______ _______ _________ _ ( __ \ ( ____ \|\ /|\__ __/( \ | ( \ )| ( \/| ) ( | ) ( | ( | | ) || (__ | | | | | | | | | | | || __) ( ( ) ) | | | | | | ) || ( \ \_/ / | | | | | (__/ )| (____/\ \ / ___) (___| (____/\ (______/ (_______/ \_/ \_______/(_______/ May 444444444 _______ _______ 4::::::::4 ( ____ \( ____ )|\ /| 4:::::::::4 | ( \/| ( )|( \ / ) 4::::44::::4 | | | (____)| \ (_) / 4::::4 4::::4 | | | __) \ / 4::::4 4::::4 | | | (\ ( ) ( 4::::4 4::::4 | (____/\| ) \ \__ | | 4::::444444::::444 (_______/|/ \__/ \_/ 4::::::::::::::::4 4444444444:::::444 4::::4 4::::4 4::::4 44::::::44 4::::::::4 4444444444 ____________________________ | Devil May Cry 4 Guide | | Created by: Axel7174 | | FAQ and Walkthrough | | Copyright 2008 Ryne Gardner| |____________________________| Version History --------------- Version .90 - Started 2/18/08 - Finished 3/03/08 --Guide Created Version 1.00 - 3/05/08 --Fixed some info, corrected spelling/grammar Version 1.50 - 3/07/08 --Fixed more info, added slightly to some sections, including a very tiny addition to Bloody Palace. Added my PSN ID for any who want to friend me for whatever reason. Corrected a few more spelling/grammar mistakes. Version 1.80 - 3/14/08 --Fixed some errors I was too blind to see (like putting '07 in the version history updates instead of '08 -_-. Also added a little more info and fixed other information. Added the FAQ section finally. Verstion 1.90 - 3/22/08 --Nothing big. Added a pair of reader submissions for two Secret Missions. I also fixed a couple typos here and there, other little mistakes, etc. I haven't been able to make a "big" update with college and the holidays, plus my Birthday is coming up, but now that I have a little bit of time, I might try to make a bigger revision if possible. The final version of the guide will probably come in a few weeks as well. FINAL Version - 5/04/08 --Wow, it's been a while hasn't it? Jeez. Well uh... I can explain. Basically it was midterms, birthday, school, spring break, more school, and GTA IV. I meant to do this final update over Spring Break but I got too caught up with friends to bother. Now that I'm no longer distracted, I can finally do this. This is important to note. Being the final version means only that I won't be adding any more new content. The operative word here is "I". I will still gladly review and add reader submissions. I will also check for those naughty typographical errors that seem to pop up now and then. There is a chance I may add new stuff, but it is unlikely. Time will tell. That being said, here's what the final update includes: -Secret Orb Stashes section added -One reader submission (one other pending) -Other small changes/fixes []====================================[] | Table of Contents | []====================================[] 1. Introduction (Intro) A. Devil May Cry: The Series B. Nero's Weapons & Abilities C. Dante's Weapons & Abilities D. Items E. Enemies F. General Tips G. Frequently Asked Questions 2. Walkthrough A. Mission 01 (M01) B. Mission 02 (M02) C. Mission 03 (M03) D. Mission 04 (M04) E. Mission 05 (M05) F. Mission 06 (M06) G. Mission 07 (M07) H. Mission 08 (M08) I. Mission 09 (M09) J. Mission 10 (M10) K. Mission 11 (M11) L. Mission 12 (M12) M. Mission 13 (M13) N. Mission 14 (M14) O. Mission 15 (M15) P. Mission 16 (M16) Q. Mission 17 (M17) R. Mission 18 (M18) S. Mission 19 (M19) T. Mission 20 (M20) 3. Beyond A. Blue Orb Locations (BluO) B. Secret Red Orb Stashes (Sros) C. Secret Missions (SecM) D. Bloody Palace (BlP) E. Unlockables (Unlck) 4. Misc. (Misc) A. Contact Info B. Credits C. Legal Garbage []====================================[] | Introduction | []====================================[] (Intro) ****************************** *A. Devil May Cry: The Series* ****************************** So, here we are, 2008 and Devil May Cry 4 has reached US and UK soil. Finally. Devil May Cry introduced us to a great game and character in Dante. Devil May Cry 2 took us down a road of mediocrity and then Devil May Cry 3 really shattered the gaming world yet again. Now finally, Devil May Cry 4 has been released with an all new protagonist: Nero. With new gameplay aspects, levels, enemies, bosses, the game continues the Devil May Cry legacy in good fashion. In writing this guide, I chose to go with the Devil Hunter difficulty. So, any references made here will reflect those seen in that particular mode. I've also written it specifically to reflect the control scheme with the PS3. I may at a later time change it so it can be applied to the Xbox360 but I'm not sure yet. It's actually not that difficult when you think about it. ******************************* *B. Nero's Abilities & Weapons* ******************************* With a new character, you'll spend a decent time becoming accustomed to how he plays. This will be especially hard if you've played DMC3 very recently. Luckily, Nero is simple to wield with some practice and eventually that makes the game much easier. To start off, Nero has two basic weapons: Red Queen and Blue Rose. I'm going to give the button presses for each move, as well as a short description and tips for each. I will not be doing this for all of Dante's moves though. Red Queen: Red Queen is Nero's sword and it's got a whole different innovation as compared to Dante's Rebellion. The sword has a motorcycle grip handle, allowing Nero to rev it and attack with more power. We'll get into the Exceed system in a moment. First we'll go over Nero's moves with the Red Queen. Combo 1: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle -Very simple. Just hit the button over and over again. Easy and useful when you are locked on to the enemy. Combo 2: Triangle, (pause), Triangle, (pause), Triangle, Triangle, Triangle -A good combo that works against a single enemy. Nero will slash the enemy once and then proceed to slam his sword down on him continually until finally slashing upward. The move is effective against one enemy but leaves you very vulnerable to attacks from behind. It's only recommended to be used when you're not surrounded closely by a lot of enemies. Having to pause in between the first and second, as well as second and third slashes is important. You can't just mash like in the first combo. Combo 3: Triangle, Triangle, (pause), Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle -This is a very good combo. Nero will do his two slashes, then after a pause, will unleash a few very wide slashes that will hit enemies around him. It's a decent crowd control attack but it has its limits and won't always guarantee you won't get hit while performing it. After the pause, you can just tap Triangle continually to unleash the latter part of the combo. Combo 4. Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, (pause), Triangle -Not much to say about this one. It's basically the same combo as the original, but Nero gives his final slash a little extra oomph. Air Combo: (in mid-air) Triangle, Triangle, Triangle -Pretty simple. While you're in the air this will help juggle the enemy but there's nothing special about it. Roulette Spin is better. Roulette Spin: (in mid-air) Triangle, Triangle, (pause), Triangle -This move is not only a good air move, but it will help you once or twice in the course of the game. Nero will slash twice, and then spin in the air with Red Queen. The result is a move that propels him somewhat higher into the air. High Roller: Hold R1 + Back on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle -This move is good to begin your aerial combos. If you're familiar with DMC, you should know that this move will let you chase the enemy if you hold Triangle. This will let you jump after the enemy and begin an aerial combo if you wish. I find it's useful if I'm focusing on one enemy and there are others surrounding me. I can take to the air and avoid damage for the time being. Streak: Hold R1 + Forward on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle -This move is performed in the same control scheme as Dante's Stinger, but the similarities end there. Instead of a forward thrust, Nero lunges with a very wide sweeping slash. This is a great move to control a crowd and keep enemies away from you while you deal with others. Split: (in mid-air) Hold R1 + Forward on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle -With Split, you'll be airborne when you perform it, and Nero will come crashing down on his enemies with his sword. Useful to tag on the end of an aerial combo. I personally like to juggle an enemy with Roulette spin, and if there's another enemy underneath me, I'll crash down on them with Split. Calibur: (in mid-air) Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick, then Forward on the Left Analog Stick and Triangle -This move is basically the airborne version of Streak, and it's tough to pull off sometimes. If you practice though it becomes easier, but you might still find that in battle situations you can't perform it as easily as you would hope. When you take to the air don't have the Left Analog Stick held in any direction. Press it back and then forward quickly in one fluid motion and press Triangle and you should succeed. Shuffle: Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick, then Forward on the Left Analog Stick and Triangle -Basically the same exact deal with Calibur except you'll be doing it on the ground. This move is a good move, you'll move away from your enemy, allowing you to avoid damage and then dash right back toward them allowing you to counterattack. It's one of those moves that's difficult to implement, but if practice it makes the difference in becoming a master at the combat system. Whew. That was a lot, wasn't it? Ok, now we'll go over the Exceed System. This is very, very important. *************** *EXCEED SYSTEM* *************** The Exceed System is exclusive to Nero and it's what makes him a whole different ballgame from Dante, as well as making DMC4 much more innovative in its combat system as compared to the earlier installments. Nero has a motorcycle grip handle on Red Queen and you can use it in battle to supercharge his attacks. This is not an easy process and can be difficult. However, if you've tried the demo, you might have some experience with this. I can't really help much in the way of learning the intricate timings and such, but Ninja99 has a very useful guide on the message boards that is detailed on such things. The very basic way to use the Exceed system is to hold L2 to rev the Red Queen. You simply hold L2 for a moment, then release and quickly hold it again. You should see the meter in the top left filling up. As it reaches the top, it will fill up a lamp. You have three lamps, that is, three hits to use with an Exceed boost. They'll be used whenever you attack, so if you fill three lamps and then proceed to slash three times in a row; you'll execute three slightly more powerful attacks and your lamps will be empty. Revving like this is useful in a few ways. If you know a boss fight is coming, you can prepare by filling the three lamps ahead of time. It's not much, but it is at least nice to start the fight off on the right foot. The other thing is to unleash the Exceed versions of certain moves in mid battle when at their full strength by revving three lamps. We'll get to those in a moment. There is a more useful way to get lamps however. This is what Ninja99 details in his guide on the board. By pressing L2 immediately following one of Nero's sword slashes, you can instantly fill a lamp in the Exceed gauge. This requires precise timing and therefore, can be difficult to learn without the proper amount of practice. Personally, I find it's easy to begin with Nero's most basic combo: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle. Practice with this combo and try to time L2 presses after he finishes each slash. Try it enough times and you should be able to do that combo with at least 2-3 correctly timed slashes. This applies to every move as well, including Streak, Split, Roulette Spin, everything. Learning the time for pressing L2 on these moves can take time but it's not critical to your experience. It helps tremendously however so it's worth it to learn. Again, check Ninja99's guide for help on this. Now, while your regular slashes are empowered when you have a lamp to use to boost them, they won't make a very noticeable difference in the long run. There are however, certain moves in Nero's disposal that are especially made for the Exceed system. These moves become empowered with a fiery explosion off of the Red Queen when you perform them with at least one lamp full. The more lamps you have, the more powerful the technique will be, granted you purchase the correct abilities. The moves are as follows: Exceed Streak: Nero will unleash his streak but with a powerful fire attack, and will spin in place after he lunges unleashing a slash as he turns. The result is a much fiercer Streak attack. With more lamps, Nero will perform more turns as he unleashes his slashes, all combined with a fierce fire attack from his blade. This move is by far one of the greatest crowd control moves in the game. Exceed High Roller: Nero will perform his High Roller, but then spin and slash a second and third (depending on how many lamps you have) time, all with a fire special embedded. Great for really putting the hurt on an enemy before you send them airborne. Exceed Split: A.K.A. Double Down (you'll see why). This is also another great move and probably my favorite after Exceed Streak. Instead of coming down with his blade stretched out in a cleaving sort of way, Nero will come down with the tip pointing down. As always, it will be accompanied by a fire special, and upon hitting the ground, a fiery shockwave will go off around Nero's immediate area. There is no difference in Nero's movements with more lamps for this move. That does not mean there is no benefit to using it with more lamps. To the contrary, with two or three lamps, the area of the fire shockwave is increased, which will allow you to hit more surrounding enemies. The move is also known as Double Down, because that is what Nero shouts when he unleashes it with three lamps. Exceed Calibur: This is again, the airborne version of Streak and there's not much difference in the Exceed version except for the fire attack and how Nero will spin as he unleashes the slash. Unlike the Exceed Streak, Nero will not spin more times for each lamp you have when you use this. More lamps will still mean more damage though, obviously. Exceed Shuffle: Again, the difference is the fire attack added on Nero's slash. Otherwise, it's just a beefed up version of the original attack. Nero will only slash twice too, even if you have three lamps. Now, we'll briefly discuss Nero's firearm, the Blue Rose. The Blue Rose is not much unfortunately, when compared to Dante's Ebony & Ivory. It's good to use if you wish to tag tiny bits of damage on an enemy (especially a boss) from a distance, but don't rely on it too heavily for hurting your foes. It's just a bonus really, helping to keep certain enemies at bay. It only has one move. Charge Shot: Hold Square and release. -Extremely simple. Just hold Square until Nero's arm glows and release. As you purchase the upgrades for this, you'll be able to do more damage and it will become slightly less useless. With Charge Shot 3, you can hold square longer. Nero's arm will go from blue to glowing purple, and then glow red. Release the square button here and it will fire an explosive shot. Not only will it hurt quite a bit, the shot will explode again for more damage. Devil Bringer: Last but not least, Nero's arm. This is the third dimension that is added to DMC4 that makes the fighting so much more innovative and fun in my humble opinion. Instead of just shooting and slashing, you now have this, with Nero only of course. Circle controls Nero's arm and there's not much to it in terms of moves, but it has more than it's worth in usefulness. Buster: This is the standard move for the Devil Bringer and the one you'll use most frequently. By pressing Circle, you'll grab your enemy, and perform some sort of move on them, generally being a slam or a throw. It varies between each enemy and some enemies have very unique Buster moves when you use it on them. Buster becomes an amazing tool when you use it in boss fights however. When you see the opportunity arise (I will elaborate on this below), you can use the Buster on the boss to unleash a powerful combo that is not only damaging, but fun to watch. Note that some enemies are immune to this and some can block it but with repeated Buster attacks, their guard can usually be broken. Be aware that with Devil Trigger engaged, the Buster move will usually be different and will be more powerful. Snatch: This is the other move you'll use a lot. Holding R1 and pressing Circle will let you grab your enemies from a distance and bring them closer. This is extremely helpful for quickly chaining combos and increasing your Stylish meter. Snatch can be used on the ground and in mid-air. Hold: With the Aegis Shield, you'll be able to grab your enemies with Buster and use them as a shield by holding Circle. Personally, I found this move somewhat useless. I was not very much in the interest of holding my enemies and rather wanted to attack as often as I could. Furthermore, I found that it's not always helpful for if your enemies attack from a certain angle you'll still sustain damage. Hold will be useful for you to complete a certain Secret Mission however. The final area of Nero’s techniques is the Devil Trigger moves. I've named them as such for spoiler purposes as the real name would give away something. Devil Trigger: Activate it using L1 and you'll enter a powered state. Your moves will hit harder and a slow regen system will be employed, allowing you to regain lost health. This is good for quickly whittling down bosses' health, as well as trying to turn the tide in a fight if you're getting beat. Summoned Swords: When firing the Blue Rose in Devil Trigger state, you'll also be able to shoot some small swords. Obviously, your ranged attack will be more powerful in this state. Maximum Bet: (in Devil Trigger state) Hold R1 + Back on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle + Circle -This technique is pretty good while in Devil Trigger state but can be a little tough to pull of sometimes. I can't say much more but it's a useful move and I recommend it for Devil Trigger. You can also hold this move to make the attack all the more powerful. It's very useful against bosses with big body masses like Berial and Bael/Dagon because if you charge it and manage to hit them when you release, they'll take a lot of damage as the attack slowly shreds through them. Showdown: (in Devil Trigger state Hold R1 + Forward on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle + Circle -This move is bittersweet. It is indeed a pretty cool move, as Nero unleashes a volley of fierce attacks. The cost is high though and it makes it difficult to pull off, almost to the point where you might consider that it's not worth the trouble. When you input the button commands, Nero will charge the attack for a few seconds, leaving you very vulnerable. Knowing which enemies will let you have windows like this is imperative. Some enemies like Scarecrows and Frosts will not let you pull this off easily. Other enemies like the Blanco Angelo will give a decent amount of time to pull this off with just a mere stun. Furthermore, if you don't land the first hit of this attack (let's say your enemy sidesteps the attack), you won't pull it off at all. Finally, we'll go over some other assorted abilities. Some of these are free, while others will have to be bought. As I will not cover all of Dante's moves below, let any of these following moves apply for Dante as well. Side Roll: This shouldn't be foreign to a veteran DMC player. The side roll, performed by holding R1 and pressing the Left Analog Stick left or right with a press of X will allow you to roll away from enemy attacks. It's very useful, so be sure to know when to use it. Table Hopper: This is a sort of bonus move of the Side Roll. If you time it so that you perform the Side Roll just as an enemy is about to hit you, Nero will move swiftly out of the way and this move will put you in position to counter much better. I personally never used it much except by accident a few times. If you're keen on keeping high combos going however, this is a good move to learn, as a good dodge will add very slightly to your Stylish. Table Hopper can be upgraded twice, and it basically adds another dodge to the chain. So by using Table Hopper once, if you press the buttons again quickly, you can do a second and even third dodge that will put you in an even more advantageous position. Speed: This move is not very useful in the grand scheme of things, but it's still useful in general and I recommend it as one of the moves you get early. If you played the demo you should know what this is. If you keep moving in the same general direction, you will eventually enter a faster running mode. This simply allows you to get from point A to point B quicker. It will also let you do the dropkick move, which if nothing else, is cool and will add very slightly to your Stylish meter. Get More Orbs: Not really a move or anything but an ability I figured I would mention. It will let you grab orbs from longer distances. As orbs are very important, you should consider getting this whenever you have the chance. Air Hike: Another technique veteran fans should know. This is your double jump. Useful for reaching high places and staying in the air longer. I would again recommend you try to get this early although it's not critical. I personally didn't get it until after I had beaten the game the first time. Enemy Step: This move allows you to do a double jump by landing on top of an enemy as a stepping platform to vault off of. If you watch it performed in the Library, it kinda looks cool but it honestly isn't worth it. It's definitely not something you should buy to favor some other useful ability. Exceed 2: This move pours two lamps into your Exceed attacks (Split, High Roller, etc). So, when you have at least two lamps filled and perform one of those special Exceed moves, it will automatically use both lamps. Sound bad? The effect is a more powerful version of the original attack. For example, Nero will spin twice when performing Exceed Streak, instead of just once. Exceed 3: This is the advanced version of the previous ability. It lets you pour three lamps into your special Exceed moves. It makes Exceed Streak very dangerous and also gives you access to Double Down. Max-Act: This ability is not extremely important as it is mostly a sort of luck thing. Basically, with the most precise of timings, you can fill up the Ex-Gauge all the way, instead of filling just one lamp. It's helpful on higher difficulties but again, not something you should focus on early in lieu of other abilities. That covers everything in Nero's arsenal. Now we'll move on to Dante. For Dante who has many more moves, I will not cover all of his, but will rather just provide you the button inputs and some general tips on certain moves. ******************************** *B. Dante's Abilities & Weapons* ******************************** You'll play as Dante for roughly half of the game, after playing as Nero for the first half. Even if you've played DMC3 recently, you'll probably feel pretty awkward jumping into Dante's shoes for the first time in DMC4 after playing as Nero for so long. Rightfully so, as they are quite different. ********* *Weapons* ********* Rebellion: Dante's sword Rebellion is where you'll first find yourself in a moment of awkwardness most likely. If you've practiced the Exceed system a lot, you'll probably find yourself (like me) wailing on the L2 button as Dante swings his sword. Since Dante obviously doesn't have the Exceed system, this is simply a waste but it's something you'll have to get used to. Dante's Rebellion attacks are pretty simple and straightforward. Combo 1: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle Combo 2: Triangle, Triangle, (pause), Triangle -The third Triangle press will add a Million Stab to the combo Helm Breaker: (in mid-air) press Triangle High Time: Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick + Triangle Stinger: Hold R1 + Forward on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle Million Stab: Release the Left Analog Stick and hold Triangle after performing Stinger Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh is a fist and foot weapon similar to Beowulf in DMC3. I thoroughly enjoyed Beowulf's moves, but I did not like that Dante wore the greaves and gloves all the time even when the weapon wasn't currently selected, so for that reason, I tended not to use it as much as I wished. Gilgamesh does not have that problem and is much more useful. Combo 1: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle Combo 2: Triangle, Triangle, (pause), Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle Full House: (in mid-air) Press Triangle Draw: Hold R1 + Back on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle Straight: Hold Triangle and release after a Draw -Hold Triangle for a moment after Dante has backed away from performing the Draw technique. Can be charged. Kick 13: Hold R1 + Forward on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle Flush: This move basically makes your jump an attack when you have Gilgamesh equipped. Not much else to say about it. Lucifer: Ah yes, Lucifer. Here's a unique and fun weapon. It's one of those weapons that is difficult to master, but if you do, you become a better player for it. Lucifer's arms allow Dante to cast out floating swords which can pierce and stick into his enemies, allowing him to detonate them later. As he can cast many swords at a single time, the damage you can do to numerous enemies makes Lucifer a force to be reckoned with in the right hands. Combo 1: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle (repeat) Combo 2: Triangle, (pause) Triangle Combo 3: Triangle, (pause), Triangle, (pause), Triangle -Timing on the third strike can be tough, wait til Dante has turned his body almost all of the way to press Triangle a third time. Combo 4: Triangle, Triangle, (pause), Triangle Combo 5: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, (pause), Triangle Splash: (in mid-air) Hold Triangle Ecstasy: Hold R1 + Back on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle -This move will detonate deployed swords Pin-Up: Hold R1 + Forward on the Left Analog Stick and press Triangle Now on to Dante's guns. Ebony & Ivory: Dante's famous pair of handguns. More useful than Nero's Blue Rose, E&I still only have one move. Charge Shot: Hold Square. Hold it longer for the upgraded versions for more damaging volleys. Coyote A: Dante's Shotgun. A more powerful gun that works good in closer quarters. Charge Shot: Hold Square Pandora: Here we go. This is the fun one. Pandora is more of a multipurpose gun and its abilities are very useful. Originally disguised as a suitcase, it has 666 forms. Unfortunately you'll only be using a handful, but it's ok, this weapon still kicks ass. PF013 Epidemic: Press Square PF124 Hatred: Hold Square and press the Left Analog Stick left or right three times -You can only aim up or down so be careful PF398 Revenge: (while in PF124 Hatred mode) Spin the Left Analog Stick twice in any direction PF262 Jealousy: (in mid-air) Press Square ******** *Styles* ******** Sword Master: Sword Master is probably the most useful style in DMC4. In DMC3 my favorite was Gunslinger but unfortunately that style is a bit nerfed. Also, the combat in DMC4 calls for you to be more aggressive so Sword Master is the way to go. Rebellion --------- Prop: Press Circle Shredder: Press Circle after performing Prop and hold Aerial Rave: (in mid-air) Circle, Circle, Circle, Circle Drive: Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick + Triangle and Circle simultaneously Quick Drive: Press Triangle and Circle simultaneously Over Drive: Press Circle twice immediately after performing Drive Dance Macabre: Hold R1 and press Forward on the Left Analog Stick and tap Circle continuously -This is one of my favorite moves. Remember to keep tapping Circle. Gilgamesh --------- Shock!: Hold Circle -Can be charged to two levels depending on how long you hold Circle Shocking!: (in mid-air) Press Circle Beast Uppercut: Hold R1 and press Forward on the Left Analog Stick + Circle Rising Dragon: Hold Circle before unleashing Beast Uppercut until Dante's fist flashes Divine Dragon: (reminds me of Legend of Dragoon) Hold Circle until Dante's fist flashes twice Real Impact: Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick + Circle -Similar to Divine Dragon but it can't be charged which is actually helpful because the damage is nearly identical, so you don't have to wait as long Lucifer ------- Discipline: Press Left Analog Stick in any direction and press Circle -This move will reposition and deployed blades around you. Climax: Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick + Circle Bondage: Hold R1 and press Forward on the Left Analog Stick + Circle -This will reposition the blades around an enemy instead. Once they surround him, the blades will attack. ************ *Gunslinger* ************ Gunslinger was my favorite but now it has less of the moves that it did in DMC3 but perhaps rightfully so as some of the moves accented Dante's age in that iteration. Regardless, Gunslinger will boost the abilities of your guns, making it more than helpful when things get shaky. Ebony & Ivory ------------- Twosome Time: Press Circle and use Left Analog Stick to fire at enemies Rain Storm: (in mid-air) Press Circle Honeycomb Fire: After performing Twosome Time, let go of Left Analog stick and tap Circle repeatedly -This move will only work if you're firing both guns on the same enemy. Coyote-A -------- Fireworks: Press Circle Fireworks Air: (in mid-air) Press circle Backslide: Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick + Circle Gun Stinger: Hold R1 and press Forward on the Left Analog Stick + Circle Pandora ------- PF594 Argument: Press Circle when in Gunslinger and Pandora equipped and some of the Disaster Gauge filled. Press Circle to unleash the special attack, and Square to unleash regular attacks. -You need to have around half of the Disaster Gauge filled to unleash the Circle attack. With a full gauge you can do it twice, depending on how much you've upgraded Gunslinger. PF422 Grief: Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick + Circle PF666 Omen: Hold R1 and press Forward on the Left Analog Stick + Circle *********** *Trickster* *********** Trickster was never a favorite of mine. With the removal of the wall running ability, I find it even less helpful. Still, if you need to really move, this Style is a bit useful. Dash: Press Circle Sky Star (in mid-air) Press Circle Mustang: Hold Circle while dashing -If you collide with an enemy you'll jump on top of them Flipper: Hold Circle after being knocked down Air Trick: Hold R1 and press Forward on the Left Analog Stick + Circle -You'll appear above an enemy instantly. Perhaps the only really cool move in this style ************* *Royal Guard* ************* Royal Guard is another less helpful style, unless you're a very skilled player that is. Royal Guard really tests your reaction timing and reflexes. It's not an easy Style to master at all, but if you take the time, you'll find it fun and interesting... maybe. Block: Press Circle -Holding Circle will minimize damage slightly and charge the gauge slightly. the press of Circle at the exact moment you're hit by an enemy attack. Air Block: (in mid-air) Press Circle Royal Block: Press Circle at the exact moment of enemy attack -Requires precise timing and will charge the gauge more Release: Hold R1 and press Forward on the Left Analog Stick + Circle -This move will release the power you've stored in the gauge Air Release: (in mid-air) Hold R1 and press Forward on the Left Analog Stick + Circle Royal Release: Perform a Release at the exact moment of enemy attack Dreadnaught: Hold R1 and press Back on the Left Analog Stick + Circle Whew, I'm kind of glad to be done with that. If you wish to know more about any moves, consult the game's Library which will show you short video of each move. Or you can contact me and I'll try to help you out. ********** *D. Items* ********** If you're a veteran, you probably are very familiar with the various items of Devil May Cry 4, as they have not changed since the series' inception. Still, I am obligated to list them for new players and for organization purposes. Orbs ---- Red Orbs: These are your currency for other items. Collect as many as you can. They are located in breakable items in just about every room of every level. Enemies will also give you some when you slay them. Some Red Orbs can also be found in secret spots, indicated by Nero's arm glowing when near. Green Orbs: Health orbs. These will be useful, especially on higher difficulties. They will restore portions of your health depending on the size and also on what difficulty you're on. Like Red Orbs, they can be found in breakable items although less commonly, and from enemies. White Orbs: These are not quite as common as the first two. White orbs will restore your Devil Trigger gauge. Gold Orbs: Gold orbs will be useful for new players and for those brave enough to tackle Dante Must Die mode. They will revive you where you die should you choose to use them. You can only hold 3 at a time, but you'll find a couple throughout the game. Beware though. Using one penalizes your score at the end of the mission. Blue Orbs: These are the very important orbs. A whole Blue Orb will add another portion to your life meter. Blue Orb Fragment: This is what you need to make a Blue Orb. Find four pieces to construct one. They can be found in various places in the levels, and also as the reward for beating a Secret Mission (details below). Stars ----- Vital Star S: Restores a small portion of your health. The portion that will be restored is determined by the difficulty you're playing on. Vital Star M: Restores a large portion of your health. Vital Star L: Restores all of your health. Devil Star S: Restores a small portion of your Devil Trigger gauge. Devil Star L: Restores your entire DT gauge. Other ----- Holy Water: Will damage surrounding enemies ************ *E. Enemies* ************ Devil May Cry 4 shares a few enemies with DMC1, but they do not behave quite the same, nor do the same strategies apply all the time. There are also many more enemies and I will detail them and some tips to help you conquer them. Scarecrow: These are the basic enemies. They'll attack you with blades. They're not really aggressive and will only attack when you're near. Some will try to flip and somersault at you however. The best strategy is to limit yourself to one, or if you can, use Nero's Combo 2 and try to take on more. Buster will work wonders on them. Trying not to get surrounded by them is paramount. Other than that, they're relatively simple to defeat. Mega Scarecrow: These guys are very big, and you will first encounter them as Dante. The key to these guys is targeting. In most cases, they will not attack you if you're not facing them and/or targeting them. This will not apply all the time, but you'll find if you don't mess with the Mega Scarecrows, you might have time to deal with other enemies. They take a lot of punishment but if you keep them on the ground, you can beat them easily. Frost: These guys are probably my most hated enemy. Simply because I can always count on a Frost to break my Stylish combo. Frosts always attack in pairs. Many times you will find a new Frost replacing a fallen one. Their attacks consist of ice projectiles that are very annoying and best avoided by jumping, a forward swipe attack, and a jump attack that ends with them coming crashing down with an ice attack. If you're a little far from them they might send a blast of ice that snakes across the ground toward you. If you're really far they will sort of vanish and reappear near you. Use Buster often to hurl one Frost away, so you can focus on one at a time. They may shield themselves in ice sometimes. Just Buster them continually, or if you're Dante, blast them with Pandora or continuous Stingers. Assault: Assaults are similar to their DMC1 brethren. They will burrow and fire projectiles at you. Most of the time however, they leave you significant windows with which to attack them. If you stay aggressive and don't let up on your barrage, you can beat them without getting hit, and also get a good Stylish rating. Vary your attacks with some Busters, as the grab for them can hurt nearby Assaults. Watch out for their air attack, when the Assault jumps up and starts spinning. It's easy to avoid though, but they may do it twice. Blitz: This enemy is the notorious newcomer to DMC4. Blitz will be first encountered as Dante, unless you're playing on Son of Sparda or higher, in which case Nero will have the "pleasure" of dealing with one first. Blitz can't be hurt by melee weapons while its electric shield is up. To lower it, you've got to pelt them with bullets. Obviously, Dante has an advantage, being able to use Pandora. If you keep jumping, you can use Jealousy and other forms to lower its shield quickly. Nero will have a tougher time, being limited to Blue Rose. Once its shield is down, as Dante, attack it quickly, even use your Devil Trigger if you have it. As Nero, use Buster with some attacks if you want, but just use Buster again and again to weather it down. Blitz is hard to keep track of since it moves instantly across the area. It attacks by lunging at you, or firing a concentrated beam of electricity at your position. The latter is easy to avoid, but sometimes it will use a sweeping attack so be careful. Also, it may disappear, leaving you confused. That's your cue to start moving, as Blitz will appear below you and come sailing up. When you've weakened it, it will regain its shield and glow red. This is where Blitz truly becomes annoying. At any time, it may try to lunge and grab you. If it succeeds, you're in big trouble. It will basically overload with energy, killing itself but taking you with it. Your best bet is to stay airborne and keep firing at it until it dies. If you are caught by this attack though, you can escape if you have your Devil Trigger. Activate it and run away as the Blitz explodes. If you play on Dante Must Die Mode, avoiding this kamikaze attack or using Devil Trigger to escape is paramount. I've been caught by the attack on DMD with pretty much a maxed out and nearly full health bar and the attack still killed me. Gladius: These swords were created by Agnus. They fly around and will start to glow. They will spin in one of two ways, horizontally or vertically. This will tell you which attack is coming, a thrust or an uppercutting slash, the latter is harder to dodge. The Gladius are pretty weak though and can be destroyed with just a few slashes. Or better yet, you can Buster them and throw them at Agnus or at each other or other enemies. Cutlass: I hated these guys at first, but they weren't tricky enough to quell my hatred for Frosts. These fish enemies you'll only encounter in Missions 06 and 16 so you won't have much in terms of practice for them. Still, they're not too hard. They will swim around in the floor around you, basically avoiding you for the most part. At certain points they will try to pop out from below you and slash you with their fins. This is easy to avoid but not if you're trying to fight one of them. Pay attention to the sound they make when attacking. As Nero, try to use Snatch to grab one. It may be tough but you can slow them down by shooting them. This will allow you to grab them or slash them if you're close enough. Basilisk: I disliked these guys too, but maybe it's just because I thought they were annoyingly stupid. These enemies are like dogs, and will shoot fire at you from distances. They attack in large groups generally. Dante will be the first one to deal with them (on Devil Hunter), so you'll really never get the chance to Buster them as Nero, that is until later when you might encounter some when fighting Agnus again in Mission 19. As Dante, Stinger and Helm Breaker help, as well as Combo 2. Trying to avoid them all is tough but not impossible. Taking to the air will not help you sometimes. You may see a Basilisk charging its attack and therefore try to take to the air to avoid it. They will often jump up after you and still hit you. If you get to fight some during the Agnus fight later or if you're on Bloody Palace, you can Buster them to use one as a cannon and fire a shot at another enemy. It's difficult to get the aiming right though. Chimera Seed: You'll learn to hate these guys, especially on high difficulties. They're black and appear from Echidna's seed pods. On their own, they're very weak and can be killed instantly by Nero's Buster. Their goal however is to take over Scarecrows or Assaults and combine to form more powerful (and annoying) enemies. So whenever you see them, Buster or Stinger them immediately to avoid some frustration. Chimera: This is the result of the Chimera Seed combining with a Scarecrow. They're very annoying to say the least. Not only are they stronger defensively, their blades now flail at you at random times. This can prove very difficult to deal with when you're slashing at them at close quarters or trying to Buster them. Beware of their blades at all times and only attack after the blades have done their thing. As Dante, weaken them with Pandora first. Chimera-Assault: When the Chimera Seed combines with an Assault, you're really going to start hating the little ****ers. Unlike normal Assaults which usually give you plenty of time to whoop them, the Chimera versions are much more aggressive. Add the presence of the Chimera blades, and you're looking at a lot of frustration, especially on higher difficulties. They seem to deploy their blades more often than the Scarecrow Chimera, so sometimes Nero won't be able to Buster them, as the Buster animation for Assaults is long and the blades will usually start flailing before you're done. Stick to Blue Rose and sword attacks. As Dante, use Pandora and sword attacks. Mephisto: These guys are pretty easy, but can be annoying in large groups or with other enemies, especially on higher difficulties as they tend to not just sit back and watch you beat up on their friends and instead try to have at you. The first thing you'll probably notice is your normal attacks have very little effect on them. Use Nero's Devil Bringer and use Snatch on them continually, which will weaken their cloaks. If you're playing as Dante, you can use Coyote-A, or later, Pandora to drop its cloak. Once the cloak is gone, you're free to pelt them with sword attacks and Busters. The Mehpisto will fly around you quickly, then a gold glow will appear on its finger (E.T. phone home? o_O). That means it’s about to attack with a finger laser... thing. Easily avoidable by rolling. Sometimes it will spin and place and flail at you with its cloak. Also easy to avoid by jumping. One of its more annoying attacks is when it flies back quickly and suddenly, then comes charging at you. This is easy to avoid if you see it coming. Just jump out of the way. The other attack has the Mephisto spinning its cloak very fast like it’s a saw. This attack will require you to jump too, but unlike the previous attack, it won't come at you right away. When it begins spinning its cloak like that, wait a second or two then jump to avoid being hit. Memorizing their attack patterns will become crucial for one Secret Mission. Faust: Fausts are the more advanced Mephistos. You'll only encounter one at a time though, but they'll usually be paired with two Mephistos. Like Mega Scarecrows, a Faust will generally not attack you unless you target it. This will not always work and on higher difficulties especially, the Faust will not be ignored and try to attack you even if you're dealing with other enemies. On Devil Hunter though, you should be able to take out the Mephistos first. The Faust has some similar attacks. It will attack with deployable lasers then you can avoid by rolling. It will also move back like the Mephisto, and then come sailing at you with its claws. If you don't have Air Hike, this attack may be too tough to avoid by jumping, so you may want to roll away instead. Fausts are tougher to uncloak, as they will take many more Snatches to weaken, as well as more Coyote-A/Pandora blasts if you're Dante. Eventually, though, they will go down. Unlike Mephistos, which are beatable in only one uncloaking if you attack them hard enough, bringing down a Faust will most likely require two or more trials. Blanco Angelo: These guys are pretty easy. They tend to attack in groups later but are still not very hard as they are not aggressive and when they do attack, they are very slow. Their front flank is fortified (hm, consonance) by a shield which makes direct attack tough unless you strike them after they have tried to hit you. Slashing them from behind makes it easy to defeat them, but if you really want to hurt them, try Bustering them. Nero will impale them with their own lances and send them flying. This is very helpful if you manage to aim them at each other. You can also Buster them while they're flying around. Alto Angelo: Probably my most hated enemy after Frosts. These guys command Blanco Angelos and send them through different attack patterns and stuff. Despite that, it's generally better to go after the Blancos first, since they are much weaker and easier to kill. Alto Angelos will charge up a sort of Streak attack. This is easy to avoid by jumping. They will also slash at you three times when they're close. The slashes are slow and lazy but if you're hit by one, it's hard to avoid the other two. Altos have much better shields and you can't Buster them from behind like the Blancos. Instead, weaken their shields by using Split/Helm Breaker and Buster again and again. Eventually, the shield will break, and that's when you say (to quote Billy Madison), "Now you're all in big, BIG trouble!" That's your cue to Buster them. Nero will suplex them followed by a dropkick (really cool). Or you can Buster them while in DT state for a cooler attack. One other thing to note is that one of the formations that the Alto can set up with the Blancos, is an attack where they charge a giant energy ball that will fire at you. If you time it right, you can use Buster to send it right back at them. Not only will this kill all of them in most cases, it will also get you a nice Stylish rating. Fault: These guys you will only encounter generally in one mission (Mission 14) and in a Secret Mission. You might find some during the latter stages of the Mission 18 boss though. They appear wherever you're standing and try to come up and grab you. If they succeed, you'll be pulled into another dimension where you'll be forced to fight off some enemies, including Chimera type enemies. Obviously you are then advised to avoid these things. However, the best thing to do is wait for them to pop up (listen for the slither sound they make) and avoid the attack, then quickly strike back with some slashes to kill them. There are only a few in each area of Mission 14, and once you kill them they're gone for good. One other advantage in killing them is they always drop small green orbs that you can use to restore some health. ***************** *F. General Tips* ***************** 1. Don't let yourself get surrounded. If you see enemies creeping toward your back, take to the air to avoid them and escape or counterattack. A Split/Helm Breaker will help shake off some enemies that have gathered below you. Air Hike will also help. 2. Use your Buster often. The Devil Arm is very useful when you use it to throw your enemies around. About 2 Busters will also fill your Stylish meter a bit, then you can do some combos and return to Buster to keep the Stylish going. 3. Pay close attention to the bosses and their posture as you weaken them. When a boss enters a weakened state (the boss looks like they're slouching), that's your cue to attack them with a Buster. This will unleash a supercombo attack. 4. You might very well die a few times against bosses. Don't fret. It can take some time to learn their moves and better prepare yourself for fights. 5. Don't be afraid to replay previously cleared missions to get more orbs and Proud Souls, as well as search for Secret Missions and Blue Orbs. Sure, you'll be going back instead of proceeding to the next levels, but you can acquire orbs and other things to better prepare you for the battles ahead. 6. This guide is set for Devil Hunter but if you're playing on Son of Sparda or especially Dante Must Die, do all you can to acquire all the Blue Orb pieces. I cannot stress this enough, as you will need as much health as you can get. 7. Manage your skills well. I give suggestions throughout the guide but in the end, it's all up to you. Buy what you need or what you simply think is cool. Be sure that you know you can refund Proud Souls at any time to buy other skills. 8. If you want, start your game on Human Mode. It's easier for totally new players, and also, it's a good way to start Devil Hunter, since you'll carry over your Proud Souls accumulated (thanks to tec305 for this) 9. When you need a Charge Shot in a jam, consider holding the square button, even while you're flailing away on your sword, that way you have one ready (thanks to tec305 for this). ******************************* *G. Frequently Asked Questions* ******************************* Here I'll briefly address what might be common questions received. One note on this. Don't let this discourage you from e-mailing me if you need help. I like helping folks out so if you are still a little stuck on something, don't hesitate to contact me. Also, the tone of this is overall comedic, because as with many authors, the questions are fabricated and have never actually been submitted with the exception of a few. Don't take the comedic formation of the questions as a debasing of the intelligence of my readers. I wouldn't do that! I wub you guys! :D .....No but seriously, this is just for craps and giggles. 1. I can't find (insert Blue Orb)! Zomg! Halp! A. I have detailed most of the Blue Orbs you can typically acquire in the first playthrough. If you can't find one, use Ctrl + F to find the Blue Orb Section (BluO) to find a full list of locations. 2. HOLLY CRAP THIS SECRET MISSION IS LIEK TEH HARDEST THING EVAR A. I hear ya. Some of them are almost to the point of being unmerciful. All I can say is practice makes perfect. It's a trite saying but it does apply here. The more you try it over and over, the better the chance you'll eventually overcome. 3. Your guide is missing something! Aha! A. Well please tell me what's missing or incorrect. I'll be glad to fix it. I personally believe a guide is a semi-permeable object that thrives not only on the matter created by the author but also on the submissions of others. 4. How do I beat (insert enemy/boss)? A. I give some general strategies for enemies and detailed well the attacks of the bosses and how to take them down. Refer to the Enemies section, and the actual boss fights within the course of the walkthrough. Other than that, if you have problems, I will say that it's all about practice. Also, if you got through the game with no hindrances and beat everything on the first try, where would the fun be? It's very gratifying to finally beat something after several tries. 5. Bloody Palace is driving me nuts! How do they expect me to beat this thing?! A. I can't blame you, it's pretty tough. I'm a firm believer that no one gamer has a set limit of skill when it comes to games, but it's very tough to go beyond your capabilities sometimes. The truth is there are times when things are just way too hard that even trying it a thousand times in a row won't help you win. Despite that, Bloody Palace, although it definitely requires a full mastery of the game, is within human capabilities. I unfortunately haven't been able to do it without a Super character. I can't help you much as a lot of it will come from how you yourself play. There are a couple guides up now in the FAQ Section for Bloody Palace. Please check them out. []====================================[] | Walkthrough | []====================================[] __ __) __ (, /| /| , , / ) / / | / | _ _ _____ / / / Birds of a Feather ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / / o-------------------o (_/ ' (M01) 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! | []===========================================================================[] __ __) __ _ (, /| /| , , / ) ' ) / | / | _ _ _____ / / ,--' ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / /___ La Porte De L'Enfer (_/ ' o-------------------o (M02) 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. Then toward the right there is a tall tower like object. This is the location of the first of many secret Red Orb stashes. Getting on top is really tough though. You can wall kick but you sort of have to move in a certain way to actually get on top. If you managed to purchase Air Hike already, you might have an easier time. Otherwise come back later. 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. __ __) __ _ (, /| /| , , / ) ' ) / | / | _ _ _____ / / -( ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / (__ ) The White Wing (_/ ' o--------------o (M03) 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 greet 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. If you managed to somehow get Exceed 3 by this time, charge up 3 lamps on Red Queen. Use High Roller while hugging and facing this wall. It will launch Nero upwards high. Follow it with a wall kick to get on top of this area. Move forward and to the left a little and wait for the stash of Red Orbs to come down. Since you probably won't have Exceed 3, keep it and this area in mind for later. Like I said, you'll see this room at lot in your adventure. Drop down or continue. 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. __ __) __ (, /| /| , , / ) / / / | / | _ _ _____ / / /___/_ ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / / Cold Blooded (_/ ' / o------------o (M04) 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 be 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. __ __) __ ___ (, /| /| , , / ) / / | / | _ _ _____ / / /__ ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / ____) Trisagion (_/ ' o---------o (M05) 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. Before going too far, hug the eastern wall and move south. There are some blocks sticking out from each wall. Starting from the entrance door and going south, you want the second block. Your newly acquired Rusalka corpse ability will clue you in. Stand on top of this block to get a stash of Red Orbs. 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. __ __) __ __ (, /| /| , , / ) / / | / | _ _ _____ / / /__ Resurrection ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / (__ ) o------------o (_/ ' (M06) 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. __ __) __ ___ (, /| /| , , / ) / / / | / | _ _ _____ / / / ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / / The She-Viper (_/ ' / o-------------o (M07) 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, into an area called the Ruined Lowlands and you'll be forced to fit a group of enemies, which may include Chimera. So try not to fall if you can avoid it. However, there is one advantage to falling down. There are areas in the Ruined Lowlands that snake out into ledges. The one in the northwest holds secret Red Orbs. Anyway, back to the Ruined Valley. 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. | []===========================================================================[] Doctor Rockster has submitted an extra tip for this fight. I'll list it this once, but keep it in mind for later: "Just something I think might be worth adding. During the Echidna fight when she executes her swoop attack thing if you fire a charged shot into her mouth, she raises her path of flight (thus avoiding you) and kind of coils back into the middle, resuming her other attacks." 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. __ __) __ ___ (, /| /| , , / ) ( ) / | / | _ _ _____ / / .--' ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / (___) Profession of Faith (_/ ' o-------------------o (M08) 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 odds 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. __ __) __ __ (, /| /| , , / ) / ) / | / | _ _ _____ / / (__,/ ) / |/ |__(_/_)_/_)__(_(_) / (_ (__ / / For You (_/ ' / o-------o (M09) 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. In the southwest corner (right of the door) there is a hidden stash of Red Orbs. Stand near the wall to recieve them. 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 l