Great Armor

Great Armor
Great Armor's artwork from Rondo of Blood
Alternate name(s)	Armor Lord
Abilities	Carries or generates a shield Generates a shock wave that travels across the floor High attacking power and resilience to damage Rapid thrusting attack
Type(s)	Armor, Knight
Origins	Original Castlevania lore
Appearances	Rondo of Blood Symphony of the Night Aria of Sorrow Dawn of Sorrow Curse of Darkness Portrait of Ruin Dracula X Chronicles

A Great Armor (also known as Armor Lord) is a giant Sword Knight that wields a Great Sword and sometimes a shield. It boasts high defense and attack. It is generally less powerful than a Final Guard. It is also generally less maneuverable than a Victory Armor.

Appearances

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

One of the tougher enemies encountered in the earlier areas of the game, this enemy is an enormous armored knight, garbed in royal purple gear with gold trim. Although this incarnation of the Armor Lord doesn't carry a physical shield, it is capable of projecting an energy shield which is impregnable to any attacks made by Alucard. All variants share this capability. In addition, its' enormous sword can dish out major damage, but its' attacks are slow and very easy to dodge. All variants are also capable of performing a rapid thrusting attack, quite similar to the Rapier's special attack.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

The Great Armor is found in this game as the game's third boss in the Study, and later as a common enemy in the Clock Tower. These enemies, much like the Golems, are really slow but pack a punch. They only have two attacks, which can easily be avoided. The first one is a thrust to the area below the sword, which Soma can crouch under and still damage him. The second attack is trying to smash the sword down upon him, and in order to avoid this one, the player has to get really close to him and avoid it. While not considered an attack, he can also raise up his shield to block all attacks for a few seconds.

The later versions of this enemy, Final Guard and Shadow Knight, add one more attack to the repertoire of Great Armor attacks. They charge their swords up and stab the ground, sending a shock wave of energy toward Soma. However, it can be easily jumped over.

Some can acquire two souls from defeating a Great Armor. After the official boss battle, he gets the Malphas Ability Soul, allowing him to do a double jump, which helps to access the Dance Hall area. The soul that the Great Armors drop later in the game is the Great Armor guardian soul, which grants the Strength Booster ability. This soul's in-game description is incorrect; it increases Soma's STR to 120% while active, not by 120%.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

In this game, the Great Armor has been given an increase in size and a changed color design, but the tactics are the same. These enemies can be found in the Dark Chapel area of the castle. While not a particularly strong enemy, they have somewhat bulky defense, allowing for resisted attacks.

Because they are normal enemies, however, they can be fought as many times as possible. Their soul is also one of the most useful souls in the entire game. They drop the Great Armor Guardian Soul, which grants the Great Armor Familiar ability, which instead of increasing Soma's strength like in the last game, the soul of a Great Armor fights alongside him as a familiar.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

While they retain their size and design from Dawn of Sorrow, their color scheme is changed to red for Portrait of Ruin. They use the same tactics they used in Dawn of Sorrow, but are considerably weaker this time around.

Enemy Data

Enemy Data: Great Armor
Image	Name - Game Description	Statistics	Items	Location	Notes
(RoB/DXC)	Great Armor  [alt] - Rondo of Blood				[ edit ]
	'	HP: 24 Exp: 1000		2'. Aqueducts, 5'. Piers
	45. Armor Lord (Great Armor) - Symphony of the Night				[ edit ]
	Heavily armored undead warrior.	Strong: Cut Level: 12 HP: 81 Exp: 100	Drop: Rapier, Saber	Colosseum, Outer Wall
	61. Great Armor (jpn) - Aria of Sorrow				[ edit ]
	A heavily-armed soldier built out of the corpses of great warriors.	Weak: Thunder HP: 650 MP: 999 Exp: 300 Atk: 40 Def: 25	Common Drop: Iron Plate Rare Drop: Great Sword Guard: Malphas soul. Soul: Strength Booster	Study (as a boss), Clock Tower
	38. Great Armor (jpn) - Dawn of Sorrow				[ edit ]
	A heavily armored knight built out of the corpses of powerful warriors.	Strong: Fire, Water Weak: Bashing, Electric HP: 115 MP: 1 Exp: 180 Atk: 45 Timestop: Affected	Common Drop: Ring Mail (8%) Soul: Great Armor Familiar (3.52%)	The Dark Chapel
	58. Great Armor Lv.25  - Curse of Darkness				[ edit ]
	An armor knight with red-brown armor. Beware the fearsome thrust of its shield bash attack.	Strong: Wind Weak: Thunder Level: 25 HP: 465 Exp: 117	Common Drop: Steel Rare Drop: Short Sword Steal: Carbon Steel	Forest of Jigramunt, Cordova Town, Tower of Eternity
	88. Great Armor Lv.35  - Curse of Darkness				[ edit ]
	An armor knight with red-brown armor. Beware the fearsome thrust of its shield bash attack.	Strong: Wind Weak: Thunder Level: 35 HP: 620 Exp: 231	Common Drop: Steel Rare Drop: Short Sword Steal: Carbon Steel	Eneomaos Machine Tower, Aiolon Ruins
	136. Great Armor Lv.46  - Curse of Darkness				[ edit ]
	An armor knight with red-brown armor. Beware the fearsome thrust of its shield bash attack.	Strong: Wind Weak: Thunder Level: 46 HP: 883 Exp: 603	Common Drop: Steel Rare Drop: Short Sword Steal: Carbon Steel	Tower of Evermore
	34. Great Armor (jpn) - Portrait of Ruin				[ edit ]
	A heavily-armored knight who commands other armored warriors.	Strong: Ice Weak: Strike, Whip, Electric HP: 240 Exp: 120 Skill Pt: 4	Drop: Iron Plate, Great Sword	Great Stairway, Entrance
	Armor Lord  - Encore of the Night				[ edit ]
	'	HP: 2000 Exp: ~5150	Drop: Sirloin, Attack Potion; Holy Essence, Buffet Ticket Steal: ~38S	Royal Chapel	Abil: Ultimate Shield - The next attack made is reduced to 0 damage.

Soul Data

Item Data: Great Armor
Image	Name - Game   Type - Users Description	Attributes / Consume	Statistics / Sell	Found	Notes
	Great Armor - Strength Booster - Aria of Sorrow   Guardian Soul - Soma				[edit]
	STR is increased 120%.	Consume: 60 MP/sec		Drop: Great Armor	Effect: Actually increases to 120%, ie by 20%

Gallery

Great Armor

Great Armor from the Japanese Rondo of Blood instruction booklet

Great Armor Familiar from Dawn of Sorrow

Armor Lord's enemy list entry from the Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night

References

• Mr. P's Castlevania Realm
• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Bestiary by Darth Nemesis at GameFAQs.com
• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Walkthrough and FAQ by Zach "Darko" Long at GameFAQs.com