Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

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What does randomization do to this game?

Almost all items that you would normally find on pedestals throughout the game have had their locations changed. In addition to Magic Items (barring the Dash Boots which you always start with) and stat max ups, the DSS Cards have been added to the item pool as well; you will now find these as randomized items rather than by farming them via enemy drops.

Can I use any of the alternate modes?

Yes. All alternate modes (Magician, Fighter, Shooter, and Thief Mode) are all unlocked and usable from the start by registering the name password shown on the Data Select screen for the mode of your choice.

If you intend to play Magician Mode, putting all of your cards in "Start Inventory from Pool" is recommended due to the fact that it naturally starts with all cards. In Fighter Mode, unlike in the regular game, you will be able to receive and use DSS Cards like in all other modes.

What is the goal of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance when randomized?

The goal will send when every goal condition specified in the player's YAML is detected as cleared by the client. Required goal objectives can be mixed and matched. The available choices are:

• "Medium Ending Required": Watch the "medium" ending. This entails breaking the hand statue in the Castle Top Floor A attic and then defeating Maxim at the Castle A center.
• "Worst Ending Required": Watch the "worst" ending. This entails finding all six Vlad relics in the multiworld and then defeating Maxim at the Castle B center with JB and MK's bracelets not equipped.
• "Best Ending Required": Watch the "best" ending. The requirements for this are similar to that of the "worst" ending, with the addition of needing to also find JB and MK's bracelets in the multiworld and equip both before the cutscene after beating Maxim plays. Dracula Wraith will then appear and defeating him will grant you this ending.
• "Furniture Amount Required": Collect and place the amount of furniture specified by this option in the empty room at the very bottom of Castle Treasury A/B.

What bosses are considered what difficulty by the Spellbound Boss Logic option?

The following bosses are all considered "Medium" and expect 1 spell book with the Normal choice or 2 spell books with the Easy choice to get past:

• Devil
• Giant Merman
• Max Slimer
• Peeping Big
• Legion (saint)
• Shadow

The following bosses are all considered "Hard" and expect 2 spell books with the Normal choice or 3 spell books with the Easy choice to get past:

• Minotaur Lv2
• Pazuzu
• Legion (corpse)
• Talos
• Death
• Cyclops

All other bosses that are not listed are considered "Easy" and never expect anything.

What items and locations get shuffled?

All static items (use items, equipment, whip attachments, spell books, relics, furniture, and max ups) are all randomized into the multiworld item pool, meaning they can be in your world or other players', and the check locations are all the spots in-game wherein you would normally find said items.

What does another world's item look like in Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance?

Items for other Harmony of Dissonance players will show up in your game as that item, though you won't receive it yourself upon picking it up. Items for non-Harmony of Dissonance players will show up as one of four Archipelago Items depending on how it's classified:

• "Filler": Just the six spheres, nothing extra.
• "Useful": Blue plus sign in the top-right corner.
• "Progression": Orange up arrow in the top-right corner.
• "Progression" and "Useful": Orange up arrow in the top-right corner, blue plus sign in the bottom-right corner. It will also be floating as if it were a relic.
• "Trap": Reports from the local residents of the remote Austrian village of [REDACTED], Styria claim that they disguise themselves as Progression but with the important difference of [DATA EXPUNGED]. Verification of these claims are currently pending...

Upon sending an item, a textbox announcing what kind of item it was will appear on-screen.

When the player receives an item, what happens?

A textbox announcing the item being received will pop up on-screen, and it will be given.

What are the item name groups?

When you attempt to hint for items in Archipelago you can use either the name for the specific item, or the name of a group of items. Hinting for a group will choose a random item from the group that you do not currently have and hint for it. The groups you can use for Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance are as follows:

• "Furniture": Any piece of furniture.
• "Vlad": Any Vlad relic.

What are the location name groups?

In Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, every location is part of a location group under that location's area name. So if you want to exclude all of, say, Luminous Cavern A from having progression, you can do so by just excluding "Luminous Cavern A" as a whole.

Will the Castlevania Advance Collection version work? What about the Castlevania Double Pack version?

The Castlevania Advance Collection ROM is tested and known to work. However, there are some major caveats when playing with the Advance Collection ROM; most notably the fact that the audio does not function when played in an emulator outside the collection, which is currently a requirement to connect to a multiworld. This happens because all audio code was stripped from the ROM, and all sound is instead played by the collection through external means. As such, it is most recommended to obtain the ROM by dumping it from an original cartridge of the game that you legally own. However, the Advance Collection is an option if you cannot do that and don't mind the lack of sound.

The Castlevania Double Pack version is not supported and will not work.

Regardless of which released ROM you intend to try playing with, the US version of the game is required.