Survival Mode - Guide to the ''Better than Airdorf'' rank

For those who want to achieve the best ranking possible as well as those who simply struggle with some bosses!

Preface

Survival Mode is a boss-rush type of mini-game where John Ward faces all the demons he encountered between his investigations. Some of these bosses are skippable, earning different titles, while others are necessary to all playthroughs. The total of demons to exorcise are between 26 and 36, and the following guide is meant to help you achieve the highest ranking possible: Better than Airdorf.

Important:

The rankings are based in u/MadPunkerz's Reddit post, but some of the requirements were false when I tested them out.

This guide will be updated as I further my testings.

If you'd rather see a playthrough of the Better than Airdorf ranking, I uploaded it to Youtube. Have fun watching the struggle!

Manual link: https://youtu.be/k2WUfwjDO0E

Michael

He’ll appear 10 times in total, with the last 5 times having him move at a faster speed. He always appears first from the top left of the screen. The other times, he seems to appear only from the top or the bottom of the screen.

---

Tips: Since he never appears on the sides, he may come in a diagonal direction if you stay at the center, which can lead to MORTIS. Staying on the sides of the screen will make sure Michael's hitbox is touched by the cross.

+1 demon kill

Amy

1st encounter

Some sigils will appear on the ground, which indicate where Amy will attack. Find the real appearance out of the 4 illusions she'll create to access the next room.

---

Tips: Keep yourself close to the door to quickly access the next room.

+1 demon kill

2nd encounter

Phase 1

Amy is at the center of the room, and she’ll eventually spawn a gray demon.

---

Tip: If you just keep exorcising, the gray demon won’t have time to approach you.

Phase 2

Just like her first phase, sigils indicate where Amy will be attacking, and she’ll create illusions on each direction. Be careful during her next attack, Amy will charge at you from the opposite direction of her real position.

---

Tip: When Amy spawns her illusions, 1 of them will always blink slower than the 3 others. That’s her real position!

Phase 3

Amy summons a pentagram as big as the room and she'll follow the drawing pattern starting from the upper-left corner. Afterwards, she spawns a circle of sigils on the ground which, when John touches it, has Amy MORTIS him immediately. After finishing her moving loop 4 times, the 5th will have her move across the whole pentagram and she’ll send a gray demon at you. This is a perfect moment to exorcise her a maximum, as she’ll stay still during this segment.

---

Tip: The center is a dead spot from all her sigils circles. Staying there, moving slightly to avoid her hitbox, is the best strategy for maximum safety and damages dealt.

+1 demon kill

Mirror Demon (1st encounter of 3)

The Mirror Demon will approach you at 3 different speeds every time it teleports. Stay on your toes as its teleportation can make it place itself a few pixels next to you.

---

Tip: If you have a hard time keeping a good distance with its different speeds, focus on the exorcism only during its slow speed. During its 2 other faster speeds, focus on moving away.

+1 demon kill

Cornfield Demon

The Cornfield Demon needs to be exorcised 3 times. Its first move is invisible, which forces you to keep an eye on the plants that are stomped on to show the demon’s position. Show your cross towards its direction. Watch-out for its second move: it'll charge at you at a high speed.

---

Tip: Keep yourself in areas where the plants are still intact. If you stay at a place where they’re mostly stomped on, you won’t be able to locate the Cornfield Demon’s position.

+1 demon kill

Thrall [SKIPPABLE]

A single Thrall with show up from the lowest-right tree. A simple show of your cross is enough to scare them.

SKIP:

Enter the building before their exorcism's confirmation.

---

Tip: The Thrall will always hide at the same tree, meaning you can anticipate their presence.

+1 demon kill

Chalice Demon

A red chalice is shown at the center of the boilers room. Exorcising it will reveal the Chalice Demon, which will spawn around you starting from:
• Left
• Up
• Down
• Right

Show your cross to make it move direction, then completely exorcise it when it sticks to the right side.

---

Tip: Be quick! The Chalice Demon will MORTIS you if not exorcised inside a few seconds.

+1 demon kill

Basement Demon (1st encounter of 2)

Going downstairs, you gain a flashlight and encounter the Basement Demon in the next room. Its pattern is the same as in Chapter 2, starting with a static position, then teleporting and moving towards you. Each time it speaks, it switches movement between these two.

---

Tip: Stay close to the center and click quickly on the direction keys to simply move the flashlight.

+1 demon kill

Cemetary Demons

Each entry in the next room contains a Cemetery Demon from Chapter 2. They can be fought in any order, as long as all 3 are exorcised. This guide will beat the demons in anti-clockwise order, starting from the upper room.

Mist Demons

Every time it screams, it will change its position from one cloud to another. Exorcise it when it stays still.

---

Tip: The very bottom of where you came from is a dead spot! The Mist Demon, even if its sprite goes above John's, cannot deal damages.

+1 demon kill

Umbilical Cord Demon

The Umbilical Cord Demon will start by approaching you from the summoning circle, then move in a wavy manner across the screen from the left. It will loop these two attacks, sometimes waving from the right, until it is fully exorcised.

---

Tip: The Umbilical Cord Demon’s wavy movements only take up a third of the screen. You can completely avoid its path by moving out of its way.

+1 demon kill

Graveyard Maze Demon

The Graveyard Maze Demon has the single move: teleport and chase you at various speeds. Stay on your toes when it does so.

---

Tip: Just like the Mirror Demon, if you have trouble dealing with the Graveyard Maze Demon’s various speeds, wait for it to have a slower speed or for it to teleport far away from you to deal damages.

+1 demon kill

Pentagram Demon

The Pentagram Demon will charge at you from random linear directions. You’ll need to show your cross 3 times before it gets exorcised.

---

Tip: Very rarely, the Pentagram Demon will make its typical scream without showing itself. It’s a ruse, it will never appear as invisible to you.

+1 demon kill

Mirror Demon (2nd encounter of 3)

The Mirror Demon has the same moves as the first encounter, apart from the room being bigger and being able to darken its appearance. The latter move happens after it makes the lights go out, which happens only 2 times throughout its fight.

---

Tip: When the lights go out, watch out for the section of the floor that seems altered. That’s the Mirror Demon’s darkened sprite, which indicates its position.

+1 demon kill

Spindly Lady

The Spindly Lady will teleport 3 times before charging at you from her latest position. Stay at the center for an easier time dodging her.

---

Tip: You can show your cross to her while she’s staying still during her teleportations.

+1 demon kill

Peekaboo Demon (1st encounter of 2)

Just like in the Candy Tunnel, the Peekaboo Demon will appear from behind a pillar. When you see it, don’t move.

---

Tip: Remember to wait for it to completely get out of the room before moving. If you hear the demon defeating sound, it means it's safe to move.

+1 demon kill

Basement Demon (2nd encounter of 2)

This is the last time you encounter the Basement Demon. This time, the room is smaller. As usual, stay on your toes.

---

Tip: Since the room is smaller, there's more risks to collide with the Basement Demon's sprite when it teleports. Stay extra careful!

+1 demon kill

Blind Ones

The Blind Ones are cult members who are chased away by the flashlight. They can’t be exorcised, and they are numerous. You’ll need to cross over the top-center of the screen to overcome them. Often checking your surrounding will be key to not get MORTISed.

---

Tip: The quickest route is the following:
• Go to the right.
• Go upwards.
• Go to the left.
• Hurry to the top-center of the screen.

No demon kill

Miriam Bell

Phase 1

Miriam Bell is at the center and invokes Thralls from the left and right walls to charge at you. She changes position 2 times afterwards depending on how much damages she suffered.

---

Tip: Positioning John to face the left or right wall will help you chase away Thralls while keeping on exorcising Miriam Bell.

Phase 2

The lights will black-out and you’ll be forced to use the flashlight as Miriam Bell teleports across the room and approaches you. You’ll need to show your cross to her many times before she enters her next phase. Letting her approach you in front of John's cross can help deal more damages while she flees.

---

Tip: Sometimes, Miriam Bell will move vertically or horizontally instead of teleporting. She can still take a lot of damage from that move.

Phase 3

The lights return, and she’ll adopt a new move set.

Moving in a wavy manner across the screen.

---

Tip: If you can’t avoid it completely, try keeping yourself safe by predicting where she won’t land.


Miriam Bell spawns illusions around you. Show your crucifix to her real position.

---

Tip: Just like with Amy, the sprite who blinks slower is her real position.


Afterwards, Miriam Bell changes tactics with another set of moves.

• Miriam Bell charges in random linear directions a total of 3 times before making her next move.
  
• She then approaches you at various speeds.
  
• She spawns somewhere and directly charge at you at a high speed, which can be stopped by showing John's cross.

Miriam Bell then summons a pentagram and moves across its entirety. She’ll start from the top-left and will end her pattern there.

---

Tip: The pentagram is small enough that stepping out of it is an easy and safe strategy to adopt.

+1 demon kill

Jeffrey [SKIPPABLE]

The creature from the Clinic, Jeffrey, returns. Each time it appears, you’ll need to quickly pick up the riffle given to you and shoot it. Exorcising it is ineffective but shooting it 4 times will do the trick.

SKIP:

Cross each rooms before Jeffrey does. The last room cannot be skipped.

SOFTLOCK WARNING:

Crossing the 3rd room to the 4th by going above the boiler pool will softlock you in the walls!

First room: Jeffrey appears from the door the most to the left.

+1 demon kill

Second room: Jeffrey appears from behind the curtain. (It appears when you’re above it.)

+1 demon kill

Third room: Jeffrey appears from the boiler pool.

+1 demon kill

Fourth room: Jeffrey appears from the left entry.

+1 demon kill

---

Tip: In each room, you can only use the riffle ONCE. You can wait for it to approach you to make sure you shoot it accordingly.

Mother and Child

Phase 1

The mother stands still at the upper part of the room, while her babies try to slow you down.

---

Tip: Don’t worry about the babies! When the second phase starts, they’ll detach from you and climb to their mother instead.

Phase 2

The mother will have an armor of babies on her, making it impossible to deal her damages. Instead, you’ll need to exorcise 3 of her red-eyed babies to destroy her armor.

---

Tip: Stay close to the mother to be able to quickly exorcise the transformed babies.

Phase 3

Babies will charge at you while their mother’s armor is down. You’ll need to exorcise her alongside her transformed babies.

---

Tip: If you keep exorcising without stopping, you’ll only need to exorcise 3 transformed babies to force the mother to the next phase.

Phase 4

All the babies will climb on the mother as an attempt to protect her.

---

Tip: The battle is already at its end, no need to exorcise her further.

+1 demon kill

Elevator Friend [SKIPPABLE]

Entering the elevator will show you a new cutscene where John rests with some relaxing music. When the cutscene ends, the demon will run towards you.

SKIP:

Cross the next room before it reaches you OR before its exorcism is confirmed.

---

Tip: Notice the blue arrow on the top-left of the room, it points towards where the Elevator Friend spawns from.

+1 demon kill

Peekaboo Demon (2nd encounter of 2) [SKIPPABLE]

When walking towards the center, the candles will go out and the Peekaboo Demon will appear. Its moves are mostly teleporting. Watch for which candles lit up, that’s where the Peekaboo Demon hides.

SKIP:

Walk across the room.

---

Tip: The Peekaboo Demon will make a teleporting sound to indicate it is changing position. Stay alert when you hear it.

+1 demon kill

Alu [SKIPPABLE]

Alu’s fight is the same as in Chapter 3, this time more difficult due to the boiling pool making it impossible to exorcise the 5 dolls in one turn.

SKIP:

When possessed by Alu, let it kill Lisa. The fight will immediately end.

Alu, possessing Lisa, runs towards you.

---

Tip: You can avoid Lisa by making her stuck on the other side of a doll or the boiler pool.

After Alu is pushed away from Lisa, it’ll hide in one of the 5 dolls. It will possess John if not found quickly.

---

Tip: Try to exorcise the dolls from far away, rather than getting close to them. (For example, staying at the bottom of the boiler pool allows you to exorcise 3 of the dolls.)

If you get possessed, the best way to avoid Lisa is by doing long button presses on her opposite direction.

+1 demon kill

Tiffany

Tiffany approaches you at various speeds and teleportation positions. When enough damage is dealt, she'll bounce across the rooms for 5 ricochets. This moveset is looped 5 times, each time being faster.

---

Tip: While Tiffany’s hitbox is vertically long from her feet to the demon’s head, the demon’s arm isn’t considered in it. Therefore, you can safely deal her damages from the sides if she teleports near to John.

+1 demon kill

Plagas

To the left is a room with 3 Plagas, cultists who transform into pink creatures with long arms. You can exorcise them and/or shoot them with the riffle. You can only use it once.

The 3 Plagas must be defeated for the next door to open.








This room is extremely tricky, since they can corner you if triggered all at once. The same goes when you shoot with the riffle: you can be MORTIS if the Plagas grab you during the riffle's animation cooldown.

---

Tip: Be careful as to trigger them one after the other to avoid getting cornered. It’s possible to shoot all 3 of them, but it's more risky than trying to shoot only 1 or 2 and exorcise the remaining.

+1 demon kill

Below is a timestamp of my playthrough to see how I dealt with them (with 1 KO.):
https://youtu.be/k2WUfwjDO0E?t=1196

The Unholy Spirit

A few seconds after you enter the room, The Unholy Spirit will chase after you. Deal it enough damage and it will disappear.

WARNING:

When the hitboxes touch, you will get MORTIS, there is no psychiatric ward as a second chance like in Chapter 3.

---

Tip: Stay close to the entries to quickly reset the room when it’s getting too close.

+1 demon kill

Mirror Demon (3rd encounter out of 3)

This time around, the Mirror Demon only moves very slowly, taking damage only when it’s fully visible in the mirror. Therefore, you’ll be forced to be as close to the mirror as possible to deal damages. It will always appear from the upper-right of the room.

---

Tip: When the Mirror Demon is defeated, GET AWAY FROM THE MIRROR.

+1 demon kill

Malphas' Acolytes

1st encounter

4 of Malphas’ Acolytes break out of the mirror to approach you. Simply exorcise them before they reach you.

---

Tip: The further you are from the mirrors when they appear, the better chance they have to group together when coming for you, allowing mass damages.

+1 demon kill

2nd encounter

After picking up a lantern, you’ll enter a section like the Nowhere Forest, with a bunch of Malphas’ Acolytes approaching you at various speeds. Grouping them as you move around is the safest tactic, as they are slower than John.

---

Tip: Your cross deals damages beyond the lantern’s light. It is possible to exorcise some Acolytes before they’re in your view!

+1 demon kill

Horror [SKIPPABLE]

Going to the left, you’ll be greeted by red fences and, to the right, Dusk’s enemy cameo of a Horror. Simply exorcise it while keeping a good distance.

---

Tip: It’s possible to exorcise the Horror before it’s in the lantern’s view, so you can anticipate its appearance by raising your crucifix and facing the right side of the screen.

Gary Miller

Continue to the right and then entering the psychiatric institute again, you’ll be greeted by Gary Miller’s En garde! dialogue. His different movements are randomly picked from his move set.

Several spiders run across the screen, from the top to the bottom. (Note: There’s a rare chance that the incantation will be changed to ‘’Australia’’ instead!)

---

Tip: No big movements are required to avoid them, slightly moving from the center does the trick.

Gary stands to the left or right side of the screen and throws his trident to the opposite direction.

---

Tip: Same applies here, but vertically. The trident's hitbox is smaller in height than the trident's.

Gary steps aside and summons a skeletal clown that tries to grab John. It appears from the top of the screen, starting with its fingers.

---

Tip: If it becomes to hard to dodge it, touching it will remove it as John will have to retrieve his cross.


Most commonly, Gary holds high his trident to slow you down and summons appearances of past demons.

---

Tip: Overall, the safest way to defeat Gary is to keep getting hit. That way, you have Gary stay still most of the fight, since he freezes over when John picks up his crucifix from the ground. You can even wait a bit before picking it up to have Gary approach you before dealing damages.

+1 demon kill

Astaroth and Malphas

Phase 1

Astaroth crawls on the ground, trying to get closer to you. Sometimes, he’ll invoke seals to block your path, up to 5 in total. They’re removed after a certain time or when Astaroth crawls over them.

---

Tip: To be quick, stay close to Astaroth and exorcise him unless he stops to prepare a charging attack.

Other times, he’ll stop moving to prepare charging at you or across the room. Sometimes, he may force you to use a lantern.

---

Tip: Astaroth is unlikely to charge towards the top or bottom walls. Placing yourself there can make it easier to dodge him, especially when the lantern is imposed

Phase 2

After enough damage, Malphas shows up and place itself to the opposite side of your position (left or right). Astaroth keeps his previous attacks, and Malphas adds to them by shooting 3 arrows or taking high jumps across the room. Be careful as sometimes Malphas targets you as its landing point to its jumps.

Note: Dealing damages to one of them copies the damages to the other, there’s no need to exorcise both at once.)

---

Tip: Malphas can also take damage for both Astaroth and it! If you have a hard time exorcising Astaroth, you can focus on exorcising it instead.

Note: Every time you get MORTISed, Astaroth’s speed will change.

+2 demon kills

Super Miriam

Going upwards and entering the one-eyed door summons Super Miriam at the top of the screen. Get ready for a long fight with 10 chances granted before getting MORTISed. The following moves are in order of her pattern.

WARNING: If you use up your 10 chances and MORTIS, the next time you will be granted only 1 chance!

Arrows are crossing the screen vertically. Their gaps are big enough to dodge. Rings composed of 3 green skulls will suddenly appear.

---

Tip: Entering their ring to dodge afterwards can do the trick, but they can also be outrunned if John is placed far from Super Miriam.

Super Miriam shoots a single flame towards you, then cross the screen from the upper left to the upper right. She'll do so in a half-circle movement, with her curve directed towards John's position.

---

Tip: A dead spot is at the top of the screen, where Super Miriam will never curve towards.

Super Miriam shoots a single green skull, which eventually explodes into 8 ones.

---

Tip: The closer you are to Super Miriam, the harder it is to avoid the fragments. The center of the screen is a safer position to dodge any skull explosion.

Super Miriam descends to the center of the screen and brings closer a ring of fire. She’ll then direct single skulls towards you. Avoid them as much as possible given the small space.

---

Tip: This is the move that allows the most damage. Her wings aren't fully in her hitbox, so exercising her from the sides should help deal a maximum of damage.

Super Miriam dissipates the ring of fire and returns to the top of the screen. She creates a river of green skulls that slowly descend. She will also shoot arrows occasionally.

---

Tip: While the hitbox of the skulls is small enough to pass between two of them, they're still tricky to dodge. Focus on getting the least hits possible instead of Super Miriam's exorcism.

Super Miriam directs fire in an X formation across the screen while shooting a ring of skulls.

---

Tip: A safe spot to dodge all objects is the center of the screen and going to the sides when the fire appears. Their delay allows to escape from the X formation rather quickly.


Super Miriam disappears from the screen and will charge at you either (interchangeably) from top-center to bottom-center of the screen or from left-center to right-center.

---

Tip: Walking diagonally can help in dodging while anticipating her direction.

+1 demon kill

Rankings

These rankings are based on u/MadPunkerz’s Reddit post, to which I edited according to in-game tests. (For example: they all went with 35 demons for the maximum, when there's actually 36.) Here’s the different rankings and their criterias!

WARNING: Some of the Reddit post's criterias are unabtainable despite following their exact criterias.

Therefore, some of these will be updated with screenshots, or they will have ones who debunks their requirements.

Better Than Airdorf

Finish in 00:28:46 or less, 36 demons, less than 3 KOs.

Saint

Finish in 00:30:00 or less, 3 or less KOs. (Any number of demons killed can get you this ranking.)

Archdeacon

Finish in 00:45:00 or less, 3-10 KOs. (Any number of demons killed can get you this ranking.)

Zealot

Finish between 00:30:00-50:00, 3-20 KOs. (Any number of demons killed can get you this ranking.)

Firar

Originally posted by u/MadPunkerz:

Finish in 1800–3000 seconds (30:00-50:00), less than 35 demons, 10 to 20 KOs.

Deacon

Finish between 00:50:00 and 1:20:00, 10 or more KOs.

Convert

Originally posted by u/MadPunkerz:

Finish in 3000–4200 seconds (50:00-1:20:00), less than 35 demons, 20-30 KOs.

Choir Boy

Originally posted by u/MadPunkerz:

Finish in 4200–5400 seconds (1:20:00-1:30:00), 35 demons, 20-30 KOs.

Alma Perdida

Originally posted by u/MadPunkerz:

Finish in 1:30:00 or less.

Altar Boy

Finish in more than 1:30:00, 30 KOs or more. (Any number of demons killed can get you this ranking.)

Cryptid

Originally posted by u/MadPunkerz:

I couldn't understand the exact values, maybe you get it if you don't fulfill any of the conditions mentioned above.

Thrall

Originally posted by u/MadPunkerz:

666 KOs.

[ash]

very helpful