[EN] Eric (Normal US) Tutorial (Unedited)

[FR] Eric (Normal US) Tutorial (Unedited)

I did this for a friend but I thought I would share with the community! Apologies for leaving unexpectedly about 2 minutes near the end of stage 4. 

 https://youtu.be/vSuGfrAOqZU

Bloodlines Eric - Basic Controls and Mechanics

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
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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).

Link to Castlevania: Bloodlines TAS

This a link to the Castlevania: Bloodlines TAS, hosted on TAS videos. The creator's notes contain useful information about running this game, even in RTA.

http://tasvideos.org/2115S.html

Speedrunning tutorial for Eric Any% Easy.

This is a speedrunning tutorial I put together for some runners who were racing on Any% Easy with Eric.  I cover most common tricks and basic timesaves.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/333466802

-Daniel AKA NoDiggity1

Name	Author
[EN] Eric (Normal US) Tutorial (Unedited)	Mannix86 2 years ago
[FR] Eric (Normal US) Tutorial (Unedited)	Mannix86 2 years ago
Bloodlines Eric - Basic Controls and Mechanics	Mannix86 2 years ago
Link to Castlevania: Bloodlines TAS	SmellyMctroll 5 years ago
Speedrunning tutorial for Eric Any% Easy.	NoDiggity1 4 years ago