Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse runs on a handful of status effects that you inflict on enemies and that bosses inflict on Rose. Most of the ones you deal out come from spells tied to Arcana cards, with the Vampire Killer whip and a relic covering the rest. Each effect has a fixed duration, a set way it damages, and a specific way it ends.
Quick answer: When Rose is petrified, press any button over and over to break out. Each press removes 0.4 seconds, and taking any damage frees her at once.
Bleed
The game describes it plainly: “Bleeding enemies are dealt moderate damage over a long period”. Bleed lasts 8 seconds and hits every half second, and the ticks get stronger the longer it runs. It does not stack.
It comes from the Blood Spikes spell, found on The Occultist card from Carmilla.
Burn
Burn delivers a rapid, powerful effect: “Burning enemies are dealt heavy damage over a short period”. Its 3 seconds are divided into five damage ticks per second, with the damage increasing as the effect continues, as Bleed does.
Enemies can be set alight in two ways: Joan of Arc’s The Warrior card has the Infernal Pyre spell, and the Vampire Killer whip applies Burn with its hits. An enemy killed by the whip’s burning damage explodes.
Freeze
Freeze immobilizes a target: “Frozen enemies cannot act. The first hit breaks the freeze and deals extra damage.” The effect lasts 5 seconds; the first strike ends it and deals about twice the usual damage.
Use the Freezing Path spell to freeze enemies, or equip the Family’s Grace relic, which absorbs one hit and freezes nearby enemies on a 60-second cooldown. No boss can be frozen.
Petrify
Petrify reads: “Petrified enemies cannot act. Two hit—or a shattering fall—break the effect and deals extra damage. ” It lasts 4 seconds and can stack up to 3 times. A petrified enemy cannot act and drops out of the air if it was airborne. Two hits, or a fall, shatter the stone with a burst of damage.
The Petrifying Gaze spell is found on Medusa’s The Prophetess card. Bosses are immune to petrify.
Chains of Justice and stun
Chains of Justice roots an enemy in place and stuns it for 4 seconds. A plain stun holds an enemy for 2.5 seconds instead. Heavy and charged hits build stagger faster than light whip hits, so lean on them when you want to force a stun.
Status effects on Rose
Several of these effects also hit Rose. Burn, bleed and plague take a share of her maximum health rather than a flat amount, so keep a potion ready.
Burn and bleed
Burn drains 1% of Rose’s maximum health five times per second for 3 seconds, for a total of 15%. Bleed takes 1% every half-second over 8 seconds, totaling 16%. Neither effect can kill her by itself. Dracula sets her alight with fire pillars, fireballs and meteors.
Petrify
Petrify on Rose lasts 3 seconds. Mash any button to shorten it, with each press cutting 0.4 seconds off the timer, and taking any damage frees her immediately. Medusa’s eye beam and the ??? shadow boss’s ray are the attacks that petrify her.
Turned to gold
Mammon’s cloud transforms Rose into gold for 4 seconds. When the effect ends, she has 1 second of protection from being turned to gold again.
Stun
Rose is stunned for 3 seconds by falling chandeliers, Notre-Dame’s lasers and Dracula’s grab.
Plague
Plague runs for 7 seconds. Each hit Rose takes during that time deals an additional 15% of Rose’s maximum health in damage, while another application before it ends causes a damage burst. Avoid taking any hits until the effect expires.
Which bosses are immune
Freeze and petrify have no effect on bosses, so don’t bring those spells to boss fights. Talos, Death, Arthur and Dracula are immune to Bleed; Talos, Arthur and Dracula are also unaffected by Burn. Chains of Justice affects Medusa, Death, Talos, Arthur and Dracula, but no other bosses.
| Boss | Bleed | Burn | Chains of Justice | Freeze | Petrify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Fallen | Works | Works | Immune | Immune | Immune |
| Medusa | Works | Works | Works | Immune | Immune |
| Joan of Arc (both fights) | Works | Works | Immune | Immune | Immune |
| Death (both fights) | Immune | Works | Works | Immune | Immune |
| Isaac | Works | Works | Immune | Immune | Immune |
| Talos | Immune | Immune | Works | Immune | Immune |
| Carmilla | Works | Works | Immune | Immune | Immune |
| Mammon | Works | Works | Immune | Immune | Immune |
| Succubus | Works | Works | Immune | Immune | Immune |
| ??? shadow boss | Works | Works | Immune | Immune | Immune |
| Arthur | Immune | Immune | Works | Immune | Immune |
| Dracula (both forms) | Immune | Immune | Works | Immune | Immune |
The spells behind each effect are on their Arcana cards: see how to get every Arcana card. Family’s Grace is in the relics list, and the burning whip is covered in how to get the Vampire Killer. For each boss’s attacks, see how damage works and the boss guides.
