When Capcom finally teased Devil May Cry 5, it was such a relief to see Dante safe and sound from what seems to be a trip from Hell itself. Brandishing fan-favorites Rebellion and Ebony & Ivory, Devil May Cry and its signature demon hunter are back for a lot of heart-stopping action against a new demonic invasion. And it’s up to him to solve Nero and V’s involvement in this new mess - but not before he gets a few bullets and some slashes into his new demonic foes.
As with other Devil May Cry games, Dante relies on extremely fast-and-loose strikes and slashes to overwhelm the forces of darkness. His balance of hard action with his blade and quick bursts with his guns ensure there’s always a way to approach combat. However, the tougher foes of Devil May Cry 5 prove Dante has to step up his game to eliminate these demons. Just how can players master Dante’s combat in the new installment?
10 Speed Is Key To Flexibility
Being the last character to be unlocked in the game, players can easily feel overwhelmed with Dante and his slate of Devil Arms and Style Changes. After all, this is akin to learning new movesets all over again. This is tricky considering that fights with Vergil in the game also test the player's complete control over Dante’s arsenal. In order to maximize Dante’s potential with his weapons, players may want to secure base abilities first. These include:
- Speed: Aside from unlocking much faster movement, this helps Dante facilitate his much faster combos. Reaction times become improved with this ability purchased.
- Air Hike: This gives Dante the ability to double jump, enabling air combos to be executed much faster.
- Trigger Heart: This extends the duration of the Devil Trigger, which not only boosts Dante’s damage output but also health regeneration.
9 Swordmaster, Gunslinger: Defaults Always Work
Among Dante’s multiple Styles, it’s the Swordmaster and Gunslinger that identify the most with players due to their simplicity and versatility. Attached to the default melee and long-ranged options, respectively, players as Dante should learn how to synergize their combos with these Styles as soon as possible:
- Swordmaster: The default close combat option, this Style works best when initiating combos with melee weapons. Moves from this Style maximize damage when starting and ending attacks.
- Gunslinger: The default long-ranged option, this Style can help Dante capitalize his mid-air and medium-range options. Movements here can help Dante reposition himself more effectively in combat.
8 Trickster, Royal Guard: Expand Horizons
Among Dante’s signature Styles, it’s the Trickster and Royal Guard that don’t always see exposure due to their more technical nature. Associated with these Styles are fast-paced movement and indomitable defense, respectively. As such, players as Dante should learn when best to use these Styles for respective benefits:
- Trickster: Speed-oriented to a fault, the Trickster Style allows Dante to maximize quick movement and evasion. Players might want to use Trickster to start combos and switch into other Styles afterward, with Flipper, Mustang, and Air Trick giving Dante a lot of room for movement versatility.
- Royal Guard: Being the most defensive of the Styles, the Royal Guard’s timing-based moves can help Dante take no damage from attacks and even counter them. Unique moves here include Air Block, Air Release, and Royal Revenge - all capitalizing on pure defense and counters.
7 Melee Weapons Capitalize On Combos
Similar to his previous incarnations, a lot of Dante’s melee Devil Arms from bosses emphasize the need to create and dish out combos to dispatch enemies quickly. Among his weapons are straightforward brute force attackers, with some that offer different ways of juggling enemies. To summarize, his melee Devil Arms include:
- King Cerberus: While similar to DMC 3’s nunchucks, this iteration of the Cerberus combines ice, fire, and lightning into one weapon. Ordinary melee moves are Ice-based, Style-based moves are Fire-based, and Charged attacks become Lightning-based.
- Balrog: This weapon is a pair of gauntlets and boots for Dante to use in close combat. There are separate movesets for a dedicated Blow (Punch) Mode and Kick Mode, allowing players to choose a preferred way to knock down foes.
- Devil Sword Dante: When Dante fused both Rebellion and Sparda with himself, he got Devil Sword Dante. Aside from combining the perks of both weapons, the Sword can “manipulate” enemies by displacing them.
- Cavaliere: This is an odd weapon, considering it’s actually made out of two halves of a demonic motorcycle. Perhaps the slowest of Dante’s weapons, it can dish out a lot of damage and can attack fairly quickly depending on the timing.
6 Ranged Weapons Emphasize Versatility
Unlike other variations of Dante’s ranged Devil Arms in previous games, a lot of his DMC 5 arsenal actually gives him expanded options to approach combat. These include weapons that can juggle opponents, attack from multiple angles, or offer different weapon choices entirely. To summarize, his ranged Devil Arms include:
- Ebony and Ivory: Dante’s signature pistols, they can juggle enemies at almost any range. They’re much stronger compared to other games and come with different firing modes, cancelable startups, and automatic charged shots.
- Coyote-A: This shotgun retains its brutal nature from the previous games. There’s a new Cut-In move which is basically a dash in any direction that ends with a shotgun blast.
- Kalina Ann: This rocket launcher has quite a simple moveset, all geared towards firing rockets and lasers at the target.
- Dr. Faust: This odd weapon is unique to the game. In the form of a hat, this weapon can pull enemies towards Dante and attack with a wide variety of forms. Dr. Faust can become a barrier, a fishing rod, a turret, a machine gun, and a good ol’ fashioned boomerang hat.
5 Options Are Key To Success
Despite the overwhelming nature of Dante’s full arsenal, it’s precisely due to his expanded moveset that players can find success using him. Whereas V relies on careful movement and Nero has his adaptable Devil Breakers, Dante has a lot of his weapons with him on the get-go and gives players time to think of strategies to adapt to combat. With these in mind, Dante’s moveset options become the player’s best asset. To maximize these, players should ask these questions when building weapon sets:
- Which weapons switch out the fastest? Sometimes Dante needs to switch to another weapon in certain situations, and players need to decide which weapons switch out the fastest to maximize combat.
- Which weapons tackle certain situations? Dante’s weapon set should help him deal with different enemy types at all times. While most of his weapons allow him to do this, players should be comfortable enough to handle a particular weapon when facing a strong single-target, multiple targets, and specific bosses.
4 Understand Limitations To Maximize Opportunities
Despite how “open” and flexible DMC 5 allows Dante to become, a lot of his combos and movesets definitely impose limits as to what he could do. This is especially the case with most weapons, as some animations just limit the player’s movement overall - leaving them open to harsh counters.
To avoid these situations, players need to discover these limitations and find ways to circumvent them. For instance, Balrog’s Heat Up can normally be stopped by releasing melee or being hit, but these have lag-times that leave Dante open for counters. An easy way to circumvent this is to just switch to another weapon.
3 Lock On With Caution
Thanks to the Lock On feature in this game, DMC 5 allows players to single out an enemy to destroy before proceeding with the rest of the mobs. However, in higher difficulties, surrounding mobs won’t just stand there and instead take the opportunity to wreck Dante into submission. To avoid this situation, players should practice when to use Lock On and when to release it.
Remember, just because players let go of the Lock On won’t make them bad at targeting, it just makes the process more manual. This is extremely helpful when it comes to precise dodging and parrying, pulling off AOEs, and quickly switching targets depending on what’s happening to the environment.
2 Treat Levels As Platformers
The point of DMC 5 levels being large isn’t just to showcase graphics or hide knick-knacks every now and then. When mobs enter for combat, and especially when elites or bosses like Vergil arrive in the fray, the large environments are specifically designed for characters to play around with, especially Dante.
At its core, it would greatly help players to train Dante’s moveset in the context of the environment. A lot of his moves are designed to help him move towards a particular goal, and players can improve their “sense” when to use these moves once they instinctively know how to use them to get off and onto a level’s platforms.
1 Cool Comes With Adaptability
Players would likely have seen other players or streamers duke it out as Dante with flashy moves and amazing combos on screen, unlike the more aggressive Nero and the more passive V. However, it’s very likely that players pulled off these combos not by forcing events but rather by adapting to certain combat situations.
By the time Dante’s moves become second nature, players can easily adjust to situations and even dish out cool moves. When potentially “stuck,” players should always ask these questions:
- What’s the best way to achieve this goal? Players are likely stuck in the middle of pulling off a move, but what’s the best way to remedy this?
- What does the movelist say? Players that got knocked out of their own combos or moves don’t need to surrender - what other moves can players pull off based on the movelist?
Devil May Cry 5 is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Amazon Luna.