Castlevania: Rondo of Blood may have introduced the biggest changes regarding to sub-weaponry in the entire series. If a player is already carrying a sub-weapon and picks up another one, the first one will drop behind them, allowing one to retrieve it if desired.
As in Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse, this game allows playing as different characters: Richter Belmont or Maria Renard, each with their own unique sub-weaponry set. It is worth mentioning that Maria uses four living creatures as sub-weapons, inspired by the four mythological Chinese symbols: Cardinal, Cat, Turtle and Dragon.
In addition, the Key (which had previously only appeared in Vampire Killer) also appears as a sub-weapon this time. Even though it cannot be thrown and its reach is greatly reduced, it can still be used as a melee weapon. Its main use, however, is to allow the player to unlock certain doors found in some levels, thus gaining access to hidden areas which sometimes lead to rescuing one of the game's kidnapped villagers.
The most notable addition to sub-weaponry behavior in this game is the ability to perform Item Crashes with them, allowing players to unleash devastating attacks which generally damage all enemies onscreen at the cost of a large amount of Hearts. These kinds of attacks also became a staple in future games, appearing in one way or another throughout the series. While Richter is usually granted with a special attack related to the kind of sub-weapon he is holding, Maria actually calls forth creatures in order to attack foes, introducing the concept of creature summoning, which also became a staple in future titles, and also the concept of familiars to some extent.
Rondo of Blood also dismissed the necessity of finding the Double and Triple Shot power-up icons, and instead replaced the method of obtaining the ability of throwing more than one sub-weapon at a time in regard to the amount of Hearts the player is currently carrying.
Item Data[]
Sub-weapons[]
| Item Data: Sub-Weapons | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Type - Users Description |
Attributes / Consume | Statistics / Sell | Found | Notes | |||
| Richter (edit) | ||||||||
  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Weak but quick, it flies in a straight path when thrown. | Consume: 1 Heart (10 by using his Item Crash) |
Effect: Triple Dagger (spread) | ||||||
  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Hurls a powerful weapon through the air in an arc. | Consume: 1 Heart (10 by using his Item Crash) |
Effect: Arc Throw Special: Double Shot at 20 Hearts, Triple at 50 | ||||||
  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Flies forward a set distance, then returns like a boomerang. | Consume: 1 Heart (15 by using his Item Crash) |
Special: Double Shot at 20 Hearts, Triple at 50 | ||||||
  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Temporarily slows enemies' movements. Some enemies are immune. | Consume: 5 Hearts (30 by using his Item Crash) |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Though weak, it spreads a broad swath of fire along the ground. | Consume: 1 Hearts (20 by using his Item Crash) |
Special: Double Shot at 20 Hearts, Triple at 50 | ||||||
  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Flies out from the user in a spiral, defeating enemies. | Consume: 3 Hearts (10 by using his Item Crash) |
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| Maria (edit) | ||||||||
  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Charges at the enemy. Effective against enemies on the ground. | Consume: 3 Hearts (20 by using her Item Crash) |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Covers the player in a turtle's shell, leaving them slow but invincible. | Consume: 3 Hearts (10 by using her Item Crash) |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Sends a powerful dragon flying forward to attack enemies. | Consume: 5 Hearts (50 by using her Item Crash) |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Two light-hitting red birds fly upwards at an angle to attack foes. | Consume: 1 Hearts (20 by using her Item Crash) |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Release a chick when dropped that flies away through the enemy. | Consume: 3 Hearts (5 by using her Item Crash) |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Though relatively weak, Maria can use her singing voice as a weapon. | Consume: 3 Hearts (10 by using her Item Crash) |
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| Special (edit) | ||||||||
  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Opens normally sealed doors, but disappears after one use. Maria can also use keys by commanding her doves to carry it. | Consume: none |
Find: 2. Entrance, 7. Clocktower |
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| Related Items | ||||||||
  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Equivalent to 1 heart. Collect these for use with sub-weapon attacks. | Heart +1 |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Equivalent to 5 hearts. Collect these for use with sub-weapon attacks. | Heart +5 |
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  (RoB/DXC) |
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| Increases the number of times you can use the special items. | Heart +50 |
Find: 3'.Caves |
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Gallery[]
Artworks[]
Animations[]
Normal[]
- Richter (Dracula X Chronicles)
- Maria (Dracula X Chronicles)
Item Crash[]
- Richter (Dracula X Chronicles)
- Maria (Dracula X Chronicles)
External links[]
- Rondo of Blood All Subweapons and Item Crashes - YouTube video showing each of Richter's sub-weapons (normal and item crash) and then Maria's.