Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Ultimate Edition

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow - Ultimate Edition

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Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Collectibles, Trials, and Achievements written guide
By Menthol Reward
I have made this guide to help others with 100%ing the achievement process in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow in a short (or as short as possible) way without having to watch a 30ish minute video walkthrough for each level in the game. This is mostly a port of two other guides while adding a guide for the dlc in the game. So keep in mind I DID NOT WRITE MOST OF THIS GUIDE. I know this is only about collectibles and trials, but honestly this would be an achievement guide, if most of the games achievements didn't consist of either trials or just beating the game. I am sorry if this guide seems text heavy or seems to have too much information without enough flair, but there is A LOT of levels and collectibles in this game. I just hope I have helped at least someone and I hope you guys the best of luck!
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Achievement Information
  • Total achievements: 47, None require online services.
  • Estimated time to complete all achievements: ~50 hours AVG.
  • Minimum number of passes for 100%: 2 gameplay runs, but don't be surprised if you have to do 3 runs
  • Glitchy achievements: None are glitched.
  • Missable Achievements: None are missable.
  • Achievements with difficulty levels: 4 achievements require different difficulties upon completion, fortunately you can do this in 2 playthroughs.
  • Required DLCs for 100% achievements: The game already is packaged in with DLC.

Other information:
For a game in this genre it's really easy, but it can be challenging for the average player. The achievement hunt for this game is surprisingly easy and straightforwards
Chapter I
Level 1: Besieged Village

Trial: Finish the level, defeating the Great Warg with at least one surviving villager

Trial Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

If you are attempting this trial after obtaining the use of fairies, use them
here. Many large enemies can be distracted by fairies and the Great Warg
cannot harm villagers if he is stunned. Fairies also work on the Lesser
Lycanthropes as well, however they should not pose an immediate danger to the
villagers.

If you do not have access to the fairy subweapon yet, this trial is still
doable. The Silver Dagger subweapon does excellent damage to both the Great
Warg and Lesser Lycans. If you have not obtained any Dagger Upgrades yet,
save them for emergencies (such as when a Lycan is attacking a villager).
This trial is extremely straightforward and should not prove a problem for
most.

Collectibles: This level has no collectibles.


Level 2: Hunting Path

Trial: Finish the level without being healed by any means

Trial Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

You will begin the stage on horseback. You can accelerate your progress
through the area by letting yourself fall off your mount. However, if you do
this you will have extremely low health when you begin combat. If you survive
to the end of the path, then various difficulties will force you to fight
anyway. Once in battle, again, Fairies and Daggers make Lycans and Wargs a
cakewalk. Do not waste your fairies on the Lesser Lycans.

WARNING: Picking up the Life Gem, using the Health Font, or attacking with
Light Magic active and less than full health will all void the trial.
Do not use them.

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #1: As soon as you are knocked off your horse and you control Gabriel, head back towards the screen and go to the left side of the path. You will find a corpse that has the Life Gem.


Level 3: The Dead Bog

Trial: Finish the level after killing at least 50 Goblins

Trial Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

At one point in the area you will encounter a tree which requires 2 Goblin
bombs to fell. Goblins will spawn infinitely until you fell the tree. Do not
use any bombs until the counter in the upper right corner of the screen
reaches 50 or more. If you are having trouble staying alive amongst the
Goblin onslaught use the grapple (R2/RT) and hold the left thumbstick in any
direction as you perform the Ring Quick Time Event (Ring QTE from here on).
This will cause Gabriel to light a Bomb on the Goblin's belt. These bombs
will kill the Goblin and will not fell the tree. Continue to do this until 50
are exploderated or otherwise slain.

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #2: Right after the level begins, search the dead soldier's corpse on the left side of the path.
  • Life Gem #3: When you first meet the Goblin enemies and kill them, you will see a cutscene. After the cutscene, jump on the platform in the middle of the bog and then go to the right instead of moving forward. Follow the path all the way to the end to find a corpse with the life gem.
  • Life Gem #4: Return to the previous platform and this time move forward. When you reach the next area, you will have the option to go right or left. Go to the right and jump to the next platform to find another corpse with the life gem. This platform is in front of a monster's skeleton.
  • Brotherhood Ark #1: This is found after you defeat the Swamp Troll boss in the same arena. This one is hard to miss.
  • Life Gem #5: When the boss is defeated, you will have to use your newly acquired Hook relic to cross some platforms. When you reach the third platform, instead of heading to the next one, climb up and head back to the previous one to find a ledge with another corpse with the gem on it.


Level 4: Pan's Temple

Trial: Finish the Level after beating Pan's Trial in 5 movements

Trial Difficulty: 0/10

Strategy:
If you picked up the solution scroll for this puzzle it actually provides you
with a 5-step solution. This trial isn't even a trial. But I'll provide the
solution here as well. Outer Ring Clockwise Twice, Inner Ring Clockwise
Twice, Middle Ring Clockwise once.

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #6: This is found on a corpse in a small path to the left of the 3rd Rune (3rd according to the signs on the right side of your screen) you recover in order to enter the temple.
  • Brotherhood Ark #2: In order to get this upgrade you need the Seraph Shoulders, which are obtained in a later chapter. Once you have them, return to this level for the upgrade. Just before using the runes on the gateway with the fairy, it is found on the left side on top of a small ledge.



Level 5: Oblivion Lake

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Ice Titan in less than 1:30 minutes

Trial Difficulty: 8/10

Strategy:

WARNING: This trial is impossible without access to the Dark Crystal
subweapon. Do not attempt it until you have access to the Crystal.
And make sure you have one, obviously. If you fail the trial but still defeat
the titan then you will no longer have a full Crystal on your next attempt.
You must restart from world map if you want to keep your Crystal

NOTE: a Dark Crystal can be easily and quickly obtained on Chapter X Level 3.

Begin by approaching the titan and activating your Crystal. This will cause
all of the Titan's magic seals to require only one attack to break. From here
it is all about memorization and practice. When the Titan punches the ground,
try to land as close to the fist as possible while jumping to avoid the
attack. Scale the Titan as quickly as you can, using the X/A button to move
more quickly to the side. I personally finished this Trial with 3 seconds to
spare, so don't expect the game to give you much leeway if any. You must be
nearly perfect with your movements to complete this trial.

Here's a video if anyone is having trouble with this trial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayfcc4mQpFI
Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #7: On a corpse to the left of the statue just before you step on the frozen lake. It is very easy to locate.
Chapter II
Level 1: Enchanted Forest
Trial: Finish the level after killing 30 Goblins with their own grenades

Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Halfway through the level you will encounter a door which requires Goblin
bombs to open. As in Chapter 1-3 the Goblins will spawn infinitely until you
blow open the door. Using the same strategy outlined above, perform a grapple
attack on a Goblin and hold a direction on the left thumbstick while you
perform the Ring QTE. Repeat this 30 times, each grapple kills 1 Goblin.

Collectibles:
  • Brotherhood Ark #3: After you descend the waterfall at the beginning of the level, you will come across a locked door. You must activate your Shadow Magic Medallion in order to open it and get the upgrade, so you will have to return later for this collectible.
  • Light Gem #1: Right after fighting the first Goblins in the level, you will reach an area where you can follow the left path to proceed. Instead, follow the right path and fall down to a small creek where some more Goblins are located. At the far end of the small path is a corpse with this gem.

Level 2: Underground Caves
Trial: Finish the level after killing at least 10 enemies while poisoned by Spider Venom

Difficulty: 6/10

Strategy 1:
There are 2 ways to go about this. The first is the way the game intended for
you to do it. There are 2 spiders and 8 Lesser Lycans very early in the area.
You will face the first Giant Spider alone. This is good practice for later.
Block or run in front of the first Spider until it performs its unblockable
grapple attack. Do not struggle and allow the attack to go through, this will
poison you. While poisoned, be sure to kill the Spider. This counts as Kill
#1. It can take quite a while for the Spider to poison you. This is very
annoying. Proceed forward in the area until you encounter the second Spider
and the Lycans. Once again allow the Spider to grapple and poison you. Now,
kill the Lycans with either your Whip or Silver Daggers. If you run out of
Silver Daggers, there might be more in the breakable objects around the area.
After you have successfully killed the 8 Lycans while poisoned, kill the
Spider as well (also while poisoned). That's 10.

Strategy 2:
Proceed to the second Spider, killing the first any way you wish. Engage
the second Spider and use the same technique of allowing yourself to be
grappled from strategy 1. Once poisoned, kill the Lycans using your Silver
Daggers. Afterwards, DO NOT KILL THE SPIDER. Cross the gap through the
tunnel on the left. This will trigger an auto-save. Restart from your last
checkpoint via the menu (or suicide) and backtrack to the second Spider and
Lycans. Repeat the same process. If you are still missing kills, use a
different corridor and trigger another save. Repeat as necessary.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #2: When you encounter the second giant venomous spider that is followed by multiple lesser lycanthropes, follow the left path and you will find a pillar blocking a pathway. Return here after you get the Spiked Chain upgrade, which you will get at the same level, to destroy this obstacle and reach the corpse with this collectible.


Level 3: Labyrinth Entrance
Trial: Finish the level after killing at least 5 Warthogs

Difficulty: 4/10

Strategy:

I really can't stress enough the many benefits of the fairy subweapon.
USE IT. In the very first section of this area you will be required to mount
a Warthog and use it to break down a reinforced door. Simply kill the Warthog
before breaking the door. Another one will continue to spawn until you do.
Fairies will allow you to very nearly kill the Warthog without fear of
retaliation.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #3: After opening the door with the Warthog and climbing the castle, you will balance on some wooden beams to get across. To the right of the corpse in front of you are some stairs that will lead you to a room with another corpse that has this gem.
  • Brotherhood Ark #4: After you rotate a lever to open a gate, you will reach a courtyard and then enter another building. Instead of heading towards the opening, run towards your screen and look to the right wall. You can attack this wall using your Shadow Magic + Cyclone Boots, which will be acquired in a later chapter. Behind this wall you can find the upgrade.


Level 4: Waterfalls of Agharta
Trial: Finish the level after killing at least 20 Small Trolls while you are mounted on a big Troll

Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

Proceed in the area until you encounter your first ever Cave Troll. I know
you've already killed this guy once, since you had to complete the level to
unlock the trial. Just attack and mount him as normal. However, once
mounted, do not break the rock blocking your path. Instead, stay FAR AWAY
from it and continuously kill the small trolls until 20 fall by your mount's
gargantuan fists. Proceed as usual. Mind you, mounting the Cave Troll at all
on Paladin is seriously difficult. Damned little trolls...damn them all.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #4: Near the start of the level you will find a giant spider and you will need to mount it in order to lower a tree to progress. After lowering it, kill the spider and it will drop this gem.
  • Light Gem #5: After you mount the big Troll to destroy some rocks so you can progress, you will find a Health Fountain with two paths. Go to the right path and follow it until you reach a small waterfall. Go behind the waterfall to find a cave with a corpse that has this gem.
Chapter II (PT.2)
Level 5: Agharta

Trial: Finish the level without using Shadow Magic energy

Trial Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Don't activate Shadow Magic! Keep your finger off R1/RB.
Seriously, no touchy. It's really as simple as that. If the Wargs give you
trouble, just distract them with Fairies. Kill or Mount them as you wish and
avoid going red with rage. You can still heal with Light Magic so really this
shouldn't be that hard.

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #1: After you meet the first Warg enemy, you will need to mount it in order to cross the gap. As soon as you cross, kill it to get off it. Go down the stairs to the left and then turn immediately right to find a corpse with this gem.
  • Brotherhood Ark #5: Return to where you crossed the gap with the Warg. To the right is a room blocked by a statue. You will need the Dark Gauntlet, which is obtained at the end of this chapter, in order to push the obstacle back and get the upgrade.
  • Life Gem #8: Go back and mount another Warg. Continue through the level and cross a second gap with the same Warg. Jump over the small wall to continue and you will be in another courtyard with multiple small Trolls and a big one. To the back of this courtyard is a corpse with a staircase to the right. Go up the staircase and follow the path, then fall down a small ledge. Next to a Health Fountain, you will find a corpse with this gem.
  • Shadow Gem #2: Later in the level, you will find a place where you must mount another Warg to continue. Mount it and jump over the first gap. Just before you reach the next broken bridge, get off the Warg and go through the small opening to find a corpse with this gem.


Level 6: Dark Dungeon

Trial: Finish the level without using a grip attack against a single Gremlin

Trial Difficulty: 2/10 (Squire) 9/10 (Paladin)

Strategy:

Just don't successfully use any grapple attacks against Gremlins. There are
2 areas where this might prove difficult. You can accidentally grab a Gremlin
while trying to mount the downed Giant Spider. If this happens, just let them
escape. You won't fail the trial as long as you don't succeed in your Ring
QTE. The other tough area is the last one with the HORDE of Gremlins. On
Knight+ these little buggers can really hurt. Use Silver Daggers or Holy
Water vials instead. If you are dead set on doing this on Paladin (I was) the
Triangle -> X, X combo with Light Magic active is extemely useful. Holy Water
will also kill them instantly. Thankfully there is a checkpoint immediately
before this with a handy Neutral Magic Font nearby.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #6: As you descend down the platform at the beginning of the level, just before you drop down the final ledge to go through an opening, use your chain to swing to another wall and find a corpse with this gem on a platform to the left.
  • Shadow Gem #3: When you first meet the Gremlin enemies (flying red enemies), move forward to find a corpse with one of the Stone Runes you need to proceed. Just past this corpse and to the right you can jump inside a small alcove to find a corpse with the gem.
  • Shadow Gem #4: After the area with the Gremlins you will start climbing on some ledges to reach a higher level. As you climb, you can spot a platform a little lower than you that has a corpse with this gem. When you first spot it, you need to jump on the left and then safely drop to the platform. If you reach the ledge that has a Magic Fountain that replenishes your Light and Dark Magic, then you have climbed too much.


Level 7: Sanctuary Entrance

Trial: Finish the level after absorbing 20 Neutral Elemental Orbs simultaneously

Trial Difficulty: 5/10

Strategy 1:

I did this trial in the area with the Brotherhood Ark behind a gate. There
are a limited number of Lycans that will spawn at once, so you need to work
efficiently. Do not perform strong combos against them, instead perform a
Synchonized Guard by pressing L2/LT just before an attack hits you. This will
build up focus without harming the enemy. Afterwards try and back as many as
you can into a corner and use Triangle/Y attacks to hit all of them at once.
One full area combo should net you enough orbs. Myself, I got 23 this way.

Strategy 2:

For the more confident players, you can instead opt to do this trial while
facing the 3 Greater Lycanthropes further through the area. They are faster,
stronger, and more aggressive than the Lesser Lycans. They also have more
health. This means you can build Focus more quickly and generate more orbs
per attack. However, the arena is larger and the enemies more difficult to
avoid. You may have difficulty getting 20 obs to appear within range of one
another.

Alternate Strategy from Dominique:

There comes a point late in the area when you must use a Cave Troll to break
down a barrier in the room containing the area's final puzzle. You face this
Troll alone and with plenty of space to maneuver. Most of its attacks are
blockable and highly telegraphed. You can both build and maintain your focus
meter and easily complete this trial. Remember kids, Improved Guillotine will
get you a full focus meter in only one attack sequence. Just be sure to do it
at the edge of your range because the Troll has a tendency to swat you out of
the air.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #7: On your way to get your second Crystal Shard you will use your chain to jump upwards on a platform. Run back towards the screen to find a corpse with this gem.
  • Brotherhood Ark #6: When you reach the area with the second Crystal Shard, you can see this upgrade behind a gate. You need to use the Stake upgrade that you will get later in Chapter 5.
  • Shadow Gem #5: After you pick up the second Crystal Shard, climb on the ledge opposite the Health Fountain and go inside the building to find a corpse with the gem.


Level 8: Sanctuary of Titans

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Stone Idol Titan in less than 2 minutes

Trial Difficulty: 8/10

Strategy:

Refer to the strategy for the Ice Titan in Chapter 1-5. Use your Dark Crystal
to weaken the Titan's seals and proceed as normal to scale the behemoth.
These time trials are some of the most difficult in the game as they require
you to be very nearly perfect in their execution. Remember to use X/A to move
more quickly across the Titan's horizontal sections. Good luck.

WARNING: As with the Ice Titan, if you wish to preserve your Dark Crystal
you must restart from world map when re-attempting the trial. If you complete
the area then your Crystal will be spent.

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #6: As soon as the fight with the Titan begins, run past it and look for a corpse in the arena that has this gem.


Level 9: The Black Knight

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Black Knight Golem without using Light Magic energy

Trial Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

If you have a Dark Crystal handy you can use it to shorten the fight somewhat.
The Black Knight has several attacks: A counter-able slash attack, an
unblockable slash attack, a fire wave which travels across the ground, a
ground pound, and later he will summon a black ooze which can trap you. Avoid
his attacks and use any attack that hits.

NOTE: a Dark Crystal can be easily and quickly obtained on Chapter X Level 3.

Collectibles: This level has no collectibles.
Chapter III
Level 1: The Three Towers

Trial: Finish the level after killing 15 enemies whilst they are dazed by fairies

Trial Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Use any fairies you have to stun the Lesser Lycans in the first section of the
area before crossing the gap using the statue.
Warning: It only counts as a fairy-dazed-kill if the fairy is no longer flying around the enemy but he has green sparkles shimmering around his head. He must be "dazed" not distracted.
After you cross some gaps you will encounter your first helpful
fairies. They will act just like your subweapon and daze the Lycans endlessly.
Be sure not to kill any Lycans that are not in the dazed state until you have
15 kills. If you miss some kills, either restart the stage/checkpoint or
proceed in the area and acquire more fairies to use on enemies later.
Overall, not difficult.


Collectibles:
  • Brotherhood Ark #7: When you reach the platforms where you have to jump to progress, the last platform has the Ark above the ledge you can grab. In order to reach it, you will need to sprint with the use of Cyclone Boots, which you can get at the end of this chapter
  • Shadow Gem #7: After you first encounter the Fairies, go through the doors and find a corpse in the middle of the room.
  • Light Gem #8: Right after you pick the previous gem, climb the cliff to the left and move forward. Use your chain to swing across the gap to find the corpse that has this gem.
  • Life Gem #9: On your way to collect the 3 Fairies, you will need to climb some towers. When you climb the third tower to find the final fairy, reach the top and then move towards the screen to find the corpse with the gem.
  • Shadow Gem #8: After you pick up the final Fairy, start rappelling down and stop halfway. You will see an opening on the wall. Shimmer to the left to get inside and get the gem.
  • Shadow Gem #9: Continue climbing down from the third tower and you will end up on a balcony with a corpse and the final gem of this chapter. You can also get this gem as soon as you climb a vine while mounting a Warg, but you will come to this point again after you find the final Fairy.


Level 2: The Dark Lord of the Lycans

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Dark Lord without using Light Magic energy
Trial Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

You cannot heal in this fight (rather, not conventionally). So don't get hit.
You should know Cornell's moves since you've beaten him at least once already.
The easiest way to avoid damage is to constantly circle Cornell and only get
in quick jabs while he is recovering from his attacks. This is a slow method,
but it will get you through his 1st form. Once Cornell transforms into a
beast you will get a checkpoint. What this means is, playing on <Paladin you
will get free health if you die (up to 50%). So don't worry about finishing
the 1st stage of the battle with low health.

For Cornell's beast form, run away until he uses his charge attack (it is very
obvious when he does this). Then, activate your shadow magic (I hope you
still have some) and pelt him with Exploding Daggers until he recovers or you
run out. Even on Paladin these do tremendous damage to him and should make
the fight go much more quickly. Alternatively, you could save your Shadow
Magic for destroying the pillars in stage 3 of the fight. I didn't feel this
was necessary.

Strategy from TheWizard for fighting Cornell:

Originally posted by TheWizard:

Requires Ultimate Shadow and Shadow magic.

You can start the fight with double mana bars. This trick can be Exploited in many fights, like i killed 2nd phase Cornell in 17 seconds using ultimate shadow and daggers, and it is very reliable strat. He always starts the 2nd phase from charging towards you, dodge to let him stand at the border of the arena, Ultimate shadow knocks him down, letting you to throw 3-4 daggers. So you go like stun-throw-repeat for 4 or 5 times and he is done.

Here is a video coinciding with this strat:


Collectibles: This level has no collectibles.
Chapter IV
Level 1: Mountain Fortress

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Ogre without being hit by his attacks

Trial Difficulty:8/10

Strategy:

DON'T GET HIT. Easier said than done right? To complete this trial you
cannot be hit by _any_ of the Ogre's attacks. That includes his grab when you
are fighting his hand alone. The one saving grace of this challenge is the
frequent checkpoints. You will get a checkpoint after each QTE event in the
battle. That means one after his hand and once after each eye. I will admit
that I cannot effectively dodge his hand alone. When his hand is searching
for you you can quickly attack it to make it retreat, but I find this rarely
works. Instead, use Ultimate Shadow (if you have it) or a Dark Crystal to
proceed to the next stage of the fight before he can grab you. Facing the
Ogre proper, upper body and all, this becomes a trial of patience. There is
an easy way to dodge all of his attacks guaranteed.

First, back away from the Ogre as far as you can. Next, run (not dash),
following the outer ledge from one side to the other. Only change direction
immediately after he attacks because he will hit you otherwise. I suggest
changing direction after each attack as this will keep you in the middle of
the arena and his attacks easily visible. Once you have gouged both his eyes
he will attack more ferociously. During this sequence do not change direction
at all. Start on the far side of the arena and run all the way to the other.
Remember, you must activate the grapple while his face is near the large spike
in the middle.

Thankfully, if he hits you, you can just restart from your last checkpoint.
And remember, once you have reduced his health enough to initiate a grapple he
will roar before pounding the ground, creating a shockwave. You must jump to
avoid this. Perfect practice makes perfect. You can use the Neutral Magic
Font nearby to replenish your Shadow Magic energy and make the fight go more
quickly. Remember to stay as close to the camera as possible when avoiding
the Ogre's attacks, as you can be tagged by his forearm if you are too close.

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #10: At the start of the level you will have to break a door to continue. Right after that, go down the right path to find a corpse with this gem.
  • Shadow Gem #10: After you fight the first small Troll enemies in the level, you will have to use your spring with the Cyclone Boots to cross a gap. Right after you land on the next platform, break the wall to your right with Shadow Magic to reveal a hidden corpse with the gem.
  • Light Gem #9: Continue to the left after the previous gem and you will reach a point where you have to swing against a wall to cross to the other side. Instead of swinging, however, stop Gabriel and look up to find another hooking point. Climb there to get on a ledge with a corpse.
  • Light Gem #10: After you defeat the Ogre, follow the path and you will find a statue blocking a hallway. Use the Dark Gauntlet to push it back, then follow the hall to its end to find this gem on a corpse.
  • Brotherhood Ark #8: Return to where you pushed the statue and move forward to progress the level. Soon you will see a locked gate to your right and behind it is the upgrade. You will need to use the Stake upgrade, found in Chapter 5, to access this.


Level 2: The Crow Witch

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Malphas without killing more than 2 of her children

Trial Difficulty:8/10

Strategy:

Soo-ee this is a toughie. I raged so hard at this trial I nearly broke my own
arm. To be fair, the trial itself is actually very simple. Do not let more
than 1 egg hit the platform per round. This requires you to catch and throw
at minimum 2 eggs in the first volley. This is harder than it sounds because
after you return the 1st egg a cutscene will zoom in on Malphas obscuring the
other 2 eggs from view, making it very difficult to catch another egg. The
trick here is, mash R2/RT like mad from the first moment she starts upchucking
eggs. Be warned however, do not think to save time by pre-rotating the left
thumbstick because this can mess with the game's detection of your R2 mashing.

You can actually grab the eggs a split second before they begin to flash
yellow. Grab the first egg in this manner and you should have (just barely)
enough time to grab the 2nd before the cutscene begins. If you succeed in
this monumental feat then Malphas will most likely throw a 4th egg afterwards.
However, this egg will not be the focus of the camera any longer and you must
time yourself to grab it from off-screen. Thankfully, there is no cutscene
slowdown to screw with your timing on this one. If you miss Egg #2 and rather
grab Egg #3 then there is a better chance that Malphas will throw additional
eggs whilst still being vulnerable. Should this happen, do not miss your
chance to down her all in one go. This is not a likely occurence however, so
don't count on it too much.

If done properly you should have only 1 child to deal with on the platform.
Dispatch it quickly, distracting it with fairies if needed. Now, you need
only catch 1 egg during Malphas' 2nd volley. This will initiate a grapple
sequence and some Ring QTEs. Quickly attack Malphas while she is downed. You
don't have long so use something powerful like Ultimate Shadow. Afterwards,
if you have followed this guide so far, there will only be 1 child remaining
on the platform after Malphas flies away to lick her wounds. Kill it quickly
and return 1 more egg to Malphas. This should initiate the 2nd grapple
sequence. Once again, hit the downed Malphas with everything you have and
hope to the gods that it is enough to kill her, because you don't have the
luxury of any more volleys. Use Ultimate Shadow if you have it, I can
guarantee this will kill her and net you the trial on Paladin difficulty.
Congratulations. Was it worth all the pain?

Alternate Strategy from Aku Yurei:

Note: Requires Seraph Shoulders relic

Return as many eggs as you can without straining yourself. Then, just ignore
the children altogether. Malphas is momentarily vulnerable while attacking
you with swarms of crows. Dodge the attack and immediately follow-up with an
aerial attack of your own. This method is slow, but is guaranteed to bring
her down for a grapple without needing to attack the children at all. After
the first grapple sequence you may kill the remaining child without fear and
proceed as normal to finish off the Witch. However, for best results, perform
this strategy on a lower difficulty as the children do ferocious damage on
higher ones. It warrants noting that this method is EXTREMELY slow.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #11: Right at the beginning of the level, climb the stairs and there will be a corpse at the top with the gem.
  • Shadow Gem #11: Exit through the broken window but instead of going up, where you continue the level, take the path down. Follow it until you enter a cave with some small Trolls and a corpse that has this gem.
  • Brotherhood Ark #9: After you enter back inside, you will fight a new enemy called Swordmaster. You will defeat 3 of them and then climb to the next level and fight 3 more at the same time. After you defeat them, climb the circular stairs and at the top, where you will find the upgrade. You will need the Seraph Shoulders to make it across the gap to reach it.
  • Life Gem #11: After the previous upgrade, use the chain to climb to the next level. Once there go to the balcony near the Magic Statue to find a corpse with the last gem in this chapter.
Chapter V
Level 1: Veros Woods

Trial: Finish the level, recovering your relics from the Chupacabras in less than 3 minutes since stolen.

Trial Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

The only difficulty in completing this trial is in mounting the Warthog
quickly. Use your Fairy subweapon to distract it (but be sure to save one for
the Chupa). Otherwise, simply follow the only path you can through the level
and remember to make sure the cutscene showing the Chupa playing with your
fairy initiates before you attempt to jump the gap to the Chupa's hiding spot,
or else he will still knock you off.

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #12: At the beginning of the level as you follow the icy path, on your right side you will find a wall that can be broken using Shadow Magic + Cyclone Boots. Behind it, there is a Dark Crystal shard and a corpse with this gem.
  • Life Gem #13: After the Chupacabra steals your Relics and Powers, you will need to hunt it down and retrieve them. After that, return back to the camp with the Goblins and go past it, following the way you took to chase the Chupacabra. At the first intersection go to the very left path and use Shadow Magic + Cyclone Boots to break down a wall and find the corpse behind it.
  • Shadow Gem #12: Continue to the next intersection past the Life Fountain and take the right path. Break down yet another wall to find this gem.


Level 2: Wygol Village

Trial: Finish the level without allowing Zobek to kill a single ghoul.

Trial Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

Any time you see Zobek attacking a Ghoul, rush over and knock it away. Kill
it yourself, rinse, repeat. I was honestly unaware Zobek could kill
anything. This area is blissfully short and if Zobek manages to not suck for
2 seconds, just reset. Just be sure not to use Holy Water vials as they will
leave Ghouls 1-hit from death.

Collectibles:
  • Brotherhood Ark #10: At the beginning of the level, enter the village then immediately climb the stairs to the right. Break down the wall using Shadow Magic + Cyclone Boots and enter inside. You will need the Seraph Shoulders to double-jump on a ledge and get this upgrade.
  • Shadow Gem #13: In the graveyard where you and Zobek are closing up the holes that Ghouls come from, the gem is on a corpse next to the gate that will open after you close all three holes.


Level 3: Abbey Catacombs

Trial: Finish the level without allowing Zobek to fall in combat a single time

Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

Yet again, were it not for this trial I would not have known Zobek could die
in battle. Even on Paladin I was able to kill all the enemies before Zobek
could so much as blink. If you're having serious trouble with this (what's
wrong with you?) just turn down the difficulty. The only time Zobek is alone
is in the very beginning when you are briefly on the other side of a gate.
Open it quickly and reunite with Zobek.

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #14: When you have to find two keys to open the door to the abbey, you will use a lever to open up two gates. Go through the left gate and go towards the key. When you reach the key, keep moving towards the screen and then turn left to reach a platform that has a corpse with this gem.
  • Light Gem #12: When you reach the courtyard and you solve its puzzle, rotate the wheel in the center to face the gate with wooden planks. It's the gate to the right where you must proceed to end the level. Tell Zobek to hold the wheel while you run towards the portal. Once through the portal, you will find a corpse with this gem.


Level 4: Abbey Library

Trial: Finish the level and beat the mirror and lights puzzle in less than 2:30 minutes

Trial Difficulty: 5/10

Strategy:

Move quickly, aim quickly, charge quickly, and don't. fight. anything. This
is another annoying time trial. Move as quickly as you can, using your Dash
whenever able, and be sure not to miss with any of your Gauntlet attacks. Do
a dry run first and memorize the positions of the mirror statues before
attempting this trial. You get a checkpoint after the 2nd door (respawn at
the top of the stairs). Use this to your advantage by clearing those first 2
doors in <1 minute and locking that time in place. If you have ~1:30
remaining at this checkpoint you should be fine. The biggest concern is
making sure to kill all the Gremlins using Holy Shield (Light Magic Holy
Water) and don't engage the animated armor. Just adjust your mirrors and run.
You should get the 2nd to last mirror in place before you break down the wall
to the last mirror or else you will need to run and waste time.

If you can't remember where the mirrors go or else can't understand the above
strategy, consult this YouTube video uploaded by MasterLL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8-5FZ05R7k
Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #13: At the beginning of the level follow the hallway, and instead of turning left, continue straight then turn right to find a corpse with the gem.
  • Light Gem #14: After you open the first door during the mirrors and light puzzle, go through the door and find the next light beam. Next to its starting point is a corpse with the gem.
  • Shadow Gem #14: When you reach the big room during the mirrors and light puzzle where some Gremlins will be attacking you, next to the first statue are some stairs that lead to a platform with many books. There is also a corpse that has this gem.
Chapter V (PT.2)
Level 5: Abbey Tower

Trial: Finish the level after finding and destroying 100 breakable objects before the allotted time runs out.

Trial Difficulty: 7/10

Strategy:

This is another really tough trial even when you know what you're doing. You
are tasked with destroying 100 breakable objects before time runs out. You
start with 20 seconds on the clock, plus an additional 1 second for every
object you destroy. There are barely more than 100 breakable objects before
the climbing sequence for you to break, so supplies are limited. This trial
is all about destroying objects quickly and there are a couple tips for doing
this. Use your basic combo, it's fast and hits multiple targets in front of
you. Also, use the Sprint Thrust combo to destroy many objects at once. Use
Holy Shield (Light Magic Holy Water) to prevent enemies from interrupting
your attacks.

The path you should take through the level is as follows:
Turn left immediately out of the opening hallway, destroy the 3 objects there.
Double back to the right and break 17 more for a total of 20.
Hop through the first arch a little ways further and proceed through the
corridor destroying a total of 61 objects minimum.
Hop through the arch on the left at the end of this corridor and destroy 4
more objects (a cart, a box, some barrels) for a total of 65 minimum.
Use Holy Shield to protect yourself from attack and pull down the bridge
across the gap ahead. Destroy a minimum total 89 (91 if you attack through
the gate) objects before activating the gate mechanism. You should just
barely have enough to break 100 before time runs out.

You cannot die or restart during any of this or it will reset the object
counter. Should this happen, restart from the World Map.

Credit to Master LL for developing this route.
If you are having trouble, consult this YouTube video uploaded by MasterLL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9hmOoV1t2U
A tip from CassyChan:

You can skip the gate entirely with the Seraph Shoulders
by double jumping to the top of the stairs on the right.
This saves perhaps 10 seconds, dropping the difficulty
of this challenging trial considerably.

A tip from Hapkido:

You can use Ultimate Light in the section before the gate
to destroy many of the objects extremely quickly.


Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #15: Near the beginning of the level, you will enter a hallway to the right side. Instead of moving forward, run back towards the screen to find a corpse with the gem.
  • Life Gem #16: When you climb to the top of a tower, you will reach a checkpoint and you must then jump to another ledge and climb more. Instead of heading to the right to progress the game, shimmer to the left and around the corner to find a platform with a corpse.


Level 6: Brauner

Trial: Finish the level after attacking the Elite Vampire 4 consecutive times with his own blade

Trial Difficulty: 5/10

Strategy:

During your fight with Brauner he will occasionally attack you by throwing his
bladed weapon. When he does this, press R2/RT just before it hits you to grab
it and throw it back at Brauner. The timing is not difficult, however, you
must grab the blade 4 times in a row. It is worth mentioning that in this
trial "consecutive" means you cannot attack Brauner AT ALL between catches.
You don't get any checkpoints for this trial beyond the one before Brauner so
no exploiting saves...you must kill Brauner after returning the 4th blade
attack or else you will have to start all over again.

Thanks to Hapkido for pointing out the tricky wording on "consecutive".

Collectibles: This level has no collectibles.


Level 7: Castle Sewers

Trial: Finish the level after killing 3 Skeleton Warriors without destroying their shields

Trial Difficulty: 4/10

Strategy:

There are only 3 skeletons to fight in this area so you'll have to kill all
three without breaking their shields. This is not terribly difficult and
there are a myriad means of doing so. Fairies will distract them giving you
some free hits, Holy Water does excellent damage as well, and they are
vulnerable to Gauntlet attacks. You can use Holy Water, Direct Heavy Combo,
Area Heavy Combo, and Ultimate Light to scatter their bones when they are down
as well, to avoid fighting them a second time. Or, if you have one handy, you
can use a Dark Crystal will kill all 3 without breaking their shields with the
added bonus of scattering their remains instantly.

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #15: In the first room of the sewers, instead of going through the gate that you open with a lever, go to the very right of the bottom floor to find a platform with a corpse.
Chapter VI
Level 1: Castle Courtyard

Trial: Finish the level and kill 3 Skeleton Warriors while you are mounted on a Warg

Trial Difficulty: 4/10

Strategy:

After killing the Animated Armors and dropping into the dungeon below you will
encounter 2 Skeleton Warriors which you must avoid killing before the Vampires
release a Warg from the cages. Distract the Warg with Fairies and mount it
without killing the Skeleton Warriors in the process. Once mounted, use the
Warg's Triangle/Y attack to defeat the 2 Skeletons, wait a moment for a 3rd to
spawn, and kill that one as well. Easy as pie right?

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #17: After you use the Stake to open the hatch and fall into the pit, go left and break the wall to find a corpse with the gem.


Level 2: Maze Gardens

Trial: Finish the level after defeating 15 Mandragoras in less than 15 seconds

Trial Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

This one is a little bit based on luck. The difficulty isn't in killing the
Mandragoras but rather, getting them all in one spot. Once a sufficient
number have spawned near you, toss a few Holy Waters as they can kill many of
them at once. I suggest having at least 5 Waters on hand before attempting
this trial. Luckily, you can restart from your last checkpoint and try this
as many times as is necessary. Just be patient.

Alternate Strategy from SBAllen:

Gather 10 Mandragora and use a Dark Crystal to kill them all at once. The
timer will not being counting down until after the Crystal kills the first
wave of Mandragora. This leaves you with a full 15 seconds to locate the 5 or
so remaining.

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #18: Enter the maze and turn to the right, then left. You will see a statue that you must break with the Spiked Chain to reveal a corpse that has this gem.
  • Light Gem #15: From the maze's entrance make your way to the left side of the maze and find a wall you can break to reveal a corpse.
  • Shadow Gem #16: Inside the maze, you will soon have to mount a giant spider to cross a broken bridge. While mounting a spider, return to the place you found the first gem and continue to the right to reach the area where you pushed the statue. Move back towards the screen and then turn left to find another broken bridge. Use the spider to create a path and cross it to find a corpse with the gem.


Level 3: Castle Hall

Trial: Finish the level and win the Vampire Wargame without losing more than 3 pieces

Trial Difficulty: Varies

Strategy:

You need to be a bit lucky for this one. It's another where practice eases
things along. But here are a few strategies that may help. Always focus on 1
type of opposing piece at once. If there are no Werewolves available then
that player wastes a turn if the wheel lands on Werewolf. Always be aware of
the health of your pieces by holding L2/LT and be aware of your opponent's
range. Necromancers can attack from 2 spaces away in any direction (even
diagonals). The CPU will *always* attack any zombie in range. Position your
zombies to be in range of as many types of pieces as possible for best effect.
If you've got a zombie next to both a Vampire and a Werewolf as well as being
in sight of a Necromancer, then you've effectively blocked your opponent from
doing anything significant for 1 spin. Zombies do not count as pieces lost so
use as many as you can. Of note, the Vampire's drain attack cannot kill.
Good luck!

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #19: When you open the door with the light beam, go to the left side of the gate that opened and destroy the bookshelf. Climb the ledge to find a corpse with the gem.
  • Brotherhood Ark #11: This upgrade is right past the gate you open with the light beam on top of a ledge. To reach it you will need the Seraph Shoulders you will get in a later chapter.
  • Light Gem #16: As soon as the game with Laura ends, cross the board and go to the right side to find a corpse with this gem.
NOTE:
Master improver
Find all the secret Brotherhood arks


Brotherhood Ark #11: is the last one in the game. The "Master improver" achievement should pop if you're following this guide!


Level 4: Refectory

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Evil Butcher after he uses at least 15 objects in the kitchen

Trial Difficulty: 2/10 (Squire) 7/10 (Paladin)

Strategy:

This is an endurance match. You just have to last long enough against the
Butcher for him to use 15 objects. I suggest doing this trial on Squire
difficulty as it will make it near impossible for you to lose. Just dodge and
wait him out. But whatever you do to pass the time, don't whittle his health
down low enough that he dons his "helm" as he will stop using kitchenware once
this happens.

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #17: After you enter the tight hallway where the Ghouls come from, follow the path and when it branches, turn right and walk towards the screen to find a corpse with the gem.
  • Life Gem #20: After you defeat the Butcher and pick up his key, return to the room with the pot full of meat and open the door. In the new room find the corpse that has this gem.
  • Shadow Gem #18: Exit the kitchen to reach the final room with the mask puzzle and go to the right side of the room. Use the chain to climb to the higher level and climb the ledges until you reach a Magic Statue. Balance on the beams and head towards the screen. At the end, you will find a platform with a corpse.
Chapter VII
Level 1: Balcony

Trial: Finish the level after beating the logic gates puzzle in 7 movements

Trial Difficulty: 0/10

Strategy:

Another one! The game _gives_ you the solution in a scroll! However I will
provide the solution here once again: Left, Middle x5, Right

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #19: At the beginning of the level you will balance on some wooden beams and you will see a corpse to your right. To reach it you must go to the end of the support beams, then on the next platform go to the edge on the right and shimmer to the ledge towards the left.
  • Light Gem #17: You will soon reach an area where you must rappel using your chain and enter through a broken window. Instead of jumping down, jump to the left on the other side of the wall and enter the other window to find a corpse with this gem.
  • Shadow Gem #20: When you use the key and enter inside the castle again, follow the right side path around the objects to find a corpse with this gem.


Level 2: Electric Laboratory

Trial: Finish the level and deactivate the Mechanical Monstrosity using only the tesla coil in the lab after it is activated

Trial Difficulty: 7/10

Strategy:

This is another one of the more infuriating trials in the game. This is due
to a number of reasons. First, you have no means of keeping the Monstrosity
in one place whatsoever, so you will miss with your shots, a lot. Each time
this happens you must wait for the switch to re-activate before trying again.
Also, you have no checkpoints during this fight, so you'll have to do it all
in one go. Thankfully, it only takes 3 shots to down the creature. Start off
by getting as much health as you can. Dodge roll like a monkey in a circle
around the Monster and attack whenever you can. Once he is sufficiently
damaged he will activate the tesla coil. This is your only opportunity for a
free hit, take it. Next, use the Somersault or Double Jump to leap over him
towards the tesla platform. Wait for him to follow you there and somersault
followed by a quick roll back towards the button. If you're lucky, you can
hit the button before it has a chance to turn and follow. If you're not,
rinse and repeat. Again, you must zap him a total of 3 times.

Alternate Strategy from Zelix:

Purchase the Light Magic upgrade "Light Flash" which stuns upon a successful
synchronized block. The flash does not count as a "hit" and thus won't
invalidate the trial. Just lure the monster into position and block with your
Light Magic active. You'll have an extra second or so to smack the switch so
long as you continue to move efficiently. A note of warning, Light Flash will
drain your Light Magic with each successful synchronized block.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #18: In the second tesla coil puzzle room, the corpse with the gem is on the left side of the room right after you enter.
  • Life Gem #21: In the room where you defeat the Mechanical Monstrosity, you must open a path to the right part of the room so you can jump on the platform that will lead you to the corpse with the gem.


Level 3: Chromatic Observatory

Trial: Finish the level, destroying 10 Deadly Toys using normal hits before completely killing any of them with a grip

Trial Difficulty: 2/10 (Squire) 10/10 (Paladin)

Strategy:

On higher difficulties these toys HURT. Despite the trial description you are
allowed to kill the Toys by any means other than a grapple. This means
Crystals, Holy Water, Light and Shadow Magic, and Daggers. You just can't
grapple them. This is another test of endurance. You will be fighting all 3
Toys the entire time so the screen can get a bit crowded with attacks. I
suggest turning down the difficulty for this one as I found it nearly
impossible on Paladin. There's nothing complicated about this trial, just
kill Toys. So if you're skilled enough feel free to ramp up the masochism if
you wish. Remember, the toys will re-spawn infinitely until you kill all 3
with a grapple attack. That means you'll be killing a total of 13 toys to
complete this trial.

Collectibles:
  • Life Gem #22: Find the Green lens and use it alone in the observatory to enter the Green room. Swing across the gap and to Gabriel's right go to the snow pile to find the corpse.
  • Light Gem #19: Combine the Green and Blue lenses to animate the piece of armor that is hiding the corpse.
  • Shadow Gem #21: Combine all three lenses (Red, Green, Blue) and enter the White room. At the end, use the White Key to open a gate and find a corpse with this gem.
Chapter VIII
Level 1: Outer Wall

Trial: Finish the level after killing 10 Gremlins using only your Silver Daggers

Trial Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

There are exactly 10 Gremlins in this area. They all spawn on the platform in
the middle of the 2 enormous chains you must cross to reach the castle. You
must kill all of them using Silver Daggers. I suggest not attempting this
until you have acquired some Dagger Upgrades as you have no guarantee the
Gremlins will drop more Daggers for you to use against them. Exploding
Daggers count as well. There is an ample supply of Shadow Magic from the
previous area's Neutral Magic Font so you shouldn't run out. If you
accidentally kill one with something else, restart to last checkpoint.

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #22: After you climb the first section, you will reach a Life Fountain. Past this and immediately to the left you can find the corpse with the gem.
  • Light Gem #20: When you finally enter the castle, check the left side of the room near a big statue.


Level 2: Clockwork Tower

Trial: Finish the level and get to the top corridor in less than 5 minutes

Trial Difficulty: 7/10

Strategy:

Warning: IF you are doing this legit, do not attempt this trial without at least Ultimate Shadow or Ultimate Light and/or a Dark Crystal. You must fight the Mechanical Monstrosity on a timer.

This is the most forgiving time trial in the bunch. I finished with 47
seconds to spare. There are 2 checkpoints in this area, once after you raise
the platform for the first time, and again when you reach the Mechanical
Monstrosity part deux. If you have the Seraph Wings then use them. If you
are skilled in their use you can leap across many gaps including the balance
beams. The only thing that should catch you up are the electrified climbing
sections. Watch the timing of the electricity and be certain in your footing.
Both of these sections come after the first checkpoint, so if you have 3:30 to
4:00 left at that checkpoint you should have no trouble finishing with time to
spare. There is a Neutral Magic Font just before the second electrified
climbing section so fill up. Use both Ultimate Shadow and Light to down the
Mechanical Monstrosity as quickly as you possibly can. Done correctly, this
shouldn't take more than 30 seconds giving you plenty of time to raise the
platform.

Shortcuts courtesy of corneliab:

Jumping at a 45 degree angle to the right with the Seraph Shoulders before the
first balance beam can let you skip the entire first floor.

If you jump across the balance beam leading to the first electrified wall you
can attach to the grip point without needing to touch the floor.

After the first electrified wall you will come across 2 flat balconies just
before a long gap. Using the Seraph Shoulders and jumping as high and far as
you can to the right you can attach to the grip point hidden off-screen above.
This puts you right at the Mechanical Monstrosity, effectively skipping half
of the area.

Now there would be a video here, but it has been deleted or the link has somehow changed. So if anyone can find the video by corneliab send me a dm or leave it in the comments!

Luckily I have a glitchy, potentially save breaking if done in correctly way if you need a video!

Alternate Strategy from On3ManCr3w that I ended up using:

READ CAREFULLY

I can't stress this enough, you can possibly lose your save if you don't other wise! I will not take any responsibility for any corrupt saves so use this glitch at your own discretion

This method requires Ultimate Shadow and Seraph Shoulders. We can disable the Trial Clock at the start of the level, firstly skipping the first cutscene. Then as soon as we get control of Gabriel INSTEAD OF MOVING, we're going to do an Ultimate Shadow to the left side of the room. This causes a 50/50 chance that the Trial Clock to be disabled (I know right? That's surprisingly odd!). You can tell if the glitch worked if the timer doesn't start counting down. If it does, restart to last checkpoint and try again! Now when you did the glitch properly you want to go to the right side of the beginning platform and use the Cyclone Boots + Seraph Shoulder to jump to the moving platforms that move you up the floor. When you get the next floor you can continue as normal, until the end of the Level!

NOTE: If you restart to checkpoint or die the clock will show up again. Take it slow and steady!

You can kill the Mechanical Monstrosity however you want, and take the platform up. Now this is the part that you want to be careful with! When you get to the level complete menu, you have to press "Continue Quest" or you might get a corrupt save. I know I might be overreacting a little bit over this, but the last thing I want is for someone to lose their save over skipping a few words. :)

Here's the video to go along with this Strategy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8DfZDkC8kc

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #21: Right after you cross the first wooden beam, jump to the left on another platform to find the corpse that has this gem.
  • Life Gem #23: As you climb the tower, you will reach a Magic Statue, where you will have to climb some ledges with electricity going on and off. At the top of this ledge, jump to the right to find a platform with a corpse.


Level 3: Olrox

Trial: Finish the level after keeping the focus meter at its maximum value for 60 seconds

Trial Difficulty: 6/10

Strategy:

There is no strategy for this. Don't get hit for 60 seconds. But here are
some tips that are helpful. One full counter-attack combo will get you a full
focus bar. You can also use Improved Guillotine to build Focus very quickly.
Holy Water will knock Olrox down, use this to get some breathing room. The
focus meter will begin to drain after 8 seconds so you must hit Olrox at least
once every 8 seconds to keep it at maximum. Do not attempt to block once you
have focus, only dodge. If you can manage to get a full focus meter before
Olrox begins to heal from a Lycan the ensuing cutscene will keep the timer
going without fear of being hit. You need only survive to the next checkpoint
after completing the trial. If you die you must start over.

Collectectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #23: During the boss fight with Olrox, he will be opening iron maidens containing corpses in order to restore some of his health. The corpse at the 4th iron maiden has this gem which will be grabable after the fight.


Level 4: The Throne Room

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Dark Lord after she kills at least 10 of her own Vampire Warriors

Trial Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy: This trial is done in the very first stage of the fight where Carmilla attacks
you with lightning. Run in a large circle in either direction and wait for
Carmilla to attack. It is very likely she will kill at least 1 Vampire with
every attack. If she is consistently missing them, stun one with the Fairy
subweapon and position yourself between Carmilla and the victim. This
requires some timing, but simplifies the trial considerably when the number of
Vampires dwindles. Only 10 Vampires spawn so DO NOT kill them yourself.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #22: When you go up the stairs at the beginning of the level, the corpse is on the right side. Very hard to miss.
Chapter IX
Level 1: Bones Forest

Trial: Finish the level after killing 10 Headless Corpses, without being grabbed by them a single time

Trial Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Use Ultimate Light or Holy Water to kill the heads and put the zombies into
stunned status simultaneously. There are a limited number of Headless Corpses
in the area so be sure to do a running leap across the large gap past the
first group to find more. I found 12 total. If you proceed in the level
instead of leaping over immediately you can nab a checkpoint just before the
Cave Troll. This gives you some forgiveness should you accidentally be
grabbed.

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #24: As soon as the level begins, go to the left side of the area to find a corpse with the gem.
  • Light Gem #23: After the last gem go behind the level's starting point to find another corpse with a gem.
  • Shadow Gem #25: When you defeat your first Headless Corpses, take the left path and sprint using the Seraph Shoulders at the end to reach across the gap. There will be a corpse here guarded by more Headless Corpses enemies.
  • Life Gem #24: After the Chupacabra steals your items, climb the ledge on your right to find a platform with a corpse.


Level 2: Woes Moor

Trial: Finish the level and get the three keys, scaring the crows only 13 times

Trial Difficulty: 0/10

Strategy: Yet another "do puzzle X in Y moves" trial. I feel like these were just
lazy...The solution is simple. Scare the 1st flock 4 times, followed by the
2nd flock 5 times, then after the 2nd Scarecrow battle scare the 2nd flock
twice more followed by the 3rd flock the final 2 times.

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #26: As soon as the level begins, run back towards the screen to find this gem.
  • Light Gem #24: After you collect the first key, go to the very back of the area and find an obstacle that you can destroy with your Spiked Chain. Inside the house at the top of the path, you can find a corpse with the gem.
  • Light Gem #25: This is found inside another house behind an obstacle that you pull down. It is right next to the area's Magic Statue.
  • Life Gem #25: From the last gem head towards the place you got your third and final key and look into the shed to the right for the gem.


Level 3: The Music Box

Trial: Finish the level and get the blue rose without falling in any of the Music Box traps

Trial Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

The strategy here is no different than completing the area normally. Just you
must do it perfectly. There is no need to get any gems while attempting this
trial. Make a beeline straight for the rose. To avoid the spike and flame
hallways just charge a Shoulder Charge and wait for the right timing. Walk
with staggered steps to avoid the electric hallway and dodge roll under the
spinning blades. If you anticipate failing many times you can pre-arrange the
music reels as follows: Red, Yellow, Purple, Green
This way, after inserting the Blue Reel you will only need swap Blue and Yellow
to be in the correct sequence for the final stretch.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #26: The gem is in the trap hallway after you use the Green cylinder, it's really hard to miss.
  • Life Gem #26: Once you find all crystals, put them in the following order: Red, Blue, Magenta, Yellow, and Green. After the fourth trap hallway, you will find this corpse in the middle of the room.
Chapter X
Level 1: Titan Graveyard

Trial: Finish the level after receiving at least 100 points of poison damage from the deadly mist.

Trial Difficulty: 1/10

Strategy:

Try to begin the area with full health. Dip a toe into the poison mist as
close to land as you can. Wait until the counter in the upper right hits 100
and then step out. There are many enemies from which to recover health in
this stage with several checkpoints. If you did not start with full health,
recover from enemies and retreat. You shouldn't have a problem with this one.

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #27: When you defeat the first enemies in the level, take the left path and fall down a small ledge to find the corpse with the gem.
  • Life Gem #27: After you find the first Titan's rune and BEFORE using it, follow the left path to find the gem.
  • Shadow Gem #27: This gem is located in front of the giant statue, on whose back you have to place the next two Titan's runes.
  • Light Gem #28: After using the first Titan rune on the aforementioned statue, jump on the next island and find the corpse right where you land.


Level 2: Fire Pinnacle

Trial: Finish the level without allowing Pan to recover any health during the fight.

Trial Difficulty: 3/10

Strategy:

All but one of Pan's attacks can be countered. If you perform a Synchronized
Guard followed by 3-4 attacks then guard again you should be able to keep Pan
in an infinite loop of counter-attacks from which he cannot drain health. Pan
will only gain health if he attacks you with an opposing element. Solve this
by never attacking with magic. Just stay Neutral the whole time.

Collectibles: This level has no collectibles.


Level 3: Fire Cemetery

Trial: Finish the level after killing 20 Zombies in a single aerial sequence.

Trial Difficulty: 2/10

Strategy:

Just before the end of the stage there are many dozens of Zombies that spawn.
Get full Shadow Magic energy from the Neutral Magic Font by the door. Gather
up as many Zombies as you can and perform a Triangle/Y, X/A, Hold Triangle/Y
combo. Do not perform Triangle/Y, X/A, X/A as this is not guaranteed to kill
all the Zombies in range. Just activate Shadow Magic and don't double jump.
The Zombie spawns are a little bit random so this might take a few tries.

Alternate Strategy from Chris Bolts:

Stand close to the doorway to create a bottleneck for the zombies, allowing
greater zombie density and increasing the likelihood of getting 20 in range of
your attacks at once. From here, perform the Triangle/Y, X/A, X/A combo
followed by the Avalanche Punch (L2/LT + Triangle/Y in midair). Use basic
Square/X swings to keep yourself in midair and perform another Avalanche Punch
until you have 20 kills. So long as you do not touch the ground it counts as
a single "aerial sequence".

Collectibles:
  • Light Gem #29: After you kill the first zombies in the level, fall down the next pit and climb on the other side via the ledges to find a corpse with the gem.
  • Life Gem #28: When the Chupacabra steals your powers again, turn left and then go back towards the screen to find the gem.
  • Life Gem #29: As you are moving the statue on the right side of the area, right before you push the statue to the left, there is an alcove with a corpse that has this gem.


Level 4: Crematory Oven

Trial: Finish the level and kill at least 15 summoned Creeping Corpses during the fight against the Gravedigger

Trial Difficulty: 4/10

Strategy:

This is yet another endurance trial. Stay alive against the Gravedigger long
enough for him to summon 15 Creeping Corpses. Holy Water or Holy Shield will
kill them in 1 hit and they are likely to drop more Holy Water as well. The
Gravedigger has 4 attacks: Shovel swing, unblockable shovel swing, fire wave,
ground pound, face tentacles and summon Creeping Corpses. All but the ground
pound can be dodged by rolling. Jump to avoid the ground pound. You must
defeat the Gravedigger once you complete the trial or you must start over
again.

Collectectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #28: After the boss fight with the Gravedigger, you will have to quickly climb out of the oven before the lava reaches you. When you use the third chain to climb, grab the ledge and shimmer to the right. Climb to the top to get the gem and then quickly return to go the other way towards the end of the level.
Chapter XI & XII
Chapter XI

Level 1: Necromancer's Abyss

Trial: Finish the level after destroying 60 Reapers

Trial Difficulty: 5/10

Strategy:

You can encounter a maximum 56 Reapers before facing the 2nd Necromancer.
Three of the Reapers are out of the way and more are missable. To locate the
3 hidden Reapers take the left Mirror Portal after the 1st Necromancer fight
and head right. Use the portal but miss the grapple point, landing on a small
platform. There are the 3 Reapers. If you kill every other Reaper you come
across you should have 56. The 2nd Necromancer summons a maximum of 10 more
Reapers. Use these to fill out your quota.

Warning: When activating the punch switch in the room full of Reapers, do
not activate the switch until after the Reapers are dead. No more Reapers
will spawn after the switch is activated, ruining the trial.

Collectibles:
  • Shadow Gem #29: When the level begins, go towards the huge machine and drop to the ledge on the left side to find a corpse with the gem.
  • Life Gem #30: before the first mirror after you fight the Reapers, go towards the screen to find the final life gem in the game.
  • Light Gem #30: After the boss fight with Death, two mirror portals will appear. Take the right one and use the portals in the new area to reach the corpse with the final light gem.
  • Shadow Gem #30: After the second boss fight with Death, you will have to climb a very large section. At the top use the mirror to be teleported to a new area. When you reach it, instead of going up the stairs, go down to find the final shadow gem in the game.
Green collector
Gather all the 30 Life gems


Light collector
Gather all the 30 Light gems


Dark collector
Gather all the 30 Shadow gems


Master jeweler
Gather all hidden magic gems


These gems are the last achievement-based collectibles in the BASE game. Obtaining these last few gems, you should've gotten the "Green collector", "Light collector", "Dark collector", and "Master jeweler" achievements. Congratulations!


Level 2: The Dracolich

Trial: Finish the level and defeat the Dracolich in less than 5 minutes

Trial Difficulty: 8/10

Strategy: Another Titan time trial...sigh. You know the drill by now. Dark
Crystal, perfect movement. Something you may not know however, you can use
X/A to move more quickly even on the flat sections of the Dracolich. In
short, mash X/A for the entire battle, it will speed things up tremendously.
Additionally, the timer does not stop for the cutscene after you destroy the
seal on Dracolich's underbelly. You should have 1:20-1:30 left when you
destroy the underbelly seal to compensate for this. As before, you must
restart from World Map to preserve your Crystal.


Chapter XII

Level 1: The Final Fight

Trial: Finish the level and defeat Satan without being hit by any attack with the opposite magic color

Trial Difficulty: 6/10

Strategy:

The simple solution? Don't use magic at all. The only times you are required
to use magic in this fight is to escape Satan's holding seals (swap to the same
color magic as the seal). It is dangerous to use magic at _all_ during this
fight because any attacks made by Satan, including his meteor storm and ground
pound, count as a magic element attack for the purposes of the trial. If the
fight is going on too long, spam Ultimate Light and Ultimate Shadow for some
quick damage. Just be careful to shut off your magic afterwards to avoid
being hit by a stray attack.
Chapter XIII & XIV (DLC)
Chapter XIII (DLC)

NOTE: The Trial Difficulty section from here on out will not be added in these next two chapters. Glamador (the guy who made the trial guide) only made the guide for the base game, not for the DLC. And since I don't really have an idea how he decided on the difficulty, I won't even try to.

Level 1: Castle Hall

Trial: Finish the level without allowing Laura to kill a single enemy.

Strategy:

As the Trial says Laura can't kill a single enemy. Unlike the similar trial on chapter 5-2, Laura can actually do some damage. Fortunately Laura only spawns after the first wave of Ghouls. Best solution for this Trial would be Holy Water and a Dark Crystal, with enemy health bars on. To turn on enemy health bars; pause the game, select extras, combat display, and then switch enemies' health bars to on. Be careful with Holy Water (at least on Paladin) as ghouls would be weak and stunned after a hit of it meaning it would easy for Laura to deal with. Best to use two holy waters per ghoul. After clearing out some more ghouls, some skeletons are going to spawn. When they come in that would be a good time to use a Dark Crystal. You might have to restart checkpoint (luckily the checkpoint starts when Laura spawns) every now and then and a bit of micro managing but it isn't that hard. After that encounter, you don't have to worry about this trial anymore!

Collectibles:
  • Frankenstein finger #1: After that first encounter of enemies you will be in the room with the giant vampire wargame board from chapter 6-3. At the end of the room on the left side, there will be some stairs. At the end of the stairs there will be the first Frankenstein finger.


Level 2: Abandoned Wing

Trial: Finish the level and cross the deadly blade wall without dying, keeping the mechanism at its maximum speed at all times.

Strategy:

This one's a ♥♥♥♥♥ to do. You have to put the blades on max speed or by the time you get pass the first blades, it'll fail. I can't really give too much advice other than be patient, keep trying over and over, and watch others try to do it. After the first half the second half of the wall is significantly easier. I'd avoid the Frankenstien finger while doing this section if you haven't gotten it already. No reason to make it harder on yourself. I also couldn't find a speed run skip, so you have to do it legit. if anyone found a skip or if you can give some advice the community likes, I will definitely edit this section and credit you!

Collectibles:
  • Frankenstein finger #2: After doing some climbing you will drop down to some platforms where you have run across water for the second time. On the second platform you run to you will see a ice platform. on the right there is a normal platform with the Finger on it
  • Frankenstein finger #3: After playing as Laura you will have created a path for Gabriel. As Gabriel you will have to go back to the room you fought in as Laura and break a statue covering some ice on your left. After using Shadow magic to tear down the ice, the finger is right there.
  • Frankenstein finger #4: When you are climbing the wall with the moving blades you will eventually reach a part where the path splits. Going left will continue with the mission while going down will get you the 4th finger. It is not advisable for you to get the finger and the trial if you haven't gotten it in your first playthrough.


Level 3: Founders' Quarters

Trial: Finish the level by filling the three pots of the Blood Orbs puzzle at the same time.

Strategy:

This one is easy, but since it's hard for me to explain how to answer I'll link a video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7hxPILnLKg

Collectibles:
  • Frankenstein finger #5: At the beginning of the level you will have to do a little ring puzzle in a run down room with a big clock. After doing that quick puzzle a gate will open up. Go through the gate, go down the stairs, and keep going left until you hit a wall with the finger waiting for you.
  • Frankenstein finger #6: When you make it to the shrine of the founders there will be three paths for you to take. Despite you having to go through all of them for the level the finger is in the left shrine (Cornell's Shrine). When you make it to the big puzzle room you can go to the right side and see a little door way of breakable objects. Break the objects and grab the last finger.

Master of the reliquary
Gather all the fingers of Frankenstein


What do you get after getting all 6 of Frankenstein fingers other than this achievement. Honor and Pride :D.

There will be no other collectibles in this game that are linked to achievements from here on out.


Chapter XIV (DLC)

Level 1: Dimensional Prison

Trial: Finish the level after defeating the Forgotten One after absorbing 100 Neutral Orbs during the fight against him.

Strategy: This is another endurance trial. The Forgotten One has two phases, his move sets don't change, but rather where he can be damaged will. The first phase starts with you attacking one of his legs. After damaging The Forgotten One his first phase ends with you performing a synchronized block against one of his flares. I would advise you to keep dodging the flares until you have obtained all or a lot of orbs. If you do so the boss will be on phase two which not only is more difficult, but also gives you a checkpoint (also saving your trial count). Phase two is similar to phase one, except for the fact that you have to jump and damage his rib cage, and that it ends slightly differently. Phase two ends by his rib cage hardening and him throwing his chain around with an intractable rock on it. DO NOT interact with the rock until you have completed the trial or the level ends and you have to start all over again.The level ends before you bring half of his health down ending the fight prematurely. Just dodge his moves and avoid breaking the focus meter.

Some general tips would be lowering the difficulty if you're having issues with the boss, and to build the focus meter faster do a whirlwind flap (Y/Triangle, A/X 2x), and/or a guillotine (Hold X/Square Mid-air). And don't go too close on him when you're in the air, when you need to get down and move to dodge an attack, there's a chance you will end up stomping on the Forgotten One over and over instead of the ground.


Level 2: The Underworld

Trial: Finish the level after destroying all 16 Flaming Skeleton Warriors.

Strategy: After the section with the lava and The Forgotten One, you will have to jump on a platform to progress. There are a wave of 4 Skeletons, and each time you clear them out another wave of 4 will spawn. Only 16 (4 waves) will spawn the entire level, so you don't have to find any more. They are no different from the normal Skeleton warriors, so you can use the same strategies you use for normal skeletons. And feel free to go all out on secondaries (INCLUDING the Dark Crystal which can clear our 1 wave) to clear them out! For most secondaries don't do much damage if any at all against The Forgotten One.

NOTE: For an easier time switch the difficulty to a lower one. You still have to fight The Forgotten One right after these waves of Skeletons!

Master achiever
Complete all the trials


That's it there's nothing left to do! Congrats for reading this far and making it to this achievement!
Excess achievements
Honestly this guide would've been an achievement guide, if it weren't for the fact how most of the achievements are gained by doing trials, playing the game, or if it wasn't self explanatory. Here is a list of somewhat vague achievements to help you out if needed.

Eleventy party
Get 110% completion rate in all levels


To get 100% of every level you need to do the following three things on each level:
  1. Beat the game on Knight Difficulty
  2. Obtain every item in the stage (gems and arks)
  3. Beat the Trial

To get that extra 10% you have to beat the game, then you have to beat the level on Paladin.


Veteran
Acquire 100000 experience points


Honestly an easy achievement, if you're achievement hunting (or playing the ng+) you'll naturally get this achievement.

NOTE: spent skills and artwork will still count towards the achievement.


Master philanthropist
Buy all the extra artwork


Another easy achievement, beat the game once, and go to the main menu. When you're there go to the "extras" and you can find and buy all the artwork. The cost of it is worth 2390 experience.


Epic victory
Finish all levels in Paladin difficulty


To unlock Paladin difficulty, just beat the game once. Then beat the levels in Paladin.
Closing Remarks and credits
So uhh yeah, that's all over here. Sorry once again for the walls of text and the lack of pictures. I just wanted to port, combine, improve, and add the dlc for both guides. I know most people can watch a walkthrough on youtube, but I honestly kind of find 10-20 minutes per video pretty time consuming and boring. I thought that having a quicker, less hand-holdy, text walkthrough that's more accessible to steam users (and potentially others) would be helpful for getting 100% achievements on this game. Ummm if you have any questions or have more strats and additions to this guide let me know! And please, can you guys correct my grammar in the main guide (I'm a masochist for that), I'd appreciate it!



Now I am going to add a Q&A relating to anything but this game or guide that no one cares about:

Q: Will I be making a similar guide for LOS 2 and LOS Mirror of Fate?
A: Maybe for LOS 2 when I get around to it. For Mirror of Fate? That's going to be a HARD maybe.

Q: You're kind of annoying and ugly
A: my honest answer.

Q: Hey, on you're other guide you mentioned something about a Catherine Classic achievement guide. What happened to it? Is it still in production?
A:
1. Why did you play this game and FATE: The Cursed King back to back.
2. Why do you care so much about Catherine Classic?
3. You recognized me. >w<

Q: How can I repay you for this guide?
A: Three things.
  • Spread this guide around to others who need it.
  • Help me update, upgrade, and refine this guide in the comments.
  • Steam points :P



Special thanks to:

ZOLANTON[psnprofiles.com]
  • A heavy part for making this guide possible due to his amazing collectible guide on the base game which can be found here[psnprofiles.com].

Glamador [gamefaqs.gamespot.com]
  • Another heavy part for making this guide possible due to his well detailed guide on trials in the base game which can be found here[gamefaqs.gamespot.com].

I can not thank these two enough for these well detailed guides on this game. Despite both only being for the base game and only focus on two separate things, I appreciate the hard work that has been put into both guides!



Thanks to:

TheWizard
  • Contributing advice and strats to the guide.
  • Found a huge oversight.

Slenderminion
  • Contributing advice and strats to the guide.
  • Rewrote a bit of the guide for clariity

Mental Returd ♿
  • For getting off his ass and making the guide

My cat, Wadsworth[imgur.com]
  • He exists
16 Comments
Firehex 13 Jun @ 2:36pm 
More correct path for Level 3, Life Gem #3: after picking right path from small island (after goblin encounter) you will cross small swamp zone, then drop from the ledge, but DON'T cross second swamp zone! Instead turn right and go into hidden cave zone.
Пожилой алкаш 13 Apr @ 8:11am 
I found a solution for XIII-3 trial in written form
1. Move column 3 up once
2. Move column 2 up once
3. Move row 2 to the right once
4. Move column 2 down twice
5. Move row 3 to the left once
6. Move column 2 up once
source [www.playstationtrophies.org]
Slenderminion 12 Dec, 2024 @ 2:39pm 
A lovely guide that significantly helped me with my achievement hunting. I just have a few notes regarding the last couple levels.

1) In the Necromancer's Abyss, instead of saying "before the second portal" perhaps "before the first mirror" would be better. I mistook portal to mean mirror, so I ran past the life gem and had to do the entire level all over again.

2) In the Satan boss fight, the seals he places on the ground to trap you can actually be incredibly helpful. Since using elements at all is risky, you don't have a good way of dealing with the colored reapers he can summon. By letting yourself get trapped, Satan despawns his minions. If he is using dark magic, this even gives you an opportunity to heal yourself by using a guilottine move on him, as he's locked into his slam animation for a moment. Same goes for when he uses the regular ground pound attack.
Menthol Reward  [author] 12 Oct, 2024 @ 12:28am 
1.
Thank you, but I honestly couldn't have done it without the original creators of the guides who did most of the heavy work! I wanted to make a written guide with all the info, without having like 3 different guides open or playing a 15-30 minute video for each level.

2.
You're strat seems very risky especially for someone (like me) who can't time blocks in this game properly! I just chucked the boss on easy and did the guides strat with very little problems! :P
Raziel_Sai 30 Sep, 2024 @ 8:16am 
1st. Loved this it was a better WRITTEN guide than I could find anywhere and arguably the best guide period for the gems and trial hints.

2nd. I just wanted to give my solution for the Satan trial. I would use block counter then during the slow motion before attacking I would switch to the proper energy, swing swing swing, then de power. Hardest part were the stupid wraiths. :P
Menthol Reward  [author] 26 Aug, 2024 @ 7:16pm 
We both are :D
ppe 22 Aug, 2024 @ 12:02pm 
i guess im a masoquist :brownchicken:
TheWizard 21 Dec, 2023 @ 12:42pm 
im terribly sorry, i completely forgot to share the link. Made vids a long ago, but was too lazy to upload them simultaneously, and after uploading forgot about this guide. So here it is https://youtu.be/nQ8aAZ5TTJI?si=fTh4JaWnP3O9Hk6d
Menthol Reward  [author] 20 Dec, 2023 @ 7:04pm 
I wish you luck man! I hope you make it!
Karsara 10 Nov, 2023 @ 4:24pm 
Gotta admit a fair number of these trials have been kicking my ass for quite some time most notably the time trials for two of the three colossi plus the clockwork tower time trial, plus not to mention the sawblade puzzle in the DLC, dumbass me decided to do it on my Paladin playthrough needless to say I got tired of all the game overs after awhile and decided to come back to it later when my sanity returns. XD

Now I just have to work up the will to actually do the trials one day. TY for making my life just a little easier.