Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is the long awaited successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, made by a lot of the team behind the 2D Metroidvania games in the series. Apart from creepy enemies to face and a giant twisted castle to explore, two other things you should expect from this type of game are tricky puzzles and a lot of backtracking. The Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Iron Maiden puzzle requires all of these things to solve.
You find the iron maiden fairly early on in the game, and it’s just what it sounds like: A medieval torture device, and not anything that has to do with the world-renowned British metal band. Get too close, and it’ll snap closed on you. So, how do you get past it and open the intriguing chest on the other side? Does it have something to do with the stone block that you need to move for the Coachman, so you can get across to the other side? Where is the Giant Hand, or Craftwork, Shard? And is there a boss attached? We’ve all the answers.
Where is the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night iron maiden?
The torturous iron maiden is located in the Garden of Silence at the map point above. As you make your way through the Garden you’ll eventually end up in the large area with a broken bridge, along with a warhorse, cart, and Coachman. The Coachman offers to take you to the other side if you can remove the stone block that’s in his horse’s way, but you can’t do that just yet.
Head underneath the cart and the bridge and you’ll find a locked door on the left as well as a few monsters on the right. Defeat the monsters and you’ll see the iron maiden directly in front of you, blocking your path. If you get too close, it’ll snap shut and damage Miriam, and you can’t go around it. There’s a tantalizing chest just in the area beyond, too. So how do you get past this dangerous obstacle?
How to get past the Bloodstained iron maiden
It’s supposedly possible to get past the iron maiden by luring a monster into it and sneaking past at the exact moment it snaps shut, but that’s not reliable and you’re just as likely to get hit. The real way you get past the iron maiden is the same way you get rid of that stone statue that’s blocking the way of the Coachman, and so you’ll need to find a special magic shard called Craftwork first, otherwise known as the Giant Hand. But where is this Giant Hand shard? You should presume there’s a boss attached…
Where to get the Giant Hand or Craftwork Shard
To get the Craftwork Shard you’ll have to proceed upwards from the Garden of Silence to the Dian Cecht Cathedral area. You’ll have to head to the area in the center of the map above, just up and to the right of a save room. After you save, head in this direction through the boss door. You’ll enter a church, or possibly the main part of the Cathedral, with a lot of stained glass. That glass will shatter and form the game’s latest boss: The Crystal Hand. You’ll need to defeat it to the get the Craftwork Shard, free the Coachman, progress through the game… and get past the iron maiden! No pressure.
How to beat the Giant Crystal Hand
Honestly, the Crystal Hand is one of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night‘s easier bosses. Its attacks are fairly slow and telegraphed well. He does have a lot of health, but he’s also vulnerable to Blunt damage (so guns, punches, whips) and Blood damage surprisingly. Otherwise, just assault him with your most powerful or quickest weapons, and if you’ve got any long-range spells, use them too, as he’ll frequently climb the walls.
His most powerful offensive powers are jumping and grabbing Miriam, which will do constant damage, and charging forward, which you’ll need to dodge by jumping on to the metal platforms or that stone on the side. Don’t let him get you in the corner, like with any boss. Just avoid his jumping attacks or his slides across the floor and you’ll be good to go.
What do you get in the chest past the iron maiden?
Once you’ve defeated the Crystal Hand you’ll get your first (probably) Manipulative shard spell, which is on RB/R1 on gamepads, and are special spells that have a constant effect and continuously consume MP as you use them. You can use it to summon the Hand to pick up objects, which you’ll have to do immediately to get out of the room you’re in. After that, head back to the Coachman in the Garden of Silence and remove the block in his way, but before you get on head down and move the iron maiden.
Unfortunately, we’re sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but after that long ordeal the reward is just not worth it. The item in the chest that you have to move the iron maiden to get is the Beast Beret head gear. Its stats are DEF 5, CON 1, and STR 1, so it’s certainly not too shabby, and it also boosts your resistance to Slash attacks by 5. It looks nice at least, but you’ll undoubtedly find better hats if you haven’t already. Still, you had to get the Giant Hand to progress, at least. And there’s talk of more iron maidens later in the game, which you’ll definitely need to move…
