Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Guide: Second Acolyte Walkthrough - Beat the Riders of the Storm

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How to Find The Second Acolyte

After the boss battle, head across the plaza and use Dracula's newly acquired Demonic Wings ability to fly through the hole and over to the other side of the wall. Head to the far left side of the area to find a Pain Box that contains a Life Gem, then access the hatch on the far side.

Head down the narrow corridor, then through the doorway on the right when you reach the first room. Continue down the next corridor, then use Mist Power in the left corner to reach the room above. Use a Bat Swarm to distract one of the guards, then when the second guard offers his assistance, run across to the other side of the room. About halfway across use Mist Power to ensure the guards do not spot Dracula.

Use Mist Power to drop through the grate on the far left. Access the Memorial in the room, then use the darkness behind the point where you fell to change into a rat. Head through the small tunnel filled with experience points, then change back into Dracula when you reach the next room. In the corner is an area where you can use a Dungeon Key to obtain 2,000 experience points.

Collect the experience, then head back to the first room and use Mist Power to ascend back up to the room above. Head to the right corner, hidden behind the divider, but as close to the end of the room where the guard stands in front of the gate. Timing is key here as Mist Power doesn't last very long, but you need to avoid being spotted. If you use Mist Power too late, one of the guards will spot you. Use it too early and it will run out before you reach the gate. If you run too soon or too late, one of the guards will spot you.

Wait until just before the closest guard is about to move away from you, then use a Bat Swarm to distract the guard standing in front of the gate ahead. Run to the stairs, then immediately switch to Mist Power and float through the guard and the gate behind him.

The next area features one sets of lasers running left to right, and one set of lasers running from the back of the room toward Dracula's starting position. The lasers running toward Dracula have a pattern of two double stack lasers, followed by one single stack lasers, while all of the lasers running left to right are single stack. Dracula can use Demonic Wings to fly over all of the lasers with proper timing. However, if he grazes a laser, he loses health and returns to the starting position.

In addition, if you stand on one of the tiles for too long, it has the same effect as grazing a laser. When Dracula stands on a tile, a circle begins to form. When the circle is complete, it triggers the alarm and sends Dracula back to the starting position with a loss of health. The objective is to reach a tile at the back of the room on the left side. Once there, use Mist Power to float to the floor above.

Wait until the left to right laser passes, then move toward the back of the room. Jump, then use Demonic Wings to avoid the lasers as you make your way across the room to the objective tile. In order to avoid the double stack lasers, jump a little early, then use Demonic Wings to lift Dracula over the laser.

When you reach the floor above, replenish Dracula's magic and health, then head into the elevator on the right. Exit the elevator and walk straight ahead to initiate a cut-scene. Ignore Trevor for now, because following him leads Dracula out to a platform with three large demons. However, nothing can be done with the demons at the moment. During the cut-scene interlude, walk down the hallway where Trevor was standing. The demon, Nergal Meslamstea, follows Dracula, but you must stay ahead of him to survive until the next cut-scene begins, which is followed by a boss battle against the Riders of the Storm.

Boss Battle: Riders of the Storm

All three Riders of the Storm share a single health bar, and die in a specific order, so it does not matter which one you attack. While all three are alive, focus on whichever one is closest to you, and try to stay away from the other two while keeping the camera positioned so you can see all of them. They all have moderately long-range attacks, however you have plenty of time to evade them with a jump or dodge to either side.

Watch out for the tornado attack the one with the lance uses. The normal version of it is easily evaded by continuously dodging to the left or right until it dissipates. The projectile version, which leaves the Rider stationary, spinning his lance, is avoided by dodging to the left or right, but toward the Rider, then moving around behind him.

When the first Rider dies, it leaves the one holding the lance and the one holding the giant log. Focus on the lancer at this point, but be careful of his lightning-based attacks. At close range, he uses a horizontal sweeping attack that can be evaded by jumping. However, it's fairly quick and can be difficult to see coming. From maximum Shadow Whip range, you can avoid this attack, but must watch out for his vertical attacks, which are much easier to see coming and can be evaded by dodging left or right.

If he charges his lightning, dodge toward him to avoid the lightning tornado that follows. This can be difficult to avoid if you don't dodge toward the Rider, then continuously dodge to the left or right until it's gone. Just dodging left or right without the initial forward dodge to get closer to the Rider makes it far more difficult to avoid.

During this phase of the battle, keep an eye on the log-wielding Rider. If he slams the log into the ground, be ready to jump to avoid the shockwave attack that follows. If you are stuck fighting him, the upgraded Guillotine works extremely well. This Rider blocks attacks for a short period, however with the upgraded Guillotine, even if he blocks the aerial attack, hold the attack button to charge the follow-up attack. By the time the attack is fully charged (inflicting maximum damage), the Rider is no longer blocking.

Once enough damage has been inflicted, the lance-wielding Rider dies, leaving only the log-wielding Rider. At close-range he uses horizontal sweeping attacks that are unblockable. However, at maximum Shadow Whip range, he only uses one of two attacks. If he swings the log around, prepare to dodge to the left or right to avoid the following linear lightning attack. Due to the height of the attack, it is difficult to jump over it, so dodging is your best option. If he simply slams the log into the ground, jump over the shockwave that follows.

Deal enough damage and he surrounds himself with a tornado and Dracula is no longer able to attack. Walk toward the Rider and dodge to the left or right if you see him flinch. This indicates a linear lightning attack is coming. Get close enough to the Rider and a cut-scene begins. When Nergal Meslamstea proclaims he will not fail, complete the quick time event that follows to finish the boss battle.

This article was compiled with help from Prima Games

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