Arcana are the tarot cards Rose carries, and each one holds a single spell. She inherits her late mother’s cards from Trevor at the start, but only Cursed lets her cast magic right away. The rest are earned as the story moves forward, and each new card first shows up as a clue before you can claim it.
How the Arcana system works
Casting spells uses mana (MP), replenished by landing hits on enemies. Before you can claim a card, its clue shows up in the Tarot menu; examples include “NEW CLUE ABOUT THE FALLEN” and “NEW CLUE ABOUT THE JUDGE”. You can find clues from spirits, from hooded and seer statues that speak a short rhyme, or in notes and letters on desks. Under “BROWSE CLUES”, the Tarot menu pairs each clue with the area where you found it.
Once a boss falls, it leaves a golden orb and the prompt “DURING THE ABSORPTION PHASE, HOLD DOWN R1 TO ABSORB THE POWER OF THE ARCANA.” The card then appears with its spell and a “HOLD TO EQUIP” option, which is how you know it worked. In the strip along the top of the Arcanas screen, a card you have not found yet sits as a dim, empty diamond, and claiming it fills that slot.
- To equip a card, open EQUIPMENT, go to ARCANAS, then choose the card in the upper strip. You can have just one card equipped at once; its spell and MP cost appear alongside it.
- Finishing a card’s Works of Mercy earns a Blessing. The Arcanas screen notes “Complete Works of Mercy to unlock Blessing(s) of the Arcana”, and a Blessing is spent on that card’s upgrade steps.
- The strip shows one diamond per card and no running total, so these sixteen are not the whole set.
The 16 Arcana, their spells, and where to get them
| Card | Spell (MP) | Unlocked by | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cursed | Cursed Flame (30 MP) | Starting card from Trevor | — |
| The Fallen | Holy Cross (50 MP) | Defeat The Fallen | Flooded chamber, Paris sewers |
| The Prophetess | Petrifying Gaze (75 MP) | Defeat Medusa | Serpents’ Lair |
| The Warrior | Infernal Pyre (80 MP) | Defeat Joan of Arc | Stairs to the Tower Roof |
| The Shadow | Soul Harvest | Defeat Death | Notre-Dame (Transept) |
| The Judge | Chains of Justice (40 MP) | Saint Louis, story reward | Palace of Justice |
| The Zealot | Chronomantic Dive (50 MP) | Defeat Isaac | Heart of the Clock, Clock Tower |
| The Builder | Fist of Talos (50 MP) | Defeat Talos | Clock Tower |
| The Occultist | Blood Spikes (50 MP) | Defeat Carmilla | Observation Tower, Library |
| The Artist | Masterpiece (60 MP) | Brauner, after you break his sculpture | Brauner’s Atelier, Main Hall |
| The Miser | Wheel of Chaos | Defeat Mammon | Mammon’s Lair |
| The Whisperer | Freezing Path (35 MP) | Ferryman, return the Obol | Ferryman’s Wharf |
| The Temptress | Life Drain | Defeat the Succubus | Hall of Mirrors |
| The Sage | Mirror Walk (80 MP) | Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine | Mausoleum of the Kings |
| The Self | Absolution | Defeat “???” | Notre-Dame inner hall |
| The Brittle King | Stained-Glass Shield | The Brittle King | Notre-Dame Chapel |
Cards you take from a boss
Follow the clues in the Tarot menu; cards come from defeating a boss, finishing a character’s quest, or completing a trial. A few of these bosses also drop extra items. The Fallen leaves The Fallen’s Key, Medusa leaves The Prophetess’s Key, Joan of Arc leaves The Warrior’s Key, and Isaac leaves his spear Chauve-Souris along with The Zealot card.
The Prophetess is located far inside the Serpents’ Lair, which you reach by going through the Ancient Sewers from Holy Innocents’ Cemetery. Clues for her include “ROMAN BATHS” and “GUARDIAN’S GAZE”. The Shadow’s initial clue, “NEW CLUE ABOUT THE SHADOW”, is found in the Catacombs of Paris, in the Charnel Galleries. Its Soul Harvest spell sends out a slow scythe attack; enemies killed by it scatter four sickles.
Defeat Isaac at the Clock Tower’s Heart of the Clock to receive the Zealot card. His earlier encounter on the bridge leading to Dracula’s Castle awards no card.
The Artist works a little differently. In Brauner’s Atelier in the Main Hall, break the chained stone sculpture in the room. Brauner appears and, after a short scene, gives up the card. The Miser sits in Mammon’s Lair, reached through the Circle of Greed in the Catacombs of Paris, and that fight matters for another card below.
Cards tied to a character or quest
The Judge (Chains of Justice)
This one is a story reward in the Palace of Justice rather than a normal boss fight. The clue sits at the scales by the Tree of Justice, “BALANCING THE SCALES OF JUSTICE” (“Neither tyranny nor force may move the scales of justice, Only that which is written on the heart and the spirit of the law.”). At the large scale, Medusa asks Saint Louis to judge Leon Belmont, Rose argues for Leon’s intent, and Saint Louis restores justice and offers his power. The card follows, and its spell chains enemies in place for 4 seconds at a cost of 40 MP.
The Whisperer (Freezing Path)
The Sage (Mirror Walk)
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine first appears sealed in a chained mirror in the Mirror Rooms. Her note “ELEANOR FLEES TO THE CEMETERY” later lies in the Heart of the Maze chamber, and she waits in the Mausoleum of the Kings in Holy Innocents’ Cemetery, where she names Rose her champion and gives the card. Other clues include “A SKETCH FROM TALOS” and “KNEELING IS THE WAY”. Mirror Walk drops a mirror that lasts 15 seconds; recasting teleports Rose to it and returns 50% of the health she lost since casting.
Cards from the Notre-Dame trials
The Self (Absolution)
Late in the story, after the Four Virtues trials in the Gallery of the Four Virtues in Notre-Dame, each of which ends at a bell, interact with the glowing central altar in the cathedral. It takes Rose to an inner hall where a boss labelled “???”, a shadow of Rose, waits. Beat it, absorb the orb, and the card appears along with a new character skin. The clue is the tablet “THE PROPHECY” (“Only when the Bells of Virtue ring and humanity overcomes its Self will cursed darkness lift and restore the blessed light.”).
The Brittle King (Stained-Glass Shield)
In the Notre-Dame Chapel, interact with the sword on the altar to log the “FEAT OF STRENGTH” clue. Later, keep pressing INTERACT at the sword until a cutscene starts; The Brittle King says “Strength is not enough to draw Excalibur. One must also be strong of heart and mind.” The Brittle King then turns hostile, and the fight that follows drops the card as a golden orb along with the legendary weapon Excalibur. Its spell wraps Rose in a magical shield that blocks an attack outright and throws glass shards at nearby enemies.
