PROLOGUE – Richter Belmont’s Showdown With Dracula

Learn how to defeat Dracula as Richter Belmont in the Rondo of Blood prologue for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Master his forms and attacks!

Alright, so you've just finished naming your save file and watched the intro cinematic. Now you're in control of Richter Belmont, kicking off Symphony of the Night with the climax of Rondo of Blood! On the left side of your screen, you'll see all Richter's vital info. That light red bar is his health, and the number next to it? That's your heart count. In SotN, hearts are basically your ammo for secondary weapons, which we call sub-weapons. You'll find these by smashing candles and other objects.

Your only way to go right now is left. Double-tap and hold left or right on the D-pad to get Richter running. The first candle you see, up the stairs, has a Crucifix sub-weapon. It's pretty strong, but for this fight against Dracula, we're gonna want the Holy Water you'll find a bit later. Keep going; the next few candles and a vase will toss you more hearts. Then, up ahead, there are four more candles. The fourth one holds the Holy Water, so grab it after the epic dialogue with Dracula!

Now that Richter's really ticked Dracula off, make sure you've got that Holy Water equipped. You'll notice Dracula's health bar on the right side of the screen, opposite Richter's. He's got two forms for this battle. In his first form, the one you see when you first meet him, he'll teleport around. When he pops up, you've got a small window to land some hits, and his head is the weak spot. If you time it right, you can jump in, hit him twice, and then jump again to dodge his fireballs before he even opens his cloak. If you're quick with those jump attacks, you can even get a second jump in to avoid his three fireballs after landing the second time. Sometimes, he'll shoot two big fireballs instead of three small ones. To deal with those, duck (hold down on the D-pad) to avoid the top one, then let go and jump over the bottom one. If you're fast enough, you can sneak in another hit. Keep this up, and you'll drain his first health bar and beat his first form.

Next up is Dracula's second form. He's a bit tougher this time around, taking on the appearance of a bat demon. He definitely requires more effort to take down. Now that he's a bigger target, there are a few ways to damage him. Using your whip is a decent option, but Holy Water (hold Up on the D-pad and press Square or Circle) will deal continuous damage. Richter also has a special move called "Item Crash." Unlike Alucard, Richter can unleash an ultimate version of each sub-weapon. With Holy Water, this calls down a screen-wide rainstorm that damages everything. It's a super effective and easy way to beat Dracula, but it chews through a lot of hearts.

When his second form begins, Dracula will jump back and forth between the left and right sides of the screen. You'll need to slide (hold down and press X; you can chain these by holding down and mashing X) to the opposite side to keep up. This gives you an opening to attack him with a combo of whip and Holy Water. After these jumps, he might just pause and stare, then jump to the other side, or he'll launch fireballs at you. They're pretty big, so you'll need to judge whether to jump or not, as they don't always target you directly. Keep using these tactics, and Dracula will eventually burn up and be defeated. Nice job! Oh, and one more thing: you can't actually die in the Prologue. If Richter's health bar empties, Maria will appear, pray for him, restore his health, and you won't take any more damage. After this, you'll get a summary of Richter's victory, setting the stage for Alucard's adventure in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.