial seems impossible, you might considercoming back to it after obtaining more health, magic, ammunition for yoursubweapons, or after acquiring a new relic.

For a quick refill on Health and Magic, and a free Dark Crystal you cancomplete Chapter 10-3 (the 3rd Chupacabras area) as there is a Health Font,Neutral Magic Font, and Dark Crystal growth easily accessed just before theend of the stage. An earlier alternative is Chapter 3-1 which has a DarkCrystal growth just past the first gap crossed with a grip point hidden aroundthe corner off-screen. Additionally, half of Chapter 3-1 can be skipped ifyou already possess the 3 fairies necessary to open the doorway.

-----------------------------------------------------\ Guide [GDE] /

-------------------------------------------------

Chapter I:

Area 1___________Besieged Villange____________[CH1.1]

Trial: Finish the level,defeating the Great Warg with at least one surviving villager

Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

If you are attempting this trial after obtaining the use of fairies, use themhere. Many large enemies can be distracted by fairies and the Great Wargcannot harm villagers if he is stunned. Fairies also work on the LesserLycanthropes as well, however they should not pose an immediate danger to thevillagers.

If you do not have access to the fairy subweapon yet, this trial is stilldoable. The Silver Dagger subweapon does excellent damage to both the GreatWarg and Lesser Lycans. If you have not obtained any Dagger Upgrades yet,save them for emergencies (such as when a Lycan is attacking a villager).


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This trial is extremely straightforward and should not prove a problem formost.

Area 2___________Hunting Path_________________[CH1.2]

Trial: Finish the level without being healed by any means

Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

You will begin the stage on horseback. You can accelerate your progressthrough the area by letting yourself fall off your mount. However, if you dothis you will have extremely low health when you begin combat. If you surviveto the end of the path, then various difficulties will force you to fightanyway. Once in battle, again, Fairies and Daggers make Lycans and Wargs acakewalk. Do not waste your fairies on the Lesser Lycans.

[[WARNING]] Picking up the Life Gem, using the Health Font, or attacking withLight Magic active and less than full health will all void the trial.Do not use them.

Area 3___________The Dead Bog_________________[CH1.3]

Trial: Finish the level after killing at least 50 Goblins

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

At one point in the area you will encounter a tree which requires 2 Goblinbombs to fell. Goblins will spawn infinitely until you fell the tree. Do notuse any bombs until the counter in the upper right corner of the screenreaches 50 or more. If you are having trouble staying alive amongst theGoblin onslaught use the grapple (R2/RT) and hold the left thumbstick in any

direction as you perform the Ring Quick Time Event (Ring QTE from here on).This will cause Gabriel to light a Bomb on the Goblin's belt. These bombswill kill the Goblin and will not fell the tree. Continue to do this until 50are exploderated or otherwise slain.

Area 4___________Pan's Temple_________________[CH1.4]

Trial: Finish the Level after beating Pan's Trial in 5 movements

Difficulty: 0/10

Strategy:

If you picked up the solution scroll for this puzzle it actually provides youwith a 5-step solution. This trial isn't even a trial. But I'll provide thesolution here as well. Outer Ring Clockwise Twice, Inner Ring ClockwiseTwice, Middle Ring Clockwise once.

Area 5___________Oblivion Lake________________[CH1.5]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Ice Titan in less than 1:30 minutes


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Difficulty: 8/10

Strategy:

[[Warning]] This trial is impossible without access to the Dark Crystalsubweapon. Do not attempt it until you have access to the Crystal.And make sure you have one, obviously. If you fail the trial but still defeatthe titan then you will no longer have a full Crystal on your next attempt.You must restart from world map if you want to keep your Crystal.

Begin by approaching the titan and activating your Crystal. This will causeall of the Titan's magic seals to require only one attack to break. From hereit is all about memorization and practice. When the Titan punches the ground,try to land as close to the fist as possible while jumping to avoid theattack. Scale the Titan as quickly as you can, using the X/A button to movemore quickly to the side. I personally finished this Trial with 3 seconds tospare, so don't expect the game to give you much leeway if any. You must benearly perfect with your movements to complete this trial.

Chapter II:

Area 1___________Enchanted Forest_____________[CH2.1]

Trial: Finish the level after killing 30 Goblins with their own grenades

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Halfway through the level you will encounter a door which requires Goblinbombs to open. As in Chapter 1-3 the Goblins will spawn infinitely until youblow open the door. Using the same strategy outlined above, perform a grappleattack on a Goblin and hold a direction on the left thumbstick while youperform the Ring QTE. Repeat this 30 times, each grapple kills 1 Goblin.

Area 2___________Underground Caves____________[CH2.2]

Trial: Finish the level after killing at least 10 enemieswhile poisoned by Spider Venom

Difficulty: 6/10

Strategy 1:

There are 2 ways to go about this. The first is the way the game intended foryou to do it. There are 2 spiders and 8 Lesser Lycans very early in the area.You will face the first Giant Spider alone. This is good practice for later.Block or run in front of the first Spider until it performs its unblockable

grapple attack. Do not struggle and allow the attack to go through, this willpoison you. While poisoned, be sure to kill the Spider. This counts as Kill#1. It can take quite a while for the Spider to poison you. This is veryannoying. Proceed forward in the area until you encounter the second Spiderand the Lycans. Once again allow the Spider to grapple and poison you. Now,kill the Lycans with either your Whip or Silver Daggers. If you run out ofSilver Daggers, there might be more in the breakable objects around the area.After you have successfully killed the 8 Lycans while poisoned, kill theSpider as well (also while poisoned). That's 10.


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Strategy 2:

Proceed to the second Spider, killing the first any way you wish. Engagethe second Spider and use the same technique of allowing yourself to begrappled from strategy 1. Once poisoned, kill the Lycans using your SilverDaggers. Afterwards, DO NOT KILL THE SPIDER. Cross the gap through thetunnel on the left. This will trigger an auto-save. Restart from your lastcheckpoint via the menu (or suicide) and backtrack to the second Spider andLycans. Repeat the same process. If you are still missing kills, use adifferent corridor and trigger another save. Repeat as necessary.

Area 3___________Labyrinth Entrance___________[CH2.3]

Trial: Finish the level after killing at least 5 Warthogs

Difficulty: 4/10

Strategy:

I really can't stress enough the many benefits of the fairy subweapon.USE IT. In the very first section of this area you will be required to mounta Warthog and use it to break down a reinforced door. Simply kill the Warthogbefore breaking the door. Another one will continue to spawn until you do.

Fairies will allow you to very nearly kill the Warthog without fear ofretaliation.

Area 4___________Waterfalls of Agharta________[CH2.4]

Trial: Finish the level after killing at least 20 Small Trollswhile you are mounted on a big Troll

Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

Proceed in the area until you encounter your first ever Cave Troll. I knowyou've already killed this guy once, since you had to complete the level tounlock the trial. Just attack and mount him as normal. However, oncemounted, do not break the rock blocking your path. Instead, stay FAR AWAYfrom it and continuously kill the small trolls until 20 fall by your mount'sgargantuan fists. Proceed as usual. Mind you, mounting the Cave Troll at allon Paladin is seriously difficult. Damned little trolls...damn them all.

Area 5___________Agharta______________________[CH2.5]

Trial: Finish the level without using Shadow Magic enery

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Don't activate Shadow Magic! Keep your finger off R1/RB.Seriously, no touchy. It's really as simple as that. If the Wargs give youtrouble, just distract them with Fairies. Kill or Mount them as you wish andavoid going red with rage. You can still heal with Light Magic so really thisshouldn't be that hard.


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Area 6___________Dark Dungeon_________________[CH2.6]

Trial: Finish the level without using a grip attack against a single Gremlin

Difficulty: 2/10 (Squire) 9/10 (Paladin)

Strategy:

Just don't _successfully_ use any grapple attacks against Gremlins. There are2 areas where this might prove difficult. You can accidentally grab a Gremlinwhile trying to mount the downed Giant Spider. If this happens, just let themescape. You won't fail the trial as long as you don't succeed in your RingQTE. The other tough area is the last one with the HORDE of Gremlins. OnKnight+ these little buggers can _really_ hurt. Use Silver Daggers or HolyWater vials instead. If you are dead set on doing this on Paladin (I was) theTriangle -> X, X combo with Light Magic active is extemely useful. Holy Waterwill also kill them instantly. Thankfully there is a checkpoint immediatelybefore this with a handy Neutral Magic Font nearby.

Area 7___________Sanctuary Entrance___________[CH2.7]

Trial: Finish the level after absorbing

20 Neutral Elemental Orbs simultaneously

Difficulty: 5/10

Strategy 1:

I did this trial in the area with the Brotherhood Ark behind a gate. Thereare a limited number of Lycans that will spawn at once, so you need to workefficiently. Do not perform strong combos against them, instead perform aSynchonized Guard by pressing L2/LT just before an attack hits you. This willbuild up focus without harming the enemy. Afterwards try and back as many asyou can into a corner and use Triangle/Y attacks to hit all of them at once.One full area combo should net you enough orbs. Myself, I got 23 this way.

Strategy 2:

For the more confident players, you can instead opt to do this trial whilefacing the 3 Greater Lycanthropes further through the area. They are faster,stronger, and more aggressive than the Lesser Lycans. They also have morehealth. This means you can build Focus more quickly and generate more orbsper attack. However, the arena is larger and the enemies more difficult toavoid. You may have difficulty getting 20 obs to appear within range of oneanother.

Alternate Strategy from Dominique:

There comes a point late in the area when you must use a Cave Troll to breakdown a barrier in the room containing the area's final puzzle. You face thisTroll alone and with plenty of space to maneuver. Most of its attacks areblockable and highly telegraphed. You can both build and maintain your focusmeter and easily complete this trial. Remember kids, Improved Guillotine willget you a full focus meter in only one attack sequence. Just be sure to do itat the edge of your range because the Troll has a tendency to swat you out ofthe air.


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Area 8___________Sanctuary of Titans__________[CH2.8]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Stone Idol Titan in less than 2 minutes

Difficulty: 8/10

Strategy:

Refer to the strategy for the Ice Titan in Chaper 1-5. Use your Dark Crystalto weaken the Titan's seals and proceed as normal to scale the behemoth.These time trials are some of the most difficult in the game as they requireyou to be very nearly perfect in their execution. Remember to use X/A to movemore quickly across the Titan's horizontal sections. Good luck.

[[Warning]] As with the Ice Titan, if you wish to preserve your Dark Crystalyou must restart from world map when re-attempting the trial. If you completethe area then your Crystal will be spent.

Area 9___________The Black Knight_____________[CH2.9]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Black Knight Golemwithout using Light Magic energy

Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

If you have a Dark Crystal handy you can use it to shorten the fight somewhat.The Black Knight has several attacks: A counter-able slash attack, anunblockable slash attack, a fire wave which travels across the ground, aground pound, and later he will summon a black ooze which can trap you. Avoidhis attacks and use any attack that hits the ground to dispatch the blackooze. The Direct Heavy combo is very good for this, as is the upgraded ChainBarrier combo. However, any ground attack will work. The ooze does not havemuch health and you can attak the Black Knight as he is summoning it to bothdispatch the ooze and damage the Golem.

Chapter III:

Area 1___________The Three Towers_____________[CH3.1]

Trial: Finish the level after killing 15 enemieswhilst they are dazed by fairies

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Use any fairies you have to stun the Lesser Lycans in the first section of thearea before crossing the gap using the statue. [[Warning]] It only counts asa fairy-dazed-kill if the fairy is no longer flying around the enemy but hehas green sparkles shimmering around his head. He must be "dazed" notdistracted. After you cross some gaps you will encounter your first helpfulfairies. They will act just like your subweapon and daze the Lycans endlessly.Be sure not to kill any Lycans that are not in the dazed state until you have15 kills. If you miss some kills, either restart the stage/checkpoint orproceed in the area and acquire more fairies to use on enemies later.Overall, not difficult.


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Area 2______The Dark Lords of the Lycans______[CH3.2]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Dark Lordwithout using Light Magic energy

Difficulty: 7/10

Strategy:

You cannot heal in this fight (rather, not conventionally). So don't get hit.You should know Cornell's moves since you've beaten him at least once already.The easiest way to avoid damage is to constantly circle Cornell and only getin quick jabs while he is recovering from his attacks. This is a slow method,but it will get you through his 1st form. Once Cornell transforms into abeast you will get a checkpoint. What this means is, playing on


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Thankfully, if he hits you, you can just restart from your last checkpoint.And remember, once you have reduced his health enough to initiate a grapple hewill roar before pounding the ground, creating a shockwave. You must jump toavoid this. Perfect practice makes perfect. You can use the Neutral MagicFont nearby to replenish your Shadow Magic energy and make the fight go morequickly. Remember to stay as close to the camera as possible when avoidingthe Ogre's attacks, as you can be tagged by his forearm if you are too close.

Area 2___________The Crow Witch_______________[CH4.2]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Malphaswithout killing more than 2 of her children

Difficulty: 8/10

Strategy:

Soo-ee this is a toughie. I raged so hard at this trial I nearly broke my ownarm. To be fair, the trial itself is actually very simple. Do not let morethan 1 egg hit the platform per round. This requires you to catch and throwat minimum 2 eggs in the first volley. This is harder than it sounds becauseafter you return the 1st egg a cutscene will zoom in on Malphas obscuring the

other 2 eggs from view, making it very difficult to catch another egg. Thetrick here is, mash R2/RT like mad from the first moment she starts upchuckingeggs. Be warned however, do not think to save time by pre-rotating the leftthumbstick because this can mess with the game's detection of your R2 mashing.

You can actually grab the eggs a split second before they begin to flashyellow. Grab the first egg in this manner and you should have (just barely)enough time to grab the 2nd before the cutscene begins. If you succeed inthis monumental feat then Malphas will most likely throw a 4th egg afterwards.However, this egg will not be the focus of the camera any longer and you musttime yourself to grab it from off-screen. Thankfully, there is no cutsceneslowdown to screw with your timing on this one. If you miss Egg #2 and rathergrab Egg #3 then there is a better chance that Malphas will throw additional

eggs whilst still being vulnerable. Should this happen, do not miss yourchance to down her all in one go. This is not a likely occurence however, sodon't count on it too much.

If done properly you should have only 1 child to deal with on the platform.Dispatch it quickly, distracting it with fairies if needed. Now, you needonly catch 1 egg during Malphas' 2nd volley. This will initiate a grapplesequence and some Ring QTEs. Quickly attack Malphas while she is downed. Youdon't have long so use something powerful like Ultimate Shadow. Afterwards,if you have followed this guide so far, there will only be 1 child remainingon the platform after Malphas flies away to lick her wounds. Kill it quicklyand return 1 more egg to Malphas. This should initiate the 2nd grapplesequence. Once again, hit the downed Malphas with everything you have and

hope to the gods that it is enough to kill her, because you don't have theluxury of any more volleys. Use Ultimate Shadow if you have it, I canguarantee this will kill her and net you the trial on Paladin difficulty.Congratulations. Was it worth all the pain?

Alternate Strategy from Aku Yurei:

Note: Requires Seraph Shoulders relic

Return as many eggs as you can without straining yourself. Then, just ignore


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the children altogether. Malphas is momentarily vulnerable while attackingyou with swarms of crows. Dodge the attack and immediately follow-up with anaerial attack of your own. This method is slow, but is guaranteed to bringher down for a grapple without needing to attack the children at all. Afterthe first grapple sequence you may kill the remaining child without fear andproceed as normal to finish off the Witch. However, for best results, performthis strategy on a lower difficulty as the children do ferocious damage onhigher ones. It warrants noting that this method is EXTREMELY slow.

Chapter V:

Area 1___________Veros Woods__________________[CH5.1]

Trial: Finish the level, recovering your relics from the Chupacabrasin less than 3 minutes since stolen.

Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

The only difficulty in completing this trial is in mounting the Warthogquickly. Use your Fairy subweapon to distract it (but be sure to save one forthe Chupa). Otherwise, simply follow the only path you can through the level

and remember to make sure the cutscene showing the Chupa playing with yourfairy initiates before you attempt to jump the gap to the Chupa's hiding spot,or else he will still knock you off.

Area 2___________Wygol Village________________[CH5.2]

Trial: Finish the level without allowing Zobek to kill a single ghoul

Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

Any time you see Zobek attacking a Ghoul, rush over and knock it away. Killit yourself, rinse, repeat. I was honestly unaware Zobek _could_ killanything. This area is blissfully short and if Zobek manages to not suck for2 seconds, just reset. Just be sure not to use Holy Water vials as they willleave Ghouls 1-hit from death.

Area 3___________Abbey Catacombs______________[CH5.3]

Trial: Finish the level without allowing Zobek to fall in combat a single time

Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

Yet again, were it not for this trial I would not have known Zobek _could_ diein battle. Even on Paladin I was able to kill all the enemies before Zobekcould so much as blink. If you're having serious trouble with this (what'swrong with you?) just turn down the difficulty. The only time Zobek is aloneis in the very beginning when you are briefly on the other side of a gate.Open it quickly and reunite with Zobek.


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Area 4___________Abbey Library________________[CH5.4]

Trial: Finish the level and beat the mirror and lights puzzlein less than 2:30 minutes

Difficulty: 5/10

Strategy:

Move quickly, aim quickly, charge quickly, and don't. fight. anything. Thisis another annoying time trial. Move as quickly as you can, using your Dashwhenever able, and be sure not to miss with any of your Gauntlet attacks. Doa dry run first and memorize the positions of the mirror statues beforeattempting this trial. You get a checkpoint after the 2nd door (respawn atthe top of the stairs). Use this to your advantage by clearing those first 2doors in


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You cannot die or restart during any of this or it will reset the objectcounter. Should this happen, restart from the World Map.

Credit to Master LL for developing this route.If you are having trouble, consult this YouTube video uploaded by MasterLL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9hmOoV1t2U

A tip from CassyChan: You can skip the gate entirely with the Seraph Shouldersby double jumping to the top of the stairs on the right.

This saves perhaps 10 seconds, dropping the difficulty

of this challenging trial considerably.

A tip from Hapkido: You can use Ultimate Light in the section before the gate

to destroy many of the objects extremely quickly.

Area 6___________Brauner______________________[CH5.6]

Trial: Finish the level after attacking the Elite Vampire 4 consecutive timeswith his own blade

Difficulty: 5/10

Strategy:

During your fight with Brauner he will occasionally attack you by throwing hisbladed weapon. When he does this, press R2/RT just before it hits you to grabit and throw it back at Brauner. The timing is not difficult, however, youmust grab the blade 4 times in a row. It is worth mentioning that in thistrial "consecutive" means you cannot attack Brauner AT ALL between catches.You don't get any checkpoints for this trial beyond the one before Brauner sono exploiting saves...you must kill Brauner after returning the 4th bladeattack or else you will have to start all over again.

Thanks to Hapkido for pointing out the tricky wording on "consecutive".

Area 6___________Castle Sewers________________[CH5.6]

Trial: Finish the level after killing 3 Skeleton Warriorswithout destroying their shields

Difficulty: 4/10

Strategy:

There are only 3 skeletons to fight in this area so you'll have to kill all

three without breaking their shields. This is not terribly difficult andthere are a myriad means of doing so. Fairies will distract them giving yousome free hits, Holy Water does excellent damage as well, and they arevulnerable to Gauntlet attacks. You can use Holy Water, Direct Heavy Combo,Area Heavy Combo, and Ultimate Light to scatter their bones when they are downas well, to avoid fighting them a second time. Or, if you have one handy, youcan use a Dark Crystal will kill all 3 without breaking their shields with theadded bonus of scattering their remains instantly.


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Chapter VI:

Area 1___________Castle Courtyard_____________[CH6.1]

Trial: Finish the level and kill 3 Skeleton Warriorswhile you are mounted on a Warg

Difficulty: 4/10

Strategy:

After killing the Animated Armors and dropping into the dungeon below you willencounter 2 Skeleton Warriors which you must avoid killing before the Vampiresrelease a Warg from the cages. Distract the Warg with Fairies and mount itwithout killing the Skeleton Warriors in the process. Once mounted, use theWarg's Triangle/Y attack to defeat the 2 Skeletons, wait a moment for a 3rd tospawn, and kill that one as well. Easy as pie right?

Area 2___________Maze Gardens_________________[CH6.2]

Trial: Finish the level after defeating 15 Mandragoras in less than 15 seconds

Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

This one is a little bit based on luck. The difficulty isn't in killing theMandragoras but rather, getting them all in one spot. Once a sufficientnumber have spawned near you, toss a few Holy Waters as they can kill many ofthem at once. I suggest having at least 5 Waters on hand before attemptingthis trial. Luckily, you can restart from your last checkpoint and try thisas many times as is necessary. Just be patient.

Alternate Strategy from SBAllen:

Gather 10 Mandragora and use a Dark Crystal to kill them all at once. The

timer will not being counting down until after the Crystal kills the firstwave of Mandragora. This leaves you with a full 15 seconds to locate the 5 orso remaining.

Area 3___________Castle Hall__________________[CH6.3]

Trial: Finish the level and win the Vampire Wargamewithout losing more than 3 pieces

Difficulty: Varies

Strategy:

You need to be a bit lucky for this one. It's another where practice easesthings along. But here are a few strategies that may help. Always focus on 1type of opposing piece at once. If there are no Werewolves available thenthat player wastes a turn if the wheel lands on Werewolf. Always be aware ofthe health of your pieces by holding L2/LT and be aware of your opponent'srange. Necromancers can attack from 2 spaces away in any direction (evendiagonals). The CPU will *always* attack any zombie in range. Position yourzombies to be in range of as many types of pieces as possible for best effect.If you've got a zombie next to both a Vampire and a Werewolf as well as being


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in sight of a Necromancer, then you've effectively blocked your opponent fromdoing anything significant for 1 spin. Zombies do not count as pieces lost souse as many as you can. Of note, the Vampire's drain attack cannot kill.Good luck!

Area 4___________Refectory____________________[CH6.4]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Evil Butcher after he usesat least 15 objects in the kitchen


Strategy:

This is an endurance match. You just have to last long enough against theButcher for him to use 15 objects. I suggest doing this trial on Squiredifficulty as it will make it near impossible for you to lose. Just dodge andwait him out. But whatever you do to pass the time, don't whittle his healthdown low enough that he dons his "helm" as he will stop using kitchenware oncethis happens.

Chapter VII:

Area 1___________Balcony______________________[CH7.1]

Trial: Finish the level after beating the logic gates puzzle in 7 movements

Difficulty: 0/10

Strategy:

Another one! The game _gives_ you the solution in a scroll! However I willprovide the solution here once again: Left, Middle x5, Right

Area 2___________Electric Laboratory__________[CH7.2]

Trial: Finish the level and deactivate the Mechanical Monstrosity using onlythe tesla coil in the lab after it is activated

Difficulty: 7/10

Strategy:

This is another one of the more infuriating trials in the game. This is dueto a number of reasons. First, you have no means of keeping the Monstrosityin one place whatsoever, so you will miss with your shots, a lot. Each timethis happens you must wait for the switch to re-activate before trying again.

Also, you have no checkpoints during this fight, so you'll have to do it allin one go. Thankfully, it only takes 3 shots to down the creature. Start offby getting as much health as you can. Dodge roll like a monkey in a circlearound the Monster and attack whenever you can. Once he is sufficientlydamaged he will activate the tesla coil. This is your only opportunity for afree hit, take it. Next, use the Somersault or Double Jump to leap over himtowards the tesla platform. Wait for him to follow you there and somersaultfollowed by a quick roll back towards the button. If you're lucky, you canhit the button before it has a chance to turn and follow. If you're not,rinse and repeat. Again, you must zap him a total of 3 times.


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Alternate Strategy from Zelix:

Purchase the Light Magic upgrade "Light Flash" which stuns upon a successfulsynchronized block. The flash does not count as a "hit" and thus won'tinvalidate the trial. Just lure the monster into position and block with yourLight Magic active. You'll have an extra second or so to smack the switch solong as you continue to move efficiently. A note of warning, Light Flash willdrain your Light Magic with each successful synchronized block.

Area 3___________Chromatic Observatory________[CH7.3]

Trial: Finish the level, destroying 10 Deadly Toys using normal hitsbefore completely killing any of them with a grip


Strategy:

On higher difficulties these toys HURT. Despite the trial description you areallowed to kill the Toys by any means _other_ than a grapple. This meansCrystals, Holy Water, Light and Shadow Magic, and Daggers. You just can'tgrapple them. This is another test of endurance. You will be fighting all 3

Toys the entire time so the screen can get a bit crowded with attacks. Isuggest turning down the difficulty for this one as I found it nearlyimpossible on Paladin. There's nothing complicated about this trial, justkill Toys. So if you're skilled enough feel free to ramp up the masochism ifyou wish. Remember, the toys will re-spawn infintely until you kill all 3with a grapple attack. That means you'll be killing a total of 13 toys tocomplete this trial.

Chapter VIII:

Area 1___________Outer Wall___________________[CH8.1]

Trial: Finish the level after killing 10 Gremlins usingonly your Silver Daggers

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

There are exactly 10 Gremlins in this area. They all spawn on the platform inthe middle of the 2 enormous chains you must cross to reach the castle. Youmust kill all of them using Silver Daggers. I suggest not attempting thisuntil you have acquired some Dagger Upgrades as you have no guarantee theGremlins will drop more Daggers for you to use against them. ExplodingDaggers count as well. There is an ample supply of Shadow Magic from the

previous area's Neutral Magic Font so you shouldn't run out. If youaccidentally kill one with something else, restart.

Area 2___________The Clockwork Tower__________[CH8.2]

Trial: Finish the level and get to the top corridor in less than 5 minutes

Difficulty: 7/10


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Strategy:

[[Warning]] Do not attempt this trial without at least Ultimate Shadow orUltimate Light and/or a Dark Crystal. You must fight the MechanicalMonstrosity on a timer.

This is the most forgiving time trial in the bunch. I finished with 47seconds to spare. There are 2 checkpoints in this area, once after you raisethe platform for the first time, and again when you reach the MechanicalMonstrosity part deux. If you have the Seraph Wings then use them. If youare skilled in their use you can leap across many gaps including the balancebeams. The only thing that should catch you up are the electrified climbingsections. Watch the timing of the electricity and be certain in your footing.Both of these sections come after the first checkpoint, so if you have 3:30 to4:00 left at that checkpoint you should have no trouble finishing with time tospare. There is a Neutral Magic Font just before the second electrifiedclimbing section so fill up. Use both Ultimate Shadow and Light to down theMechanical Monstrosity as quickly as you possibly can. Done correctly, thisshouldn't take more than 30 seconds giving you plenty of time to raise theplatform. Good Luck!

Shortcuts courtesy of corneliab:

Jumping at a 45 degree angle to the right with the Seraph Shoulders before the

first balance beam can let you skip the entire first floor.

If you jump across the balance beam leading to the first electrified wall youcan attach to the grip point without needing to touch the floor.

After the first electrified wall you will come across 2 flat balconies justbefore a long gap. Using the Seraph Shoulders and jumping as high and far asyou can to the right you can attach to the grip point hidden off-screen above.This puts you right at the Mechanical Monstrosity, effectively skipping halfof the area.

There are many more shortcuts showcased in this video uploaded by corneliab:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0ZB-EHoops

Area 3___________Olrox________________________[CH8.3]

Trial: Finish the level after keeping the focus meterat its maximum value for 60 seconds

Difficulty: 6/10

Strategy:

There is no strategy for this. Don't get hit for 60 seconds. But here are

some tips that are helpful. One full counter-attack combo will get you a fullfocus bar. You can also use Improved Guillotine to build Focus very quickly.Holy Water will knock Olrox down, use this to get some breathing room. Thefocus meter will begin to drain after 8 seconds so you must hit Olrox at leastonce every 8 seconds to keep it at maximum. Do not attempt to block once youhave focus, only dodge. If you can manage to get a full focus meter beforeOlrox begins to heal from a Lycan the ensuing cutscene will keep the timergoing without fear of being hit. You need only survive to the next checkpointafter completing the trial. If you die you must start over.


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Area 4___________The Throne Room______________[CH8.4]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Dark Lord after she killsat least 10 of her own Vampire Warriors

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

This trial is done in the very first stage of the fight where Carmilla attacksyou with lightning. Run in a large circle in either direction and wait forCarmilla to attack. It is very likely she will kill at least 1 Vampire withevery attack. If she is consistently missing them, stun one with the Fairysubweapon and position yourself between Carmilla and the victim. Thisrequires some timing, but simplifies the trial considerably when the number ofVampires dwindles. Only 10 Vampires spawn so DO NOT kill them yourself.

Chapter IX:

Area 1___________Bones Forest_________________[CH9.1]

Trial: Finish the level after killing 10 Headless Corpses,

without being grabbed by them a single time

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Use Ultimate Light or Holy Water to kill the heads and put the zombies intostunned status simultaneously. There are a limited number of Headless Corpsesin the area so be sure to do a running leap across the large gap past thefirst group to find more. I found 12 total. If you proceed in the levelinstead of leaping over immediately you can nab a checkpoint just before theCave Troll. This gives you some forgiveness should you accidentally begrabbed.

Area 2___________Woes Moor____________________[CH9.2]

Trial: Finish the level and get the three keys,scaring the crows only 13 times

Difficulty: 0/10

Strategy:

Yet another "do puzzle X in Y moves" trial. I feel like these were justlazy...The solution is simple. Scare the 1st flock 4 times, followed by the

2nd flock 5 times, then after the 2nd Scarecrow battle scare the 2nd flocktwice more followed by the 3rd flock the final 2 times.

Area 3___________The Music Box________________[CH9.3]

Trial: Finish the level and get the blue rose without fallingin any of the Music Box traps

Difficulty: 3/10


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Strategy:

The strategy here is no different than completing the area normally. Just youmust do it perfectly. There is no need to get any gems while attempting thistrial. Make a beeline straight for the rose. To avoid the spike and flamehallways just charge a Shoulder Charge and wait for the right timing. Walkwith staggered steps to avoid the electric hallway and dodge roll under thespinning blades. If you anticipate failing many times you can pre-arrange themusic reels as follows: Red, Yellow, Purple, GreenThis way, after inserting the Blue Reel you will only need swap Blue and Yellowto be in the correct sequence for the final stretch.

Chapter X:

Area 1___________Titan Graveyard______________[CH10.1]

Trial: Finish the level after receiving at least 100 points ofpoison damage from the deadly mist

Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

Try to begin the area with full health. Dip a toe into the poison mist asclose to land as you can. Wait until the counter in the upper right hits 100and then step out. There are many enemies from which to recover health inthis stage with several checkpoints. If you did not start with full health,recover from enemies and retreat. You shouldn't have a problem with this one.

Area 2___________Fire Pinnacle________________[CH10.2]

Trial: Finish the level without allowing Pan to recoverany health during the fight

Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

All but one of Pan's attacks can be countered. If you perform a SynchronizedGuard followed by 3-4 attacks then guard again you should be able to keep Panin an infinite loop of counter-attacks from which he cannot drain health. Panwill only gain health if he attacks you with an opposing element. Solve thisby never attacking with magic. Just stay Neutral the whole time.

Area 3___________Fire Cemetery________________[CH10.3]

Trial: Finish the level after killing 20 Zombies in a single aerial sequence

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Just before the end of the stage there are many dozens of Zombies that spawn.Get full Shadow Magic energy from the Neutral Magic Font by the door. Gatherup as many Zombies as you can and perform a Triangle/Y, X/A, Hold Triangle/Ycombo. Do not perform Triangle/Y, X/A, X/A as this is not guaranteed to kill


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all the Zombies in range. Just activate Shadow Magic and don't double jump.The Zombie spawns are a little bit random so this might take a few tries.

Alternate Strategy from Chris Bolts:

Stand close to the doorway to create a bottleneck for the zombies, allowinggreater zombie density and increasing the likelihood of getting 20 in range ofyour attacks at once. From here, perform the Triangle/Y, X/A, X/A combofollowed by the Avalanche Punch (L2/LT + Triangle/Y in midair). Use basicSquare/X swings to keep yourself in midair and perform another Avalanche Punchuntil you have 20 kills. So long as you do not touch the ground it counts asa single "aerial sequence".

Area 4___________Crematory Oven_______________[CH10.4]

Trial: Finish the level and kill at least 15 summoned Creeping Corpsesduring the fight against the Gravedigger

Difficulty: 4/10

Strategy:

This is yet another endurance trial. Stay alive against the Gravedigger long

enough for him to summon 15 Creeping Corpses. Holy Water or Holy Shield willkill them in 1 hit and they are likely to drop more Holy Water as well. TheGravedigger has 4 attacks: Shovel swing, unblockable shovel swing, fire wave,ground pound, face tentacles and summon Creeping Corpses. All but the groundpound can be dodged by rolling. Jump to avoid the ground pound. You mustdefeat the Gravedigger once you complete the trial or you must start overagain.

Chapter XI:

Area 1___________Necromancer's Abyss__________[CH11.1]

Trial: Finish the level after destroying 60 Reapers

Difficulty: 5/10

Strategy:

You can encounter a maximum 56 Reapers before facing the 2nd Necromancer.Three of the Reapers are out of the way and more are missable. To locate the3 hidden Reapers take the left Mirror Portal after the 1st Necromancer fightand head right. Use the portal but miss the grapple point, landing on a smallplatform. There are the 3 Reapers. If you kill every other Reaper you comeacross you should have 56. The 2nd Necromancer summons a maximum of 10 moreReapers. Use these to fill out your quota.

[[Warning]] When activating the punch switch in the room full of Reapers, donot activate the switch until _after_ the Reapers are dead. No more Reaperswill spawn after the switch is activated, ruining the trial.

Area 2___________The Dracolich________________[CH11.2]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Dracolich in less than 5 minutes


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Difficultly: 8/10

Strategy:

_Another_ Titan time trial...*sigh*. You know the drill by now. DarkCrystal, perfect movement. Something you may not know however, you can useX/A to move more quickly even on the flat sections of the Dracolich. Inshort, mash X/A for the entire battle, it will speed things up tremendously.Additionally, the timer does not stop for the cutscene after you destroy theseal on Dracolich's underbelly. You should have 1:20-1:30 left when youdestroy the underbelly seal to compensate for this. As before, you mustrestart from World Map to preserve your Crystal.

Chapter XII:

Area 1___________The Final Fight______________[CH12.1]

Trial: Finish the level and defeat Satan without being hitby any attack with the opposite magic color

Difficultly: 6/10

Strategy:

The simple solution? Don't use magic at all. The only times you are requiredto use magic in this fight is to escape Satan's holding seals (swap to the samecolor magic as the seal). It is dangerous to use magic at _all_ during thisfight because any attacks made by Satan, including his meteor storm and groundpound, count as a magic element attack for the purposes of the trial. If thefight is going on too long, spam Ultimate Light and Ultimate Shadow for somequick damage. Just be careful to shut off your magic afterwards to avoidbeing hit by a stray attack.

-----------------------------------------------------

\ Version History [HIST] /-------------------------------------------------

Version 1.0 - Wrote Guide.

Version 1.1 - Added General Info & Tips section, video examples by Master LL,Alternate strategy for 10-3 by Chris Bolts, Updated entries

Version 1.2 - Updated strategies for Areas 4-2, 5-5, 10-3, 7-3, and 6-2, added

Dark Crystal locations

Version 1.3 - Updated strategies for Areas 4-1 and 4-2

Version 1.4 - Updated strategies for Areas 2-7 and 8-2, added video example bycorneliab

Version 1.5 - Updated strategies for Areas 6-3 and 7-2

-----------------------------------------------------\ Credits and Recognitions [CRDT] /-------------------------------------------------


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All trial descriptions are courtesy of Konami and the Lords of Shadow Dev Team

YouTube examples for Chapters 5-4 and 5-5 and the route for Trial 5-5courtesy of Master LL

Alternate strategy for Chapter 10-3 provided by Chris Bolts

Gate skip tip for Chapter 5-5 provided by CassyChan

Ultimate Light tip for Chapter 5-5 and suggestions for 4-1 provided by Hapkido

Quick Dark Crystal acquisition from Chapter 10-3 and alternate strategy forChapter 6-2 provided by SBAllen

Alternate strategy for Chapter 4-2 provided by Aku Yurei

Alternate strategy for Chapter 2-7 provided by Dominique

YouTube example and shortcuts for Chapter 8-2 courtesy of corneliab

Alternate strategy for Chapter 7-2 provided by Zelix

Vampire Wargame tactics suggested by SmurfMD

Guide written and strategies developed by me, Glamador

castlevania los trial

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