Walkthrough

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01 The Lost Village 02 Wizardry Lab 03 The Dark Chapel 04 Demon Guest House 05 Subterranean Hell 06 Condemned Tower 07 Cursed Clock Tower 08 Silenced Ruins 09 Demon Guest House (north) 10 The Pinnacle 11 Mine of Judgement 12 The Abyss

You can save your game as soon as you enter the Abyss. Continue eastward to find the next pathway in this linear romp through dangerous territory. Watch out for the gathering fire spouts on the ground. They'll shoot up as soon as you touch them, and they deal a lot of damage.

The path through the Abyss is, as already stated, very linear. The only thing that stands in your way is a host of enemies ready to tear you to shreds. You'll see a lot of familiar enemies as well as some new ones. Two of the rooms you'll enter are buried in sand. When you reach the second sand room, be sure to drop to the far south end of the room (you'll get sucked under) to find the Hippogryph soul, which will let you perform a giant leap. Continue moving through the Abyss until you reach the fourth section of the area. You'll find another save point just before reaching a door to the boss enemy Abaddon.

Abaddon can be a very difficult boss if you try to pussyfoot around him and fight tactically. The best way to defeat this boss is to muscle in and hit him with all you've got. For this fight, we recommend equipping the Death and the Aguni souls.

As soon as the battle begins, enable the Death soul and attack Abaddon as quickly as possible. The enemy will summon streams of locusts with his baton, and these mere insects are nothing to take lightly. Note the pattern Abaddon directs with his baton—the locusts that come will follow that path, forcing you to dodge accordingly.

One thing that'll make this battle easier is the ability of Death's scythes to destroy the locusts Abaddon summons. As long as you're facing in the direction from which the locusts come (usually from behind Abaddon), they'll cut through the stream and thin out the pack, either reducing the damage you take or eliminating it completely. You can duck away in corners to avoid the insects during some of their patterns, but trying to physically evade them is much more difficult than simply destroying them with attacks. If you do run to a corner, be sure you're still facing the direction from which the locusts are coming. If you turn your back on them, Death's scythes won't be able to wipe away the pests.

The Aguni soul is also very good at cutting away locusts and attacking Abaddon in the process. If you get a good run on the enemy, you should be able to defeat him in under a minute. Be ready to seal the deal with Magic Seal 5, then backtrack to save your game.

Keep progressing through the Abyss. You'll cut through more enemies and, after passing a Giant Slug, you'll eventually reach another section of the area. Be very careful in this next section, as the walls are lined with spikes. Carefully jump over the spikes and use ranged attacks to defeat the enemies when possible. There's another save point just ahead, and another boss room to keep it company. Ready yourself well—if need be, teleport back to Hammer's shop—because this is the last battle.

As Dimitri transforms into the enemy Menace, jump and attack the small head that's protruding from the left. Be careful not to touch any part of Menace with your body as you jump—simply grazing him will deal a considerable chunk of damage to you. Between your attacks, watch for subtle movements in Menace's body. They'll warn you of impending danger from one of three attacks the enemy has.

The most common attack is Menace's poison breath that comes from the mouth in the lower-left corner of the screen. As soon as you see this mouth move, run to the lower-right corner of the screen and wait under the enemy's knee cap. Getting hit by this attack will damage you severely and poison you, reducing the damage your own attacks have.

You'll need to look out for two other attacks Menace has. A row of spires will poke out from either the top or the bottom of the screen, giving you ample time to retreat to a safe spot before they shoot out and fill the screen. If the spires come from the top of the screen, take the same safe spot used for dodging Menace's breath attack, hiding in the lower-right corner of the screen. If the spires come from below, you can stay in the center of the arena and keep attacking the enemy's protruding head. The spires will hit only in the corners, and while it ruins your safe spot for the other attacks it lets you continue your own offense.

This, however, is only the intro to the real fight with Menace. After a long and arduous battle with the protruding head, Menace will stand up erect, showing his true size. This part of the battle is much more difficult than the first, though equipping yourself with the proper souls can make the battle easier to handle. Equip the Mandragora soul, Death soul and the Arc Demon enchant-type soul. The Mandragora is great for attacking the beast, as you'll soon discover, and the Arc Demon soul will greatly reduce the amount of damage you take when getting hit.

When Menace is erect, he has only two points where you can hit him. A small face on his knee is vulnerable to attacks, as is the face crammed in the jaw of the skull that forms the beast's head. Each vulnerable point has its own reserve of health, forcing you to attack both spots to take down the enemy. It's a good idea to pick one to start with and continue attacking it until it's destroyed before moving on to the next.

To get to Menace's head, you can either jump up the series of platforms to the left or perform a super jump with the Hippogryph soul. The head is only vulnerable when the giant skull is open, which prevents you from dealing more than one hit at a time. Because of this, it's a good idea to use a powerful bullet-type soul for your attack to make sure that one attack you get counts. We used the Mandragora soul to deal over 100 points of damage per hit, and recommend you do the same. The Mandragora attack will also damage any of the drones Menace has flying about him, letting you finish them off with only a couple more hits.

While attacking the head, you'll need to watch out for two main attacks (in addition to dodging the floating drones). Watch Menace's hands for warning of the attacks. If he pulls up just his right hand, back away to avoid the uppercut that follows and be careful of the hand as it retreats from the thrust (the hand opens up after the punch, making the hand larger and more difficult to dodge). For the second attack, Menace will bring up his right arm and his claw before thrusting the claw straight out. You can avoid this attack usually by jumping up to the platform above you, letting you continue attacking Menace's face.

Going for the face on Menace's knee is a bit trickier than fighting his upper weak spot. You'll have to jump to reach the weak point on the enemy's knee, making it again beneficial to use a powerful bullet-type attack (the Mandragora is still good). You won't have any particular attacks to watch out for, but instead you'll have to dodge the enemy's entire body. Be very careful not to get caught in the corner, as Menace will deal a considerable bit of damage if he steps on you. If you find yourself getting backed against the wall, use your super jump ability to reach the top of the arena and wait for Menace to back away before resuming the attack.

That's it—there's nothing more to Menace to worry about, so go all out when battling this form. Use Potions and Mind Up items to restore your health and magic as needed. When you defeat Menace, you'll be rewarded with the true ending of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow.