Castlevania: Bloodlines - Eric Basic Controls + Mechanics| Note: Available in Web Format: https://shorturl.at/cdeEI

1 - Introduction 2 - Starting Settings 3 - Basic Controls and Mechanics A, Controls B, Eric’s Attacks 4 - Weapons, Items and their Speedrun Utility A, The Spears B. Items C. Sub-Weapons D. Sub-Weapons Logic with the Flame Spear E. Candles F. Candle Counting

1 - INTRODUCTION Castlevania: Bloodlines is a great yet unforgiving game but it’s a really exciting run overall so I definitely recommend it. Please note that a tutorial will not be able to teach you everything as there are many things you need to experience by simply just playing the game, but this should cover most advanced strategies that will allow you to get a great time with some practice.

I will reference “Eric Lecarde” as Eric throughout the document simply to match the category name on the leaderboards as well as keeping things shorter and consistent in here, but just calling him Lecarde is equally acceptable.

I’ve chosen to write this tutorial based on Eric Normal since it is the category I know the most, but a lot of this can translate into other categories.

2 - STARTING SETTINGS Set Game Level to Normal Set Quick Demo to “Skip” in order to avoid a few cutscenes to play. Timer Starts on player control or -5.70s from selecting Eric Number of lives can be changed but this tutorial will require a reset if you die or lose your Flame spear when not intended therefore they will not really matter.

3 - BASIC CONTROLS AND MECHANICS

Controls Basic controls in this guide will be based off of the Sega Genesis defaults. A - Attack B - Jump C - Sub Weapon U, D, L, R - Represent the D-Pad inputs. START - Only used in settings, to pause and to exit the password screens.

Jump Facing Like most Castlevania games, once you input a jump, you’re committed to it. However, pressing L or R in mid-air will allow you to change which direction Eric is looking, allowing you to perform backward attacks while moving forward.

Damage Knockback and Boosting As a rule, Eric will get knocked back the opposite way of the collision with the damage source hitbox. While jumping into a damage source, you can get knocked forward. This will be covered later in the few instances where damage boosting will be required

ERIC ATTACKS A- Spear Attack. The basic spear attack is used a fair amount but because Eric is frozen in place during this attack, it is only used when necessary in stages and used more in boss fights since it inflicts a lot of damage.

A-Hold - Extended Spear Attack Holding A will extend the duration of your spear attack. The end of the spear will open up indicating this. This attack is useful in certain situations that will be covered later on..

A-Hold + L or R - Spear Spin If you do an A-Hold and tap left or right at the end of the animation, Eric will spin his spear around. The damage is terrible and isn’t used in the run anywhere.

U + A - Upward Spear Attack Same as the basic spear attack, this one holds Eric in place and therefore will mostly only be used in boss fights and a few other situations. Can be performed with A-Hold.

U+ L or R + A - Diagonal Spear Attack Attacks upwards diagonally. This one holds Eric in place and therefore will mostly only be used in boss fights and a few other situations. Can be performed with A-Hold.

U + C - Strong Sub Weapon Attack. Used in certain parts of the run but most of them create extra sprites on screen generating some extra lag. Can also be performed mid-air

B → A + C - Jumping attacks The Castlevania Bloodlines bread and butter! Attacking while on the ground causes your character to stop moving during attack animations, so it’s extremely important to be jumping when possible while attacking to keep yourself moving.

B → D + A - Jumping down stab Useful attack to pick up candles, especially to pick up candles that would be hard to get with a standard jump spear. Also useful in certain segments like the stage 5 monkeys.

D → A or C - Crouch attack or sub weapon use. Used in a few locations. The crouched spear attack does low damage but is the quickest attack, making it viable in some situations.

D-Hold → B - Charged spear jump Eric’s unique ability that allows him to vertically jump really high for extremely fast vertical climbing. Furthermore, Eric is invincible during the spear jump (until you land again). If you spear jump again on the exact frame that you land, you can immediately jump again really fast. 1 frame off though and you’ll look really bad with a normal jump!

4 - WEAPONS, ITEMS AND THEIR SPEEDRUN UTILITY For a full list of all items and their basic explanation, visit the Wiki Fandom page. https://castlevania.fandom.com/wiki/Bloodlines_Inventory

THE SPEARS Aside from the first few seconds of the game, your run will consist of only the Trident and Flame Spears. Short Spear (Starting Weapon) Long Spear (Break 1 item candle after Short Spear) Trident (Break 5 candles after Long Spear) Flame Spear (Break 30 Item candles after Trident)

• Taking Damage from Flame Spear level brings you back to Trident and you have to accumulate 30 item candles again to get back to the Flame Spear. Dying gets you all the way back to the short spear.* Items. Mutton Chop(Wall Meat), Bag of Kreuzers and the 1-up serve no use in the run

Coat of Arms You’ll need a coat of arms to drop at key points of the game, explained later.

Red and Blue Gems Consumed when using sub weapons. Gems are fortunately never an issue with Eric if you follow this guide you’ll always have plenty for the run.

Grey Orb Only used in stage 1 for a brief moment of invincibility.

Mirror Only seen in stage 1 and 5 to clear otherwise annoying enemies that will slow you down.

Spell Book Only seen in stage 1. It will either give you the max upgraded spear (Flame Spear) or 20 gems. As far as the community knows, it is completely RNG what you get and can not be manipulated, but players are known to have their ways of acquiring it to attempt to sway the odds. I will cover more about Gem route VS Flame route later.

SUB-WEAPONS Axe The most important of the standard sub weapons. Used in all stages in the strats that will be shown in this tutorial. Also allows you to perform the stage 4 zip due to the extra jump height it provides.

Holy Water Hardly used in the speedrun. Once in stage 2 and optionally in stage 5.

Boomerang Really useful at the start of stage 2 but sees little to no use afterwards. It can serve as a good backup item in the final segment of stage 5.

Super Sub-Weapon or Ultimate Weapon Shoots several lightning orbs around the screen. While it is a useful weapon and can get you out of trouble, it sees limited use due to the extreme lag it causes. Particularly powerful in some bosses (particularly the Golem fight twice) and certain difficult screens. Sub-Weapons Logic with the Flame Spear Upgrading to the Flame Spear with 8+ Gems You obtain the super-sub weapon.

Upgrading to the Flame Spear with 7 Gems or Less You keep your current sub-weapon.

Picking up a Sub-Weapon when you Already have the Super-Sub-Weapon Your sub-weapon gets replaced with the one you’ve picked up.

Picking up an Identical Sub-Weapon while Equipped with the Flame Spear You obtain the super-sub weapon.

Taking Damage and Losing the Flame Spear You go back to the last picked up sub-weapon.

CANDLES Candles in the game will always contain the same drop, with the exception of a coat-of-arms drop, replacing the expected drop.

Weapon Candles Candles that have one large candlestick. They will only drop a Boomerang, Axe or Holy Water. Weapon candles do not drop a coat-of-arms.

Item Candles Identified by two smaller candlesticks. The opposite of a weapon candle, they will drop everything (including a coat-of-arms) except weapons.

Totem Candles For lack of a better term, these candles are identified by a larger face-looking candle. They can drop both the content of a weapon and item candle. Candle Counting Candle counting will be your way to choose when in the game exactly you will get your spear upgrades, or even intentionally lose it. Breaking the candle is the requirement. You can start runs by counting out loud or in your head to get used to this, but eventually you will find your consistent patterns and know what to look for and adjust if necessary. Weapon candle break:+ 0 count Item candle Break: +1 count Totem candle Break: +1 count Having the Flame Spear: Counting N/A *Taking Damage from Flame Spear level: Count back at 0 (and back to Trident spear).