Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Walkthrough for The Judge (Scales Test)

The Judge is Arcana number 14 in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, and it works differently from most of Rose’s tarot cards. You don’t beat it in a regular boss fight. Saint Louis sits behind a set of scales in the Palace of Justice and tests how much health and mana Rose has. If she falls short, the scales drain her, and nothing happens. Once she has enough, the card is hers.

Quick answer: Raise Rose to four full Brave Hearts and four full Wise Hearts, then stand on the left scale in the Palace of Justice and interact with it until a cutscene plays.

Image credit: KONAMI via YouTube/@Trophy Guides

The Judge requirements: health, mana, and traversal

The scales check one thing, which is how many heart upgrades Rose has. Health comes from Brave Heart Fragments, and mana comes from Wise Heart Fragments. Every four fragments of the same type complete one heart.

Upgrade	Raises	Hearts needed	Fragments needed
Brave Heart	Max health	4	16
Wise Heart	Max mana	4	16

That works out to 16 Brave Heart and 16 Wise Heart Fragments. Fragments are spread across Paris and Dracula’s Castle. Holy Innocents’ Cemetery and the Catacombs of Paris each hold three of each type, and Paris Streets, the Library, the Hall of Mirrors and the Clock Tower each hold three Brave Heart Fragments. If you clear out the map as you go, you will usually reach the target without a dedicated hunt.

You also need two traversal abilities to reach the Palace of Justice:

Arcane Whip, granted in the Abandoned Sewers district of Paris Streets. It lets Rose hook onto glowing anchors and onto enemies.
Holy Light, granted in the Stairs to the Tower Roof district after the Joan fight. Holding it clears Chaos Shard barriers.

In practice, The Judge opens up once you have beaten The Fallen, Medusa and Joan, before you head into Dracula’s Castle. The heart upgrades are usually the last thing to come together.

Where to find The Judge in Paris Streets

Travel to the Court of Justice in Paris Streets. The quickest routes are the Mirror of Life in the Burned District or the area’s Ferryman’s Wharf.

Dark map screen of Paris Streets Burned District with purple explored rooms, a golden cathedral silhouette, player marker and marker counter. — The Map screen shows the Burned District of Paris Streets, with the objective “Unlock the gate to the Catacombs” and 3/50 remaining markers.

Climb upward through the Court of Justice. Use the Arcane Whip on the anchors, and use Holy Light on any Chaos Shards blocking the path.

Follow the stone staircases into the Palace of Justice and continue through its rooms. The Judge is a tree-like figure standing behind a large set of scales.

On your first visit, interacting with the scales presents a puzzle about balancing them with the inscriptions for heart and spirit. The clue indicates that the game is checking your health and mana.

How to pass The Judge’s scales test

When Rose interacts with the left scale, she pulls energy from the giant heart on the opposite pan. That drains her health and mana. Without the full four Brave Hearts and four Wise Hearts, she can’t hold out long enough to move the quest forward.

Confirm that Rose has four completed Brave Hearts and four completed Wise Hearts. Save and refill at a Mirror of Life before heading in.

Jump onto the left scale in front of The Judge. Stand on the pan itself, not beside it.

Interact with the scale and keep interacting while Rose’s health and mana drain. Keep going until a cutscene starts.

Controls settings menu listing keyboard and mouse bindings for movement, combat, spells and interaction in an ornate gold-trimmed frame. — The Controls settings tab shows the Keyboard and Mouse bindings, including Move, Jump, Dodge, Attack, Cast Spell, Arcane Whip, Holy Light, Interact, Heal, Map, and Equipment.

The trial also sends waves of skeleton warriors and winged enemies at Rose. Going in with at least 160 health and 160 mana gives you enough room to survive the fight.

Chains of Justice: what you get for completing The Judge

You know the test worked when the cutscene plays, and Rose absorbs The Judge into her tarot deck. The Chains of Justice spell then unlocks and can be equipped from the pause menu. Completing the quest also unlocks the Valmanway, a Legendary sword that delays its strikes to land doubled attacks.

Chains of Justice	Value
Arcana card	The Judge (Saint Louis)
Attack power	45
Mana cost	40
Root duration	4 seconds

When cast, the spell binds every enemy around Rose in place for four seconds. The first hit on each chained enemy deals extra damage. Some bosses ignore it completely. Joan, for example, is immune to both the root and the stun.

The Judge Works of Mercy and upgrades

Like every Arcana, The Judge has Works of Mercy that earn points for upgrading its spell:

Arcanas menu for Cursed Flame with a fire spell card, an upgrade description, and a Works of Mercy task list on the right. — The Arcanas screen shows Cursed Flame, a 30 MP fireball spell, with its upgrade and the Works of Mercy task of hitting 5/20 times with the spell.

Chain 4 enemies at once.
Kill 25 chained enemies.
Upgrade your maximum health and maximum mana 5 times apiece.

Spending those points unlocks three gifts. With the first, chained enemies can’t act at all. With the second, killing a chained target passes the chains to a nearby enemy. With the third, chaining an enemy below 20% of its maximum health kills it outright. The fifth health and mana upgrade is just one more heart of each type past what the scales required, so that Work of Mercy usually finishes on its own as you keep exploring. You’ll want the card regardless, since Chains of Justice counts toward one of the virtues needed for the True ending.