Hellfire Beast, Lossoth, Thornweed, Granfaloon, Slime, Large Slime.

Navigate the Catacombs in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night! Learn strategies for Hellfire Beast, Granfaloon, Lossoth, and other enemies, plus find key items like the Ice Brand.

Alright, we're heading into the Catacombs, which is basically the last bit of the underground area. After you go through those red doors, head down the brick stairs. Once you hit the ground floor, pop into the room on your left – it's a save room, and there's another room just past it on the left. Keep going past the save room. In the next room, you'll spot a Bloodstone on a pedestal, and behind it, hidden in a breakable wall, is a Cat-eye Circlet.

These two items are pretty unique. The Bloodstone boosts any healing you get from enemies spitting blood when they're hit or die. So, if you've got the Dark Metamorphosis spell active (which heals you from that blood), this accessory makes it way more effective. Honestly, it's super situational and often not worth the hassle. The Cat-eye Circlet is part of a set; like the Topaz Circlet heals poison damage, this one heals you from 'cat damage.' I can only think of one enemy that actually uses this, so it's also pretty niche.

Now, let's backtrack a bit and save before pushing forward. In the next room, you'll run into two Wereskeletons and a Bone Ark. Pro tip: if you take out the skeletons holding the Bone Ark's head, it's way easier to hit.

Next up is a room packed with Gremlins, and they're filling the upper area with fire. This room has two exits at the bottom, left and right. We'll take the left path first.

You'll enter a room with red coffins standing upright. You can walk past them, but if they get hit, Blood Skeletons will pop out. The room after that is small and holds a Life Max Up and a Heart Max Up – grab those!

Keep going, and you'll encounter some Grave Keepers and the Hellfire Beast. The Grave Keepers are no biggie, but the Hellfire Beast is a bit tougher. It uses elemental attacks, can summon fire that bursts up, and then shoots lightning from its arm. You can dodge the fire by moving away, and you can duck under the lightning. It's a pretty straightforward fight overall.

In the next room, watch out for the lava below the rocks. You'll see an old hunched-over enemy holding a lamp that shoots lava at you. They're easy enough to deal with, so just keep moving left.

This room has a path going upwards and a tough enemy called the Discus Lord. This guy hits hard and takes a lot of punishment. When you get close, you can land a few hits, but he'll either swipe with his disk or throw it at you. He jumps a lot, so you can usually dodge his attacks by jumping over him. He doesn't move much unless you get behind him. After you beat him, head through the opening above. The pots on the right have a Ballroom Mask and a Heart Max Up. Then, go to the left wall and smash it open. Inside, you'll find the Ice Brand sword – a nice upgrade from the Broadsword!

Now, head back and beat the Discus Lord again, then take the door on the left. You'll be in another lava room with Lossoths. After that, there's a vertical room with more Gremlins. The room to the left is empty except for a candle that gives you $1. Climb up the vertical room to the top. To the right, you'll find another save room, and the room after that has the Walk Armor. This armor is a massive defense boost and keeps getting better as you explore more of the map. Honestly, you probably won't need any other armor after this. Go back, save, and then head left for the boss fight.

GRANFALOON

You'll find yourself in a room full of skulls – time for the Granfaloon! This boss is basically a big shell made of bodies. To damage it, you first need to break through the outer layers. It's a bit of an endurance fight because the Granfaloon keeps dropping bodies from its shell, which then walk towards you and get in your way. You can't just jump straight in and attack.

First, focus on attacking the shell. You don't need to destroy all of it, just enough to expose the center where you can actually deal damage. Once parts of the shell are broken, tentacles inside will start shooting green beams. Clearing out sections of the shell stops the constant rain of bodies, making things a bit less crowded.

There are platforms on the sides of the room where you can hang out, use sub-weapons, or just get away from the bodies if there are too many. Once most of the shell is gone, it's much easier to keep hitting the middle part to defeat it and get your Life Max Up.

After the Granfaloon's room, you'll go through a few more areas and eventually get the Mormegil sword. It's similar to the Ice Brand but is a dark-element sword, which is great against Holy enemies. I'd probably stick with using this one for a while.