Bird IDs Guide - Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
This page includes my walkthrough for Bird Type IDs in Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Bird IDs are best described in my opinion as a Battle ID that can fly; they have a little less survivability than Battle IDs but they deal about the same amount of damage depending on what ID you choose. You will need the Glide/Long Glide Bird ID skill in order to achieve 100% Map Completion - Long Glide is required to reach the Tower of Evermore.
For this guide I will go over every type of Bird ID in the game, what skills it learns and what it evolves into. As far as the best Bird Type ID in the game, I would say Phoenix hands down but that's mostly because of my playstyle. Phoenix comes with an attack called Big Bang which deals a very large amount of damage but kills your ID too.
When playing I typically always use a Battle ID, Fairy ID or Devil ID which makes Phoenix the best Bird ID for me. I can switch to Phoenix when I encounter a hard group of enemies or during a boss and use Big Bang then I can switch back to the ID I normally use. So, like I said, it works really good for my playstyle. Aside from Phoenix I would say that Crimson is probably the best if you plan on actively using this ID.
(Tier 1) Crow
I can't think of much to saw about this ID aside from Caw Caw, it's a Crow. Mr. Crow starts out with the Glide skill which you will need to reach certain areas of the game and achieve 100% Map Completion. He can evolve into either a Skull Wing or a Goldfinch depending on what route you want to take.
Evolution Paths
Skull Wing: 40
Goldfinch: 40
(Tier 2) Skull Wing
Skull Wing is one of two Tier 2 evolutions for the Bird ID and it comes with 2 unique skills, Carpet Bomb and Bone Shot. Both of these skills are unlocked by defeating a certain number of enemies with Skull Wing active. Also, both of these skills are quite good for being Tier 2 skills, especially Carpet Bomb.
There are 2 evolution paths for the Skull Wing ID, you can turn it into a Wingosaurus which will learn the Long Glide ability (you'll need this ability to reach the Tower of Evermore) or you can turn it into a Phoenix. Depending on your playstyle a Phoenix may be the best Bird ID that you can get.
Evolution Paths
Wingosaurus: 70
(Final) Phoenix: 90
(Tier 2) Goldfinch
Goldfinch is the other Tier 2 Bird ID that's available to you and it only has a single evolution path. The only unique skill available to the Goldfinch is Caltrops which is a lesser version of Carpet Bomb; it deals less damage and has a time delay from when it's dropped on the ground and detonates.
One thing to note about the Goldfinch as well is whenever you or the Goldfinch deals damage money will spill out of the enemy and drop on the ground. It's only 1$ at a time and it's hardly worth it since you'll probably have tons of money anyway but it is a neat added feature.
Evolution Paths
Khaos: 70 of any Crystal
(Tier 3) Khaos
The Khaos evolution is the weirdest looking one of them all since it's like a floating mass of crystallized flesh. Khaos can only learn a single skill, Sphere of Darkness, which is learned by defeating a certain number of enemies with Khaos active. Sphere of Darkness is a pretty mediocre skill, it deals ok damage but moves very slow and won't hit fast targets for that reason.
Evolution Paths
(Final) Gargoyle: 90
(Final) Blagsdeth: 90
(Tier 3) Wingosaurus
Wingosaurus is a very useful Tier 3 evolution that comes with 2 unique abilities, Long Glide and Deadly Absorb. As usual, both of these abilities are unlocked by defeating enemies while Wingosaurus is currently active. You will need Long Glide to reach the Tower of Evermore area and for 100% Map Completion.
Deadly Absorb is a crappy skill, it doesn't heal for much and uses a lot of Hearts. It's better to just swap to a Fairy ID and use that to heal instead of using this skill.
Evolution Paths
(Final) Crimson: 90
(Final) Indigo: 90
(Final) Phoenix
Phoenix is the most unique Bird ID Final Tier and depending on your playstyle it may be the best Bird ID for you. You can unlock 2 unique skills on the Phoenix, Big Bang and Fire Bird. To unlock Big Bang you'll need to defeat a certain number of enemies that are over level 25; to unlock Fire Bird you just need to defeat a certain number of enemies. Phoenix will need to be your active ID when defeating enemies for both of these skills.
Fire Bird is a decent skill that deals good damage but the main allure of Phoenix is the Big Bang skill. You need at least 49 Hearts to activate Big Bang and as the name suggests, it creates a really Big Bang that damages all enemies in the room. The downside of Big Bang is that it sacrifices the Phoenix when you use it.
So, for those of you out there who don't use a Bird ID very often - this is a fantastic skill because you can switch to it and clear an entire room of enemies then switch back to the ID you like using.
(Final) Crimson
Crimson is a fire dragon evolution and it comes with 2 unique skills, Flame Breath and Ignition Blow. Both of these skills are unlocked by defeating a certain number of enemies while Crimson is active. I think both of these skills are pretty good, they deal good damage and they are pretty accurate. One added bonus of having a Crimson ID is you evolved it from a Wingosaurus which means it'll have Long Glide.
The Crimson and Indigo IDs are essentially a pair, Crimson is a fire dragon whereas Indigo is an ice dragon. Crimson does more damage than Indigo and is better if you're looking for pure damage; Indigo deals slightly less damage overall but comes with the added benefit of having good crowd control.
(Final) Indigo
Indigo is an ice dragon and it comes with 2 unique skills, Icicle Shot and Blizzard Breath. Each of these skills are unlocked by defeating a certain number of enemies with Indigo active and both skills deal decent damage. Blizzard Breath doesn't do as much damage as Crimson's Flame Breath but it comes with the added benefit of freezing enemies which will root them in place and make them unable to attack for a few seconds.
As stated before during the Crimson ID writeup, Indigo and Crimson are essentially a pair. Indigo is an ice dragon and Crimson is a fire dragon; Indigo does slightly less damage but comes with the added bonus of crowd control.
(Final) Blagsdeath
Blagsdeath is the worst Final Tier Bird ID of them all, he learns a single ability and it's complete garbage. The ability in question is called Beat Progress and it hits a single target a bunch of times with some kicks for a small amount of damage. I can only say one good thing about this skill and that's it doesn't cost many Hearts to use.
Much like with most skills in this game you can unlock Beat Progress by defeating enemies while Blagsdeath is active.
(Final) Gargoyle
Gargoyle is a marginally better Final Tier Bird ID than Blagsdeath, he comes with 2 crappy skills instead of just one. Conflict Fall is the first skill and it's like Beat Progress just better (but still not good). Force Cannon is the second skill and what this does is it fires a beam at an enemy that does decent damage but the accuracy is horrible.
If you try shoorting Force Cannon at a fast or mobile enemy you're going to miss them. Both of these skills are unlocked by defeating enemies while Gargoyle is currently active.
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