The Tower of Ruins is a location in Castlevania and Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness. It is an area inside Dracula's Castle in the year of 1844.
Overview
The entire theme of Tower of Ruins is designed to look as if you were in an underground ruin of sorts.
As a stage, it has three parts to it that players must progress through in order to proceed to the next stage. The first part of the stage has many rooms which all look the same. A map is placed in a few of those rooms to prevent others from getting lost. Aside from the map part through there traps set in those rooms such as spikes that pop out of the floor (16 Dpts), undead enemies, and hollow floors that will give out on the player if they don’t keep to the walls. One area requires the floor to give out in order for the player to proceed, and they have to drop down it – a direction that can confuse many newcomers to the game if they can’t keep their wits in check. To get out of this ruin maze the player will have to step on a total of 3 floor panels, all which are heavily guarded by some pretty nasty baddies.
The second part of the stage is a wide room covered in darkness. The place seems to be falling apart. Players have to watch their step so that they don’t get hit by falling rubble (16 Dpts). The floor can also collapse under their weight, and if that happens the player will have to backtrack a certain amount of distance depending on where the collapse took place. Like the first part of the stage, more panels have to be stepped on in order to proceed.
The last part of the stage involves a puzzle with 12 constellations. In the center of the room contains 2 pillars. One of those pillars leads to the correct direction, the other will drop you into an abyss (and it’s game over). To figure out which pillar is the correct one the player must visibly examine the ruin pictures around that room before attempting to jump the pillars. There are 6 pillars total that must be jumped to in order to be able to proceed.
Enemy Data
| Enemy Data: Tower of Ruins | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Name - Game Description | Statistics | Items | Location |
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| ' | HP: 15 | Drop: x2, usually 100 Gold | Forest, Villa, Castle Center, Tower of Ruins | |
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| ' | HP: 40 | Drop: Usually Gold, Red Jewel, or PowerUp; Frequently Knife | Castle Center (inert), Art Tower (inert), Tower of Ruins, Duel Tower | |
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| ' | HP: 60 | Drop: Usually Gold, Red Jewel, or PowerUp; Frequently Knife | Villa (inert), Castle Center (inert), Art Tower (always drops Sun Card or Moon Card), Tower of Ruins | |
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| ' | HP: 50 | Drop: Usually Red Jewel, Gold, or PowerUp; Frequently Attack Item | Castle Center, Tower of Ruins | |
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| ' | HP: 5 | Forest, Castle Center, Tower of Ruins, Tower of Science, Clock Tower | ||
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| ' | HP: 10 (day), 12 (night) | Drop: usually Red Jewel, Gold, or PowerUp; frequently Knife | Foggy Lake, Forest, Castle Wall, Villa, Outer Wall, Underground Waterway, Tower of Ruins | |
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| ' | HP: 1 | Drop: Usually Gold, Red Jewel, or PowerUp | Castle Center (Carrie Only), Tower of Ruins | |
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| ' | HP: 1 | Drop: Usually Red Jewel, Gold, or PowerUp; always drops | Castle Center (Carrie Only), Tower of Ruins | |
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| ' | HP: 1 | Drop: Usually PowerUp, Red Jewel, or Gold; Frequently Attack Item | Foggy Lake, Forest, Villa, Tunnel | |
Items
Findings differ for each difficulty, but this is the chart for if you were playing Normal difficulty. It also assumes that you didn't pick up any items dropped from monsters.
| Gold, Jewels & Power Ups | Items | Item Attack | Quest Items |
| Gold ×1,300 | Roast Chicken ×2 | Cross ×2 | |
| Red Jewel ×60 | Purifying ×2 | Holy Water ×4 | |
| Power Up ×3 | Sun Card | ||
| Moon Card |
- White Jewels ×5
- Contracts ×1
Secrets
- In the Maze Part: From the main room, the first room that has turning points, go left, then left. In that room is a statue you can examine for 300 Gold.
- In the Maze Part: From the main room, the first room that has turning points, go straight, right. Straight, straight, then left. In that room is a statue you can examine for 300 Gold. (requires you to have at least 2 of 3 floor panels pressed before you can reach that room.)
- In the Maze Part: From the main room, the first room that has turning points, go straight, then left. In that room is a statue you can examine for a Roast Chicken.
Trivia
- In the opening demo of Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness you see Reinhardt Schneider exploring the Tower of Ruins, but he can’t actually come here during gameplay.
- The first two floor panels cannot be stepped on until the enemy Knight has been defeated. Stepping on it before then will do nothing. The door also locks behind you to prevent escape, but will unlock upon Knight’s defeat.
- If you stand on a constellations pillar for long then a penalty is awarded: The pillar will begin sinking down, and if you still don’t jump off then it’ll drag you into the abyss. (Death)
- Tower of Ruins is one of two stages in the entire Nintendo 64 series where only one of the six playable characters can visit.
