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Walkthrough for: Devil May Cry 4
Game: Devil May Cry 4	Format: PlayStation 3	Ratings Good
Posted by: Emmie87
Congratulations on purchasing what i think is a very strong title with great graphics, a brilliant plot and some weapons you wish you could use in real life! Hope you enjoy my Walkthrough and it can help you out Walkthrough A. Mission 01 B. Mission 02 C. Mission 03 D. Mission 04 E. Mission 05 F. Mission 06 G. Mission 07 H. Mission 08 I. Mission 09 J. Mission 10 K. Mission 11 L. Mission 12 M. Mission 13 N. Mission 14 O. Mission 15 P. Mission 16 Q. Mission 17 R. Mission 18 S. Mission 19 T. Mission 20 Beyond A. Blue Orb Locations (BluO) B. Secret Missions (SecM) C. Bloody Palace (BlP) D. Unlockables (Unlck) Ok, let's roll. After the cutscenes (which are 100%, pure, unadulterated badassery by the way), you're faced with your first boss. Wait, what? That was quick, wasn't it? []=====DANTE=================================================================[] \| Yes, Dante is your first boss of Devil May Cry 4. Surprising? Not \| \|really. Actually, you'll find the first half of this fight is a Tutorial. \| \|You'll be taught pretty much the basics from gunplay, to dodging, and sword \| \|slashing. If you're new to the series, play close attention. \| \| After you finish the tutorials, you'll actually get to the real fight \| \|health bar and all. For the first boss, Dante is pretty simple as you might \| \|expect. Well, if you want a good grade for this mission, all I can say is to \| \|go right after him. However, take some time to break the seats below stage to\| \|get red orbs. This will get you an S Rank for Orbs on Mission 01 which is \| \|a good start. Dante's attacks consist of the Stinger, Helm Breaker, and \| \|Honeycomb Fire. Stinger you'll see a lot if you try to attack and he rolls \| \|out of the way. He'll usually counter with Stinger or sometimes jump up and \| \|use Helm Breaker. Both are pretty difficult to avoid sometimes, so if you \| \|attack and miss, prepare for hurt. Still, it's not as bad as it sounds. You \| \|will have plenty of opportunities to slash him with your sword. Blue Rose is \| \|rendered useless in this fight as Dante will cancel all your bullets with \| \|Ebony & Ivory. You're gonna need to find openings and slash him. With no \| \|moves you're obviously limited to your regular combo and Buster but it's ok. \| \|Dante may also taunt you. If he does, don't miss the opportunity to attack \| \|with your sword, or better yet, grab him with a Buster to possibly begin a \| \|combo attack. With a little bit of effort, Dante should eventually go down \| \|without a problem. Once you've won, guess what? You've completed Mission 01! \| []===========================================================================[] Mission 2: If you did well enough, you might have just enough Proud Souls to purchase an upgrade. Do so if you wish. If you can afford it, buy Combo B for Red Queen. If not, buy both Streak and Split. These are just my suggestions though and you are by no means obligated to go with them. Also keep in mind that if you're not happy with any purchase you make, you can refund them and buy other skills with your Proud Souls. Buy what you think is necessary or helpful. You won't have enough Red Orbs to buy any items yet most likely so when you're all done, let's get started. Opera house Plaza ----------------- You'll be faced with some scarecrows. Vary your sword slashes with some busters to raise your Stylish a bit. You can also shoot them with Blue Rose from a distance if you wish. Note that you're now using Red Queen, so you can start using Exceed now by revving with L2. See Nero's Abilities section for more info as well as check on Ninja99's guide on Exceed. Mastering it will help you tremendously over the course of the game. Once all the enemies are dead, head to the top right and press Circle near the blue door near the Red Orb. Storehouse ---------- Break the two barrels in the corners for Red Orbs. On the north side of the room is a small set of stairs that just leads into a wall. If you jump up and wall kick (press X after jumping while facing the wall), you can leap into a small opening with a Gold Orb. This item will help you if things get really hectic. After that, climb the other stairs and jump the gaps to go down the hall. Break the boxes and barrel for orbs, then proceed into the next room. You'll be faced with three more scarecrows. Take them out and don't let them surround you. Once they're dead, destroy all the shelves, boxes, barrels, etc. for more orbs. Head through the next door. Terrace/Business District ------------------------- Scarecrows are running amok on the city streets below, but you won't be able to deal with them. Just go down the hall a short way and turn to enter the next door. Cathedral --------- Proceed down the stairs and keep going toward the bottom of the room. Destroy all the chairs here for orbs, then examine the glowing pedestal with Circle. A cutscene will take over and you'll now be in possession of the Evil Legacy. This nifty device is the first of many items that will enhance the powers of Nero's Devil Bringer arm. With this, you can now use Snatch and Hell Bound by holding R1 and pressing Circle. Head back up a ways and you'll notice the thing in the ground is now glowing. Stand on it to make a Grim Grip appear. Lock onto it with R1 and then press Circle to use Hell Bound to grab it and vault yourself up to the 2nd floor. Head down to another one and do the same thing to reach the other side of the room. Break the seats lined against the wall for orbs and then head toward the exit. Before you leave though, look to your left and you should see a floating Red Orb. Your first inclination may be to jump to it. Instead, save yourself the trouble of having to climb all the way back up and use Snatch on it instead to bring the orb to you. Neat huh? Head through the red door. Terrace/Business District ------------------------- Back here again, you can now use the Grim Grips to fly across the area to a new terrace. Head down the hall and if you have Tutorial on, you'll be advised about Secret Missions. Rightfully so, as there is one right before you. If you look closely at the sort of lamp fixture, you can see a sort of scroll on it with red markings. That's the Secret Mission. Examine it with Circle to try Secret Mission 01: Annihilation. For strategy on this, check the Secret Mission section (SecM). Otherwise, proceed to the next Grim Grip to be launched to a platform where you'll be trapped by two Scarecrows. Take them out to reach the next Grim Grip. On this platform you'll be attacked again. The tutorial will tell you about Snatch. Use it to bring distant enemies closer. It's very useful so use it often. Take out all the scarecrows, being careful not to get surrounded. Once they're gone, proceed through the next door. Residential District -------------------- Head down the corridor and around the corner. Take out the Scarecrow and head down. All the objects here are breakable so bust them for orbs. The fruit baskets in particular will award you with green orbs if you need health. Head down a bit to fight two more Scarecrows, then go back to the pedestal on the left. You should see a large red crystal. Hop up and start wailing on this thing to free some red orbs. Once it's destroyed, head down the street again but don't go too far. There's an alley to the left; head in. On the ledge to Nero's right is a small Red Orb. Hop up there and then on to the roof. Head along the roof till you see another Red Orb. Grab it and then enter the small alcove in the wall there. Inside you'll find a Blue Orb Fragment. Nice! Hop down and break open the garbage container for orbs. Proceed down the area to the next door and head on through. Port Caerula ------------ Head along the dock. Ignore the open space to your right; you can't do anything there yet. Keep going along the dock until you find a Grim Grip. Hit it and keep going until you find a door. Head through. Customs House ------------- Inside here, you'll be ambushed by more Scarecrows (these guys are getting pesky, aren't they?). In this area, the tutorial tells you about Stylish, which I already mentioned, but I'll mention it again. Vary your attacks as much as you can to increase it so you'll get a better ranking. Obviously, if you have not purchased any new moves, you're limited to only a few attacks which makes mixing things up a little hard. As you get more moves, go to them instead of using the same attacks so you can boost your Stylish. Once the Scarecrows are history, move to the east part of the area where you'll find a blue pedestal. Strike this thing again and again to activate it and release the lock on the door above you. Jump up there and head through. Port Caerula ------------ Move forward and press Circle to investigate the controls for the drawbridge. After a cutscene, the bridge will be lowered. Exit the way you came in. Customs House ------------- No surprises waiting for you. Just drop down and head back through the door. Port Caerula ------------ Back outside the Customs House, some Scarecrows are waiting for you, including one on your right that you might not see due to the camera so be careful. Take them out and then a third one will appear at the end of the dock. Snatch him to bring him closer and then deliver his punishment. After that's done, Grim Grip over to the other dock and then head to that wide open area you passed before. Here, as the tutorial does, I will tell you about Taunts. By pressing select you can deliver a taunt which will slightly raise your Stylish. This is another way you can vary your moves. It's also pretty cool and fun to do, but the obvious risk is that it leaves you vulnerable to enemy attack. Do it when your enemies are away from you or on the ground. Performing part of a taunt and then jumping away to avoid getting hurt is better than just standing there and getting hit and thus ruining your Stylish rating. Take out all the Scarecrows here and then proceed across the bridge. Destroy the garbage containers here for Red Orbs then go through the door. First Mining Area ----------------- Head through the hall and then into the next room. Keep going forward (north) to reach a little sewer with a bunch of Red Orbs. Grab them, then jump back up. Hit the Grim Grips to reach the next area. On the left is a green orb; grab it if you need it. You'll also see a really strange glowing device. This is the Combat Adjudicator. It has lanterns that, when diminished, destroy the statue and relinquish a Blue Orb Fragment to you. To extinguish the lanterns, you have to reach a certain level of Stylish by attacking the statue. Obviously, the key is, again, varying your attacks. If you bought Split and Streak you will have a little bit of advantage here. Just use all your attacks, including Buster to raise your Stylish. You only need to hit a Brutal rank on this one so it's not too tough. Once that's done, head to the right. You'll pass a Divinity Statue. Use it if you want to. You won't have any more Proud Souls than you did before, so you can't buy anything new yet, unless you got killed. You can take this opportunity to buy some items. If you followed my directions, you should have enough for a Blue Orb, so buy that. You can also buy a Vital Star S if you feel you might not be ready for the coming boss fight. Note how things get more expensive the more you purchase of them. Once you're ready, go through the door. Ferrum Hills ------------ Rev your Red Queen to fill the three lamps. Again, this is not going to give you even a "great" advantage, but it's good to be prepared, especially if you purchased Split/Streak. Head up the stairs and move forward to activate a cutscene. Boss time. []=====BERIAL================================================================[] \| Trust me, Berial's bark is worse than his bite. If you played the \| \|demo, you should know him well. You may also know he's not exactly a walk in \| \|the park. Don't fret though, there's some tricks you can learn to help send \| \|him back home with a spanking. \| \| First I'll outline his attacks. Berial will try slashing you with his \| \|sword when you're near his front. This attack sweeps across so the only way \| \|to avoid it is by rolling. You may have trouble with this at first but it's \| \|easy to learn eventually. The other slash you can avoid by jumping around him\| \|sort of. Secondly, if there's some distance between you and him, he will rear\| \|his sword back and then come charging at you. I find that the farther away \| \|you are when he does this, the harder it is to dodge. Even if you roll at the\| \|right time before he strikes, you may still get hurt, which is annoying. So \| \|on that note, try not to be too far away from him at any time. One other \| \|attack he will use when his health has been lowered, is easily recognizable \| \|by the call he makes. He will usually say, "DIE!" and strike toward the \| \|ground with his fist. Start running, now. Fire will spiral up below you, but \| \|you can avoid it if you keep running. This is reminiscent to Phantom in DMC1.\| \|Berial's is harder because after he does this attack, he will then slash at \| \|you with his sword, which you'll have to jump to avoid. Doing so may make you\| \|an easier target for the chasing fire so be careful. He will also sometimes \| \|make an explosion around his body which will engulf everything (including \| \|you). This attack comes without warning and if you're attacking him, it's \| \|to get out of the way in time. His last attack (at least on Devil Hunter) is \| \|where he charges his whole body with a stronger aura of fire. This means he's\| \|charging at you and you have to get moving, ASAP. \| \| Alright, now to hurt Berial, you've got to slash him again and again \| \|with Red Queen. Be wary of his sword and keep wailing on him as best you can.\| \|One thing you can do to avoid his sword slashes is to use Snatch on him. This\| \|may be hard though if you haven't upgraded it. It will however let you avoid \| \|his attacks. When you've weakened him enough, Berial will lose his flames. \| \|This is your cue. Quickly jump up and use Buster on his face before he has \| \|the chance to attack. This will activate a very awesome combo where Nero will\| \|pick him up and slam him with his Devil Bringer. And believe it or not, it's \| \|not over after that. While Berial is face first in the dirt, grab him again \| \|with Buster to follow up with another attack. Be careful here now though, as \| \|Berial will reactivate his flame in a big explosion. It will hurt you if \| \|you're too close, so instead, stay away and shoot at him with Blue Rose. Once\| \|it's safe, move back in and keep slashing away. You might get the chance to \| \|do the combo again, so don't miss it. If you're getting hurt, the surrounding\| \|houses will drop green orbs when destroyed so grab them. They often get \| \|broken in the chaos of the battle's outset so if you don't grab them, they \| \|will disappear. Remember that. \| \| If you keep it up and avoid his attacks, Berial will eventually go \| \|down. \| []===========================================================================[] Once he's down, collect the Red Orbs and then proceed through the door, up the stairs and through the ruins to the next area. Mission complete. Mission 3: Power up again. You might have just enough for another Blue Orb (5000), so buy it if you can. Otherwise, just save your Red Orbs for later. Buy Streak and Split if you didn't already do so. If you did, buy Combo B or C or buy Snatch for the Devil Bringer. It's up to you. Also consider getting Charge Shot for the Blue Rose. It's not a huge difference maker in battle, but it helps. Second Mining Area ------------------ You should hear the Scarecrows ahead. There's a Divinity Statue on your left but you shouldn't need to use it unless you forgot something. Though, if you get some more Red Orbs up ahead and get enough for that Blue Orb, you can go back to the statue and buy it. Regardless, keep going down the hall and turn right. Three Scarecrows will be waiting. Take them out but be careful that the camera doesn't mess you up. When they're dead, go back through the hall you came down and go all the way west. Break the wooden planks open and you'll find a red crystal. Smash it for Red Orbs and then go back the way you were going. Here you'll find a waterfall area with a bunch of Grim Grips. Hit them all to go up. Once you reach the platform, don't go through the opening. On your left are two more platforms. Jump to the second one and you'll see more Grim Grips. Hit these to fly into a wall. Wall kick this wall and at the height of your jump, lock on again and hit another Grim Grip. You might not be able to see it, but try to hit it anyway. Keep hitting them to go up to a platform where a Blue Orb Fragment waits. It may take many tries because it's difficult to land on the platform. You can get it eventually though. There's another Blue Orb here, but you probably won't be able to get it now. Check the Blue Orb section for it when you have the Red Queen ability, Roulette Spin (BluO). Proceed through the opening on the platform. More Scarecrows will attack. Defeat them, then go north and hop up the steps to the opening. Go forward a short ways but turn left right away to find an opening with a Vital Star S in it. Take it and keep going. Proceed out of the cave to the next area. Fortuna Castle Gate ------------------- Brrr, it's cold! Anyways, head forward but on the left, climb up some platforms to reach a large Red Orb. Then proceed along the mountainside for a while until you reach a small outcropping. A cutscene will take over and now you'll be faced with a pair of Frosts (Ahh! So we meet again you bastards!). Try your best to pelt them with continuous attacks. Use your Buster often to keep one of them away from you so you can focus on the other. Once they're both dead, check the bottom left and bottom right pillars. Jump on top of both of them to find some secret orbs. Nice. Keep going. As you approach the castle gate, a cutscene will take over. Hm, that was... interesting o_O. Anyway, head up to the gates and enter. Grand Hall ---------- Get used to this room because you'll be seeing it a lot. Every time you come through here, make it a routine to smash all the chairs and stuff on the left and right. They're hard to see in the poorly lit room so make sure you smash them all to get all the Red Orbs. Once that's done, proceed through the door on the west side. Large Hall ---------- Turn right and some Scarecrows will great you. Take them out. Bust the candle things for Orbs. Proceed down the hall and fight more Scarecrows and bust more objects for Orbs if you wish. Otherwise, head through that little hallway on the western end where you started and enter the door. Torture Chamber --------------- This room is aptly named. You'll find it a torture if you happen to fall into it in a few minutes. For now, destroy all the Scarecrows and then proceed to the next door. Head up the stairs. Ignore the glowing pillar; you can't do anything with it just yet. Head through the door. Step on the marking to bring up the Grim Grip. Hit it to launch yourself across the room. Another will appear, hit it. The next one will be stationary, but the one after it will move from right to left slowly. Time it so that by the time you hit the first one, the second Grim Grip is near the middle, so that you'll wind up on the opposite platform. Three more will appear. The key here is to hit them as fast as you can. The longer you stay airborne after hitting them, the more likely you are to hit the spike ceiling above, which will send you falling to the ground. If this happens, you'll have to fight the Scarecrows again. So, hit the Grim Grips rapidly by tapping the Circle button quickly. For the next two, the first one will occasionally disappear. Make sure you wait til it's appeared again before you hit it. For the last one, you'll have three more. The middle grip moves from left to the center where it stops for a moment. Make sure you hit the middle one when it's aligned with the third one so you can enter that little alcove. Head down the hall and through the door. Grand Hall ---------- Now you're on the 2nd floor. Head north around the area (there's a magical barrier in place preventing you from dropping down). Wall kick to get a Red Orb then use Snatch to get the other. Keep going to find a door. With the barrier in place, it's your only option so go through. Central Courtyard ----------------- Rev up if you want to. Head north and two Frosts will appear. Use Exceed Streak and Buster on them. Also try Exceed Split. Keep attacking them and using Buster until they're both down. When they're dead, head north to the door. Foris Falls ----------- Head down the stairs and go north. You can see a strange looking pillar with a Vital Star on top of it. Getting it is not easy. You have to wall kick the pillar so you land right on top of it, instead of going over it. When you do, jump up to claim the Vital Star S. Head back south and then up the other staircase. Here you will see another Combat Adjudicator. Striking it will yield nothing but an ominous message telling you that it can only be broke by the hand of another. Obviously that refers to Dante. This Adjudicator is red so you know it belongs to Dante. Nero can only use ones that are blue. So ignore this for now and keep going to the door. Central Courtyard ----------------- On the other side, you'll be greeted by two more Frosts. Use the same methods to take them out, then proceed to the door on the south side. Grand Hall ---------- You'll be on the other side of the barrier. Head south a little to find a blue pedestal. Hit it with your sword to lower the barrier. This will allow you to reach the door just south of you. Before you go through there though, keep going south until you see a large mirror on the wall to the right. Jump up and strike it with your sword until it breaks open. Jump inside to claim a Blue Orb Fragment. Now go through the door you passed. Gallery ------- You'll be attacked by a lot of Scarecrows. Take them out carefully and then destroy all the objects for orbs. The suits of armor will yield Green Orbs. Head through the next door. Library ------- Outside, look at the large pillars on your left. From your initial view after entering this area you can see two, but there's another in front of those. If you count that pillar, the one you're looking for is the third. If you have Air Hike, climb up it as high as you can go for a stash of Red Orbs. Otherwise, you'll have to get this later. Head south (use the Divinity Statue if you wish) and through the door for a cutscene. Now you'll have to fight a Blanco Angelo. These guys are easy. Avoid attacking it from the front and go for his back. Use Buster on his back to really hurt him. Once he dies, another appears. Kill him, and two more show up. Try to use Buster to throw one into the other for a lot of damage. Once they're down, head through the new opening and examine the pedestal for the Anima Mercury. That ends the mission. Mission 4: Ok, power up again. I bought Combo C and Speed. Again, buy what you want or need, and especially get things that I advised earlier like Streak/Split if you didn't already get them. If you don't see Speed as a priority, consider Air Hike or Roulette Spin. I didn't have enough Red Orbs for another Blue Orb so I didn't buy anything. If you want, buy some healing items but try not to spend too much. Alright, let's go! Library ------- All is quiet after your showdown with the Angelos. With tutorial on, you'll be told about the Anima Mercury and the Gyro Blades, those big statue like objects you've undoubtedly seen around the castle. Using your Buster, you can bring them to life and then move them to break things in the environment that you couldn't normally destroy. If you've been paying attention to your surroundings you might already have an idea of what some of these things are that can be broken. The Gyro Blades are moved by your Buster attack and have three speeds. If you just Buster it, that's the normal speed. If you slash the Gyro Blade with your sword, it will deploy some blades and move farther when you Buster it. If you slash it twice, it will unleash much more rapidly spinning blades and move very far. You can use it to damage enemies too which will come into play in a little while. So, use the Gyro Blade and direct it toward the door that sealed behind you when you entered the library. When it's open, head out and back to the door you came in from. Gallery ------- You'll be attacked by a pair of Scarecrows and a Frost. Nothing to worry about really. When the Frost goes down, another will take his place. Use the Gyro Blade leaning up against the wall if you wish but I found that it's more efficient here to just kill them with your attacks. Proceed through the west door. Grand Hall ---------- Back on the 2nd floor of the big room, you'll be told that the coffin in the middle of the room is apparently "summoning a Gyro Blade." What? o_O. Kinda creepy actually. Anyways, jump down to the 1st floor, ignore the seats and chairs that have the Red Orbs for now; there will be an easier way to break them in just a second. Head to the north part of the room where the torches are and hit the Gyro Blade with your Buster to bring it to life. Guide it down the stairs and use a one slash boosted speed to break the chairs and stuff to get your Red Orbs quickly and easily. Also break the coffin with the Gyro Blade and it will reveal a strange circle that you can't do anything with right now. Head through the east door. Large Hall ---------- You'll be told about another thing responding to the Gyro Blades. It's your next target. You need to find one though. There are two Gyro Blades in the center of the hall near the sealed door, but let's leave those there for now. From where you are on the east side, head north just a little bit past the iron gated room and enter the door on your right. Dining Room ----------- The door will seal and you'll be faced with two Blanco Angelos. Just remember to attack their backsides with slashes and Busters and you should prevail easily. When they're dead, smash all the chairs along the table and all the stuff on top of the table for Red and Green Orbs. Head out the door now and then turn left. You'll find another Gyro Blade. Bring it to life and then move it across from your current position, into the hallway that you will see, is being filled with occasional fireballs. You'll be using it as your shield. Don't worry, as long as the Gyro Blade is in front of you, you won't get hurt. So just use two slashes to boost the speed of it and propel it down the hall toward the source of the fireballs. When it is destroyed it will reveal a Secret Mission. This one is pretty easy, so check the Secret Mission area for tips on how to beat it for a Blue Orb Fragment. Head right and go through the door. Large Hall ---------- You'll now be on the other side of that barred gate area. You'll also not be alone. Several Scarecrows will appear to fight. Take them out. A lot more will show up as you start thinning their numbers so make sure not to get surrounded. Vary your attacks for a good Stylish. Use the Gyro Blade in the corner if you wish to take them out without any hassle, but you won't get much Stylish for it. When they're all dead, break the objects in the corners for Red Orbs then activate the Gyro Blade and place it near the door. Then go to the blue pedestal and open the door. Push the Gyro Blade out. You want to go north, where some new Scarecrows will be coming at you from. Power up the Gyro Blade with two slashes and send it down the hall. It should kill the Scarecrows and also send it quite far. As you continue moving it along the hall, more will show up, so just keep killing them with the powered up Gyro Blade. Eventually, you will reach the top of the room where the two other Gyro Blades are, ignore them for now and keep moving yours along to the west side. If yours got stuck in one of the little tractor beams here, just Buster it again to free it. When you get to the west side, propel the Gyro Blade into the gate to free a fourth Gyro Blade. Once you do this though, several Scarecrows will appear. Use your Gyro Blade or the freed one to send it back through the hall and kill them. Keep in mind you can only have one active Gyro Blade at a time. Send one back through the hall to the top and place it with the others. Then go back for the last one and do the same. Once all four are in place, the seal on the door is broken and you can go through. Use the Divinity Statue now if you want to. I used it to get another Blue Orb with my Red Orbs. Once you're ready, proceed through the door. Central Courtyard ----------------- This is the area below the outer areas by the same name that you were traveling through and fighting Frosts in. Ahead of you is a Hell Gate. Proceed forward for a cutscene. Here we go. []=====BAEL==================================================================[] \| You'll be presented with two female demons. They will act sort of \| \|docile but make no mistake, they will attack you. Some of the attacks can \| \|really hurt too. Focus on one and just slash the hell out of it. You'll get \| \|Red Orbs and eventually weaken it enough. Without warning, they will vanish, \| \|and then the camera will focus on another area. This is your cue to run or \| \|side roll out of the way fast. Two red eyes will appear and then a giant \| \|beast will leap out at you. This is Bael. A cutscene will take over, so if \| \|he caught you in his mouth the first time, you won't take damage. He will try\| \|to do this more often though so you'll have to avoid it. \| \| Yeah, this guy is big and ugly. Despite his size, he is quite agile, \| \|which you will find is much to your chagrin as you're trying to hit him. He \| \|will just hop away, making you chase him. He doesn't have a whole lot of \| \|attacks. He will fire icicles off his backside that will land on you. They \| \|can be hard to dodge by running, so use roll if you have to. He will also try\| \|to lunge forward and catch you in his mouth, like I said. This is the attack \| \|you have to avoid at all costs, especially if you have low health. It's easy \| \|to see coming once you've memorized how Bael moves. He will sort of back up \| \|on his hind legs a bit, then a second after, spring forward at you. If you \| \|can time that right, you can easily side roll out of the way before he \| \|lunges. Another attack (if you can call it that) is when he jumps out of the \| \|way to avoid you. If he lands on you, it will hurt, so watch his shadow on \| \|the ground carefully. Go to the outside, or between his legs to avoid some \| \|pain. Lastly, he will suck in a lot of air and his throat will become \| \|engorged. Run to the left or right quickly and also try to time the release \| \|of this attack so you can jump right before he unleashes it. Bael will let \| \|loose a breath attack that turns into ice along the ground. If it hits you, \| \|you will get frozen. \| \| You will also subsequently forced to watch Bael veil himself in the \| \|dark and he will deploy his Rusalkas, the female demons you fought before. \| \|These things have a nasty attack where they glide across the ground and try \| \|to grab and freeze you. Once they do so, you're pretty much screwed as Bael \| \|will pop out again and eat you. You do have an advantage though. Focus on \| \|one Rusalka and just beat the hell out of it with Red Queen. Exceed attacks \| \|and Streak help tremendously. Use Streak to decrease the gap between you \| \|and your target and just keep hitting it again and again. You should notice \| \|the pigmentation of the Rusalka's skin darkening. If you keep it up, it will \| \|eventually collapse to the ground. You can now use Buster to pull Bael out \| \|from the shroud and continue attacking him. \| \| If you manage to hurt him enough, Bael will lose his strength and fall\| \|to his stomach and stick out his tongue. Grab him from the mouth with Buster \| \|if you're near his front. This will initiate a nice combo and really hurt \| \|him. Alternatively, if you're near his backside, you can grab his tail when \| \|he enters this weakened state. I rarely find myself near the back so I always\| \|go for the front. The Buster also has to be placed quite precisely on the tip\| \|of his tail so it can be tough. The resulting attack is cool though. Don't \| \|waste time trying to get the tail one if you can get the other though, \| \|especially if you have little health. \| \| When you get him down to about 1/5th of his remaining health, he will \| \|roar and turn kind of red in color. His attack pattern will change only \| \|slightly. He will jump more often and try to land on you so be careful here \| \|if you have low health. Just keep slashing him and eventually you'll win. \| []===========================================================================[] For winning, you'll gain the Rusalka Corpse and the Red Orbs for beating his ugly ass. The power of the Rusalka Corpse is explained in tutorial in the next mission, but I'll just tell you now. Now that you have it, you'll be alerted to the presence of nearby secrets with a glow on Nero's arm and a ringing sound that will get louder and more repetitive the closer you are. These secrets include secret orb stashes and Secret Missions. Very helpful. Head through the door on your left (west) to end the mission. Mission 5: Same deal. Buy what you want. I went with Roulette Spin and Snatch 2 this time with the Proud Souls I had. If you haven't been able to, buy that Blue Orb with the 10,000 Red Orb tag. If not, replenish some healing items if you wish. Time to get started. Soldier's Graveyard ------------------- Here you will be introduced to a very easy, yet annoying (on higher difficulties) enemy. The Mephistos always attack in pairs but rarely (on Devil Hunter especially) attack simultaneously. You will usually be able to focus on one without having to worry too much about the other, but don't become too lax just in case the other does attack. Use Snatch a few times to bring down the Mephisto's cloak, then attack it with Red Queen and some busters. If you attack hard and quickly enough, you can kill it in one go, without it putting its cloak back up. Otherwise, repeat the same method until the first one is dead, then do it again for the second one. The iron bars in this area are breakable, but won't yield any red orbs. All the statues and headstones will though, so break every one you see. Line up the headstones in their rows or columns and use snatch to break more in one go. If nothing else, it will save you a little time. Once everything is done, head up the stairs. You'll be alerted to the presence of a nearby Secret Mission. It's under the stairs, but don't bother trying, as you can't beat it right now. Check the Secret Mission section after you have complete Mission 08 and then go back to this one. Head through the door. Master's Chamber ---------------- Some Blanco Angelo's will appear. A third will appear once one of them is killed. Once they're all down, break the table and chair near the bed for a few orbs. Thanks go out to Viudez for reminding me of the Secret Mission in this room. I had put it in the Secret Mission section with all the others, but forgot to refer to it in the walkthrough. Above the fireplace in this room is a mirror, similar to the one in the Grand Hall you busted for the Blue Orb Fragment. Open this one up to reveal a Secret Mission, a very easy one at that. When you're done, go through the door. Torture Chamber --------------- Go to the right (Nero's left) and activate the pedestal. This will open the gate in front of the Gyro Blade. Knock it across the platform (don't worry, neither you nor the Gyro Blade can fall off). Send the Gyro Blade through the door and it will destroy that strange pillar you saw earlier in Mission 03. You will then fall down into a large pit and into a new room. Spiral Well ----------- You will fall a ways until you land before a red glowing pedestal. It will soon become sealed off though and two Mephistos will appear. Use the same tactics as before to take them both out. When they're dead, examine the pedestal for the Wing Talisman. This will activate the circles, like the one you uncovered in the coffin in the Grand Hall and turn them into platforms that will send you into the air (similar to platforms in DMC3). So use these platforms to propel yourself back up through the well. After you hit the 2nd platform, move to the west and try to land on the ledge there. In the open cell your Devil Bringer will glow so step in for some Red Orbs. Keep heading up. After the third one, you can land on the north ledge for a red crystal. Destroy it for more Red Orbs. Also try to examine the part of the ledge protruding out toward the center with the glow on it. You can get a Holy Water. Go up to the next ledge and again on the north side you can land. Use Snatch to reach a Vital Star S behind the cell. Keep going up until you exit. Torture Chamber --------------- You'll be back on the lower floor this time. You'll have to fight the Scarecrow party again. Before they're all dead, two Mephistos will pop up as well. Kill them too and then proceed through the next door. Large Hall ---------- You'll be faced with two Frosts. I will admit that during this particular bout, they went back to doing what they do best: annoying the hell out of me. When you kill them, head through the nearby door into the Grand Hall. Grand Hall ---------- The Wing Talisman will respond to the uncovered platform circle. First break all the chairs and stuff again for Red Orbs. Once you're finished, jump onto the platform to be propelled upward. Your target is the chandelier so get on top. Once you're on, slash it with your sword for a cutscene. A new room will be revealed. Go inside and down the stairs. You'll see a faint green glow on the left. Use Snatch to rescue a Vital Star S. Hopefully with these you will be able to save Red Orbs for other things. Go through the door. Underground Laboratory ---------------------- Go down the hall. Eventually a cutscene will be triggered. A pretty freaky one at that. The mission will then end. Mission 6: This time around, I decided to get Exceed 2. That was all I could afford. Buy that or whatever else tickles your fancy. Just keep in mind some moves you can easily get by without so don't feel obligated to get them right away. Time to move out. Underground Laboratory ---------------------- Don't jump down right away. Instead, go along the outer path of the top floor. You should be able to find a way to go around and locate a Blue Orb Fragment. Nice! Jump down. There's a Combat Adjudicator here, but it's for Dante so we'll leave it alone. Head through the east door. R&D Access ---------- Proceed forward. A cutscene occurs. It seems there's no way to go, but then three Cutlasses open the way and attack you. These guys can be pretty tricky. They will swim around you at a good speed and occasionally try to jump up and land on you, or spring up from beneath you. The best way to hurt them is to use Blue Rose and shoot one. It will eventually slow down and allow you to Snatch it. Once you've done that, use Buster to draw it out and then begin to pummel it with your sword. An alternate (but more dangerous way) is to wait til they are about to appear below you. Side Roll out of the way and then quickly use Snatch to nab one in the air and bring it down to you. Just be careful and you should beat them. The pieces of the door they broke open can be further broken for some orbs, including green for health. Head down the hall and enter the next door. Game Room --------- This room is interesting to say the least. You'll be presented with a board of colored circles. A statue representing Nero will be your game piece. You're given a large die to hit to move the statue across the circles toward your goal. Certain effects are brought about by landing on certain colored circles. Red - Generates enemies for you to fight Blue - Drops a lot of orbs including green White - Free roll Yellow - Will move you across the board to the nearby yellow circle Obviously you want to avoid the red ones as much as possible. Luckily, there is a trick to the die game, as has been discovered by several sources. The key is to memorize the pattern in which the die spins. Starting at one, it goes four, two, six, three, five, then back to one again. Whatever side is facing up when you hit the die, is the one that it will land on. This has been thoroughly tested with Buster so use that when you hit the die. Therefore, if you are able to do this correctly, you can move about the board without landing on any red circles. Attempt to land a two to get the yellow circle so you can skip some spaces. Next try to get a six so you can get some orbs, including green if you need health. Go for a two again to get another yellow circle. Roll a one to get another yellow circle. You'll now be within five spaces of the exit. So roll a five or six to clear this game. Head through the door. Containment Room ---------------- Oh yeah, this does not look good, does it? Well, let's get started. Proceed forward for a scene. []=====CONTAINMENT ROOM======================================================[] \| After the scene (which was funny, right?), you'll be trapped in the \| \|room and Agnus will send his creations, the Gladius swords after you. These \| \|swords will attack in one of two ways. It's easy to tell which one is coming \| \|by the way they spin. If they spin horizontally, they will come thrusting at \| \|you which is easy to avoid by moving out of the way. If they spin vertically,\| \|they will come at you with a sweeping attack. This is trickier to dodge but \| \|can be done. It becomes annoying when several swords do this move, where \| \|dodging one is easy but the next ones will usually catch you. \| \| The key to this fight is the glass screen separating you from Agnus. \| \|You've got to destroy it. Slashing your way through will not suffice though. \| \|Instead, you can use Agnus' Gladius creatures to do the work for you. Use \| \|Snatch when they're about to attack to grab one and then use Buster to send \| \|it at the screen to damage it. You can also jump up and strike them with Red \| \|Queen to plunge them into the ground, allowing you to easily Buster one and \| \|throw it. Keep up this pattern and do your best to avoid the other Gladius. \| \|You can sometimes get health by destroying some. Also be aware that Agnus \| \|will attempt to electrify the floor during certain intervals in the fight. \| \|To avoid this, jump on the platform in the center. Just be careful here \| \|though as you have little space to move in, so the Gladius can target you \| \|easily here. \| \| Agnus will electrify the floor more often when you get his room down \| \|to about 1/3 health. Just keep up your attacks. When several Gladius are \| \|preparing to attack, refrain from grabbing one until they attack. Then use \| \|one to throw at the screen again. Keep this up until it breaks. \| []===========================================================================[] A cutscene occurs, one that is full of awesome and win. Nero acquires Yamato and earns his Devil Trigger. The resulting explosion of power blows Agnus away and reveals his true form. He escapes unfortunately. After the scene is over, you now have Yamato, and with it, the ability to use Nero's Devil Trigger. The gauge can only be used when you have at least three slots full. You only have three at the moment so you'll be unable to get a lot of mileage out of it for the time being. Step on the platform with the blue light where Yamato was previously sealed to get a large Red Orb. Head through the door. Foris Falls ----------- Attack the pedestal ahead of you. It will cause the falls to part and a bridge to extend from the castle to a new area. That's where you're headed to now. Break the nearby barrels and head up the stairs. Break two more barrels at the top. You should be able to see a Blue Orb Fragment floating out in the air. The easiest way to get this one involves Air Hike. If you have it, use Streak from the platform. This will give Nero a nice leap toward the fragment. Then just use Air Hike to get closer. If you don't have Air Hike, you can still get this one, but it will be a little tougher. Use Streak again to propel yourself off the platform, and then use Roulette Spin (if you have it) to keep yourself up in the air and moving slightly closer to the fragment. If you don't have Roulette Spin, use Snatch at the right time to get it. Head through the door at the top of the stairs. Angel Creation -------------- A Blanco Angelo will attack. Kill him to fight two more. When they're dead, go to the northeast corner of the room. Some freaky experiment is going on there but behind the leftmost cage there is a Secret Mission. Do it to get another Blue Orb Fragment. Then head to the northwest corner and go up the stairs. In this room, more Angelos will attack. Take them out then drop down to the next room. Here, yet even more Angelos will attack you. Fight and kill them then check for a secret near the southeast corner for Red Orbs. Head through the next door. Underground Laboratory ---------------------- Examine the computer panel on the right with the green glow. This will seal off Agnus' lab and activate some Talisman platforms for you. Go back up and then down the hall to the door. Grand Hall ---------- Head back up and out the opening you made. From right where you exit the wall, go right or left to one of the doors. Central Courtyard ----------------- You know what's coming. Two Frosts will attack you. Make them suffer, for my sake. A third will show up once one of his buddies goes down. When you're done, head through the next door. Foris Falls ----------- Head down the stairs then go north. With the bridge now extended, you can get over. A cutscene will take over, and the bridge will then detract and the falls will come back down. Perhaps it's a mechanism of the bridge to do so once a person has crossed. I like to think of it as someone who deliberately activated the switch Nero pressed, which subsequently creeped me out o_O. Regardless, move forward. Forest Entrance --------------- Just head toward the light (lawl) and a scene will begin. Mission over. Mission 7: After the scene is over, power up again. Now that you have Yamato, you have a new category of skills to buy from. I recommend Trigger Heart ASAP from the Yamato group, but you probably won't be even close to affording it now, or any of the other ones for that matter. For that reason, I decided to save my Proud Souls this time. Don't feel obligated to do the same though. Buy whatever you want or refund old skills and maybe you can afford something else. Now, as for items, we can now buy Purple Orbs which will boost your Devil Trigger gauge. At this point, I had just enough Red Orbs for the 15000 Blue Orb. Lengthening the DT gauge should be more of a priority though, and the Purple Orbs will start off cheap like the other items. I purchased two, and saved the rest of my Red Orbs. Definitely try to buy at least one and we'll get started. Forest Entrance --------------- Just before you, slightly to your left you should be able to see a big pod like thing. These are seeds belonging to a boss you'll be meeting very soon. These ones are breakable for orbs so smash it. Head forward to find a gazebo in front of a red crystal. Before you go wailing away on it, turn left before the gazebo to find a hollowed out log with a bunch of pods in it. Destroy them all for orbs, then assault the crystal for more. You'll notice Nero's arm is reacting, and sure enough, within the gazebo is a Secret Mission, but don't even bother, you can't beat it. I'm not saying that to indicate it's very tough. I mean you really can't beat it... yet. Dante's skills are required to complete that one, so we'll have to do it later. Move on. Windswept Valley ---------------- Drop down to meet the Chimera Seeds. You'll learn to hate these guys soon, much more so if you play the game again on Son of Sparda or higher. These guys are docile now so just slash them or better yet, Buster them for an instant kill. There are pods (which the Chimera come out of when "ripe" I guess) around so smash them for more Red Orbs. Head up the stairs to the big mansion in the southwest corner. Enter. Ruined Church ------------- A scene will take over, showing you how the Chimera Seeds assimilate into the Scarecrows. Now you've got the much more annoying Chimera. The key to beating these guys is to keep your distance. They will deploy their blades at certain intervals. Time it so you attack right after the blades are done flailing. Use charge shots and quick Buster and sword attacks. It might get dicey, but you should be able to take them out. Break the pod near the pillar and then start slashing the glass near the west side. You can break in to find a whole grove of these pods. Smash 'em all for their orbs. Ignore the Adjudicator since it's for Dante. Head to the southwest corner, smash the pod, and go up the stairs. You'll find a pedestal that activates some platforms that pop up in sequence and then disappear shortly after. Walk across to the other door and enter. Ruined Valley ------------- Head across the catwalk to a marker that will make a Grim Grip appear. Hit it and launch across the chasm to the other side to hit another grip. Head down to find a pedestal. Hit it to start up some more appearing platforms. As you start walking across though, two Mephistos will pop up. They'll work hard to try and attack you while you're crossing the appearing platforms. Dodging their attacks while waiting for the platforms and also dealing with the camera can be very frustrating. If they knock you down and you fall into the chasm, you'll be forced to fit a group of enemies, which may include Chimera. So try not to fall if you can avoid it. An easy trick is to start the platforms but don't begin crossing. The Mephistos will come out and start coming toward you on the base platform. Here you can just kill them easily and then activate the platforms again and cross without any worry. Be sure to try and nab the Blue Orb that will be hovering over the chasm. You can reach it with the fifth set of platforms. Air Hike will make it extremely easy, but if you don't have it, it's still doable, it will just be trickier and will require speed since you obviously have a limited time before the platforms go. Try jumping, doing a Roulette Spin, and then using Snatch and you should be able to get it. Head across the other platforms to finally reach the exit. Lapis River ----------- Search for some pods near trees and under the bridge to get orbs. Cross the bridge and go left. Behind a tree, you'll find a Secret Mission. This one can be a little challenging but is very doable. Complete it for another Blue Orb Fragment. When you're done, head the opposite way (right from the bridge) and into the next area. Ancient Plaza ------------- Bust any pods you find and move toward the pit. Some Scarecrows and Chimera Seeds will spawn. If you want to save yourself some frustration and pain, go after the seeds and rip them apart. Then you can focus on the weak Scarecrows. When everything is clear, make tracks for the exit. Windswept Valley ---------------- You'll find a familiar object here. Strike the Gyro Blade with your Buster and then set it loose, breaking down the gates before you. When you break through, Chimera Seeds and Scarecrows will appear. The seeds will try to infest the Scarecrows immediately. Use the Gyro Blade to decimate them easily. Next, use your trusty device to break the gate right around the corner to the south. It will open a path to a new door. Sweet! Go through. Ruined Valley ------------- Proceed up the catwalk. You won't get far before a cutscene starts. Now you're being chased. Proceed through the catwalk quickly, breaking or jumping over the pods that obstruct you. Breaking them will yield orbs but will obviously slow you down. Once you're safe, proceed to the door. Forgotten Ruins --------------- Ah finally, a blue Adjudicator. You need to get your Stylish up to Atomic on this one. Not too hard if you have a good assortment of moves. Use every sword combo or attack in your disposal, mixed in with some Busters and you should get the Blue Orb Fragment. Nice. Let's move on. More Chimera Seeds and Scarecrows here. You know the drill. Take them all out and then head east to find a Green Orb and a Divinity Statue. Use the statue and buy another Purple Orb. Buy a healing item if you think you'll need it. When you're ready, head up the path. Den of the She-Viper -------------------- Another Hell Gate. You should know what's coming by now. Head forward just a short ways to start the scene. Another cool one in my opinion. []=====ECHIDNA===============================================================[] \| First I just want to point one thing out for the simple fact that it \| \|is something I forget every time I fight this boss, and not that it led to me\| \|me getting killed, it usually just made the fight tougher. There are seed \| \|pods all around the edges of the battlefield. If you get in a jam, go for \| \|them and smash them for health. \| \| Ok, you're fighting a big dragon, snake, plant, woman... thing. Yeah, \| \|kinda strange but this fight should prove fun if you know what to do. The \| \|boss will hover above the ground at first. You're gonna need to jump up and \| \|slash her. Make sure you perform regular aerial combos and not Splits. She \| \|will whip her tail at you. She advertises this well so it's easy to avoid. \| \|When you get close to her, she may also whip her head extension thing at you.\| \|This will be tougher to avoid if you're in the air slashing her, but it \| \|doesn't hurt too much luckily. She will also close her flower and start \| \|zooming around the battlefield in her dragon form. She will attempt to run \| \|into you in this manner. Easy to avoid by side rolling. Later, Echidna will \| \|use her roots to either stand high above you with her flower sac thing \| \|below which will sprout Chimera Seeds, or drill into the ground with it and \| \|summon roots to whip you. That covers her attacks for the most part. \| \| There's not a whole lot to the fight, it's actually pretty simple. \| \|Keep wearing her down with your slashes. Near the battle's outset, she will \| \|go into her dragon form and fly around. Just avoid it and shoot her. Make \| \|sure you don't get hit, it hurts. As for combos, from just slashing her and \| \|wearing her down, you can get her to sort of slump over. This can occur when \| \|she's hovering or when she's drilled into the ground. Buster her for an \| \|awesome combo. You can rev Red Queen while doing this combo, so be sure to do\| \|so. While drilled into the ground, she is easy prey for your sword attacks \| \|but watch the roots and also her hair thing that she keeps whipping at you. \| \|When she uses her roots to spring up above you, use Buster on the pink flower\| \|sac to bash it. \| \| Obviously your Buster and the combos are a key to victory. There is \| \|one very, very important thing to keep in mind however. This is your first \| \|boss fight with Devil Trigger. Be sure to use it. If you have DT activated \| \|when performing a Buster, you'll do a special version of it which will hurt \| \|Echidna (and other bosses) much more. Aside from that, using it will just \| \|assist you in wearing her down quicker and also slowly restore your own \| \|health. \| \| When she's down to about 1/5 of her health, she will activate some \| \|new power and begin glowing in a golden light. In this state, she will go \| \|into flying mode more often and fire off a lot of seeds. You need to be \| \|cautious here. You can Buster her as she comes flying at you if timed right \| \|so if you think you can do it, try it. It's a high risk though, because if \| \|you fail to time it right, she will hurt you badly. \| \| Keep up your attacks, grab health around the area if you need it, and \| \|finish her off. Echidna should go down with little more trouble. \| []===========================================================================[] You'll earn the Sephirotic Fruit for victory. Yay? This item has only immediate use and then quickly becomes worthless afterwards. Oh well, it will help you escape from the forest, which is good enough for me. Grab all the Red Orb spoils from the fight and then head to the southwest corner and examine the big tower of tangled roots there. The Sephirotic Fruit will respond and petrify and dissolve the roots, allowing you passage. Move forward to end the mission. Mission 8: If you did what I did, and saved your Proud Souls from before, you should have a nice amount now to buy something new. I went for Trigger Heart at 2700, so buy that or whatever. If you don't want it, seriously consider Air Hike now if you haven't gotten it already. It will come in handy during this mission. You probably can't afford a new orb at this point, so hold on to your Red Orbs for now. Let's just get started. This mission will be fun too. Ancient Training Ground ----------------------- Head along the path to the ruin. Inside, your spidey sense, er... Devil Bringer will begin to respond. Above Nero you should see a pod hanging on the ceiling. Jump up and bust it open for another Blue Orb Fragment. Head out the other side to encounter a pair of Scarecrows and a pair of Chimera Seeds. Go for the seeds first and then the Scarecrows. Move on. Lapis River ----------- Examine the roots. Nothing here. Just go across the bridge and toward the north exit again. Ancient Plaza ------------- As you enter, this place seems quiet too. Take a few steps forward though and a scene takes over. The Assaults return from DMC1 to make Nero's life a misery. Actually, not quite. These guys are surprisingly simple. The key is to just keep attacking quickly. If you can keep them all on their toes they won't be able to attack you. Use Busters and sword attacks to wipe the floor with these overgrown geckos. Head for the exit. Windswept Valley ---------------- Nothing here to surprise you. Bust open the pods and then head southeast again to the church. Ruined Church ------------- Some Scarecrows and an assault will attack you. Take them out and another Assault will show up. Decimate all the enemies, then claim the orbs from the pods. In the southeast corner, under the stairs is an alcove. Inside are more roots. Examine them and then head out the next door. Lost Woods ---------- Head out and toward the center. There's a tablet here you can read if you want but it's not going to really help you all that much. Here you have three paths, not counting the one you came from. One path leads to the next area, while the others will send you to an area with enemies that you'll have to fight. After which you'll be put in the same area again (Hm, Zelda ish anyone?) You want to avoid this. However, you should go the wrong way at least once to get another Blue Orb Fragment. Defeat all the enemies then check the corner of this mysterious room. Up high, in the trees should be the orb. You'll pretty much need Air Hike for this one. The only alternative is to have Exceed 3 and rev three lamps and perform Exceed High Roller. It will launch you high enough so that you can reach it or Snatch it. Otherwise you'll have to come back for it later. To solve the Lost Woods Puzzle, examine the shadow cast by the center statue. Whichever direction the shadow points to, go the opposite way. Do this three times to surpass the Lost Woods Forgotten Ruins --------------- Proceed along the path to the door. Break the pods first for orbs, then enter the next area. Ancient Training Ground ----------------------- Go south and some Scarecrows and two Assaults will appear. Take them to Suffering Town, then continue on your way. Break the pods and examine the Divinity Statue. I had enough orbs for either the Purple at 13000 or the Blue at 15000. I decided to go with the Blue Orb since I hadn't bought one in a while. You may only have enough for the Purple though, or neither. Buy what you can or want then move forward. Gran Album Bridge ----------------- You'll be running a long ways toward the platform at the end. If you bought Speed it will be a little less unbearable for you impatient folks. Anyway, once you get there, I think you know what's in store. Watch the cutscene, then get ready to rumble! []=====ANGELO CREDO==========================================================[] \| One of my favorite boss fights. Credo will really challenge your sword\| \|skills. When in close proximity to you, Credo will unleash a short combo that\| \|can be avoided by rolling. Actually, if you know when to expect it, you can \| \|just run to his backside and avoid it. The combo will end with Credo crashing\| \|his sword down, much like a Split. He will also sometimes leap into the air \| \|and make a slash of energy that hits the ground. This can be tough to avoid \| \|but jumping may help. When you are far away from him, he will come charging \| \|at you with a slash. Try to avoid that. At certain times in the fight, he \| \|will teleport away from you and summon a big lance. You know this is coming \| \|by the line he always says: "Behold the power of an angel!" He will then hurl\| \|the spear at you, but you can side roll it. Be careful though, sometimes he \| \|will hurl as many as three in a row. That covers his attacks for now. \| \| When Credo uses the Split of his combo, you have the chance to attack \| \|his exposed backside, like you would any other Blanco Angelo. Slashing him \| \|here doesn't do much though unfortunately. The key is his shield. When his \| \|attack misses, Buster him. Nero will throw him back which will weaken his \| \|shield. Do this a few more times until his shield loses its orange glow. Now \| \|just Buster him again and you will begin the combo. Remember to use Devil \| \|Trigger for added damage. \| \| Keeping pace with him and avoiding his attacks is a must. He's a fast \| \|boss so be careful. Reaction is key to this fight and if you have good \| \|timing, you can turn the battle in your favor when he throws his spears. If \| \|you Buster at the precise moment, you can catch the spear and hurl it right \| \|back at him. This will hurt him, stun him, and allow you to get a Buster in. \| \|The difficulty in this maneuver is not just in the timing, but in aiming as \| \|well. You have to aim it right so the returned spear will hit him. Just \| \|continue attacking and Bustering until he loses his health. \| \| As you would expect, Angelo Credo will get more serious when near \| \|death. He will attack more swiftly and use the aerial slash wave attack very,\| \|very often. It will come quickly so it becomes harder to avoid. A new attack \| \|is a thrust but it's not too hard to avoid. Just stay on your toes and look \| \|for chances to Buster him. Keep it up and you should overcome the odd here. \| []===========================================================================[] Once you win, a rather dramatic cutscene will ensue. Agnus kidnaps Kyrie and Credo flies off. It seems Sanctus wants Kyrie for something. For winning, you get the Aegis Shield. This will allow you to use enemies as shields by holding Circle. I found this ability to be very useless overall, given that the game often calls you to be aggressive and not defensive. If you recall however, there is a Secret Mission in Mission 05. You can now beat it with the Aegis Shield. Check the Secret Mission section for details. Anyways, time to go rescue the damsel in distress! Go toward the door to complete the mission. Bang bang. Mission 9: I went with Charge Shot 2 this time, as I didn't have enough Proud Souls for Snatch 3. Buy what you can or want and we'll get rolling. Gran Album Bridge ----------------- Right where you left off, go forward into the little sanctuary. On your left and right are some little tables. Smash them for orbs then continue forward. A scene will take over. Interesting place eh? Just keep moving and another scene will begin. Now you're introduced to the Alto Angelo. My second most hated enemy in the game. He's not that bad on this difficulty, but he really becomes annoying on higher difficulties. He will be paired with two Blanco Angelos. They will enter certain patterns and formations under his command, usually charging at you simultaneously or other things. To make things easier on you, go for the Blancos first since they are easy to kill. Slash and Buster, but be mindful of the Alto who is much more aggressive. When they're dead you can focus on the Alto. Alternatively, they may gather at one end of the area and begin charging a giant black ball of energy that will fire at you. If you can time it right, you can Buster this back at them, killing them all instantly (there is a chance the Alto may make it out) and getting you a nice Stylish. Otherwise, just keep assaulting the Alto with Splits and Exceed slashes and Busters. Eventually his shield will pop and you can Buster his ass. Try the DT Buster for a cool move. When they're all dead, you can proceed. Grand Hall ---------- Hm, weren't we already in a place called the Grand Hall? Oh well. Break all the seats lined on the walls for orbs. Left of where you entered is an Adjudicator for Nero. Get your Stylish rating up to Smokin' and you'll get the Blue Orb Fragment. On the right from where you entered is a Devil Star S. You might not be able to see it because of the camera but go up against the wall there and you should find it. Head up the stairs at the south end and break the pots. Go through the door and examine the small pedestal there. It activates the drawbridge which tries to lower for you, but unfortunately it is caught in some giant roots. You'll have to find another way to get it down. In the previous room, some moving lasers are activated and a door also appears. Head down the stairs again, avoid the lasers, and jump up there to the door. Go inside and up the stairs. Key Chamber ----------- A group of Blancos and an Alto will appear. Use the same tactics or wait for the energy ball and send it back at them. It might be harder since this room is smaller and you have to press Circle fast to get the timing right. Defeat them and two more Blancos will show. Piece of cake. When they fall, the seal on the pedestal will lower. Examine it for the Key of Cronus. A device will appear in the center of the room. With the Key of Cronus, you can Buster these devices to slow down time. Do so and you will be able to avoid the lasers on the west end easily and pass through to the stairs. The Gauntlet ------------ Oh, what a nice name. Move forward and drop down into the center of the little ditch to get a nice stash of Red Orbs. In the southeast corner is a sword pedestal. Activate it to bring an elevator down. When you enter, four Scarecrows will attack. Defeat them and the elevator will rise. You may see a Blue Orb Fragment on your left. We'll get it in a minute. For now proceed through the open gate. Another Cronus device on your left and more lasers. Hit it to slow time and navigate through the lasers to the other end. You'll enter another elevator and the door will close behind you. Two Frosts show up. Oh, great. Slay one and another will show up. Take out the last two to make the elevator go up. Two gates will open though. One to the next Cronus device, and another that will drop you down. Take this one to fall down to a platform. Go around and you can nab the Blue Orb Fragment. Good. You'll have to drop down and climb the Gauntlet again unfortunately. Go up the two elevators again to proceed from where we left off. Go through the Cronus laser maze and to the last elevator. Some Assaults will be your opponents here. They shouldn't pose much of a problem. Use Buster to try and slam one into another. Or, if you want, before you enter this room, activate the nearby Cronus device to slow time down, then run into the elevator room. The Assaults will fall victim to the time slowing, giving you a great advantage for a few seconds. Three more will show up. Just be aggressive and you can easily win with a good Stylish. The elevator will respond when they're put in their place and you'll be brought to the last hall before the boss (three bosses in a row?!). Grab the Green Orb and use the Divinity Statue if you wish. Move forward. Agnus' Room ----------- Continue forward for a scene. Finally we get to take on the dastardly scientist with the speech impediment. []======AGNUS================================================================[] \| Move immediately as Agnus will already be attacking you once the \| \|battle begins. This is just one of his many attacks. He will try slashing you\| \|with his Gladius once, a pause, then another slash. You should be able to \| \|avoid at least one if not both of them. Agnus is actually an easy fight \| \|because he advertises a lot of his attacks with sayings and phrases as he \| \|charges them up. This not only tells you what's coming, it also gives you \| \|ample time to attack. With enough damage, you can stop these types of \| \|attacks. \| \| As for the rest of his attacks, he will also summon more Gladius that \| \|will attack you like they did in the Containment Room, then fly around and \| \|periodically try again. Buster them to throw them at Agnus. They will also \| \|drop White Orbs which will keep your DT going. Sometimes he will say, "Your \| \|strength will be mine!" This means he's going to try and grab you. If he \| \|succeeds, he will drain a significant amount of your health to restore his \| \|own. Don't let this happen. It's easy to prevent and easy to avoid. Just jump\| \|up and assault him when he's charging this. You should be able to stop him. \| \|If not, jump when he lunges at you and you can dodge it. If you do get caught\| \|however, it's not the end of the world. Activate your Devil Trigger and you \| \|can break free. When he says, "Time to die!", he will attack with a powerful \| \|energy attack that reminds me of one of Lady's attacks from DMC3. It hurts so\| \|prevent it by attacking him over and over. Agnus will also call forth some \| \|Cutlasses which will dive into the ground. A second later they will pop out \| \|from under you. React quickly enough and you can dodge this. Sometimes he \| \|will summon fireballs to shoot at you. He begins the attack with a long \| \|saying which gives you a decent window to just wail on him. After that \| \|though, start moving to avoid the fireballs. His last attack is when he says,\| \|"I will crush you until you die!". He will grab three Cutlasses and start \| \|spinning around the room. Their blades will hurt you if he hits you with \| \|them. Move far away and don't let him get close. Agnus will eventually throw \| \|them at you. This can be tough to time, but if you start counting when he \| \|begins to spin them, you have about 3 seconds before he throws them. Jump \| \|before that and you should hopefully avoid this one. \| \| Hurting Agnus is straightforward. Just keep wailing on him with your \| \|sword, making use of Exceed slashes. He gives you many opportunities to hit \| \|him so stay aggressive. When you hurt him enough, he will enter the typical \| \|weakened state like other bosses. For Agnus it's a little tougher to tell \| \|since he flies, but you should notice his posture change if you look close. \| \|Another sign is that when you hit him in his weakened state, his body rocks \| \|violently and he grunts every time you slash him. This is your chance to \| \|Buster him. Do so in DT state if you can for a very damaging combo and one \| \|of my favorites. Keep up your assault and you should be able to defeat this \| \|guy with ease. \| []===========================================================================[] A cutscene ensues. Nero is just about to finish off Agnus when the Angelos show up. Nero fends them off as Sanctus appears in his Angelo form and takes Kyrie. Nero tries to stop him but can't reach her. Sanctus escapes and Nero has failed... for now. Mission over. Mission 10: The scene picks up right where the last one left off. Nero smashes the floor in anger. In doing so, his arm touches the roots and the Sephirotic Fruit ability responds. The roots are destroyed, including those holding the drawbridge. Your path is opened. Now it's time to go save the girl! Buy a skill or items if you want. I decided to save my Proud Souls for now and didn't have enough Red Orbs for a new Purple or Blue Orb. Alright, time to roll. Agnus' Room ----------- Nothing to do here except go back out the way you came in. The Gauntlet ------------ Move into the elevator. A scene will start up. You'll be introduced to the Faust enemy, a more improved Mephisto. Not only that, but he comes with two as his bodyguards. You might find though that if you ignore him and go after the Mephistos, the Faust won't even bother you. This won't work for long obviously, but you should have a nice amount of time to attack the Mephistos without any interference. When they're dead, focus on him. It will take a lot more Snatches to take his cloak away. Be wary of his sudden attacks and laser attacks. He is harder to take down in one go so you will most likely need to uncloak him again and maybe even a third time. Once he's dead, go back to the Cronus room. You can see there's a seal on the open space there. Use the Cronus device and go through the room, avoiding the lasers, to find a sword pedestal. Light it up to lower the seal. Slow down time again and drop down through it. You're back on the ground floor. Grab the secret Red Orbs again and exit the way you originally came in. Key Chamber ----------- A group of three Blancos and an Alto will appear. Great. Take the Blancos out when you can or just wait for the energy attack. Either way, when they're dead, go through the east door. Grand Hall ---------- Head through the south door again. The bridge is now lowered so you can cross. Enter the door on the other side. Security Corridor ----------------- This is the room you saw on the mission screen. Use the Cronus device to slow the lasers, then proceed carefully through. Jump when you have to and you can easily traverse this obstacle. On the other end is a Secret Mission on the wall that is tough, but doable. Try it for another Blue Orb Fragment. If you have 3/4 pieces now, it's definitely worth it because a difficult boss fight is coming up. When you're finished, enter the next room. There's a lot of spinning fans here. They'll obviously hurt if you get too close. Just drop down and you will see a pedestal being sealed off. Two Mephistos will crawl out of the wood work to fight you. Take them out and a Faust will appear. Destroy him too and the seal will fall. Head clockwise around the room, breaking the crates along the way for orbs. When you reach the pedestal, examine it. You must leave your Key of Cronus here to slow time. It's ok because you won't be needing it. Use it and the fan blades will be slowed by time's wrath. In the limited time you have, scale the blades to the second highest and try to reach the platform with the door. If you fall you might still have time to try it again before the time slowing effect wears off. When you make it, enter the door. Experiment Disposal ------------------- Proceed forward. Some Blanco Angelos will appear. Make them suffer and then greet the other two that appear. When they all die, take some orbs from the red crystal. Go south, across the Gauntlet esque elevator to the other side. Bust the statues for orbs then move to the next room. There's a Blue Orb Fragment here, but you need Air Hike for it. If you've followed my instructions EXACTLY, you don't have it like me. If you decided to buy it, then you're in luck, sort of. I will cover it's attainment in Mission 12, so you'll have to wait. Heh. Anyways. Examine the pedestal here. You will now have to sacrifice the Wing Talisman to activate this lift. Proceed to the next room, bust the stuff for orbs, then enter the door. Meeting Room ------------ Oh, great. Two Altos. Double the vexation. Do your best to attack them and weaken their shields. Obviously you should try to focus on one at a time. Just be careful of the other when it tries to do it's Streak like attack. It's tough to avoid getting hit here so just try your best and don't be afraid to use your Devil Trigger here if you must, just try to avoid using any healing items. Once you seize victory, head south to the opposite corridor. Break the candlesticks for orbs, including green for health. You definitely want to be at full health before you enter that next door. There's a Secret Mission here. I wouldn't even bother attempting it as Nero if you don't have Air Hike. It's still doable but it will cost you a lot of time and frustration most likely. You can do it with a little more ease later with Air Hike, or if you want to make it REALLY easy, do it much later with Dante. Use the Divinity Statue here. Buy some healing items or even consider a Gold Orb. If you're not the best at combat it will give you a possibly needed life line in the coming fight. Your score will be penalized for it, but it's good for those frustrating times when fortune just turns it back on you. The moments when you bring the boss down to near death just to have him/her/it unleash some super cheap move that kills you. This could be one of those moments so consider the Gold Orb if you're not too sure. When you're ready, enter the door. Ascension Chamber ----------------- Watch the scene. Oh shiznit. Here we go. []=====DANTE=================================================================[] \| You had to figure this fight was coming sooner or later. Now that it \| \|has come you might wish it could have waited a little longer. Dante is not \| \|anything like he was in Mission 01. He will abuse you, counter you, and make \| \|your life a living nightmare. You really have to have a grip on the combat \| \|system as well as have as many Blue Orbs as you could get. If you find this \| \|fight way too hard now, consider replaying some old levels for Red Orbs, \| \|Proud Souls, and missed Blue Orb Fragments. The more prepared you are for \| \|this fight, the less painful it's going to be. \| \| Dante will use many of his attacks from DMC3. He will use his combos, \| \|as well as Million Stab, Helm Breaker, and Stinger. Stinger in particular you\| \|will probably find to be very frustrating as it is a common move from him \| \|when he counters you. He will also freely switch his styles on the fly. In \| \|Trickster, he'll use the dashes. In Sword Master, he'll use Prop and Drive. \| \|In Royal Guard you'd best avoid him as he'll block your attacks perfectly \| \|every time and then use the energy to make you suffer. In Gunslinger he will \| \|try shooting you with Honeycomb Fire. He will also sweep his gunfire across \| \|the room but eventually lock on to you. It's difficult to avoid this \| \|unfortunately. \| \| Taking Dante head to head is nothing short of suicide if you're not \| \|prepared. If you've been practicing a lot and have a lot of health, or are \| \|just one of those folks who has not found Devil Hunter to be the least bit \| \|challenging, go ahead and fight him straight on. To be honest, it's very hard\| \|to go toe to to with him at first, but if you know how he fights and are \| \|prepared, you can actually take him on eventually. Landing attacks on Dante \| \|is extremely difficult because he is capable of dodging just about anything. \| \|Not only that, he will often counter. If you use Streak, he'll counter with \| \|Stinger. He might take to the air and use Helm Breaker. If you leave yourself\| \|open, he'll use his combos and basically if he lands one hit you're staying \| \|for the whole ride as he'll just land the whole thing on you and it will \| \|hurt. For the attacks you can avoid, you'll need some quick reactions. \| \| Mostly you'll be looking for your chances to strike while trying not \| \|to leave yourself open. One easy way to get some hits in is to use Blue Rose \| \|and fire continuous shot at him. Dante will cancel out your bullets with \| \|Ebony & Ivory. Just keep shooting while getting closer. Once you're in \| \|sword's reach of him, try slashing him. You might just be able to land a \| \|combo on him, so make it happen. Be careful though, if you get too close or \| \|wait too long, he'll do the same thing. Another tip is to try and pin him \| \|in a corner and activate your Devil Trigger. If you can stun him with this \| \|(do this to make sure he won't side roll your first attack--you need him to \| \|stay in that corner), then just unload on him with some attacks, followed \| \|by a Buster. Do this a few times until your DT gauge runs out and you should \| \|have knocked off a nice chunk of his health. \| \| If that's not good enough or you really just have your back against \| \|the wall in this fight, there's a simple way to hurt him. Just on top of the \| \|platform over the bed in the center. Stand here and wait for Dante to jump up\| \|to you. Right before he actually gets on, Buster him for a little damage. You\| \|have to Buster him while he's still actually in the air. If his feet get on \| \|the platform you probably won't land it. You can do this again and again and \| \|will probably be able to avoid damage unless he shoots at you or actually \| \|gets up there. This method is a little cheap but if you really can't beat \| \|him, it will help. Also keep in mind there's breakable stuff in the room for \| \|orbs, including green and white. Either way, once you've got Dante to no \| \|health, pat yourself on the back and take a breather. \| []===========================================================================[] Watch the scene. Mission over. Whew. Mission 11: Powah up! ahem Yeah so buy what you want. If you got a decent rank on the previous mission, you might have scored a nice amount of Proud Souls. I went ahead and finally bought Air Hike and saved the remainder for later. Just be sure if you can buy something now, definitely consider it. When you're ready to go, we'll get started. Advent Chamber -------------- Head counter-clockwise from the entrance. You should find another Combat Adjudicator for Nero. You have to raise your Stylish all the way to Smokin' Sick Style for you to get the fragment. Tough, but not very tough. Just stick to a pattern of varied attacks and keep repeating them in that pattern and you can raise your Stylish slowly but surely. Proceed once you have it to a pedestal. Light it up to activate some grip grips. Hit them to reach the next floor. Two Mephistos will show up. Start fighting them and a Faust will also join them. Destroy all three to free the seal. Examine the object to bring the lift down and ride it up to the next floor. Head to the right. The door ahead is locked. It can only be opened if the switches on both sides are depressed. Step on your switch and then Snatch the Scarecrow to bring him onto the other. The door will open. Slay him and his friend and continue on your way. Up the stairs you'll find your ultimate destination, the lift near the Divinity Statue. It's activated elsewhere though so ignore it for now. Move toward the gap to see the Grim Grips. Hit them quickly so you can hit the wall, wall kick, and jump over. Move to the next set. You want to hit these when they're almost but not exactly aligned. Again, hit them fast so you can make it over the wall. On the other side, an Alto Angelo will appear. You could ignore him if you wish but I prefer to fight. Either way, activate the pedestal for more Grim Grips. Hit them to launch yourself up again to a new area. Examine the object here to activate the lift you passed just earlier. Now you're sealed in though with three Blancos. Buster them into each other and such until they're dead. An Alto will also appear. Destroy him too to raise the seal. Drop down to the left. Move left (counter-clockwise on your mini map) to the wall. Jump up and go across using the grips again. When you reach the platform, some Scarecrows will show up. Take them out if you wish but two Alto Angelos will appear after. You can easily just ignore them all and take the lift. This will take you to your final destination, and the showdown you've been waiting for. []=====SANCTUS===============================================================[] \| This geezer isn't too hard. It's just that halfway through, he will \| \|call on a little "help". I'm sure you can guess what that is. Sanctus will \| \|fly around in his shield and basically try to avoid you the whole time like \| \|a pussy. He will rain down on you with energy bolts, or shoot fire across the\| \|ground or through the air. A lot of these attacks are fairly simple to avoid.\| \|He will also use the orbs he has floating with him and send them flying at \| \|you. You can halt them with gunfire or just Snatch them before they hit you. \| \| The key here is to get close to him and destroy his shield. His shield\| \|has two layers. Once the first layer goes, he will try to stay as far away \| \|from you as he can. Snatch the orbs he has to get closer. He will hopefully \| \|try to launch an attack at you. When you can, assault him again to break the \| \|shield. It can be tough depending on what attack he uses. The easiest is the \| \|fire that goes across the ground. Just take to the air and slash his shield \| \|again. Using his orbs is necessary sometimes but it can make things difficult\| \|for you. Because Nero comes off the Snatch jump differently each time, it is \| \|difficult sometimes to be in the right position to slash him. Often times you\| \|will be just a little too high to hit him. It's a bit frustrating so be aware\| \|of it. \| \| Once you pop his bubble, it's time to let him have it. Show no mercy \| \|and assault him a few combos. Use Snatch to bring him close again and keep \| \|the punishment going. Land 2-3 combos and no more as he will eventually raise\| \|his shield again. After you land a few slashes, use Buster on him to start a \| \|combo that is really cool. The Buster is the most important part so whenever \| \|you break his shield don't waste too much time with slashes, make sure you \| \|get a Buster in. \| \| Eventually, at about 1/5 of his health, Sanctus will bring the Savior \| \|to life. After the scene, immediately dodge to the right. The fight now \| \|becomes 3x more frustrating. If you fail to break his shield, Sanctus will \| \|have the Savior rain on your parade (literally) with its fist. It's very easy\| \|to avoid by staying close to the camera and then dodging at the last moment. \| \|It's just frustrating because you will probably see him do it a lot as you \| \|fail continually to break his shield. Just keep trying and make sure you \| \|attack when you see the chance. One much simpler option is to wait for the \| \|Savior's fist. Buster it at the right time right before the fist lands on you\| \| and you will instantly draw Sanctus out in his vulnerable state. Just slash \| \|and Buster him again. The timing to hit the Savior's fist with the Buster can\| \|be tough, but it's worth it. Break Sanctus' shield and feed him your wrath to\| \|win the day. Or so you think.... \| []===========================================================================[] Watch the scenes. A lot of dramatic stuff eh? I'm sure you can guess what's coming. Mission 12: Agnus uses Yamato to open the gate to the Demon world. The demons pile out of the Hell Gate in droves. Sanctus then shows up with his Savior to destroy them and create the illusion that people are safe as long as they confide in him and the Savior. The bastard! Well you-know-who isn't going to just stand by and let that happen. You're now going to be using Dante. With this switch, Dante will inherit all the health, Red Orbs, and Proud Souls Nero has collected. That means you'll have a slew of Proud Souls to use for Dante. Good. Power up and use them. Here is a list of recommended buys. Stinger Stinger 2 Charge Shot (Ebony & Ivory) Charge Shot (Coyote-A) Trickster Level 2 Sword Master Level 2 Sword Master Level 3 Gunslinger Level 2 Gunslinger Level 3 Trigger Heart Speed Air Hike Get More Orbs Get any combination of those (or others) that you want or can afford. I strongly urge you to go with Sword Master Style level ups. Sword Master will probably be the most useful style to you as you play as Dante. Anyways, once you're ready, let's rock! Ascension Chamber ----------------- This room will be filled with Scarecrows. Basically this be your little tutorial room for Dante. After having played Nero for 11 Missions, you will probably find the change a little awkward at first. You might, as you're swinging Dante's Rebellion, find yourself tapping L2 as you would for Nero to get his instant Exceed revs. Obviously Dante can't do that so it's a habit you will have to learn to break. Dante can switch styles on the fly. Despite that, I recommend you stick with Sword Master a majority of the time. Gunslinger will become more useful soon. Trickster I personally don't use too much but if you are a fan, then by all means. If you like a challenge or just are a fan of it as well, use Royal Guard. I'll be giving instructions based on Sword Master so keep it in mind. Anyways, start using your various techniques and slay all the Scarecrows. Stinger, Combo B, and Aerial Rave (with Sword Master) are great moves. When the coast is clear, proceed through the north door. Meeting Room ------------ As we enter this room, I'll just let you know now: you're going to be pretty much backtracking all the progress Nero made. I know it sounds kinda lame and it definitely is one of the game's very minor points, but you're not going to have the same experiences when you revisit these areas. Not only that, the battles and the ensuing cutscenes will be more than rewarding. Oh, and there are also nice "gifts" to be had. So don't feel bummed about the backtracking. Anyways, move forward for a cutscene. Or first examine the Secret Mission on your right if you want to attempt it now. Dante obviously can't be alerted to the presence of secrets so you have to know where they are. I stated earlier that this Secret Mission would be easier for Dante, but he is not yet equipped to do it. Still, if you want to try it, it is certainly doable, it will just be really hard for now until he gets something later on. Check the Secret Mission section for tips, it's a tough one, yep. for this one to get some help. Anyway, head forward into the room. Three Mega Scarecrows will show up. These guys are much bigger and more durable than their small cousins. You should find however, that like the Faust enemy, Mega Scarecrows will normally not bother you if you don't target or face them. I think this phenomenon is truer for the Mega Scarecrows than it is for the Faust, but still despite that, do not take it for granted. But if you focus on one Mega Scarecrow without looking at the others, you should find you have a bit of freedom to wail on it without any hindrance. Take these guys out using Sword Master moves like Aerial Rave and a charged Drive. Be wary of the giant blades of the Mega Scarecrow for when you slay them, one of the blades will come falling on that location so move to avoid it. When they're disposed of, head north through the door. Actually, a submission by 3xemplar suggests there is a way to do that Secret Mission now with Dante. It sounds a bit tricky, but much credit to 3xemplar, it sounds very ingenious! Please check out the Secret Mission section to see! (SecM) Experiment Disposal ------------------- Break the stuff, then get on the lift and examine the pedestal. Dante will find the Wing Talisman Nero left behind. Now that you're on this floor again, I'll tell you how to get that Blue Orb Fragment I neglected earlier. Assuming you have Air Hike, from the lift, jump up and try to land on the outer ring of this little overhang. From there, double jump up again and attempt to reach the Blue Orb Fragment. It shouldn't be too hard. If you need to, use Devil Trigger for an extra jump. Once you got it, head north. You'll be notified that due to the Savior's abrupt departure, the powers that control this place are gone and the area will soon come crashing down. You've got ten minutes which should be more than enough time. Go forward and drop down. In the northeast corner, lying among a pile of rubble is a Gold Orb. Nab it. Then go to the southwest corner and get the pedestal going. It will lower a Gauntlet esque lift. Inside, two Frosts will appear. The ************* ended up pissing me off so I flipped my DT on and owned them. Kill them and the extra that shows up to get the lift to move. Bust the red crystal for orbs then proceed north. Security Corridor ----------------- Back in the fan room, Dante falls down and the seal on the Cronus device appears. Three Mephistos will engage you here. Dante obviously can't use Snatch on them so you'll have to use guns. Coyote-A will be a little more effective than Ebony & Ivory so use that. Kill them and then go to the pedestal to claim the Key of Cronus. This will cause all the fan blades to stop, so you won't even have to worry about slowing time. Climb up and go out the door to the laser hallway. Ignore the Secret Mission here since Nero might have already done it, and if not, Dante can't do it. Hit the Cronus device and then navigate through the lasers to the other end. Grand Hall ---------- This is the last room. Head north into the big room and three Blanco Angelos will ambush you. Dante is at a slight disadvantage without Buster but he can still give these iron knuckleheads a run for their money. Kill them and then another Blanco and eventually an Alto will show up. Do your best to kill them all quickly. Use Devil Trigger to make things easier. Now, instead of going north to the exit, we're gonna go right (east). You should have a little under five minutes remaining, if not more. We're gonna take a little detour for a Blue Orb Fragment. Go through the door back into... Key Chamber ----------- You'll be ambushed here unfortunately. They're only Gladius though so if you want, kill them. If you want to save time (which you should consider especially if you have less than three minutes remaining), just hit the Cronus device, ignoring the Gladius and go through the west door. The Gauntlet ------------ This is where we want to be. Grab the secret stash of orbs in the ditch, then go around toward the north side to find a Combat Adjudicator. It's red, for Dante so start smashing it. You only have to get your combo up to Brutal which could not be any simpler. Do it to get the Blue Orb Fragment, then let's amscray. Leave the way you came. Key Chamber ----------- Ignore the Gladius again, or if you have the luxury of time, activate the Cronus device and slay them easily. Then go through the door. Grand Hall ---------- Unless you have like, 30 seconds left or something, take the time to smash the seats again for Red Orbs. Then, head through the north door. Gran Album Bridge ----------------- Watch the scene. Now go forward into the sanctuary and break the stuff for some orbs. Keep moving north to the platform where Nero and Credo once shared their climatic battle, down the stairs and toward the forest. A scene will begin, explaining how Dante came to be involved in this whole affair. Ohh, Trish, you troublemaker. Mission complete. Mission 13: Power up. Upgrade some styles or buy Charge Shot upgrades. Whatever you want. Time to make heads roll. Ancient Training Ground ----------------------- There is a storm brewing and eerie magic portals surround the area's exits. It seems Echidna's presence has tainted this place for the worst. Running into these portals will lead you to areas different than the original exits would have brought you to. This being the case, it is easy to get lost. From where you start, go north and then when you see an opening on the wall to Dante's right, leap over the side. Bust the pods here for Red Orbs, then go east to run into the portal. Forgotten Ruins --------------- This is where you'll be whisked away to. Immediately turn left and jump over the side. When you do, a pair of Chimera Seeds and Scarecrows will show up. Kill them if you wish or just go across the walkway to the portal. Enter. Windswept Valley ---------------- Drop down and you'll be greeted by some Chimera Assaults. These guys are a bit aggravating because they're very aggressive. Just be glad you're not playing it on Dante Must Die where you're pretty much toast if they hit you like three times. Anyways, do your best to avoid them and land hits when their blades are not deployed. Use Ebony & Ivory or Coyote-A to spray a little more damage on. Don't be afraid to use DT if you must, especially if you get hurt. When they fall, go up the stairs into the next portal. Ancient Plaza ------------- A whole bunch of regular Assaults to fight here. Just butcher them and continue on your merry way to the exit at the northeast corner. Lapis River ----------- This will start you in the sequence of areas leading to the exit. Go south and get on the south side of the bridge and drop down. Some Mephistos will appear but ignore them. Run in to the portal under the bridge. Windswept Valley ---------------- You're in front of the Ruined Church. Go inside. Is Echidna's laugh annoying you? It sure is for me. We'll be sure to let all that anger out soon. Ruined Church ------------- Break all the pods on the west side near the Adjudicator. Then take that on and get your ranking up to Atomic for a Blue Orb Fragment. Go under the stairs in the southeast corner, where Nero once destroyed the roots. Enter the door here. Lost Woods ---------- I hate how this area starts out. Two Chimera Assaults will come bounding toward you. Take them out or ignore them if you want. For the sake of having no vexations, just kill them. Go toward the center of the area. As Nero did, take the path opposite of the one the shadow points to. Do this four times to wind up at... Forgotten Ruins --------------- Aha. Here we are. Break the pod for health and use the Divinity Statue if you want something. When you're all set, move forward. Den of the She-Viper -------------------- D�j�-vu eh? Go forward for a cutscene that definitely rivals that of Nero's. Time to silence this annoying veggie head. []======ECHIDNA==============================================================[] \| Nothing has changed in this fight. Echidna has the same moves as \| \|before. The only difference is you're using Dante, obviously. As such \| \|however, you can't use Nero's effective Buster moves. Damn... Oh well, I \| \|think you'll find that Dante is a force to be reckoned with still. He is more\| \|than capable of bringing Echidna down very quickly. \| \| Echidna's attacks are the same, so I won't bother detailing them a \| \|second time. Just keep in mind you'll have to dodge her when she's flying \| \|around near the end since you obviously can't Buster her. There's not much \| \|else to it besides that. \| \| Your best friend is this fight is Aerial Rave. Put Sword Master on \| \|leap up to her face when she's hovering around and unleash Aerial Rave \| \|several times. Avoid her tail and other attacks and just keep attacking in \| \|this manner. If you upgraded Trickster to max you can use Air Trick to \| \|quickly close a distance gap between you and Echidna or just get back to \| \|attacking faster. Still, Sword Master's Aerial Rave will be the most \| \|efficient way of dealing damage here. Use Devil Trigger to expedite the \| \|process. She might even taunt you (wow). Big mistake. Put on DT when she does\| \|this and just make her eat your steel. She should lose health rapidly under \| \|Dante's oppressive force. When she drills into the ground, assault her with \| \|Combo B and Prop. \| \| She will enter her hyper mode like she did with Nero. Shoot her with \| \|Ebony & Ivory just to tag a few more hits in and dodge her charges. When you \| \|see the opportunity, go back and keep attacking her. Eventually, you'll have \| \|won the fight. \| []===========================================================================[] The scene that follows is pure, unadulterared badassery. Dante slays Echidna and obtains the power situated at the Hell Gate, the melee weapon Gilgamesh. He then uses his new toy to destroy the Hell Gate in a very stylish manner. Congratulations, Gilgamesh is now yours. It operates similar to Beowulf in DMC3 but is more powerful. Gilgamesh is a big reason to have Sword Master fully upgraded. While using Sword Master with Gilgamesh equipped, you gain access to great moves like Divine Dragon and Real Impact. The power of these moves is unprecedented. To switch to Gilgamesh, tap R2. Alright, let's get going. Grab the spoils of your battle and then go to the southwest corner. That ends the mission. Mission 14: Power up again. You can now buy some skills for Gilgamesh. There's only two, Kick 13 and Flush. The latter is not really as helpful. Kick 13 on the other hand is definitely a worthy skill so buy it or something else like a Style upgrade. When you're done shopping, it's time to scramble. A scene begins showing the bridge from Castle Fortuna opening up again. Again, that infers that someone at the castle activated it. Hm, maybe it was Trish? Regardless, that's where you're headed. You can now get through the forest easily with Echidna's spell gone. Let's move. Ancient Training Ground ----------------------- Proceed forward (west). You'll go a short ways before being interrupted by a short scene introducing you to some new enemies: Faults. These guys are extremely annoying. They'll appear below Dante suddenly, particularly in areas where you'll inevitably be fighting other enemies, and attempt to grab you. If one succeeds, you'll be pulled into another area like the area below the Ruined Valley if you ever fell into the chasm. You'll have to fight enemies to return. Obviously you want to avoid being caught. There's a limited number of Faults in each area though. If you slay them, you won't have to worry about them. Just move until one appears (you can tell they're coming by the slithering sound they make), turn around and slash it fast three times. That should be enough to kill it. They will also yield a Green Orb when they die, which is another incentive to killing them. Anyways, continue west, avoiding or killing the Faults. Bust the pods in the sanctuary for orbs, then go out the other way. You'll be trapped with some Scarecrows, Chimera Seeds and two Faults. Be wary of the Faults as you deal with the Chimera Seeds, then take out the Scarecrows. When it's safe, continue to the next area. Lapis River ----------- Head north and you'll be sealed in again. This time your opponents will be a pair of Mephistos. Use Coyote-A to uncloak them and kill them, but again be aware of the Faults in the area. They are not limited to grass areas, they can also appear on the bridge. When they're dead, head to the bridge. A Faust will appear. Crap. Be wary, he usually appears at the other end of the bridge and often likes to close the gap by lunging quickly at you with his claws. Once he's down, bust any nearby pods for Red Orbs, then cross the bridge and go north. Ancient Plaza ------------- Some Assaults will come at you here. There are also Faults, again. One thing you can do to make things easier is just stay in one general area. The Faults each govern one particular part of the area map. If you kill one, the others won't come after you unless you go into their area. So if you stay in one spot and kill that Fault, you can take out the Assaults without worrying. Also, don't forget you have Gilgamesh now. Get accustomed to using it and its skills to deal more damage and also to increase the variation of your attacks that raise your Stylish. When the Assaults are history, proceed southwest to the exit. Windswept Valley ---------------- Almost done. We're exiting the forest this time so keep that in mind. Head around the Gyro Blade and into the open area where, big surprise, you're trapped again. This will be the toughest yet though as you have to fight Chimera and Chimera Assaults, on top of the vexing Faults that keep popping up. Definitely slay the Faults so you can focus on the enemies here. You might also need the health since these are Chimera enemies. Pop on Devil Trigger to make things easier. When it's over, go west and climb up the cliffs you once jumped down from as Nero. Move on. Forest Entrance --------------- Go forward and tear up the red crystal for orbs. Inside the little gazebo is that Secret Mission I mentioned that Nero couldn't do. Dante can do it though, so give it a shot. I'll warn you though, it's probably one of the harder Secret Missions in the game. Don't waste too much time and health on it. If you die, you'll have to redo the last few areas which isn't exactly fun. If you feel confident, give it a shot and refer to the Secret Mission section. Otherwise, keep note of it and come back later. Head northwest toward the exit, busting any seed pods you find for orbs. Head down the long tunnel to reach... Foris Falls ----------- Ah, back at Fortuna Castle. Head across the bridge and it will recede again. Hm... The scene ends and so does the mission. Mission 15: Ah, this will be fun. Power up and buy something if you wish. I decided to hold my Proud Souls this time again. You've probably noticed this by now but I'll mention it anyway. As you buy skills, all the other ones become more expensive. This is a good reason not to leave a really good skill for last or near last. It will end up costing a lot and you'll have to sacrifice others to get it. So, when you're ready start 'er up. Foris Falls ----------- Head up the left-hand stars because the right-hand door is frozen. Strange. On the way, check out the Combat Adjudicator. For this one, you've got to get your Stylish up to Smokin' Style. Not difficult considering Nero had to get to SSS. Dante also has the advantage with Gilgamesh to vary his attacks more. Mix it