Strategy to beating Old Castle

Getting the Map

In case you're wondering how to get the map, you need to get the Dark Castle DLC for free here:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/530180/

Intro & Tips

Due to the size of the map, I will be dividing this guide into three areas: The Entrance, The Courtyard and The Castle. Keep in mind that you don't have to do them in order. In fact, you might actually find it beneficial and time-saving to do a certain area you find to be the most challenging first before doing the others, as once you've tackled the hardest area there'll be less chance for you to fail.

My order was Castle -> Entrance -> Courtyard, in case you're wondering. May not be the best however as it could easily get overwhelming.

Here are some tips you need to know before we start:

• After killing a guest, you need to use your special to apply holy water to them, or they WILL resurrect after some time.
  
• There are about two working traps on the map, the horse and the lamp in the castle. They are both useless and you don't need them.
  
• The character you're using has a very powerful sprint ability. Guests can't see you when your cloak is up, so utilize that to your advantage!
  
• Guests will turn hostile towards you if they see a corpse, regardless of where you are on the map when they see it. Hostile guests won't pursue you from across the map like cops would do in other levels, but they will attack and kill you if they spot you near them.
  
• Your dog should play a major part in your strategy, as they will automatically protect you and kill hostile guests chasing you. However, keep in mind that they can only kill one hostile guest before going into a cooldown period, in which they vanish before respawning on the same exact spot they disappeared in. The cooldown period is 20 seconds long. (Thanks Nuuvii for the clarification!)
  
• Always keep your dog close to you. It's fast, but not fast enough to run from across the map to save you - and without any useful traps around, it's your only active defense and I would strongly advise you to play it safe and not make big moves without it near you. You'll be surprised by how thankful you'll be for having it around.
  
• Patience is key. There are 61 guests and it's a big map, trying to rush through it will most likely end up backfiring on you.
  
• Play it safe as always.. unless you're feeling brave.

The Entrance

This is the area that you start in, and is generally the easiest out of the three. The skeletons in the middle are mostly stationary and shouldn't cause you too much trouble.

1. Left Platform

The first thing you need to do before killing anyone on the platform is killing the skeleton near the entrance (see main picture, circled as number 4), as it's near enough to the platform to see you killing the female guests. The female guests won't see you killing the skeleton however, so you can just leave it there for the time being. Once it's dead, move on to the first two female guests. Properly position yourself between them and you kill them at the same time (see picture).

This will trigger the other two girls if they are facing you (seen in the picture). If that happens, you can try to time yourself properly and slash them as they charge towards you. Otherwise, kill the guitarist and then very quickly, the remaining two girls at the same time.

2. Right Platform

Just like the girls, you can kill the two waiters at the same time. This might trigger the other waiter on the right, in which you could time yourself properly and kill him, or retreat and have your dog take care of him for you. The two guests on the edge can also be killed at the same time.

3. The Middle Path

Just take out the skeleton one by one, collect their corpses and apply holy water. They pose no threat, and will not trigger unless you deliberately carry a corpse in front of them.

The Courtyard

Although the place is generally quite crowded, but you shouldn't have too much trouble tackling it.

1. Left Tower

This is where you will camp and kill probably half of the guests on this map. Guests can't use the door to get up so you'll be safe. The first thing you need to do is to kill the man on the top of the tower, and apply holy water on his corpse so he don't resurrect.

Then start camping in front of the tower's door, and take out the lone guests one by one. Carry their body and put it on top of the tower. Repeat until there are very little to no guests passing through the area anymore. It's strongly advised to not leave corpses up on the tower top for too long, as resurrected guests are always hostile. Move down to the carriage area, or move on to the right tower.

2. Right Tower

There is also another guy on the top, so feel free to take him out.
You can use the same strategy as you used for the left tower, although there isn't much to camp for as once you're done with the left tower there's usually nothing left on the right side on the map.

3. Carriage Area (Lower Left)

There are two stationary guests standing next to each other, kill them at the same time and either bring their corpse up the tower (if there are guests nearby), or apply holy water in place. Then move on to take out the carriage driver beside the horse.

4. Graveyard

The map should be mostly empty by now if this is the last area you're doing.
There are quite a few female skeletons and they should be easy enough to take out one by one, however beware as sometimes a few of them are hiding behind the castle's wall and you won't be able to see them. Watch out and retreat to the right tower if necessary. Also remember to utilize your dog if needed.

The Castle

Probably the hardest one in my opinion, I did it before doing the other areas. I find utilizing the dog to be very important here. Note that the entrance of the castle from the courtyard is generally NOT an ideal spot to camp as it's a little buggy and sometimes block you.

Room 1 & Room 2

I had two strategies that I used. You can either:

A) Camp in Room 1, stand next to the door to Room 2 and stab the guests as they walk out of the room. This will trigger a few guests in the room and turn them hostile, but they you can easily take them out with the same strategy. The only real danger is guests coming from Room 4, which will immediately turn hostile and go after you if they see corpses laying around in the room (assuming you don't have time to clear the bodies).

If this happens, you can use your dog to take the hostile guest out and quickly apply holy water to dispose the bodies, or retreat to Room 2 and stand next to the door and slash as they enter if there are multiple guests after you. Beware of guests in the room that are already hostile, and guests that might turn hostile after seeing you kill.

B) The second strategy, which is the one that I won with, is to enter Room 2 immediately and kill the guests nearest to the door to Room 1. When there is only one guest is triggered, I lure the guest and have my dog take care of it before clearing the corpses. When multiple guests are triggered I retreat back to Room 1, wait for them and kill them as they walk out of the room.

Best case scenario is none of the guests turning hostile, in which I'd clear the bodies before killing the rest.

Room 3 & Room 4

Room 4 is a hallway, and it's usually not too crowded so I take out a few guests that are there before going into Room 3.

Once it's clear, I go in Room 3 and kill the guest nearest to the door. There is usually another guest on the upper left of the room, and if he turns hostile I use my dog to take care of him, otherwise I'd take the corpse out of the door before killing him (to ensure he don't go hostile randomly). There are a few guests on the right side of the room, and they are often next to each other, which is great because you can kill them at the same time. When there is one away from the others and he go hostile after seeing I kill the guests, that's the dog's job, as per usual.

Room 5 & Room 6

Room 6 is usually empty or has only one guest in it, which you can take out very easily.
For Room 5 however, there are a few skeletons in it that don't go out of the room. My strategy is to have my dog ready and kill the skeleton standing in front of the door without actually going in the room. The corpse will turn the other skeletons hostile, however they won't pursue you right away since there is a wall between you and the skeletons and they can't see you.

The hostile skeletons might walk out of the room, which is great as then you could very easily lure them and use the dog to take them out one by one. If they don't, lure them by walking into the room (while keeping a distance between you and the skeletons) until one chases you. Run as the dog kills it.

If multiple goes after you at the same time, retreat to Room 3 and camp the door by standing next to it. Kill them as they walk in.

End

With that, the guide is over!
Thank you so much for reading my first full length guide on Steam. Hopefully you find it useful. I apologize if there are any grammatical mistakes as English is not my native language. Also very sorry if the guide is a bit messy, I'm still learning the formatting. Comments are always welcomed, and you are encouraged to share your own strategies to beating the map.

Good luck!

[LordApollo474]

Thanks for this guide, definitely helped me out a lot, very fun level too! :)

[jeffthekiller628]

Thank you very much! With this and a friend's help it was easy and even fun! :D

[thisisweird]

amazing guide, did it first try with your help

[JBL Go 2]

very useful guide

[Rocketeer]

also the holy ritual can be used to replenish stamina also so if your in a tight pickle you can use it to cloak out of there before a group of hostiles come in if its too dangerous

[Rocketeer]

btw i timed it almost exactly 60 seconds it takes for a person to revive. Use that to your advantage so you dont freak out that an enemy is going to revive during a stressful moment and time it to your advantage

[not_again.exe]

I somehow managed to play it with the main protagonist instead of the witchcraft guy... was really easy, just hiding inside the tower when police arrives

[Vince]

>killed everyone in the castle and the courtyard
>died at the entrance
>Alt+F4

[Clark]

Party Hard sadly doesn't support online coop :(

[OldDirtyBastard]

can we play online with others?