| “ | 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 find the obstacle course, in the first very large room of the Den of Behemoths (below the floor with Alfred's death cutscene), take the exit on the left and follow this path to the end, which leads directly to it.
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 in order to bypass certain obstacles and gain the 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 pendulums found throughout the course without taking damage. It is also advisable to already have crafted the High Jump shard, 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.
Zangetsu[]
For Zangetsu, not only his ground speed is slightly faster than Miriam's, but he also 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.
Locations[]
Ritual of the Night[]
Curse of the Moon 2[]
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