A Shard Stand is a special type of Shard container featured in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. When destroyed, the Shard it held is released and absorbed by the player, gaining with this the new ability it yields.
Description[]
A pedestal with an elaborated arcane-like design that has a holder shaped as a crescent moon on its top inside of which a large crystal slowly and infinitely spins. When shattered, the crystal releases a Shard which is immediately absorbed by the player, gaining with this the new ability it yields. The types of Shards these pieces of furniture contain are unique and cannot be acquired elsewhere (e.g.: by defeating enemies).
Shard Stands are found scattered across many diverse locations throughout the Hellhold, some which are just lying unprotected on the field, while others requiring more laborious feats to reach them, like defeating a boss or found inside secret rooms accessed by destroying certain walls.
Miriam[]
Only two types of Shard Stands appear during Miriam's adventure in Ritual of the Night:
- White Shard Stand: Contains Shortcut shards, being the only source for unlocking more Shortcut slots. Only four white Stands appear during the main game (for five slots in total, counting the default one), meaning that the remaining two slots can only be unlocked during a New Game+ by finding two more white Stands.
- Green Shard Stand: Contains Familiar: Silver Knight shards, being the only way of raising the Grade of this Familiar. Only five green Stands appear during the main game, meaning the Silver Knight can only reach Grade 5 during a playthrough, and only being able to reach Grade 9 during a New Game+.
Bloodless[]
The only way Bloodless can improve her skills and survival capabilities during her campaign is by absorbing Blood Shards, which are exclusively found inside of Shard Stands. As such, the number of Shard Stands found in this mode is notably larger than during Miriam's story and also play a particular relevance. Three different types of Shard Stands appear during this mode:
- Red Shard Stand: Contains an Attack Blood Shard, which unlocks a new attack move for Bloodless.
- Blue Shard Stand: Contains an Ability Blood Shard, which unlock new movements and survival capabilities.
- Yellow Shard Stand: Contains a Stat Blood Shard, which improves Bloodless's stats.
For a detailed list of the locations of all Blood Shard Stands during Bloodless's campaign, see List of Blood Shards.
Aurora[]
The only way Aurora can level up her default and trusty familiar companion, Igniculus, during her campaign is by finding white Shard Stands, with this mechanic basically being identical to how the Familiar: Silver Knight is upgraded during Miriam's story. There are eight Shard Stands that can be found in this mode, with most of their locations being the same ones where the Shard Stands for the Familiar: Silver Knight and Shortcut shards are during Miriam's campaign.
For a detailed list of the locations of all Shard Stands during Aurora's campaign, see Igniculus.
Gallery[]
(red)
(blue)
(yellow)
Trivia[]
- Shard Stands basically have the same function as the Soul-Keepers from Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow. These are also pedestals that hold the Soul of an enemy (akin to the Shards from Bloodstained), and that when destroyed, they release it and is absorbed by the player, gaining with this the new ability it yields.
See also[]
- Treasure Chest - Another type of container that contains physical items.