Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

System


Here I pretend to explain how the game works. But it's still in progress...

Your objective in the game is to find out why did the Castle appeared and to destroy it. In the process, you'll find various types of enemies between animals, undead, demons, ghosts and beasts. When you defeat an enemy, you get EXP and it may drop items like 'Hearts' (necessary to use sub-weapons), GOLD (used at the Master Librarian shop to buy items) or a rare item which may be GOLD, a sub-weapon, a equipment or a [use] item (that can be used only once).

Accumulating a specific amount of EXP, Alucard gains a Level. When it happens, his attributes grow and Alucard gets more powerful.

Attributes

LV:(Level) Represents the evolution level of the character. Attribute which best represents his power.
HP:(Hit Points/Health Power) It's the vital energy, represents the amount of damage the character can withstand. The damage taken is deducted from HP. It may be restored using items, spells or entering a 'Save Orb'. When the character gets much damage and his HP reaches zero, he dies.
MP:(Magic Points/Mind Power) It's the mental energy. Necessary to use spells. Each spell requires a specific amount of MP to be realized. For each executed spell, its respective amount of MP is deducted. After consumed, MP slowly regenerates within time or may be instantly restored using a Manna prism or entering a 'Save Orb'. When Alucard's MP is completely restored, a blue aura is emitted from his body. If Alucard don't have enough MP for a spell, it can't be executed.
STR:(Strength) It's added to the ATT of weapons to calculate the damage done by Physical attacks. When Alucard is unarmed, the damage done by his attack is equal the difference between his STR and enemy's DEF.
CON:(Constitution) The character's resistance. Determines the defense and the effect time of curses and poisoning. The amount of DEF is influenciated by this attribute.
INT:(intelligence) Determines the damage inflicted by spells and 'Sub-Weapons'.
LCK:(Luck) Determines the chances to find items and realize 'Critical Attacks', which when occur, causes double damage.
ATT:(Attack) Determines the damage an attack can cause. An attack with a weapon is equal the weapon's ATT added to the character STR and some ATT bonus from other equipment.
DEF:(Defense) Represents the ability to resist damage. Each DEF point nulls one enemy's ATT point. Is equal the sum of the DEF of all armors and DEF bonus given by CON.

Menu Screen

This picture is from Alucard's status screen'. It shows his condition and attributes.
Point to the fields to view its description.

Menu Screen

When Alucard gains a level, some of his attributes growth randomly. STR, CON, INT and LCK, can rise by 0, 1 or 2 points, however, if one of them rises 2, the others will rise 0. The other attribute that grows randomly is the MP which rises 4 or 5 points. So the best results for a level up are STR, CON, INT and LCK to rise 1 point and MP to rise by 5. Hearts always rises 2 and HP rises as described in the next table along with the amount of EXP necessary to reach each level.

LVEXPNextHP Bonus
0101000
021001501
032502001
044502501
057003001
0610003501
0713504001
0817504501
0922005001
1027005503
1132506003
1238506503
1345007003
1452007503
1559508003
1667508503
1776009003
1885009503
19945010003
201045012506
211170015006
221320019006
231510024006
241750029006
252040033006
262370035006
272720037006
283090041006
293500045006
3039500500010
3144500550010
3250000600010
3356000550010
3461500700010
3568500750010
3676000800010
3784000850010
3892500900010
39101500850010
401100001000020
411200001000020
421300001000020
431400001000020
441500001000020
451600001000020
461700001000020
471800001000020
481900001000020
492000001000020
502100001200030
512220001200030
522340001200030
532460001200030
542580001200030
552700001200030
562820001200030
572940001200030
583060001200030
593180001200030
603300001400040
613440001400040
623580001400040
633720001400040
643860001400040
654000001400040
664140001400040
674280001400040
684420001400040
694560001400040
704700001600050
714860001600050
725020001600050
735180001600050
745340001600050
755500001600050
765660001600050
775820001600050
785980001600050
796140001600050
8063000018000100
8164800018000100
8266600018000100
8368400018000100
8470200018000100
8572000018000100
8673800018000100
8775600018000100
8877400018000100
8979200018000100
9081000020000200
9183000020000200
9285000020000200
9387000020000200
9489000020000200
9591000020000200
9693000020000200
9795000020000200
9897000029999200
999999990200

Alucard Spells

This is the list of the spells Alucard can execute. (A red arrow means you have to hold the button for a second.)

SPELLDESCRIPTIONMPCOMMAND
Summon SpiritSummons a fierce spirit5
Dark MetamorphosisHeal HP by shedding blood10
HellfireTeleport and fireball attack15
Tetra SpiritSummons four spirits20
Soul StealSteals HP from nearby enemies50
Wing SmashPowerful attack by Wolf8
Wolf ChargePowerful attack by Bat10
Sword BrothersSummons Sword Brothers30

Richter Skills

This is the list of Richter Belmont Skills.

SKILLDESCRIPTIONCOMMAND
Brandish WhipControls the whip freely
BackflipExecutes a somersault
Hyper JumpMake a high uppercut with a short sword
Blade DashAir dash and short sword slash
SlideSlide and kicks ground enemies

Enemies only have the attributes LV, HP, STR and DEF. These are fixed numbers assuming they don't gain level. Some enemies can have multiple parts with different attributes, can also have weapons and special moves which add damage to his STR when it touches your character
The attack, from enemies and controllable characters, can have the following effects indicated by the respective colors: HIT, CUT, FIR, ICE, THU, HOL, DRK, STN, PSN and CUR. The last three causes status ailments. (there's also a H2O element but there are no attacks based on it...a).

Status Ailments

Alucard can suffer from the following effects when hit by some special attacks from enemies.

Stone:Alucard turns into stone (sometimes takes a gargoyle form). Quickly Tap the D-pad to break free. A Hammer can be used to do it instantly, but Alucard can't use it on himself; it can only be used by the Faerie Familiar.
Poison:Alucard is poisoned and his attack and defense power is halved for a period inversely proportional to his CON. Use a Antivenom to instantly neutralize the poison.
Curse:Alucard is taken by a curse which prevents him to attack (but he can still use spells and 'Sub-Weapons') for a period inversely proportional to his CON. Use a Uncurse to instantly break the curse.

Resistances

The enemies may be strong or immune to some kind of attacks and may absorb others while some equipment makes Alucard resistant, immune or allow him to absorb damage done by attcks based on some elements.

Weak:The damage done by an attack based on the element which the character is weak against is doubled.
Strong:The damage done by an attack based on the element which the character is strong against is halved.
Immune:The Attack based on the element which the character is immune is guarded.
Absorb:The damage done by an attack based on the element which the character absorbs is converted to HP ignoring DEF.

Shield Combos

When Alucard equips Shield rod or Mablung Sword together with a shield and Square + Circle is pressed, a summoning of the shield's powersd is realized.
This is the list of the effects of the summoning effects from each shield.

SHIELD COMBODESCRIPTIONMP
Alucart shield?10
Leather shieldTemporarily raises DEF by 2010
Medusa shieldCast rays which damages enemies on the screen30
Knight shieldTemporarily raises ATT by 2010
Iron shieldSummons a knight who throws huge swords20
AxeLord shieldSummons an Axe Knight20
Dark shieldSummons meteors which damages all enemies30
Goddess shieldBrief protection against Dark40
Shaman shieldTemporarily raises INT by 2010
Skull shieldSummons skulls which fires a powerful beam40
Fire shieldSummons fire salamanders50
Herald shieldBrief protection against fire and thunder10
Alucard shieldSummons the power of all shields20