How to Beat Dracula in Return to Castlevania DLC

The initial part of Dracula's boss fight sees the Dark Lord toss down his wine as a gauntlet that starts the fight, teleporting to the player in a swarm of bats. This sets the tone of the battle as Dracula casts magic from their cape to strike at the player from across the screen. Specializing in large meteor projectiles, Dracula prevents players from getting close by consistently teleporting away, akin to the Death boss fight in Dead Cells when they can release offensive spells that cover large parts of the arena.

When Dracula's health begins to drop below half in this phase, the boss occasionally follows up their teleport with physical strikes, trying to throw off a player's timing for significant damage. In this form, turrets or traps work incredibly well, as Dracula has to stay in one place to cast their magic. Moving quickly and hitting in between attacks gives players to best advantage to whittle away at his health while carefully avoiding the bigger spells that unlock later when Dracula falls to their last bit of health, another clever reference to Dead Cells' Symphony of the Night influences.

Dracula's Phase 1 Move List

Although players have a brief respite to collect gold and analyze some loot dropped by Dracula's first form, the castle collapses soon after the Dark Lord's supposed defeat, revealing a truly monstrous form for the second phase. Additionally, the arena size is significantly reduced as players now only have three small platforms to jump between against the giant, now bestial boss that harkens to other enemies seen, such as the Mama Tick in other Dead Cells DLC. In this form, Dracula actively tries to destroy platforms, altering the landscape with huge attacks that deal devastating damage if players get hit.

The best way to approach this phase involves staying close to Dracula at all times, as many of his attacks originate from his body to try and hit players from afar. Getting in close and dealing as much damage as possible lets players whittle away at Dracula's health, but they should be cautious against the powerful attacks this form has. Many of the strikes conjured here are upgraded versions of those seen during the first phase, giving players a small opportunity to understand Dracula's moves going into battle if they wield a strong weapon blueprint like those seen in Dead Cells' Barrels O' Fun update.

Dracula's Phase 2 Move List

Beating Dracula gives players the blueprint for Vampire Killer, the legendary whip weapon seen in the hands of many a Belmont in the Castlevania franchise. In addition to the gold and loot from phase 1 of the fight, players get the "See you in 100 years" achievement as the castle collapses and conclude the DLC. While other outfits and the special Richter mode are still available for players to try in the Return to Castlevania DLC of Dead Cells, this boss represents the final point of this incredible crossover.