A proper-sequence speedrun route for Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
[SPOILERS ARE ALL OVER THIS THREAD. NOT RECOMMENDED FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T BEATEN THE GAME YET, NOR FOR ANYONE WHO'S LOOKING TO ENJOY THE SCENERY.]
NECESSARY ITEMS:
* 6 Dracula Relics: Fang, Eye, Nail, Rib, Tooth, Ring (for worst & best endings)
* JB's Bracelet (for best ending)
* MK's Bracelet
* destroy the Evil Hand in Castle Top Floor A (for bad ending)
0. Start game. You have JB's Bracelet.
1. Entrance A. (If getting Fist, take the second available path upward.) Take the first available path upward. Safety-save if desired. Go right into Marble Corridor A.
2. Skipping the Bat Boss. In Marble Corridor A, pass Death and go upward. (Go left if getting Ice Book.) Go right. At the next split, go up instead of right (right is to Giant Bat boss who takes forever). Go right in the passage above. At the second big room, (go right if getting Ring of Vlad), go down to Wailing Way A. Don't get Ice Book, Fist, or Ring of Vlad; we are coming back through Marble Corridor A later anyway.
3. Getting the Lizard Tail. In Wailing Way A, first big room: left, down, right, down, left, down. Right into Shrine of the Apostates A. Down, all the way left then down, left, top left, down, right to safety-save, left to second cutscene with Maxim and Living Armor boss. Defeat it and get the Lizard Tail. Go left to return to Entrance A.
4. Go to Chunk 2. Go "first" up (the same way we went before), safety-save on left, go right to Marble Corridor A, take first down, then right to Room of Illusions A. Linear path to Keyhole Warp #1.
5. Get to the Treasury Hub. Keyhole Warp #1 takes you to Castle Treasury B. At first fork go right. In crystal rooms, right to end of hallway, down, left, down. Let's call this the Treasury Hub, which connects crystal rooms, elevator rooms, Skeleton Den, Luminous Cavern, and furniture room.
6. Find the Sylph Feather in Skeleton Den B. From the top left side of Treasury Hub, go right and take first down (at the center of the room), then take first left, to Skeleton Den B. In Skeleton Den B, at first fork take left. Linear path to third cutscene, then linear path (can't go up yet) to Skull Knight. Defeat it and get the Sylph Feather.
7. Get to Chunk 3. Go back to the Treasury Hub. After exiting the skull doorway, go straight right into Luminous Caverns B. At first fork, keep going right. Second fork, go right for safety save, down for progress (ignore Golem). Left when the path forks, then linear path to Keyhole Warp #2.
8. Get the Night Goggles and get to the Clock Tower. Keyhole Warp #3 takes you to Sky Walkway A and fourth cutscene. Go right, up, and right. Now you can go down stairs and right to safety save, go up to Chapel of Dissonance A to collect Eye of Vlad early (but we'll be coming here later anyway), or right to Devil boss. Defeat Devil, get Night Goggles, and go right into Clock Tower A.
9. Defeat Max Slimer and open up all the Circular Warps. Upon entering Clock Tower A, ignore this First Shaft that you find yourself in, immediately go right all the way (slide under Ruler Sword), then go up this shaft (let's call it the Central Shaft): first right is something to remember but not go to yet, second right is save point, third right is Max Slimer. Defeat it, go up to the top of that last shaft, then left to the fifth cutscene, wherein Death enables all the Circular Warps. Warp to Clock Tower B.
10. Open up the passage to the Ball Race. In Clock Tower B, return to Central Shaft (dash under Skeleton Blazes), safety-save if desired, take "first" right (remember it?) then down another shaft and right when possible. Wait for green armor to walk over and then bat it for an attempt at a home run that breaks the wall. Let's call this the Batting Cage. Now don't go further: go back to Clock Tower Circular Warp. Warp back to Clock Tower A.
11. Go to the Castle A's ball race to get the Fang. Return to the Batting Cage in Clock Tower A. The wall should be gone now (you should see an empty room), go down the right side to the bottom of the following shaft. Left is a safety save, down is the Clock Tower A Ball Race Room. Activate the race but do not attempt to race the ball: instead, find a secret passage to slide into somewhere in the left wall. Once you do, drop down and go left into the hidden room, and obtain the Fang of Vlad. Follow the normal race route back out of the Ball Race Room, return to Central Shaft, take safety save if desired, but go down, then left to exit Clock Tower A to Sky Walkway A.
12. Venture into the Aqueduct of Dragons A to pick up the Nail and open up the gate you need to pass to access the Crushing Stone. (I think it's possible to get the Crushing Stone without opening up the gate but I think it's faster this way, opening up the gate and then warping to the castle where the Crushing Stone is.) Go left past Devil boss room, drop down, safety-save if desired, go down then left. Equip Night Goggles. Go through Dark Passage to enter Aqueduct of Dragons A. At first fork go right. At second fork, safety save if you want above and left, boss is above and right, but go down. Linear path until you see a woman's head sculpture. In that room, defeat the Boomerang Armor and double-jump into fake wall to get the Nail of Vlad. Go back the way we came to the "second fork"; now go up. Safety-save if desired, go right to fight Giant Merman. Defeat it and go right to reenter Clock Tower A. Go up to top of shaft and press button to open gate in next room. Go past it, Linear path past pendulums, then go left, back into the bottom of the First Shaft. Go up, and follow the path back to the Central Shaft and then to the Clock Tower Circular Warp. Warp to Clock Tower B.
13. Get the Crushing Stone. From the warp, safety-save on the way (you won't be able to save for a while), defeat Peeping Big (jump-kicking is quite effective), and navigate back to the First Shaft in Clock Tower B, then go down a little then go right to the pendulums room. Don't go down again yet, but pass the pendulums, and then when the path forks, go left and linear path to a Medicine Jar and whip a mechanism repeatedly to turn a device. Lower it all the way, then backtrack to the beginning of the pendulums where there's a path downward. Get the Crushing Stone.
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NECESSARY ITEMS:
* 6 Dracula Relics: Fang, Eye, Nail, Rib, Tooth, Ring (for worst & best endings)
* JB's Bracelet (for best ending)
* MK's Bracelet
* destroy the Evil Hand in Castle Top Floor A (for bad ending)
- JB's Bracelet: in your inventory from the beginning.
- Ring of Vlad: Marble Corridor A, requires Sylph Feather OR Ice Fist OR Griffin's Wing
- Eye of Vlad: Chapel of Dissonance A, requires Sylph Feather (using jump-kick) OR Griffin's Wing
- Fang of Vlad: Clock Tower A, Ball Race Room. requires Lizard Tail which you should have had for a long time already.
- Nail of Vlad: Aqueduct of Dragons A, Gazing Statue Room. requires Sylph Feather
- MK's Bracelet: after the seventh cutscene in Sky Walkway A top left boss room, which in turn happens after defeating Shadow in the corresponding room in Sky Walkway B; requires Crushing Stone
- Heart of Vlad: Sky Walkway B, behind save point. requires Crushing Stone
- Floodgate Key: to get the Griffin's Wing
- Skull Key OR Ice Fist: to get the Crush Boots and the Rib of Vlad No, actually, one can go through the Entrance basement using Crushing Stone and Griffin's Wing instead. But Skull Key is probably more convenient as it's used twice in the route given below.
- Rib of Vlad: Entrance B, above the parade/drawbridge; requires Griffin's Wing and Crush Boots (destroy ceilings). also requires that Giant Bat be dead, to lower the drawbridge
- Destroy the Evil Hand: Castle Top Floor A, at the very top. requires Griffin's Wing and Crush Boots
0. Start game. You have JB's Bracelet.
1. Entrance A. (If getting Fist, take the second available path upward.) Take the first available path upward. Safety-save if desired. Go right into Marble Corridor A.
2. Skipping the Bat Boss. In Marble Corridor A, pass Death and go upward. (Go left if getting Ice Book.) Go right. At the next split, go up instead of right (right is to Giant Bat boss who takes forever). Go right in the passage above. At the second big room, (go right if getting Ring of Vlad), go down to Wailing Way A. Don't get Ice Book, Fist, or Ring of Vlad; we are coming back through Marble Corridor A later anyway.
3. Getting the Lizard Tail. In Wailing Way A, first big room: left, down, right, down, left, down. Right into Shrine of the Apostates A. Down, all the way left then down, left, top left, down, right to safety-save, left to second cutscene with Maxim and Living Armor boss. Defeat it and get the Lizard Tail. Go left to return to Entrance A.
4. Go to Chunk 2. Go "first" up (the same way we went before), safety-save on left, go right to Marble Corridor A, take first down, then right to Room of Illusions A. Linear path to Keyhole Warp #1.
5. Get to the Treasury Hub. Keyhole Warp #1 takes you to Castle Treasury B. At first fork go right. In crystal rooms, right to end of hallway, down, left, down. Let's call this the Treasury Hub, which connects crystal rooms, elevator rooms, Skeleton Den, Luminous Cavern, and furniture room.
6. Find the Sylph Feather in Skeleton Den B. From the top left side of Treasury Hub, go right and take first down (at the center of the room), then take first left, to Skeleton Den B. In Skeleton Den B, at first fork take left. Linear path to third cutscene, then linear path (can't go up yet) to Skull Knight. Defeat it and get the Sylph Feather.
7. Get to Chunk 3. Go back to the Treasury Hub. After exiting the skull doorway, go straight right into Luminous Caverns B. At first fork, keep going right. Second fork, go right for safety save, down for progress (ignore Golem). Left when the path forks, then linear path to Keyhole Warp #2.
8. Get the Night Goggles and get to the Clock Tower. Keyhole Warp #3 takes you to Sky Walkway A and fourth cutscene. Go right, up, and right. Now you can go down stairs and right to safety save, go up to Chapel of Dissonance A to collect Eye of Vlad early (but we'll be coming here later anyway), or right to Devil boss. Defeat Devil, get Night Goggles, and go right into Clock Tower A.
9. Defeat Max Slimer and open up all the Circular Warps. Upon entering Clock Tower A, ignore this First Shaft that you find yourself in, immediately go right all the way (slide under Ruler Sword), then go up this shaft (let's call it the Central Shaft): first right is something to remember but not go to yet, second right is save point, third right is Max Slimer. Defeat it, go up to the top of that last shaft, then left to the fifth cutscene, wherein Death enables all the Circular Warps. Warp to Clock Tower B.
10. Open up the passage to the Ball Race. In Clock Tower B, return to Central Shaft (dash under Skeleton Blazes), safety-save if desired, take "first" right (remember it?) then down another shaft and right when possible. Wait for green armor to walk over and then bat it for an attempt at a home run that breaks the wall. Let's call this the Batting Cage. Now don't go further: go back to Clock Tower Circular Warp. Warp back to Clock Tower A.
11. Go to the Castle A's ball race to get the Fang. Return to the Batting Cage in Clock Tower A. The wall should be gone now (you should see an empty room), go down the right side to the bottom of the following shaft. Left is a safety save, down is the Clock Tower A Ball Race Room. Activate the race but do not attempt to race the ball: instead, find a secret passage to slide into somewhere in the left wall. Once you do, drop down and go left into the hidden room, and obtain the Fang of Vlad. Follow the normal race route back out of the Ball Race Room, return to Central Shaft, take safety save if desired, but go down, then left to exit Clock Tower A to Sky Walkway A.
12. Venture into the Aqueduct of Dragons A to pick up the Nail and open up the gate you need to pass to access the Crushing Stone. (I think it's possible to get the Crushing Stone without opening up the gate but I think it's faster this way, opening up the gate and then warping to the castle where the Crushing Stone is.) Go left past Devil boss room, drop down, safety-save if desired, go down then left. Equip Night Goggles. Go through Dark Passage to enter Aqueduct of Dragons A. At first fork go right. At second fork, safety save if you want above and left, boss is above and right, but go down. Linear path until you see a woman's head sculpture. In that room, defeat the Boomerang Armor and double-jump into fake wall to get the Nail of Vlad. Go back the way we came to the "second fork"; now go up. Safety-save if desired, go right to fight Giant Merman. Defeat it and go right to reenter Clock Tower A. Go up to top of shaft and press button to open gate in next room. Go past it, Linear path past pendulums, then go left, back into the bottom of the First Shaft. Go up, and follow the path back to the Central Shaft and then to the Clock Tower Circular Warp. Warp to Clock Tower B.
13. Get the Crushing Stone. From the warp, safety-save on the way (you won't be able to save for a while), defeat Peeping Big (jump-kicking is quite effective), and navigate back to the First Shaft in Clock Tower B, then go down a little then go right to the pendulums room. Don't go down again yet, but pass the pendulums, and then when the path forks, go left and linear path to a Medicine Jar and whip a mechanism repeatedly to turn a device. Lower it all the way, then backtrack to the beginning of the pendulums where there's a path downward. Get the Crushing Stone.
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15. Pick up the Eye, and use MK's Bracelet to open the door to the Top Floor. Now that you're in Sky Walkway A, go right, then upwards, following a long, linear path up to Chapel of Dissonance A. Once you get to the Chapel proper (you'll notice stained glass), go right, then up, then left up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, go right, and you'll see stairs down, and the Eye of Vlad high above. Look for a Flying Bone that spawns at a level you can double-jump to, and double-jump to it and jump-kick it when it's right beneath the opening to the nook with the Eye. This will allow you to double-jump again up to that nook, and get the Eye of Vlad. Now go back to the left, equip MK's Bracelet, and walk up to the orange door to open it. Now you're in Castle Top Floor A. Break the wall with the Crushing Stone, go left. Pass the Top Floor Circular Warp, defeat Pazuzu, and get the eighth cutscene with Lydie and Death, then go further and press the button that opens up the floor. Now you're back in Chunk 2, and you've got a save point; use it if you want or just pass it to the right.
At this point, your ability to access the rest of the castle depends largely on several keys and the Griffin's Wing. The Skull Key (opens green doors) and the Floodgate Key are required. The Lure Key is optional (but recommended if you want to be able to conveniently choose between the endings).
16. Get the Floodgate Key to drain the water so you can fight Death. After Pazuzu, the path through the Top Floor A and Treasury A is pretty straightforward: down. Go down whenever you can. Ignore the Minotaur v2 boss room in the Castle Treasury, though you can go left of the elevator for a safety save. Descending that room is really fast if you jump down the shaft to the left of the elevator and hug its right wall (next to the elevator shaft) and keep jump-kicking downward -- you can easily go faster than the elevator can catch up. You're in Castle Treasury A now. Below the first (and upper) elevator, go right, then down. To the left is a save point (and the Castle Core) but you should go right. Past the up-and-down room should be the lower elevator, which you should pass the same way as the upper one. Now you're in the top right of the Treasury Hub. Go down and left to Skeleton Den A. Follow the analogous path as you took before to get to the save point -- left at first fork, then a largely linear path involving two crate-pushing puzzles and a series of Skeleton Glasses (which are surprisingly powerful). Left of the save point, go up and now do take the path up and left. After a third and final crate-pushing puzzle, go to the top left of that room and get the Floodgate Key, but do not go up. Backtrack to Treasury Hub A and go to Luminous Cavern A.
17. Drain the water and fight Death. Once in Luminous Cavern A, go right when possible, to the save point, then go right again, but now try to go down. In the next room, going right leads to Talos but we should get the Griffin's Wing first, so go left. In the next room, go right, and keep going down wherever possible until you get to a pair of Bone Pillars. The room to the left has the lion sculpture and a keyhole for the Floodgate Key to drain the water. Now backtrack to the save point, go to its left, and then first down, following the linear path to where the Luminous Cavern B had the Keyhole Warp #2. The bigger room right before it, in Luminous Cavern A, is Death's boss room. Watch the ninth cutscene, defeat him (two forms, and he's quite dangerous), and watch the tenth cutscene, to win the Griffin's Wing. Backtrack to the save point and go right.
18. Defeat Talos and fly upward to get the Skull Key. Go further right and down, then right again. Defeat Talos, go to the right side of the next room and rocket-jump to the top, then go left to get the Skull Key.
19. Go to Wailing Way B to get the Crush Boots. Backtrack to the room just to the right of the Luminous Caverns A save point, and now go up instead (and left where possible). Break the barrier using the Crushing Stone, and use the Luminous Caverns Circular Warp to teleport (by crouching) to the Top Floor Circular Warp. Warp to Castle Top Floor B. Go down like before, and make safety-saves if desired, but after passing the first (upper) elevator, go left. Use the Skull Key to enter Wailing Way B. (Beware: Simon Wraiths are very powerful.) Go left whenever possible, and at the leftmost room pick up the Crush Boots.
BAD ENDING:
20. Open up Castle Core A and fight the final boss. Backtrack to Castle Treasury B, then go up to Castle Top Floor B, and warp to Castle Top Floor A. Go to the right, equip the Crush Boots, and rocket-jump up to break the conspicuous blocks on the ceiling. Do it again in the next room, and go left to break the Evil Hand. Now go downwards, from Castle Top Floor A to Castle Treasury A, and after passing the first elevator, go right, then down, then left. Safety-save if desired on the left, but then drop down the hole that the mechanism has opened. Enter the center, watch the eleventh cutscene, and kill Maxim to save Lydie. Enjoy the ending.
WORST AND BEST ENDINGS:
20. Revisiting Marble Corridor A to get the Ring and beat the Giant Bat. Backtrack to Castle Treasury B, then go up to Castle Top Floor B, and warp to Castle Top Floor A. Now go down and down again, but in the first elevator room, take the second left, near the middle of the room's height. Rocket-jump over the high wall and then use the Skull Key to pass into Marble Corridor A. Go left as much as possible then up and right to get the Ring of Vlad. Now go down and left to exit that room, and go left into the Giant Bat boss room. Defeat the Giant Bat; this should be really quick since it only has 400 HP (remember not to hit it a third time before it drills, so it doesn't disperse and re-form), and this will cause the drawbridge in the Entrance to be lowered, allowing access to the final relic.
21. The Rib right above Entrance B. Go left from the Giant Bat's room, up, down, and left again (don't go toward the Ice Book room or the Room of Illusions) to return to Entrance A. Safety-save all the way to the left if desired, but go up then left and (using Griffin's Wing) left again to the Entrance Circular Warp and warp to Entrance B. (Optional: pick up the Platinum Tip directly below Entrance A Circular Warp, and/or the Lure Key directly below Entrance B Circular Warp.) Backtrack to the corresponding save point and safety-save if desired (boss coming soon) then go downward, back to the drawbridge at the beginning but in Entrance B. Past the drawbridge, rocket-jump up where you see something at the top of the screen. Using Crush Boots, break the ceiling here, ascend the shaft and go right to pick up the Rib of Vlad.
22. The fastest way to Castle Core B. Drop back down and go right past the drawbridge, as far as possible. Enter Shrine of the Apostates B. There is a boss in the way: Cyclops. Defeat it, safety-save to the right if desired, then go up, right, down right, first or second up (your choice), up again (on the right), left, and up, back to Wailing Way B. Once there, go right as far as possible and use the Skull Key to open the green door to Castle Treasury B, and go to the right end, then down. Left for safety save, down for final battle(s). The Dracula parts should open the hatch in the floor. Go into it.
WORST ENDING:
23. You're told in this eleventh cutscene that you're too late to save Lydie. Kill Maxim to save yourself, and enjoy the ending.
23. Equip both JB's Bracelet and MK's Bracelet (or do it before landing the last hit on Maxim). You're told in this eleventh cutscene that you're too late to save Lydie. Fight Maxim. A twelth cutscene occurs, during which Dracula uses the relics you've gathered and comes out of the closet Maxim. Fight Dracula (two forms). (I suggest jump-kicking Dracula's first form because it's insanely easy to do so.) Congrats, you've saved both Maxim and Lydie. Enjoy the ending.
A test run last evening that was more optimized produced a time of 2 hrs 12 mins 21 secs. I still wasted some time in that run, though, for example getting the Ice Book and fist.
Now this is basically any% no-glitch. 100% map completion and 100% items (which just means actually picking up the items rather than just visiting the rooms for map completion) will involve actually printing out and drawing up access maps.
This basically replaces step 8 with step 12, and at the end of step 11, instead of going into the Sky Walkway, you go back up to the Clock Tower A Circular Warp and go to Clock Tower B, rather than going down.
Deaths so far:
1x Skull Knight (starting with little HP)
2x Devil, then changed route
2x Boomerang Armor
2x Harpy (after beating Giant Merman)
2x Giant Merman
1x Peeping Big
1x Disc Armor v2
I've tested the Don't Fight Shadow Just Break The Wall condition: Maxim doesn't appear. The room is empty.
Therefore, fighting Shadow is necessary.
1x Glass Skeleton
5x Death
Okay I've had enough for now. Three runs in two days? Yeah.
2x Simon Wraith
1x Maxim
level 31
103.4%
1:40:07
That's an improvement.
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