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The final boss of Dead Cells' Return to Castlevania DLC, Dracula, remains the final challenge to beat in this crossover content once players traverse Dracula's Castle for a second time and reach the Master's Keep biome. Unfortunately, players cannot get to the Vampire King until deep within their run, which makes this boss fight incredibly difficult if too many resources were spent trying to reach Dracula beforehand. Nevertheless, Alucard's resurrected father has several tricks up their sleeve, including two dangerous phases that call back to the many iterations of this iconic nemesis of the Belmont family.
The way to the Master's Keep lies at the end of Dracula's Castle after players defeat Death and return to this biome with the help of Alucard. Would-be vampire slayers must first beat the Medusa mini-boss to gain the Petrified Key item to progress to Dracula's boss arena. Since Alucard does not take players through the portal to Dracula's Castle until they find Dead Cells' Clock Tower biome, players will likely have to take care of their health and resources, as Dracula himself attacks them periodically throughout his domain in addition to the numerous enemies found within normally.
Stay Patient Throughout Phase 1
The initial part of Dracula's boss fight sees the Dark Lord toss down his wine as a gauntlet that starts the fight, teleporting to the player in a swarm of bats. This sets the tone of the battle as Dracula casts magic from their cape to strike at the player from across the screen. Specializing in large meteor projectiles, Dracula prevents players from getting close by consistently teleporting away, akin to the Death boss fight in Dead Cells when they can release offensive spells that cover large parts of the arena.
When Dracula's health begins to drop below half in this phase, the boss occasionally follows up their teleport with physical strikes, trying to throw off a player's timing for significant damage. In this form, turrets or traps work incredibly well, as Dracula has to stay in one place to cast their magic. Moving quickly and hitting in between attacks gives players to best advantage to whittle away at his health while carefully avoiding the bigger spells that unlock later when Dracula falls to their last bit of health, another clever reference to Dead Cells' Symphony of the Night influences.
Dracula's Phase 1 Move List
Attack |
Description |
|---|---|
Blood Bats |
Dracula teleports to the middle of the stage, releasing a swarm of red bats from his cape that travel in a wave pattern toward the player, inflicting damage on . |
Horizontal Meteors (Small) |
A small set of five meteors are flung from Dracula's cape three times in a row, which players must dodge to avoid damage. |
Horizontal Meteors (Large) |
Several large meteors are unleashed by Dracula either near his feet, chest, or head in quick succession, dealing damage on impact. |
Meteor Spread |
Dracula releases more small meteors, this time in a small arc surrounding the front of his body, striking players in the air close to him. |
Stomp/Claw Strike |
After Dracula has less than half of their health, he will strike the area in front of the player, akin to the Medusa boss fight in Dead Cells with a Stomp when coming out of a teleport. Sometimes, Dracula teleports at a diagonal angle above the player to attack at an angle from above with their vampiric claws. |
Flame Pillars |
Parts of the entire arena glow brightly for a brief time before exploding into columns of flame that damage players. |
Fight with Every Ounce of Strength in Phase 2
Although players have a brief respite to collect gold and analyze some loot dropped by Dracula's first form, the castle collapses soon after the Dark Lord's supposed defeat, revealing a truly monstrous form for the second phase. Additionally, the arena size is significantly reduced as players now only have three small platforms to jump between against the giant, now bestial boss that harkens to other enemies seen, such as the Mama Tick in other Dead Cells DLC. In this form, Dracula actively tries to destroy platforms, altering the landscape with huge attacks that deal devastating damage if players get hit.
The best way to approach this phase involves staying close to Dracula at all times, as many of his attacks originate from his body to try and hit players from afar. Getting in close and dealing as much damage as possible lets players whittle away at Dracula's health, but they should be cautious against the powerful attacks this form has. Many of the strikes conjured here are upgraded versions of those seen during the first phase, giving players a small opportunity to understand Dracula's moves going into battle if they wield a strong weapon blueprint like those seen in Dead Cells' Barrels O' Fun update.
Dracula's Phase 2 Move List
Attack |
Description |
|---|---|
Flame Pillars |
Much like in phase 1, Dracula summons pillars of flame below the player's position, not covering the arena but now tracking movement before erupting. |
Large Horizontal Meteors |
Dracula flies above the player, shooting large meteors from their maw in a horizontal pattern toward the player. |
Blood Bat Swarm |
A massive swarm of Blood Bats covers nearly the whole arena, traveling in a huge wave that deals enormous damage to the player on exposed . |
Sweeping Blood Laser |
Dracula fires a laser from his mouth, sweeping horizontally for players to dodge through with proper timing. This attack is typically followed up by a Focused Blood Laser. |
Focused Blood Laser |
An entire platform, usually the one players are standing on, is targeted by Dracula with a massive laser focused from their mouth within this tense and engaging adventure in Dead Cells. |
Castle Debris |
The Vampire King digs their claw into one of the two castle ramparts on either side of the player, sending large rocks in an arc toward two platforms. Players can avoid this move by going to the platform directly below Dracula when the boss makes this attack. |
Destroy Platform |
When Dracula reaches lower health, they will fly beyond the player's reach before striking from below, taking out one of the platforms. The boss then slams down from above, dealing damage on impact if players aren't prepared. |
Colossal Meteor Storm |
Players will see Dracula fly away before reappearing in the distance, summoning a colossal meteor that takes up nearly the entire screen. Preceded by multiple large meteors before it strikes, players need to jump to the platform on the right to avoid this attack, then jump up smaller platforms that spawn in throughout this move's duration. |
Summon Minions |
Dracula summons several enemies seen in the Dracula's Castle biome to fight at his side while still unleashing other attacks. |
Rewards for Defeating Dracula
Beating Dracula gives players the blueprint for Vampire Killer, the legendary whip weapon seen in the hands of many a Belmont in the Castlevania franchise. In addition to the gold and loot from phase 1 of the fight, players get the "See you in 100 years" achievement as the castle collapses and conclude the DLC. While other outfits and the special Richter mode are still available for players to try in the Return to Castlevania DLC of Dead Cells, this boss represents the final point of this incredible crossover.
