Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse: How to Get Durendal Early and Beat Medusa

Keep all four constellation-orb bounces airborne when returning to the Curiosity Cabinet for Durendal: landing on a ledge or the ground resets the sequence. Medusa’s route has a separate trap at the Fountain of the Lost, where you need to enter the bubbling water rather than follow the obvious grapple path.

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How to get Durendal early

Defeat Carmilla first. Her reward, The Occultist Arcana, unlocks Aerial Rush, Rose’s air dash. That movement ability is required to complete the platforming route leading to Durendal, so leave the Curiosity Cabinet’s inaccessible sections until you have it.

1. Return to the Curiosity Cabinet. Head into the planetarium section and locate the constellation-orb platforming sequence.
2. Bounce on exactly four constellation orbs without landing. Touching the ground or a ledge resets the lights. If that happens, restart the sequence rather than trying to continue from the last orb.
3. Continue through the grapple sections. Use Aerial Rush to cross the gaps and the Arcane Whip to traverse the grapple points along the route toward Lisa’s Laboratory.
4. Open the chest in Lisa’s Laboratory. Collect Durendal, then equip it before continuing your exploration.

The constellation sequence is the main failure point. A ledge can look like a convenient place to pause, but landing there wipes your progress through the orbs. Complete the four-bounce section before treating the surrounding platforms as safe stopping points.

Durendal offers higher attack power than the earlier weapon options, making this a worthwhile return trip once Aerial Rush is available. The practical requirement is Carmilla’s movement unlock; reaching the cabinet before that does not give you the tools to finish the route.

How to reach Medusa and The Prophetess tarot

Complete the Warrior tarot quest before heading for Medusa. Its Holy Light ability is required to access her region. Holy Light also unlocks parrying, which works with any weapon.

Medusa’s approach runs through Holy Innocents’ Cemetery and the Fountain of the Lost. Follow the route below from the Prison Tower:

1. Travel west from the Prison Tower into Holy Innocents’ Cemetery. Follow the cemetery’s southern route, investigating the clue locations and the first Mirror of Life along the way.
2. Reach the Hollow Tree. Break the wall beneath it to expose the hidden passage. Continuing only along the visible cemetery paths misses this connection.
3. Follow the Roman Aqueduct toward the Fountain of the Lost. At the fountain, jump into the bubbling water in the center. The conspicuous grapple route does not reveal the submerged passage you need.
4. Descend through the aqueduct and move south. Take the large staircase descending west to continue toward Medusa.
5. Unlock the nearby save room before entering the boss room. This gives you a return point beyond the concealed cemetery and fountain passages.

At a Mirror of Life, crouch in front of the mirror to enter the Hall of Mirrors. From there, you can warp between discovered mirrors in that zone. Use this connection when returning to the cemetery rather than repeating the full approach from the Prison Tower.

How to beat Medusa

Fight Medusa by changing elevation and respecting her attack recoveries. A lance gives you useful reach without requiring you to stay pressed against her, while ranged spells let you deal damage between retreats. Avoid prolonged attacks directly in front of her: her three-hit melee combo and tail slams punish that position.

Let the close-range combo finish

When Medusa begins her three-strike combo, move out of her immediate reach and wait for the sequence to end before attacking during recovery. Rose’s slide has no invincibility frames, so do not use it to pass through an incoming hit. Create actual distance or change platforms instead.

Drop or grapple away when she raises an arm

A raised arm is your cue to disengage. Grapple away or drop to the lower platform rather than finishing another attack. Dropping to a lower platform also avoids her petrifying gaze.

If the gaze turns Rose to stone, mash buttons to break free. Once released, move out of Medusa’s frontal attack space before resuming your offense.

Use the falling rock during the screen-shaking attack

When the arena starts shaking, move to the upper platform on the side opposite Medusa. A large rock falls from the ceiling during this sequence. Once it lands, get behind it to block the incoming attack.

Stay in cover until the attack finishes, then leave the rock and punish Medusa’s recovery. Treat this as a movement-and-cover sequence: continuing to attack while the arena shakes leaves you poorly positioned for the dangerous part.

Clear Medusa heads without chasing them

Medusa heads die in one hit and respawn periodically. Destroy those that interfere with your platform changes or approach, then return your attention to the boss. They grant no XP, so there is no benefit to prolonging the fight to kill more of them.

The repeatable pattern is straightforward: bait the close-range combo, attack during recovery, retreat on the raised-arm tell, and move to the opposite upper platform when the screen shakes. The rock provides cover for that larger attack; the lower platform provides an escape from her ordinary gaze.

Medusa rewards: Petrifying Gaze and the Prophetess’s Key

Defeating Medusa seals her in The Prophetess tarot card and grants Petrifying Gaze and the Prophetess’s Key. Defeating and absorbing the boss also fully replenishes Rose’s health and magic.

Petrifying Gaze turns non-boss enemies in front of Rose to stone, temporarily taking them out of the fight. One associated Prophetess challenge requires killing enemies through fall damage after petrifying them in midair. Look for airborne targets when working on that objective rather than petrifying enemies already standing on solid ground.

The Prophetess’s Works of Mercy award purification gems for upgrading that specific spell. Completing all three objectives also unlocks additional dialogue from the card’s character.

The Prophetess’s Key is one of three keys required for the sealed Catacombs gate. If the gate remains closed after Medusa, continue pursuing the other two keys; this reward completes only one part of that progression requirement.