Aria of Sorrow

Runs

[Soma] Bossrush - 01:21:38 by dingusSJr (unassisted, original console, link)

[Julius] Bossrush - 03:28:63 by sarou (unassisted, original console, link)

[Soma] New Game, Hard mode, w/o warps: 00:36:12 by Dragondarch (unassisted, original console, link)

[Soma] New Game+, Hard mode, w/o warps: 00:19:57 by Dragondarch (unassisted, original console, link)

[Julius] Hard mode: 00:08:44 by Dragondarch (unassisted, original console, link)

[Julius] Hard mode, all bosses: 00:16:46 by Dragondarch (unassisted, original console, link)

[Julius] Normal mode: 04:38.9 (real-time) by Cpadolf (TAS, aims for real-time, link)

[Soma] New Game, Normal mode, w/o warps: 27:45.57 (real-time) by Atma (TAS, aims for real-time, link)

[Soma] New Game, Normal mode, w/ warps: 06:46.2 (real-time) by klmz (TAS, aims for real-time, link)

Bossrush

Soma

Techniques

The timer in the Boss Rush mode starts when you enter the Creaking Skull room and ends the moment you kill Graham (last hit). You can wait as long as you want in the first room, and in Graham's room after he's dead (this is why waiting for hours with the Sherman Ring to level up won't affect your time).

The timer is stopped while in the menus, so take your time when you change your equipment.

The Red Minotaur soul (RM from now on) can hit an enemy twice when you use it. To do so, the enemy must be in your back. The first swing of the axe will hit while going down, and the second while the axe is coming up again. You should always use the RM soul this way.

The Lubicant soul will play a capital role in the strategy. When activated, it gives you more strength if your HP is low. For this reason, in the Boss Rush, the lower your HP is, the better you are. When you have only 1 HP, your strength is doubled by the Lubicant soul.

The damage dealt to an enemy depends only on your current STR and ATT (ATT is only when you hit with the main weapon, STR is for other attacks, like the red souls) when you hit it. This means particularly that when you use the RM, you can cast it while you're weak and boost your power right before it hits (with the Lubicant and Great Armor souls). Reciprocally, it also means that if you want to deal maximum damage to an enemy you can't cast the RM with the Great Armor and then switch immediately to the Black Panther to start dashing…

The Blocking Mail has the ability to block attacks randomly. The probability that an attack is guarded is 1/10. If the attack is guarded Soma won't be thrown away (so it can work as the Iron Golem).

The Sky Fish soul is pretty strange but incredibly powerful when used at the right time. The longer you use it (to pray) the higher your STR will be (but you don't see the value), and it stays for a short time (the time doesn't depend on the praying time). There are only two times in the Boss Rush where you can use it without it being a complete loss of time, and it's during the transformations of Death and Graham since you don't have anything else to do at this moment. Also, if you change your souls (for example to use the Black Panther instead) the effects of the Sky Fish disappear.

Equipment

Weapon

Ascalon: I only use this sword against the Manticore because it gives a slightly better STR boost than the Claim Solais. However, if you don't have it, it's not really a problem. It can be replaced by the Black Belt (that you use temporarily in place of the Chaos Ring) or by jump-hitting the Manticore once with the Claim Solais.

Claim Solais: It's by far the best weapon in this game. It has long range, one of the highest ATT (some are stronger but much slower) and if you swing it while in the air, it doesn't stop you and you can regain control as soon as you land. Moreover it is one of the few weapons that boosts your STR stat, thus enhancing the damage dealt by the other attacks (Red Minotaur).

Armor

Blocking Mail: This one is necessary for my current best strategy. It has the ability to guard attacks randomly (with probability 1/10). Since in the strategy it is absolutely necessary that the mail blocks one particular attack (against the Great Armor) the strategy is highly inconsistent… If you're not going for the absolute best time and don't want to take high risks you can use the alternate "consistent" strategy (and thus you don't need the Blocking Mail).

Demon's Mail: It is necessary to use this armor since it is the armor that boosts your strength the most. I previously had a strategy that used the Black Belt instead but it was very complicated since I had to switch from Chaos Ring to Black Belt all the time… Believe me, get the Demon's Mail (anyway you should have it since it's the best armor in the game).

Accessory

Chaos Ring: This is probably the hardest to get since you need to have all souls and then enter the Chaotic Realm… If you don't know how to do it, check one of the guides at GameFAQs. It is however ABSOLUTELY necessary for my strategy since it gives you unlimited MP and you'll really need that.

Soul

Since you have the Chaos Ring, you should have all the souls (except maybe for the ability souls if you started a new game +). The only ones I use are the Red Minotaur (red), Lightning Doll (red), Black Panther (blue), Great Armor (blue), Sky Fish (blue), Iron Golem (yellow) and Lubicant (yellow).

Strategies

There are now two available strategies. The strategies only differ on some bosses (Manticore, Great Armor and Big Golem). The Blocking Mail strategy is faster (by about one second) but it will work only about once every ten tries (if it misses you'll die on the Great Armor and have to try again). The Regular strategy is a bit slower but has no real random factor. If you can complete the regular strategy almost once every two or three tries then you can consider going for the Blocking Mail one… If not I recommend you stay with the Regular one

Before you start

Start the game that you will use for the Boss Rush (the game where you have all the required equipment and souls). In the save room, equip the Claim Solais, the Chaos Ring and the Demon's Mail. Activate the Red Minotaur, Black Panther and Iron Golem souls.
Now save your game, return to the main menu. From now on, this will be your starting equipment every time you start the Boss Rush.

1) Creeking Skull
HP 240/ MP 259

As soon as you enter the room, dash to the right with the Black Panther (from now on dashing will always mean with the Black Panther). Jump in front of the Skeleton and hit it once while in the air while still moving to the right at max speed. You'll go through it and take damage but won't be knocked back thanks to the Iron Golem soul. As soon as you are behind it, switch to the Lubicant soul and drink the Spoiled Milk (items). You'll have 1 HP and the Lubicant will almost double your STR. While still dashing, jump and in the air use the RM soul on the Creaking Skull (that should now be behind you). One swing will kill it. Dash to the exit.

2) Manticore
HP 440/ MP 1500

(Blocking Mail strategy)

When entering the room, double jump over the Manticore (while dashing) and when you're past it cast a RM. If the RM hits both the head and the tail it will die in one swing (be careful because once you're past it the Manticore will turn to face right). Hitting both targets is quite hard but possible. Dash to the exit.

(Regular strategy)

When entering the room, switch back to the Iron Golem soul, eat the Tasty Meat to regain some HP and equip the Ascalon sword for a couple of STR points (which will make all the difference). Now dash through the Manticore and when you're past it, jump and use the RM (like on the Creaking Skull). It will die in one swing. Keep dashing to the next boss.

3) Great Armor
HP 650/ MP 999

(Blocking Mail strategy)

You'll enter the room with 1HP. Switch to Lightning Doll and equip the Blocking Mail. Dash jump through the Great Armor while casting a Lightning Doll. If you're lucky, the Blocking Mail will absorb the damage and you'll pass through the Great Armor. If you're not, you'll die… When on the other side switch to Red Minotaur. Jump and cast a RM in the air (so that it doesn't slow you down). The first swing should kill the Armor, keep dashing to the exit.

(Regular strategy)

Upon entering the room, equip the Claim Solais back. Dash-jump through the Armor while hitting it once with the CS. However, if you swing your RM now, it won't die… So as soon as you're past it, go to the menu and activate the Lubicant and Great Armor souls (isn't that just ironic to use its soul against it :)). Unpause the game and press L to use the Great Armor soul, use the RM. You don't need the Great Armor soul for both swings of the RM, so as soon as the first hits, switch back to the Black Panther soul and start dashing to the exit while the second swing kills the Armor.

4) Man Eater
HP 666/ HP 666

The Man Eater isn't even a real boss of the game, and here, it's a real joke. Simply run through it (it can't hurt you while the worms aren't out) and wait for the appropriate time to use the RM. One swing will kill all the worms so make sure you use it at the right time because if you use it too early you might miss the leftmost worm.

5) Big Golem
HP 1200/ MP 1200

(Blocking Mail strategy)

You'll start with 1HP. Eat the Tasty Meat (you'll have 291HP) and un-equip all armors (to lower your DEF). Switch to Lightning Doll and Iron Golem. Now jump through the Golem while casting the Lightning Doll. It'll deal 105 dmg. When on the other side, switch to Great Armor, Red Minotaur, equip the Demon's Mail and eat the Rotten Meat (to have 1HP again). Cast a Red Minotaur. During the first swing, activate the Great Armor soul, then switch to the Black Panther and dash to the exit while the second swing kills the Golem.

(Regular strategy)

The Big Golem is an interesting boss because I have tried a lot of different strategies for him. The main problem is that he has a lot of HP, so we'll want to be as strong as possible to kill him is very few hits. When you enter the room, activate the Iron Golem soul and dash-jump through him while hitting once with the CS like you did for the Great Armor. When on the other side, quickly switch to the Lubicant and Great Armor souls, and eat the Rotten Meat in your items (normally you should now have 1 HP). As soon as you unpause the game, cast a RM and activate the Great Armor soul by pressing L. After the first swing connects (when the Great Armor is activated) you can switch back to the Black Panther and start dashing to the exit. The second swing will kill the Golem.

6) Head Hunter
HP 700/ HP 800 x3

The Head Hunter isn't much of a challenge (but things become really harder after him). When you enter, dash to his right and wait for the heads to stick to the body. Use the RM at the right moment so that the head dies as soon as it becomes vulnerable (there's a right timing to get, but nothing really hard). One swing of the axe will kill each of the three heads. In the American version of the game, sometimes the third head (the lizard) will be stuck in the air for a few seconds (I think it can even be stuck forever). I don't know what causes this glitch, but obviously it's very bad for your time if it happens… I haven't seen this in the European version of the game. Anyway, after you kill the third head, start dashing to the exit. The door takes some time to open, so don't jump immediately, wait for the heads in the shelf to disappear before you jump to the door.

7) Death
HP 4444/ MP 4444

Death used to be really hard with the previous techniques I had. However, when I discovered the Sky Fish soul it made things considerably easier… When you enter the room, immediately switch to the Great Armor soul, activate it, turn back and cast a RM. Death's first form should die on the second swing. Now, while the new double-bladed scythe appears quickly move to its right, switch to the Sky Fish soul and start praying. As soon as the transformation is over use the RM soul and hopefully the two swings will connect and kill Death (I know, it sounds stupid…). As soon as you see it is dead, switch back to the Black Panther and run to the door. Normally, this technique should work no matter what attack Death starts doing when the transformation is over (which is way better than the previous strategy where I died every time it didn't do the right attack…).

8) Legion
HP 5000/ MP 9999

There are a few technical details that you have to keep in mind when fighting Legion. With the Lubicant and Great Armor, Legion can die after 4 swings of the axe hit the core and three CS hits. What you want to do is connect these 4 swings in only 2 summons. However, for some reason, it seems that two consecutive RM swings can't hit Legion if you don't wait a certain ammount of time. And this time happens to be longer than the time it takes to cast a second RM after the first one. For this reason, you should wait a little time after casting a RM so that the next one can hit the core with both swings (if you cast the second RM too soon, the first swing will hit later than it should and the second swing will miss). While the axe is swinging, do your best to hit the core with the CS. My strategy is as follows:

Upon entering the room, dash to Legion (while staying left of him), switch to the Great Armor soul, turn left and cast your first RM. The two swings should hit the core. While the axe is out, jump and hit with the CS. When you land, hit a second time. The RM should have ended before you regain control. After this, you might consider waiting a fraction of second (it's hard to say how long… watch the videos, and experiment for yourself) before you cast the second RM to make sure both swings connect. While the axe is out, hit once or twice with the CS (to hit twice, do a small jump, hit while in the air and hit again when you land). Legion should die when the RM hits for the second time.

Note that the CS must hit the core for this strategy to work (I think 3 CS hits are enough, so since you can get 4, one can miss). When Legion is killed, the core rotates in the air until it's lined vertically (check it and you'll understand what I mean). If you are quick enough, you migh kill it while it's very close to the center of the room, and it should be almost lined when you kill it. This should make him die faster and the door will open sooner. Some people have already seen the door open almost immediately after the last hit (like on every other boss). However, I don't know what triggers these "quick doors" (I haven't had any myself).

9) Balore
HP 4000/ MP 4000

Like Death, Balore was a real pain when I didn't know how to kill him before he can really start his attacks. Now it's a little better but things can still go wrong… In this fight, you should have the Great Armor activated every time you hit him. If so, he'll die after 4 RM swings connect and 2 CS hit. The strategy is:

When entering dash right and jump over the left hand (I know it's *his* right hand but since it's on the left of the screen I prefer to call it left hand). When you're close to the eye (still in the air) switch to the Great Armor soul and hit once with the CS. When you hit the ground, turn around and cast a RM. While the axe is swinging, turn back, jump and hit him once with the CS (while you do so, both RM swings will hit). If your timing was good (good here will mean that it was the same as the timing I usually have), his hands will go up (it's all about when you are jumping to hit his eye, so that his hands move towards you at this moment). Wait until they are moving back, turn around and cast a second RM. The very tricky part is that often the right hand will "protect" the eye so the first RM swing won't hit… You have to wait long enough so that you're sure that both RM swings connect (and again, don't forget the Great Armor soul!). Just in case, I like to jump and hit with the CS but I'm pretty sure that the second RM should be enough. When he dies, switch to the Black Panther and dash to the final showdown.

10) Graham
HP 5000/ MP 9999

Graham isn't that bad. He has three forms. In his first form he'll teleport to somewhere in the room and shoot projectiles at you (he has 3 possible attacks). In his second form he'll move to the center of the room and have rotating balls protect him. The last form is the great ugly thing with the hands and the death ray from the ceiling. Each form can be defeated wih two swings of RM and one CS hit if you know how to do it.

For the first two forms what's important to know is that if you start your RM too soon only one swing will connect. When Graham appears, he's not vulnerable while he's still white. If you try to hit him at this moment your first swing will hit too late and the second one will miss. Check the videos if you can't kill him in one RM and a CS hit. Both first forms work the same way. As for the third one, the secret is to pray with the Sky Fish soul while he's transforming and he'll die very quickly.

The detailed strategy is as follows:

Upon entering the room, switch to the Great Armor soul. Wait until you see where he will appear, go in RM-range and face away from him. Wait until he is vulnerable and cast the RM. While the axe is swinging jump towards him and hit him once with the CS (Great Armor soul activated all the time of course). You have to react correctly to the attack he's doing to hit him with the CS without being hit. If yout RM timing was good, he'll quickly teleport to the center of the room. Same strategy here, wait until he becomes vulnerable and cast a RM while facing away. While the axe swings jump to him and hit him with the CS (the rotating balls shouldn't be a problem since they'll barely appear).

Immediately when he starts transforming go to a safe position (meaning, not where the hands will be) in the middle and face away from the center (so that a RM can hit the center of the room). Do this as quickly as possible and when you're done switch to the Sky Fish soul. Pray for as long as you can, and when the transformation is over, cast a last RM and hit once with the CS. If done correctly, the second RM swing will kill Graham's last form, thus stopping the timer.

Julius

Techniques

You can pull off two hits for every whip attack you do. Simply attack then hold the attack button for a split second. The usual attack with do 100% damage while holding the button for a split second will do an extra 40% damage. The damage might sound pretty little, but it adds up quickly.

Pressing the L button right before entering a boss room will save you around a second since you gain more ground than just walking in normally. Only place it will waste more time than just walking in is the Big Golem to Head Hunter room so remember not to use it at that spot.

Don't get any orbs after dying bosses unless you really need it. You will probably only need them starting from Big Golem and every boss after.

Strategies

1) Creeking Skull
HP 240/ MP 259
Weapon of choice: Cross
Jump cross and two jump attacks is enough.

2) Manticore
HP 440/ MP 1500
Weapon of choice: Giant Cross

One Giant Cross is enough. Make sure you hit both it's head and tail when doing the Giant Cross or else it won't die.

3) Great Armor
HP 650/ MP 999
Weapon of choice: Holy Water

Basically keep throwing Holy Water while attacking.

4) Man Eater
HP 666/ HP 666
Weapon of choice: Giant Cross

One Giant Cross is enough. If it's still not dead after one Holy Cross, you're doing something wrong. :P

5) Big Golem
HP 1200/ MP 1200
Weapon of choice: Holy Water

Basically the same tactic as the Great Armor, keep throwing Holy Water while attacking since if you made it here without getting any orbs, you probably won't have enough MP to do Holy Crosses.

6) Head Hunter
HP 700/ HP 800 x3
Weapon of choice: Giant Cross

Three Giant Crosses in all. One for the first form, one for the second, and one for the third. While you're at it, try luring Head Hunter to the right of the room so you save time after killing it. The easiest moment to lure it is during it's third form. When the third form forms, most of the time it will follow you to where you stand before attempting an attack or a ceiling jump. So basically you would want to hit it with the left tip of the Holy Cross while standing to the right of it to lure it to walk towards the right side of the room.

7) Death
HP 4444/ MP 4444
Weapon of choice: Giant Cross & Cross

Two Giant Crosses and two attacks will bring his first form down. As for the second form, use the Cross and normal attacks. When thrown correctly, one Cross will do four hits total, two hits when thrown out and two hits when coming back.

8) Legion
HP 5000/ MP 9999
Weapon of choice: Giant Cross

Three Giant Crosses is enough. Don't try to do the first Giant Cross too close or else you'll get hit while attempting to do the second Giant Cross. The hit before doing the third Giant Cross pretty much can't be avoided, unless Legion suddenly decides to move the opposite direction from you for some reason.

9) Balore
HP 4000/ MP 4000
Weapon of choice: Giant Cross & Cross

For his first form, three Giant Crosses and crosses with your left over MP. You could save the Crosses for his second form if you like while dishing out damage with your whip instead. Make sure to get in at least two hits from each Cross you throw. As for the second form, whipping would probably be the only choice if you ran out of MP. If you still have leftover MP, use the Crosses here.

10) Graham
HP 5000/ MP 9999
Weapon of choice: Giant Cross, Cross & Axe

Since your MP meter is only enough for three Giant Crosses, you'll have to choose wisely on when to use it simply because Graham doesn't go down in three Giant Crosses. You could use them on his third form, but it'll be a waste simple because it's so easy to hit him during his third form. Doing Giant Crosses during his second form could be useful, since you wouldn't have to waste time dodging his spheres. But if you decide to use them on his second form, you'll most likely be doing poor during his first form, which is the basic Dracula teleporting act. Since you have quite a short time to pull off some serious damage to him before he teleports, you'd want to make it hurt. That is where the Giant Cross comes in. Every time Graham teleports, you lose a couple of seconds, so you'll basically want to end his teleporting act as soon as possible. So Giant Cross him every time he's pulling off an attack after teleporting. The fastest I've done on Graham before getting him to his second form is four teleports. So a Giant Cross for three of his teleports and the fourth being the usual hit him on the head tactic. The Cross might come in handy since it hits twice.

For his second form, it's basically whack him with your whip and hope for him to be defeated as soon as possible. When he reaches his third form, you might want to get rid of your leftover MP by throwing Axes at him. If you've thrown a Cross during his first form, you only have enough MP to throw one Axe. If you decided to do things the hard way by not using the cross and getting all the leftover hits in on his head with your whip, you might be able to throw a few extra axes instead of just one. The rest is basically the same tactic as his second form, by hitting him as fast as possible. If you have a lot of HP to spare, you might want to go aggressive and keep attacking while letting the hands hit you. Since crouching to avoid the hands waste time, you're better off trading hits with the hands to get in a few extra hits. Watch your HP meter though so you don't die.

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