Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Bosses: Combat Strategies

Prepare Your Equipment and Learn the Counters

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses punish careless attacks, but several dangerous moves have counters that can change the fight. Learning those counters helps you preserve potions, survive phase changes, and earn Arcana that expand Rose’s abilities. This guide to Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses covers The Fallen, Joan, Medusa, Isaac, Carmilla, and the early encounter with Death.

Boss spoilers follow, including attack patterns, rewards, and an encounter you’re expected to lose.

Before entering an arena, visit a saving mirror. These restore your health and replenish your potion supply, giving you a fresh attempt without carrying damage from exploration into the fight.

Rose can use weapons across seven categories, alongside Relics with offensive and defensive effects. Adjust your equipment around the opening you need to exploit: quick strikes behind Joan, ranged Arcana against Medusa, or carefully timed counters against Isaac.

Keep these preparations in mind:

• Refill before committing. Use a mirror to recover health and potions.
• Practice short attack sequences. Leave enough time to respond when the boss starts another move.
• Check your Arcana. An attack’s reach and placement matter as much as its damage.
• Adjust the Gameplay settings if needed. Damage sliders let you change the challenge, while “Allow respawn in front of boss doors” reduces repeat travel.

For Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses, equipment supports your execution, but recognizing attacks remains essential. Start each unfamiliar fight by watching the wind-up, then identify where Rose can stand safely afterward.

Official page: Castlevania: Belmont's Curse (konami.com)

The Fallen: Break the Cross and Respect the Whip

The Fallen is Rose’s first major boss challenge, encountered in the sewers. Its size makes close combat intimidating, but the opening lesson is straightforward: you can destroy its thrown cross with a weapon strike.

Image: Steam / KONAMI

Wait for the projectile to enter your weapon’s reach before swinging. Attacking too early can leave Rose committed to an animation while the cross continues toward her. Destroying it removes the returning projectile from the exchange, giving you less to track.

Attack	Tell or behavior	Counter
Holy Cross	A cross flies outward and returns	Strike it within weapon range, or jump over both passes
Three-hit melee combo	Alternating arm swipes end in a two-arm slam	Dash through the boss and attack from behind
Anchor swing	The Fallen swings across the arena overhead	Crouch or slide beneath the sweep; avoid the center
Landing shock wave	Both arms rise before an airborne slam	Jump over the shock wave
Arcane Whip	The boss unfurls a nearly arena-length whip	Jump or move quickly to the opposite side

Handle the opening phase

Begin at mid-range so you can read the cross throw without standing directly inside the claw attacks. Once the cross is gone, watch for the melee sequence.

Do not mistake the delays between individual swings for the end of the combo. Move behind The Fallen, land a few quick hits, and disengage before another attack begins.

Among the early Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses, The Fallen makes the danger of overcommitting especially clear. A successful dodge gives you an opening, but it does not guarantee time for an uninterrupted combo.

Respond to the anchor phase

After roughly one-third of its health is depleted, The Fallen begins swinging from the overhead Anchor. Stay low during the horizontal movement and prepare for the landing.

Watch the raised arms rather than attacking immediately when the swing ends. The ground slam produces a shock wave, so save your jump for that follow-up.

Victory grants Holy Cross, Arcane Whip, and The Fallen’s Key. Holy Cross gives Rose a returning projectile, while Arcane Whip enables grappling onto enemies and Anchors. The key is one of three needed to open the sealed Catacombs door.

Joan: Attack From Behind and Escape the Flames

Joan combines deliberate sword attacks with fire patterns that demand different responses. Her forward lunges invite you to dash behind her, while her arena attacks require careful positioning or Anchor movement.

Image: Steam / KONAMI

Use the Cestus for quick punishment during those rear openings. Keep each attack sequence controlled, because Joan can also thrust her sword backward.

Attack	Tell or behavior	Counter
Forward sword attack	Joan lunges or drags her blade along the ground	Dash through and strike from behind
Backward sword thrust	Joan attacks the space behind her	Stop attacking and evade
Falling fireballs	Floating fireballs descend when she raises her arm	Stand between their landing paths
Midfight fire waves	Joan leaps with her sword held in both hands	Grapple to an Anchor and swing toward the center

Use the gaps between fireballs

When the row of fireballs appears overhead, check the spaces beneath them before committing to another attack. Joan’s raised arm and shouted warning signal their descent.

Move between the falling flames. This opening can also give you time to heal or throw a cross, provided Rose is already standing clear of the landing paths.

Avoid chasing Joan across the arena while watching only her sword. The overhead fire creates a separate threat, and reaching her is less useful than arriving with room to dodge.

Save your movement for the midpoint attack

At approximately half health, Joan jumps and brings her sword down, sending large fire waves up both sides of the arena. Use one of the two Anchors to swing inward.

An Anchor becomes temporarily disabled by black flames after you grab it. Check which one remains usable before planning another swing.

The movement lesson carries across Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses: use the arena’s grappling points when an attack demands them, and watch what changes after you do.

Defeating Joan gives Rose another key and places Joan on the Warrior card. Her Infernal Pyre provides a ground-based flame attack, adding another spell to your combat options.

Medusa and Isaac: Exploit Reach and Recovery

Medusa and Isaac reward different kinds of awareness. Against Medusa, track platforms and cover. Against Isaac, track the spear even after it leaves his hand.

Image: Steam / KONAMI

Medusa: use Holy Cross and the boulders

Equip Holy Cross for this battle. It can damage Medusa’s large body, while Joan’s Infernal Pyre cannot reach her because she occupies a different platform from Rose.

Open with quick weapon strikes and cross throws. A Lance provides a fast melee option. When Medusa moves to the opposite side, swing across and resume attacking from the appropriate platform.

Threat	What to watch	Response
Tail attacks	Rose occupies a bottom platform	Stay on upper platforms during normal exchanges
Petrifying rays	Medusa pulls backward before firing	Hide behind the fallen boulder on the opposite lower side
Medusa Heads	Additional enemies enter the arena	Track them while maintaining your position
Upper-platform barrage	Snake heads repeatedly strike a platform	Swing to the opposite platform and throw crosses

The petrifying rays make cover essential. If Medusa is on the left, use the boulder on the right lower platform; if she is on the right, use the left-side boulder.

Leave the upper platforms when the ray attack calls for it, then return to your normal fighting position afterward. Staying below for the entire battle exposes Rose to the tail.

Medusa demonstrates why choosing Arcana for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses requires attention to where an attack lands. Bring Holy Cross here rather than relying on a ground eruption that cannot connect.

Isaac: keep moving through the spear throws

The first Isaac encounter follows the Notre-Dame Bridge platforming stretch. Preserve potions during that approach and collect the Meat hidden directly above the door leading to Isaac to recover health before entering.

Dash behind his grounded attacks, but respect the spear’s long reach. Stop attacking when he takes to the air and throws it.

The spear can spin or home toward Rose’s previous position. It spins three times before returning to Isaac, targeting her during the sequence. Keep moving through all three rather than stopping after the initial pass.

If you can time Holy Light parries, use them against Isaac’s clearly telegraphed attacks. Otherwise, concentrate on evasion and punish his recovery with short bursts.

Carmilla and Death: Watch the Curse, Recognize the Encounter

Carmilla adds a second survival condition beyond Rose’s health bar. Death’s early Catacombs appearance presents a different situation entirely: Rose is expected to lose.

Carmilla: break the shields before attacking her

Carmilla opens with an unavoidable blood curse that places 8 above Rose. Each hit from a blood attack lowers that number, and reaching 0 triggers a lethal grab.

Treat every blood pattern as a priority. Keeping your health high does not remove the danger of exhausting the curse counter.

Mechanic	What happens	Your response
Rotating skull shields	Carmilla remains immune to damage	Break both shields before attacking her
Traveling blood waves	Waves cross the arena in both directions	Jump over the pinkish crest
Midfight blood pillars	Pillars appear in patterned positions	Move into the visible safe spaces
Late pillar-and-wave sequence	Large pillar rows accompany pairs of waves	Keep space to jump each incoming wave
Final central enclosure	Pillars confine Rose near the middle	Evade the waves while finishing Carmilla

During the opening, focus your attacks on the two skull shields. Once they break, turn that opening into damage against Carmilla herself.

At half health, she begins creating blood pillars. Read their placement before attacking. Near the end, pillar rows and blood waves combine, making it especially dangerous to commit to a long attack sequence.

Carmilla changes how you approach Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses because healing alone cannot solve the encounter. Watch the number above Rose and prioritize avoiding blood attacks.

Early Death: continue after the defeat

The early Death encounter takes place in the Catacombs. Getting close can provoke a skeletal-finger attack that removes nearly all of Rose’s health, followed by a teleport and devastating scythe swing.

You are expected to lose this encounter. The defeat leads into the following cutscene, so continue the story afterward.

Across Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses, defeated enemies become Arcana sealed within Rose’s tarot cards, granting spells and special actions. Revisit your loadout as those options grow: breaking The Fallen’s cross, swinging past Joan’s flames, and choosing Holy Cross for Medusa each solve a different problem.

FAQ

Who is the first boss in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse?

The Fallen is the first major boss, encountered in the sewers. Strike its thrown cross to destroy it, evade its melee combo, and watch for Anchor swings and landing shock waves.

What rewards do you get for defeating The Fallen?

You receive Holy Cross, Arcane Whip, and The Fallen’s Key. Arcane Whip enables grappling onto enemies and Anchors, while the key contributes to opening the sealed Catacombs door.

Are you supposed to beat Death in the early Catacombs encounter?

You are expected to lose the early encounter. Death’s attacks overwhelm Rose, and the resulting defeat leads into a story cutscene.

Can you reduce the difficulty of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse bosses?

Yes. Open the Gameplay tab to adjust damage sliders. You can also enable “Allow respawn in front of boss doors” to reduce travel between attempts.