Every boss Rose Belmont absorbs in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse becomes a Tarot Arcana, and every Arcana gives her a spell. You can swap your equipped spell from the pause menu at any time, so the choice can change from room to room. Even so, some Arcanas earn a permanent slot and others only come out for the Works of Mercy that upgrade them. The ranking below covers all 15 Arcanas in Rose’s deck, plus the Cursed Flame spell she starts with.
Quick answer: Equip The Builder’s Fist of Talos as soon as you have it, move to The Sage or The Self once unlocked, and skip The Temptress and The Brittle King outside their Works of Mercy.
Each Arcana is ranked on four things. How much damage its spell delivers per mana spent, whether it keeps Rose alive, how far its Gifts improve it, and how often it beats the alternatives in normal fights. Skills such as Double Jump do not raise a card’s tier, because they work whether the card’s spell is equipped or not. The ranking reflects game build b25975867 as of October 2026.
| Tier | Arcanas (spell) |
|---|---|
| S | The Self (Absolution), The Builder (Fist of Talos), The Sage (Mirror Walk) |
| A | The Shadow (Soul Harvest), The Judge (Chains of Justice), The Occultist (Blood Spikes), The Fallen (Holy Cross), The Miser (Wheel of Chaos) |
| B | The Zealot (Chronomantic Dive), The Artist (Masterpiece), The Whisperer (Freezing Path), The Warrior (Infernal Pyre) |
| C | The Prophetess (Petrifying Gaze), The Brittle King (Stained-Glass Shield), The Temptress (Life Drain), Cursed Flame |
S-tier Arcanas: Damage and healing in one cast
| Arcana | Spell | Mana | Attack power |
|---|---|---|---|
 The Self | Absolution | 50 | 20 |
 The Builder | Fist of Talos | 50 | 40 |
 The Sage | Mirror Walk | — | — |
The Self (Absolution)
The Self is the last card most players add to the deck. It replaces Rose’s starting Cursed Arcana after she beats her own shade in Notre-Dame’s Room of the Four Virtues. Absolution is a held cast that drains the curse out of every enemy nearby. It hits all of them hard and heals Rose for each one caught. Its Gifts add bonus damage when Rose casts at full health and ignite a lone target. The Gift that earns the top tier restores her to full health whenever a single cast kills four or more enemies. It is also the spell you need at the end of the Dracula fight to reach the True Ending.
The Builder (Fist of Talos)
The Builder earns its place long before The Self shows up. Talos’ fist crushes anything directly underneath it, deals less damage farther out, and sends a small quake across a wide area that can shake enemies off their platforms. Gifts make the quake stronger and add spikes that keep hurting enemies after the fist lands. A third Gift adds 75 percent damage against enemies under control effects. The card also teaches Smash, and Fist of Talos is the spell that pulls the sword from the stone to unlock The Brittle King.
The Sage (Mirror Walk)
The Sage belongs to Eleanor, one of the two Arcanas that come from a character Rose meets rather than a boss fight. Mirror Walk places a mirror, and casting again teleports Rose back to it while restoring health. That gives you a way out of a bad position and a heal in the same button press. Its Works of Mercy are built around dodging attacks by teleporting and healing 1,000 health with the spell, so you will be using it the way it plays best anyway.
A-tier Arcanas: Reliable picks with one weakness each
| Arcana | Spell | Mana | Attack power |
|---|---|---|---|
 The Shadow | Soul Harvest | 60 | — |
 The Judge | Chains of Justice | 40 | 45 |
 The Occultist | Blood Spikes | 50 | 35 |
 The Fallen | Holy Cross | 50 | — |
 The Miser | Wheel of Chaos | 45 | 15 |
The Shadow (Soul Harvest)
The Shadow is Death’s card, and Soul Harvest swings a slow, heavy scythe. Every enemy it kills releases four sickles that fly around the room. In a packed arena, one kill can start a chain that clears the floor. The slow windup is what keeps it out of S-tier, since you need an opening to land it. Holding the card is also required for the Normal Ending, and it teaches Double Jump.
The Judge (Chains of Justice)
The Judge is easy to underrate on its base effect. Chains of Justice pins enemies around Rose in place for 4 seconds and boosts the first hit each one takes. The Gifts change it into something much stronger. Chained enemies can no longer act at all, and killing a chained target passes the chains to a nearby enemy. Chaining anything below 20 percent of its maximum health kills it instantly. For a cheap cast, that is a lot of crowd control and cleanup. To unlock it, Rose needs five maximum health and five maximum mana upgrades, which is also one of its Works of Mercy.
The Occultist (Blood Spikes)
The Occultist is Carmilla, whose Blood Spikes are best suited to drawn-out battles. Their initial damage is slight, but they inflict bleeding and invariably seek the platform’s farthest enemy. The spell’s Gifts make it worthwhile against bosses: bleeding foes move more slowly and inflict 25 percent less damage on Rose. Applying bleed again to an already-bleeding target causes immediate damage, and each enemy killed by bleed restores 2 percent of Rose’s maximum health.
The Fallen (Holy Cross)
The Fallen is Leon’s card and the first Arcana that most players obtain. Holy Cross behaves like a boomerang: it strikes foes as it travels outward, then returns once it reaches its range limit or hits a wall. This lets Rose deal damage from a safe distance, and an upgrade adds another cross. The card also teaches Arcane Whip.
The Miser (Wheel of Chaos)
The Miser is Mammon, and Wheel of Chaos shines when you keep casting it. It travels toward the nearest enemy, wherever that foe is, before hovering in place. During the hover, another cast uses less mana. One Gift boosts the damage of every successive cast while the chain continues. Another allows Rose to spend health instead of mana when she’s out of mana, increasing that cast’s damage by 50 percent. A third Gift gives each recast a 1 in 8 chance to trigger a random effect. Its weak base damage becomes far less important once these Gifts are active.
B-tier Arcanas: Situational spells
| Arcana | Spell | Mana | Attack power |
|---|---|---|---|
 The Zealot | Chronomantic Dive | 50 | 55 |
 The Artist | Masterpiece | 60 | — |
 The Whisperer | Freezing Path | 35 | 30 |
 The Warrior | Infernal Pyre | 80 | — |
The Zealot (Chronomantic Dive)
The Zealot is Isaac’s card. Chronomantic Dive sends Rose into the air before bringing her crashing down; it hits enemies along the way and leaves a cross-shaped patch of green fire that briefly slows time. The direct hit deals heavy damage, but Rose is committed to a set jump arc. Its two Gifts only extend the slow effect and expand the blast if she dives from high above. This spell suits open rooms, but feels clumsy in most other spaces.
The Artist (Masterpiece)
The Artist belongs to Brauner. Masterpiece summons a gargoyle that fires fireballs, and casting again sends it crashing into the ground in an explosion. It deals decent damage over time, but the higher-tier spells do more for similar mana. The card’s lasting value is Aerial Rush, the air dash it teaches.
The Whisperer (Freezing Path)
The Whisperer comes from the Ferryman, not a boss fight. Freezing Path makes Rose intangible and faster for 3 seconds and freezes any enemy she passes through. It is the cheapest spell here and a dependable escape. Its Gifts add a frost burst with a 5-meter radius when the effect ends, plus a stacking 10 percent speed boost for each enemy crossed, up to five times. It still does almost nothing to kill enemies on its own, which keeps it out of A-tier.
The Warrior (Infernal Pyre)
The Warrior belongs to Joan. Infernal Pyre ignites the area beneath Rose, burning foes and lifting them into the air. No other spell in this tier costs as much, and its damage rarely makes the expense worthwhile. The card’s Holy Light parry skill is a much better choice.
C-tier Arcanas: Outclassed by other cards
| Arcana | Spell | Mana | Attack power |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Prophetess |  Petrifying Gaze | 75 | 25 |
| The Brittle King |  Stained-Glass Shield | 100 | 30 |
| The Temptress |  Life Drain | — | — |
| Cursed (starting) |  Cursed Flame | 30 | — |
The Prophetess (Petrifying Gaze)
The Prophetess is Medusa, and Petrifying Gaze turns foes ahead of Rose to stone. Enemies nearer to her stay petrified longer and require more hits to shatter. One Gift refunds half the spell’s cost if Rose kills a petrified foe. Still, Chains of Justice can restrain more enemies across a broader area at a far lower cost, so the Gaze has little to offer outside its Works of Mercy.
The Brittle King (Stained-Glass Shield)
The Brittle King is King Arthur. Stained-Glass Shield wraps Rose in a barrier that cancels an attack completely and fires glass shards at nearby enemies. Its Gifts let the shield absorb one more hit, launch a shard whenever Rose takes damage, and halve damage taken mid-attack. Those are good defensive effects. The price is 100 mana, though, and The Sage and The Whisperer both keep Rose safe for far less.
The Temptress (Life Drain)
The Temptress is the Succubus, found deep in the Hall of Mirrors. Life Drain is a held beam that attaches to the closest enemy and heals Rose with every tick of damage. Holding the beam roots Rose in place against a single target. Absolution, Mirror Walk and Blood Spikes all heal without that restriction, which makes this the weakest healing option in the deck.
Cursed Flame (starting spell)
Cursed Flame is the spell Rose has when she arrives in the Paris Streets. It throws a single fireball that damages whatever it touches, with small reach and modest damage. Replace it as soon as you beat The Fallen. The Cursed Arcana does not stay this weak forever, because it is the card that later becomes The Self.
Arcana skills and Gifts that change the ranking
Five Arcanas teach a traversal or combat skill that stays active no matter which spell you have equipped. That is why a low-ranked card can still be essential to your progress.
- Arcane Whip from The Fallen
- Holy Light from The Warrior, a parry that blocks an attack timed just before it hits
- Smash from The Builder, which breaks destructible blocks while Rose is in the air
- Aerial Rush from The Artist, a forward dash in midair
- Double Jump from The Shadow
Gifts move cards between tiers more than anything else. Every Arcana has two or three Works of Mercy, and each one you finish earns a Blessing that unlocks one of its Gifts. The Judge and The Miser are mid-tier on their base effects and climb to A-tier once their Gifts are unlocked. The C-tier cards stay where they are even with every Gift. They are worth equipping long enough to clear their Works of Mercy, which also completes each Arcana’s story scene, and then they can go back in the deck.
