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= Standard Route =
The standard route requires knowledge of how to perform the following glitches: [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Death_Skip|Death Skip]], [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#Faerie_Card_Shop_GlitchSOTN/Shop_Glitch|Faerie Card Shop Glitch]], [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Richter_Skip|Richter Skip]], and [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Relic_Skip|Relic Skip]]. You collect the following Relics, listed in order: Cube of Zoe, Soul of Wolf, Form of Mist, Faerie Card, and Soul of Bat.
== Prologue ==
The primary goals for the Clock Rush Section are as follows:
*Perform [[SOTN/Death_Skip|Death Skip ]] to keep your starting equipment
*Obtain the Cube of Zoe Relic
*Pick up a Stopwatch sub-weapon
From the moment you gain control of Richter in the Prologue, the game has an internal timer used to determine whether or not the statue in the upper-left corner of the Clock Room is blocking your path. On odd minutes (say, 7:00 through 7:59 or 9:00 through 9:59), the statue will be blocking your path. On even minutes (say, 8:00 through 8:59 or 10:00 through 10:59), the statue will be out of the way and the path will be open. This internal timer is not the same as your real-time timer used during a speedrun, as time spent in menus or looking at the map does not count towards the internal timer. However, if you spend little time looking at your map or in the menu, they will be close.
After the Prologue, and for the remainder of the game, you play as Alucard. A few rooms into the run, you will come across a section where the game tries to force you into a cutscene with the Grim Reaper (also known as Death), who steals your starting equipment. If you execute the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Death_Skip|Death Skip]] glitch, however, you can bypass this cutscene and keep all of your starting equipment, which is some of the strongest equipment in the game.
During the Clock Rush section, the goal is to make your way to the Outer Wall and obtain the Soul of Wolf Relic from the elevator shaft, use a wolf stair jump to reach a vase on a high-up ledge and break it to get a Garnet, and return to the Clock Room while the path is open. If you reach the Clock Room while the path is closed, you will be forced to wait until the statue moves out of the way to progress. For example, if you arrive at the Clock Room when the internal timer is at 7:50, you will have to wait 10 more seconds before the path opens up.
*Obtain the Soul of Bat Relic
Upon entering the library, it is important not to enter the shop right away. Assuming you teleported in, the shop will be the room directly to your left. Instead, transform into Wolf and travel to the right until you reach a room with a large staircase and Book enemies flying about. Execute a [[SOTN/Book_Jump | Book Jump]] to reach a higher ledge to the upper left of this room that leads to a room containing the Faerie Card Relic. Do not enable the Relic right away.
[[File:SOTNLibraryBookJump.png | 280px]]
Now, head back to just outside the Shop and execute the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#Faerie_Card_Shop_GlitchSOTN/Shop_Glitch|Faerie Card Shop Glitch]]. This glitch will duplicate your Garnet, giving you 255 of them. Sell at least 102 of them (which will show as E3 in the Sell Gem menu), and use this extra Gold to purchase 1 Manna Prism, 2 Buffalo Stars, and the Duplicator. You may also wish to purchase a Library Card unless you are going to attempt the Library Floor Clip in the upcoming section. Don't forget to equip the Duplicator, Manna Prism, and Buffalo Star as you get ready to leave the Shop. With the Duplicator, you can now use consumable items an infinite number of times.
Leave the shop, heading to the right back to the stairwell with Books. Execute a wolf jump on the stairs to take the lower of the two paths on high-up ledges above the stairwell. This path will lead you to a fight with Lesser Demon and, eventually, the Soul of Bat Relic, which is behind a Gate that you must use Form of Mist to get through.
Once you have the Soul of Bat, leave the Library as quickly as possible and make your way to the Outer Wall. The easier and recommended method is to teleport back near the shop using a Library Card, then proceed to Wing Smash your way to the Outer Wall. The much more difficult method is to execute the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#Wolf_Floor_ClipSOTN/Floor_Clip|Wolf Floor Clip]], which if done perfectly can save a small amount of time. Whichever method you execute, once you find yourself at the Outer Wall, take the elevator to the top, then continue upward until you reach the entrance to the Clock Tower.
== Clock Tower & Richter Skip ==
At the start of this section, you will transform into Bat and Wing Smash your way across the large chasm. This next section is filled with spawning Medusa heads and Harpies throwing knives at you, so precise movement is critical to avoid getting hit while you make your way to the section with the Sword Lords. Navigate between the broken stairs and make your way toward Karasuman. After killing Karasuman with Buffalo Stars, move left into the Castle Keep section.
The Castle Keep section is the same section as from the Prologue with Richter, except now the staircase has fallen into ruin, leaving a gap you must fly over to enter the section where you will encounter the fight with Richter. During a normal playthrough of the game, you are expected to have the Holy Glasses at this point if you wish to be able to proceed to the Inverted Castle. In this category, however, the fastest routes all involve executing a glitch known as [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Richter_Skip|Richter Skip]] to avoid this check and proceed on to the Inverted Castle anyway.
== Inverted Castle ==
After you teleport into the Inverted Castle, transform into Bat. Almost the entirety of this section will be spent in Bat form and involves chaining Wing Smashes together in long hallways and precise bat movement around and through enemies as you make your way through the Route. Along the way, you will encounter a fight with Medusa. Medusa is one of the bosses that drops a Relic that would ordinarily be required to complete the game, but since we will be performing the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Richter_Skip|Richter Skip]] in the upcoming section, there is no need to collect it.
After the fight with Medusa, make your way to the vertical section with Imp and Sniper of Goth enemies flying around. With precise Wing Smash movement, you can make your way through this section unscathed as you ascend and head toward the Reverse Colosseum.
== Relic Skip & Final Battle ==
Once in the Black Marble Gallery, make your way to the Clock Room, then proceed right past the Giant enemies and upward to a ledge that is just to the right of a Save Room. This ledge is where you will perform the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Relic Skip|Relic Skip]]. Once you have successfully executed the glitch, equip Buffalo Stars in both your hand slots and take the lift up into Dracula's chambers. After exiting the lift, fly up and around the barriers and drop into Dracula's chambers to begin the fight with Shaft. Position yourself along the left wall and alternate using both Buffalo Stars while jumping to finish Shaft as quickly as possible.
Once Shaft is defeated, the cutscene and final fight with Dracula will begin. Stay in the middle of the room as Dracula descends, and focus alternating Buffalo Star attacks at his right hand. Dracula will attempt to swipe at you with either his left hand or his right hand, depending on which one you are closer to. Once you see his body shift in position to prepare the attack, move to the opposite side from that attack just enough to clear it. Do this a few times while spamming Buffalo Star attacks at his right hand, and you should be able to kill Dracula before his next phase begins.