| “ | A man in constant search of one faster than himself. | „ |
| ~ Description from Ritual of the Night |
The Harrier, named Sonic (ソニック Sonikku) in Japan, is an enemy in the Bloodstained series.
Description[]
The Harrier is a non-combative enemy that can be found in the Den of Behemoths. He is found at the start of an obstacle course that begins when Miriam crosses the rope gate. To defeat the Harrier, Miriam must reach the gate at the end before him by outmaneuvering him through the course. This can be done with various tactics, such as the Reflector Ray shard and wearing the Aegis Plate, to bypass certain obstacles and gain advantage. If Miriam defeats the Harrier, upon reaching the goal, he will collapse and perish, relinquishing the very useful Accelerator shard.
Zangetsu, Bloodless and Aurora can also race against the Harrier in their campaigns. Bloodless receives a shard of Blood of Brutality behind the finish line for winning, Aurora can either receive a Sapphire or, more rarely, a single Tristis Shard, and Zangetsu receives nothing. Unusually, and in contrast to Miriam's campaign, the Harrier's corpse does not disintegrate after his loss, but remains as a background object, except when relinquishing the Tristis shard.
Strategy[]
There are several ways to defeat the Harrier in this race:
Miriam[]
The easiest method is to simply wear the Aegis Plate, which the player should already have in their inventory, and which will allow Miriam to traverse all the spike traps and swinging pendulum blades found throughout the course without taking damage. It is also advisable to already have crafted the High Jump shard, which is much faster than casting the Reflector Ray, and which allows Miriam to quickly traverse vertical passageways with ease. Additionally, equipping any gear that increases speed, such as the Speed Belt and the Tailwind Tome (and/or the Tome of Conquest), will greatly help in quickly taking the lead during the race. Just a few of these items in conjunction will be more than enough to easily complete the obstacle course and outrace the Harrier, to the point of even trivializing this challenge.
If the player doesn't yet have some of the aforementioned items, there are many alternative ways they can also win this race, such as using the Reflector Ray when necessary to survive hazards and scale terrain. Optionally, Inverting gravity can be used at various points if preferred, although this really isn't necessary.
If the Speed Belt is not yet owned, it is still possible to defeat the Harrier by equipping the Moon Belt –which improves the Backstep ability– and backstepping through the entire course, although he will still move faster than the player, so the Reflector Ray portions of the race are where they must create a lead on him. The ray stops time as the player teleports, so it can be more time-effective to use it instead of inverting gravity, which may spend too much time. This strategy will likely end up with both the player and the Harrier ending the race at almost the exact same time if done without mistakes, but the Accelerator will still be rewarded even if he passes the player at the very last moment before touching the finish rope.
Zangetsu[]
For Zangetsu, not only his ground speed is slightly faster than Miriam's, but also he can use his dash-like Backstep or his Form of Emptiness to quickly slide across great distances and gain the advantage on the Harrier; clever use of the Restrain grappling hook and, more importantly, of Empty Blade, which allows great upward mobility, are also crucial to win the race. His biggest obstacle will be the vertical shaft with spikes on the bottom, which can be deadly if one has not mastered executing Empty Blade while in mid-air.
Bloodless[]
Bloodless's true speed lies in her Umbrella Float ability, which allows her to move more quickly than by foot; since, by the time she reaches the Den of Behemoths, Bloodless should have already acquired the Wind Demon's Blood, which extends the float period, and the Blood of Flight, which allows her to zoom upward, making her able to virtually remain floating endlessly, she should be able to win relatively easily. However, Bloodless has a higher base jump's height, which may make a particular jump between two spiked barriers tricky, but other than that, there are little difficulties.
Aurora[]
By the time she reaches the Den of Behemoths, Aurora's true strength is her ability to fly, which is quicker than her ground speed, and her immunity to spikes and traps, which allows her to have the advantage in the race pretty consistently. The only tricky moment is when Aurora is forced to Slide, as the maneuver cannot be done while flying, forcing her to drop on the ground, slide, and then quickly take flight again; but other than that, she should be able to consistently win the race easily, which is good considering she may need to win multiple times while searching for the Tristis shard.
Location[]
Ritual of the Night[]
Curse of the Moon 2[]
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Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Despite being a harmless enemy that cannot be fought normally, the Harrier still has proper stats assigned to him.
- Familiars such as the Silver Knight will still try to attack the Harrier, even though he cannot be targeted with attacks.
- Both his English and Japanese names, Harrier and Sonic, are references to Sega games and/or characters: Space Harrier and Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively. He also notably wears blue, making his association with the latter, alongside his speed obsession, even stronger.
See also[]
External links[]
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night — Bestiary at GameFAQs