Castlevania: Harmony of Despair

[O D I N]

Hello again folks! Here's some info (taken from the wiki) about this great game.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (a play on "HD") is a multi-player Xbox Live Arcade game featuring characters, sprites, and locations from several different Castlevania titles. The story, such as it is, involves a cursed book called the Grimoire, in which the story of the evil citadel Castlevania is recorded. However the castle comes to life within the pages of the book, taking various forms from previous incarnations, and the heroes of the past, also recorded in the book and coming to life within its pages, must once again fight to put an end to the curse. This story allows characters from eras ranging from 1797 to 2036 to come together in the same castle to fight evil. There is up to six-player online co-operative play, and while it is beneficial to stick together, as characters can perform powerful combo attacks together, players have the ability to wander the castle freely, regardless of the location of the other players. There is no local co-op. Koji Igarashi has stated that the game may come to the Playstation Network in the future. Downloadable content will include new characters and stages.


The game is currently only on Xbox Live Arcade at the moment, for 1200 M$-points.


The games also has the following playable characters (at this time):

Alucard:

From Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Wields dark magic upon finding spells.


Soma Cruz:

From Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow. Can capture and harness enemy souls.


Jonathan Morris:

From Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Can use the Vampire Killer whip and martial arts, as well as traditional Castlevania secondary items.

Charlotte Aulin:

From Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Can bind monsters to her book and use them in the form of spells. (She actually absorbs spells within C:HD)

Shanoa:

From Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Can use glyphs, especially Magnes.



SWF users/Gamertags:

O D I N : Big Boss 0DIN ('Zero'-DIN)

ThreeX : Deeeeejay XL

More info to come when I'm not woken up by my dog at the crack of dawn...

 

[ThreeX]

Havn't played in awhile, but I could use a Valmanway or Winged boots >_> if anyone wants to duo Drac with me Hit me uppp my g/t is Deeeeejay XL (5 e's)

I have a lameucard with 2 yasus, and a berserker mail

 

[Master Xanthan]

Why do you think Alucard is lame?

 

[ThreeX]

He's just stupid broken compared to the other 5 characters lol. The game is fun, and very different with 6 playable characters, but no combo will beat all alucards+yasu, it's just stupid, with zerker mail he hits rapid 80-100

 

[O D I N]

I'm loving Jonathan right now. He's probably my favorite character, followed by Shanoa.

I like all of the characters within their own games, but I've played with Shanoathan so much, my Somacards aren't so good.

Trying to work on Charolette too... That's not easy at all. X_X

 

[Master Xanthan]

GT: Master Xanthan

I haven't played this game a lot lately but I'll play the game if anyone wants me to though, I should let you guys know that my mic is being sent in for a replacement, so I won't have mic for while.

 

[Red Arremer]

Got a maxed out Charlotte, an almost maxed out Jonathan (whom I still need Simon's Plate with), and a solid Soma and Alucard, although I don't have a Yasutsuna or Valmanway yet.
Would be willing to play a bit some time, just poke me on my wall.
Favorite character to play is actually Jonathan, he's so much fun. :3 But I'll most likely play Alucard or Soma to get spells/souls and the **** swords I need.

Also:
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair tier list

Extremely Broken Tier:
Soma

Broken Tier:
Charlotte
Alucard

Is awesome but sucks unless you grind him like hell Tier:
Jonathan

Shanoa Tier:
Shanoa

 

[O D I N]

Yeah, I need stuff for Alucard and Soma too... But I <3 Jonathan oh so much... :-\


I think I have half of his subs lvl 9.

 

[Red Arremer]

I have, iirc, 7 of them on level 9 and all others around lvl 6 or 7.

Though he really is a ***** to max out and the worst character to start out with. Ironically, Shanoa is among the best characters to start the game with. She just got utterly screwed over when it comes to abilities and weapons as well as gear in general - she has a mere 4 spells and 3 weapons all of which don't really help that much. The thunder is cool but doesn't make her particularly good, and her weapons are more gimmicky than anything else. And she has mainly the girl armor, which is more geared towards Charlotte as a spellcaster, and less towards Shanoa who's supposed to be a mix between mage and fighter.
It kinda seems like she was a last minute addition to be honest.
To add on that, she shares a spell with Soma and Charlotte (the Nova Skeleton laser), which is pretty sad.

 

[O D I N]

I sincerely hope they add weapons and glyphs for her in the upcoming DLC

 

[Red Arremer]

We all hope that, but it's most likely Soma who gets those weapons lol.

Considering this:
Alucard has spells, two of them directly shared with Soma (Dark Inferno) and Charlotte (Hellfire and Dark Inferno) as well as a weaker version of Soma's Succubus soul (Dark Metamorphosis). However, Soma and Charlotte can move while using those things.
Alcuard also uses swords, fists and armor, which almost all are shared with Soma. The only thing exclusive to Alucard are - aside from a handful of certain swords, fist weapons and armor pieces - the shields.

Jonathan in Portrait of Ruin actually can use all other weapon types (daggers, swords, lances, axes, greatswords, but most importantly a dozen of whips). In HD, he only has the Vampire Killer, and the only other whip in the game (Nebula) is given to Soma, who never actually used it. Soma also gets a few of Jonathan's subweapons (axe and ricochet rock come to mind immediately).

Shanoa uses a huge plethora of glyphs in her game, but she only gets 4 spells and 3 weapons, one of the spells shared with Soma, as already said.

Charlotte shares almost all spells with Soma. There's only a tiny amount of spells she has that aren't used by Soma as well - Heal, Deathscythe, Hellfire and Fireball are the only ones I can remember off the top of my head.

To add in on that, Soma is the only one to use lances, axes and guns/rocket launcher, and has quite a few exclusive souls that actually make him even more mobile than every other character (Puppet Master, Yorick, Medusa Head), and he can use the Valmanway properly, which is even better than Alucard's Yasutsuna.

Soma is apparently very loved by IGA.

That said, I wish they would've given Shanoa more of her glyphs and Jonathan the other whips. If Jonathan could get other whips as drops which are static in strength and don't need to be grinded up through subweapons, but get eventually beaten out by an advanced Vampire Killer, he would be FAR better to start out with and not completely useless until almost maxing him out.

 

[Kuraudo]

C'moooon Richter Belmont...

 

[Red Arremer]

Richter isn't in this game. :<
Maria Renard's child version and Julius Belmont are going to be added soon, though.

 

[O D I N]

C'moooon Richter Belmont...

Richter isn't in this game. :<
Maria Renard's child version and Julius Belmont are going to be added soon, though.

Someone who hacked the code said that Julius had 'speech' for Ricther. So it's possible they're adding him, and I can't search for it at the moment (at work... >.>).


Still, the more characters, the better.

But how are they gonna work the other Belmonts into the game, seeing as how Jonathan's mehcanics worked. :-?

 

[Red Arremer]

I have no idea.

I mean, I could imagine them using like, 8-Bit Simon and have him play like in the NES game, or SNES Simon from Super Castlevania 4 - but Julius is already going to be the "typical" Belmont with the 8-direction whip and such. So I dunno. :<

As for other characters - I reckon Yoko Belnades (the mage partner of Julius) from Dawn of Sorrow and Albus from Order of Ecclesia might be possible.
Furthermore, Stella, Loretta and Old Axe Armor from Portrait of Ruin. Richter is in Portrait of Ruin too, but Julius still is a note to take into account. I doubt they will add characters that play like each other.

 

[O D I N]

:Looks at Julius and Jonathan:

O_o

There's probably enough they can do to make changes, but not really sure.

Albus from OoE could be fun. I'd enjoy that, actually.

 

[Red Arremer]

Jonathan has the martial arts and several subweapons Julius won't use, I assume.
Julius can whip in 8 directions and swing from Shanoa's magnets.

 

[O D I N]

Jonathan has the martial arts and several subweapons Julius won't use, I assume.
Julius can whip in 8 directions and swing from Shanoa's magnets.

Touche Mr.Salesman. Touche...

He'll probably only have the 'classic' subs, at best. Probably go farther, more damage, different hitboxes, etc.

Still, I love Jonathan somethin' terrible. I still need his Forward Roll. It's making Final Guards a problem for me, since I can't get behind them.

 

[Red Arremer]

I thought Sonic Strike went through them too?

Forward Roll drops on Stage 3.

Oh, also, Julius' whip apparently has higher range and power, but I dunno. lol

 

[O D I N]

I thought Sonic Strike went through them too?

Forward Roll drops on Stage 3.

Oh, also, Julius' whip apparently has higher range and power, but I dunno. lol

I saw a vid with longer range, which makes me happy. Hopefully the power behind it is based more on stat increases.

My buddy/supervisor at work (didn't start in that order) claims he just got Forward Roll in Chp.6... But I've only gotten Sonic Strike.

And whenever I use Sonic Strike on Final Guards, I keep getting hurt.

Next time I knee/uppercut a guard on his back though, I gotta record it. I swear on the unborn child of Palin and the Devil, that I did 3/5 damage each hit.

 

[Red Arremer]

The martial arts drop on pretty much all stages, but Forward Roll predominantly drops on Stage 3.

Edit:
Apparently, I was right about Yoko:

That makes 3 confirmed characters (Julius, Yoko, Maria), and 1 confirmed stage (pyramid, with Astarte from PoR as boss).
Also, there's a second stage semi-confirmed, since Soma apparently is able to get a Legion soul, Legion being a staple boss of the series, but most likely not being in the pyramid stage (it would make no sense).

 

[O D I N]

Oooh, Yoko.

That's gonna be akward for the succubi that look like Yoko.

Succubi: I'll wait for those delicious men to walk by here, disguised as their friend...

:Yoko enters the room with the other characters:

Succubi: Okay, this is awkward... She's a witch!

Everyone else: We know.







>_> Not funny dialogue aside, Another stage would be very welcome (besides pyramid).

Legion has been around for a LONG time. Would be a very fun boss. I'm predicting something like Menace's stage. Actually, the first time I got to 3, I though that was Legion. Then I learned it wasn't. :<

 

[Red Arremer]

Dracula trolls me hard.

Also, Legion or Granfalloon has been around Symphony of the Night.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Sorry about epic failing on level 5 yesterday, I"m bad with the spike trap timing. Dracula on hard mode is ridiculous, the flames combined with the giant demonic attack thing are like impossible to avoid unless you're alucard.

 

[Red Arremer]

You mean Demonic Meggido aka the nuke?

When he does the white summoning circle, it means he will do it. Run/Slidekick towards the corner but not too far so you don't get hit by the pillars. As soon as they are gone, slidekick/run into the corner and you won't get hit.

Blue summon circle = those blue lasers or the charm attack (only when there's a girl in your team)
Red summon circle = Homing flame pillars, dropped fireball or the thunder fire pillar attack.

All of them are easy to avoid, though.

His most stupid attack is the triangles, to be honest.

 

[O D I N]

**** triangles...

Don't worry about chp. 5 Xan. It's not easy for me either. It's timing and all that fun BS. Just takes practice.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Yeah those triangles suck. I try and jump over every 2 triangles and then I let myself fall to the ground and the 3rd one is usually avoided by this and then for the next 2 I just repeat the process. Also, I finally go the astral ring.

Edit: also anyone know which level the wrecking ball sub-weapon for Jonathan is on? And does the chapter have to be on normal or hard mode?

 

[O D I N]

Yeah those triangles suck. I try and jump over every 2 triangles and then I let myself fall to the ground and the 3rd one is usually avoided by this and then for the next 2 I just repeat the process. Also, I finally go the astral ring.

Edit: also anyone know which level the wrecking ball sub-weapon for Jonathan is on? And does the chapter have to be on normal or hard mode?

Wrecking Ball is chap 3. I've gotten it on normal and hard, usually from a purp chest.

First try I went to that purple chest in the tunnel below the boss. Bam, got it.

 

[Master Xanthan]

Wrecking Ball is chap 3. I've gotten it on normal and hard, usually from a purp chest.

First try I went to that purple chest in the tunnel below the boss. Bam, got it.

Thanks, and I just got the wrecking ball. Are you gonna be on later?

 

[O D I N]

Thanks, and I just got the wrecking ball. Are you gonna be on later?

Yeah, but I'm playing Halo tonight. Buddy of mine is getting married, and his dad brought his 360 in. Halo night.

 

[Red Arremer]

Congrats on getting the Wrecking Ball. I also am the author of the Jonathan FAQ on GameFAQs, so if you have a certain question, be sure to ask. =P

Finally got a Yasutsuna now. Hell, I even got 3 of them, haha. They drop far more in Death's stage, as you can get them in purple chests and from Death himself, and the droprate in general seems to be higher than Dracula's.
Also got some other stuff today I've wanted for quite some time aside from the Yasus (the sword the ice demon drops and the Herald Shield), as well as some other stuff I didn't have before.

 

[O D I N]

I still need the stinkin' Yasu... I've tried quite a few times, but alas, nothing.


Still need Berserker/Simon plate. For whatever reason, my drops are always terrible.

And I almost have the 'Sonic Jump' down.

 

[Red Arremer]

Yea. Go to Death's stage, instead of Dracula's. I swear to God, this will improve your Yasu droprate.

 

[O D I N]

Have been.

So I found an interesting use for Danger Knee, actually on 5 and 2 (more 5).

There's that chest behind that pillar of fire. Get right next to it, and Danger Knee. :D No damage baby!

Works to a degree for the purple chest in chp 2, but it's more of a get forward, take a hit and move past fire. :-/ Can't get through that one invincible yet.

Also, one of my favorite Jonathan's on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoIZmZufUGY

 

[Red Arremer]

Finally, I have my Jonathan maxed out. :D
Now I only need a Simon's Plate, a Hauberk and a Staurolite to have all of his exclusives, and 2 Chaos Rings and Winged Boots to make him as good as blenders are. ^_^

That said, I'm working on my Shanoa as well - Ice spell is maxed out, fire and beam spells are level 8 and thunder is level 6 (although I didn't grind it yet). So yay!

 

[O D I N]

Hauberk? O_o There's a use for that?

We should grind together sir. Well, item grind anyway. I'm sure you never wanna see survival again.

 

[Master Xanthan]

I'd love to play survival some more, so much fun. Also, I managed to get a weapon called Fits of Tullcas, wow its so good, short range, but its so fast and deadly, I love it.

 

[Red Arremer]

Fist of Tulkas combined with a Moonrod was what i used on my Alucard until I got 2 Yasus.

Also, I still want to max out my Shanoa, so that's that about Survival

And Hauberk is useless, but it's a Jonathan exclusive -> I wanna have it.
That said, I wanna have all drops, basically, I'm a completionist, so yea. =P

 

[darkfox15]

Nice 4-players game 10/10. I always play it with my friends. And the Artbooks r so cool!!1

 

[Master Xanthan]

I still need to work on jonathan and shanoa more as well, and I wish I could get valamway for alucard, but no luck. Has anyone had any luck with getting it?