Astarte

Astarte is an Egyptian Pharaohess. She has the ability to charm male characters to fight on her side.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Astarte appears in Sandy Grave as the game's fourth boss. Her attacks are the following:


 * Temptation: She will shoot heart arrows at you, either horizontally or vertically, depending on the pointer of the hearts. If touched as Jonathan, this move will take control of him, forcing you to switch to Charlotte and fight both Astarte and Jonathan for the rest of the battle. Unless you are incredibly lucky, you will die. Although you can switch to Charlotte from the beginning and avoid the move altogether (since Charlotte is immune), it is not recommended since Astarte is resistant to almost all of her spells. The correct solution would be attacking as Jonathan and when she yells the attack, switch to Charlotte in order to nullify it.


 * Scarf Blade: She will lunge at you and use her scarf to stab you. This can be easily dodged by moving away or jumping behind her.


 * Tornado Rod: She will use her rod to spawn a tornado. You can either double-jump it or double-jump and try to get behind her. You might be able to duck under her rod's tip, but that's a little risky.


 * Delta Spark: She will retreat and jump backwards, then shoot electric triangles at the trail spots where she jumped on. Do not approach her at this point until the road is clear; she may walk forward so you don't have to.

Astarte does not take actions so quickly after every move (she often walks around), so take advantage of her slower speed. Attacking from mid-close distance is ideal for the fight.

A cheap way to beat her is spamming 1,000 Blades. During the fight just use Charlotte and spam it like crazy. The fight will end very quickly.

Easter Egg
If the player pauses the game during differet moments during her battle and uses the Talk option he will get extra dialogue between Charlotte and  Jonathan.

As soon the player enters the boss room:

Jonathan: ... So beautiful...

Charlotte:  Jonathan! What are you looking at? Don't lose your head!

When Jonathan is a fected by temptaion:

Jonathan: Yes... My Master...

Charlotte: Snap out of it,  Jonathan! Don't you recognize me?!

After the battle is over:

Jonathan: Sorry about that.

Charlotte: Would you get a grip? You've got a gorgeous girl right here next to you!

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair
Astarte is the boss of Chapter 7, the DLC stage Beauty, Desire, Situation Dire!, in Castlevania: Harmony of Despair. Astarte fights almost the exact way she did in Portrait of Ruin, except she inflicts a lot more damage (some moves are near-instant death) and has a lot more HP than her counterpart. Her "Temptation" move affects all male characters for a short duration and can only be dodged by a timed double jump above her head, or sliding under them from behind her once she launches them. In addition, Soma can use the Medusa Head soul to hover directly above her to dodge them. The attack may also be avoided by ducking in the corners of the room, but not always. Unlike Portrain of Ruin, the Temptation will now physically damage female characters if it connects, though they will not become enslaved like the males.