Cestus Weapon Location in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse (Sewer Reservoir)

The Cestus is the first weapon in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse that you can miss without noticing. It is a pair of studded leather fist wraps tucked into a secret room above the Sewer Reservoir in Paris Streets. The game gives you no prompt pointing to it, but you can grab it within minutes of beating the first boss.

Quick answer: Beat The Fallen, collect the Arcane Whip, return to the Sewer Reservoir, and whip straight up above the big background staircase to reveal a hidden anchor leading to the Cestus chest.

Where the Cestus chest is

The chest sits in the Sewer Reservoir sub-area of Paris Streets. This is the flooded green sewer room right beside the early Mirror of Life checkpoint. The chest room is in the upper part of the reservoir and stays hidden until you open a route to it with the whip. Open the map while you are inside the reservoir to confirm you are in the right place before you start climbing.

Map coordinates & exit — The Sewer Reservoir on the Paris Streets map. The Cestus chest room is part of this sub-area. Shown at 02:40 in XeroGX Gaming’s video. Image: KONAMI

Before anything else, get the Arcane Whip: Rose gains this grappling ability in the Abandoned Sewers district of Paris Streets after defeating The Fallen. From the boss arena, take the exit on the right to find it. Rose can use the whip to latch onto glowing anchors or enemies, then swing or pull herself onto higher ledges. The chest cannot be reached without the whip.

How to get the Cestus with the hidden anchor

This is the shortest route, and the one most players will use right after The Fallen.

After picking up the Arcane Whip, head back west through the Path of the Rat. Keep going until you re-enter the Sewer Reservoir.

Use the visible anchors to climb to the upper levels of the reservoir. Stop on the grate platform in the middle of the large staircase drawn in the background.

Fire the Arcane Whip straight up from that spot. A hidden anchor appears, Rose latches on, and she pulls herself up into a concealed room above the stairs.

Jump up to the large ornate chest and interact with it to claim the Cestus.

Preview of reaching the Cestus chest — The ornate chest in the sewer chamber. Opening it is what triggers the ambush. Shown at 00:09 in XeroGX Gaming’s video. Image: KONAMI

Alternate route to the Cestus from the Burned District

If you have moved further into Paris Streets, you can also reach the same chest from below by going through the Prison Tower. This route starts at the Burned District Mirror of Life.

Reach the Mirror of Life in the Burned District on foot or via fast travel. From this starting location, set out west.

Starting point at Mirror of Life — The Burned District map with the player marker at the starting checkpoint. Shown at 00:23 in XeroGX Gaming’s video. Image: KONAMI

Head left across the burning streets and bridges. Stay on the ground level the whole way and ignore the rooftops and upper ledges.

Heading left through Burned District — Keep to the street level in the Burned District rather than climbing. Shown at 00:48 in XeroGX Gaming’s video. Image: KONAMI

Head left and enter the Prison Tower. Descend to its lower tier instead of taking the high bridge.

Clear the enemies on the lower walkway. Then break the wooden barrier next to the stone statue.

Prison Tower lower descent — The breakable wooden barrier on the Prison Tower's lower walkway. Shown at 01:25 in XeroGX Gaming’s video. Image: KONAMI

Fall through the opening and enter the Sewer Reservoir, where you touch down on the wooden walkways above the green water.

Entering Sewer Reservoir — The area banner confirms you have entered the Sewer Reservoir. Shown at 01:31 in XeroGX Gaming’s video. Image: KONAMI

Move left past the enemy and hop across the broken platforms. Whip onto the glowing yellow rings overhead to swing over the water to the far platform with the chest.

To leave after the fight, take the left exit and swing back out along the rings through the upper sewer path.

Confirming the pickup and surviving the ambush

You will know it worked right away. An item card pops up reading CESTUS, ORDINARY, ATK 25, with Uppercut listed and a HOLD TO EQUIP prompt. On your first visit, the game also shows a congratulations message for uncovering your first secret. After that, the weapon appears in the Armoury menu under your weapon slots.

Item card for the Burnt Sword of Fierbois showing a charred greatsword, 25 attack, and its description text. — The Burnt Sword of Fierbois item card lists 25 ATK, a charge attack and Blade Dive, with a prompt to hold to equip.

Taking the Cestus seals the room and starts an ambush. Expect several waves made up of:

Undead zombie walkers that rush you in groups
Ranged enemies that fire projectiles from a distance
A large, heavily armored brute carrying a lantern that throws fireballs

Hold the button to equip the Cestus as soon as the card appears. The ambush works as a free test of its moveset, and the zombies go down quickly to it.

Cestus stats in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse

The Cestus is a tier 1 weapon in the Fists family. Its special effect is simple. Each hit you land raises its weapon damage, so it rewards staying in a fight and keeping your combo going. Rose starts to glow as the bonus builds. The glow fades after a few seconds without attacking.

Stat	Cestus
Rarity	Ordinary
Tier	1
Weapon type	Fists
ATK	25
Attack power	12
Stagger power	30
Mana per hit	2
Combo finisher	Uppercut
Found in	Paris Streets

Uppercut is the combo finisher. If you attack right after latching onto an enemy with the Arcane Whip, Rose throws a hard-hitting uppercut. That pairing makes the whip pull a natural opener for the fists.

Settings menu on the Controls tab showing controller button bindings and sensitivity sliders for actions like Jump, Attack and Heal. — The Controls settings screen lists the Controller bindings, including Move, Jump, Dodge, Attack, Cast Spell, Arcane Whip and Holy Light.

Cestus vs. the other tier 1 Ordinary weapons

The Cestus shares tier 1 and Ordinary rarity with the Longsword Rose starts with and the Whip found later in the Catacombs of Paris. All three have the same ATK and stagger power. The differences are per-hit attack power, mana gain, and the finisher.

Weapon	Attack power	Mana per hit	Combo finisher
Cestus	12	2	Uppercut
Longsword	20	3	Dash through
Whip	24	3	Whip Drag

Cestus has the lowest base attack power and mana gain of the three. It makes up for that by building damage with every connected hit, so long, uninterrupted strings are what it is built for. Longsword instead rewards attacking right after a backdash or slide. Whip deals extra damage at the far tip of its swing. If you like staying up close and punching nonstop, the Cestus fits that style, and it is free for anyone willing to whip one suspicious staircase in the sewers.