Completing the gallery of the four virtues, found in Notre Dame, is necessary to get the true ending in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse. Beat Joan a second time for the virtue of Courage, survive a brutal mix of saw-blade platforming and arena battles for the virtue of Justice, test your platforming skills for the virtue of Temperance, and curse the gods for the unfair saw-blade test for the virtue of Prudence. Let’s go over a detailed guide for each of them.
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Where to Find the Gallery of the Four Virtues
The Gallery can be found in the Notre Dame church, where you can read a prophecy related to your curse. Four stained-glass windows can be found, which you can interact with and attempt the trials. Coming from the forest, you can find the gallery on the leftmost side of the cathedral. It’s a pretty straight forward pass with no big arena or bosses in the way.
In the gallery you receive a prophecy about the cursed that reads as the following “Only when the Bells of Virtue ring and humanity overcomes its Self will cursed darkness lift and restore the blessed light” hinting at you beating each of the virtues to achieve the true ending of the game.
How to Complete All Four Virtues Trials
These trials are not easy to accomplish, so it is recommended that you bring your hard-hitting weapons and powerful spells for the two trials that require you to fight. There’s also the trial of prudence, which requires a specific arcana and a skill, which will be discussed in its own section.
Courage Trial – Joan Rematch
This is a very straightforward trial. Interact with the red stained glass, Beat Joan of Arc again, and she will bless you with the blessing of courage. However, this time Joan will fight you in two phases with some new moves in her kit.
I personally fight Joan with sword and shield cause of its movement set, the powerful shield bash, and the fact that you need to be up close to Joan so you can dash behind her to avoid her moves.
The best sword and shield in the game is “Alucard’s Sword and Shield” which can be found in the top-rightmost corner of the main hall map, after opening a secret door to Alucard’s bedroom. But the weapon I used to attempt the fight was the “Arondight and Lancelot’s Shield” also found in Notre Dame.
You first meet Joan atop the prison tower, and fight her there for the warrior tarot card, the skill holy light, and the spell infernal pyre.
Second time she awaits you with a larger health pool and some new moves. For most of her moves with her sword, you just need to dash behind Joan to evade the attack. There three attacks that this doesn’t really help with:
The ground cleave move: Joan shouts “for the glory of France” as she performs this move. Jumping is usually a better solution to dodging the attack.
Flame pillars: Joan summons orbs of flame passively as she fights, and when they reach six, she can do the flame pillar attack. To dodge this attack, you need good positioning. Dashing and jumping aren’t recommended, as you may land in the pillar’s range. Watch for when she raises her hand, as she has 6 orbs, and just stand in a safe location.
Joan’s Ultimate: She jumps and becomes the sun literally, slashes and burns the whole battlefield, and does an ungodly amount of damage. She faces one side of the battlefield, so time your jump and make sure you are behind her when she comes crashing down.
Beat her, and you will get a cutscene in which Joan praises you and offers her blessing to Rose. Ring the bell and return to the gallery so you can attempt the other challenges.
Justice Trial – Saint Louise’s Test
Trial of Justice isn’t the hardest challenge out there, but it still requires a bit of skill to complete. This trial needs you to survive a total of three arena battles, with sawblades and wall spikes all around, making free movement a hassle in this stage.
I attempted this trial with the whip, and it made it much easier for me to hit flying enemies like the harpies and the swords. The strongest whips are the “Vampire Killer” (earned by defeating Death in Notre Dame). I use the “Morning Star,” which is obtainable after gaining the aerial dash from Brauner.
You will face a variety of enemies, a variety of skeleton-type enemies and harpies, Axe armors, and floating swords. All is manageable, but the enemies that can give you a bit of a problem are the golems and the werewolf. They spawn in the third and fourth fights (with the werewolf only in the fourth fight), so manage your resources and keep a flask or two ready to survive through the onslaught of enemies. Ring the bell at the end of the stage to return to the gallery and attempt your third trial.
Temperance Trial – The Ferryman’s Test
This was by far the easiest trial for me. No enemies or very frame-sensitive parkour; just the floor becomes “lava” (Sea of Souls), and you should reach the top and ring the bell. There’s truly nothing too hard in this trial; just be patient with the jumps and movement. If you are struggling with this challenge, come back to it when you have all the movement skills unlocked. You can also use the Chronomantic Dive to slow time.
Prudence Trial – Testing Your Persistence
This was the hardest trial for me. You need the skill “Holy Light” that you get from Joan and the spell “Mirror Walk” that you get from Eleanor. This trial is a test of your movement and game knowledge. Through different parts of the trial, Sawblades try to hurt you and force you to retry that part, and for each one, you need knowledge of certain mechanics to come out on top.
First part tests your movement mechanic knowledge.
The second part tests your game environment awareness, which is the easiest part of this trial.
The third part tests your skill knowledge and is the part that needs the skill “Holy Light“
And the last part, the worst part of this trial, tests your knowledge of spells. Here, you need your “Arcane Whip” and “Mirror Walk” to survive the trial.
What to Do After Completing the Four Virtues
After completing the four virtues, you can now life the curse from Rose, to do that you have to interact with the alter in the middle of the gallery where the prophecy is found. Interact with the altar and fight “The Cursed” which is shown as question marks in the game, which is your shadow, to get a tarot card and a spell. This is the main requirement to get the true ending of the game.
Can You Complete the Four Virtues Before Beating Dracula?
Yes, it is doable. These trials are a prerequisite for the true ending and are not necessary for beating Dracula. So it’s up to you whether you’d do it before or after the fight against Dracula.
