Devil May Cry 3 (PlayStation 2)
Boss Guide for Normal, Easy, and Hard
Began: 4/5/05
Last Revised: 9/16/05
Authored by: J2DK (Mr_Bombastic9@hotmail.com)
LEGAL DISCLAIMER:
If this document or any part of it is copied or used without my consent, I
will feel free to sue you for plagiarism or copyright infringement. If you
would like to use any part of my FAQ, E-mail me telling me what you want to do
with it and what parts you would like to use, and I'll reply. Thank you for
your consideration.
If this FAQ is found anywhere but GameFAQs.com, neoseeker.com, and
supercheats.com, please notify me.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I.    Introduction
II.   Revision History
III.  General Tips and Notes
A.    About the guide
B.    Royal Guard and Parrying notes
C.    DT Explosion notes/Transformation Flux
D.    Quicksilver and Doppelganger styles
E.    Switch-Cancel firing and jump-cancel
F.    A note about difficulties
G.    Game sound
IV.   Boss guide
H.    Hell Vanguard
I.    Cerberus
J.    Gigapede
K.    Agni and Rudra
L.    Vergil 1
M.    Leviathan Heart
N.    Nevan
O.    Beowulf
P.    Geryon
Q.    Vergil 2
R.    Lady
S.    Doppelganger
T.    Mission 19 Boss
U.    Vergil 3
V.    Final Comments
VI.   Special Thanks
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I.    INTRODUCTION
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J2DK is back and dope as ever.
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Devil May Cry 3 is one of the hardest games to be released this millennium.
If Normal and Hard don't strike you as challenging, try tackling Dante Must
Die mode. I might be a little late with the Boss guide, but I'm sure there are
many people still having trouble with the bosses on all 4 (not counting
Heaven or Hell mode) difficulties. I hope this guide helps all those still
stuck on the lower levels and those that are attempting the higher levels. I
am assuming that whoever reads this has a decent knowledge of the Devil Arms
and how to use crazy combos/the button mash combos such as million stab. If
not, please read the in-game tutorials. Please remember, these are not the
only ways to defeat these bosses in Normal (easy, and hard) mode, these are
simply MY strategies for defeating them easily. Some may seem complicated, but
if you read carefully and watch the boss, you’ll completely understand what
I’m talking about. With that out of the way,
Let's rock!
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II.   REVISION HISTORY
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*4/05/05* Guide composition begins
- General Tips and Notes completed.
- Introduction completed.
- Legal disclaimer completed.
- Special thanks completed.
- Hell Vanguard guide: begun.
- Hell Vanguard guide: completed.
- Vergil 3 guide: begun.
- Vergil 3 guide: completed.
- Cerberus guide: begun.
*4/07/05*  - Cerberus guide: completed.
*4/08/05*  - Gigapede guide: begun.
- Gigapede guide: completed.
*4/09/05*  - Agni and Rudra guide: begun
- Agni and Rudra guide: completed.
- Vergil 1 guide: begun.
- Vergil 1 guide: completed.
- Leviathan Heart guide: begun.
*4/10/05*  - Leviathan Heart guide: completed.
- Nevan guide: begun.
- Nevan guide: completed.
- Beowulf guide: begun.
- Beowulf guide: completed.
- Geryon guide: begun.
*4/11/05*  - Geryon guide: completed.
*4/12/05*  - Vergil 2 guide: begun.
- Vergil 2 guide: completed.
- Lady guide: completed.
- Doppelganger guide: begun.
- Doppelganger guide: completed.
*4/24/05*  - Mission 19 boss guide: begun.
- Mission 19 boss guide: completed.
- Version 1.0: completed.
*4/26/05*  - Hell Vanguard guide: revised.
*4/27/05*  - Added Royal Guard cancel in General Tips and Notes.
*4/28/05*  - Changed Cerberus Recommended guns and guns strategy.
*5/2/05*   - Tweaked Cerberus Swordmaster strategy.
*5/4/05*   - Added Doppelganger tip from reader.
*5/16/05*  - Added some Recommended Styles
- Fixed Vergil controls in Mission 19 boss section
- Tweaked a strategy here and there
*5/18/05*  - Added the rest of Recommended Styles
*5/22/05*  - Touched up my grammar in some places.
*8/16/05*  - Changing recommended weapons for Vergil fights to Beowulf and
Nevan. Introducing the Killer Bee bounce to the FAQ. I never got
around to adding it.
- Turning 18 today.
*8/23/05*  - Added supercheats.com and neoseeker.com to authorized list.
*8/27/05*  - Revised Mission 19 Boss guide.
- Added new “One person, two controllers” strategy to Mission 19
Boss.
*9/04/05*  - Finally fixing the Cerberus section. Sorry for the delay.
- Finally fixed Doppelganger. Sorry again.
- Added jump canceling melee attacks to General Tips and Notes,
section F.
- Added quotes.
*9/16/05*  - Fixed Doppelganger, again.
- Fixed Agni and Rudra, again.
- Fixed Leviathan Heart, again.
- Fixed Lady, again.
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III.  GENERAL TIPS AND NOTES
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A.    About the guide:
In this FAQ I have included "First time through" and "recommended
weapons." "First time through" will list the best weapons considering
the weapons available to Dante at the time at hand. "Recommended" is
where I will list the best weapons to use on the boss after Dante acquires
all the weapons in the game. After "Recommended" are listed, I will
list any strategy changes applicable. I will either first address a general
strategy, one that can be used for all styles then afterwards I will add
style-specific tips if applicable, or I will suggest a style. If you don't
know which of Dante's attacks I am talking about, check your weapon/style
files in the left D-pad menu screen.
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B.    Royal Guard, RG cancel, and Parrying notes:
Guard and release are only the basics. "Just guard" is a special guard. To
Just Guard, guard right before the attack connects with Dante. This charges
up energy for release quickly. There's also "Just Release." It is performed
similarly to Just Guard. Perform release just as the attack should hit Dante.
This does adds extra damage to an already extremely damaging attack. Devil
Trigger amplifies release further. Each level of Royal Guard allows for more
age to be stored. To the left of the life bar is the rage indicator. The three
green orbs are dark when not charged at all. They blink when partially charged
and remain bright when fully charged. Level 1 allows for 1 orb of rage to be
stored for release. Level 2 allows for 2 orbs. Level 3 allows for all 3 orbs.
Royal guard’s guard is a cancel move like switching weapons and jumping,
except for one thing: it’s better. Any time I mention switch-cancel firing, if
you’re using Royal Guard, shoot, guard, then shoot again instead. You’ll find
that it’s much quicker. It’s especially effective with spiral. Guard also
effectively cancels almost every one of Dante’s melee weapon attacks.
I will refer to weapon parries as parries and Royal guard parries as
deflections. Parries occur when two weapons/fists collide mid attack. Any of
Dante's weapons can parry an enemy's attack with one of it's own attacks.
Deflections occur when Dante guards the moment an attack hits him. The
movement of his arms deflects the attack as a parry would.
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C.    DT Explosion notes/Transformation Flux:
DT Explosion is when you create a small field of energy around Dante when he
transforms. To perform this, hold down L1 and keep an eye on your DT runes.
The runes past the first three will turn red one at a time. To realease the
explosion, let go of L1. Make sure you're close to the enemy you want to harm.
This makes many boss fights easier, especially if you have a maxed out DT
gauge. During any boss fight, charge it and let go when comboing the boss. If
you're close enough to combo, you're close enough to hit them with the
transformation flux. A transformation flux combined with a release or just
release is the most powerful combo in the game hands down.
Never forget about the DT explosion, especially when your Devil Trigger is
at maximum level.
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D.    Quicksilver and Doppelganger styles:
I will not add specific strategies for them (on bosses) because it's always
the same. Use quicksilver if you can't dodge or guard a certain attack
quickly enough and if you want to combo your enemy for a longer period of
time. Use doppelganger if you want to double your melee damage. I don't
recommend them for many battles unless you have Super Dante because the Devil
Trigger and DT explosion are more useful and more important during boss
battles than those.
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E.    Switch-Cancel firing and jump-cancel:
This is a technique that increases the firing speed of all the other guns
besides E&I. As soon as you fire a shot with any of the other 4 guns, switch
to E&I and switch back to the other gun to fire a shot more quickly than
normally possible. To learn the time for a certain gun, keep pressing square
as you switch to E&I, as soon as you see the first pistol shot, switch to the
slower gun. By the way, Spiral adds the most style points. Using spiral, you
can get to S combos with gunfire alone.
Jump canceling only works with the shotgun and Artemis. For the shotgun and
Artemis, fire, hop, fire, land, fire, hop, fire, land, fire, etc. Jump cancel
also works for weapons.
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F.    Jump canceling melee attacks/enemy hiking:
Some melee attacks can be canceled by jumping off of (most) enemies. Killer bee
is a prime example. As the kick connects, Dante can jump off the enemy and
perform another killer bee and another and another. This is great for damage.
A&R’s Aerial cross can also be abused this way, but only against enemies that
do not fall down or go flying when hit. Cerberus’s revolver can be jump
canceled out of opening up for a swing. Swing can be jump canceled. Helm
breaker can be jump canceled (This is useful mostly against chess pieces).
Note: Not all moves that can be jump canceled can be jump canceled against
every enemy. These are only examples and Jump canceled melee moves are not
limited to only these moves.
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G.    A note about difficulties:
On easy, bosses attack less often, do less damage than usual, and seem a bit
slow to react. On normal, they seem just right: reacting with near human speed
and strength. On hard, bosses are more aggressive (they attack more
often) and do more damage than usual. On Dante Must Die mode, the bosses
inflict godly damage and (mostly) attack with, at least to DMC3 DMD newcomers,
unfair speed and freakish aggression.
This guide does not cover Dante Must Die difficulty.
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H.    Game sound:
When you play Devil May Cry 3, make sure you can hear the game's sound
effects. Most if not all enemies give away their attacks with sounds or words.
I made up the names for bosses’ attacks. Sorry if they’re not the official
names.
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IV.   BOSS GUIDE
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Read section III. General Tips and Notes before continuing into this guide.
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H.   Hell Vanguard
“Hahahaha! Dong.”
Weapons first time through -
Devil Arms: Rebellion
Guns: E&I
Notes: The Hell Vanguard is not a true boss. He later becomes a regular
enemy/mini-boss.
Attacks/moves and how to counter them:
Teleport - HV teleports around the fighting area. He disappears in a cloud of
black smoke. Lock on to keep track of him. After he teleports, stinger into
him and don't let up until your sword clangs into his scythe. He will perform
either the Overhead Scythe Slash or the Horizontal Scythe Slash. Either roll
or jump over him to avoid his slashes and continue comboing.
Overhead Scythe Slash - HV performs a slow and obvious overhead slash. Dodge
and combo.
Horizontal Scythe Slash - HV performs a horizontal scythe slash if and only if
he performs the overhead slash without interruption. Parrying his overhead
slash counts as an interruption, but Royal Guarding it does not.
Teleport Special (donnggg) - HV teleports away with the sound of a bell
tolling. When he does this, get ready to dodge because he's about to perform
one of the following two attacks.
Teleport Uppercut - HV teleports along with the toll of a bell. The ground
ripples under Dante and a few seconds later, HV leaps out of the ground with a
scythe uppercut. Run away (Don't roll) from the rippling area as quickly as
possible.
Teleport Dash - HV teleports along with the toll of a bell. He reappears and
dashes forward slashing madly. To dodge, look for a ripple. If you DON'T see
a ripple on the ground and you hear HV reappear (hard to explain the sound,
hard to miss it), jump or air hike (air hike preferably).
All Styles Strategy:
When Hell Vanguard first appears, stinger into him (if you have it) then
start comboing him. If you don't have stinger, run up to him and start
comboing. Use only the normal combos, stinger, and high time into helm breaker
(aerial attack). Stay away from using million stab because the damage is not
worth the long execution time. Combo until you hear a clang and Dante
stutters backwards. Roll out of the way or jump over HV (whichever is easier
for you) then begin comboing from that side while HV finishes his attack. HV
will then teleport away. If you don't hear a bell toll (donnggg), then lock on
and stinger/run to the HV again. If you hear a bell toll (donnggg), pick a
direction and air hike. Whether HV is doing the ground slash or the dash
slash, Dante will be safe. On Easy mode, HV rarely uses his bell teleport
moves. On Normal mode, he uses them more frequently. On Easy and Normal mode,
he never uses a bell toll move more than once in succession. On Hard mode, he
uses two bell toll moves in succession and teleports more frequently. After HV
finishes his bell toll moves, he will reappear normally. Go back to comboing
him until you hear a clang again. Make sure you listen for bell tolls.
Continue till HV dies.
Recommended weapons -
Devil Arms: Beowulf
Guns: E&I and Kalina Ann
Additional tips with Recommended:
Use Beowulf's killer bee or straight to get close to HV. Combo as usual. Use
Devil trigger whenever and however you want now that it's available.
Throw in a KA shot for when you run into him as a normal enemy and other
lesser demons are around. Sometimes they will crowd you while you are trying
to take him out first. Fire a KA rocket to knock them away and continue with
your strategy.
Style Specific Tips:
Trickster- To dodge the rippling bell toll attacks, simply dash instead of
running. It's a bit safer. With Trickster level 2, dodging the teleport dash
attack becomes easier. Once you notice the ripples aren't there after a bell
teleport, jump/air hike and then sky star in any direction. You can do this a
little earlier than simply jumping. With level 3, air trick helps a little if
you want to use it.
Swordmaster - Level 1, 2, and 3 can help you with combos against HV. Real
Impact is a boss killer and this is one enemy you want to kill quickly. When
he teleports in and spins hyis scythe, straight into him and initiate real
impact. You must be very quick for this to work correctly. Only use real
impact when it’s safe: When you catch him right after teleporting (no bell).
Gunslinger - While HV is teleporting, charge up some charge shots with E&I and
let loose when he reappears (non bell attack). Afterwards, continue as
normal. You can use the Shotgun's gunstinger to get close if you so choose.
Royal Guard - This one's obvious if you're a royal guard master. Then again,
if you're an RG master, you don't need to read this guide. Go about the fight
as usual except during combos when you hear a clang, instead of dodging, Just
guard the attack. If you see his overhead attack coming and Just Guard it
without parrying first, don't forget that HV will perform the horizontal slash
as well. The bell toll attacks can be Just Guarded as well, but because it is
difficult to time the Just Guard against these attacks, I recommend dodging
them instead. To just guard the uppercut, wait for a second then jump (or air
hike) and guard when you hear him come out of the ground. Standing on the
ground trying to guard will surely get you hit or your guard broken. To just
guard the scythe dash, guard when you hear him reappear. Release the stored
energy whenever you like while comboing HV. Just Release during DT for maximum
damage.
Recommended Style: Trickster or Swordmaster
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I.    Cerberus
“YOU AREN’T HUMAN, ARE YOU! RAAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRR”
Weapons first time through -
Devil Arms: Rebellion
Guns: E&I
Attacks/moves and how to counter them:
Direction change - not really an attack, but Cerberus will turn and face
Dante's general direction. When he faces the right more, he barely can hit the
left side. When he faces left, he can barely face the right side.
Paw swipe - Cerberus lifts one paw and swipes in front of him quickly. Roll
then jump out of the way of any following swipes. This takes a quick reaction
to dodge.
Single paw Crystal - Cerb lifts one paw and roars, then slams his paw into the
ground generating a line of jagged ice to rise in a relatively straight line
in front of his paw. To dodge this, jump to the side. Air hiking and hovering
with E&I works, too.
Double paw Million Carats - Cerb lifts both paws and rears a little bit while
saying "YOU AREN’T HUMAN, ARE YOU!" or something then slams down and large ice
crystals all around him. Jump away avoid this or air hike and hover with E&I.
This is the only attack that Cerberus announces by saying something. The rest
of the sounds he makes are roars and growls.
Head-butt - Cerb lowers his 3 heads and nudges forward a little bit. You can
tell he did the attack because his heads get a white "whisping wind" effect
around them. To dodge this, when he lowers his heads, back away.
Gnash - If you stay close too him for too long, he will perform a quick,
almost undetectable biting attack. Just don't stay in his face too long.
Pounce/dash attack - Cerberus lowers his entire front body and slightly raises
his hindquarters. If you've ever seen an animal get ready to pounce,
especially a feline, it looks just like that. Garfield fans should be very
familiar with this. This means he's about to dash forward only to be pulled
back because of his chains. Roll out of the way or air hike over him. If you
don’t have air hike, don’t jump, roll instead. Jumping won’t get you high
enough or far enough to avoid the attack and you get a few tons of doggy on
top of you.
Chain break - Cerberus rustles around in his chains. This isn't really an
attack, but he's held back by 5 chains. Sometimes when he rustles, he breaks
one. He can break up to 4 of them. When he is held back by only one chain, his
pounce goes to the other end of the room and he dashes very quickly. While
Cerberus is messing with his chains, helm breaker him in the face(s).
Head rotation - Cerberus will roar and rotate his 3 heads. The head in the
middle delegates which attack the heads will perform. The heads each have
different colored eyes.
Freeze breath (red/orange eyes) - Cerberus rears up on his hind legs roaring
and blue light shines from his mouth. He comes back to the ground and blows
freezing breath on the floor. Touching the frozen floor causes damage. To
dodge this, jump/air hike and hover with E&I or run to the non-affected area:
the side of the room Cerberus isn't pointing towards. If he's facing toward
the left, run to the right, etc.
Ice balls (light blue eyes) - Cerberus lowers his front body. Blue light
appears by his middle mouth and when it's released, he shoots an ice ball in
Dante's direction. These can be deflected back at Cerberus with a quick swing
of Rebellion or you can wait for the balls to be shot and roll. Only roll if an
ice ball is going your way or you might end up rolling into one.
Icicle drop (yellow eyes) - Cerberus's most dangerous move because it hits
multiple times and drops from directly above Dante's position. To dodge this
attack, simply roll around until it stops. It's possible to tell where the
icicles will drop because the floor looks "cold" (it frosts a little) where
the icicles will drop. When the floor stops frosting around Dante (or when the
icicles stop coming o_o) the attack is over.
Ice Armor - Cerberus rears up like the freeze blast, but lets out a slightly
higher pitched roar. He renews the Ice Armor he began the fight with. Blue
lights sparkle all over his character.
General Strategy:
Shoot like a madman to knock the ice armor off of Cerberus's weak spots. Try
to target both paws and the yellow head first (L3 switches targets). The
yellow eyed head uses Cerberus's most accurate attack, Icicle drop, so the
faster you kill it, the less you have to worry about it. Stinger into a paw
and perform a few helm breakers while paying close attention to the rest of
Cerberus. Using helm breaker on a paw usually gets Dante hitting one of the
side heads as well as the paw. Make sure you are listening for his attacks and
watching his heads' movement. Dodge any crystal attacks and if Cerberus starts
to swipe at you, QUICKLY roll away from him (left paw, roll right; right paw,
roll left) and jump away. Target the other headswith E&I to knock off the ice
guarding them. When Cerberus stops swiping around with his paws, Stinger into
that same paw again and continue to combo it. Sometimes while attacking a paw,
one of his heads takes damage, too. Eventually, Cerberus will collapse from his
paw being weak. Jump in the middle of the heads and go to town on them with
stingers, helm breakers, and (Triangle, pause, triangle, triangle) combos.
Hitting two or more heads does more damage than hitting one, but still try to
concentrate attacks on the yellow eyed head. Keep attacking Cerberus as he gets
up, but once he stands up fully, be safe and back away. From this point on,
alternate between getting up close and personal with Rebellion (jumping high
times and helm breakers) and firing away with E&I from a distance. Remember to
never stay in his face too long. While head-butt and pounce are pretty easy to
see coming, the gnash attack is just about impossible to telegraph. If Cerberus
pounces, stinger into him and Helm breaker like mad while he is recovering.
Continue until he stands all the way up. If at any time Cerberus recovers his
Ice Armor, simply shoot it off him again. After knocking Cerb's paw out once,
concentrate on damaging the heads. The time it takes to knock Cerb down via
attacking his paw a second time is not worth the effort. Once you destroy the
yellow eyed head, decide which attack (freeze breath or ice balls) gives you
more trouble. I usually kill the yellow eyed head, then the light blue eyed
head (ice balls attack), leaving the pitiful freeze breath attack as the only
special "head attack" since it's the easiest to avoid. When Cerberus has only
one head left, he begins to attack very rapidly often doing the head's special
attack several times in a row. This is why we leave the easiest to dodge for
last.
Sometimes when Cerberus stands up from being stunned, he will shake his chains
off. While he is shaking his chains off, helm breaker him in the face(s) as
many times as you can. Often times, your breakers will catch more than one
head.
Now that Cerberus is down to his freeze breath attack, look for the icy mist
give away. Whenever you see him to start misting at the mouth, run in close and
get ready to jump. When he starts freezing the ground, target him, jump, and
start to hover with E&I once you reach the highest point of Dante’s jump. When
he’s done freezing the ground, come down in him with a nice helm breaker, then
perform a rising high time followed by another helm breaker. Back away and wait
for another freeze breath attack; repeat as needed. Why do we need to back off
before the next freeze breath attack? Cerberus still uses his headbutt, swipes,
and his gnash attacks. These would be difficult to dodge if you stayed in front
of him.
If you don't want to attack him with melee in his last stage of fighting, stand
on the side of the room Cerberus isn't facing and just blast away at the final
head. Cerberus either faces the left or the right side of the room. If he
faces left, run to the right; if he faces right, run to the left. This
position is applicable whenever firing E&I from a distance. This gives you
more space to shoot and eliminates the need to dodge *most* attacks. Melee is
simply more efficient. On hard mode, shooting from the side he isn't facing
isn't as useful because he turns to face Dante more often.
Shooting one head for a little bit of extra time after knocking the ice off of
it delays Cerberus’ pounce attack. The windup becomes longer as does the
recovery (sliding back to his corner).
Helm breaker is obviously your best friend during this fight since you only
have the Rebellion at this point.
Recommended weapons -
Devil Arms: Agni & Rudra and Beowulf/Nevan (Swordmaster)
Guns: E&I and Spiral
Extra tips for Recommended:
Cerberus is elementally weak to Agni & Rudra. Replace helm breakers with
Aerial crosses. To inflict damage more quickly, aerial cross -> E&I shot ->
Aerial cross then jump back up or air hike and repeat. Whenever comboing
Cerberus (or his paw), use A&R instead of your other weapon. Use Beowulf to
get close after pounces (killer bee). Regarding Nevan, see the Swordmaster
section for notes and tips.
Regarding guns, use whatever like best. E&I are most useful because of their
rapid fire. Spiral is the most useful alternate gun because of it’s range and
power. Fire it as quickly as possible (cancel) when distancing yourself from
Cerberus. You have a devil trigger now. Use it. :) Devil trigger when you get
in Cerberus's face with aerial cross for maximum efficiency. A fully charged DT
Explosion usually knocks Cerberus down.
Style Specific Strategies:
Trickster: Trickster gets you around the room faster. You can use a dash
anytime in place of a roll. If you have level 2 trickster, you can sky star to
Cerberus's heads or paw after dodging an attack to connect with a helm
breaker. If you have level 3, air trick saves a second or two when traveling
from a long distance away from Cerberus. If you're using A&R, then trickster
is a bit more useful. Air Trick into Cerberus's face when it's clear, aerial
cross -> E&I shot -> aerial cross -> sky star forward -> aerial cross -> E&I
-> aerial cross -> air hike -> aerial cross. Well, you get the idea. Trickster
can enhance your ability to use aerial cross repeatedly in a short amount of
time.
Swordmaster: Aerial rave will be very useful against Cerberus's heads. Aerial
rave->helm breaker is even better. For A&R, sky dance canceled into (not
performing the last spinning attack) aerial cross -> E&I shot -> sky dance
(canceled) -> aerial cross with an air hike for when you drop too low. If you
have Nevan, I recommend taking Nevan and A&R into this fight with Swordmaster.
Knock the ice off of all 3 of Cerb’s heads, jump into the middle head, perform
both air slashes with Nevan, then aerial cross, then air slashx2, then air
hike and do both moves some more. Jump away to avoid being gnashed or
headbutted. The goal with air slash is to hit all 3 heads with each slash. Hack
at a paw with A&R to take them down or unleash a fully charged DT explosion
during your onslaught of air slashes to knock Cerberus down.
Gunslinger: Oh man is this fun. The rapid fire allows you knock off Cerb's ice
more quickly while charge shots let you do more damage from a distance while
waiting for Cerberus to calm down. Close up, air hiking over his heads and
using Rain Storm is very effective for both destroying the Ice Armour and
damaging Cerberus. It does more damage than shooting E&I normally. For the
other guns, don't use KA's abilities, only shotgun's gunstinger and point
blank are useful (on the paw), Artemis' lock on abilities come in a bit handy
from a distance, and spiral's gunslinger abilities are good for long range
damage.
Royal Guard: I recommend not Royal Guarding the Icicle Drop and rolling
instead. It is possible to just guard the first icicle easily, however. When
the ground starts to frost, guard. You may attempt to take Just guard the rest
by watching the ice carefully and using quick reflexes. I’d rather take the
minimal damage from guarding them normally or just dodging.
The ice balls can be just guarded by...well, waiting for Cerb to
finish shooting it out and guarding right before it hits you. O_O The freeze
breath can be Just guarded very easily. Guard AFTER (*AFTER*) you see the
ground freeze. Once in a while, you'll get two hits: One that is just guarded
and one that does *very* minor damage. Guarding his pounce is about reflexes.
Don't stand immediately in front of Cerberus, allow yourself some space. The
instant he moves from his get-ready-to-pounce stance, hit circle and hope you
did it in time. Just guarding the head-butt is simple: once he lowers his
head, guard. Paw swipes are easily just guarded if you have quick reflexes:
guard when he swipes at you. Guard Million Carats and Crystal as the ice
crystals appear. Release on your head of choice during devil trigger for
maximum effect. Getting a Just Release on Cerberus is a bit tricky. It's
easiest to do against his (head's) physical attacks (pounce, head-butt) while
in the air. Releasing on the ground is risky, it sometimes misses Cerb's head.
Recommended style: Swordmaster (Nevan’s Air slash) or Trickster (Air trick and
Sky Star)
------
J.    Gigapede
“Zap”
Weapons first time through -
Devil Arms: Rebellion and Cerberus
Guns: E&I
-
Attacks/moves and how to counter them:
Spin - Hurt him too much and he’ll be covered in white electricity that
doesn’t damage you. (?) It does, however, mean he’s going to spin. Air hike
while he spins to not let him escape.
Purple electric balls - Gigapede shoots these from the sides of his body. They
home in.
Blue lightning balls (disconnected) - The disconnected electric balls attack
solo. They shoot lightning bolts straight down at the ground and travel at a
set height. The set height is whatever height they are dropped from. Just stay
on top of Gigapede or on a ledge.
Blue lightning balls (connected) - Two joined lightning balls result in
horizontal lightning. Stay on top of Gigapede and you should be fine.
Giant Purple orb of DEATH! - Gigapede rarely uses this. He shoots it out of
his mouth, so it can’t hit you if you’re on him. It’s very, _very_ easy to
dodge.
General strategy:
When the battle starts, jump on Gigapede’s head and start to combo his head
with either Rebellion of Cerberus. Whenever white electricity shocks his body,
air hike and once again land on top of him. Continue to combo him (his head as
much as possible). Revolver (level 2) is an excellent move to use against
Gigapede. Drop off of Gigapede only if he flies into a tunnel. Whenever you
have to drop off of him as he enters a tunnel, jump and use Cerberus’s swing
(air attack) on the Gigapede’s underside as he goes into the tunnel. Let loose
with E&I after he hides in a tunnel till he emerges again and jump on him.
Whenever Gigapede shoots blue lightning balls, stay on top of him as best you
can. When Gigapede shoots purple electric balls, attacking with alternating
Revolver level 2 -> triangle (once) -> Revolver level 2 as quickly as you can
in hopes of deflecting the balls back at Gigapede is quite effective. If you’d
rather take a safer route, when you see the purple orbs being charged, drop
off of Gigapede and knock them back at him with carefully timed hits. It’s
easy to tell when to attack the balls. They’ll be right in front of you. To
avoid the blue lightning balls, stay on top of him. If you happen to get
knocked off of Gigapede or drop down on purpose, follow him to the hole he
tunnels into and wait for him. Stay on his head and keep attacking and he’ll
go down quickly. Sorry, there’s not much strategy to this fight.
Recommended weapons -
Devil Arms: Agni & Rudra and Nevan (having Nevan makes Mission 4 easier)
Guns: E&I
Extra Tips for Recommended:
Use A&R for all comboing purposes. When he shoots purple electric orbs,
activate devil trigger and repeat A&R combo 1 (Triangle, T, T, T, T) to knock
them easily back at him while taking _minimal_ damage.
Style Specific strategies:
Trickster: If you fall far from Gigapede, sky star and/or air trick toward
him. No effective way for Trickster to be used unless you plan on dodging
those orbs instead of hitting them.
Swordmaster: Instead of jumping off and knocking the orbs back at Gigapede,
you can activate Cerberus’s Ice Age (SM Level 3) when you see Gigapede
charging purple orbs and immediately follow it with (Devil Trigger) A&R combo
1 (T, T, T, T, T) for any following orbs. If you have the recommended weapons,
use Nevan’s Feedback/Crazy Roll to deflect mad orbs or Jam Session. DT as each
move ends to minimize damage.
Gunslinger: Nothing new to add to this fight, sorry, just follow the general
strategy. If you feel like using gun moves, go for it.
Royal Guard: I don’t recommend Just Guarding the purple orbs. Chances are
you’ll mess up once and get hit twice. I recommend bringing RG for only one
reason: RG canceling. You can hop off of Gigapede, lock on, and knock his
purple orbs back by timing the first hit of A&R’s default combo. Triangle,
guard cancel, triangle, etc.
Recommended Style: Swordmaster (Nevan’s Feedback/Crazy Roll) or Royal Guard
(guard cancel)
------
K.    Agni and Rudra
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
Weapons first time through -
Devil Arms: Cerberus and Rebellion
Guns: E&I
Agni only Attacks/moves and how to counter them:
Horizontal swing - Agni says “Seya!” and attacks with a horizontal slash.
Short range and long execution time. When you see Agni bring his sword back
and say “Seya!” Perform Cerberus’s revolver 2 or windmill to parry or simply
roll away.
Guard and parry - Agni guards by putting the sword in front of him. Attack him
3 times while he is guarding and he will parry your attack.
Stab - Agni says “It’s over!” and stabs while sliding forward slightly. Has a
long range. When you hear him say “It’s over!” either dodge or perform
revolver level 2 to parry it.
Running slash - Agni runs toward Dante and slashes horizontally. Jump over him
or roll.
Forward tumbling sword slam - Agni jumps into the air and tumbles forward
while holding his sword in front of him then slams it into the ground as he
lands. Roll out of the way.
Spinning sword jump - Agni jumps into the air at an angle while spinning and
cutting the air around him. Agni only performs this when Dante remains
airborne for a long time. Don’t abuse E&I hovering.
Flaming sword - Agni stands in place, roars, and thrusts the sword into the
air. The sword is covered in flames which makes his attacks stronger and
allows him to perform Crawler.
Crawler - Agni spins the flaming sword, then hops into the air and plunges the
sword into the ground. This shoots a line of flame that crawls along the
ground. This can be dodged by rolling, jumping, or simply not standing
straight in front of Agni.
Rudra only attacks/moves and how to counter them:
Uppercut slash - Rudra makes a weird noise “Er!” and uppercuts with the blade.
This has a long execution time. Parry with revolver level 2 or windmill or
roll/jump away.
Guard and parry - Rudra guards by putting the sword in front of him. Attack
him 3 times while he is guarding and he will parry your attack.
Stab - Rudra says “Eat this!” and stabs forward. Treat like Agni’s stab.
Running slash - See Agni’s
Forward tumbling sword slam - See Agni’s
Spinning sword jump - See Agni’s
Windy sword - Rudra thrusts his sword hand into the air and says something
like “Errrrrrr” in an increasing pitch (it gets higher as it gets longer) and
his sword glows with the power of wind. It allows him to perform Tornado.
Tornado - Rudra hops into the air and kind of hovers there then slams the
sword into the ground creating a tornado around him. Just don’t stand
near him.
Agni and Rudra combined moves:
Running formation - Occasionally, both brothers will run off into designated
corners of the room and follow it by running toward Dante and either perform
the running slash or the forward sword slam. 90% of the time it’s the forward
sword slam.
Super Agni/Super Rudra attacks/moves and how to counter them:
Flaming and windy swords - The swords are always glowing. Super Agni or Rudra
can perform any attack without having to charge the swords first.
Agni’s Horizontal swing - Same as before but higher damage.
Agni’s Stab - Same as before but higher damage.
Rudra’s uppercut - Same as before but higher damage.
Rudra’s stab - Same as before but higher damage.
Forward tumbling sword slam - Same as before but with higher damage.
Spinning sword jump - Same as before but higher damage.
Jet stream - A running dual slash. This slash is like the running slashes, but
much stronger. Roll or jump out of the way.
Crawling tornado (Rudra only) - The demon host holds up both swords while
spinning Agni. He hops into the air and slams both swords down creating a
tornado and a crawling line of fire. Stay away from him and don’t stand
directly in front of him.
Flame whip (Rudra only) - The demon host spins both swords and puts them hilt
to hilt. He then whips them around creating circles of flame around him. He
does this 5 times. The flaming circles have limited range, so running away from
him will be enough to avoid them. Fire at him while he’s showing off his
pyrotechnics.
Super Crawler (Agni only) - The demon host holds up both swords while spinning
Agni. He hopes into the air and slams the swords into the ground shooting a
super form of crawler. Get the hell out of the way.
Flaming wind (Agni only) - The demon host spins both swords and puts them
together (hilt to hilt). He swings the sword throwing flaming wind at Dante.
Dodge it by air hiking over the first wave, then hover with E&I until he shoots
the second wave. Drop to the ground allowing the second wave pass over your
head. Repeat to dodge third and fourth waves.
General Strategy:
Here are the attacks that best parry the brother’s slashes:
Three parries (normal mode) makes them lose the sword and they kneel there
begging to be hurt.
Revolver Level 2 - I’m sure by now all of you are tired of hearing people say,
“Dude, just spam Revolver 2, it’s so easy! lol!” while you’re getting knocked
out of the air. Spamming Revolver 2 is not a good idea, but timing it well is a
good idea. Don’t try to Revolver parry stabs, you’ll get knocked out of the air
like a rag doll.
When a brother slashes at you, wait a couple of seconds before initiating
Revolver. If you learn the timing of their slashes, then initiate Revolver only
slightly before the sword would connect with Dante. When you get deflected,
perform a Swing in the air and repeat the parry.
Cerberus attack 1 - This is the move that happens when you press triangle once
on the ground. This only works if you know the timing of each brother’s slash
(which is the same for both). Lock onto a brother as he is about to slash at
you. Just as the attack is about to hit Dante, press triangle. You will deflect
the attack while staying on the ground. It kind of looks like a just guard when
done correctly.
Windmill - Yes, windmill. Windmill has a slight wind up, so it’s a little
slower than Revolver and Cerberus attack 1. The benefit, however, is that the
timing is easier and it covers you from all sides. Even though the attack is in
front of Dante, it will parry an attack from behind or from the sides. Mash
this move to make it last longer
Helm breaker - This is Rebellion’s easiest parry. When a brother is slashing at
you, jump and air hike if you have to. Land in the slash with a helm breaker.
When fighting Agni (the red guy), Cerberus will be your best friend. He’s fire
based and he’s weak to ice. When fighting Rudra, Cerberus will provide more
protection while Rebellion will do more damage overall.
When you fight the brothers, they start by doing from-the-corner-double-
forward-tumbling-sword-slam. Fire at them as they come toward you and roll to
the side as each one lands. Stinger to one and combo a little bit. Just a
little because the brothers will start attacking.
While you’re fighting, try to stay away from the corners of the room. The
camera goes to hell when you’re fighting in the corner and it’s easy to lose
track of the other brother.
You have three options: Concentrate on keeping both brothers’ health close
together so that you don’t have to face a super Agni/Rudra, concentrate on Agni
then kill super Rudra, or concentrate on Rudra and kill super Agni.
The brothers can hurt one another. Rely on this for a lot of damage.
The brothers can guard your attacks with their swords (putting them in front of
them covering their chests). After blocking three or four attacks, they will
push guard you and your attack will be interrupted. They are vulnerable after
the push guard. If a brother is guarding, keep attacking anyway. After the push
guard, let loose. Always listen for the other brother.
If you’re fighting one brother and the other brother says anything (“Eat this!”
“It’s over!”), then jump out of the way. One brother will stab the other. Come
down on one of them with a helm breaker.
When you knock one of the brother’s swords out of their hands, listen VERY
CAREFULLY for the other brother. If you hear him say anything, jump out of the
way. Drop down with a helm breaker and continue. It’s possible to parry attacks
of one brother while you’re attacking the other one. Revolver does this well.
If you’re confident, you can spam revolver on an unarmed brother while the
other attacks you. You can knock the other sword away while still damaging the
other brother.
If you ever hear a whirling sound and you can’t see the other brother, roll.
He’s doing a forward tumbling sword slam.
If you’re paying attention to the sounds the brothers make, not abusing E&I
hovering, and not spamming Revolver mindlessly, then this should be easy.
Fighting Super Agni/Rudra:
If you’re going to fight one of the super brothers, I recommend killing Agni
first since he goes down faster (he’s elementally weak to Cerberus) and he
loses his elemental weakness when he gains Rudra’s power.
The first thing you should do is ROLL! RIGHT NOW! ROLL! At the end of the
little scene where the two swords join, the host jumps forward. He already
started a forward tumbling sword slam and Dante’s just watching it happen.
Fighting this super brother will change a few things: You only have to worry
about one person, it takes twice as many parries to knock his swords away, his
attacks do more damage, and he has new moves.
Stay close to super brother. This will discourage him from using Jetstream and
his elemental moves. Basically, attack him and he’ll start guarding. Keep
attack and he’ll push guard. Keep attacking and he’ll start to slash, parry,
parry, parry, parry, parry, parry, and he loses his sword. Wail on him with
Rebellion. Repeat.
If he does do an elemental move, which will be less often if you stay close to
him, run away and ready yourself. Read the attack info above, please. When it’s
safe, stinger to him quickly so he doesn’t Jetstream you in the face.
Recommended weapons -
Devil Arms: Cerberus and Rebellion
Guns: E&I and Spiral
Extra tips for Recommended:
Same strategy except as they run to the corner, switch-cancel fire Spiral.
Style Specific strategies:
Trickster: Dash instead of rolling since it’s faster. Air trick/sky star/dash
toward them if you accidentally run too far or if you don’t want to use
attacks to get in close. One last tip: locking on a brother, sky starring past
him, then using helm breaker on his back is pretty damn effective.
Swordmaster: Knock the swords out of their hands like usual and throw in a
Real Impact for monster damage if you have time.
Gunslinger: Replace Spiral with Shotgun. Knock the swords out of their hands
like usual and spam Gunstinger -> fireworks -> gunstinger etc. If the other
brother starts to move in, Revolver level 2. There is also a way to spam
Gunstinger, fireworks, and normal blasts the entire fight without taking
damage. 2 or 3 unguarded shotgun blasts will stun Agni or Rudra opening them up
to a gunstinger -> fireworks -> gunstinger. Fireworks sometimes stuns both
bosses. Using fireworks and shotgun blasts to open the bosses up to gunstinger
fireworks -> gunstinger is a bit of a risky strategy. It is, however, just
as effective as it is risky. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to
stun them at will and still avoid all the attacks. The first hit of gunstinger
can parry in case you gunstinger into an attack. If you go with the shotgun
spam strategy, don’t forget to bring Cerberus anyway. It’s still the easiest
way to knock their swords away.
Royal Guard: Probably the best style for this fight if you can use it well. To
guard Agni’s horizontal swing and Rudra’s uppercut, Just guard right before it
hits you. The attacks take longer to execute than you think. The stabs can be
Just guarded in the same fashion except the stabs come out faster. To Just
Guard the forward tumbling sword slams, hop into the air and meet them with a
guard before they hit the ground. To Just guard crawlers, guard it as it
reaches you. To Just guard the tornado, jump and guard just as Rudra’s sword
hits the ground. To just guard the spinning sword jump...wait, you should never
see this attack. Just Guard Super Agni/Super Rudra’s attacks similarly. For
crawling tornado, run behind him as he spins the fire sword and Just guard the
tornado. I recommend Roll guarding the flaming wind and flame whip attacks. All
dash slashes including Jetstream can be just guarded by guarding just as the
boss reaches you. This is tricky, I recommend dodging it. Release when you
charged maximum energy for your Royal Guard level. Release when a boss is
swordless or Just Release as the bosses are doing spinning jump slashes from
the corner. Jump guard the first one and Release as the second one is landing.
You should get an easy Just Release and you’ll hit both bosses. Don’t try to
just release against Horizontal swings, uppercuts, and stabs. Sometimes it
results in a parry where neither you nor the boss takes damage and your built
up rage goes to waste. Fire RG canceled Spiral shots when they run to their
corners.
Recommended Style: Royal Guard or Trickster (shotgun)
------
L.    Vergil 1
“This may be fun.”
Weapons first time through -
Devil Arms: Rebellion and Agni & Rudra
Guns: E&I and Shotgun or Artemis
Attacks/moves and how to counter them:
Air Trick - Vergil has a better version of Dante's Air trick. He has an
unlimited range with it and can teleport anywhere, not just to an opponent.
Royal Guard - He has a better version of Royal Guard, too. He lifts his
forearm in a blocking stance. The guard has a deflection effect for about 3
seconds. This means if you attack him while his arm is even slightly raised
still, your attack will be deflected and you will be stunned.
Sword flicker - Blocks gunfire of any sort by spinning his sword quickly in
front of him.
Combo 1 - Two vertical slashes, one up, one down. Dodge it by staying away.
Jump/roll away if you have to. Stinger towards him (as many times as you need
to reach him) and go crazy on him. After he grunts and stumbles don't melee
attack him. He'll deflect it with royal guard and attack you. Instead, shoot
him a couple times with E&I, then quickly switch-cancel fire your other gun
once or twice and be ready to dodge.
Combo 2 - Two sheath attacks, horizontal slash. The horizontal slash has great
range. Jump/roll away. Treat it like combo 1.
Combo 3 - Two sheath attacks, slash upward, slash downward. Treat it like
combo 1 and jump/roll away.
Dash slash (he one like Kurow's super from Project Justice. ) aka "DIE!" - He
dashes forward. Kind of like a slower stinger with less range. Jump away and
stinger into him, then switch-cancel fire your spare gun with E&I once or
twice. Often times he does this a couple times in a row. Be ready to dodge