------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition Vergil: A Beginner's Guide v2.5 Author: Andre de Leon Email: [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Vergil DOES NOT PLAY LIKE Dante III. Vergil's Arsenal IV. Vergil's Style V. Vergil Vs Dante: A Rundown On Movement VI. Blue Orb Missions VII. Blood Palace VIII. Super Vergil and Super Corrupt Sparda Legend: T = triangle button / Devil Arm Attack S = square button / Gun Attack C = circle button / Style Action X = x button / Jump forward = forward on your analog stick / toward an opponent back = back on your analog stick / away from an opponent : = time your button press / "Just Frame" [hold ..] = hold down the corresponding button [release ..] = release the corresponding button ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is my second guide so far, and by the looks of it, I won't be making any more any time soon, so let's see where this particular one takes us. I got the game last Wednesday, 1/25, excited as hell to play as Vergil. Considering that I have played the original game for at least 90 hours, mastering all the styles, devil arms, guns, and even earning the infamous "Super Dante" himself, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I'm pretty tired of playing as Dante. We all know how big of a bad ass Vergil was as a boss, and I think I'm not the only DMC3 fan out here who wanted to play as him ever since the original. We were all pretty ecstatic to have heard that Vergil IS playable in DMC3:SE. Translating Vergil to a playable character intrigued me moreso, because he had a ton of moves as a boss character. So as anyone could guess, many of Vergil's boss moves was taken out to create the playable version. Yet despite all of the changes, I'd have to say, I'm still blown away with the move set that the developers left for Vergil. It's almost criminal what you can do with Vergil, and I barely played him for 30 hrs. Vergil is STILL the monster that I knew (and had to TRY and beat in DMD mode) back in DMC3. This guide is written for the DMC3 veterans, so I'm going to assume that the reader is more than familiar with DMC game mechanics and with playing as Dante. Vergil DOES NOT PLAY LIKE Dante, however, so I'll be going over a lot of fundamentals, both old and new ones introduced in DMC3:SE, particularly for Vergil, so the guide should be newbie-friendly still. And as always, if you have anything to contribute, do e-mail me, and I'll be sure to credit you if anything makes it to the guide. But before we start, I think it should be noted that... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Vergil DOES NOT PLAY like Dante ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, okay. That's not totally true. Vergil DOES HAVE SOME of Dante's moves. They ARE twins, so it just makes sense that Vergil can do SOME of Dante's moves, and, not to mention, practical, because it eases the learning curve. But, and I can promise you this, as the game progresses and as you keep playing as Vergil, you'll find yourself relying more on Vergil's unique move sets than the ones he "borrowed" from his brother. Why, you ask?.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- III. Vergil's Arsenal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vergil does not have as many weapons as Dante, and to compensate for this, he gets to carry ALL of his, ALL at once. Vergil has 3 Devil Arms and 1 "Gun." Both the L2 and R2 buttons are used to cycle between your Devil Arms, seeing as you only have 1 "Gun" for yourself. The default starting order of your Devil Arms List is (from left to right; L2 to cycle left, R2 to cycle right): Yamato, Beowulf, and Force Edge. --A. Yamato-- Vergil's Katana--most definitely the coolest weapon in Vergil's arsenal. If you're looking for anything new in the game, this is the weapon you should start using. This sword has the best range out of all of his weapons, and is second only to the Beowulf, damage-wise. 1. Yamato Combo - T, T, T Careful with the last hit. Your recovery is terrible. You can cancel at any time during the first 2 hits. You can cancel to anything from a jump, to a dodge, to any other action you can think of. The last hit inflicts a powerful knockback to your opponent, so he will be on the other side of the room after the last hit connects. Keep in mind that the first 2 hits have less range compared to the last hit, simply because Vergil doesn't draw his sword on the first 2 hits. He uses the scabbard or "saya" to inflict initial damage. Vergil draws his sword on the last hit, thereby enhancing the range of this combo. Contributor: Raymond Pelletier He points out that if you let Vergil finish sheathing his sword after this combo, you gain about 1/2 an orb of Devil Trigger back! 2. Aerial Rave - X, T, T The last hit also inflicts a powerful knockback to your opponent. Your recovery is pretty good after either slash, so you should be able to dodge or move around after you land. Vergil draws his sword for both of these strikes, so, as you can imagine, the range of this attack is insane. But oddly enough, the best and most important property of this move, is the Float property, which is VERY important in getting some of the blue orbs for Vergil, not to mention, dodging certain attacks in general. You can cancel off of the first hit of the Aerial Rave, as evidenced by the insane Vergil combo vids out there. Check the insanity out at your local youtube.com's, google videos, and devils-lair.org's. 3. Rapid Slash - [hold R1] + forward + T Oh, we all know, dodge AND hate this move. Vergil lunges forward and slices a good, rectangular, chunk of the area behind him. If anything hits the blade-slash fx, they are knockbacked considerably. This action is a little too expensive, considering its general uselessness. Very cool move, nonetheless. Just hard to find a use for. Oh yeah. Your recovery is bad afterwards, so be careful when you use this. 4. Upper Slash - [hold R1] + back + T, T The first hit is the juggle starter. The second hit inflicts knockback to the opponent, so if your planning on doing anything fancy, stop at the first hit. Your recovery is terrible after the second hit though so be careful with how you use this. Unlike High Time (the juggle starter for your Force Edge), you don't have the option of jumping up with your opponent during the juggle, so again, be careful. You should have enough time to hit X after the first hit so you DO jump up with your opponent. Just remember that your recovery after the first hit is slightly bad, compared to High Time. Vergil draws his sword for this combo, so your range is pretty good. Contributor: Raymond Pelletier This one is indirectly contributed by Raymond, but because Vergil sheaths the Yamato AFTER you perform the entire 2 hit combo, you ALSO get 1/2 of your Devil Trigger. I tested it myself, but I'd have to give Raymond credit here for giving me the idea to even test it. 5. Judgement Cut - [hold T], [release T] : T : T Definitely, my favorite Yamato move. The coolest attack out of Vergil's repertoire. Sadly, it's also the slowest, and you're actually open during execution, so do be careful when you use this. This move starts off with Vergil dashing back, then taking his draw stance. He then slashes and quickly withdraws the Yamato back to the scabbard, whilst creating a warping cone. Within the cone, "sphere-slashes" appear, that inflicts tremendous knockback to anything it hits. It will even knockback devil-triggered opponents, so it's actually pretty powerful. You get two additional "sphere-slashes" if you time your T button presses. The first "sphere-slash" is at the farthest side of the warping cone. Each subsequent "sphere-slash" appears closer and closer to Vergil. This form of timing your button presses is referred to as "Just Frame" popularized by Tekken 4, 5, and Soul Calibur II and III. The game actually gives you a pretty big window to input your button press. The key is observing Vergil's actions and feeling the dual shock "rumbles." I suggest watching Vergil's hands. As soon as you see him put the Yamato back in the scabbard, wait for a fraction of a second (or wait till the first rumble finishes), then press T. Observe his hand again for a second time, and this time press T AS SOON AS you see the sword sheathed. And Viola! All 3 hits of the Judgement Cut. Just remember the initial pause for the second hit, and the virtually non existent pause for the third hit. I actually had to use this to beat one of the secret rooms. So I'd suggest practicing this move. 6. Vergil's Dark Ki Contributors: Shayne Preszcator Asakura Yoh When I discovered this, I thought this neat little trick only worked during the fight in the credits. Both contributors found that you could indeed use it at ANY mission in the game with Vergil! All you need to do is equip the Yamato, perform the taunt, and NOT get hit while you're in your ready stance. If you wait long enough, you'll notice that Vergil will start to radiate a dark ki or aura, much like that of your Devil Triggered opponents! Best part about this, is that you gain one orb of Devil Trigger every second that you're not hit out of your ready stance! Just remember to NOT cancel out of the ready stance by moving, attacking, jumping, etc. It's very important to remember that there HAS to be at least one opponent around you when you want to do this. You have to be substantially near an opponent too for this trick to work. It's definitely risky, but it is a cheap way for you to gain some Devil Trigger Orbs back. --B. Beowulf-- This is Vergil's damage dealer. Though it lacks the versatility of Dante's version, it more than makes up for it in speed, so technically this actually deals more damage per interval of time. Some of the moves you get are more powerful versions of Dante's move sets too, so you're definitely coming out on top, damage-wise, compared to Dante in this one. 1. Beowulf Combo - T, T, T This is basically a duplicate of the Yamato combo. Recovery and cancel opportunity is about the same, just different damage and range. 2. Starfall - X, T This is a faster, stronger version of Dante's Starfall. Cancel is possible after this move. 3. Lunar Phase - [hold R1] + forward + T This is a faster, stronger version of Cerberus' Revolver move. Great for shattering the red and blue harpoons that the Enigma's fire. 4. Rising Sun - [hold R1] + back + T This is a stronger version of High Time. You ALWAYS have to jump up with your opponent with this one. Execution takes a while, and your opponent flies up even higher than you, so you have to time your air combos. --C. Force Edge-- Actually, you use BOTH the Yamato and the Force Edge for this one, except you don't get the Yamato's range at all. However, most of your move sets are the same as those for Dante's Rebellion, so using this should be a breeze to you by now. If you're learning Vergil, I'd definitely start off by using this before using the other 2. Despite being the weakest damage-wise, it is the most versatile weapon that Vergil has. Getting Stylish points is pretty easy with this too. 1. Force Edge Combo - T, T, T, T The first 3 hits are cancelable to just about anything. The last hit has poor recovery, so be careful. 2. Helm Breaker - X, T A more powerful version of the Rebellion's Helm Breaker. Better knockback too, by the way, with the same recovery as the original. Cancel is possible afterwards. 3. Stinger - [hold R1] + forward + T An exact copy of the Rebellion's Stinger. 4. High Time - [hold R1] + back + T - [hold R1] + back + [hold T] An exact copy of the Rebellion's High Time. 5. Round Trip - [hold T], [release T] This is a crappier version of Vergil's (the boss type) Round Trip. Once you throw your Force Edge, you're left with Yamato, so you can perform some of your regular Yamato moves. The Force Edge returns to you a little too early after you've thrown it, and even then, you don't do that much damage, considering that this is a charged move. It is something different though, so just go ahead and buy it if you have enough to spare for this. I still don't think it's that useful though, so I'd buy some of the other actions first before I'd buy this one. --D. Summon Swords: Vergil's Guns-- The Summon (or Phantom) Swords truly set Dante and Vergil apart. Though it functions as a long range weapon for Vergil, much like that of Dante's guns, it can also function as a powerful shield for Vergil. It also deals decent damage for a long range weapon. Definitely weaker than close-range shot gun hit or a rocket launcher hit, but it's more powerful than Dante's signature Ebony and Ivory handguns. The firing rate is pretty impressive for something that powerful though, and because it's a summoned item, you can hit your opponents SIMULTANEOUSLY with your Summon Swords AND Devil Arms without having to cancel your Devil Arm attack! This is THE property that you should be abusing, because it could mean either high damage or high stylish points for you. The Summon Sword can be fired at any point in time--even during your recovery time! Hell, you can even be taunting AND attacking with your Summon Swords at the same time. If you have a free hand or finger, try to use the Summon Swords as much as you can. The only problem with the Summon Swords is that it doesn't auto-lock nor does it slice through your opponents. It shatters every time it hits something. A pretty small price to pay considering how useful this attack is. You can't float while you fire these in mid-air, however, but as you'll see later on, there's a way around that. 1. Spiral Swords - [hold S] Keep holding S until the swords appear. You have to hold it long enough for the swords to be summoned, so keep attacking your opponents in the mean time with your Devil Arms. This is THE most useful "gun" action that you have in the game. Not only will the swords actively attack anything within reach, they act as a true shield against opponents that are trying to attack you in mid to close range. That is, if an opponent has to be near to strike you with their melee weapon like, say, a scythe, the swords WILL INTERRUPT your opponent in mid strike. The swords can only interrupt the attacks of most non-boss type opponents mind you, but you end up fighting a lot of these, so it's still pretty damn useful. Because the swords are constantly spinning around, it will hit multiple opponents at once, which just means higher damage AND stylish points for you. The swords won't shatter if you're near walls or anything solid, so don't worry about running around while you've cast this. This attack is so good on its own, that the developers had to force a limit on how often you can use this. It costs 2 Devil Trigger Orbs to cast this, so I'd suggest buying those Purple Orbs and maxing out your Devil Trigger Gauge as soon as possible. You do end up compensating for the amount of Devil Trigger you lose through the amount of damage you inflict while you've cast this. You should gain back at least 1 1/2 orbs of your Devil Trigger if you attack enough, so in a way, it's only costing you HALF an orb of your Devil Trigger Gauge to use this. The swords will shatter after it hits something for a while, and that limits you from casting this too much. Just watch your Devil Trigger Gauge, and you should be fine. 2. Sword Storm - [hold S], [hold R1] + forward + S You make the spinning swords appear around the targeted opponent. After the swords spin for a while, they hit the targeted opponent one by one. Now, as far as I know, this isn't very useful. The swords that spin don't seem to hit surrounding opponents. The cumulative damage that they do isn't that great either, but it's something different, especially when you do those combos. I'd rather have the Spiral Swords really. 3. Blistering Swords - [hold S], [hold R1] + back + S You make the spinning swords fly at the targeted opponent, one by one. Again, cumulative damage isn't that impressive, but it IS something different. I'd rather keep the Spiral Swords still. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IV. Vergil's Style ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vergil's one and only style is the Darkslayer, which is basically Dante's Trickster minus the dashes and fanciness. All the useful style actions you get top off at Level 2, so try to level up to this early. You'll need it to get many of the Blue Orbs for Vergil. Once you've maxed out this style, all your Devil Arm Actions are purchasable. 1. Level 1 - Air Trick [hold R1] + C This is the most useful Style Action that you have. You instantaneously teleport in front of the targeted opponent. Unlike Dante's version, you're already grounded after you teleport, so you can do just about anything as soon as the teleport animation is over. 2. Level 2 - Trick Up [hold R1] + forward + C You teleport above an opponent for this one. You're about one full jump above the ground after the teleport, so be careful as you land. This is the closest thing to a double jump (or Air Hike) that you'll get in the game, so get used to it. You'll be using it a lot to reach some of the blue orbs in the game. Thankfully, your recovery is not bad after the teleport, so you can opt to do... 3. Level 3 - Trick Down [hold R1] + back + C You teleport back to the ground. You're slightly further back from your original jump off point, so it's a lot like a back dash. You can do this while you're still grounded, and when you do, you perform a short back dash. Your recovery is pretty good as always after the move so you won't be too open. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Vergil Vs Dante: A Rundown On Movement ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vergil's style is purely movement-based; much like a bike, it's meant to get you around, but because Vergil momentarily disappears from the field for a short time when he teleports, you're essentially granted invincibility frames every time you use your Style Action (ie. Circle button). It doesn't even matter which type of Style Action you perform. You could Trick Up, Trick Down, Air Trick, or even just press the Circle button. You ALWAYS do a teleport for a Style Action, so regardless of which action you do, you'll always have about the same window of invincibility. Trick Up affords you a bigger one, just because you jump pretty high in the air; even then, timing is still essential if you're going to teleport out of harm's way. Vergil also possesses Dante's side roll or dodge. Vergil gets an equal amount of invincibility as Dante has when HE side rolls. As always, timing your dodge with the enemy's attack is crucial for you to successfully evade. Vergil is also invincible when he jumps straight up in the air, just like Dante. You're invincible on the way up, but not so much on the way down, so be wary when an opponent performs a rising attack. Time your jumps right and you'll be fine. Vergil doesn't have an Air Hike, as I've said before, so you'll have to substitute Trick Up as your double jump instead. Even then, it's still NOT as good. You have absolutely no control over where your Trick Up goes. You WILL teleport towards the targeted opponent or the heading of your initial jump or the direction you're facing when you were in the ground, depending on when you do your Trick Up. In any case, you're stuck with this, so you will be using it a lot, especially during some boss fights. Get used to it. Vergil doesn't have a Floating mechanism as good as Dante's but he does have one. Aerial Rave makes Vergil float for only a short time though, so be aware of this when you use it. If you perform an Aerial Rave before you do a Trick Up you CAN change your heading. Just remember to perform the Aerial Rave TOWARDS the direction you want to jump to. Just be wary of the opponents around you. You might end up doing a Trick Down instead. You HAVE to learn this in order to obtain ALL of the blue orb fragments. Remember to only perform the first hit of the Aerial Rave, THEN do Trick Up. You can only do a cancel on the first hit of the Aerial Rave, and that's why it's important to only DO the first hit. Vergil can also hop on most of your opponents, as evidenced by Secret Mission 7. And when I mean "hop on," I mean that you can use your opponents as pedestals to jump off of. So, here's what to expect of Vergil, movement-wise, in a nutshell (for those who're too lazy to read the above): 1. Invincible when he - performs ANY Style Action (any action that involves Circle button) - jumps straight up (press the X button when timed with enemy attack) - side rolls or dodges 2. No Air Hike. Use Trick Up instead. 3. Floats when you perform the Yamato's Aerial Rave. Combine with Trick Up to perform more complicated jumps. Good for obtaining those blue orb fragments. 4. Can hop on most, if not all, of your opponents. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Blue Orb Missions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vergil's secret missions are located in the same places as Dante's. I suggest taking a gander at Mr. Lim's Blue Orb Fragment & Secret Mission Locations FAQ. I won't be talking about the locations much, because this section of the guide wasn't intended for that. Some of the missions are harder for Vergil, however. Reaching some of the fragments is more difficult with Vergil, in fact, so I'll be discussing these at length, in the general interest of those who want a maxed out health bar for Vergil. 1. Combat Adjucators These are the most obvious difference in Vergil's game. If you haven't noticed either, your combo options isn't too varied for each weapon, so getting a Stylish grade to break some of these Adjucators is going to be harder. The Yamato's the hardest weapon to get the Stylish grade on. I suggest learning the Judgement Cut. A typical combo would be: Yamato Combo (first 2 hits), Upper Slash, Judgement Cut... I also suggest doing a short jump in mid string, then performing an Aerial Rave. With the Beowulf, your combo should be: Beowulf Combo (first 2 hits), Rising Sun, Star Fall, Lunar Phase... I don't remember having too much of a problem getting a high style grade for this Devil Arm only because I don't remember a high enough requirement to smash an Adjucator. I could be wrong, so, guys, let me know. You shouldn't have much of a problem getting a Stylish grade with the Force Edge. Just do what you'd normally do with Dante's Rebellion. 2. Mission 7: A Chance Meeting Secret Mission: Don't land on the ground for 20 seconds Okay, this is even harder, now that you DON'T have a reliable and controllable double jump. Just remember to herd the four enemies near a wall or any corner of the room. When you do jump on one of them, just press jump THEN start using the analog stick to move Vergil around to the nearest standing opponent. Your jumps are more accurate when you do this. So remember. DON'T MOVE VERGIL when you press the jump button. Do it AFTER you've performed the jump. Alternative Strategy: Contributor: Ronald Clark He suggests an easier strategy to finish this mission. The idea is to draw your enemies inside a door, without accidentally exiting out of the mission. A little tricky, I'm sure, but it is possible. Once an enemy is boxed in the doorway, you start jumping rapidly. You should be invincible long enough in between jumps, so your enemy shouldn't be able to hit you, as you jump off it. 3. Mission 8: A Renewed Fear Secret Mission: Kill everything else in the elevator till you reach the very top. Any more than six characters on the elevator, and you'll have to start from the bottom again. There's more than one way to finish this, but I think that the Yamato's destructive Judgement Cut works best here. When I did this, I was in the middle of the elevator, charged my Yamato, and waited for a full wave of opponents to land. You hear them scream right before they land, so when I do hear it, I let go of the button and perform Judgement Cut. I took care to do ALL 3 HITS. I knocked out of the elevator most, if not all, of my opponents. I used the Force Edge's Stinger to finish off the remaining ones. Once everything was clear, I went back to the center of the elevator and started everything all over again. 4. Mission 9: Faded Memories In the Subterranean Garden, there's a fragment on top of the Divinity Statue. Problem is, you don't have an air dash nor a double jump to reach it with Vergil. Here's how I improvised. First off, equip the Yamato. Then jump towards the wall just below the little room where the fragment is. Then wall jump AWAY from the wall. Then perform the THE FIRST HIT of your Yamato's Aerial Rave TOWARDS the wall. This effectively faces Vergil TOWARDS the wall. You then perform Trick Up (remember, it's like Air Hike only crappier) as quickly as you can. If you time your execution of Trick Up AND made sure that Vergil is FACING the room, then you should have landed in the room by now. 5. Mission 10: The Job Secret Mission: Get all the orbs within the time limit. Dante's version of this mission is actually harder, because you HAVE to be in your Devil Form to be able to use Air Raid. Vergil does not have this, so they changed this mission a little. His course only requires you to run around to get all the orbs. You don't even need to be in your Devil form to finish this. If you press on forward, without deviating from the linear path you're on, you'll get all the orbs in time. The last few is the hardest to get, just because of the lack of double jump. Just get used to using your Trick Up, and you'll be fine. 6. Mission 11: Revenge Secret Mission: Get to the end of the course to obtain the orb within the time limit. Contributor: Riki <[email protected]> I forgot to write about this for some reason, even though I finished this mission already, so huge thanks goes to Riki for pointing out my omission. This one is found in the gear room before the hallway where you fight the Soul Eaters. If you look at the map, it's at the NW side of the room. Getting up to the actual ledge is a bit tricky. Just remember the trick to Aerial Rave back in section V (ie. Jump, Aerial Rave-- first hit only, Trick Up). I finished this one the same way that I used to finish Dante's version. I just Devil Triggered till I reached the end of the course. You should have enough DT Orbs by this time, so this mission should be a breeze. Riki suggests to finish this during Mission 12 when you're forced to be in your Devil Form the entire time. All too risky for me, considering that you're slowly losing life, but feel free to try it. 7. Mission 14: Drive Secret Mission: Kill all the enemies in the speeding platforms before they zoom past you. This one's harder for Vergil, just because your Summoned Swords simply don't do enough damage in a short period of time. The trick is doing damage to your opponents as early as possible. This means you need to hit your opponents before they're even near your platform. There's a sweet spot at the north side of the platform where you can perform jumping Summoned Sword attacks. If you face the right way, you'll end up hitting the opponents that are still just making their way towards your platform. The last 3 waves of Wraths are the most problematic. They zoom by too fast. So once you know you'll be coming across them, be sure to be IN your Devil form, so that you'll do enough damage with your Summoned Swords. 8. Mission 18: Invading Hell Secret Mission: Jump on top of various platforms to reach the top and the blue orb fragment. It's a little hard to explain how to pass this particular mission without just making a video showing you how to do it, so I'll try my best to explain. First off, imagine the doors on top to be the north side of the room. This will be our point of reference from now on. Now, I'm sure there's more than one way to do this, but this is how I did it. On the NW side of the room are 2 blocks. One is on the floor, the other is hovering SW and NE above the first block. You need to jump on top the hovering block. To do this, I jumped towards the wall, then wall jumped straight up, THEN moved the analog stick towards the hovering block. Your jump is more precise this way. Get ready to jump to the next two tiers when the hovering box starts hovering NE. Get a general idea of where the next platform is. When you do, have the Yamato equipped. Now, the next 2 platforms you'll be jumping to are withdrawing ones. That is, they'll slowly move INTO the wall. Once they're fully IN the wall, they'll slowly move OUT of the wall. Once they're fully withdrawn, they'll slowly move back into the wall, repeating the cycle again. The first withdrawing platform is longer than the one above it, so keep this in mind. Now, when you're underneath the EDGE of the first withdrawing platform, jump straight up, do an Aerial Rave, THEN Trick Up. If you do this right, you should be on top of the first withdrawing platform. It should be withdrawing INTO the wall at this point in time, so waste some time before you jump to the second withdrawing platform. When the withdrawing platform is just about to fully withdraw INTO the wall, jump up, then wall jump back towards the wall, and perform Aerial Rave. You don't necessarily have to do this. You can do whatever you want really, as long as you fall BACK to the same withdrawing platform. Once the platform starts withdrawing OUT of the wall, get ready to jump to the next withdrawing platform. I suggest jumping at an angle so that you'll land on a part of the wall that's NEAR the withdrawing block. Once you land there, wall jump to the target block. You could also just jump straight towards the same block THEN do Trick Up. Either way is fine, as far as I can remember. The next platform is where the first door is at, a kind of safe, base platform. Rest at your discretion; the next few ones are a doozy. S of the base platform, is a block moving up and down. This block stops mid way its trip towards the higher tier of the room, then continues to move up. It stops at a higher tier then moves back down, stopping again at the same "mid point." It then goes down fully, and repeats the cycle. Jump on the block right before it stops on its "mid point" when it goes UP. The next 3 blocks is definitely hard. The next block you need to get to, moves in an orbit, clock-wise. It does it pretty quickly too, so be on your toes when it speeds above you. When you're near the peak of the path of the block you're standing on, be sure to be in the middle, then jump THEN perform Trick Up. If you do this right, you should land directly on the block moving in an orbit. Just remember to jump when you're NEAR THE PEAK of your block's movement. The next 2 blocks you'll have to jump to not only move up and down, they rotate on an axis quickly. The key is keeping yourself on top of each block, through short hops. You could try running to the opposite direction of the rotation, but sooner or later, you'll have to jump to maintain your footing. The first block you should jump to is the one that goes down a lower tier than you are currently on. Once you're at ZENITH (or the highest point) of the ASCENT of THAT block, jump to the second block. From here on, it's just a matter of keeping your balance on top of the block. The next door and base platform should be to your NE along with your blue orb fragment. Whew! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. Blood Palace ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, for the record I finished this mode after 3 tries. I beat it at 1/31, which would be yesterday as of this update. It took me longer to beat this mode with Dante, just because I was looking for a proper equipment and style to have. I beat it at 2/16, after having 4 beers, 2 shots of sake, and a good 2-3 hours of karaoke singing at a Japanese bar, so suffice it to say, I was pretty proud of myself. I beat Dante Must Die Mode (again) with Dante soon afterwards too. Playing through this mode after so many times has given me a better idea on the nature of the battles and the mode itself, so a major re-write of this part of the guide is in order. Here's a few things you should know: 1. After the first stage, you'll be fighting a random set of enemies. That is, there's NO WAY you'd know who you are fighting for that stage. At least, not till AFTER they start re-spawning. Just keep in mind that Vanguards appear LAST. And if you're going to watch out for OR kill ANYTHING first, it should be the Vanguards. 2. When you finish a stage, 3 pillars of light should appear. The intensity and element they exude represents the amount of levels you skip when you choose one. Water has a weaker intensity, and thusly, you only move 1 stage up. Lightning has a stronger intensity, so you move 10 stages up. Fire has the strongest intensity, so that moves you 100 stages up. Move 100 stages up each time, just to shorten and ease your play time. It took me around 3 hours to finish it this way, so it's pretty long already. The faster you finish this, the less fatigued you are towards the last few stages. Remember that you have to fight Vergil (the Stage 20 boss-fight one) at the last stage, so try and make sure you're not too fatigued by the time you have to fight him. 3. Even though your opponents become harder later on in the game, their damage index remains the same. You'll be making a lot of mistakes later on, so this is a welcome advantage for you. Devil Triggered enemies do more damage to you, but it's not significant enough that you should worry about it. They don't seem to gain any health either, so take as much time as you want. 4. Your damage index remains the same throughout the game as well, so that's another welcome advantage. It will still be harder to kill Devil Triggered opponents though, so get used to not being able to stun many of your opponents with some of your attacks. 5. Bosses are determined at random, except for the last boss. Their difficulty is randomized as well. This means you could be fighting a Hard, Very Hard, or, if you're lucky, Easy AI set for Cerberus. Get comfortable with a fighting strategy against ALL of the bosses at ANY difficulty level; perfect it and make sure you take very little damage when you do fight any one of them. Of course, it's actually possible to fight Stage 20 Vergil BEFORE you get to the last stage. It's very unlikely, but if you do end up fighting him, hope to Jebus that you only end up fighting an easier version of him. Contributor: Michael Talone You DO fight a boss every 10 levels you skip. It doesn't matter by how many levels you skip (ie. 1, 10 or 100), you'll fight a boss every 10th time. Vergil has all the weapons he needs to beat all of your opponents though, so you're in luck. You can only customize your weapons at the start of the game, so you're essentially stuck with what you have during the game's duration, which sucks mostly for Dante. And believe me. It does. And for some reason, the battle with ALL of the Damned Chess Pieces at Stage 18 counts as a boss battle. 6. You can't use any items at all, so you'll have to rely on the green orbs that your enemies drop. Every so often, you will come across a stage filled with nothing but Wraths. These normally drop green orbs for you. These are basically your "break" stages; a place to heal up really, so try not to get hit while you're there. 7. Kill the weakest, most mobile enemies first. It will make things easier for you. Just remember reminder #1. Aside from Vanguards, prioritize the Fallen, Enigmas, Bloodgoyles, and maybe Greeds and Soul Eaters. Don't bother with Spiders though. They're too burly and they waste most of their time jumping around anyway, so don't bother with them. 8. There's a mid-boss that you fight often later on in the game. It's the combined form of Agni and Rudra. You fight him instead of a set of opponents you'd normally fight. He's pretty easy though. Just equip your Beowulf, perform a lot of Lunar Phases, jump a lot, and you'll do well. Just don't be surprised when you see him. 9. Remember that you are invincible to the Enigma's red homing darts as long as you time your Beowulf's Lunar Phase. These things will try to snipe you from the edge of the circular stage, so try and keep track of their attacks while you're attacking something else. 10. It's mostly pointless storing Devil Trigger. Use it OFTEN, and not just when you're low in life. Try to always be in your Devil Form when you start fighting Devil Triggered opponents. Not only do you recover BETTER when you're in Devil Form, you take less damage from attacks whilst inflicting MORE damage to your opponents. You're rarely stunned by most attacks this way too. 11. As an addendum to the above, also remember that whenever you taunt, you GAIN at least 1/2 of a Devil Trigger Orb. This is a HUGE advantage for you, considering how long it takes to fill out an orb of Devil Trigger, and how easy it is to perform. Just think about it; Devil Trigger GAINED with a press of a button. That's pretty damn convenient. Just remember to NOT be in your Devil Form when you taunt. A good practice would be to perform a taunt AFTER ending your string. Remember that an opponent HAS to be around AND near you for you to earn ANY Devil Trigger back. Enemies that are in their death throe animations STILL count as an active enemy, so taunt after killing something. Don't forget about the taunt trick while the Yamato is equipped. That's pretty helpful too. You ARE open when you taunt, however, but a taunt CAN be canceled by jumps, dodges, or style actions. Keep this in mind when you're surrounded by opponents. 12. Be careful with the order of the enemy types you wipe out first. You COULD inadvertently spawn a harder enemy type in the process. 13. When you're at Level 9900 and above, make sure you have ENOUGH health before you skip 100 stages to fight Vergil. I wasted 3 hours of my life THINKING that I could beat Vergil with LESS than half a bar of life. How wrong I was. Don't be cocky. Get some decent life BEFORE trying to take on Vergil. 14. You don't earn anything (ie. experience, orbs, etc) until you die OR beat this mode. Expect long playing hours. Seeing as all your stages are randomized, it's hard to say what you should do when you fight in certain stage. It really, really blows when you have to fight 3 Vanguards at once. They're all over the screen, teleporting, and doing their missile attacks. They'll do a very good job smothering you, so try and kill one as fast as you can. A lot of times, you'll really have to just cross your fingers and hope that you DON'T have to fight 3 Vanguards or have a boss fight with Stage 20 Vergil. All of your other opponents should be a cake walk for you, however. An enemy type is normally paired with 1 or 2 other enemy types, in the hopes of overwhelming you. Keep your composure and concentrate on attacking what you find the most annoying or the most mobile. A common enemy set would be Enigmas and some type of Hell. Enigmas are such easy targets so I'd kill these first. The Fallen paired with Soul Eaters is a little tricky. The Fallen are susceptible to the Yamato's Aerial Raves, but Soul Eaters tend to fly at you while you're in the air, so it's up to you. I hate interruptions so I'd kill the Soul Eaters first. In my lazier moments, I ended up just killing all the Fallen first, THEN the Soul Eaters. Either way works as long as you can keep up with your opponents. There will be stages where all you do is fight the same enemy type. Except for the Vanguard versions (yes, there's actually more than one variation), these are fairly easy stages. Not a whole a lot of strategy for these stages compared to the usual stages where there's more than one enemy type. Your experience with enemies significantly broaden every time you play through this mode. Their patterns and weaknesses become more apparent with each stage that you beat, so I'd trust your instinct more than anything else. Adaptation to the current enemy set is your best weapon, really. Remember as much of what we talked about, and you too can finish this. Is it a breeze? Most certainly not, but it's definitely worth it. The prize for beating Blood Palace is either Super Vergil (or in Dante's case Super Dante) or Super Corrupt Sparda, depending on whether or not you've beaten DMD mode. If, say, you finished DMD BEFORE you finished Blood Palace, then your prize should be Super Corrupt Sparda, only because you should have unlocked Super Vergil when you finished DMD mode. I finished Blood Palace before I've ever beaten DMD mode. Super Vergil DEFINITELY made DMD mode easier to beat, so it was worth beating the Blood Palace first. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. Super Vergil and Super Corrupt Sparda ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a distinct difference between the two, so here's a rundown on what to expect. --A. Super Vergil-- 1. He can sustain his Devil Form indefinitely without draining your Devil Trigger Gauge BUT if he uses Summon Swords, he still loses 2 Devil Trigger Orbs in the process. To gain it back you have to be in your default form and proceed to gain your Devil Trigger back through normal means, such as attacking, getting hit, or taunting. 2. You DO NOT gain health when you're in your Devil Form. --B. Super Corrupt Sparda-- 1. He can also sustain his Devil Form indefinitely, but this time, your Devil Trigger is NOT used up even if you cast Summon Swords. You truly have an infinite Devil Trigger Gauge in this form. 2. Your move set is different whenever you're in your Devil Form. You look more like Nelo Angelo (ie. Vergil's alias in DMC1) too. 3. You lose your Yamato actions completely when you're in your Devil Form. You're left only with a derivative of the Force Edge and your Beowulf. These weapon sets are VERY POWERFUL however, and in the case of the Force Edge, your reach is quite impressive. Though the weapon icons that you see when you switch weapons would lead you to believe that you have the Yamato and the Beowulf, your attack set with the former has more similarities with the Force Edge than with the Yamato. 4. Force Edge Actions If I don't mention how you perform it, assume that it is performed the same way as the equivalent move for the Force Edge. - T, T, T This is a lot like one of Dante's combos back in DMC1, only stronger. As usual, the first 2 hits is cancelable. - High Time - Helm Breaker - [hold R1] + forward + T This replaces the Stinger. Wind up is terrible, but it is a very powerful move. - [hold T], [release T] You launch fireballs much like Nelo Angelo does. You can press T up to 3 times to launch 3 quick fireballs in succession. The longer you hold the button, the larger the damage you inflict. 5. Beowulf Actions If I don't mention how you perform it, assume that it is performed the same way as the equivalent move for the Beowulf. - T, T, T 2 punches, and then a kick to the face. Recovery in the last hit is terrible, so just watch out. The first 2 hits is cancelable. - [hold T], [release T] You can launch the same fireballs that you have when you're equipped with the Force Edge. They possess the same properties as well. - [hold R1] + forward + T This replaces the Lunar Phase. This is a roundhouse to the mid section. Definitely not as useful as the Lunar Phase. - [hold R1] + back + T This replaces the Rising Sun. This is more like the uppercut that Dante has when he's equipped with the Beowulf. This version is most definitely stronger, however. - Starfall 6. You GAIN health when you're in your Devil Form. When playing as Dante, you obtain Super Dante and Super Sparda the same way as you would while you play as Vergil. Super Dante behaves exactly like Super Vergil, but Super Sparda is not like Super Corrupt Sparda at all. Super Sparda plays exactly as Super Dante, except that his Devil Trigger Gauge is not spent whenever he uses his style actions for Doppleganger and Quicksilver. The Devil Form of Super Sparda plays exactly as Dante would, as opposed to the Devil Form of Super Corrupt Sparda. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legal ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This file may not be reproduced, quoted, or posted by any other website aside from www.gamefaqs.com, and those that specifically asked and received my permission. Proper notification via email and credit to me, Andre de Leon, is necessary to attain said permission. I, Andre de Leon, wrote this faq, and, thusly, own the copyrights to it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0 - 1/28/06 - added sections I, II, III, IV, and VI Version 1.5 - 2/1/06 - added sections V and VII - minor corrections and additions - added a cool move while equipped with the Yamato Version 2.0 - 2/18/06 - major re-write of Blood Palace Section - added contributed material - added section VIII - minor corrections and additions Version 2.1 - 2/23/06 - minor corrections Version 2.5 - 7/30/06 - added contributed material to section VI - added properties to some Yamato, Beowulf, and Force Edge moves - added shameless links to some excellent Vergil combo vids ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hideaki Itsuno and his Team - for making the original DMC3 AND the BEST DMC in the series - for adding all the extras for SE - for Dante, for Vergil - for making the best Combo/Fighting mechanic in an Action/Adventure game Mr. Lim - for an excellent secret mission and blue orb location faq Shayne Preszcator and Asakura Yoh - for clearing up the properties of Vergil's Dark Ki Ronald Clark - for an alternative strategy for the Secret Mission in Mission 7 Michael Talone - for confirming the boss battle frequency in the Blood Palace Raymond Pelletier - for pointing out the DT gained after certain combos with the Yamato Riki - for pointing out that I forgot to include the secret mission in Mission 11 To all the combo vid posters and players - they are THE proof of DMC3's robust Combo/Fighting mechanic - notable players who I've seen play so far: ssJBen, Ethereal S, kazak, nardong_putik (a fellow flip, it would seem), some japanese players whose names I'd rather not try to pronounce/write - youtube.com, video.google.com, combovideos.com, devils-lair.org To the readers and the DMC fan base - you guys most definitely rock
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