Your Account
    Log into your account here:
       Forgot Password

    Not registered? Sign Up for free
    Registration allows you to keep track of all your content and comments, save bookmarks, and post in all our forums.

Walkthrough

by lastfirstborn

"Prepare to face your demons!"  Rear box insert,
DMC4

Devil May Cry 4
FAQ/Walkthrough

Version 0.70


by lastfirstborn (Joe Barbee)
other info listed at the bottom of the guide

February 11, 2008

Ver. 25  -  Frame work for the guide, various files
inputted, FAQ section updated, Tips updated.

February 12-14, 2008

Ver. 40  -  Main body of the guide updated to halfway
point of the main missions.  Full blue orb and secret
mission guide complete.  Added more files, more
tips, more FAQs.

February 15-17, 2008

Ver. 70  -  Updated enemy and boss information to
almost full.  Polished up tips and FAQs sections.
Added Bloody Palace section (coming soon).
Finished up the main Missions of the game in 
guide.  Added techniques for both Nero and Dante to
every aspect of the guide possible at this point.

February 18, 2008

Ver. 80  -  General polishing up.  Added some
thanks and advice from emails I got from other
players.

February 20, 2008

Ver. 85  -  Worked on Bloody Palace section.
Added a little to File section.

-------------------
LEGAL INFORMATION:

Disclaimer: Please do not use this FAQ on any other 
site than gamefaqs or gamespot.  You may email me 
for permission to use this FAQ on your site, but 
please contact me, give me full credit, do not alter the 
guide in ANY way at all, and wait for my email 
response over all else.  See bottom of FAQ for more
info on copyright.  This game was made by Capcom,
and everythingis also under copywrite by them
(in this game, that is).

This guide is my intellectual property and is 
protected by the law.

It's come to my attention in the past years of writing
guides for games, as both a hobby and a passion 
for the things we all enjoy, that some individuals
take it upon themselves to steal guides and print 
them out or sell them in 
pdf format over ebay and sites like that.  While we 
can't completely put a 
stop to things like this, if the guide bears incredible 
similarities (style
of writing, typos, exact wording), please let me 
know.  It is greatly 
appreciated and if possible I will take the most 
appropriate actions.  I urge
you to do the same for any writers you find out 
there.  This is meant for
enjoyment and to help others, this is not intended 
to make any amounts of
money, especially not for the con artists and liars 
out there.

-----------------------------------------

I like any and all input so long as it makes sense
(pertains to this guide and/or the game itself).  
My inbox stays pretty busy around the time I write 
guides, so please bear with me if I don't get back to 
you.  I appreciate any
input you all present, but if I do not answer I was 
either too busy, or have
already addressed the issue in my guide.  I am 
aware of the fact that there
are several methods for playing all the games of 
today, the nextgen, so if I
don't get back to you on that, also, please bear with 
me, as I may never cover
that, or I may have already covered it by that time.  
Anything about grammar
or typos will be pretty much ignored, as will anything 
hateful or unreadable.
Forgive me on that one, you know how it is though.  
If something in my guide
seems absolutely, positively hard to understand, and
your primary language is
English, let me know then.  But I'll do my best to 
avoid that kind of thing.
All of that said, let me stress again, I do READ 
many of the letters, even if
I don't respond, and I thank you for it. 

I know this isn't the flashiest guide, but it'll likely end 
up pretty big, so I want it to
load smooth and be a simple read.

And yeah, being a DMC fan and all, I have put several
quotes throughout this guide from
all of the games.  I hope you enjoy it!  
(keep in mind, most of the few DMC 4 quotes I use
don't give away much or any storyline)

If you enjoy this guide and found it helpful, feel free to
rate it up on gamefaqs by using the thingee at the
top of this page!  Thanks.

Copyright 2008  Joe Barbee


Please remember that pressing ctrl F at any time on 
this page 
will allow a search box function.  Look in the table of 
contents and
put in Mission keywords to skip immediately to the 
mission you need!

====================
Introduction

Hello and welcome to another guide by me, 
lastfirstborn.  Thanks for bearing with me through all
that stuffy stuff above.

This is my first guide of 2008, and I hope to make it
the best one I've 
written yet.  I'm not entirely inexperienced with writing
FAQs for this site, 
but I am still a little rough around the edges.  I will do
my best to present 
a complete, understandable guide with multiple 
combat methods, the best ways 
to complete difficult sections, good techniques for 
gaining skills and health,
along with any other things that will enhance and 
improve your gameplay.

There are already a couple of good guides out there,
and if mine isn't working
for you, give them a look.  I feel that everyone 
deserves a chance at 
different strategies, so I thought I'd give writing this 
guide a shot, in case the others weren't working
for you.  I plan to deal with multiple difficulties, a 
complete mission guide, where to find
the hidden stuff, and talk a little bit about the story.
There will also be
a skills and combo list for both characters, an enemy
list and guide, achievements, and
any other little tidbits I feel like adding later on.  
I hope to get this 
guide out to you all as soon as possible, because 
there are tons of the same
question floating around the message boards right 
now.  Hope this helps some.

I've been gaming since the good ole NES days, and I 
have enjoyed many a Capcom
game.  I've played every installment in this series, 
and gotten S ranks for
mostly every mission up to (and all of) DMC 3.
I'm not trying to brag, so much as I want to assure 
you I will do my best to 
offer you top notch service during this guide. 

A brief warning, this guide WILL contain spoilers.  
In fact, by the time it's done, it will tell all.  Please do
not read too far ahead unless you want to know the 
story, enemies, weapons, items, etc. in advance. 

Capcom is a long standing, good company.  They 
have brought us many solid hits since the very 
earliest
days of home gaming.  Things like the popular Mega
Man series, or how about that little gem known to
very small circles as Resident Evil?  Onimusha is
quite good as well.  
How about Dead Rising on the 360?
There's really 
too much to list, but as far as flagship series go, I'd 
consider the Devil May Cry games in that catergory, 
though most would just call it niche gaming.  There is
a nice History of Devil May Cry in the hidden features
of this game, once you beat it on any difficulty.  You
can learn a great deal about the series there.  I also
suggest checking out some gameplay vids from all
of the games, there's serious action to behold.
Dante
is a thirllseeker, demon slayer, half human, half 
demon, hero of the people.  His skills with a blade,
fire arms, taunts, and overall finesse are second to 
none.  He has a very twisted and powerful family tree
in his past, and buckets of blood and steel in his
future.  He runs a small business out of an office 
called the Devil May Cry (which is more like a
hangout
joint), and if you call him with a demon problem and 
the password, he'll hunt them down to their last
breath.  He often doesn't even accept much
payment.
Anyway, I can elaborate more in my story section.
Let's dive into the guide, shall we?


Here's to a good game!
IMPORTANT
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Note:  PLEASE GO LOOK AT THE END SECTION
OF MY WALKTHROUGH FOR MORE DETAILED
INFORMATION ON BLUE ORB LOCATIONS AND
SECRET MISSIONS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS.
This game allows you to replay missions so don't 
fret
if you miss something on the first play of a mission.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--------------------------------------------------
"You got a trick up your sleeve."  Dante, DMC 4
"I thought the cat had your tongue.  But if it's tricks 
you're after, TRY THIS!"  Nero, DMC 4
---------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents:

I. Controls  (Xbox 360 default layout)

II. Basic tips and survival techniques  
(pretty simple, but give it a skim, new or vet alike)

III. The Missions (main guide)
  
  Mission 01
  Mission 02
    Secret Mission 01
  Mission 03  
  Mission 04
    Secret Mission 02
  Mission 05
    Secret Mission 03  (can also be done during 
16*Dante)
    Secret Mission 10  (*Nero Only)
  Mission 06
    Secret Mission 04
  Mission 07
    Secret Mission 05 (*Nero Only)
  Mission 08
  Mission 09
  Mission 10
    Secret Mission 06 (also can be done during
12*Dante)
    Secret Mission 07 (also can be done during
12*Dante)
  Mission 11
  Mission 12
  Mission 13
    Secret Mission 08 (*Dante only)
  Mission 14
  Mission 15
    Secret Mission 09
  Mission 16
    Secret Mission 11 
  Mission 17
    Secret Mission 12
  Mission 18
  Mission 19
  Mission 20

Hell or Hell mode tips and tricks

Blue Orb fragments  (many are found within secret 
missions, but some are not, read on...)

Ranks  (what you need and on what difficulty)

The Bloody Palace  (a section dedicated to the 
enemies, strategies, and all around insanity of the 
Palace)

IV. Files (enemies, skills, items, etc.)

V. Storyline and Character layout  (a few things you 
may have missed, some theory, and alot of fun!)

VI. FAQ section  (Frequently asked questions, 
please take a look at this if you're new or want tips)

VII. Achievements  (the list, since many are secret at 
first, and maybe a few tips from yours truly)

VIII. Thanks and Ending Notes  (I'd like to thank the
 Acadamy.)


=================================
I.  Control Layout for the Xbox 360 

"With a spirit unlike any other, and wielding the
sword
that bore his own name, Sparda eradicated the
demons..."  Narrator, DMC 2
=================================

Nero:

Y button  -  Close range attack

X button  -  Long range attack

B button  -  Examine / Devil Bringer / Cancel

A button  -  Jump / Examine / Confirm

Right Bumper (RB)  -  Lock on target

Left Bumper (LB)  -  Devil Trigger*  (DT)

Left Trigger (LT)  -  Exceed

Left Stick  -  Move / Change lock on target by
pressing in

Right Stick  -  Move camera / Reset camera by
pressing in

Start button  -  Pause menu

Back button  -  Taunt

*later in game, not from the start

----------------------------------------

Dante:

Y button  -  Close range attack

X button  -  Lang range attack

B button  -  Examine / Style action / Cancel

A button  -  Jump / Examine / Confirm

Left Bumper (LB)  -  Devil Trigger  (DT)

Left Trigger (LT)  -  Switch long range weapon

Right Bumper (RB)  -  Lock on target

Right Trigger (RT)  -  Switch close range weapon

Left Stick  -  Move / Change lock on target by 
pressing in

Right Stick  -  Move camera / Reset camera by 
pressing in

D-pad  -  Change style
  Up - Trickster
  Right - Sword Master
  Down - Royal Guard
  Left - Gun Slinger
  
  Double tap any already entered style direction - 
Dark Slayer**

Start button  -  Pause Menu

Backt button  -  Taunt

**Dante will not gain this style until later, not his
from the start
----------------------------------------
Pause Menu:

A button  -  Confirm

B button  -  Cancel

Right Bumper (RB)
                       >>>>>both cycle pages
Left Bumper (LB)

Left Stick
             >>>>>both move selection cursor
D-pad
----------------------------------------
There is a very good in game tutorial as well as 
several good details to learn about in the File
menu, found on the mission select / difficulty
screen.
I will cover those aspects more in detail in their
respective sections of my guide.
===================
II.  Basic Tips and Survival Techniques  

"It looks like we have a winner." Trish, DMC
 "Jackpot!"  Dante, DMC
===================


IMPORTANT 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Note:  PLEASE GO LOOK AT THE END SECTION 
OF MY WALKTHROUGH FOR MORE DETAILED
INFORMATION ON BLUE ORB LOCATIONS AND
SECRET MISSIONS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS.
This game allows you to replay missions so don't 
fret if you miss something on the first play of a 
mission.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


First of all, let me say, go down and see my FAQs
section for more tips.  Things are a little more in
depth there.
----------------------------------------

The guns are more useful than you'd think.
Especially
with level 2 charges.  Learn to incorporate gunplay
into your combos, not only to keep the style string
high from afar, but also to vary your moves so that
you can taunt sooner and more often.

Charging the guns takes time.  Rearrange your 
controls if you have to, but try to learn when facing
certain
demons, to hold the charge down while dodging
and
even comboing!  It can be done and will really
make
you stronger for it.

---------------------------------------

Go see my enemies section of this guide for some
tips and tricks on taking down lesser demons and
bosses!

----------------------------------------

Learn to Instant Rev with Exceed.  I will try to get 
more in depth on this one later in the guide, but for 
now,
know that if you press LT down during the right 
window (varying for each and every attack animation) 
as
you fight, you can keep your gauge charged.  So if 
you go into battle fully charged up, and continue to 
IR
correctly, you can technically have a fully powered 
up Red Queen for every hit!  This also dramatically
increases style if used properly. 
Don't feel bad if it doesn't come easily, this takes a
ton of practice.

Speaking of Exceed, the Red Queen features many
good hits and combos.  In EX, there are twice as 
many varied moves to use, and they can be charged
further by holding Y during the move!
----------------------------------------

Dante is a bit slower than Nero and seems to have 
less varied moves upon first getting him.  Keep in 
mind
that later, he will be able to switch between three
Devil Arms and three guns at a time, during combos!
He techinically has three times the ability this way.
Add in the fact that Dante can switch styles during
gameplay, and you have even MORE moves open to
you!

Switching styles with the dpad will come naturally as
you play.  Learn to do this constantly, specifically
between Trickster and Swordmaster.  As you master
the Pandora gun, incorporate Gunslinger.  Royal
Block is very hard to use, especially for beginners,
so I recommend using it and ONLY it if that's your
thing.  Switching in time to block can be very difficult. 
It can, however, be done.  (Dante only)

Dark Slayer Style DOES carry over after you unlock it.
Enjoy!  Forward Y and Back Y work wonders on
bosses, and YYY in the air and on the ground adds
variety and sheer power to your combos!
(Dante only)
----------------------------------------

Learn Buster moves and learn them well.  Every 
lesser demon and boss demon has unique windows 
for a
massive Buster attack, and Busters get even 
stronger (and sometimes completely different) 
when you're
in Devil Trigger mode!  Also, many bosses have 2 or
even 3 different Buster-able weaknesses, for even
more damage and style!  (This applies to Nero)

On many levels, time and style matter the most, 
especially when added to No Item, No Damage 
bonuses.
You should still aim for at least a B in orbs, 
which comes well if you Style enough during combat
as it is.
-----------------------------------------

When any character purchases items, the price for 
that item goes up.  For big name items like Blue and
Purple Orbs or Holy Water, the price goes WAY up.  
Plan ahead on what you have to buy and what you
don't need.

The same as above applies for skills and proud souls.
When you purchase a move, skill, or whatnot,
the number of Proud Souls to purchase remaining
skills goes up a bit.  Plan your character well, and 
keep
in mind you can, at any time, pull out all the points
spent at once and respend them.  This is a great
feature for beginners and veterans alike, as you can
rebuild your character and take back mistakes
specific to every mission if need be!
----------------------------------------

Whenever either character sucessfully taunts, or
dodges a near hitting attack, your DT gauge will
increase.

----------------------------------------

When in DT mode as Nero, hold down the shot
button whenever you possibly can to fire out
tons of swords (just like Vergils!).

----------------------------------------

When either character calls DT form, if you're
standing still or jumping straight up (no directions),
lightning is called down on them and hurts the 
enemies around you to a very small degree.

----------------------------------------

The hard and fast rule for Nero is, if you run up on 
tough foes, use that buster and grab move!  Don't 
forget.

The hard and fast rule for Dante is, if you really run 
into trouble, vary your style and weapons.

Consult your skill screen (or my in guide section)
regularly.  You may forget about alot of moves or
skills
you had, and some of them can really spice up 
gameplay or even just plain help you survive.

The double jump (air hike) is a must have for BOTH
characters.  Not only does it help you find tons of
items throughout gameplay, it is great in combat.
Remember, in combat, just because you can jump
really high with it doesn't mean you should, or
have to.
Light taps of double jumps can lead to prolonging
combos or even your survival!
----------------------------------------

Combos work best when varied.  For Nero, YYYY,
back Y, YYY in air, Taunt while foe is on ground,
jump up, grab, buster, shoot them, taunt again if
applicable, YYY,Y, or in air YY, Y.  Watch that style
soar!  Keep in mind this is just a very basic example,
but you still have to purchase many of these
moves.

For Dante, Rebellion YYYY, back Y, Y, forward Y,
Trickster Dash to downed foe, Taunt, Swordmaster
and
B, then hold B as they come down,  jump up while 
Gunslinger, B twice, land with Trickster, run up 
enemy,
Swordmaster and Gilgamesh press B, forward Y, 
taunt.  Again, a fairly simple move in practice.  
This is
just to give you a basic idea of what you can do.

These combos both sound like alot, but in game you
will get a natural feel for what your characters can
each do, and you will flow from form to form and move
to move.  Don't focus too much on reading this
kind of stuff until you experience it for yourself, and it
will come very easily to you in time.

-----------------------------------------

Play on Human mode first if you plan on hitting
harder 
modes and/or Bloody Palace.  Get all your health,
most of your moves, all your devil trigger gauge, and
learn your characters and how to both dodge and
stylishly attack and taunt.  This mode is VERY easy
and forgiving if you mess up anything.  Keep in mind
on higher modes you will meet different enemy
groups and even find harder foes earlier on.  Also,
you
won't even see certain bad guys abilities 
(bosses especially) until you move up to harder 
modes.  But,
since all your skills and items (not key items) carry
over to the next difficulty, raising up a character
in Human is a good idea.  Especially if you're new to
the series.  Also keep in mind foes die very quickly
in this mode, so while you can learn alot of stylish 
skills, know that it gets better.  And if you're all about
the achievements, this game will basically hand them
to you if you spam the lower two difficulties, at least
for most of the achievements.  Just takes time.
-----------------------------------------

On Dante Must Die difficulty, you can feel free to
use up any items you have accumulated.  However,
if you don't, there's a good bonus at the end of a
mission.

-----------------------------------------


MORE TIPS COMING



====================================
III.  Walkthrough    
"You wanna play huh?  Alright, I've got some time to
kill..."  Dante, DMC 4
"Tough guy, huh?  Well...I'll just have to take you
down a couple notches!"  Nero, DMC4
"Whatever you say kid."  Dante, DMC 4
====================================

Welcome to the main guide.  I will be playing at first
on Devil Hunter difficulty.  Keep in mind, at the bottom
of this guide you will find, in this same chapter after 
the final mission, where to find EVERY blue orb
fragment and how to find and beat EVERY secret
mission.  I know that scrolling through the entire thing
can be a pain, so remember to use the Ctrl F function
on your keyboard and then type in the Mission
number or secret mission number, and it'll take you 
right to it.  I will cover what it's like to play the main
game for the first time, and what it's like on 
subsequent playthroughs with more skills and 
weapons open.
Even though this is the main walkthrough, I cannot
stress enough for you to go through and look at the
other sections of this guide for tips and tricks.  
With all that said, let's begin!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IMPORTANT 
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Note:  PLEASE GO LOOK AT THE END SECTION
OF MY WALKTHROUGH FOR MORE DETAILED
INFORMATION ON BLUE ORB LOCATIONS AND
SECRET MISSIONS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS.
This game allows you to replay missions so don't
fret if you miss something on the first play of a
mission.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am playing on the default normal mode, Devil Hunter.
I may come back to add some notes for other
difficulties, though much remains largely the same 
until DMD mode and Hell and Hell mode.

Also, if you want to know about story, please go past
the walkthrough chapter and find the appropriate
story area I have typed out.
-----------------------------------------
Mission 01:  Birds of a Feather

This mission isn't rough at all.  If you're new or have 
tutorials set to ON, the game will have Dante spar
with you a bit and you will learn the basics of 
attacking and dodging.

BOSS:  Dante

The actual battle and ranking time starts up when 
Dante's life bar appears.  If this is your first time 
playing,
you won't have much in the way of in game skills or
attacks.  Just do what you can.  Keep moving, and
when you see him do things from the tutorial, dodge
accordingly with rolls, though I think jumps are best
for everything but his helm splitter, which is an 
overhead air sword attack.  When he taunts, gets
into a
corner, or if you get a rare window of opprotunity to
hit his back after his misses with a stinger (dash
sword attack), unleash a three or four hit combo and
hop away.  Taunt here and there, in close, and
destroy all the benches for orbs.  If you get a lucky
shot at using the Buster on him in close, you can
see a cool sword fight sequence and you'll push him
away and he loses lots of health.  If you get him in
the air he'll lose a fair amount as well.  Slam dunk!
Try to finish this within 2 minutes if possible, and you
will likely get an S rank if you got the orbs and C
style.

If this is your second time through, you can finish this
quickly by using devil trigger mode, snatching with
the arm, and using DT Buster moves to slam Dante
over and over into the ground.

He likes to shoot in two random patterns rapidly, 
block you bullets (cool huh?) with bullets of his own,
rush in for a stab, do a three or four hit combo, air 
attack to slam into the ground, taunt, and dodge alot.
None of these attacks should kill you, but if you are in
the fight with him for longer than 3 minutes and you
consistently get hit it will add up.

Ng Jeremy (manwithmustache(at)hotmail(dot)com)
wrote to let me know that on ocassion, you can and
will lose if you clash with Dante during a Buster
attack!  He always follows this loss up with a ground
combo that you can avoid by jumping!  Thanks
Jeremy!

-----------------------------------------
Mission 02:  La Porte De L'Enfer  (note: this actually
means The Gates of Hell)

Repeat the first mission as much as you like, until
you're bored of skipping cutscenes with start and
briefly loading again and again.  You will build up 
some nice orbs and proud souls along the way.
Purchase whatever you can, I highly recommend 
saving Red Orbs up for Blue Orbs and later on after
Mission 6 the Purple Orbs.  As for Proud Souls, go
for Red Queen stuff.

Pretty simple stuff here.  Fight off your foes to open
the way, smash the trash cans and benches for orbs.
Try to combo worth at least a C through here.

Get the gold orb shown in the cinema by wall jumping,
smash the barrels, go upstairs and smash the
crates for even more orbs.

In this small room, try not to take any hits if you can
help it.  Nero is built for speed, just roll and lightly
hop about, trying to combo your style up to a C.
When you get the final of the three scarecrows on 
the
ground, taunt him for as long as you can.  Vary the
combos and Buster/Air Busters and your score
should
improve.  Smash up everything in this space and
continue forward.

Along the linear path you will eventually get "stuck",
you need to go down into a tiny lobby and examine a
blue sphere to gain the Evil Legacy.  Now you can 
grapple around in style, and even use this to snatch
enemies over to you!  This grab is great.  You can
(after this mission) now upgrade the grab's length in
the
store as well.  Continue through, destroying furniture
and using Snatch to get far off orbs.  At a fountain
you'll find a piece of paper with red writing on it.
This is a secret mission, number 1.  See my special
section devoted to this stuff and more below the
main walkthrough guide.

Go along the
path using the Grim Grips and you'll fight a pair of 
demons.  Combo and continue on to fight five or six 
more weak scarecrows.  Try for an A combo style
rank here if possible.  Using Buster from the air can
make everyone fall briefly if you line it up right, 
and you can taunt them all.  Using Snatch also
leaves
most demons on the ground for a few seconds.

Pass through, drop down, clear the alley of the three
demons and the smashable objects.  Then attack
the red orb statue up in that corner.  If you're on
another play and have DT, use it to gain around
4000 orbs!
If not, just use plain Y Y Y Y combos on it until it
breaks.  Go straight ahead from the mouth of this
alley
to see a wooden watch tower.  You can double jump
(using the wall jump you come with) to get into it.
There's a ton of red orbs from thin air!  If you have air
hike (double jump in air), get to the very top of the
hut by hopping out and holding down jump hard to
rearrange in a U shaped jump.  More orbs!

Also, just past the red orb statue in the alley back a
bit, if you follow the tiny red orbs you'll find a blue
orb fragment.  Continue along the path, in the next
area hang left and jump up high off the wall for a big
red orb.  Stay away from the large area on the right
for now and follow the skinny docks to a grim grip.
Shoot over and go into the building on this side of the
docks.  Meet the new, faster scarecrows!

Combo them all with style and try not to get hit by
them.  Isolate one in the corner at a time if possible.
Taunt often, but only between every five or six attacks
Taunting too much in a row is useless.  Go for an
A rank here.  You may need to buy some new
combos by now to vary your moves and keep them
from
hitting you.  YY, YYYY is good for that.

Now, hit that blue switch on the wall until all the
flames go around and then enter it.  You will get a
scene
for this that opens your path.  Get up to that door
that was previously blocked and go to the switchbox.
Activate and watch the scene, then leave this building
Fight a few more demons outside and go back
across the grim grip.  Go for an A rank again against
these three.

Now go to the large dock area.  Time for a real fight.
You'll face off against eight or so scarecrows of
varying types, mostly the agile leg blade type.
Just use your best judgement about when to combo,
taunt, buster, or snatch.  The gun is great for
extending combo time briefly, and if you have a
charged
shot you can put down one or two in one good blast.
Once on their backs, taunt away!  Just watch your
back, that's a big thing in this game.  The enemies
are all quick for the most part, and they love to hit
you
from off screen sometimes.  If this is your second
time through, go for an S rank.  If not, try to hold a
solid
A rank.  Don't worry if you take a hit and lose the
score, it happens.  Just practice on this level a few
times and try not to take hits for a bonus at the end.
Their hits won't hurt too much anyway, but more
than four can really add up on a new character with
no extra health bars.

Continue across the bridge you lowered, destroying
the dumpsters for orbs.  In the next room drop down
into the waterway for several orbs, then use the
Grips to get up top for a green orb and a combat
adjudicator statue.  I cover this in my blue orb
section below.  Buy health at the statue if you're 
doing
poorly, but I recommend you save your red orbs for
permenant health extensions.  Head into the Ferrum
Hills map.

BOSS:  Berial

Another basic boss battle.  This one is to acclimate
you to the big, often slow bosses.  Capitalize on
their slow speed and any openings they leave you.
Berial loves to swing that massive sword around and
destroy the buildings.  They have small health orbs
(green) in them.  Shoot him constantly during this
fight
to chip away at him and keep yourself floating if need
be.  If you have double jump it can be a help, but it
isn't needed.  Use the snatch to grapple up to his
head level and use air combos on his face, or better,
the back of his head and upper back region.  Come
down and strike his back legs if you get a chance,
and
repeat, trying to time your grabs to get airborne for
when he just swings at you.  He also likes to swirl
through the air very briefly (he's so big he can't stay
up long!) and swing his blade eratically.    Just
keep up the hits and around a quarter off he'll be
stunned and his fire goes low.  Grapple up to face
level
and use a normal buster attack (just B, not lock on
B) and you'll do a special slam hit.  Brutal!  If you get
him weak you can also grab his tail and slam him into
the buildings around you for big damage.  If this is
your second time through and you have DT available,
be SURE to go into DT mode when using the Buster
for even more damage and a more brutal attack.
When his head is down on the ground after your slam, 
rush in with Forward Y (streak) and use Buster again
for yet another big attack!

When he stands, be careful.  He'll taunt you and fire
out a massive burst of flames to renew his power.
If you get caught in this it counts as a hit and ruins
the no damage bonus, plus stuns you AND hurts
your
style by two or so ranks.  He can also send up
massive pillars of fire.  It's nice to have double jump
to 
avoid this, but you can just roll to the sides and rush
him to try to get away.  Keep in mind while he 
keeps you busy with this, he will do a bull rush of his
on right into you, and this can deplete a couple
bars of health!  Plus a flame pillar will likely hit you
during this time, meaning you lose nearly four bars
on DH mode alone!

If you can finish him without taking a hit you will
easily score S or SS without even using incredibly
varied
combos, so long as you Bustered properly.  Even
with one or two hits, you can finish with a C rank if
you kill him WITH a buster attack.  He's pretty
durable but he goes down hard.  Just try not to
deplete
him to a quarter of his energy until you can stun him
again, then use Buster.  When he drops to around
a quarter of his remaining health, he will constantly
use fast, powerful strikes and it's a pain to try and
keep a good style rank during that barrage of
random attacks.

Good job, your first actual boss battle is complete!
Head into the wood building that opened and follow
the
path on your minimap to end the mission.

I had a time of 12 minutes, a style of above 6000
points total, and 95 percent orbs found, which is an
S
rank!  Make this your goal if you're on DH difficulty.
I also had the No Item bonus.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 03:  The White Wing

Power up if you can.  Try to buy a little health in
terms of Blue Orbs to extend your overall bar.
Get some more Red Queen combos and consider
upgrading your Devil Bringer's snatch to 2.  Makes
things easier in combat and in the platforming
sections of grapple, coming up soon.
It's good to have Air Hike by now also, if you can.
In fact, priority should go to it first.

As you enter this mine shaft, on the left is a dead
end with tons of extra orbs if you hit the statue
enough.
If you are replaying and have DT, go into it for
several thousand red orbs.  By the way, the orb
statue is
behind a flimsy fence you can knock down.

Now, kill the three scarecrows with a B rank if you
can, A is preferred.  Then use the series of Grim
Grips
to reach the top platform.  Please see my Blue Orb
section at the end of this Walkthrough chapter for
how to get TWO fragments right in this room.
You will need the approriate skills for Nero.

Head into the next, larger room, and face off against
five scarecrow demons.  Remember to try and stay
moving, so you don't get hit from off camera.
They like to lunge at you and can do it from pretty
far off.
Go for that A combo rank!  Hope up into the little
opening and look to the immediate left tunnel for a
Vital Star S.  Proceed forward into the next area by
knocking down the fence.

Snow eh?!  Look on the map for an open spot
nearest you, jump up to nab a red orb.  Continue
along the
long path (I like to have Run by now to make the
game go a bit quicker), and go to the bridge for a
cinema.
Frosts.  They are faster than you've seen yet and
pretty strong, plus a bit durable.  Good all around
soldier demons.  They have long range attacks for
ground and air, so watch your back.  They like to
jump
high and slam down with a wide area of effect ice hit,
and many of their ice attacks "stick" to the area for
a bit and will also harm you.  Keep moving, try to
concentrate on one at a time, and to finish them off
with style try using Buster on the ground and near
walls or objects to slam them around a bunch.
You
can even throw them at each other!  Go for an A
here if you can.  Climb on top of the two back most
large
pillars here for hidden red orbs.  The tiny pillars you
destroy have green health orbs in them sometimes.

Head forward to the castle and meet Gloria.
Good stuff.  Head inside after the scene.

In the Grand Hall, take out all the chairs and
benches for tons of orbs.  You can't do much else
here so
pick a door (I choose the door on the West side of
the minimap).  Note the giant Gyro Blade statue at
the
front of this room.  Anyway, there is also a gold lion
time statue, but I doubt you'll want to buy anything
since you probably just did at mission start.

In this hallway, kill off the enemies and smash the
mirrors hanging on the walls.  One at the very end
can't
be broken yet.  Two can, one has red orbs in it.
The other has nothing.  Smash all the furniture
(candles)
you can and try for a B or even A rank while you're at
it.  Now go into that mini-hall and enter the torture
chamber.  Time for some fighting.  I like how
everyone is bunched up here.  Try for group hitting
combos 
and clumped together Buster hits from the air.
Don't forget to taunt.  You can score an A here if you
don't take a hit.  If you have five combos open and
don't get hit, you can manage an S rank with the right
taunts.  Get up the stairs when the path opens and
get ready for some trap action.

Up top you will have to use the grim grip of varying
patterns to get across.  Be SURE you tap the Grip
button and not press slowly, or you slam into the
spiked ceiling.  This damage hurts, takes away your
no damage bonus at the end of the mission
(if you earned it otherwise), and puts you back
downstairs, for
ANOTHER identical scarecrow fight in the chamber.
This goes on until you die, so watch it.  On the third
grip set, the far grip moves left to right slowly and
back.  Time it and tap B quick while locked on and
you
can make it.  The next set with three grips slowly
forms then they all dissapear.  Be fast!  The very
next
set  has the nearest grip to you dissapear and is
pretty simple.  The final set consists of three grips,
with
the final one moving slowly back and forth to prevent
your from landing at the end.  Line it up and just go
for it, the final grip hesitates some for you so don't
worry!  Follow the upper hall path (linear) and grab the
orbs by using the Snatch on the top one after a
double jump or wall jump.  

Outside, head up the side area and kill the Frosts.
The Buster works really great here.  Also, if they
encase themselves in ice, BREAK IT fast for style
points and to stop them from healing up.  Go for an
A rank or even S here and move on.  Outside near
the falls, go towards them and double jump in front of
that purple statue object, use your Grab and nab the
Vital Star S.  Head around to the opposite of where
you just came from and into that door, kill the 
demons on that side of the courtyard, doing what
you did
before.  Back inside the hall but on the other side of
the barrier, head around and hit the blue switch until
the barrier opens for you.  Before you go into that
door though, go on past it and destroy the wall mirror
here for a blue orb fragment.  Again, if you want a
comprehensive, detailed guide on this subject,
see the
end of the walkthrough section.

Now go into the door there to reach a well lit room
with paintings and lots of furniture to smash.  
If you don't take a hit in this small brawling area, and
taunt a few times while group comboing and
bustering the group together, you can get an SS
rank here with enough varied combos.  If you don't
own
that many, don't worry, you can come back later for
practice.  Go for an A rank instead.  Clear the room
of furniture for orbs (knight armor has health in it) and
move on through the newly cleared path.

Outside, go to the second pillar with a lion face on it
and jump up one level, then jump up to the next one.
You need air hike to double jump there.  Hidden orbs!
Now, enter the library and after the scene get ready
to battle.  These Bianco Angelos are the elite units of
the Order, though these are not the men Nero knew!
If you can Buster thier backs you will ram their own
lances through their weakpoints and rev it, sending
them flying.  Speaking of flying, they love to fly about
the room and come at you from all angles, and can
also rush along the ground.  Their shields block
many attacks but you can force openings and hit the
side
and back free of pentalty.  By forcing I mean Back
and Y for high time, or Charge shot 1 or 2 to send
them
reeling.  You can also break the shield and buster
from any direction, but it takes time!  Lastly, they
like
to knock you off guard using their shields and then
combo you, so be careful.  They are quite durable
and
strong enough to give you a problem in five or so hits.
If you use a charge shot 1 on them in the air, they
will go flying down to earth and be stunned for a
moment!

A pretty good rank is 
possible in this room if you don't take a hit, but it 
takes alot of practice.  You can get an SS here,
even
if your combos aren't too varied.  If they overtake
you, you could use a holy water, but I don't
recommend
it.  After you knock out the little bit of furniture down
and upstairs, go into the new room here and 
get your Anima Mercury for the Gyro Blades of the
castle and the end mission screen!

I had a time of 16:42 (taunting takes time you know!),
which was S rank on DH mode.
My stylish was around 10000 I think, which is an S
also.
My orbs were at 86 percent, which gave me an A.
No item bonus and no damage bonus with that, and
I had an overall S rank!  You don't need the no hit
one.
Aim for that if you're playing on DH mode or Human.

I used to have a pretty high score on the
leaderboards for that one, but people have gone
way beyond me
as of this writing and I've dropped down into the
late hundreds.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 04:  Cold Blooded

Do the usual power up thing here.  Try to save red
orbs to buy blue orbs, and to later on get purple orbs
in a couple more missions.
Red Queen combos are important but by now you
probably have the basics to keep you busy for a 
while.  Get the arm to level 2 if you haven't already,
and get charge shot level 1.  You should also have
Air Hike, but it's no big deal if you don't yet.

Time to use that Gyro Blade.  A rule here is, if you
hit it with the sword, it'll spin a bit after you activate
it using buster.  Up to three sword hits controls the
speed of the Gyro.  Hit it once then buster, line it
up with the exit door gate, and buster it into that.
Head out.

Get into another fight in that well lit room, this time
there are a couple scarecrows and two frosts.  Style
up
to an A if you can, and an S is very possible as well.
If you choose to activate the Gyro, be quick about it
and remember that the more your sword strikes it the
faster it goes when you Buster.  You can kill
everything in the room like this and gain an instant
A rank if it works out.

Retrace your steps back out to the grand hall
(remember all my red orb locations from the previous
mission) and activate the Gyro Blade.  You want to
eventually manuver it into the coffin, but you can
also
use it to take out all the chairs on both sides of the
coffin for massive orbs.  Now go into that winding
hall
we were in before to get a few things done.

Enter through the eastern door of the grand hall
ground floor this time and locate the brown double
doors
leading into the dining room.  Kill the pair of Bianco
Angelos and try to Buster slam them into the center
dining table to get tons of orbs.  By hitting the
shields, knocking them down, and taunting a bit,
you can
get an S here, at least an A.  Follow the path and
use the Gyro Blade as a shield, hit it once or
twice
with your sword and use buster to fly into and
through fire balls.  Go all the way to the hall's end
and
you destroy the fire maker.  There is also a secret
mission to be found here.  For more information on
that
and other blue orb fragments, please see my section
below this walkthrough.  Head on through the door.

Go immediately to the right of the door and activate
the Gyro Blade and send it flying after a good whack
with the sword first.  Do this three times and the
room should be cleared of all demons and you'll have
an
easy A rank!  Of course, if you combo and taunt well,
you can manually score better.  Clear the furniture
for more orbs and use the blue switch to open the
gate.  Now, kill everything that moves with the Gyro
and
get to the faaaaaar end of the hallway here.  Break
open your other Gyro Blade.  Send them both to the
central area where the two Gyros are already on the
purple, glowing floor pads, do this however you want.
Once in place, the way to the courtyard opens.
There is a boss behind this door, so if you want to
use
that gold statue now to power up or buy an item,
do so, but this boss isn't so bad.

BOSS:  Bael

The demon is hidden at first.  Fight the blue ladies
and enjoy the orbs, do alot of damage and it applies
to
the boss in a minute.  Careful too, these ladies can
put up a bit of a fight.  
Suddenly, the demon frog shows his true form.  Now
the real battle begins.  Another slow, big demon,
he will telegraph most of his moves like all the big
guys do.  He's a bit faster than Berial though, so
watch
out for him.  Start by using the grab to fly at his head,
and attack the upper region with air combos.
Watch out for his spitting attacks, they will freeze
you in place and he'll jump on you.  He also likes to
run from you alot, since he's not a straight forward
killer, using his lures on prey and all.  Try to corner
him
to score a couple air combos and he'll likely jump
away to spit at you more.  Keep pursuing him and 
dodging his attacks.  If he leaps forward he can
swallow you so try to keep above and to the back
of him
using the Buster snatch.  You can charge shot 1 at
him a bit, but mostly you want to strike the icicle
head
area with air combos.  There isn't much time to taunt
yet.  If he dissapears on you after swelling up, streak
at his feelers and avoid their strikes and ice attacks.
Enjoy the red orb shower!  Be ready for him to jump
back into the battle, he can swallow or crush you like
this easily and that damage adds up fast.  You may
notice his feelers turning red from the pain you inflict.
If they go down to a sitting position, be sure to
Buster them so that Nero can yank Bael foward hard.
This is a smart way to stun him and gain lots of
style points in the process.  At this stage in the
battle he will likely add a new move to his arsenal,
if not
sooner.  He can fire icicle blasts from his head and
they arc up and land on your head if you aren't 
moving.  Try to Table Hopper dodge this attack and
his lunging gulp attack for big style points.

If you hit his front constantly you will stun him.
Now you can Buster his fat tongue for alot of damage
and style, or head around to his rear and buster his
tail and throw him around the area like a ragdoll.
If you have DT mode from another play through
(if this is your first time you won't have it), activate
that
for even more violent Buster moves.  At his tongue
you will crawl into his mouth willingly (wow) and stab
out of his head eventually.  

By now he's likely turned red and his speed has
increased a bit.  He'll send out his lures to do more
of the
fighting for him and he will like to try to swallow you
alot.  The lures can grab you and freeze you in place,
which lets him swallow you up very easily.
Just keep going, you're almost done, use the same
tactics
as before and he will die.

When it's over note your new ability after you pass
through the newest door available to you.

At 14 minutes, style of 6000 or more, and 90 percent
orbs found, you'll snag the S!

-----------------------------------------

Mission 05:  Trisagion  (this name means Thrice Holy
, an ancient latin anthem)

Do the usual power up thing I've mentioned in past
mission start points.  You now probably have a good
feel for Nero, so start branching out and doing what
you like, but keep in mind in the next mission (well
two technically) you'll gain more abilities to buy and
another item that costs tons of red orbs.  Don't forget,
you can replay past missions for orbs and proud
souls.  The better you do in the mission, the better
the
payoff in proud souls at the end!

Your main goal now is to get through this graveyard.
You meet some new demons here called the
Mephisto.  Use your Snatch arm on them to lower
the cloak, then combo the body.  It is possible to
destroy the body before it can heal, but they do like
to heal quick sometimes, other times it takes a
while.  Keep moving.  They dive bomb from any
direction, shoot a laser finger at you, and use their
tails to slash.  Taunting them while down works well
on style points.  They recover with an upward claw
attack, so watch that.  Also, a direct Buster attack
destroys the cape immediately.

Keep in mind EVERYTHING can be destroyed here.
The top of the fountain, the graves, the statues, the
ice in the fountain itself.  Get on top of the fountain
by destroying the statue and look over at the awning
near where you came from.  It is possible to EX
charge up full, charge up an EX Streak, shoot off the
edge,
use the Roulette move in the air, and finish with a
double jump, landing on the awning topside.  On
one
end is a large red orb, on the other is a more
important Gold orb!  The jump over to it is tricky and
it's
frustrating if you fall, take it easy.  Your life bar will
probably block your jump, so you kind of have to
feel it out.

After you conquer all that you will probably find a
hard Secret Mission under and back of the steps.
You
can't physically do it yet unless you have Table
Hopper 2 and lots of taunts ready, I'd come back
when
you gain the shield skill in Mission 9.  See my
blue orb fragment section at the bottom of this
walkthrough
for much, much more detail.

Head up the steps and into Sanctus' bedroom.
There is yet another secret mission here behind
the mirror,
again I direct you to the end of the walkthrough
section.  Time to fight some more knights.  These
Biancos
are the same as before, so just use charge shot
1 when they fly, snatch to get behind them quick,
high time and streak to knock them off balance,
hit the shield and taunt some for rank up, and use
Buster
on their backs or unshielded bodies if you destroy
the shield.  Furniture here holds orbs.  Make up for
those weak Mephistos outside by getting an A or S
rank against the trio of knights!  Then use the door.

Activate the blue wall switch and then smack the
gyro blade to activate it, then hit it with the sword
some,
and sent it flying across.  Don't worry, it won't fall
off.  Thank you for that Capcom!  Nero leaps on
down
into the dungeon area.  Note all the orbs you miss
on the way down.  Kill the pair of Mephistos, and
watch
out for them hiding within the walls and floor to
spring on you.  Go for a B combo here if possible.
Now 
grab the cool looking Wing Talisman.  If you have
air hike this is a bit easier.  Use the red pads to
bounce
up and grab the orbs.  Note one orb is hidden
UNDER a pad.  Also, by landing on other small
floors you
can explore some jail cells for health orbs and
eventually find a red orb statue.  Same place,
go to the 
head of the statue poking out with a white glowing
ball in it's mouth, and touch the underside for a Holy
Water!  It's odd, your arm doesn't alert you to this.

Now keep going up.  Kill every scarecrow and go for
the highest style you can muster!  S is possible,
I even got SS before here.  I like to rush through the
group to their backs and then start the killing.
On DH
they have just enough health to get some good
style going.  On Human they die pretty fast though.
While
you do this Mephistos appear in a pair.  Try to kill off
all the scarecrows in a "safe" corner and then go
to work on the Mephistos.  Do a direct Buster and
they break right out of their capes!  Go for the style!

In the hall, try to lead individual Frosts into corners
and combo them.  A rank is not hard to get if you
can corner them and end it fast.  There are three to
kill.  Back in the Grand Hall, use the Pad here and
get to the chandiler.  Slash it and watch the scene.
Go into the new hole you made.

Go down the steps (get the Vital Star S with Snatch)
and go all the way down this hall.

At 10 minutes, style of 5200 or more, and 80 
percent orbs found, you can get the S!
-------------------------------------------------

Mission 06:  Ressurection

I hope you've saved up some red orbs!  Do the usual
power up thing I've mentioned in previous missions,
but have some orbs ready for after this mission.
I also recommend saving up lots of proud souls for
after.

Drop down the long shaft after you get the blue orb
fragment (again remember my section at the end of
the walkthrough for more info on blue orbs), and go
into the door.  (there are green orbs behind you near
Dante's combat statue)

Inside, after the cinematic, face the Cutlass!  Luckily,
you don't have to see these things much in the 
game.  They are very annoying.  Shooting them
rapidly slows their progress a bit, giving you time to
get near and slash them once to make them pop
out of the ground.  Combo them and hope they die.
Be careful, they land where they jump from, so don't
move from one right into the path of another.  They
like to jump down from the ceiling too.  If you snatch
at them you can get to their position faster, and can
even combo them out of walls and the ceiling!  Doing
that nets you an A rank when all three die, if you can
avoid hits.  Follow the path into the next spot.

The game room!  Okay, the goal is to move your
white figurine statue from it's start to nearest the
exit door.  Red spaces are fights with different demon
types, white does nothing, blue fills the room with 
orbs and lastly, yellow teleports you to other
positions on the map (right across from each other).
Avoid yellows if you end up going backwards.
Some don't land on blue much, but if you do over
and over, you will also get treasure chests dropping,
which contain orbs, but if you don't destroy they
fast (gun works well), they dissapear with nothing.
The sword is best, as the gun on some difficulties
takes forever to blast open the chests.
The trick here is to count the spaces you want to 
land on, and then find your chits (dots) on the dice.
After you find your number, simply count up to six,
and it will always be on the number you want.  As
six approaches in your mind, press the Buster
button or use a simple strike, or even shoot, and 
the die spins.  You can hit it after again and again,
but it will make no difference at all, the face up side
is the number you will ALWAYS get.  The Lion 
statue store is now open to you, doubt you need it.
Move on.

BOSS:

Agnus

Very simple stuff here.  The room floods with the 
Gladius.  Concentrate on a couple small factors 
here.  One, make sure you aren't in the direct
line of a charging attack from a demon.  While you
do that, concentrate on using Snatch to make the
demons fall solid.  Then, run up and Buster that
demon to fling him at Agnus' glass.  That's all there
is to it!  Sometimes, Agnus will get involved and try
to zap you.  When this happens you can try to get
on the little hub in the center, but I recommend just
double jumping when you see it start to zap, and
then fire the Blue Rose rapidly to stay in the air.  If
you are on a replay and already have DT, use it when
you Buster the Gladius and you do more damage!

After that kick ass cutscene, you now have DT power
if this is your first run through!  You will always
have it now during mission replays and subsequent
plays through different modes.  Step into the 
containment chamber for a hidden red orb and 
smash the small bit of furniture for some more orbs.
Head outside.  There is a blue orb fragment you can
snag here if Nero is equipped right.  Check my
section at the end of this guide for more details on
fragments.  Head upstairs and into the labs again,
after you smash all the oil drums and use the blue
switch on the edge there.

Angel Creation eh?  So this is where they come
from.  Agnus did admit it after all.  If you need
pointers on facing this trio of white knights, see
previous missions above or the enemy section
below in the right chapter.  Note there is also a 
secret mission nearby, see that section below
the full walkthrough as well.  Now follow the path
around the room, battling the Angelos as you come
to them.  At the end of this room you will take on 
two groups of three at one time, so you'll get a 
decent taste speedy combat with them.  Go for the
SS rank, if possible!

There is also a hidden red orb near the raised, green
-ish platform in the area.  When you're done go back
up to the Grand Hall area and make your way (use
the large map on the pause screen) to the waterfall
region.  Just remember, as you come out of the
portrait hole, take either door on your left or right
to go through the central courtyard.  Face the
trio of Frosts and go for an S rank if you can, and
continue past to the falls.  Head alllllllll the way
forward.  

If your end score is low, or you want an S, remember
you can go into other parts of the castle to fight
more demons before you take the Falls exit.  All the
orbs are in the same spots as well.

15 minutes, style of 8500 or more, 80 percent orbs
found and a no item bonus nets the S rank!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission 07:  The She-Viper

After that juicy cutscene, time to power up!  Okay,
you'll probably want to go check out the Yamato's
upgrades, and note that you can now also extend
your DT gauge by buying the purple orbs!  That's
why I wanted you to save some souls and orbs to
spend.  Upgrading the DT time is a MUST, and you
could probably do with two purple orbs at this
point, if not more.

A few things on this map.  To the left is a hollow
log where you can grab tons of orbs by breaking
these seed pods.  They are how you find orbs in
the forest.  If you use Snatch at an open hole in
the top of the log area,  you can get a Vital Star M.
You can also just hop and stick your head into the
tiny hole.
Under the stone awning structure is a hidden secret
mission, but it's for Dante.  Please see the section
below the full walkthrough for orb fragments.  Lastly,
there is a red orb statue here to bash, be sure to 
ALWAYS use DT while you do it for the most
orbs possible.  Speed matters more than varied
combos.  Move on through the maps accordingly.

Of note, on the ridge as you enter the next map, left
side, is a holy water.  Smash the seed pods for
more orbs and get ready to meet the Chimera Seeds
but don't worry they die pretty easy.  A buster is a
one shot kill.  If they take over the demons you meet
in this mission, however, the demon gets more
durable and lethal.

Head forward into the ruined church area and clear
it out.  Note that using gunshots a ton on the 
infected demons will temporarily put down the
Chimera.
You can bust up the glass in there to find
orbs and a statue you can't use yet.  When you're
done here, head upstairs and hit the blue switch.
Follow the path that forms quick and note the colors,
when it turns lightish blue it will soon be red and 
gone.

Get ready to be annoyed at first.  Grip over a couple
times and use the blue switch.  You can techincally
wait on this ledge for a loooooong time for the
glass to reform and then double jump or streak out
to it, but I recommend going for the style and
stepping on the platform.  Use Buster and slow down
the Mephistos.  The glass is pretty slow at first so
no worries.  When the white parts turn slowly deep
blue, you need to move to the only white glass
left, as they'll soon hit red and then dissapear.  If you
fall off, you end up in a special map where you kill
off some various demons depending on which 
mission you're in.  Then you can teleport up and try
again.  If you fall enough times the Mephistos 
eventually stop coming, I think.  I recommend just
Bustering and doing charge shot 2s at them.  Near
the end of the pattern, the glass gets a bit faster.
Move on.

The lapis river area has tons of seed pods to bust up
for orbs.  Don't forget under the bridge also.  There is
a Secret Mission to be found here as well, but check
the section after the full walkthrough for that and 
more.  In the next area, if you can lure the scarecrow
demons into the circle and hunt down all the 
Chimera Seeds, this gets easy.  If you let them get
infected, not so easy.  Just battle how you usually
do (see my previous missions for notes, or my 
enemy section for more notes).

Use the Gyro Blade in the next area to pass on,
and then use it to kill all the enemies, unless you
can beat the chimeras and get a better rank that
way.  Now use the Gyro again on the next barrier,
and go into the new area.  Time to meet the dragon.
Race along the bridge and avoid the dragon, and
don't stop for the orbs unless you're way ahead and
have double jump.  At the end, move on and 
there is a statue here to combo on for a fragment,
see my section below the guide for more info.

Skip the demons here and kill the chimeras first if
you can, then mop up the rest.  Use the statue here
if you want, and head into the Den of the She-Viper.

BOSS:

Echidna

A little faster than you're used to if this is your first
time in.  Dodge her tail and don't let the swirls fool
you.  Just keep moving to one side or the other, not
towards or away.  When she goes to eat you, use
a charged shot on her "mouth".  You can also 
Buster her here for some good hits, but it's hard
to time it.
When she stands
odd and a small ball descends on her bottom side,
use DT and Buster it for a funny sequence and lots
of hits.  Kill the Seeds she drops if you want to keep
this battle between you two alone.

Now she'll try to strike you with her "hair" so just
know when her head bobs to jump as high as you
can (air hike) or jump backwards.  Keep slashing
her up top, and shoot charged shot 1 or 2 at her,
ocassionally doing the YY,Y air combo and in the
air also use Back, Forward, Y for more style ups.
When she eventually plants herself in the ground,
rush up with DT on and combo as best you can.
Avoid her tendrils that snake up from the ground,
watch out for her hair whip attack again, and know
that she can also repulse you away with an invisible
barrier.  Note that using the gun in DT sends out
flying swords as well.  When you stun her, you can
DT and Buster her for yet another great scene and
tons of damage!

When she rises up and turns yellow in pain and fury,
stun her from a few good, strong hits and then DT
and Buster her again for a GREAT ride, lots of style
and damage, and a fully revved up sword to boot!
Now she's faster and will repeat her pattern but more
erratically.  The hits hurt a tiny bit more also, but the
main thing here is her speed, as those hits add up!
She can now also fly around fast and send out
lots of seeds to hurt you and take away your style
score.  Deflect her once more with a Buster or 
charged shot.  If you need health, note that her
seeds scattered around the sides of this area give
off some, plus lots of orbs.

When you're done and she's gone, get rid of the
branches blocking the path. S is tough to get at the
end here.  

Try for 15 minutes, 6000 or so style points total,
and 80 percent orbs found in the seeds around this
level.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission 08:  Profession of Faith

You know the Power Up drill.  Get to know your
moves, and try for full health and DT gauges if
possible.  The upcoming boss fight is rough.

There's HQ!  Follow the path, getting orbs from seed
pods, and the fragment (see my guide below the
walkthrough), and race to kill the two Chimera 
Seeds, then clean up the Scarecrow demons.  A
rank is solid here.  Move on and get orbs as you go
towards the ruined church.  The pause screen map
helps some here.  Near there, you will meet new
elite demons, the Assualts!  See my enemies
section for details on beating them and keeping up
style.  Be quick and watch out for their long range
attacks.  The Back, Forward, and Y move works
nicely.

In the church, try to get the assualt seperated from
his scarecrow buddies.  Note they taunt sometimes,
and that's a free hit for you.  Take out everyone and
two more assualts appear to battle.  Speed is key.
Clear out the pods here for red orbs and go under
the stairway arch (trough the glass) and examine the
tree to move on.

In the Lost Woods here, red all around the column
for clues, and keep in mind my fragment section
is at the end of this main walkthrough to find that.
Now, it's pretty simple here, keep your shadow
directly at your back, where it belongs.  If you near
a wrong exit, it will be to your side or right under
your body.  You want it at your back, stretched out.
If you pick wrong any time, you go into a fight
screen, kind of like if you fell off the platforms last
mission.  Keep going through the correct doors,
and you're done in like three or four screens.

In the next area, don't jump off the left side or you 
will be really far off mark.  Keep going straight, 
getting orbs from seed pods, and killing enemies.
The demons here (assualts and scarecrow combos)
can be a bit much, so to avoid hits and to keep up
style, use DT.  Press on and use the gold statue to
purchase one Vital Star M, so that now you should
have a total of two.  It's just insurance.  One gold
orb might be good too, if you have zero.  Onwards.

BOSS:

Angelo Credo

He's fast and strong and probably the first real boss
challenge of the game on lower modes.  His shield
blocks everything and can't be broken or taken 
away.  You may want a couple of Vital Star Ms,
a Gold Orb, and a Holy Water, just in case. 

Keep in mind that any time you hit him with the
sword or Buster in DT mode during this fight, you
can unbalance him a bit. 

When he throws a blade at you, you can Buster it
back at him.  It's hard to do though, I recommend
dodging.  If you do it, he's stunned for a second.
While he struts around, shoot him.  In DT mode,
you will fire swords too.  Treating him like a knight
only gets you so far, because he teleports when his
back is open to you.  Careful of that.  After time, he
won't teleport as much when you're at his back 
though.

If you bang on his shield a few times, then dodge up
or back, he'll do a big sword swing whirlwind and 
then be open to some hits from the front and back.
He also does a three hit combo that hurts bad, a
four hit one, and a strong aerial attack that slams
onto your head.  When he yells "behold the power of
an angel!", be ready for either a combo or if he's
far off, a double sword throw you can try to buster
at him, but I'd just dodge.

After enough hard hits, the shield turns red and will
"break" for a moment, giving you time to combo or
Buster his body.  Ideally, in DT mode.  After this,
he will start to combo and teleport and throw his
weapon at you even faster than before.  His health
is hopefully at or below half now.

Even lower in health, when you Buster him while he
is stunned, you will beat him down massively and
come close to ending the battle.  Keep up the 
pressure, steaking in close and hopping around
quick.  Table Hopper 2 or 3 is good here, but hard
to master.  

When it's all over, you will now be able to Grab
enemies and use them as shields!  Collect orbs and
continue into HQ.

14 minutes, stylish points of 6000 or more, and
85 percent orbs found, plus no item, gets you the
S rank!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission 09:  For You

Power up and get ready to head on.

Smash the furniture and head forward for a cool 
cutscene.  Alto Angelos can be very tough, and
make all the other knights around stronger, faster,
and a cohesive fighting unit.  See my enemy 
section for in depth tips.  Also know that if you can
charge shot the black ball Alto summons, you get
an instant SSS rank.  Every Alto can do this 
attack one time.  The resulting explosion hurts and
kills the other knights as well.  Mop up the remains.

The big tip for DH difficulty and below, is to just keep
moving, use alot of charge shots and quick combos,
and watch your back.

Inside, smash up the furniture and see my Blue
orb guide below this walkthrough for tips on the
orb statue combos.  Keep going forward and 
examine the red post for a scene, then head inside.
Stick close to the wall and jump across, dodging
the one laser beam.  Go upstairs and you get
sealed into the room with Angelos.

Clear the room of the four demons and grab the 
Cronus Key.  Smash the furniture for health and
red orbs.  Use the device in the center of the room 
and go upstairs.

Inside, stand in the middle of the indentation and get
red orbs, then use the blue switch on the wall.
Welcome to the gauntlet.  In this cage, you will
face many types of demons.  Nero is built to move,
and for speed, so this is dangerous.  Luckily, this
time it's some scarecrows.  Please see the 
blue orb guide below this walkthrough section for
my take on a few hidden things here.  Use the
device to pass the lasers (dropping can get you 
red orbs), and head into the next cage elevator.
Frosts now.  Use quick hits and small hops, while
dodging.  Devil Trigger can end things quick here.
After this trio, use the device and pass more
lasers.

In the next cage, there are three assualts to deal
with.  These lizards are FAST.  Keep moving and
using quick hits or small combos, a little dodging,
some Buster, along with a nice end helping of DT.
You'll end up facing six or seven of these guys, so
feel free to build DT and if you have purchased the
Back, Y and B move, use it on a pair for a quick SS
rank.

Use the gold statue here if you need to, and move
on.

BOSS:

Angelo Agnus

Odd how none of the furniture at the front gives you
any orbs.  Maybe he sucked it up?  He's quick but
honestly not as big a threat as Credo was.  Avoid his
lunging strikes and use the Buster to pull over to him
quick and strike.  He can use a portal to summon
some more Gladius demons.  Let them come, dodge
or Buster snatch, and throw them at him or each
other for orbs.  The cages along the sides of this
area hold health orbs.  When he jumps back and
charges up, get ready to dodge or charge shot
him.  I'm not sure if a Buster works here, but it
probably does break his rush.  If his dash attack
connects to you, he will drain out alot of your
health and make it his.  If you DT during his grab,
you break free.

The key here is keeping up the pressure, really 
staying on him and laying in the hard hits and
combos.  Again, snatch keeps you on him most of
the time.  When he isn't glowing slightly, you can
Buster him for a small attack but he sends you
back off from him and can hurt you too.  If
he drains you consistently, this fight gets alot more
dangerous, so keep up the dodge!  Keep in mind
returning a Gladius with Buster to him gets you 
some white orbs for your DT gauge.  

He can open his hell portal and shoot fire balls at
you in groups of six or eight.  Dodging here keeps
you moving to him for some more damage.  Keep up
the hits and he will be stunned.  When he screams
out and reels, go into DT mode and use Buster to
massively damage him and gain three or four style
ranks!  He will then blow you away.  If you have
a DT gauge of six or more, stay in this mode to
regain some health, keep speed up, and shoot out
swords at him with the gun.

After he blows you back a bit, he may try floating
up and getting an attack ready.  Shoot him to make
him stop.  He'll summon fire again, and some more
Gladiuses than before.  Just up your speed and keep
going after him, throwing Gladiuses at him when
needed.  Soon he will probably summon groups of
simultaneous fireballs for you to dodge roll past, and
then some Cutlass demons.  Not only should you
kill them as fast as you can, by any means you have
available (even DT to hit him with harder), and throw
them near him for hits, he will also grab two for
himself to use in combat!  He spins about with them
and even throws them into you at high speeds.  You
can Buster them back, but it's really, really hard to
time it right.  I like to try and roll to the side of his
spin attack, as double jumping sometimes just gets
you hit faster.  

Rush him when you get an opening and go into DT,
combo some, and when he's stunned, Buster, and
the fight should end or be right near it.

After this powerful scene, you'll see your score.

12 minutes or less, a style point total of 12,900, and
90% orbs found gets you an S all the way here.
The trick for getting S for sure is to get the SSS
marks here two times, and then to go for SS on the
lizards and forsts in the elevators.  After that, a
solid A against the boss (when you Buster him in
DT mode), and your style will more than make the
grade.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Mission 10:  Wrapped In Glory

Do the power up thing and try to have your health
and DT as full as you can.  You can't max out your
health yet if this is your first time through the game,
but you can buy all the blue orbs.  You should try
to redo some missions to purchase all the purple
orbs.  A couple Vital Star S items may not hurt.

Your goal is to retrace your steps, from Agnus'
room, to the gauntlet, back into the main hall of the
HQ, and to the bridge you saw lowered in the 
cinematic.  

On the way, you will face the Faust demon, and his
Mephisto comrads.  See the enemy section a 
couple chapters below this Walkthrough for details.
Since it's such a tiny space, just keep moving like
you did fighting frosts and the like, and get to know
his patterns.  If you get hurt badly, use a Vital S.
The key here is a level 2 Arm or higher, for longer
grabs, keeping you away from their attacks more.

Don't forget to consult my Blue Orb section below
the main walkthrough.

If you get stung by the laser security too many 
times, once again, a Vital S is helpful to have,
though items do ruin your score at the end of the
level.  

Go for the SSS shot I described in the previous
mission against the Alto and his friends, which
leaves one stunned and shieldless knight to kill
quick.  If you can't do it, don't worry, consult my
enemy section below this walkthrough on killing
off the knights.

Once downstairs, cross the bridge and head into
the Security Corridor.  Smash the benches here,
and activate the time device.  The pattern here isn't
so bad.  The trick is to have both Air Hike and know
how to make quick, tiny hops by tapping the A 
button.  Learn the pattern by watching frrom the
sidelines, then leap in and just go for it!  Slow lasts
quite a while.

There is a secret mission near the exit.  Consult
the Blue Orb section of my guide below the
walkthrough for tips.  Smash up any furniture and
head into the next room.

Avoid touching the giant blades while you hop
about and dodge, Bustering and Snatching the
demons.  Now that you have more room, the Faust
is a bit less dangerous.  The crates in this room 
have red orbs.

When you are open to do so, use the device to
slow the fan.  Careful, the giant blades do 
eventually speed back up and will hurt you bad.
Hop up all the way and go into the opposite door
from the one you entered the room from.

Here in experiment disposal, face off against some
durable Bianoco Angelos.  Up to now you mostly
got A ranks (except against Alto of course), so try
for some S ranks if possible.  

Cross the cage, and leap up inside the stone rings
for a fragment of health (see my guide at the end
of the walkthrough for more info on blue orbs), and
use the talisman to make the elevator here function.

Be sure you slam all the statues on the way,
get some health back if you need it, and hopefully
you built up your DT by taunting and dodging the
knights.  Pass through the meeting room after you
take down the very tough pair of Altos, (the key here
being to destroy their shields after tons of damage,
then Buster and combo like crazy on one at a time),
and move down to the gold lion statue.  You may 
want to purchase some health and devil stars at the
time god, the next boss one room over is tough.

Also, break all the candle sticks here for health
and DT gauge orbs.  There is a secret mission
here, but I again should stress you to go check out
my Blue Orb guide below this walkthrough for more
details on it.

BOSS:

Dante

Uh oh.  Now that you have Yamato and a shiny,
powerful DT gauge, Dante doesn't hold back as
much.  Though he is still obviously just testing you,
he will now switch between his four styles and
act accordingly.  Trickster lets him dodge quickly,
Swordmaster gives him some powerful attacks,
Gunslinger makes him versatile at a distance, and
Royal Guard will just allow him to block you.

He has many of the moves from the first fight with
him in mission 1, only now they hurt more and are
faster.  He starts slow though.  When he swings a
large attack from the air or the ground, the back,
forward Y attack gets you in good, and you may
even get off a small combo.  Charge shot 2 can hit
him here, but it's best to rely on your blade and
Buster in DT mode.  

It's best to let him go at you first, because he can
counter almost every move you have initially.  As 
soon as your combos knock him into a corner 
space, go into Devil Trigger (which stuns him for a
second) and use Buster to slam him over and over
into the ground.  This is your best move to use,
so try and use it whenever possible.

If you run low on health and/or magic, smash the
candles, boxes, and jars around the two fireplaces
for orbs.  Continue to let him strike at you, dodge,
and return combos until you get a window to 
Buster him in DT mode.  Combos in DT work well,
and he seems to be unable to dodge the swords
from firing your gun as well, though this is a waste
of your precious time compared to other attacks.

If he catches you with his Dance Macbre combo, or
any other massive multi-hitter, go immediately into
DT mode to cancel him and do a quick Buster.
If he gets stuck in Royal Guard style, refrain from
shots or hits, he'll release your own power on you
and it can be painful.  Instead, Buster him.

In Gunslinger, he'll bust out his shotgun, so watch
for that and just try to stay above him during these
moments.  Come down hard with the Forward Y air
attack.

He'll "lose" to you eventually, just keep up your
combo patterns and do your best to DT Buster him.

At 15 minutes, 12,000 style points, and 70 or so
percent orbs found, you'll gain an S every time on
DH mode or below.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Mission 11:  The Ninth Circle

Do the power up thing I've desrcribed in previous
missions, and try to get comfortable with your
character.  

You're going up, up, up in this mission.  Okay, first
see my Blue Orb section at bottom of the 
Walkthrough for info on that.

Use the blue switch and then Grip up top quickly, by
tapping B.  Kill the floaters off (see my enemy 
section if need be below here), and grab the health
orb when you're done if you need it.  Activate the
elevator at it's red device and head up.  Portals
appear so that if you ever fall off you can go one 
floor up without problems.  Grab the scarecrow 
using snatch and then combo the duo of lesser
demons to death.

Head on up and stand in the elevator shaft for red 
orbs.  Use the grips here carefully, tapping B when
needed for quick grabs.  Do a wall or double jump
at the end to get on top of the next wall and over.
To get the red orbs, by the way, just go in reverse
order from up high.  If you fall, there is a single,
large red orb.  The next grips are just like the
last gap, only now if you fall you get to face some
knights, and there are three of them, and the last
two are moving up and down.  Using double jump 
(air hike) after the final grip makes things easier.

I do recommend falling, because of the fight for
orbs and Style, plus you can get a Devil Star S down
there!  Anyway, once you actually cross the gap,
try your best to land on the edge of the wall here and
walk to it's end for several hidden red orbs.  Drop
and keep going.

Take down the single Alto Angelus here in the
usual manner and try to finish it off with a DTed
Buster for some style points.  Before using the
blue switch, rush to the right for green health, and
then further right still and double jump up the wall
for a red orb.

Now go back and use the switch, then grip up top for
a big knight fight.  Activate the switch and kill the
three white knights and their gold leader.  SSS rank
is possible here through regular combo means.
Don't forget to Buster and DT when you are able.

Now go back down a couple floors and hop onto the
elevator to go all the way up top and meet up with
Sanctus.  Of course, on the way you get held up
by some...scarecrows?!  Hmm.  Take down two and
an Alto Angelo pair appear.  It's funny to
let them kill the scarecrow, but I want style and orbs
so I do it myself real quick.  Take the knights and
get ready for three more scarecrows, and then two 
bianco angelos!  Wow.  If you don't get hit, you'll
have a great style rank!  I hope you have decent
health and DT gauge, because it's time to go up.

BOSS

Sanctus

Oooh, I bet you were aching for this one.  He has a
pretty simple pattern throughout this battle.  Just 
keep your eyes open and Snatch whenever possible
to get close to him while he floats.  Watch out for
the various projectile attacks of his two orbs.  Know
that when you snatch them they dissapear, which
is good to stop them from hitting you, but bad for
when you want to Snatch close up.  Level 3 Bringer
is a must for comfort here.  Sanctus can also
summon down some narrow lighting for now, so
watch that if you're on the ground or near his open
areas without hitting him.

Snatch up high and hit him three or four times, go
for a total of six to break the shield up.  Snatch to
get in closer and hit him again to put him on the
ground.  Feel free to combo, but don't waste much
time.  Go into DT mode and then buster him, for
a very satisfying damage dealer and to hear some
of the best and funniest lines of Nero's in the game!

After he will regain his shielding, so stay back for
a moment so you don't take a hit.  Snatch even
faster and watch out for his lightning and ground
travelling fireballs.  Break him open again and
once more DT and buster to do alot of damage.
When he gets up and says "I sentence you to 
death!", hop back quite a bit, the lightning here is
not narrow like the other attack.  Stay on him with
snatch and keep on breaking him open and using
DT and Buster.

He can now also use aerial fireballs.  If you can't
stay on him by quicking using Snatch to grapple
over, he will renew his shield constantly and pummel
you with fire from afar.  Keep up with him and keep
up the DT Bustering.  "Pray for your Savior, cuz 
you're gonna need it!"

When he's down to a quarter of his life bar, things get
dicey.  The Savior demon statue will try to smash
you from time to time.  A side roll is best, but double
jumping can work as well.  Sanctus comes back,
and you should treat him just like before.  His
attacks seem faster and he's hard to catch now.
He can also use another type of narrow lightning
attack.

He periodically goes into the Savior statue, so
either wait it out and dodge, or try to attack the hand
a little.  The fist can be bustered, but it's hard to
time it right as the fist crashes down.

When you finally take the old man out, you'll see that
things are rougher than expected, and the mission
is over.

With a time of 15 minutes, style from all those
knights plus every time you Bustered Sanctus,
and 90 percent orbs found, you should grab the S!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Mission 12:  A New Beginning

After some crazy scenes, it's time for Dante!
Power him up any way you like, but I recommend
Trickster up to 2, maybe 3, Swordmaster to 3,
Gunslinger to 2, moves for his Rebellion and a 
charge for his shotgun.  As far as items go, try to
buy every blue orb and purple orb.

Dante moves a little slower than Nero, but more than
makes up for it in terms of raw power.  He can
also change among four styles on the fly, which all
have their own moves and skill sets, and to top it off,
he will eventually total at 3 firearms and 3 devil arms,
and they can all be switched up on the fly as well!!
This basically means Dante's capacity for combos,
and therefore style points, is unlimited!

This mission is fairly linear.  Get accustomed to the
basic timing and combs of Dante, and learn a style
or two to get good at during this basic scarecrow
massacre.  Follow the path to face off against the
mega scarecrow trio.  Just keep moving while you
bust out some style (see my enemy section for more
tips on megas) and head along the next path.

Destroy furniture and collect orbs, and take on some
more enemies as you note the timer firing up.  Don't
worry too much about it though, you have plenty
of time to beat the mission and even do some 
extras if you want to.  Fighting Frosts in an enclosed
space is tough at first with a new character, so just
do what needs to be done using what weapons
you have.  If you want a better score later, come
back when Dante has more unlocked.  You can
get SSS easily once he is fully upgraded with all
his weapons.  Pandora and Lucifer alone are key
to this, but any weapon and style can do it.

You will eventually reach the main hall of HQ and you
have to face several knights at one time.  For Dante,
things at first seem harder than Nero, who can 
Buster these guys to death.  Just hit their backs and
learn what unbalances them, combo some, taunt
a little, and DT if things get hairy to regain health
and flex your devil hunter muscles.  They hate the
shotgun and swordmaster works well on them too.

Before you leave this place, go upstairs (like when
Nero was going after Agnus) and you can snag
a blue orb fragment after you fight some more
demons in the laser rooms.  See my blue orb
section after this walkthrough for more details.

Also note, that to get upstairs you have to go through
some lasers and kill a room of gladiuses and 
on some difficulties, knights.

Before you go (finally), be sure to check to the left of
the doorway for a Devil Star S.  Nero can get it too,
earlier here.  At one minute, near the front hall, you
should probably get to the exit at the front door.

When you're done, use the front door and head all
the way to the end of the path back to the forest.

9 minutes, a style total of 7500 or so, and 87
percent orbs found gets you the S, plus don't use
items.
--------------------------------------------------------
Mission 13:  The Devil Returns

Time to power up Dante some more!  For this
mission, it's pretty good to have swordmaster and
gunslinger up to 3 if possible.  Get moves for your
default weaponry if you haven't already, and look
into learning a little about Royal Block if you care
about that style.  Max out health (as much as you
are able, if this is your first play you can't have all
the fragments as of yet) and your DT gauge should
also be both full, and in the slow drain that you
purchase from DT skill.

Okay, we have to retrace some ground through the
Forest again if Dante is going to save Nero and the
city!  Unfortunately for you, Echidna is taunting you
from the start and has created weird shadow portals
all over the place.  Follow me carefully and we'll
get through this.

For enemies and blue orb information, please see
the respective sections below for in depth tips and
tricks.

Turn around and backtrack some.  Get orbs from
the seed pods and fall off the ledge and go down
under the stone awning (tunnel) area.  Straight from
here, go through that portal.  Suprise, you're back!
I asked you to do that to get the orbs in the level
though, if you're intersted.  Now, as odd as this is,
go right back through the same portal you just came
from (next to the lion statue shop).

Turn around and go through the same opening YET
again.  You should be near where you can drop off
a raised platform once again.  Kill the chimeras
immediately and then mop up the scarecrow duo.
Go straight from here into the next portal after you
get the orbs from the various seeds.  In the 
Windswept Valley map (man you travelled far!),
Dante meets his old friends, the Assualts.  These
guys are automatically infected by Chimeras, so
enjoy that.  

Using the shotgun will put down the chimeras for
a bit so they don't swipe you and ruin your combos,
just try using swordmaster skills with rebellion and
taunting quickly from a distance of five or so feet.
Trickster level 3 helps alot here as well.  When you
are done here (see enemy section if you need
more tips), head forward to the ruined church portal.
You should now be in the Ancient Plaza map.

Tadaa, time to face off against four regular 
assualts on DH or H modes.  Enjoy.  Avoid long
strings of combos here, as they help each other
break your stride and style.  The shotgun and
short sword combos can wear them down quick,
especially with the shields down.  If you have
played before, use the Pandora and Gilgamesh.  

Head for the opposite exit from where you entered
this map.  Here in the Lapis River area, don't miss
the giant seed pod for orbs on top of the columns
near the bridge.  Kill the Mephistos with the level 4
swordmaster Dance Macabre for style and ease.
Use the portal under the bridge.

Inside the ruined church, see my blue orb fragment
guide below if you're interested (beneath this
walkthrough).  Go under the staircase here and
through the door.  After, do what you did as Nero
in the Lost Woods.  (follow your shadow trail, be 
sure it's behind you at all times)

Use the statue for items if you want some healing
or DT stuff, and head into the she-viper's lair again,
this time as Dante!

BOSS:

Echidna

As Dante, much remains the same as for Nero.
Certain attacks can deflect her charges, but I
like to use Trickster to dodge her and run up her
body for sytlish points.  Stay moving until she slows
down or stops.  Use swordmaster to aerial rave her
when she drops out seedlings, and for any time you
can hit her exposed main body.  The shotgun is the
weapon of choice here if it's your first time through.
Just stay moving, use DT liberally, and combo her
in the air using different styles whenever possible.
None of her moves will change from Nero's battle.
On replay,
Pandora works well, using the bazooka (left,
right, left, holding X).  As is sometimes the case in
Capcom games, this boss is kind of weak to her
own weapon, so if you're replaying, use the 
Gilgamesh when she's stunned and open to combo
like crazy for a high score and tons of damage.
Lastly, Lucifer (on replay) also works very well.  
Swordmaster 4 is needed to truly use Lucifer 
correctly though.  

At mission's end, just under 15 mintues for time,
with a style total of 5500 points, and 85 or so
percent orbs found nets you the S rank!  No item
helps here tremendously if you aren't getting your
style up high enough.  Feel free to come back with
more items to get a better rank later.

----------------------------------------------------------
Mission 14:  Forest of Ruin

Power up Dante however he suits you.  I like to
have Trickster and Swordmaster generally
finished, with Gunslinger close to being max.
Basic moves are important, and low to 2 charges,
along with slow drain DT.  If you want to be learning
how to use Royal Block techniques, now is the time
to start.

Ah, finally, things are back to normal in the Forest.
A few notes.  See my enemy section well below
the walkthrough for tips and hints on faster times
and better style.  See my blue orb section right at
the end of this walkthrough to get through the
secret missions and things.

Your goal here is to simply travel the forest as 
quickly as you possibly can.  You will fight the
usual forest enemies here with one new demon
twist, the Fault.  If you get caught by one during
the fighting, you get teleported to a demon world and
made to battle tons of assualts and scarecrows, and
chimera seeds before it lets you go.  On the plus
side, if you kill a Fault (time it well and slash three
times with rebellion), not only does it leave you,
you get small health orbs.  Some areas contain
more than one Fault, however.

Next up, Dante gets to take on Fausts like Nero
did.  Use a charge 1 shotgun and you should be
just fine on him.  Combo with swordmaster as best
you can and take him out within two turns if
possible.  DT can allow you to kill one in one turn,
but you won't have time to taunt.

Don't forget your usual seed pod orb spots and
make your way back to the front of the Forest,
using the map on the pause screen or previous
chapters in my guide if you need to.  

If you forgot when the entrance is, it's up a cliff, way
across from the ruined church (in the same map).
Follow the loooong path back to the castle Fortuna.

After all those battles and rushing about, with a time
of under 16 minutes, a style rank of over 6000, and
80 percent orbs found, along with no item bonus,
you should have the S rank!

------------------------------------------------------
Mission 15:  Fortuna Castle

For power ups, you should probably know the drill
already.  See previous Dante missions if you need
some pointers.  The Dreadnaught Royal Guard level
4 move is quite cool if you can build up your meter.

Need some more pointers on killing a Blitz Demon?
Check this out:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
UmwEmZdlI80&feature=related
See thanks section for credit.

If the video is gone, basically, you can punch with
Gilgamesh and quickly Royal Guard against the
lightning that is supposed to hurt you for direct 
attacks.  When the shield drops, use your best
Royal Release (or other damaging) attacks and
he should die before he even gets a move off!
Takes seconds.

As for items, a little health never hurts, but I mostly
like Devil Stars for Dante IF I need anything, because
you extend the amount of time you can wail on a 
boss or strong creature.  Holy Water might be good
if you don't get the hang of facing the Blitz in this
mission.  Be sure your health is as far along as
possible up to this point, and also max out your DT
gauge by now.

Let me start his one again by saying, see my blue
orb and enemy guide if you have any issues with
this mission.  You may also want to look at Nero's
walkthrough of the entire castle in previous missions
to locate the hidden orbs.

Okay, the right side is blocked by magical ice with
a massive magical barrier energy, so head up the
left and go straight along the path until...

It's a Blitz.  Great.  Don't hit him yet.  Get out your
shotgun and charge up to 1 and fire.  Keep 
peppering him with shotgun blasts at close range,
using Trickster to stay away from his own teleports,
and learn his patterns.  A hit from this guy HURTS,
(on high difficulties at least)
so watch it.  When he takes enough shotty blasts,
go for the DT combo on him after his lightning
shield drops.  At a certain point, he'll renew his
assualt with Red lightning.  He's faster and even
stronger now, so just keep on using trickster and
blasting him to death.  He will now shoot out very
powerful streams of lightning at you, both into the
sky and on the ground.  They cover several
angles so it's hard to tell what's happening until he
fires.  Just double jump, air dash, and ground dash.
Just before he dies he may try to kamakazie you.
AVOID THIS CHARGE ATTACK!  I can't stress that
enough.  Let him run around and keep shooting 
until he dies.  If his charge hits you, first of all, he
stabs you through the gut.  Second, he pulls down
a massive bolt of lightning onto the both of you and
explodes while still tacked onto you.  Even on
DH difficulty, this hit drains you of half your health
usually.

Head for the grand hall and notice the ice.  Feel
free to explore the other side but you can't do
too much.  Note the high jump Nero couldn't
reach on the right upper column of the grand hall?
If you're facing the picture of Sacntus, it's on your
right here.  If you can DT for a bit, Dante can 
do a triple jump and up onto that spot, for a Holy
Water!  On the left column is some hidden red orbs.
Anyway, pass the blue switch and head into the 
gallery, get some orbs (sweet health!) if you want,
and move onto the library.

Kill all of the knights here, concentrating on the
golden Alto if possible first, since when he's
distracted here he's subordinates won't attack
as often.  When everything is cleaned up here, go
into the room where Nero found the Anima Mercury.
Use the red orb statue while in DT for lots of orbs.
Drop down and note the secret mission section of
my guide if you want to do this.  Head through the
door.

Follow the path to the dining room (it's a straight
shot with all the ice blocking you).  Battle some
mega and many lesser scarecrows here, trying
to combo with many weapons and styles if
you are used to it by now, for an SSS or at least an
S rank.  Remember, when a megasc dies, avoid
his blade!  Proceed all the way over to the torture
chamber area and kill off the four Frosts here.  Ugh.
They are fast, so stick to quick styles and fast 
attacks.  Don't overdo it on the combos, as they
always help each other out and will stun you often
if you misdirect your attention too much.  Don't
jump too high in the center either, there are spikes
here now.

Head on over to the hole in the floor an drop.  Locate
the empty cell with the blue switch in it.  Activate
and soar up out of here.  In the Master's Chambers,
time for a bit of a challenge.  This is a pretty small
space considering you can't destroy the bed.  Kill
a couple scarecrows and boom, here comes a 
Blitz to join the party.  Treat him just like the first
one you faced outside.  Keep moving and use
Trickster and your shotgun.  His attacks sometimes
can kill off a foe, but I like to clean up any 
remaining demons so we can be alone.  When you
weaken him and his shield drops, DT up and go
to town with swordmaster.  Get him as weak as
you can and when he turns to red, avoid his 
attacks and keep your eyes open for his kamakazie
attack!  You can't afford to lose health  in this fight,
the boss is near!

Head outside into the graveyard and destroy 
every last stone object (including the fountain top) for
tons of orbs and a little bit of health.  If you couldn't
reach the top area (3 overhanging stones) with Nero
for the Red Orb and Gold Orb, you can definately
do it with Dante and his DT triple jumps and/or
Trickster air dashes.  Use the Time god statue if
you want some items for whatever, and get ready
for the boss man!

BOSS:

Dagon

Love the name.  Okay, he's very much like his
little brother Bael was.  The most obvious difference
here is that you're facing him using Dante, so the
moves and tactics differ.  Now, the best thing to do
here is to use Ebony and Ivory from afar, have 
Trickster to air dash ready for the brunt of his
attacks, and then get in close and use aerial rave
(swordmaster) on his head.  Also try some combos
on his sides if you're afraid of taking hits and can't
switch between trickster well yet.  See the basic
attack section for Bael in my guide to get a grasp
of Dagon's move set.  When the ladies come for a
piece of Dante (like they always do!), swordmaster
and shotgun work wonders.  Stay on one at a time
and avoid their spinning attacks and ice shots.
Dagon rockets back onto the scene for yet another
beat down after a few seconds.  Hit him from his
sides and try to go into DT for best results and
bigger combo hits.  When you weaken him, 
go over to his tongue and in DT, use Swordmaster
and Rebellion, switching over to the extremely
deadly Gilgamesh to finsh your combo string.
If you have Forward Y, use it.  This should just about
end the fight.  If not, you can finish him from afar
with handgun charged shots, or get in and stinger
into a short combo.  

If you're replaying him, use his own weapon, the
Pandora, against him wisely.  The laser to his
tongue does great damage, but I prefer to use
a string of different weapon combos there.  However,
the crossbow, bazooka, and the gatling gun are
great for softening up his ugly hide, and for hurting
his girls as well.  Pinning the Lucifer into him in a
big group and then detonating on his tongue is
also a great tactic for eating his health away easy.
C'mon, he's always wanted a tongue piercing!

Oops, now you're in the labs.  Drop down using
Trickster to reach catwalks for orbs and finish up
your mission.  

At 21 minutes, 12000 Style, and 85 percent orbs
found, with a no item bonus, S is yours with ease!

----------------------------------------------------
Mission 16:  Inferno

Do the usual power up stuff and get ready to rock!

Okay, the lab is flooded, so we need to get out of
here as fast as possible.  Learn to use the Pandora
in a previous level and keep combos limited and
strictly just to kill things.  The Pandora will do much
of your styling for you here.

Avoid the Cutlasses group attack and use the
shotgun rapidly to slow them when they are
blue.  Stinger into them (you can nail all three in a
row actually) and then combo and scoop them into
the air with back and Y, then use B,B,B,B on them
in the air in swordmaster style.  Pepper them with
the shotty until they go back to blue when they
go red.  Watch your back.  They drop health when
they die and you can find it all along the hall here
too.  Use this to stay alive as the poison can really
add up.

In the game room, enjoy a good laugh at how 
differently Dante and Nero do things, and then kill
all the Gladius demons using the shotgun and
gunslinger style.  It has various moves, so enjoy if
you're at level 3 or 4 and have a charge or two!
If you want more style, incorporate the Pandora into
things, and use Ebony and Ivory from afar.  Your
Gilgamesh is slow but can add some style too with
swordmaster skills.  Each and very Gladius drops
some health.

Woo boy.  In the next room, you are going to square
off against a few knights and many Gladiuses.
This is where having gunslinger and lots of Pandora
skills come in hand.  Sweep the room, using
gunslinger and trickster, along with your Pandora,
and if you're fast enough, maybe the shotgun too.
Use every move available to you for the Pandora,
even the laser if you've stunned the knight with a 
good rocket first.  You can taunt here, but you
really don't have to, since the Pandora and no
damage on your part do the work for you.  If you don't
use the Pandora (for shame!), no worries.  Use
gunslinger style at all times and just concentrate
on the white knights.  When you feel like the
Gladiuses are going to hit you fast, use the B
button firecracker attack to back everyone around
you off, while you combo the knights.  Stylish!

See my blue orb section below for some info on
secrets.

Leave this room via the window and then door, and
emerge to fresh air and some drums to shatter.
Fill your lungs and head upstairs.  In here, I go for
the shotgun and swordmaster with various weapon
combos for some S ranks or even SS.  Follow the
linear path and face off against some more powerful
knights.  Pandora and gunslinger can really clean
up here, but any normal knight techniques work out
well for high style (see my enemy section in the
next chapter for tips!).  SS is very easy to get here,
you probably won't even notice the poison sapping
you if you're quick to kill them for health.

Head up and out of the labs, and to the front of
the castle.  Feel free to stop for the usual orb
spots throughout both the lab and the castle.  There
are also plenty of foes to take on in a few rooms
that are out of your way.  Keep in mind, the Pandora
laser attack is awesome for clearing out the bench
and chair combo in the grand hall!  Quick and easy.

In front of the castle bridge where Nero met Gloria,
we discover some new pets, made by Agnus.
How nice of him to send you half man's not so best
friend.  The Basilisk dogs are a bit annoying.
They operate in packs so you always have to stay
moving.  They love to lunge on you but their favorite
and most quick attack (ruins your style nicely...grr)
is their skull shot attack.  They will fire you on from
almost any distance, and can do it in the air or on
the ground.  Stay moving however you like (trickster
for me), and if you like guns use the Pandora's
various attacks on them for some decent style IF
you take no hits.  I like to use some Pandora forms,
then finish em up close with the Rebellion.  
Gilgamesh really hurts them, but it's too slow unless
you only have one or two left to kill.  See my
enemy section for more detail on the dogs.
Destroying some of the pillars here nets you health
orbs if the dogs gang up on you any.

Secret Mission that is very hard to find near here,
use my blue orb guide below for help.  Move on
up the stairs here in this courtyard valley place, and
get back to the mines.  Time to take down Berial,
after you fight through the mines of course.  Go for
style points!

BOSS:

Berial

Okay.  He's a little stronger and faster now, but you
will probably hardly notice.  See the Nero section
for notes on his basic attacks.  If you built up the
Pandora's disaster gauge, you can immediately
remove two to four of his health by using gunslinger
and jumping high up, then pressing B to go into
the missle pod.  Then press B again for a volley,
and spam X over and over until it runs out.  Now
switch to swordmaster and use rebellion or
gilgamesh, whatever you know best.  Switch them
up if you know both well enough.  When he is 
stunned, go into Devil Trigger and let him have it
with every combo and offensive skill you know to
really knock down his health!  Keep moving and use
Trickster if needed.  If you like Royal Guard and
have built up the meter enough, use Dreadnaught
(level 4 max) to survive the hard hits and just keep on
bashing if you don't care about being hit (no 
damage bonus).  Dreadnaught with Gilgamesh really
turn Berial into a joke on the lower modes.  No
matter how you like to do it, keep moving to
avoid his hits, and slam him with your best, and
semi-quickest moves.  Stun him again and use
Gilgamesh combos to finish the fight or get real
close to it.  Just watch out near the end, his
homing dash and lunging overhead sword attack
can slow you down and end your style score easy.

If this is a replay, he hates the Lucifer!  Feel free
to stun him however you like, and then plant as
many Lucifer blades into him as you possibly can.
Swordmaster
helps out here some if you know how the weapon
works.  Be creative!  Cover him with blades and
then do Back and Y to detonate them whenever!
If he's stunned, man does it hurt him!  Using
Lucifer and Pandora well, along with maybe 
Royal Guard correctly, one could make this a very
quick and one sided battle where you take no 
damage and score SSS easy!

Go for a time of 16:30, style of 9500 total, and orbs
found percentage at a nice 90 and you can snag
the S rank, so long as you got the no item bonus
too!

---------------------------------------------------------
Mission 17:  Adagio For Strings

(by the way, Adagio means either a musical piece,
or, more aptly here, moving in a liesurely manner,
displaying skillful, well controlled movements.)

See previous missions for power up tips.  Really,
Dante should be basically maxed out for the moves
you enjoy, and two or even three styles should
be completed now.  Redo some missions if you
want to keep your stylish combos going easily.
I like to have the Pandora with every move possible,
this means Gunslinger style has to be max also.

As for items, you need to have already purchased
all the blue and purple orbs available to you.  Some
health and magic restoration items, along with a
few holy waters is a pretty good idea.  If Dante
doesn't use them, Nero can in the upcoming
missions.

NOTE:  The Pandora, with all it's moves open to
you and full gunslinger style, can consistently, and
easily score you SSS ranks in every battle found
here in this level.  I do not use it exscusively on the
boss, but it could be done there as well.

Make your way through the city, going for a high
style rank (take on scarecrows and both kinds of
knight, then later assualts and mephistos)
, and you'll end up at the "dead end" where
Nero couldn't go back up.  However, for Dante, the
gate is open.  Remember the streets teeming with
demon-kind?  Yeah, you're going in.  Don't forget
to check out my blue orb guide under this
walkthrough, along with the enemy habits section
further down.  Lastly, see Nero's previous missions
in this area to discover many hidden red orbs.

Okay, during this long street battle (one of my
favorites in the game), you can do many different
things here to earn an SSS rank and keep it there
the whole time.  Standard swordmaster with every
type of weapon (practice in older missions!) does
it.  Even gunslinger can do it.  I recommend using
gunslinger and a fully upgraded Pandora.  You can
cover the street with death from any range this
way.  Get into a good corner and stinger away
scarecrows if they get close.  Use varied attacks,
crossbow, to bazooka, into laser, ocassionally
taunting and repeating, and sometimes using up
your disaster gauge to throw the blade-a-rang.
When the mega scarecrows appear, use bazooka
and laser and finish (around the time the dogs show)
with a giagantic missle volley from the pod, full
disaster gauge.  Mop up what's left by cancelling
the pod and opening the case to bathe the demons
in deadly gold light, and your style will have been at
SSS since around the time the first mega died.
If the dogs give you problems and the pod doesn't
work, use sword combos to keep them on the
ground.  That's the simpliest way to hit SSS, just
practice not taking hits in between attacks!

Now then, that was over quick eh?  Head all the way
up the street, breaking furniture and garbage cans
for orbs.  See my blue orb fragment guide below
the main walkthrough for info on a couple pieces
right here.  Then go into the opera house where this
all began.

In the square, you'll face off against several shadow
type enemies (faust, mephistos) and some alto
angelos.  Be careful about losing your style points
here.  You probably won't have much trouble killing
them all though.  If you let the demons hang around
the knights, they fight each other as well!  See my
enemy file section if you need more tips.  Head into
the Opera House via the gated side door at the end
of the fountain path.

BOSS:

Angelo Agnus

Wow, GREAT scene.  Hilarity ensued for all, now
it's time to take him down for good and get back
your Yamato!  He's pretty fast and still has many
of the same attacks he used on Nero, so see
that section or the boss section below the guide
for info on his moves.  You probably remember most
of them anway.  Stay moving with trickster and use
whatever guns you're most comfortable with.
Shotgun seems to be just fast enough and strong
enough to work out perfect.  Pandora is great but,
well, it slows you down alot so you have to time
it just right to not take hits.  I like to use the
Rebellion with swordmaster style until he is kind of
stunned, then I let lose with Lucifer and pierce him
up a ton, detonating the blades when he regains
his momentum, to floor him again and go in for a
rebellion combo.  Keeps him busy, hurts him really
well, and gives you some style!  

He will likely begin by using his sword on you and
summoning some dogs to play with you both.
Keep the pressure on the dogs, they can wear you
down and distract you enough for him to drain your
health.  Dodge his fireball attacks using trickster
and keep on shooting and trying to cut him up.
When he summons more demons to help him fight,
use gunslinger the and pandora's missle pod 
barrage move to even up the odds.  Rush in DT and
combo him with either rebellion or gilgamesh, and
when he drops from being stunned, use (still in DT
mode) the best Lucifer moves you have.  I like to
use Y,Y,Y,Y, the go into Foward Y, then Forward
B with Swordmaster style on.  He will probably float
up and yell "time to die!" at this point, like with Nero,
or try to summon more demons.  Either way, NOW
is the time to detonate your Lucifer blades with Back
and Y.  Ka-boom!  If he hits you with his "time to die"
attack, you're going to lose a ton of health, so this
method works well.

After Pandora's missle battery attack and now the
Lucifer's many blades exploding in him, he should
be down to half his health or so.  Continue to dodge
his attacks (escpecially the health drain one, it can
turn the tide on your fast), and get ready to go into
Trickster to dodge his spinning cutlass attacks.
When he summons fire or the "time to die" drain
attack now, rush in and try to shoot or slash him
as much as are able to cancel the attack.  If you
use Lucifer, don't forget to use Back Y to detonate
the blades!



And the rest was silence...
Go into the portal end the mission!  Great job!!

With a time of 17 minutes, style of 15,000 or so, and
an orb percentage at around 95 percent, you will
have scored an S rank!  Right on!!

---------------------------------------------------

Mission 18:  The Destroyer

Powerup based around speed and health.  See 
previous mission starts for power up tips.

As for items, some health and blue/purple orbs are
key.

Congrats, you've got Virgil's coveted Yamato sword!
The Dark Slayer style can be accessed via pressing
the same style button over again.  So if you were
already on swordmaster, pressing right again brings
it up, got it?

BOSS:

The Savior

Use the bounce platform and be wary of the Angelos
here.  Use them for style if you like, but it's hard to
avoid the savior's blows if you try.  If you see the
savior trying to slap you with his palm down run up
his arm (both arms) and take out what blue crystals
you can.  There are two per arm, one at the forearm
and one at his shoulder.  Avoid his petty swipes and
dark matter fire balls and use either the yamato,
rebellion, or shotgun to take down the crystals.
He shakes you off back to the start after time.

In the meantime, rush left or right to the
jump pads.  Let him kill the Angelos for you if you
like.  You can deflect the dark matter balls back at
him using B presses from the dark slayer style
(yamato).  Avoid his great Fireballs by using either
trickster or jump pads.  If you go to the right
first you will come upon a flimsy metal platform.
Get to the jump pad quick because if he destroys
it you start over your jumps.  

On the far right side there is a device enabled by a
blue combo switch.  Activate it and he will be
stunned.  Good job.  If it's a side you've already
cleared of blue crystals, smash at his fingers from
the ground to stun him even worse.  Now race and
use the pads on either side and follow them all
around his body.  Avoid the Faults (kill for health)
and knights (kill for style points) and use the shotgun
or pandora to take down every blue crystal you see.
Get his back and feet this way.  I wanted to add,
if you want to kill his black matter balls off more
effeciently, use the shotgun.

Eventually, he will recover, and on high modes, fast.
So just repeat what you've been doing to mega stun
him again like before.  Remember, DT to kill
knights quick, kill faults for health orbs and take out
the dark matter energy balls for devil orb refills.  
Timing is crucial on all this of course.  Give it a 
few tries and you can get the hang of it!  If you ever
get stuck, use various jump pads and try to find
middle pads to get back to where you were.  He
has blue crystal orbs on his feet, one on his back,
on his shoulders and forearms, his forehead and
his chest.  You can shoot almost any of these
crystals any time with Ebony and Ivory from the
center platform.  Also keep in mind if you come back
around to the same places too often, the jump pads
will not work for you, leaving you at the savior's
mercy, or should I say malice?  If you get stuck, use
ebony and ivory on him, taunt, and wait for him
to either get hurt enough or destroy your platform.

---------------Headshot!------------

When you finally take down the head crystal, 
(or the final one other than the chest) some
things change a little.  By the way, you can reach
this crystal and number of ways, and Ebony and
Ivory do the job fast.  Best way to is crawl up an
arm and blow it away fast that way.

He is faster now and will swing wildly around you
at times.  He also likes to charge up his massive
demon killing beam from the earlier cinematics and
try to fry you with it.  That one can end your day
bad, so try to use the bouncing platforms to
avoid it.

Keep on using every single jump pad to your right
until you get a special cinematic.  Now we're 
into it, a health bar!  Taunt him if you feel safe,
and let it run fully.  Shoot him with super long range
guns and keep moving to the right until the second
tiny platform with two blue pads on it.

Here, wait patiently until he pokes his head up,
and get Dark Slayer Style read to rock.  Hit his head
with the Rebellion and your best combos, DT if you
want.  When the chest cyrstal briefly shows itself,
use the yamato ground and air combos.  He then
goes to destroy your platform.  Repeat to that
tiny, two pad platform again.  You can bound
left to right, back and forth on the three little
platforms until he pokes up his face again.  DT and
slam him until you get a scene.

Finally, a real change to damage him!  Use all the
pads ahead of you to reach his weak spot, and then
DT up and go crazy with combos and end them with
the Yamato.  If you plan to use the big forward Y
or backward Y combo, be in close to his crystal and
give yourself enough time to execute the slashes
properly.  Nice damage!  Go for the highest style
you can and try to get him to a quarter health or
so.

Now he does a spinning kick and uses more long
range, devastating fireball attacks.  Keep moving
and baiting him on to come for you.  Try to  keep
moving and don't let him destroy your platform or
you have to start these jumps over.  His giant beam
is faster now, so don't stop to taunt unless you
are really confident.  Repeat this process until you
finally send him down.  It usually only takes twice.

At a time of 12 minutes (yikes), 5000 style (from
mostly fighting him at the end there), and getting
some orbs from his fire balls and/or enemies around,
you will ace the S rank!  Go for no item also.

This one may take you a few tries to minimize your
time and maximize your style.  Hang in there!

-----------------------------------------------
Mission 19:  The Successor

Back to Nero.  If you want to get reaccustomed to
him again, go back and play some early levels and
relearn your combos, evasive manuevers, how to
snatch and buster, when to taunt, etc.  Practice
against knights and even some bosses if you want.

Now that you have a good grasp on him again, 
Power Up accordingly.  Any and all combos are
great, charge shot 2, devil bringer 3, dodging skills,
air jumping, etc. are all key.

As for items, know that in this mission it's just
a straight up brawl.  If you need any items, I'd
suggest healing and holy water to get through
tough spots.

Keep in mind I have a detailed enemy section below
this walkthrough (ctrl F to search the guide fast),
if you need some tips on combat.

That's right, back to another type of game room.
Remember, spot the number you want on the dice,
and then strike the die after counting to six with
Buster or something quick like that, and it should
always land on what you want.

Head forward and enter the next area.

The goal is to reach the spaces nearest to the
purple portals at the back of each level.  Red spaces
are combat, and I recommend you avoid them unless
you're aching for a fight to raise style.  Frosts,
Assualts, every type of Scarecrow (megas too),
Blitzes, Basilisks and who knows what else await
if you land on red.  The blue spaces are great, and
can even save your life, as they drop a rain of
several orbs, with a few differently sized health
orbs in there also.  Use Snatch 3 or initiate Run
real fast to get the most orbs possible.  White spots
do absolutely nothing, so aim for them if you can't
reach any other desirable spots.  Lastly, the
yellow spots teleport you, just like before.  Only
this time around, they take you straight over to the
end portal of that floor.  Shoot for those if you want
to ace your time, and move on in the level quick.
Note:  In the labs, the game board eventually 
dropped you some treasure chests with orbs on
blue spaces.  If you weren't fast enough, they
ended up empty.  This occurs very rarely here
also, I think.

Upon entering the first purple portal, you will be
warped away to the HQ and faced down by 
five knights.  One is an Alto and leads the others.
You can shoot the dark matter ball for SSS here,
like before, or go into DT mode when you're
able to slam them that way.  They are highly
orgainized until the Alto dies (and he probably won't
die first), so anticipate their movements as a unit,
and then combo the group, avoiding the charges
when they do.  Big style rank this way.  When
you're down to the final duo or just one, use Buster
moves to end it and keep up the style.  Use the
portal that appears after everything is dead to
return to the game board.

There's health and magic recovery orbs at the
back of this floor.  Use them if you need to 
desperately or if you plan on immediately leaving
the floor using a teleport space.  I recommend
going for the blue spaces as well, for more orbs.
Do whatever you want here and move on to the
end space.

When you enter the second purple portal, you are
greeted by your old pal, Berial!  See that chapter
in the walkthrough or look beneath it for Boss
strategies.  Keep in mind, there are no shacks to
destroy here for health this time.

On the next floor, there are two tiny health orbs you
can grab.  If you need more orbs, use the blue
spaces to your advantage, and circle around.
However you do it, eventually progress.  Careful
about randomly fighting demons, as things are 
getting steadily more dangerous you've probably
noticed.

After that purple portal, you are put up against
Dagon!  He's faster and stronger than Bael, but the
same tactics still apply.  See the appropriate
mission and/or enemy section below this 
walkthrough for details.  Go for a high style here,
as he's one of the easier bosses to avoid losing
style on.

On the next floor, collect the magic and health orbs
up here, then use the blue spaces to your 
advantage for even more orbs and health!  When
you're finished here, head into the next floor.

At this purple portal, suprise, Echidna!  I like to go
into this one with my sword already fully revved up.
See my boss section or the Echidna Nero chapter
for details on here if you need to refresh your 
memory.  Use the right Busters at the right time for
big style and try to end the fight like that to maintain
the points.  When she's dead, if time isn't an issue
to you, go around the arena destroying the seed
pods to the sides for health and red orbs.

On this next, large floor, feel free to simply jump up
five spaces and teleport to the finish if you don't 
need to use the blue spaces for orbs.  However you
do it (risking combat only if you really know how to
fight and preserve your health), move on.

After this purple portal, here comes Angelo Agnus!
You know the drill, and if not, see his chapter or
the enemy boss section I have prepared at a bit
down after this section of the walkthrough.
Remember to be especially careful of his drain,
as it can really slow you down and keep him alive.
He is the version Dante fights, I think, because he
calls in Basilisks this time.  Buster them and it's
no issue.

Finally, you've made it.  Congrats on surviving and
Capcom staple, the ultra boss fight level!  Take out
all the tiny columns here for orbs and slash the
rocks to leave.

With a time of (wow!) 25 minutes, a stylish of 
12,000 points, and by hitting the blue platforms for
orbs three or four times and getting 95 percent or
so, you nailed the S rank!  Try to use no items too.

----------------------------------------------
Mission 20:  La Vita Nuova
(small note:  This is both verse and prose composed
by a man named Dante, it means A New Life)

Now then.  You probably know the power up drill
by now.  Go for all out power, max health and
devil gauge, and the best Snatch (devil bringer)
at 3.  

As for items, none are needed here (as always), but
you may want some Vital Star M or even L if you
can afford it.  Everything else is just icing on the
delicious cake.

Time to end this.

BOSS:

Sanctus Diabolica

He will begin by renewing his shield, which blows
you back.  He likes to call down small lightning
bolts of negative energy (he screams about the
savior and judging you), that are easy to avoid
by just backing off.  He also fires out speedy fireballs
and will send his hovering devices in pairs after you,
like before but a little faster now.  He can teleport
freely about the arena and will if you corner him
in the air too much.  He will also summon a 
great bolt down onto you, which is one concentrated
burst right under his body, and different from the
small bolts.  It doesn't pose a threat if you keep
moving.

Start by Snatching at him to get up high fast, then
hack at his shield.  You can also Buster it.  When
it breaks, he is surrounded by negative energy
from the Sparda sword, but you still damage him
when you strike or buster at him and his dark shield.
Keep it up and stay on him to avoid his fireball
attacks.  When he renews his shield or calls down
lightning bolts, jump backwards or roll away to the
immediate open side.  I like to snatch to him, strike
once with the sword, snatch again quickly, and 
Buster in the air, repeating until he breaks open
fully.

Now you're getting somewhere.  Rush in and do
whatever you like, but quickly go into DT at 
some point to Buster him for a great sequence.
If you aerial Buster him, you piledriver him down
hard and then give him the massive punch to the
body.

Now he will begin to teleport at times and use the
historical Sparda sword to strike you.  He can also
throw it a little bit.  Keep moving and avoid taking
hits if at all possible, so maintain combo rank.
Try to be quicker than him and anticipate his 
movements.  Snatch in, hack away, snatch in, 
Buster, repeat.

Good.  When he's around a quarter or less health,
things change for you and if you mess up not 
only do you risk death from a major attack, you
lose any style you had built up to this point from
all the Buster combos.  Sanctus flies up and
yells at you, and summons the Sparda sword to
run you through.  The timing is hard, but you 
probably know what must be done.  That's right,
go into DT for the added hit and power (and style),
and Buster the tip of the sword just before he can
destroy you.  You may need to do this more than
once.

CONGRATULATIONS!  But is it over yet?

After some great scenes, get ready for the last
conflict.  This isn't bad, so don't worry too much.

Basically, you need to Buster away his hands.
He first comes down with a punch from above,
Buster it up at any point.

He then swings from the side with a slapping chop.
This one is slightly harder to learn.  Buster it in
the air.

When he drops down, finish it all by air Bustering his
ugly face.

At around 3 minutes, with a style of 5000 or so, and
no orbs to gather, along with no item bonus, you
can snag the S rank!

-----------------------------------------

Well you've done it!  You took on the Missions
and handled it like a Devil Hunter.  Didn't you?
Now try to top your previous ranks, take them to
the leader boards online, or upgrade your
characters and try a harder difficulty!

There's also the Bloody Palace to enjoy, if you beat
it on DH mode that is.  See below this section for
the Bloody Palace guide when it's up.


/////////////////////////////////////
Hell or Hell Mode
tips and tricks
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The big time!  It's easier to list a series of tips here
rather than make tiny notes on the main
walkthrough
of the guide that could confuse new players.

Thanks a ton to aspen1910000 (GT, username)
for the pointers!

aspen1910000:

"It was not as hard as it was made out to be 
(as I had stated earlier in another thread).
I found DmD mode to be maybe a bit more
challenging.. only a tad bit more. 

I did not get good ranks though as it was my first
try at it. I had used continues and gold orbs..
while I got S's or A's for time ,style and orbs..
the continues do play a big role in lowering my
rank at the end. Yet.. using the 3 gold orbs did
not count as using an item so I never got a "
used Item" penalty.
You do not even need to use the super
characters to beat it, you just have to have
certain tactics and be a bit more defensive
and alert. 

Tips: (these are easy to perform and not
ment to be all top tier and stuff.. but it
helped me to not get touched)

For nero I swtiched the devil trigger button to
RT and the gun button to LB so that I could
charge my gun while slicing with comfort.
For Dante I kept the default control scheme.
Trickster and shotgun/Pandora for guns and
rebellion/gilgamesh for arms. 
(lucifer for bosses when they are down will
destroy them)

first of all... all types of scarecrows pose no
threat even the giant ones. 

Frosts: keep them bunched up. never let them
seperate as one might get a cheap shot with
its projectiles.. but as long as you don't throw
them while they are seperated you can just
avoid with a jump. Once up close, the IR
combos rips them apart and the Spinning
throw will cancel the other one's attack so
you''l never get cheap shotted. For Dante,
use jumping shotguns and either Rebellion
or Gilgamesh. Spam Kick 13 and stingers.

A more tough combo is the frosts with the
reapers(mephisto) combonation. This time,
you want to seperate the frost from the
reapers as the reapers needle attacks can
get you if you throw the frost. After that just
charge shot 3 the reapers and they are
yours for the taking. Dantes double jump
shotgun followed by the warp or air dash
into more shotgun blasts with decimate
a reaper. Note.. most of the time one
Jumping shot of the pandora will take
out the reapers cloaks.. 3 for the fausts.

Assualts: Nero can just IR these guys
and bring them in the air with you with a
lvl 3 Launch followed by the aerial rave
(jump cancel and snatch to get them
higher for even safer air fights.. but it is
not needed) don't Throw these guys as
the animation brings you back to the
ground and leaves you open. charge
shots help also. Dante again tears
these guys up. Just hit them with
stingers, kick 13's, warp and double
jump around and theyll never touch you.

Blitz: Nero has a bit harder of a time
than Dante. Charge shot 3 and double
jumps to dodge as the camera can get
tricky for a roll. once he's gone just DT
and spam throw.. as during throw
animation the devil gauge doesnt
decrease.. or barely decreases.
Also mash shoot to add a tad bit
more damage. Again dante tears
these guys up with the shotgun/trickster
combo. and he can just jump around like
these guys. Air hike and Air dash and
keep shooting even if hes not there so
you dont land and have him ram into you. 

Gladius ( the birdy swords). Nero can stop
them from spinning with his shots and just
snatch into an instant throw. So if you see
them spinning.. shoot and switch targets
and then throw them into each other.
Dante with shotgun and teleporting into
stingers and combos will decimate them.
You can also try gunslinger which helps.
(fireworks and twosome time)

CutLass: Nero has an easier time than
dante. His shots can slow them down
and you can snatch them out of the
air when they jump out of the floor.
For dante.. it is good to take note than
a DT stinger can bring all three out as
the trail of the stinger also hits/does
damage.

Basililisk: Nero's snatch will stop them.
but I cant even remember fighting them
so its not that big of a deal. Dante's
shotgun and trickster combo will
stop them. Warp to them..
helm splitter and stinger FTW.
Just stay mobile so their fireballs
wont hit you.

Angelos. The ones with spears are
too easy to handle. Just dont 
throw them too often as you are very
open
to attack. IR combos from their backs
will beat them. Buster to make them
block and just air hike behind them,
combo and rinse and reapeat. Charge
Shots and Shotgun will wobble them.
The Angelos with the Swords are a
double edged sword. The Streaks
and the Stinger will cancel their
attacks if your spam those moves.
Charge shots will Shoot back their
blackhole attack(but most of you
know that)


Bosses:

Berial: Nero.. stay away and use
charge shots...if you want to be
safe.. or jump in his face with the
snatch and slash while charging
your shots.. then jump back and
fire away. When he is not flaming.
you can use the buster to cancel
his attacks.. but be ready to jump
if you are on the ground. The only
thing you have to worry about his is
homing dash.. but a timed roll or air
hike will save you. Once you beat him
when he's not flamming.. just stay
away and use charge shots to avoid
the flame shock waves and horizontal
slices. Dante can just spam jumping
pandora shots or the Pandora Laser
attack from far away. Then blast him
with the missile supercombos and
when he isnt on fire.. run up.. plant
a ton of lucifer blades and them slam
him with the Kick 13.

Bael: You can just the snatch and
buster combo for the Maidens..
do them in the air for multiple
chances since they will dodge
them often. Charge your gun the
whole time. When the Frog
comes out stay to his side
and beat him down. Shot him
when he is far away.. and shoot
him as he is dissapearing. For Dante
you can use jumping pandora shots
and use trickster to avoid his attacks.
Also beat him from the side. Missle
supercombos will destroy him and
Stingers and Kick 13s for when he
is stunned. he is the easiest boss to
beat

Echidna: If I have to state it again.
here it is! Charge shots and air hikes.
then the usually Buster when she is
stunned or when she starts spitting
out chimeras. Dont buster supercombo
right away.. get a few attacks in and
Dt then throw.. and spam the gun
while the combo is going. Dante's
jumping Pandora and Missle
combos will kill her.. and dont be
too eager to hit her when she is on
the ground.. Just keep jumping
around with trickster and using
pandora. (hardest boss IMO)

Agnus: Nero can use the
Gladius's against him..
and slice him up while
charging your gun. Jump
away and shoot when he
does his 2 hit slice.. and
jump to a wall and/or air
hike when he spins with the
Cutlass. Dante pandora is not
as useful in this battle so stick
with the shotgun for his minions..
and just kick 13 and stinger him for
the win. When he does his life steal
move after he gets stunned just warp
up to him then switch to sword master
and aerial rave him.

Credo... A very easy Fight. Just Charge
shot him from far away.. and then dash
at him with the streak. If he blocks..
just airhike! don't roll as he mixes up the
split and the air blade. use the gun to
stay floating then land.. slice once and
throw him. Charge your gun when you
throw him and rinse and repeat.

Sanctus: Easy again.
Snatch up to him and just aerial
rave him. once the shield is gone
stay away.. but not too far then
when he attacks with a ranged move..
air hike.. snatch and combo him. Once
he is grounded.. you can stick two
combos in .. snatch and DT throw him.
In the 2nd fight.. if you find him deflecting
your sword attack after his shield is gone
just ait buster him and jump again and
combo him. Once he is in his 2nd phase
just take out his shield and wait for him
to do the special attacks.
Buster the Savior.. or Buster the
Sparda rush and his is done for.

The savior: Use trickster and the
shot gun. the fight is fairy simple
and just involves a lot of dodging.
Use the shot gun to take out the gems..
and once his lifebar shows up..
all you have to do.. is find that
platform where he will peek his head
up slowly. memorize where this is
and go to the next one and dodge
till he does the giant laser attack.
after he does this.. leap back to
the main platform.. and plant alot
of lucifer blades. once he gets
stunned again.. jump this his
chest and DT the rb+fy for the
lucifer. SPam it and it can take
from 50-70% of his life. repeat
and you win.
there you go. I hope it helps.
these tactics worked wonders for me.
Hell or Hell is a joke."

Note:
I may add more later, after I've conqured this mode.
(which will take a long while)  For now, thanks to
aspen!


//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Blue Orb Fragments  

"If we don't finish this quickly, it's gonna scar me for 
life!"  Nero, DMC 4
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

12 Secret Mission Fragments  - 3 health
20 Mission "loose" Fragments - 5 health
6 purchasable shop Blue Orbs - 6 health

First off, 12 secret missions in this game equals 12
blue orb fragments for you.  Since it's four per one
orb (and life up), that's a whopping three whole
segments, which can make the difference in a
heated
battle.  I know some of the secret missions are a
bit frustrating, but try and learn them, because it's
worth it if you want to play on harder modes later.
It's best to attempt secret missions on easier modes
though, first.  The secret mission solutions will be
listed below, after we collect the "loose" orb
fragments.
Remember, use ctrl F and type in the number of the
secret mission to go straight to it from this point,
otherwise scroll down a bit and find it.

Before we get into the Secret Mission can of worms,
we will go through all the free floating Fragments.

Keep in mind this is a work in progress.
If I don't have what you need, I hope to have an
update later.
I will try to be as descriptive as possible, when
applicable.  Many of these are freebies, so don't
worry.

And a final note before we get into it.  Save up your
red orbs, and repeat missions to collect more!
Trust
me, you're going to want to buy all of the Blue Orbs
available to you as quickly as possible.
I recommend
having the purchasable orbs by Mission 12, actually,
but the earlier the better, as that's more health for
you as both Nero and Dante!  Some of the secret
missions are a real pain to even survive, let alone
accomplish, so having that extra health from the
shop, as well as the "loose" fragments I will list first,
will really help you.
-----------------------------------------
Mission 02:  La Porte De L'Enfer  - 2 Fragments

1)  Residential District:
You will drop down from a high ledge after using the
Grim Grip a few times.  You will have just fought
a small battle against some scarecrows with a little
fountain in the middle of the area.  Once you drop,
you see three scarecrows in the alleyway, some
smashable objects, and a red orb Statue.  Just past
it, on
the left you should see a tiny red orb.  Jump for it
and follow the path of tiny red orbs around the corner
into a tiny alleyway.  There's your freebie fragment!
This is commonly the first one found in the game.

2)  First Mining Area:
Your first Combat Adjudicator.  You will grim grip up
the room and see a green orb in one corner, a statue
thing nearby, and on the other side of this area a
golden lion statue (for upgrades and things).
See the 
flames on that statue?  They represent the combo
level of style you need to display.  This one only
requires a ranking of B, so feel free to do whatever
you need to do to get it up there.  Using Yx4, Y
pause
then Yx4, some aerial attacks, and Forward Y
should do the trick.  Remember, vary your moves
enough,
so that they adjudicator registers your style up.
If you keep repeating the same thing, it won't work.
You
may need some Proud Souls if this is your first time
through the game/mission, so buy the appropriate
combos or moves you think you will need to score a
B.  Remember though, it can be done with your
default moveset.

----------------------------------------
Mission 03:  Fortuna Castle  -  3 Fragments

1)  Second Mining Area:
Okay, you entered, fought some scarecrows, and
now you have grim gripped up the blue lights to a
wood
platform.  If you hop left, there is another wood
platform, easily visible and not far away.  See the
two Grim
Grips that seem to lead nowhere?  Up top of the
highest one, is another fragment.  Your first goal is
to 
latch onto that second, seemingly highest Grip.
A level 2 arm helps here, but isn't required.  Now,
your
momentum will carry you to the wood wall on the
right of the Grip.  Jump off of it and immediately Grip
again to a previously unseen Grim Grip blue light.
Now, follow the Grips around until you land on solid
ground, and there's your orb fragment.  This one can
be tricky at first, but overall isn't too bad once you
get it.  Pay attention, there's a harder one coming
right up.

Added - From a few emails I recieved and some
message board complaints, it's become clear (hey,
I did
it myself at first also), you CANNOT air hike (double
jump) before you grab your first Grip.  You absolutely
have to JUST latch that Grip, to the second, to the
wall, where you can double jump off, then to the
other
grips.  At the final Grip, use your momentum, since
double jumping (if you own it now) is out of the
picture and all, from the wall jump you just had to do.
Be sure to snap the arm out very quickly from
the previous Grip, to gain the most momentum.
If it doesn't carry you to the platform, you need to
change Grips faster.

2)  Second Mining Area:
Okay, remember your first set of Grips?
Not the hidden ones above you we just used, but the
first set
that lead you to a wood platform and the mouth of
another mining area?  In that area, you fight five or so
Scarecrows.  Well, that's just to get your bearings.
Don't go into that fight yet.  Face the camera (with
your back to the mouth of the cave opening).  You
don't have to have Air Hike for this, but it might help.
There are a couple of ways to do this, but I will now
list the most sure fire method.  First, you will need
to own Streak, and the aerial attack Roulette.
Charge your EX gauge up to FULL, then press (at the
edge
of the platform, facing the camera) forward and Y to
do a streak.  Only now, be sure it's a charged up EX
Streak.  When you release, get ready.  As you fly off
a few feet, execute the Roulette Air Combo.  You will
either make the jump, or hit the wall.  If you hit the
wall, simply wall jump and press up and forward.
You
should land on the other side just fine.
Or, you could do a regular Streak and then Air Hike
(double jump)
onto the platform, but this is a little trickier because
of the camera change.  Also, once you air hike, you
cannot wall jump if you fall short.  If this is your first
time through the game, you will need to buy these
moves, so come back later using the mission select
screen.

A big thanks goes out to Sephirosuy's youtube video
found here:  http://www.youtube.com/user/sephirosuy
on this orb.  He also has a good blue orb fragment
guide out on gamefaqs.com.  He actually has 3 good
videos for the hard to reach spots from the Japanese
version.

helene, alluresilver(at)hotmail(dot)com also wrote,
"put quickly, mission level 16, jump on second 
red pad jump for dante, need trickster lev 4,
double jump and air ride into the lil alcove..."

Thanks alot!  Dante uses the second jump pad,
and then with Trickster level 4 you can find your
way up there!!

3)  Grand Hall of Fortuna Castle:
Thank goodness, another freebie fragment.
On the Eastern side of the map in Grand Hall,
seek out a 
wall length mirror and destroy it with air attacks.
Five or six hits does it.  The fragment is in here,
all by
it's lonesome.  To get here, you will be travelling
around the outside of the upper castle courtyard,
and you
will have fought a total of four frosts (on human mode).
After you get back into the Grand Hall upstairs,
you have to hit a blue wall switch over and over until
the door area is open to you.  But don't go in yet,
because the mirror is a bit down past that door.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 06:  Resurrection - 2 Fragments

1) Underground Laboratory:
Near the start area, follow the circle area where you
are around back, before you jump down.  If you jump
down, you miss it, so be careful.  You can spot it
during the brief scene where they show you to
jump down, too.  If this is your first time through,
that'd be one life digit for you!

2)  Foris Falls:
This one is a pain.  First, you need to have purchase
the Run ability.  When you first step outside, you
will have to hit a blue switch facing the falls.
Do that, head up the stairs.  First scout the area.
At the
top metal platform after the stairs, there are some
oil drums to break, and a door.  Don't go into the
door
and continue your mission just yet.  First, notice
how there is an opening at the balcony?
Walk over to it
carefully and the camera perspective changes.
See your fragment?  I told you, it's a pain to get.
Go all
the way down the stairs, and go straight to initiate
the automatic Run.  Hang around to the platform
while
running (DON'T break your run, you'll fall uselessly),
and if you are still in Run mode, Nero leaps off the
opening.  Now, the camera changes so fast, that it's
hard to get your bearings, but you want to be as
close to center as possible, or you'll miss.
If you own Air Hike you can initiate it after you leap
off.  Try to
use that and gain the orb fragment.  You cannot
snatch it with the Arm, just so you know.
If you still can't
manage to get it now, don't worry.  You can return
here as Dante and use Trickster's Air Dash to get it
with relative ease, consider you are ALSO allowed to
air hike along with the air dash trick.  So as Dante
just Run off the edge, Air Hike, and if you still aren't
aimed right, level two Trickster Air Dash over to the
fragment.

Added -  You can also Streak off the opening if you
don't like to run, and then do a YY, Y move, along
with a double jump if you're Nero.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 07: The She-Viper  -  2 Fragments

1)  Ruined Valley:
Here, you'll come across a blue flame switch to
activate, which in turn activates a floor for you.
Cross 
them as they appear, and at the fifth one, you can
jump and nab the Fragment.

2)  Forgotten Ruins:
You find this one just after the She-Viper chases
you and destroys the gridwork bridge behind you.
Not too tough, but harder than the first one.  It's a
Combat Adjudicator that requires an A ranking.
Up to
now, you've probably gotten a decent feel for style
points and how to combo, and I bet you have 
purchased some new moves for the Red Queen, so
just vary everything up, repeating the same moves
only
every other two combos.  You'll have it in no time.
Don't forget too, you can use the Buster attack on it.
In Devil Trigger, it brings even more style.  Lastly,
Exceed attacks add more style as well.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 08: Profession of Faith - 2 Fragments

1)  Ancient Training Ground:
Go to the stone overpass (your arm should be
glowing and giving you the hint), there is a large
seed 
above your head in the overpass itself.  Airhike up
and destroy the seed, jump up again for the fragment.

2)  Lost Woods:
Take the left path from the junction, to reach a
circular area.  The orb is hanging from a tree in the
north
area here.  This circular area is a battlefield for if
you took the wrong path in the Lost Woods,
basically.
Kill all the enemies and go to the back area, your
arm will probably be alerting you to the fragment.
You need Air Hike to reach it.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 09:  For You - 2 Fragments

1)  Grand Hall:
Combat Adjudicator found to the immediate left as
you enter, just after battling the Angelos.  You will
need
a solid S rank to snag this Fragment, so it's not
quite a freebie.  But you can still get it.  Every
three 
combos, you can repeat, but I recommending
repeating every four moves if possible.  Don't forget
various
aerial attacks, Devil Triggering your moves, Ex
gauge for fire moves, and using your Devil Bringer to
snag and Buster the statue.

2)  The Gauntlet:
You'll have probably seen this one, and think a level 3
Arm snatch can reach it.  Nope, these cannot be
touched by the arm, unfortunately.  Anywho, when
you get to 3F by the elevators, face South on your
map,
and run out to 2F on your map, by Streaking and
dropping.  What I basically mean is, drop out the
opposite side of the elevator than where you should
go to continue the mission.  The small doorspace is
wide open and seems to lead to nothing, that's what
you Stream off of.  You'll fall one story down, locate
the orb, and hop off a bit to get it.  There's your
fragment!

Added -  It may help to note you are
(on your minimap) in a square above the one you
want, which is to
the south, bottom of the map.  So when you see
the orb, you'll go up the elevator and fight some
frosts
(or a blitz depending on your difficulty mode), and
one floor up from there is where you should be
dropping.

Thanks again to Sephirosuy for the video from the
Japanese version, found, once again, here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sephirosuy
-----------------------------------------
Mission 10:  Wrapped in Glory  -  1 Fragment

1)  Experiment Disposal:
After you cross into the newer area, past the bridge
revealed to you for finishing the previous mission,
you'll fight some armors and end up in this area.
Go through the empty elevator that won't move for
you
right now, and into a place with four statues around
a flame.  Through here continues the mission when
you activate this elevator (different from the caged
elevators).  Don't do that yet.  First, note the circular
architecture, the stones above.  With Nero all you
need is Air Hike.  It is very possible.  Learn your
double jump animations.  When you do a front flip,
you gain a bit more height.  That is the height
needed.
Go up onto the platform, and front flip from a double
jump to the first stone ring.  Jump up and note the
position of your fragment.  Jump out and quickly
front flip up to the third stone ring spot.  If you can
line it
up right, you don't even need to land to grab the
fragment, but it helps.  If you can't do this right now,
remember this area for when Dante returns.
Using Trickster level 2, you can double jump and air
dash,
making it a bit easier to reach this ring of stone and
the fragment.  You may have more luck that way
instead.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 11:  The Ninth Circle  -  1 Fragment

1)  Advent Chamber:
At the back of this chamber is the Combat
Adjudicator.  The very first room of the mission.

This one is a bit difficult if you're new to comboing
and styles.  You need SSS rank with Nero for this
one.
Remember, Ex gauge, Devil Trigger, multiple Red
Queen combos, air attacks, and vary them so that
you
only repeat every three or even four combos each.
You can also grab and use Buster.  Treat this statue
like an enemy and go to town!  Since there aren't
enemy bonuses and you can't taunt a statue, it's
harder,
but you can do it.  You could also try to get SS
without DT, then do a streak and do combo 1, 2, 3,
lift 
the statue with back and Y, YYYY, then lift again
using a Bringer Grab from up top, YY...Y and start
over.
While trying to get the SS it helps to exceed from
time to time. You should get SS by then with ease.
From there quickly DT and do Yamato's RB and left
stick front then Y, ending with a Buster. Instant SSS.
If not for some reason, while still in DT (if possible,
I know you only get three gauge to start the mission),
continue the same combos I already mentioned,
alternating from ground to air and back.  Good luck!

-----------------------------------------
Mission 12:  A New Beginning  -  1 Fragment

1)  The Gauntlet:
Get the key of Cronus in the regular progression of
this mission.  Go to the Grand Hall and kill all the
knights.  Instead of leaving the place (I bet you have
at least five minutes left on the timer) head up the
stairs like you were going to Agnus' room.
Kill all the demons, use the key of cronus and head
upstairs
again.  Back in this floor of the gauntlet map, go
around the cage and notice the Combat Adjudicator.
It requires and lowly B, though you may not be used
to Dante yet if this is your first time.  Swordmaster
level 2 and the Rebellion get the job done.
Don't forget to vary ground and air combos.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 13:  The Devil Returns  -  1 Fragment

1)  Ruined Church:
It's another Combat Adjudicator, but this one wants
you to score a style of A.  You'll find the statue
behind
the breakaway glass, you probably, once again,
already saw this as Nero.  With Swordmaster 2 and
the
Rebellion with it's first two attacks opened up, you
can get this easy.  Just keep things varied, and if you
can't seem to quite get it, use DT near the end
(at B or so) and you'll be fine.   Remember,
B button is for Swordmaster skills, both in the air
and on the ground.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 15:  Fortuna Castle  -  1 Fragment

1)  Foris Falls:
It's to the left of the fountain, when your back is to
the falls.  Go up the steps and take it out the Combat
Adjudicator statue with an SS rank combo.  See the
previous two Fragments for tips on Swordmaster,
and don't forget to use Devil Trigger if you need a
push.  SS rank actually appears near the halfway
point
or less on the S rank, so don't worry over having to
slam the entire S bar out, no need.  Varied air and
ground, along with Swordmaster skills of level 3 or
so work wonders.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 16:  Inferno  -  1 Fragment

1)  Underground Laboratory:
Many people miss this one, which is actually okay
at this point, because you need S and may not
have the max Swordmaster skill.  You'll need it, and
the Rebellion with some moves unlocked (you don't
need the final sword move really).  Feel free to use
the Gilgamesh mixed in with your Rebellion if you
know
how to switch weapons fast, but be sure you
purchased the forward and back moves for it.
Though using
the back and rush foward punch actually takes a bit
of time you can't afford, so it's not needed, and
charging up can work, but also takes alot of time
away from your combo overall.  I stuck to the
Rebellion
with maxed Swordmaster, for the Dance Macabre
move.  Beware, the final, super hit of the blade leaves
you standing still for a minute, though it can be
cancelled by using other movements.  Devil Trigger,
varied combos, and a final push of Dance Macabre
at the SS marker will win this for you quick.

By the way, the statue you need to SSS is in the
FIRST room you start at.  Don't miss it if you have the
moves for SSS.

Also, since you're being poisoned this entire time,
you may want to restart or quit mission as soon as
you
get the fragment.  You will also probably want 14 or
so bars of health total to even attempt this, in case
you have to restart, but you may not need it.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 17:  Adagio For Strings  -  1 Fragment

1)  Business District/Terrace

You'll end up having a big fight on the street level.
Remember, as Nero, you soared over this place
using
your Devil Bringer Grim Grip.  Anyway, after the dust
settles from your battle, wipe the blood off your
sword and look around the upper levels by double
jumping.  On the left side of the street is a fenced
off
balcony area, right?  You see your fragment?
You can get your footing on top of the blue awning
(very
small space), and be sure you have Trickster at
level 2 for the air dash.  Jump off the wall as high as
possible using double jump, and then air dash and
you should barely make it over the rim of the balcony
railing.  Voila, Fragment!!

---------------------------------------------------------
Secret Missions     
"There's something so exciting about all this.  
You think so right?"  Lady, DMC 4
"I won't lie..."     Trish, DMC 4
--------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to your first real taste of true difficulty in
this game.  Unless you've already tried to tackle the
hard modes without the health these missions
provide, tsk tsk.  It is very highly recommended you
look above and be sure you have all the "loose" orb
fragments that you can get, and I also think you
should purchase every possible health orb in the
store.  In some of these secret missions, you may
take
some hits, and if you're playing on easy (human),
you will probably note you take worse damage here
than you do in the normal game.  It's still not as bad
as it could be though, and a few mistakes are okay
for the most part.  However there are so missions
where playing as Nero is a better idea, and there
are 
some where playing as Dante is a better idea.
There is one required secret missions a piece
though,
that only each respective character can actually do.
One involves using Anima Mercury as Nero, and one
involves using the Royal Block style as Dante.
So, keep in mind this is hard stuff and may require a
different style of play than the main missions.
Also, again, this is a work in progress, and I will
do what I
can to make things as easy as possible for you.
A basic grasp of the game's mechanics, and a full
play
are also not a bad idea, before you decide on doing
most of these secret missions.

Each secret missions nets you one orb fragment,
and there are 12 total, adding up to three life
segments.

-----------------------------------------

Secret Mission 01:  Annihilation

Found in Mission 02: La Porte De L'Enfer
Terrace/Business District  (a tutorial will prompt you
as you approach, it's a piece of paper with red on it)
Destory all the scarecrows!

You can do this one with no upgrades if you hurry.
YYY or YYYY, followed by busters, knocking them
into the air and then using the buster, etc. will kill
them very quickly.  If you can't do it in time and don't
want to work out a strategy, just come back later
with more combos and power and destroy them all.

-----------------------------------------

Secret Mission 02:  Alley-Oop

Found in Mission 04:  Cold Blooded
In the Dining Room.  Use the anima mecury and let
the object protect you, slam it up the hall and into
the wall and you can now see the piece of paper with
red writing on it.
Execute a mid air Buster five times without touching
the ground.

This one isn't so bad when you understand the
timing of the grab.  If you have air hike (double jump)
by
now, it's even easier, but can be done without it.
If you touch the ground you must restart at zero,
and if
you kill them all, you lose.  Jump up as high as
you can and start doing air grabs with the B button.
It can be the same scarecrow or any others, so don't
worry about that.  Just do the grab repeatedly as
fast as you can, when you get the timing, you'll have
no problem.

-----------------------------------------

Secret Mission 03:  Nonviolent Resistance

Found in Mission 05 (or 16 as Dante)Trisagion
Located in the outdoor Soldier's Graveyard, under
the steps you use to proceed.  Your arm should be
giving you clues when you're near it.  
Raise your stylish ranking without using attacks.
(C rank confirmed, thank goodness it's not higher)

This one is very, very hard.  As Dante in 16,
you can use Royal Guard if you're good at it,
along with taunts
and dodges, but most won't find that practical.
Though for those of you skilled enough, I will list the
method that I have found to work with a little testing.
You need Royal Guard 4 for the best results, but
you
can try this with any level, just takes a bit more work.
First, get the scarecrows in the far corner of the 
large, well lit room.  Now, lead the Frost over to the
L shaped corridor.  If you block around 4 times,
taunt once, and then royal guard 2 times somewhere
in there, along with maybe one other taunt (usually
not even needed), you will score this mission.
Good luck.  Keep in mind, the rank you need is C.

As Nero there are a few things you can do and one
sure fire method that just takes some getting used to.
At this point, all you can do is the Table Hopper move
, purchased with Proud Souls.  
That, along with dodges and the proper use of
Taunting, can do this in theory, but it's extremely
difficult to 
avoid taking hits, which destory your score.
If you do take heavy hits, carefully bust open the
armor on the walls, they have small health orbs in
them.

The sure fire method here is to have the shield skill.
You will gain the aegis shield item from a boss in 
Mission 8.  Now you can Hold the enemy and use
it as a shield.  So come back to this mission then for
an easier time as Nero.  Now, a table hop or two
(in level 2 or so) can help you start the combo, but
you 
do not need it.  Being very careful, you can clear the
furniture from the room if you want, they will do
it for you eventually.  Know the Frost's moves well.
It has an ice beam it can fire along the ground, so
jump it (air hike too), and it tends to like to jump up
and land on you, sending out ice everywhere, that
one
is a pain.  Anyway, use the grab with RB and B,
but hold B and do not release it, or you will Buster
and
fail the mission.  Get a scarecrow and let it take
damage carefully, while you taunt your enemy.
When you get the chance, grab the Frost for when
the next one appears, and let it take damage, while
taunting sporadically.  Don't overuse the taunt, or it
won't work, and try to focus on a target when you do
the taunt.  Keep in mind as well, Nero can only walk
while using the shield move.  Also remember, the
scarecrows die pretty quickly, and the frosts break
out of your grip even quicker, so stay moving, and to
move while keeping yourself safe with a shield, be
locked to an enemy.  When you're down to just two
Frosts, if you can just keep them as shields
(doesn't matter which one, they have alot of health)
long 
enough and bear the onslaught, you can win this.
Keep in mind you can do little hops while you hold
a shielded demon, if walking just isn't cutting it for
you.

A couple more small tips.  You have to be very close
to the Frosts for the Taunts to register at all.  Also,
if you need health and the armors in the room are
depleted, go back out in the graveyard map and
destroy 
the statues (not tombstones) and the central fountain
statue.  Lots of green orbs there.

Now, you can also try a slower, more risky method if
the shield isn't working for you.  Or, try a combination
of tactics listed here (which is what I ended up having
to do honestly).  Basically, clear the room of
furniture in the center first.  Don't hit anyone,
careful.  Now, try to get all three demons onto one
side and
yourself to the other.  Do a snatch on the frost, be
sure puppets aren't too near.  Remember, L3
(pressed
in L stick) switched targets when you stand still.
Now, he's on the ground, laying there for a few
seconds.
Don't do the shield on him, just taunt and be sure
you don't take a stray hit or it's ruined.
Leap to another
point in the room and snatch a seperate demon.
Snatch him to you and taunt while he's on the ground.
Keep doing this, occasionally picking up a scarecrow
as a shield if you want, or if the Frost get's too
friendly with it's long range.  Be sure to keep him
"stunned" so to speak, even if you don't want to
taunt
him this can help him stay slow.  Oh, and as soon
as you get your orb, KILL EM ALL!  Sweet revenge.

It takes alot of patience, alot of health, a cool hand,
and random good luck to get this one.

This should get you the fragment!

----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 04:  Tracking Treasure Down

Found during Mission 06: Ressurection.
In the Angel Creation lab, look for the praying shells
of men (wearing white hoods, from Fortuna town) in
cages, with an eerie green glow around them.  Your
arm will be going crazy when you near them.
On the
left wall behind them, is the paper with red writing
you need to examine for this mission.
Find the hidden orbs!

This one is hard if you don't know the trick.
Your arm has varying degrees of glowing power when
something hidden is near.  When it glows it's
brightest, you are at your destination, and the red
orbs are
not far.  First, don't be thrown by the 99 orbs.
You need to find three locations, sometimes four,
and you're
done with all 99.  So first, walk slow when your
arm tones and glows a bit.  If you walk one way
and it 
stops, simply go the other way and get it glowing
again.  Slowly walk and find your big glow.

From here, when it's really glowing and toning
loudly, stand still.  If the orbs don't appear after
you slowly
count off three seconds, move a little tiny bit in any
direction until they appear.  The orb spots in this
Grand Hall room are random, but popular spots are:

Upstairs, near the blue switch.
Upstairs near the portrait.
Downstairs to the left and right where all the chairs
used to be with orbs in them.
Just above the Gyro Blade in the center hall.
At the very top of the roof, using the bounce pad.
Right near the very front door to the castle.

This is just my experience after going through the
mission a handful of times to test.
Your locations may
vary, so just follow the rules I listed above and find
the three or four locations the game gave you.
Good
job!

-----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 05:  Sky Scraper

Found in Mission 07:  The She-Viper, in the Lapis
River area.  Cross the bridge and make an immediate
left.  Stay up on the riverbank at the corner of the
map and locate the paper you need to examine 
attatched to a tree.  It's not down in the riverbed or
anything like that.  
Your Arm will tone and glow to indicate you are
close to it.
Reach the goal by rising to the top.

Nero will be using jump pads and the Grim Grip for
this one.  I don't think Dante can do this one, even
with Trickster level 4.

Remember that shaft you travelled in the labs?
Well now you have to use the jump pads and get
allllll the
way up to the top, and it's timed very tightly to boot.
One minute leaves little room for error.

Know your animations.  At the height of a jump, you
will front flip, which adds a tiny bit of height.  You
also probably want to use Air Hike, though it won't
make a massive difference overall.  And once you
use
it one time, you cant anymore, until you touch
ground.  Keep in mind first off, that there is a little
ground to
the sides of the circular area, so if you fall, hug the
wall and pray and you might not fall all the way back
down to the floor.  If you get up over halfway and drop
, just restart by touching the doors at the bottom,
as
time will be too low to continue.  Almost halfway up
the pad you want is fenced in.  You should use a
simple Y button press to destroy the fence, or use
Roulette if you want more security on how much
fence
is destroyed, of course you'll lose aerial control for a
bit.  If you destroy it and then double jump, you may
not need to aim for the pad below you.  Otherwise,
you'll have to fall to the pad below and try to get
within
the hole you've opened.  Keep in mind the Grim Grip
positions.

You'll jump up, Grip twice quickly, jump up,
Grip twice quickly, jump up, destroy section(s)
of fence, 
double jump or drop down to pad again, jump up to
fenced pad, jump up to an akwardly placed Grim
Grip you may need to hit more than once, or you
can try landing on a nearby wall catwalk but that's
hard, jump up, and you're done.

This can actually be done with 40 seconds left on
the timer.  Keep practicing!

-----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 06:  Vermifuge

This one can be found in Mission 10
(or 12 as Dante): Wrapped In Glory
This one is in the Security Corridor map.
As soon as you pass all the crazy wall lasers
in slow motion,
look on your immediate left.
Your arm will likely be going crazy by there.
Eliminate all the chimera before the scarecrow
is taken over!

Wow, they went insane with this one didn't they?
You have the grab/shield move from the aegis shield,
right?  Quickly nab the scarecrow and hold down B.
Now, you can only walk or make short hops with him,
so quickly and carefully get him to somewhere safe.
I like to grab him and double jump my way over to
the stairs in the background, taking him to the safety
of the ruined church.  Get him well into the gates
and
release B on the ground to slam him down.
Careful, more than one slam and he dies, and you
fail this
mission.  When he's safe, run over to all the little
guys and start air grabbing and Bustering them apart.
Or go into DT mode and just hack away.
Try to make sure none get by you.  Just because
the Scarecrow
buddy is realatively safe, doesn't mean you are.
These things, en masse, HURT.  Avoid hits.

Another place to take him is the upper right portion
of the map, in front of those big double doors and
down
the little steps there.  The chimera rarely ever follow
you in there.  And the best for last, you can actually
hop UP the cliff behind you at the start, and they will
never, ever reach him.  However, if he stands up and
stupidly walks over, he's in trouble again, so be
careful of that and be quick.

Normally, the chimera docily spread out and sit
down if the scarecrow isn't near, but when you start
grabbing, they'll take off towards him again,
no matter where he is.  So be quick in your killing.
Using
double jump and the three spots mentioned,
you'll find your groove and finish this one easy.

-----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 07:  Free Running

You will discover this one in Mission 10 as well, and
can also revisit it during 12 as Dante.
It's in the Meeting Room.  Located directly across
from the Gold Lion statue (shop) just after you take
on
the knights in the meeting room itself.
Reach the goal without falling through the vanishing
floor.

Sounds easy right?  Wrong.  Not only do you have
to deal with the flying enemies, the floor moves much
more quickly than it did during the normal mission
here.  It can be done, but it's harder than we want it
to be.  However, as either Nero or Dante, there are
tricks to making this easier.

First, if you're Dante in mission 12, activate the floor
and have a full gauge for gunslinger Pandora move B.
You can simply use the missle launching craft to fly
right over to the orb fragment.  Wow.  Hey, there's
no
shame in it.  Just don't get hit while you're flying,
or you drop and you will have wasted your
Disaster meter.  I highly recommend this method.

Another decent methord is to activate the floor
switch but don't go on yet.  That way, no enemies
appear.
Wait for the next set of floor, in an X shape to
appear.  As Nero (streak) or Dante (stinger) your
way off the
ledge, and note the enemies appearing in midair.
Double jump or trickster your way to the floor if you
missed using the dash moves.  Now you only need
survive less than half the normal time of this mission,
and the orb fragment is yours.  Keep in mind,
waiting for the new floor to appear for you will take
around
40 seconds or so, I think.  I never really timed it,
but it's quite a while of waiting.

If you try it the normal way, good luck to you.
As Nero, grab the baddies so that they fall apart
over open
space.  Sometimes they stay gone if you do this,
other times they regain their cloaks and come back
quickly.  As Dante, a level 2 charged shotgun starts
off things well, continue to use gunslinger shotgun
attacks and you may stand a chance.  Don't forget
Trickster 2, double jumping and air dashing is key
here.
Lastly, these guys hit hard and take more hits to
pull out of their cloaks if you're used to playing low
difficulty modes.

-----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 08:  Royal Blocker

This one is found during Nero's Mission 07, but you
can't do anything with it at all.
This one can only actually be achieved during
Dante's Mission 14: Forest of Ruin.  Work your way
all the
way back to the beginning, near where that red orb
crystal is, go into the tiny gazeebo looking stone
structure, and the paper for the secret mission is
right there on the wall.  This map is called Forest
Entrance.
Successfully execute a Royal Block 5 times.

Sounds easy right?  Well, if you played DMC 3 and
remember trying to learn Royal Block style, you'll
know how frustrating it can be.  If you are good at
that, or you just know fighting game block
techniques
down to the animation frame, you can do a Royal
Block.  However, if you don't know much about that
stuff,
luck needs to be on your side, along with some
advice from me.

The first thing you want to do is eliminate the other
shadow.  You only want to face one.  Holding
B down is a normal block, does not count, and can
get you hurt.  A perfect, Royal Block, executes
when
you press B at the EXACT moment you would've
been hit.  If you miss, mess up at all, your counter
resets to zero of five again.  Ugh.  Some people
have luck spamming on the B button over and over
again
until it works. Be certain you are locked onto and
facing your enemy at ALL times, blocking does no
good
if the Mephisto circles you and hits your back.
But also be careful about pressing Forward B by
mistake,
you may kill him.  If you get in trouble, touch the
door in here, or kill the last demon to get out.
It sucks,
but restarting the mission is probably better than
using up all your health items and yellow orbs on this.
Though you could.  To use items you have to exit 
the Secret Mission.  I just used DT to regain health.

You can also level up this style enough (level 4) so
that you can execute Dreadnaught between
Royal Blocks.  So long as, of course, the Royal
Gauge has power in it, which, depending on how you
do
here, and whether you charged it up or not before
hand, may or may not matter.  If you do have gauge
to
spare though, it's great to do Back and B as a level
4 master, because it makes you unkillable for a bit.
Even if the gauge is pretty much empty
(or completely!) you can use Dreadnaught and it
actually works
for this exercise.  In fact, if you get lucky, you can
catch the Mephisto in a small loop of the same
quick
hit, while you get stuck in the "Dreadnaught
charging animation".  So long as you're tapping
B really,
really fast while you transform (and after of course
in case he breaks the cycle), you will always
score a
Royal Guard.  Trust me, this works, after four tries
I had it, and only had to use a couple items.

GREAT job if you get this one!  By now, your health
should be looking quite good.

-----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 09:  Unbreakable

This one is available to you during Mission 15:
Fortuna Castle.  Head to the Library and locate the
Stairwell you can fall down.  Look at the back portion
of the lower stairs, rather than going into the door.
Enjoy, this is one of the toughest three challenges in
the game (along with 
the previous Royal Blocker and well before that,
Nonviolent Resistance)!
Eliminate all enemies without taking damage and
without being captured by a Fault.

Yikes.  I mean really.  This one will make you mad.
And using Holy Waters over and over is out of the
question, you can't access item menus during
Secret Missions.

First, know thy enemy.  If you kill the podlike
Chimera demons before they can attatch to the
Assualts,
you've won half the battle.  Seeing as, if they
attatch, they attack independtly of the host, so a
stray
tentacle can ruin your day, even when assualts are
on the ground you can be hit.  Next up, know that
the lizards (assualts) can fire projectile spikes at
you, tunnel in the ground and slam up into you quick,
can practically fly through the air and into you, and
are fairly quick with their combos on the ground as
well.  Faults appear randomly and can ruin your day,
though they drop health when dead.

Note that when I call for the "pod missle" attack,
I'm referring to Pandora's Argument.

-----------------------------------------
My top technique:
-----------------------------------------
Added -  This is my newest method and one I've
found to work every time you try it, but there is no
"trick"
to this.  You just have to be quick, good at Dante,
and know the playing field very well, which you will
if you keep getting stuck at it.  When the battle
starts, stay on the ground, locate the three
chimeras.
Stinger once, YYY once, you should kill it.  If not,
stinger again.  Don't take long on this, as you kill
each chimera.  Now that you're alone with the
assualts, spam the shotgun on the ground and hope
they
all stay down.  If you don't lock on, he automatically
fires on the nearest threat, which can be a blessing
and a curse, since one in the back may decide to
spin attack, dig attack, or shoot you with a spike.
Keep them all in a corner and shoot them constantly
with the shotgun to make them stay on the ground.
That's the first wave easy.  Keep in mind you can
destroy the eggs and Faults while you're fighting,
but more Faults will appear.

Good for rebuilding your health in between if you
attempt this mission a million times though.
Try to build the Pandora a bit if you can get the
lizards alone.  Just avoid the Faults if you decide
on using
it's cross bow and rocket attacks.  I prefer to
gatling gun them twice from a double jump,
repositon, and
maybe use the crossbow, then going to shotgun
again.

On the second wave, if you've built up Pandora,
use it's Argument from as high as possible and
send out
a volley of missles with the B button, then use the
X button over and over until it runs out.
You should kill
one, maybe two, before you're done with this.
Since it's the second wave, the assualts are
automatically
infected, so you can no longer safely stay on the
ground using the shotgun.  I like to just stay in the
air 
using Pandora to build up my missle pod again, for
one final rush, but if you feel daring and are skilled
enough, switch to Trickster, have Air Dash (level 2),
and double jump while air dashing and using the
shotgun when you are rarely able.  Do not stop to
use your sword, even if it's down to one demon, 
the tentacles will probably nail you and end all your
hard work.
-----------------------------------------
Okay, there's multiple methods through this one.
One (takes some time, five or six minutes) is to have
Trickster on.  Double jump, shotgun, air dash,
repeat repeat repeat.  Keep in mind, when using
guns on
infected Assaults, the Chimera on their backs "die"
briefly, so there's less chance of taking a stray hit
from their tentacle blades.  Be careful of the
tunneling assualts, and their projectiles.

With a little prepwork, you can use the Pandora and
gunslinger technique.  Go into the battle with a full
disaster gauge (by using the Pandora on enemies
and NOT using any specials for it, you can build up
your meter by exsclusively using it on five or so
demons).  Double jump as high as possible, then
use the
Gunslinger B attack.  Encased in the pod, press X X
X as rapidly as you can, the missles are heat
seeking
so you should mostly hit them.  Keep moving and
shooting, and be ready to drop when the period is
over.
By now the second wave is up probably, so double
jump and use the rest of your disaster gauge on the
pod missle attack again.  If you avoided the assualts
air attacks, you've won!

Another decent method is to only use Pandora.
This works well if you had a hard time filling up your
gauge fighting the Angelos up top, or if you just
forgot to (like I did at first).  I don't recommend the
rockets
at all, because the Fault can come up from the
ground and nab you.  Just double jump, move in the
air
while shooting the gatling gun twice.  This takes
even longer than the shotgun method, but the payoff
is
that with gunslinger on, when you're high enough up,
you can automatically use the pod heat seeker
method.  Remember, pressing B while in the pod
fires a volley of missles that may give the edge if
you're down to the last one or two enemies.

And lastly, though there are other techniques, try
just combining the rest for best results.
These are the
most risk free way of doing things.  On the first
wave, trickster air dash, double jump, shotty the
demons
to death.  Just as the second wave starts up,
gunslinger and whip out the Pandora, double jump
way up
high and go into the pod using B, and let the
missles finish the mission for you.  If you're lucky
and quick,
you won't even drop to the ground after this until
they're all dead.  You can just shoot the missles
without
a demon lock on, to move better and avoid attacks.
You can also fire a gigantic volley of missles if you
press B again while INside the pod (argument).
Doing this will drain your meter down quickly, and
you will get off two max I think.

A few added notes:

Keep in mind, using the pod of the Pandora attack
takes a moment to build up.  When you're up there
you
will be still and vulnerable while the huge pod
assembles.  Once you can move, you should be
golden.
I've noticed on Devil Hunter AND Human difficulty
(I think all secrets by default go into DH but I could
be
wrong), the last two Assualts will CONSTANTLY
spin through the air trying to hit you.  That's a big
part of
why I recommend the pod missle method, once hit,
if you stay trained on that target, they stay down
until dead.  When I say last two, I meant the last
one or two of each wave, so be careful during both
waves.
You can feel free to long range (level 2) Singer the
chimeras as the start, but be careful.  Also, every
time 
you Trickster air dash, you do not have to use the
shotgun, as this does present a big risk.
Sometimes,
you can just dash to move, then resume shooting.
If you decide you can't keep a decent eye on your
environment, try using the shotgun while on foot.
However, this will not help you dodge incoming
projectile attacks, or the air attacks of the assualts.
If your shotgun hits consistently, though, they won't
be able to do these attacks.

If you beat this mission, congratulations!

-----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 10:  Puppet Master

This one is found during Misson 5, Trisagion, in the
Master's Chamber.  Break the mirror above his
fireplace.
Maniuplate the Gyro Blades and raze everything!

So, how good are you at this?  Gyro Blades take
some practice, and you don't get much in the main
game.  You are given what feels like a decent
amount of time on the clock, but in reality, it's not
as much as you'd think.  Don't mess around.

There isn't a great deal to explain here, but I can
give you a few pointers.  You need to know that you
can
strike the Gyro Blade when it's active three times for
massive speed.  If you hit it once, it's less speed.
Get it?  So to be quick, strike it twice or maybe
three times, and send it on it's way using Buster.
Your
goal is to take out the tiny tower looking objects
(like the one you toppled over near the torture
dungeon).
Know the hallway.  It's easy to get your Gyro Blade
hung up in corners and bouncing the wrong direction
before it's done.  You also don't want to lose it down
empty mini halls.  If you do, you may want to start
over by touching a door, to save time and stress.
The first few seem fine, with the last two being
a little tough but not so bad.

Soar all the way down the entire hall, to the end,
taking out 3 of your five.  Do this by striking it three
times
or two for more speed on your part.  Now, gently
buster it with no sword strike, or just one, into the
fenced in area.  Line it up quickly as you can, and
strike it once with the sword, and send it into the
4th object.  It *should* hopefully come back to you
after bouncing and end up lined up with the final
object located just across from the gate you just
went into.  Give it one quick sword strike and a
buster, and hopefully you won the mission!

Give it a few tries, you'll learn a little each time you
go for it.  This one is easy to get frustrated on, but
don't give up, you're almost there!

-----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 11:  Point of Impact

You'll find this one during Mission 16:  Inferno.
Alot of people miss this one.  
Use Pandora to destroy distant objects.

First, clear the lab completely and get outside.
I'm not 100% sure on whether you need to purchase
the
laser, so I did anyway.  It's probably only going to
run you around 3000 proud souls, so if need be
simply
take out your skills from other stuff and learn it.
The move is called Revenge, but you also must
purchase
Hatred first.  We'll get into that later on, just buy
them.  When this secret mission is done you can
always reset them later if you don't like using
Pandora.

Then, reach the front gates of the castle.
Here is where you meet the dogs, called Basilisks.
Kill that
group and open the way.  If you want to practice
using Revenge, this is a good time.  You probably
should
also use Pandora alot to build your meter to full.
Trust me, get it full for an easy time finding the
mission.
To use it, hold X down and the crossbow appears
but doesn't fire.  Now, quickly press any three
directions
on the stick, I like left right left.  It'll turn into a rocket
launcher, this is Hatred.  But, rather than fire now,
spin the stick in any full circle direction twice.  I just
spin it right twice quickly, since I just pressed right
left right I'm already there.  Now charge and fire.
Pretty nice Revenge, eh?

In the next part, you have to climb this broken
staircase to get out of this ice area, right?  Stay
with me
on this part as it's kind of hard to put into text.
Okay, on the ground level where you just finished,
locate
the broken stairs.  There is a stone archway you will
face as you hop up.  Jump up seven or so times and
locate the first stairs set into the snow.  Head up
and hop five times past the little gaps.  Up here you
encounter a small open snowy spot and more stairs
leading up.  Don't go up those.  The secret mission
is above this area I have led you to.

Position Dante so that the stairs are to your
immediate left.  Double jump up this wall (and fall
down) and
you will have collected there very tiny orbs.
That's the ONLY in game clue that something is
up there.  
Nice.  Okay, getting up top of this cliff is your goal.
It's a little off to the right of where the camera
actually shows you, keep that in mind.

So, you have three methods of reaching the high
platform hidden up this wall I just had you
hop up.  You can either have Pandora fully charged,
equip gunslinger and press b at the height of a double
jump to fly the Pod up to the mission platform, using
the stairs for a bit of height from the left, or you can
go into Devil Trigger which allows you to double jump
TWO times and try that way.  Using Pandora is the
easiest method.  Lastly, however, you can have
Trickster level 2 ready, double jump up the wall as
explained, and quickly air dash to the right, hopefully
onto the ledge.

Can't get it?  Big thanks to fromac4's youtube video
showing the secret mission locations in the japanese
version of the game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQYYtJY3vfo
Scroll over to the seven minute mark of the video to
find this specific location.

Whew.  That was only half the battle though!
Now that you've FOUND the mission, you have to
pass it.
Once again, practice while it's safe using the Laser.
Equip Pandora and hold down the X button.  Now
press right left right and scroll the stick around to
the right two full times after the bazooka for the laser.
Fire by releasing the X button.  Got it?  I hope so.

You have 30 seconds to destroy the 2 statues.
The camera shows you where to shoot, sort of, so
try to
memorize the start.  Go mostly down the first stairs
and be SURE you're lined up straight, as there is
little room for error.  This simply takes alot of
practice.  Now, input the proper commands I've
mentioned
twice now and immediately fire the laser.  This is the
harder of the two in my opinion, so with it out of the
way, turn around and look through the little doors
here.  If you think you have time, go into the actual
room to fire, but you don't have to.  Aim through the
doorway, and try to blast the final target.  Whew.

If you don't like that, then immediately go to the
opposite statue and try that instead.

The camera angles make destroying these two a
real problem.  If you find you aren't lined up correctly,
overcompensate by pressing RB slightly away from
the direction you seemed to miss at.  So if you aim
and it fires too far right, rather than waste time and
messing with the camera manually, just aim a little
to the left this time and fire.

Hopefully you'll have around 17 seconds left after
you get the first one, and you'll likely finish with four
or so left.
-----------------------------------------
Secret Mission 12:  Steeplechase

You'll find this one during Mission 17: Adagio For
Strings.  It is located in the Opera House Plaza.
Reach the goal without taking damage.

As soon as you clear the streets of the scarecrows,
basilisks, and the like, you will move into this map.
(by the way, for a quick, nice little SSS you can use
the many forms of the Pandora to clear out the
scarecrows, just beware the basilisk's fire balls,
they will ruin your style points, use the multiple
regular
forms, crossbow, rocket launcher, and laser.)
Filling the Pandora's gauge here is important!

Like I said, once in Opera House Plaza, go to the
gated off door on the right from your entry, and
destroy
the garbage can to find the piece of paper for this,
the final secret mission.

As I often say, for the easy fix in many of the secret
missions as Dante, fill the disaster gauge with
Pandora, and fly to the finish!    Double jump high
up and activate the Pod and the final Fragment is
yours!

If you can't, or won't, there are other ways, but it
will take your skill and some memorization.  If you
remember Nero's slo-mo experience, you may have
a slight edge.  Stand to the left of the beams and
watch the patterns as they drop to the floor.  Using
hops, double hops (not jumps) and normal jumps,
you can make this happen, but it's hard.  Be careful
about dropping your guard at the very end.
Remember
that the lasers all cycle through and jump up out of
the floor to resume their pattern.  It'd suck to reach
the end and lose like that.

Also note, as Jonathan Deering (rbfskatantic(at)
hotmail(dot)com) wrote:
"There's also another easy way to beat the secret
mission, steeplechase with Dante.
Just go into the mission with a little bit of energy
in the devil trigger gauge, and while in trickster
walk up to the lasers, go DT and use the dash
to go through the lasers one by one, it's
extremely easy as long as you keep hitting
B and started at the right time."
Thanks Jonathan!
-----------------------------------------
CONGRATULATIONS!  With all the fragments,
all you need now are the Blue Orbs you can
purchase, and
your health is maxed out for all those hard modes
and the Bloody Palace!!!  Good job, some of these
secret missions are tough!

/////////////////////
Ranks
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Here is a list I found on xbox360achievements.com,
listed by Archon Fury.  Thanks!
Note:  I have not confirmed every bit yet.  This will
take some time.  Please keep in mind the orb
requirements are not listed here, so see my full
walkthrough above for those.

---Mission 01 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 0:45
Style: 500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 1:00
Style: 500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 1:15
Style: 500
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 1:25
Style: 500

Mission 02 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 11:00
Style: 6500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 15:00
Style: 6500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 21:00
Style: 9250
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 26:00
Style: 9250

Mission 03 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 13:30
Style: 10,000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear TIme: 18:00
Style: 10,000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 20:00
Style: 10,000
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 25:00
Style: 10,000

Mission 04 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 13:30
Style: 6500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 18:00
Style: 6500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 21:00
Style: 9250
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 33:00
Style: 9250

Mission 05 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 9:00
Style: 6000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 12:00
Style: 6000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 18:00
Style: 7750
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 21:30
Style: 7750

Mission 06 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 16:30
Style: 12,500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 22:00
Style: 12,500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 25:00
Style: 12,500
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 30:00
Style: 12,500

Mission 07 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 15:00
Style: 7000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 20:00
Style: 7000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 23:00
Style: 7000
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 28:00
Style: 7000

Mission 08 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 11:00
Style: 6500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 15:00
Style: 6500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 17:00
Style: 6500
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 21:00
Style: 6500

Mission 09 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 9:30
Style: 10,000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 13:00
Style: 10,000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 23:00
Style: 13,750
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 28:00
Style: 13,750

Mission 10 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 15:00
Style: 10,000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 20:00
Style: 10,000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 25:00
Style: 11,000
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 30:00
Style: 11,000

Mission 11 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 11:00
Style: 11,500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 15:00
Style: 11,500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 17:00
Style: 11,500
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 21:00
Style: 11,500

Mission 12 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 7:30
Style: 7000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 10:00
Style: 7000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 11:30
Style: 7000
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 14:00
Style: 7000

Mission 13 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 13:30
Style: 7000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 18:00
Style: 7000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 23:00
Style: 8250
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 29:00
Style: 8250

Mission 14 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 13:30
Style: 6000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 18:00
Style: 6000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 24:00
Style: 7400
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 29:00
Style: 7500

Mission 15 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 21:00
Style: 11,500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 28:00
Style: 11,500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 34:00
Style: 12,250
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 41:00
Style: 12,250

Mission 16 
Human Mode -
Clear Time:18:30
Style: 10,000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 25:00
Style: 10,000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 30:00
Style: 10,650
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 37:00
Style: 10,650

Mission 17 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 13:30
Style: 17,000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 18:00
Style: 17,000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 21:00
Style: 17,000
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 25:00
Style: 17,000

Mission 18 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 7:30
Style: 5000
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 10:00
Style: 5000
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 11:30
Style: 5000
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 14:00
Style: 5000

Mission 19 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 22:30
Style: 12,500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 30:00
Style: 12,500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 50:00
Style: 20,000
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 60:00
Style: 20,000

Mission 20 
Human Mode -
Clear Time: 2:30
Style: 5500
Devil Hunter Mode -
Clear Time: 3:15
Style: 5500
Son of Sparda -
Clear Time: 3:45
Style: 5500
Dante Must Die -
Clear Time: 4:30
Style: 5500

Note:  This does not show the orb requirements,
so be sure to use my full walkthrough to find the
orbs and how many you may need.


///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The Bloody Palace  
"I've come to reclaim my power...you can't handle
it..."  Virgil, DMC 3
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

You unlock this challenging mode by finishing the
game on Devil Hunter difficulty.

I have yet to master this mode myself, and would
like to thank youtube and multiple users for showing
me some of the higher levels I have yet to reach
alive.  ForeverPheo of youtube in particular.  He
goes by Devilix on the gamefaqs boards.

As far as I know, for both Nero and Dante, opponents
are the exact same.  Don't worry so much over 
rating as about surviving, and if you get far enough,
you'll neet a great score.  If you can beat level 101,
you should have S rank, so long as you didn't use a
super character costume.  Yes, the final boss for
both characters is Dante.  He has every style, move,
and weapon available.  Yikes.  Good luck.

Keep in mind, no matter what difficulties you play,
some enemy groupings seem "set" to certain 
difficulty levels.  Meaning Dante at the end is likely
on DMD mode.

There are bonuses upon each enemy kill with style,
and for taking no damage in each level, that add to
your time.

Please see my enemy file sections below for tips
on beating these demons.  Don't forget to charge
shot constantly as Nero (setting the button helps),
use DT alot, taunt when you're able, learn IRing,
and if you're
Dante, master changing each style on the fly, and
learn to use Pandora and for bosses, Lucifer.

Don't worry over scoring style unless it's safe and
you get one enemy alone, or a group of really weak
slow ones.  Just survive and keep up health.

Try to maintain a steady eight minute marker on
time at the end of each battle.  With practice,
you can do this.

Each character owns his own seperate orbs and
proud souls in this mode.  Getting far obviously earns
you a ton.

Using Super Characters makes this very simple,
however, you automatically suffer a grade penalty
at the end.

Later on, some enemy totals are hard to measure.
Keep that in mind.

1  -  Four arm scarecrows.
2  -  Six leg scarecrows.
3  -  Six arm and leg scarecrows total.
4  -  Two Frosts.
5  -  Two Bianco Angelos.
6  -  Three Mephistos.
7  -  Eight (I think) Gladiuses.  Devil Orbs here.
8  -  Ten or so Chimera Seeds.  Health orbs here.
9  -  Eight or so Chimera Seeds, Three scarecrows.
10  -  Fifteen or so Scarecrows.  SSS easy.
11  -  Two Assualts.
12  -  Two Mega Scarecrows.
13  -  Two Assualts and Two Bianco Angelos, that
fight each other!
14  -  Faust.  Seems a little docile.
15  -  Alto Angelo leading two Biancos.
16  -  Mega leading four or so smaller scarecrows.
17  -  Two Alto Angelos.
18  -  A lone Blitz.  Fairly docile at first.
19  -  Pack of Basilisks.
20  -  BERIAL.  Seems to be on Son of Sparda
mode.  Health at the end.
21  -  Frost and Two Mephistos.
22  -  Two Frosts and a Faust.
23  -  Three Assualts and Two Frosts.  Yikes.
24  -  Two Assualts and some Basilisks.
25  -  Three gifted Assualts and shortly after, a
Blitz.  The Blitz loves to kill the Assualts.
26  -  A Blitz fighting a pack of Basilisks.
27  -  Two Frosts and Two Bianco Angelos.  SoS.
28  -  Several Gladiuses and some Assualts.  Health.
DT orbs.
29  -  Several Gladiuses for health and DT orbs, and
a fiesty Blizt.
30  -  Four SoS Frosts.  Joined later by several DH
Assualts.  And I do mean several.  Then a Blitz.
31  -  Ten Chimera Seeds for health.  Then a
trio of Mephistos.  Some health after.
32  -  A few regular scarecrows and a Faust.
33  -  A mega scarecrow and a duo of Mephistos.
34  -  Six Mephistos.  Some health from them.
35  -  Three SoS Mephistos and a Frost.
36  -  Duo of Scarecrows, then a Faust.  
37  -  Three Assualts and two Mephistos.
38  -  Two Mephistos joined by a Blitz shortly.
39  -  Several Chimera Seeds for Health, and a
Faust.  More Seeds keep coming.
40  -  BAEL.  SoS mode I think.  Hard to tell. Health.
41  -  Drastically new stage layout.  Several Chimera
Seeds for health orbs.  
42  -  Six or so infected Chimera Scarecrows.
43  -  Five or so infected Assualts.  Charge shot 3
is great.
44  -  Several Gladiuses and Chimera Seeds for
health and devil orbs for DT gauge.  Keep moving.
45  -  Four or so Infected Assualts.  Then Blitz.
46  -  A few Basilisks and some Chimera Seeds for
health.
47  -  An Alto leading two Biancos and some 
Chimera Seeds for health.
48  -  Several Chimera Seeds for health.
49  -  A trio of infected Assualts on SoS mode,
joined later by a Faust.
50  -  Many Chimera Seeds and several Scarecrows.
Then some Assualts.  Then more Chimera Seeds.
Then a couple more Assualts, probably now 
infected.
51  -  Some DMD (I think) Scarecrows here.
52  -  Several Gladiuses and a few scarecrows.
Health and DT orbs found here.
53  -  A trio of SoS Mega Scarecrows.  Then two
Frosts.
54  -  Severlal (maybe) DMD Scarecrows and an
Alto Angelo on SoS.
55  -  A Faust and a Mega Scarecrow.  Faust may
be on DMD as it hurts alot.
56  -  Mega Scarecrow and two Alto Angelos.  SoS.
57  -  Three or so Scarecrows, joined by a pair of
Mephistos eventually, some health here.
58  -  Several Basilisks and a Mega Scarecrow.
59  -  Many Chimera Seeds and a few Scarecrows.
Some health to collect here.  Mega Scarecrow later.
60  -  ECHIDNA.  I want to say she's on SoS
difficulty.  Health in her arena, and from killing her
off.  
61  -  Four Bianco Angelos.
62  -  Three Biancos and three Cutlasses.  All of
them are on SoS I think.
63  -  A Blitz duking it out with a duo of Biancos.
64  -  Several Gladiuses and DMD (I think) Bianco.
65  -  An Alto Angelo leading a pair of Biancos.
SoS.  Then more four more Biancos and soon a
fifth.  
66  -  Several Basilisks and an Alto Angelo.
67  -  A Blitz on SoS and later on in an Alto.  Then
another.  
68  -  Several Scarecrows and two Biancos.  
69  -  Two Frosts and an Alto on SoS.  
70  -  Another pretty different looking setup for 
this level. Five Biancos on SoS.  As you kill them,
an Alto appears.  Then another.  Then more Biancos.
71  -  Sveral Gladiuses for health and devil orbs.
72  -  Several more Gladiuses for the usual orbs,
and a mega Scarecrow on SoS.
73  -  Several Gladiuses and a Frost.  More orbs.
74  -  Some Cutlasses and a trio of Basilisks.
75  -  Some Cutlasses (three if I remember right),
and an Alto Angelo on SoS.  Vicious.
76  -  Several Gladiuses and Cutlasses.  Some 
health and DT gauge orbs here.
77  -  A whole pack of Basilisks.  
78  -  Several Basilisks and a trio of Frosts on SoS.
79  -  A few Basilisks and some Cutlasses.  Then
several Gladiuses for some orbs.  
80  -  ANGELO CREDO.  I think he's only on SoS.
Very agressive.  Full health after.
81  -  Drastically new looking battleground again.
Several lesser Scarecrows and a Mega.  DMD I
think.  SSS easy, durable enemies.
82  -  Four Mephistos.  Possibly on DMD.  Then a
Faust.
83  -  Three Frosts.  SoS.  Thenanother Frost.
Might be DMD on the last one there.
84  -  Many, many Chimera Seeds for health, and
some Assualts that will soon be Infected.
85  -  A pair of agressive Blitzes.  SoS I think.
86  -  An Alto Angelo leading two Biancos.  SoS.
87  -  Several Gladiuses for the usual orbs, joined
by a few Basilisks.  
88  -  Some Cutlasses and a pair of Biancos.
89  -  A trio of Mega Scarecrows, joined quickly by
a powerful Blitz.  I think the Blitz may be DMD.
90  -  A couple scarecrows and a mega scarecrow.
Three more leg scarecrows.  Then several more.
Then another group of various scarecrows on SoS.
Still another group and this time a Mega is with
them.  This time the group may be on DMD, very
duarable.  SSS rank easy.  Yet another group of
six to eight Scarecrows appear in DMD.  The 
following groups of eight appear in their own DT
mode.  Several more GROUPS of scarecrows and
megas appear.  Are there fifty?  Then some Chimera
Seeds pop in to give off health orbs.
91  -  Faust.  May be on DMD, but doesn't DT that
I've noticed.  Soon another Faust joins in.  Then a 
third
92  -  An Alto leads a duo of Biancos.  Rather than
list each wave, know that several more Biancos
flood in waves of two or three during the fight.  Some
drop health.  
93  -  Here come six or so Assualts at once.
Seem to be on SoS.  
94  -  Some Chimera Seeds and some infected
Scarecrows.  Health here.  Then some Biancos
appear (two if I remember right).  
95  -  An entire pack of Basilisks appears.  DMD
mode I think.  More appear after the first wave
drops.  Then some Chimera seeds drop for
health, and another pack of Basilisks drop.  Some
have health to give up.  More Chimera Seeds for
health, and it's done.
96  -  Several Gladiusses appear.  The usual orbs
drop.  Cutlasses appear.  Then three Biancos
appear.  SoS.
97  -  Four Mephistos appear.  Then a Mega 
Scarecrow.  Then another.  
98  -  Four or so Infected Assualts enter.  SoS I
think.  Chimera Seeds drop for health.
99  -  Several knights appear here.  I think two Altos,
and five or so more Biancos at first.  After that it's
hard, very hard to keep up with how many waves of
knight type demons you must face.  More and more
keep appearing in waves of four or five after you kill
off the other three or so.  Are there 100?!  Seem to
be on SoS mode.  
100  -  Angelo Agnus.
101  -  Shadow Dante with every style, move, 
and weapon available to him in this game.

Good luck to you!  And if you beat this mode,
especially without Super Characters, you are a 
king of DMC 4!  Now go try Bloody Palace in the
other DMC games!!
====================
IV. Files 
"W-what is it that demons lack? 
Please, for the sake of my research, please tell me!"
Agnus, DMC4
====================

We begin this section with a note.  On the Mission
Select Screen, under the heading Library, you can
find what I'm about to list here for easy browsing
reference.

I have added some brief notes on attacking and
understanding the demons.
The walkthrough will feature something a little more
in depth.

-----------------------------------------
Items:

(Orbs)
Red Orb: A magic red stone of crystallized demon
blood.  Offer it to the gods to earn new power.
Green Orb:  A magic green stone of crystallized
demon fluid.  It returns lost life power.
White Orb:  A magic white stone of crystallized
devil spirit.  It revives lost magic power.
Blue Orb Fragment:  Blue fragments of crystallized
life force.  Four of these form one complete stone.
Blue Orb:  A magic blue stone of crystallized life
force.  It boosts one's maximum vitality.
Purple Orb:  A magic purple stone of crystallized
magic.  It boosts one's magic power limit.
Gold Orb:  A magic golden stone made through a
secret process.  It can restore lost souls.

(Item)
Vital Star S:  This slightly revitalizes lost life power.
Vital Star M:  This moderately revitalizes lost life
power.
Vital Star L:  This greatly revitalizes lost life power.
A spiritual stone made by using Alchemy.

Devil Star S:  This slightly revitalizes lost magic
power.
Devil Star L:  This greatly revitalizes lost magic
power.
A spiritual stone made by using Alchemy.

Holy Water:  This holy water can fend off demons.
It severely damages nearby enemies.

(Key Item)
Proud Soul:  Soul filled with the pride of noble blood.
Indispensable when boosting one's abilities.
Note: It looks like Dante and Virgil's Amulets from
the past games sort of.

Evil Legacy:  A crystal holding the power of an
ancient evil.  It has the ability to awaken a new
power within.
Note: Let's you use the Grim Grip.

Anima Mercury:  An artificial soul made by using
alchemy.  Breathes life into the inanimate.
Note: Let's you use Gyro Blades.

Rusalka Corpse:  Part of a dangling feeler used by
the demon Bael.  Those who take it up will find a
new source of power.
Note: Helps you find hidden orbs and other special
hidden things, like items and secret missions.

Wing Talisman:  A talisman made of crystallized
angelwing.  It can stimulate a divine response in
specific equipment.
Note:  Activates the jump pads.

Sephirothic Fruit:  One of Echidna's seeds.
This fruit of her womb holds the power that binds
together demonic plants.
Note:  Let's you pass through to new areas in the
Forest level.

Aegis Shield:  Shield once held by Credo.
Those who take it up will find a new source of power.
Note:  This will let you Hold bad guys in front of you
like a shield by holding B during Buster.

Key of Cronus:  Crafted of concentrated magical
energies.  Can manipulate the very fabric of space
and time.
Note:  Mostly used in puzzles.  Has to be activated
by a box device you find near laser traps.
-----------------------------------------
Enemy:

(Lesser Demons)

The Scarecrow is borne with sacks filled with
Trypoxylus.  These insects are unintelligent,
however, by
moving as one, they bring life to their forms.

Scarecrow (arm):  Their bladed arms were once
used as executioner's blades.

Scarecrow (leg):  This Scarecrow's leg-fitted blade
grants it the ability to unleash breath-taking feats
of acrobatic violence.

Note:  Both types here are pretty quick, faster than
you'd expect from their descriptions.  The (leg) in
particular is very agile and loves to suprise you by
flipping at your back with it's blade outstretched.
Not a big threat at all, but both these types are worth
keeping an eye on, as two hits and you lose all
your style, and in one you drop dramatically.
Punching bags at heart, use groups of them to
perfect your
combos and feel free to tear into them with group
attacks like Streak, Charged Shot 2, or for Dante,
the Dance Macabre.  Pandora LOVES to eat these
things alive, so keep that in mind for a high style as
well.
-----------------------------------------
Mega Scarecrow:  Filled to the brim with
Trypoxylus, this Scarecrow has swollen dramatically
in size,
and possesses a power that clearly demarcates it
from it's other, less powerful brethren.

Note:  Big and dumb, but not slow.  They have a
variety of rolling attacks and love to suprise you just
like
their acrobatic brothers.  Tear into them with two or
three combos and end them with a power attack.
Careful when they die, their giant, wicked blade
comes back down on the spot where the body
dropped, so don't linger around for orbs.
-----------------------------------------
Frost:  An elite demon sired by the emperor of
demon-kind.  Frosts are all purpose soldiers used in
a 
variety of situations.  Frosts encase themselves in
ice to recover their strength, but quickly destroying
their icy cocoon will end this process.

Note:  First seen in DMC1!
Really good fighters to the core.  They have
long and short range attacks, can teleport, and heal
at will in the cocoons mentioned in the description.
Stay moving when in the prescene of more than one,
use anything related to fire (charged shots, EX
attacks, Lucifer), combo like crazy and just keep
moving.
When grabbed and used as a shield, they break
free quickly.  They are very durable.
-----------------------------------------
Assualt:  An elite demon sired by the emperor of
demon-kind.  Able to burrow through the ground with
it's
sharp claws.  Assualts have varied attack techniques.
They use their shields to ward off blows, but
destroying it will render them defenseless.

Note:  First seen in DMC1!
Fast fast fast.  Not as durable as their
brothers in arms, the Frosts, however they get
shields to
block bullets and weak sword attacks.  Stick it to
them quickly and then move away even quicker
when 
facing a group.  Try to kill one at a time rather than
taking them all at once.  Shields break after some
hits.
They burrow and suprise from underneath, they love
to charge in with standard ground attacks, they can
fire off their spines/nails/claws or what have you
rapidly from a distance, and they sometimes howl
to make you go flying back.
-----------------------------------------
Blitz:  An elite demon sired by the emperor of
demon-kind.  Unable to see, it relies on it's other
senses
to track a prey's movements, and then attacks with
ferocity.  However, this occasionally leads it to
attack other demons.  One should take caution to
not fall victim to it's violent blows.

New Note:  Looking to take them down quick and
with style?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
UmwEmZdlI80&feature=related

That link leads you to the answers!  However, if it is
taken down, I can tell you here.  The basic premise
is to go in close with Gilgamesh and punch, then
before the electricity can harm you, use Royal 
Guard.  Do this over and over again to build style
and hurt the demon.  When he's stunned, use your
best Royal Release (or other damaging) attacks
and he should die off within seconds!
See thanks section for credit.

Note:  I still have yet to fully explore their rage and
tenacity.  But I will tell you this, they are the most
durable of the elite demon-kind mentioned this far,
and probably the strongest as well.  When they are
in
lightning mode, they are teleporting to get a bead on
your back.  Keep moving, however you can.  Timing
a Table Hop or Royal Block is very hard.  Continue
to shoot the Blitz constantly whenever you get a
clean
aiming window.  With Nero you may want to charge
up shots while he's busy teleporting.  With Dante,
use the shotgun with whatever charges you like.
Trying to use Pandora is risky, because the heavy
hitting
moves slow you down in one spot and make you a
great target.  The Blitz loves to appear behind you
to slash.  He also lowers his head like a rhino and
charges.  If you hit him while he's crackling, you will
take damage and be slowed briefly.  However, after
shooting him until the lightning on him stops,  you
can
go into Devil Trigger mode and combo him to near
death.  When he almost drops, he renews his
lightning
shield and it turns red.  Now he's faster than ever
and hits a little bit harder.  Keep in mind that in
BOTH
his modes, he also likes to teleport away from you
at times and fire a barrage of streaming electricity.
If it brushes you it hurts, but if it dead on zaps you
it's deadly.  He can shoot ahead and up at an angle.
Right before he dies he will kamakazie and try to
call down a huge bolt and explode.  If he manages
to impale you on his horn when he does this, it
really, really hurts you.  Watch out!
Of little consequence, one of my favorite character
designs for a demon in this game.
-----------------------------------------

Gladius:  A man-made demon crafted by the hand of
Agnus.  Magically cross-bred between a sword and
a reptile, Gladius is capable of transforming it's entire
body into a bladed weapon.  But one can cause
great damage to other enemies by throwing Gladius
in this form.

Note:  Shoot it down and/or Grab it as Nero.  Then
Buster the sword and enjoy the chaos.  This is the
only
way to beat the first Agnus, actually.  As Dante,
Gunslinger is great.  Twosome time with Ebony and
Ivory,
shotgun at medium to close range, or even
Pandora for damage that will stun them to the
ground, where
you can stinger them to death.  Fast, but not a
massive threat, even in huge groups.  Just stay
moving and
shooting and when you're open, do what you have
to do when you spot one on the ground in sword
form.
-----------------------------------------

Cutlass:  A man-made demon cross-bred from a
fish and a sword by the hand of Agnus.  It's dorsal
fin
is a sharp blade capable of cutting through earth and
stone alike, allowing a Cutlass to traverse these
obstacles unhindered.  Beware it's unseen attacks.

Note:  Dangerous.  Very.  The Cutlass attacks in
groups of three or so and loves to "swim" through the
ground, walls, and even the ceiling to get at you.
It charges quick and dissapears even quicker.
You can
tell it's coming by noting the red circle on the ground.
It lands where it emerges, so you have to dodge him
twice in small spaces.  From the ceiling it's nearly
impossible to keep up with it.  Shoot with any guns
that are rapid, and while it's slowed VERY briefly,
get over to it and hit it with a quick sword strike.
This
makes him flop up on land and is the Cutlass' only
weakness.  Finish them before they can recover.  
Buster on these and you'll do a flying blade attack.
-----------------------------------------

Basililisk:  A horrid demon-hunting dog abomination
with gun-like attributes crafted by the hand of Agnus.
It's fiery skull can be shot out from it's body like a
bullet.  Possesses the ability to regenerate a new
skull out of flame.

Note:  Kind of fast, and very lethal.  It's tough to
dodge their skull blast attack.  It's best to lay into
them
up close and quickly, but it's hard to maintain a
good style combo on these guys since their pack
brethern
love to nip at you from behind while you fight one.
Using the Pandora's multi-hit attacks can help you
thin their pack a bit, and give you some style as well.
Stay moving, try to kill one at a time to even the
odds better, and overall don't slow down during a
combo or anything else.  Start up some hits, move,
repeat.
-----------------------------------------
Chimera Seed:  A seed from a demonic tree,
Chimera Seeds are both sentient and intelligent.
After their
creation, Chimera Seeds seek out hosts to fulfill
their parasitic desires.

Note:  Sluggish when they first "hatch" into an
environment.  This is the time to tear them apart,
as they
have little heatlh and aren't too durable.  A Buster
from Nero tears them in half immediately.  Dante
should stick to basic Rebellion hits ending with a
Stinger to get it done fast.  Chimeras enjoy
attatching
themselves to scarecrows and assualts in the area.
If this happens, the host body becomes stronger,
more durable, AND the Chimera can attack
independantly from the host.  Meaning it's bladed
tentacles
can strike even while an enemy is stunned or dying.
If you use guns of any kind on the host body while
it's infected, the Chimera "dies" for a few seconds
and cannot attack you.  You will know because it
screetches and wilts and hangs limp for a bit.

Chimera:  A demon sporting a sprouted Chimera
Seed.  It moves unaware that is has become host to
a
parasite, and attacks alongside the Chimera Seed.
Thus it is advisable to weaken the Chimera Seed
with small arms fire and then take down it's host.

Note:  See above.
-----------------------------------------

Mephisto:  A floating demon wrapped in a black
cape of special gas that allows it to pass through
objects.
Mephisto appears to it's foes as a black demon of
death; however, in truth it's physical form is nothing
but a tiny coward.

Note:  It can go anywhere, meaning sometimes you
can't hit it (in walls or floors, etc.).  It loves to circle
you quickly and either swipe using it's "tail" body, or
more commonly shoot you with a charged, glowing
fingertip.  It can also do dive bomb attacks from any
direction.  To hurt it the most, use your Buster grab
on it until the "cape" dissapears, then wail on the
bug.  These can be killed with one try.  As Dante,
use
the shotgun or Pandora's more explosive attacks.
A direct Buster from Nero can knock them right out
of their capes!

-----------------------------------------

Faust:  While closely related to the Mephisto, Faust
is leagues more intelligent and cruel.  While it's tiny,
cowardly physical form is unchanged, Faust's
capacity for violence makes Mephisto seem like a
mere
infant.  Gunfire can be effective in disrupting the
effects of his magical black cloak.

Note:  One of my favorite character designs for this
game, this demon is quite eerie.  Okay, same rules
as
with Mephisto.  If he's in a wall or otherwise away
from you, you can't hit him.  He takes more grabs
or
more shots from a weapon to put down.  When the
bug form falls out from his illusion, destroy him if at
all possible using devil trigger and big combos, but
don't knock his body far away, as he can recover
more
quickly when not being hit constantly.  Not only that,
these guys recover quick anyway, much faster than
their brothers.  He loves to slash you with his "tail"
appendage, and can also dive bomb, but his biggest
attack relates to the opening cinema you get of him.
He loves to use his floating, creepy hands and send
down giant burning, laser like fingers that are several
feet long.  He can do various attacks with them, all
of them quick and lethal.  Do your best to eliminate
any escorts he has first, because facing him alone
is challenge enough!
-----------------------------------------
Bianco Angelo:  A man-made soldier made from the
fragment of a demon known as the "dark angel".
Filled with either a human or demonic soul, it carries
out it's master's orders with mechanical precision.

Note:  Oh man.  First off, know that the "dark angel"
is likely the being known as Nelo Angelo, from the
first DMC game.  In fact, the name Nelo Angelo
means Dark Angel.  Bianco means blank, white, or
clean.
Anywho, this guy is TOUGH.  I'm coming up with
strategies for facing them, I can offer a few offhand.
For one, using Buster on their backs allows you to
pierce them with (and rev!) their own lances.  This is
a great way to finish one and fling him into a group
of his fellows.  They loves to turbo burst across the
ground or sky and slam into you, lances down.
They have fairly durable shielding so hitting from the
front is out.  Shooting a charged shot or powerful
gun of any type blast into their front while they
fly can knock them down sometimes.  When down
you can strike them from ANY side, so take
advantage.
Know when to dodge, and when to fight.
Learning their pattern isn't so bad, it's fighting a
group of five
or more that's rough.  I forgot to add, Nelo Angelo
was also known as Virgil, Dante's brother.
So armor
of this design is expected to be quite powerful
indeed, since it was worn by him and constructed
originally by the demon emperor Mundus.
-----------------------------------------

Alto Angelo:  A knight turned demon via the
Ascension ceremony, the Alto Angelo has donned
the armor
of a Bianco Angelo to lead them into battle.  It is
said that an Alto Angelo can raise the abilities of
the Bianco Angelos around it.

Note:  You thought Biancos were trouble?  The Alto
Angelo is the pinnacle of the elite knights.  He has a
sword and a VERY durable shield and even when
you hit his back he guards.  He flies around VERY
fast,
and can command Biancos to attack you all at once
from any distance.  The word Alto means the 
Highest.  So he's the "High Angel" basically.  Don't
ever underestimate this guy, even just fighting him
alone.  He has decent sword combos, can charge
his blade and rush you, and loves to dive bomb from
the
sky in all directions.  When the other knights are
around, I think he also makes them stronger.  Not
sure.
He loves to fly up high at seemingly random intervals
and open a black hole (!!!!!) above him, summoning
a ball of black matter energy to try and off you with.
If you see this coming and can charge up a shot or
use a strong bladed attack in the air (EX
recommended), you can send it back to him and kill
him and
any other Angelos around.  If it doesn't kill them all
somehow, they will be dazed, greatly wounded, and
without their shields.  This also nets you an
automatic SSS rank.  Enjoy!  Now, if you take out
Alto's 
shield through a great number of strong blows,
Nero can enter a wrestling sequences where he
piledrivers
and drop kicks the Alto.  He can also do this in
DT mode and pull off even more brutal moves!
-----------------------------------------
Fault:  Faults are sbterranean creatures that dwell in
the demonic underworld.  They can seek out the
magical power of their prey, and once found, they
appear suddenly from below wrapping their victims
in darkness.  The darkness within the Fault's body
is often habitat to demonic denizens.

Note:  When you kill them (you have to be fast),
you gain small green orbs for health.  Not bad.
Plus,
they usually (blessedly) stay gone from the
battlefield.  However there is often more than just
one.
They love to appear when you're in the middle of a
combo or firing the Pandora, to snatch you down
into
the depths.  Once there, you have to fight off tons
of the local demons of that level until the portal to
leave opens up.  Also, you have to repeat whatever
map you were on.  When you see them, if you don't
want to stop to kill them, but are forced to complete
combat in a map, just stay moving, it's all you can
do.
-----------------------------------------
(Boss)
For this next section, please refer to the
walkthrough of this guide for tactics and habits
when it comes to
the bosses.  I will eventually bring the notes down
here as well.

Berial:  A demon hailing from a cruel circle of the
underworld known as the Fire Hell.  The otherworldly
flames that wrap Berial's body prevent him from
falling victim to the magical machinations of others.
However, when these flames are extinguished,
Berial is at a great deal of risk.

Note:  Another basic boss battle.
This one is to acclimate you to the big, often slow
bosses.  
Capitalize on
their slow speed and any openings they leave you.
Berial loves to swing that massive sword around and
destroy the buildings.  They have small health orbs
(green) in them.  Shoot him constantly during this
fight
to chip away at him and keep yourself floating if
need be.  If you have double jump it can be a help,
but it
isn't needed.  Use the snatch to grapple up to his
head level and use air combos on his face, or better,
the back of his head and upper back region.  Come
down and strike his back legs if you get a chance,
and
repeat, trying to time your grabs to get airborne for
when he just swings at you.  He also likes to swirl
through the air very briefly (he's so big he can't stay
up long!) and swing his blade eratically.    Just
keep up the hits and around a quarter off he'll be
stunned and his fire goes low.  Grapple up to face
level
and use a normal buster attack (just B, not lock on
B) and you'll do a special slam hit.  Brutal!  If you get
him weak you can also grab his tail and slam him
into the buildings around you for big damage.
If this is
your second time through and you have DT available,
be SURE to go into DT mode when using the Buster
for even more damage and a more brutal attack.
When his head is down on the ground after your slam
rush in with Forward Y (streak) and use Buster
again for yet another big attack!

When he stands, be careful.  He'll taunt you and
fire out a massive burst of flames to renew his power.
If you get caught in this it counts as a hit and ruins
the no damage bonus, plus stuns you AND hurts
your
style by two or so ranks.  He can also send up
massive pillars of fire.  It's nice to have double jump
to 
avoid this, but you can just roll to the sides and rush
him to try to get away.  Keep in mind while he
keeps you busy with this, he will do a bull rush of
his on right into you, and this can deplete a couple
bars of health!  Plus a flame pillar will likely hit you
during this time, meaning you lose nearly four bars
on DH mode alone!

If you can finish him without taking a hit you will
easily score S or SS without even using incredibly
varied
combos, so long as you Bustered properly.
Even with one or two hits, you can finish with a C
rank if
you kill him WITH a buster attack.  He's pretty
durable but he goes down hard.  Just try not to
deplete
him to a quarter of his energy until you can stun
him again, then use Buster.  When he drops to
around
a quarter of his remaining health, he will constantly
use fast, powerful strikes and it's a pain to try and
keep a good style rank during that barrage of
random attacks.

For Dante:

Okay.  He's a little stronger and faster now, but you
will probably hardly notice.  See the Nero section
for notes on his basic attacks.  If you built up the
Pandora's disaster gauge, you can immediately
remove two to four of his health by using gunslinger
and jumping high up, then pressing B to go into
the missle pod.  Then press B again for a volley,
and spam X over and over until it runs out.  Now
switch to swordmaster and use rebellion or
gilgamesh, whatever you know best.  Switch them
up if you know both well enough.  When he is 
stunned, go into Devil Trigger and let him have it
with every combo and offensive skill you know to
really knock down his health!  Keep moving and use
Trickster if needed.  If you like Royal Guard and
have built up the meter enough, use Dreadnaught
(level 4 max) to survive the hard hits and just keep on
bashing if you don't care about being hit (no 
damage bonus).  Dreadnaught with Gilgamesh really
turn Berial into a joke on the lower modes.  No
matter how you like to do it, keep moving to
avoid his hits, and slam him with your best, and
semi-quickest moves.  Stun him again and use
Gilgamesh combos to finish the fight or get real
close to it.  Just watch out near the end, his
homing dash and lunging overhead sword attack
can slow you down and end your style score easy.

If this is a replay, he hates the Lucifer!  Feel free
to stun him however you like, and then plant as
many Lucifer blades into him as you possibly can.
Swordmaster
helps out here some if you know how the weapon
works.  Be creative!  Cover him with blades and
then do Back and Y to detonate them whenever!
If he's stunned, man does it hurt him!  Using
Lucifer and Pandora well, along with maybe 
Royal Guard correctly, one could make this a very
quick and one sided battle where you take no 
damage and score SSS easy!

-----------------------------------------

Bael:  A family of demons that resemble toads.
They use a gas to conceal their bodies and sensual
bait to lure prey which they swallow up.

These demons are not used to direct combat,
and their huge tongues are a particularly weak spot.

Note:

The demon is hidden at first.  Fight the blue ladies
and enjoy the orbs, do alot of damage and it applies
to
the boss in a minute.  Careful too, these ladies can
put up a bit of a fight.  
Suddenly, the demon frog shows his true form.
Now the real battle begins.  Another slow, big demon,
he will telegraph most of his moves like all the big
guys do.  He's a bit faster than Berial though, so
watch
out for him.  Start by using the grab to fly at his
head, and attack the upper region with air combos.
Watch out for his spitting attacks, they will freeze
you in place and he'll jump on you.  He also likes to
run from you alot, since he's not a straight forward
killer, using his lures on prey and all.  Try to corner
him
to score a couple air combos and he'll likely jump
away to spit at you more.  Keep pursuing him and
dodging his attacks.  If he leaps forward he can
swallow you so try to keep above and to the back of
him
using the Buster snatch.  You can charge shot 1 at
him a bit, but mostly you want to strike the icicle
head
area with air combos.  There isn't much time to
taunt yet.  If he dissapears on you after swelling up,
streak
at his feelers and avoid their strikes and ice attacks.
Enjoy the red orb shower!  Be ready for him to jump
back into the battle, he can swallow or crush you like
this easily and that damage adds up fast.  You may
notice his feelers turning red from the pain you inflict.
If they go down to a sitting position, be sure to
Buster them so that Nero can yank Bael foward hard.
This is a smart way to stun him and gain lots of
style points in the process.  At this stage in the
battle he will likely add a new move to his arsenal,
if not
sooner.  He can fire icicle blasts from his head and
they arc up and land on your head if you aren't
moving.  Try to Table Hopper dodge this attack and
his lunging gulp attack for big style points.

If you hit his front constantly you will stun him.
Now you can Buster his fat tongue for alot of damage
and style, or head around to his rear and buster his
tail and throw him around the area like a ragdoll.
If you have DT mode from another play through
(if this is your first time you won't have it), activate
that
for even more violent Buster moves.  At his tongue
you will crawl into his mouth willingly (wow) and
stab out of his head eventually.  

By now he's likely turned red and his speed has
increased a bit.  He'll send out his lures to do more
of the
fighting for him and he will like to try to swallow you
alot.  The lures can grab you and freeze you in place,
which lets him swallow you up very easily.
Just keep going, you're almost done, use the same
tactics as before and he will die.

-----------------------------------------

Dagon:  A demon much like a Bael, adaptation has
caused it evolve a different body color.  This proves
to be the only difference between the two, including
the particularly weak tongue.

Notes for Dante only:

Love the name.  Okay, he's very much like his
little brother Bael was.  The most obvious difference
here is that you're facing him using Dante, so the
moves and tactics differ.  Now, the best thing to do
here is to use Ebony and Ivory from afar, have 
Trickster to air dash ready for the brunt of his
attacks, and then get in close and use aerial rave
(swordmaster) on his head.  Also try some combos
on his sides if you're afraid of taking hits and can't
switch between trickster well yet.  See the basic
attack section for Bael in my guide to get a grasp
of Dagon's move set.  When the ladies come for a
piece of Dante (like they always do!), swordmaster
and shotgun work wonders.  Stay on one at a time
and avoid their spinning attacks and ice shots.
Dagon rockets back onto the scene for yet another
beat down after a few seconds.  Hit him from his
sides and try to go into DT for best results and
bigger combo hits.  When you weaken him, 
go over to his tongue and in DT, use Swordmaster
and Rebellion, switching over to the extremely
deadly Gilgamesh to finsh your combo string.
If you have Forward Y, use it.  This should just about
end the fight.  If not, you can finish him from afar
with handgun charged shots, or get in and stinger
into a short combo.  

If you're replaying him, use his own weapon, the
Pandora, against him wisely.  The laser to his
tongue does great damage, but I prefer to use
a string of different weapon combos there.  However,
the crossbow, bazooka, and the gatling gun are
great for softening up his ugly hide, and for hurting
his girls as well.  Pinning the Lucifer into him in a
big group and then detonating on his tongue is
also a great tactic for eating his health away easy.
C'mon, he's always wanted a tongue piercing!

-----------------------------------------

Echidna:  Master of a forest home to many demonic
mysteries.  Echidna scatters it's seeds to act as
hosts
for further demons.  She aims to create a world
where demons prosper through her plant-like
progeny.
Appearing to be a dragon, Echidna takes the
shape of a woman wrapped in petals.

Note:
A little faster than you're used to if this is your first
time in.  Dodge her tail and don't let the swirls fool
you.  Just keep moving to one side or the other, not
towards or away.  When she goes to eat you, use
a charged shot on her "mouth".  You can also 
Buster her here for some good hits, but it's hard
to time it.
When she stands
odd and a small ball descends on her bottom side,
use DT and Buster it for a funny sequence and lots
of hits.  Kill the Seeds she drops if you want to keep
this battle between you two alone.

Now she'll try to strike you with her "hair" so just
know when her head bobs to jump as high as you
can (air hike) or jump backwards.  Keep slashing
her up top, and shoot charged shot 1 or 2 at her,
ocassionally doing the YY,Y air combo and in the
air also use Back, Forward, Y for more style ups.
When she eventually plants herself in the ground,
rush up with DT on and combo as best you can.
Avoid her tendrils that snake up from the ground,
watch out for her hair whip attack again, and know
that she can also repulse you away with an invisible
barrier.  Note that using the gun in DT sends out
flying swords as well.  When you stun her, you can
DT and Buster her for yet another great scene and
tons of damage!

When she rises up and turns yellow in pain and fury,
stun her from a few good, strong hits and then DT
and Buster her again for a GREAT ride, lots of style
and damage, and a fully revved up sword to boot!
Now she's faster and will repeat her pattern but more
erratically.  The hits hurt a tiny bit more also, but the
main thing here is her speed, as those hits add up!
She can now also fly around fast and send out
lots of seeds to hurt you and take away your style
score.  Deflect her once more with a Buster or 
charged shot.  If you need health, note that her
seeds scattered around the sides of this area give
off some, plus lots of orbs.

Now for Dante:

As Dante, much remains the same as for Nero.
Certain attacks can deflect her charges, but I
like to use Trickster to dodge her and run up her
body for sytlish points.  Stay moving until she slows
down or stops.  Use swordmaster to aerial rave her
when she drops out seedlings, and for any time you
can hit her exposed main body.  The shotgun is the
weapon of choice here if it's your first time through.
Just stay moving, use DT liberally, and combo her
in the air using different styles whenever possible.
None of her moves will change from Nero's battle.
On replay,
Pandora works well, using the bazooka (left,
right, left, holding X).  As is sometimes the case in
Capcom games, this boss is kind of weak to her
own weapon, so if you're replaying, use the 
Gilgamesh when she's stunned and open to combo
like crazy for a high score and tons of damage.
Lastly, Lucifer (on replay) also works very well.  
Swordmaster 4 is needed to truly use Lucifer 
correctly though.  


-----------------------------------------

Agnus:  The chief alchemist of the Order of the
Sword, Agnus created both the Cutlass and Gladius,
and is able to control them at his will.

Note:
Very simple stuff here.  The room floods with the 
Gladius.  Concentrate on a couple small factors 
here.  One, make sure you aren't in the direct
line of a charging attack from a demon.  While you
do that, concentrate on using Snatch to make the
demons fall solid.  Then, run up and Buster that
demon to fling him at Agnus' glass.  That's all there
is to it!  Sometimes, Agnus will get involved and try
to zap you.  When this happens you can try to get
on the little hub in the center, but I recommend just
double jumping when you see it start to zap, and
then fire the Blue Rose rapidly to stay in the air.  If
you are on a replay and already have DT, use it when
you Buster the Gladius and you do more damage!

-----------------------------------------

Angelo Agnus:  The demon form of Agnus after his
Ascension ceremony.  With wing-like organs
attatched,
Angelo Agnus can call upon the numerous
demons of his pseudo-hell to do his bidding,
but only at the cost of his health.

Note:
He's quick but
honestly not as big a threat as Credo was.  Avoid his
lunging strikes and use the Buster to pull over to him
quick and strike.  He can use a portal to summon
some more Gladius demons.  Let them come, dodge
or Buster snatch, and throw them at him or each
other for orbs.  The cages along the sides of this
area hold health orbs.  When he jumps back and
charges up, get ready to dodge or charge shot
him.  I'm not sure if a Buster works here, but it
probably does break his rush.  If his dash attack
connects to you, he will drain out alot of your
health and make it his.  If you DT during his grab,
you break free.

The key here is keeping up the pressure, really 
staying on him and laying in the hard hits and
combos.  Again, snatch keeps you on him most of
the time.  When he isn't glowing slightly, you can
Buster him for a small attack but he sends you
back off from him and can hurt you too.  If
he drains you consistently, this fight gets alot more
dangerous, so keep up the dodge!  Keep in mind
returning a Gladius with Buster to him gets you 
some white orbs for your DT gauge.  

He can open his hell portal and shoot fire balls at
you in groups of six or eight.  Dodging here keeps
you moving to him for some more damage.  Keep up
the hits and he will be stunned.  When he screams
out and reels, go into DT mode and use Buster to
massively damage him and gain three or four style
ranks!  He will then blow you away.  If you have
a DT gauge of six or more, stay in this mode to
regain some health, keep speed up, and shoot out
swords at him with the gun.

After he blows you back a bit, he may try floating
up and getting an attack ready.  Shoot him to make
him stop.  He'll summon fire again, and some more
Gladiuses than before.  Just up your speed and keep
going after him, throwing Gladiuses at him when
needed.  Soon he will probably summon groups of
simultaneous fireballs for you to dodge roll past, and
then some Cutlass demons.  Not only should you
kill them as fast as you can, by any means you have
available (even DT to hit him with harder), and throw
them near him for hits, he will also grab two for
himself to use in combat!  He spins about with them
and even throws them into you at high speeds.  You
can Buster them back, but it's really, really hard to
time it right.  I like to try and roll to the side of his
spin attack, as double jumping sometimes just gets
you hit faster.  

Rush him when you get an opening and go into DT,
combo some, and when he's stunned, Buster and
the fight should end or be very near it.  Repeat the
process.

For Dante:
Wow, GREAT scene.  Hilarity ensued for all, now
it's time to take him down for good and get back
your Yamato!  He's pretty fast and still has many
of the same attacks he used on Nero, so see
that section or the boss section below the guide
for info on his moves.  You probably remember most
of them anway.  Stay moving with trickster and use
whatever guns you're most comfortable with.
Shotgun seems to be just fast enough and strong
enough to work out perfect.  Pandora is great but,
well, it slows you down alot so you have to time
it just right to not take hits.  I like to use the
Rebellion with swordmaster style until he is kind of
stunned, then I let lose with Lucifer and pierce him
up a ton, detonating the blades when he regains
his momentum, to floor him again and go in for a
rebellion combo.  Keeps him busy, hurts him really
well, and gives you some style!  

He will likely begin by using his sword on you and
summoning some dogs to play with you both.
Keep the pressure on the dogs, they can wear you
down and distract you enough for him to drain your
health.  Dodge his fireball attacks using trickster
and keep on shooting and trying to cut him up.
When he summons more demons to help him fight,
use gunslinger the and pandora's missle pod 
barrage move to even up the odds.  Rush in DT and
combo him with either rebellion or gilgamesh, and
when he drops from being stunned, use (still in DT
mode) the best Lucifer moves you have.  I like to
use Y,Y,Y,Y, the go into Foward Y, then Forward
B with Swordmaster style on.  He will probably float
up and yell "time to die!" at this point, like with Nero,
or try to summon more demons.  Either way, NOW
is the time to detonate your Lucifer blades with Back
and Y.  Ka-boom!  If he hits you with his "time to die"
attack, you're going to lose a ton of health, so this
method works well.

After Pandora's missle battery attack and now the
Lucifer's many blades exploding in him, he should
be down to half his health or so.  Continue to dodge
his attacks (escpecially the health drain one, it can
turn the tide on your fast), and get ready to go into
Trickster to dodge his spinning cutlass attacks.
When he summons fire or the "time to die" drain
attack now, rush in and try to shoot or slash him
as much as are able to cancel the attack.  If you
use Lucifer, don't forget to use Back Y to detonate
the blades!

-----------------------------------------

Angelo Credo:  The demon form of Credo after his
Ascension ceremony.  The shield held in his left
hand
is meant to protec tthe Order and thus exists as a
symbol of Credo's faith.  The shield is also capable
of repelling any sort of attack.

Note:
He's fast and strong and probably the first real boss
challenge of the game on lower modes.  His shield
blocks everything and can't be broken or taken 
away.  You may want a couple of Vital Star Ms,
a Gold Orb, and a Holy Water, just in case. 

Keep in mind that any time you hit him with the
sword or Buster in DT mode during this fight, you
can unbalance him a bit. 

When he throws a blade at you, you can Buster it
back at him.  It's hard to do though, I recommend
dodging.  If you do it, he's stunned for a second.
While he struts around, shoot him.  In DT mode,
you will fire swords too.  Treating him like a knight
only gets you so far, because he teleports when his
back is open to you.  Careful of that.  After time, he
won't teleport as much when you're at his back 
though.

If you bang on his shield a few times, then dodge up
or back, he'll do a big sword swing whirlwind and 
then be open to some hits from the front and back.
He also does a three hit combo that hurts bad, a
four hit one, and a strong aerial attack that slams
onto your head.  When he yells "behold the power of
an angel!", be ready for either a combo or if he's
far off, a double sword throw you can try to buster
at him, but I'd just dodge.

After enough hard hits, the shield turns red and will
"break" for a moment, giving you time to combo or
Buster his body.  Ideally, in DT mode.  After this,
he will start to combo and teleport and throw his
weapon at you even faster than before.  His health
is hopefully at or below half now.

Even lower in health, when you Buster him while he
is stunned, you will beat him down massively and
come close to ending the battle.  Keep up the 
pressure, steaking in close and hopping around
quick.  Table Hopper 2 or 3 is good here, but hard
to master.  
-----------------------------------------

The Savior:  The most powerful demon brought
forth by the Order of the Sword.  It's exterior,
oft-mistaken
to be a god, holds a millennia of demonic matter
and spirit melded together.  With the blood of
Sparda and 
his ancient sword, it will be possible to control the
Savior for the first time.

Note:
Use the bounce platform and be wary of the Angelos
here.  Use them for style if you like, but it's hard to
avoid the savior's blows if you try.  If you see the
savior trying to slap you with his palm down run up
his arm (both arms) and take out what blue crystals
you can.  There are two per arm, one at the forearm
and one at his shoulder.  Avoid his petty swipes and
dark matter fire balls and use either the yamato,
rebellion, or shotgun to take down the crystals.
He shakes you off back to the start after time.

In the meantime, rush left or right to the
jump pads.  Let him kill the Angelos for you if you
like.  You can deflect the dark matter balls back at
him using B presses from the dark slayer style
(yamato).  Avoid his great Fireballs by using either
trickster or jump pads.  If you go to the right
first you will come upon a flimsy metal platform.
Get to the jump pad quick because if he destroys
it you start over your jumps.  

On the far right side there is a device enabled by a
blue combo switch.  Activate it and he will be
stunned.  Good job.  If it's a side you've already
cleared of blue crystals, smash at his fingers from
the ground to stun him even worse.  Now race and
use the pads on either side and follow them all
around his body.  Avoid the Faults (kill for health)
and knights (kill for style points) and use the shotgun
or pandora to take down every blue crystal you see.
Get his back and feet this way.  I wanted to add,
if you want to kill his black matter balls off more
effeciently, use the shotgun.

Eventually, he will recover, and on high modes, fast.
So just repeat what you've been doing to mega stun
him again like before.  Remember, DT to kill
knights quick, kill faults for health orbs and take out
the dark matter energy balls for devil orb refills.  
Timing is crucial on all this of course.  Give it a 
few tries and you can get the hang of it!  If you ever
get stuck, use various jump pads and try to find
middle pads to get back to where you were.  He
has blue crystal orbs on his feet, one on his back,
on his shoulders and forearms, his forehead and
his chest.  You can shoot almost any of these
crystals any time with Ebony and Ivory from the
center platform.  Also keep in mind if you come back
around to the same places too often, the jump pads
will not work for you, leaving you at the savior's
mercy, or should I say malice?  If you get stuck, use
ebony and ivory on him, taunt, and wait for him
to either get hurt enough or destroy your platform.

---------------Headshot!------------

When you finally take down the head crystal, 
(or the final one other than the chest) some
things change a little.  By the way, you can reach
this crystal and number of ways, and Ebony and
Ivory do the job fast.  Best way to is crawl up an
arm and blow it away fast that way.

He is faster now and will swing wildly around you
at times.  He also likes to charge up his massive
demon killing beam from the earlier cinematics and
try to fry you with it.  That one can end your day
bad, so try to use the bouncing platforms to
avoid it.

Keep on using every single jump pad to your right
until you get a special cinematic.  Now we're 
into it, a health bar!  Taunt him if you feel safe,
and let it run fully.  Shoot him with super long range
guns and keep moving to the right until the second
tiny platform with two blue pads on it.

Here, wait patiently until he pokes his head up,
and get Dark Slayer Style read to rock.  Hit his head
with the Rebellion and your best combos, DT if you
want.  When the chest cyrstal briefly shows itself,
use the yamato ground and air combos.  He then
goes to destroy your platform.  Repeat to that
tiny, two pad platform again.  You can bound
left to right, back and forth on the three little
platforms until he pokes up his face again.  DT and
slam him until you get a scene.

Finally, a real change to damage him!  Use all the
pads ahead of you to reach his weak spot, and then
DT up and go crazy with combos and end them with
the Yamato.  If you plan to use the big forward Y
or backward Y combo, be in close to his crystal and
give yourself enough time to execute the slashes
properly.  Nice damage!  Go for the highest style
you can and try to get him to a quarter health or
so.

Now he does a spinning kick and uses more long
range, devastation fireball attacks.  Keep moving
and baiting him on to come for you.  Try to  keep
moving and don't let him destroy your platform or
you have to start these jumps over.  His giant beam
is faster now, so don't stop to taunt unless you
are really confident.  Repeat this process until you
finally send him down.  It usually only takes twice.

At a time of 12 minutes (yikes), 5000 style (from
mostly fighting him at the end there), and getting
some orbs from his fire balls and/or enemies around,
you will ace the S rank!  Go for no item also.

This one may take you a few tries to minimize your
time and maximize your style.  Hang in there!

-----------------------------------------

The False Savior:  Completely assimilating the
body of Sanctus, the False Savior may fall short of
a true
god's power; however, it's repulsive tenacity means
one must not let their eyes stray from it for too long.
Bring forth final judgement upon this atrocity!

Note:
Basically, just use Buster when the hands are near.
Learn the timing and let it fly.  He howls at you in a
fury and leers happily when he hurts you.  After you
Buster his hands, Buster his head when it comes
down and it's over!

-----------------------------------------

Sanctus:  The leader of the Order of the Sword and
the one behind all of it's machinations.  Surpassing
the bounds of human power via his Ascension
ceremony, unlike other knights, Sanctus's
appearance
has changed little.  However, he has gained
incredible demonic power.

Note:
Oooh, I bet you were aching for this one.  He has a
pretty simple pattern throughout this battle.  Just 
keep your eyes open and Snatch whenever possible
to get close to him while he floats.  Watch out for
the various projectile attacks of his two orbs.  Know
that when you snatch them they dissapear, which
is good to stop them from hitting you, but bad for
when you want to Snatch close up.  Level 3 Bringer
is a must for comfort here.  Sanctus can also
summon down some narrow lighting for now, so
watch that if you're on the ground or near his open
areas without hitting him.

Snatch up high and hit him three or four times, go
for a total of six to break the shield up.  Snatch to
get in closer and hit him again to put him on the
ground.  Feel free to combo, but don't waste much
time.  Go into DT mode and then buster him, for
a very satisfying damage dealer and to hear some
of the best and funniest lines of Nero's in the game!

After he will regain his shielding, so stay back for
a moment so you don't take a hit.  Snatch even
faster and watch out for his lightning and ground
travelling fireballs.  Break him open again and
once more DT and buster to do alot of damage.
When he gets up and says "I sentence you to 
death!", hop back quite a bit, the lightning here is
not narrow like the other attack.  Stay on him with
snatch and keep on breaking him open and using
DT and Buster.

He can now also use aerial fireballs.  If you can't
stay on him by quicking using Snatch to grapple
over, he will renew his shield constantly and pummel
you with fire from afar.  Keep up with him and keep
up the DT Bustering.  "Pray for your Savior, cuz 
you're gonna need it!"

When he's down to a quarter of his life bar, things get
dicey.  The Savior demon statue will try to smash
you from time to time.  A side roll is best, but double
jumping can work as well.  Sanctus comes back,
and you should treat him just like before.  His
attacks seem faster and he's hard to catch now.
He can also use another type of narrow lightning
attack.

He periodically goes into the Savior statue, so
either wait it out and dodge, or try to attack the hand
a little.  The fist can be bustered, but it's hard to
time it right as the fist crashes down.

-----------------------------------------

Sanctus Diabolica:  The demon form taken by
Sanctus after his Ascension ceremony.
The ability to
resonate with Sparda that the ceremony gave
Sanctus is amplified, giving him power far beyond
that
of any normal demon, and warping his body into a
hellish visage.

Note:
He will begin by renewing his shield, which blows
you back.  He likes to call down small lightning
bolts of negative energy (he screams about the
savior and judging you), that are easy to avoid
by just backing off.  He also fires out speedy fireballs
and will send his hovering devices in pairs after you,
like before but a little faster now.  He can teleport
freely about the arena and will if you corner him
in the air too much.  He will also summon a 
great bolt down onto you, which is one concentrated
burst right under his body, and different from the
small bolts.  It doesn't pose a threat if you keep
moving.

Start by Snatching at him to get up high fast, then
hack at his shield.  You can also Buster it.  When
it breaks, he is surrounded by negative energy
from the Sparda sword, but you still damage him
when you strike or buster at him and his dark shield.
Keep it up and stay on him to avoid his fireball
attacks.  When he renews his shield or calls down
lightning bolts, jump backwards or roll away to the
immediate open side.  I like to snatch to him, strike
once with the sword, snatch again quickly, and 
Buster in the air, repeating until he breaks open
fully.

Now you're getting somewhere.  Rush in and do
whatever you like, but quickly go into DT at 
some point to Buster him for a great sequence.
If you aerial Buster him, you piledriver him down
hard and then give him the massive punch to the
body.

Now he will begin to teleport at times and use the
historical Sparda sword to strike you.  He can also
throw it a little bit.  Keep moving and avoid taking
hits if at all possible, so maintain combo rank.
Try to be quicker than him and anticipate his 
movements.  Snatch in, hack away, snatch in, 
Buster, repeat.

Good.  When he's around a quarter or less health,
things change for you and if you mess up not 
only do you risk death from a major attack, you
lose any style you had built up to this point from
all the Buster combos.  Sanctus flies up and
yells at you, and summons the Sparda sword to
run you through.  The timing is hard, but you 
probably know what must be done.  That's right,
go into DT for the added hit and power (and style),
and Buster the tip of the sword just before he can
destroy you.  You may need to do this more than
once.

-----------------------------------------

Dante:  Son of the legendary Sparda, the Devil
Hunter known as Dante has become a legend in
his own
right.  With his sword Rebellion and guns known
as Ebony and Ivory by his side, many demons have
come to know Dante's incredible power during his
long career.

Note for the first fight:

The actual battle and ranking time starts up when
Dante's life bar appears.  If this is your first time
playing,
you won't have much in the way of in game skills
or attacks.  Just do what you can.  Keep moving,
and
when you see him do things from the tutorial, dodge
accordingly with rolls, though I think jumps are best
for everything but his helm splitter, which is an
overhead air sword attack.  When he taunts, gets
into a
corner, or if you get a rare window of opprotunity to
hit his back after his misses with a stinger (dash
sword attack), unleash a three or four hit combo and
hop away.  Taunt here and there, in close, and
destroy all the benches for orbs.  If you get a lucky
shot at using the Buster on him in close, you can
see a cool sword fight sequence and you'll push him
away and he loses lots of health.  If you get him in
the air he'll lose a fair amount as well.  Slam dunk! 
Try to finish this within 2 minutes if possible, and
you
will likely get an S rank if you got the orbs and C
style.

If this is your second time through, you can finish
this quickly by using devil trigger mode, snatching
with
the arm, and using DT Buster moves to slam Dante
over and over into the ground. 

He likes to shoot in two random patterns rapidly,
block you bullets (cool huh?) with bullets of his own,
rush in for a stab, do a three or four hit combo, air
attack to slam into the ground, taunt, and dodge alot.
None of these attacks should kill you, but if you are
in the fight with him for longer than 3 minutes and
you consistently get hit it will add up.

Ng Jeremy (manwithmustache(at)hotmail(dot)com)
wrote to let me know that on ocassion, you can and
will lose if you clash with Dante during a Buster
attack!  He always follows this loss up with a ground
combo that you can avoid by jumping!  Thanks
Jeremy!

----------
Note for the second fight:
Uh oh.  Now that you have Yamato and a shiny,
powerful DT gauge, Dante doesn't hold back as
much.  Though he is still obviously just testing you,
he will now switch between his four styles and
act accordingly.  Trickster lets him dodge quickly,
Swordmaster gives him some powerful attacks,
Gunslinger makes him versatile at a distance, and
Royal Guard will just allow him to block you.

He has many of the moves from the first fight with
him in mission 1, only now they hurt more and are
faster.  He starts slow though.  When he swings a
large attack from the air or the ground, the back,
forward Y attack gets you in good, and you may
even get off a small combo.  Charge shot 2 can hit
him here, but it's best to rely on your blade and
Buster in DT mode.  

It's best to let him go at you first, because he can
counter almost every move you have initially.  As 
soon as your combos knock him into a corner 
space, go into Devil Trigger (which stuns him for a
second) and use Buster to slam him over and over
into the ground.  This is your best move to use,
so try and use it whenever possible.

If you run low on health and/or magic, smash the
candles, boxes, and jars around the two fireplaces
for orbs.  Continue to let him strike at you, dodge,
and return combos until you get a window to 
Buster him in DT mode.  Combos in DT work well,
and he seems to be unable to dodge the swords
from firing your gun as well, though this is a waste
of your precious time compared to other attacks.

If he catches you with his Dance Macbre combo, or
any other massive multi-hitter, go immediately into
DT mode to cancel him and do a quick Buster.
If he gets stuck in Royal Guard style, refrain from
shots or hits, he'll release your own power on you
and it can be painful.  Instead, Buster him.

In Gunslinger, he'll bust out his shotgun, so watch
for that and just try to stay above him during these
moments.  Come down hard with the Forward Y air
attack.

He'll "lose" to you eventually, just keep up your
combo patterns and do your best to DT Buster him.



-----------------------------------------
Arms:

Keep in mind, I will have a seperate section below 
for the abilities these weapons bring.
-----------------------------------------
(Nero's Arms)

Red Queen:  A mechanical sword with a powerful 
fuel injection system.  The propellant sprayed onto
the
blade allows it to unleash attacks of great power;
however, the Red Queen's complex
customizations mean only Nero is capable of
controlling it.
-----------------------------------------
Blue Rose:  A unique, specially constructed revolver
with two barrels, allowing two shots to be fired nearly
simultaneously.  A product of Nero's own hand.
-----------------------------------------
Yamato:  A sword imbued with tremendous magic,
it unleases the latent power within Nero.

Note:  It used to belong to Dante's twin brother,
Virgil, given to him by his father Sparda.
-----------------------------------------
(Dante's Arms)

Rebellion:  A memento given to Dante by his father,
this large magical blade is the physical
manifestation of Dante's power.
-----------------------------------------
Gilgamesh:  Made of a devillish metal that absorbs
organic material and transforms it to steel, this
weapon will shock and awe enemies with it's brute
force.
-----------------------------------------
Lucifer:  This netherworldly weapon spawns
countless explosive blades that hover with the
oppressiveness of impending doom.
-----------------------------------------
Ebony and Ivory:  Personally designed by Dante,
these pistols are the weapon of choice when rapid
fire is a necessity.
-----------------------------------------
Coyote-A:  A shotgun firing buckshot, it has been
modified for combat use against demonic forces.
-----------------------------------------
Pandora:  A demonic weapon capable of 666
calamitous forms.  It spells misery and disaster
for countless foes.
-----------------------------------------
Yamato:  A katana used by Dante's brother, it is
both the key to opening the Hell Gates, and to their
very destruction.

Note:  As was said, Virgil's blade, given to him by
his father Sparda.

-----------------------------------------

Others:

(Nero's Actions)

COMING SOON!

(Dante's Actions)

COMING SOON!

(Characters)

Please see the next section of my guide,
Storyline and Character Layout, for the Character
section.




==========================
V. Storyline and Character Layout   

"Hey, don't forget this." -holds up Yamato- 
Nero, DMC 4
"Keep it."  Dante, DMC 4
"What?  I thought this meant alot to you?"  Nero,
DMC4
"Well, that's the only gift worth giving."  Dante, DMC4
==========================

(Shawn Mcpherson "Shootie HG" , Hostile Groove)
Nero has a main game theme that is broken into two
parts, the hard rock part and the slowed down part.
Dante has his own original battle theme from the
first DMC, remixed.  
Kyrie sings her songstress tunes in one track.

Song Lyrics:
-----------------------------------------
Shall Never Surrender  -  (Shawn Mcpherson,
"Shootie HG" and Hostile Groove)

The time has come and so have I
I'll laugh last cause you came to die
The damage done-the pain subsides 
And I can see the fear clear when I look in your eye.

I never kneel and I'll never rest
You can tear the heart from my chest
I'll make you see what I do best, 
I'll succeed as you breathe your very last breath.

Now I know how the angel fell (just kneel)
I know the tale and I know it too well (just bow)
I'll make you wish you had a soul to sell (soul to sell)
When I strike you down and send you straight to hell

My army comes from deep within
Beneath my soul--beneath my skin
As you're ending, I'm about to begin
My strength-his bane-and I will never give in.*

Note:*some think this line is "My strength is pain"
I am not sure yet. Both make sense.

I'll tell you now I'm the one to survive
You never break my faith or my stride
I'll have you choke on your own demise
I make the angel scream, and the devil cry
v
My honored brethren 
My honored brethren

We come together
We come together
 
To unite as one 
To unite as one

Against those that are damned 
Against those that are damned 

We show no mercy 
We show no mercy 

For we have none 
For we have none 

Our enemy shall fall 
Our enemy shall fall 

As we apprise 
As we apprise 

To claim our fate 
To claim our fate 

Now and forever 
Now and forever 

We'll be together 
We'll be together

In love and in hate
In love and in hate 
v
They will see. We'll fight until eternity 
Come with me We'll stand and fight together 
Through our strength we'll make a better day 
Tomorrow we shall never surrender. (X4)

[Whisper] We shall never surrender (X2)

-----------------------------------------

Lock and Load  (Blackened Angel remix by Shawn
Mcpherson "Shootie HG" and Hostile Groove) -

Bring the fables from thy tomb
Sporadic doom as knights loom
Does clergy support this passion?
Pure wrath of the winged assassin 

A time of fate, your spite sooths
Untold the stories of thy muse 

Hour is late as kingdoms unfold 
Signs in disarray, you fight in loath 

(More), when you're
(In the groove), in core
(With the muse), is your 
(Light the fold), with torch 

Cues of silence spark the mastery
Knights revolt to demonic treachery

Can this seal be broken?
Has our fate awoken?
Who's this antichrist?
Judgement waits on the test of 

Welcome to the thoughts of a coward's disband
Cuz now you're in the shadow of an angel's wingspan

Choose your cradle of filth
Discipline that I've instilled
Turn and face your sacrifice
As I revolve this lead of might

Immune to your parasite, except the hourglass that
grains the time
Try to find the antidote, counting down towards the
undertow

In my world where only time is feared,
single handedly I draw your first tear
Sway strong to the truthful frequency,
spirits swim in the wares of history

-----------------------------------------

Out of Darkness (Aubrey Ashborn as Kyrie)

Listen to my voice calling you
Calling you out of darkness
Hear the devils cry of sin
Always turn your back on him

With the wind you go and still
I dream of your spirit leading you back home
I will give my gifts to you
While you're gone and watching on

The light in your eyes
An angel of dark
Lighting to ease the shadows' sight
Hearts will grow, the heavens will play
Leaving behind the things in the end

Listen to my voice calling you
Calling you out of darkness
Hear the devils cry of sin
Always turn your back on him
On him
On him

-----------------------------------------
Taken from the front of the DMC 4 manual:

Welcome To Fortuna

On the coast of a distant land lies the castle town of
Fortuna.

It is here that the group known as the Order of the
Sword practices a religion
so mysterious, no outsider knows what happens
behind closed doors.

In times past, the Order of the Sword fought to
protect manking.  They
revere the demon warrior Sparda as their god,
and their hatred of all other
demons runs deep.  Their sole purpose is the
extermination of these demons.

On the day of the annual Festival of the Sword,
a powerful man appeared
seemingly from nowhere.  Before anyone could act,
this man assassinated the head of the Order!

A young knight of the Order, whose only purpose
previously was the
extermination of all demons, was immediately
ordered to pursue the mysterious assassin...

-------------------------------

A number of demons appeared suddenly from
deep within the Mitis Forest
and attacked the city, destroying a number of
houses and inflicting slight injuries to citizens.

As luck would have it, Nero, a knight of the Order of
the Sword, was present
at the scene.  All demons were exterminated.
During this incident, a private
female citizen who was a traveling companion of
Nero's, was injured.  Nero
himself received a minor injury to his right shoulder.

The ministry of technology has determined that
Nero's sword, the Red
Queen, took some damage and is currently being
repaired.

A detailed investigation of the area was performed,
but no conclusions have
been made concerning the reason behind the
demon attack.  There will be
another investigation at a later date.

-----------------------------------------
Taken from the back of the DMC 4 manual:

A shadow knight rose up,
holding an enchanted sword named after me.
That blade will challenge the devil's reign.

Destroying the minions of darkness
that stand in his path,
the knight finally faced the strongest demon.
But his strength was no match
for the devil's dark wrath.
He was defeated and fell into oblivion.

The people offered up their prayers,
believing in the day when the darkness would pass,
and sang songs of remembrance to the fallen knight.

These prayers became our strength, our miracle,
and by this miracle the shadow knight ws reborn,
and once again fought the devil's power.

As the shadow knight said,
the darkness has cleared.

-----------------------------------------

After a kick ass opening scene before you hit the
title screen that displays stylish action sequences
and
a little bit of plot (featuring the theme song of Nero
and battle in it's entirety), we begin.

Keep in mind, you simply must see this yourself,
firsthand, and this summary of events is just so I can
list things needed for a later discussion and theory
section.  This is by no means the whole of the
dialouge, nor is it the entirety of the plot even.

Also remember, you can view semi-different parts of
the cutscene by using the RT and RS, to zoom and
move the direction of the camera a tiny bit!
-----------------------------------------

Dante is a thirllseeker, demon slayer, half human,
half demon, hero of the people.  His skills with a
blade,
firearms, taunts, and overall finesse are second to
none.  He has a very twisted and powerful family
tree 
in his past, and buckets of blood and steel in his
future.  He runs a small business out of an office
called 
the Devil May Cry (which is more like a hangout
joint), and if you call him with a demon problem and
the 
password, he'll hunt them down to their last breath.
He often doesn't even accept much payment.

So then, why is he here to kill off the Order of the
Sword?!
-----------------------------------------
Prolouge

We witness a beautiful Songstress of the holy order,
opening the ceremony of the Festival of the Sword.
Our hero, Nero, is running late and wants to be there
to hear her voice and show his support.  He is
enjoying his newfound skill and power by
acrobatically disposing of a few lesser demons.
I don't know if
this is a common occurance since the day the
portal opened (see manual story at start), or not,
but he
handles it with a calm demeanor and a cool
arrogance.  He arrives just in time as Kyrie, the
songstress,
scans the audience for him.  She is pleased he has
arrived, as he cooly sits in a pew among all of his
hooded brothers of the Order.  He becomes clearly 
bored by the preachings of Sanctus (his holiness).
-----------------------------------------
Mission 01

Dante comes busting into the opera house/cathedral
during a special ceremony, and kills off several
members of the Order of the Sword!  That includes
Sanctus, their leader (His Holiness).

Nero witnesses this act, and even though his arm is
"hurt" and in a sling, he attacks Dante.
You can tell
Dante is merely holding back, and Nero cannot
really hurt him.  They battle all over the opera house
and
destroy much of it.  Dante points out the fact that
Nero and he are alike (half demon?), and then shows
him the body of one of the knights of the Order,
which is now a mummified demon corpse.  Then he
leaves, saying he has important things to do.

It is revealed that Nero has a demon arm of great
power, which somehow possessed him in the story
mentioned above from the game manual.  Nero has
kept it a secret from his Order of the Sword fellows,
and his love Kyrie.
-----------------------------------------
Mission 02

Nero get's his full sword, the Red Queen together
thanks to his stepsister/love, Kyrie.  She warns him
to
be careful and it's obvious how much Nero cares
about her.  His step brother, Credo, leader of the
knights,
orders him to follow the mysterious assassin, and to
report back to headquarters when done.

Nero stylishly, almost arrogantly, kills off many
demons that have suddenly overrun Fortuna.  After
he 
passes through some residental districts, he ends
up near the Mines.  In this small shanty town area
where the miners lived and worked, he notes a
giagantic, black monolith.  He recognizes it as the
hell
portal he saw in the story covered in the manual.

Conqueror of the Fire Hell realm, Berial, appears in a
great display of fire and power.  He ignores Nero until
he is taunted by him, noting that humans like him
didn't exsist 2000 years ago when he first came to
this world.  They battle and Nero uses his Arm to
harm Berial.

Worried and vexed by this outcome, Berial declares
a retreat back to the Fire Hell and slams into the
monolith.

Nero presses on into the mines to chase after the
assassin, Dante...

-----------------------------------------
Mission 03

Killing a few lesser demons in the mines, Nero use
 his arm to grapple with far off objects and fly across
to new places within.  When he emerges near
Fortuna Castle, something is amiss.  Everything is
unseasonably cold, frozen, and the snow is coming
down on him hard.  He then meets some elite
demons
known as the Frosts, and kills them with the help
of his Arm and cool swordsman's grace.  When he
nears the front Gate, he sees a volumptuous beauty
battling and expertly killing off a horde of lesser
Scarecrow demons.  She almost takes a hit from
one, that he kills for her using his Blue Rose revolver.

She thanks him and introduces herself as Gloria, a
new member of the Order.  She recognizes Nero's
brash attitude and compliments his skill, telling him
he's very notorious even among his fellows.  He
brushes it off cooly and tells her he's moving on after
Dante.  Gloria accepts this and says she is heading
into the town to hunt more demons for the Order.
Her air and strength is not something normal in the
Order, and Nero feels a little (ironically) unsettled by
her.

Nero is blocked by many statues and odd objects
set up as security devices of a sort; and he as well,
has
to traverse a few trap filled rooms and kill demons. 
Something is very wrong here at the castle.

When he reaches the library, he can see someone
has rifled through many of the old tomes and texts.
He didn't figure Dante for much of a reader, and
starts to wonder if he brought the demons after all
even.
At this, a majestic White Knight in full battle armor
with lance at ready appears in the room with Nero.
He tells him "that's a good way to get shot" for
sneaking up on him and turns his back, asking if the
knight is here for Dante as well, or just out hunting
random demons.  The knight says nothing, lowers
his lance, and prepares to charge Nero.

Nero deftly blocks the attack, closing a book on the
tip of the lance before it can pierce him, and snidely
takes the challenge of this silent knight.  The room is
filled with knight armor demons and he kills them
all.  They crumble to useless pieces one by one, and
he wonders how they were active with nothing in
them.  He activates a hidden chamber in the library
and discovers the enigmatic Anima Mercury,
an item
that will allow him to activate large, statue like
weapons called Gyro Blades.  Now he can clear the
path to where he thinks Dante may be going.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 04

Nero enters the Castle Courtyard after encountering
more demons and using the Gyro Blades to get
through various obstacles in his path.  It is set up
like an arena.

As he enters, he notices two beautiful,
almost translucent alien looking women,
that seem to be enticed
by his presense and very much, ahem, enamored
by each other as well.  Rather than lose sight of his
goals, Nero compliments on how they must be the
demons causing this blizzard around the castle and
it's grounds.

He attacks them and easily wounds one of them.
At this, Bael, a gigantic, slimy, ice covered toad
demon
leaps from the darkness, and challenges Nero after
he insults him.  Nero brashly accepts and proceeds
to
absolutely destroy the demon.  This includes
weakening him and his feeler demons, grabbing his
giant
tongue, zipping into the mouth of the creature with
his Arm, and stabbing his way up and out of it's skull.

Upon the nearly fatal blow, Bael spouts out how he's
not alone and his brothers will come to avenge him.
Nero tears one of the feelers off of the demon, and
now his Arm can sense hidden objects and other
such
things.  He deals the killing strike, and then wonders
to himself where the brothers are.

He looks up, scared and suprised for the first time,
as he sees several gigantic, enraged toad demons
coming for him from one of the monolith hell portals.
He quickly rushes to a switch like object nearby and
slams down on it hard, sealing the demons inside
their dimension temporarily.

A new door is open, and Nero rushes through after
Dante.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 05

In the soldier's graveyard area beyond the courtyard,
Nero meets a new and decidely maliscious demon,
the Mephisto.  He battles them using his arm to
show their weakened, true forms, and continues
onward.
He finally comes across a special item that will
invoke jumping powers into certain devices located
around
Fortuna, built by the Order.  He returns to the Grand
Hall of the castle and uses a jump pad to reach the
giant chandiler.  He notes it's weak point and slashes
it, sending it flying into a portrait of Sanctus.

With a new hole open, Nero enters a place he's
never seen before, deep beneath the castle itself.

In the bedchamber of the fallen Sanctus, Credo
mourns the loss.  But suddenly, their great leader's
eyes
flash open a deep, blood red, veins bulge out in his
face and neck, and he reawakens.  Credo greets
him, and explains that Nero is chasing Dante.
Sanctus mentions an ascension ceremony he just
participated in, as a new character enters the
ascension chamber.  Agnus, clipboard in hand,
observes
the ressurection of His Holiness Sanctus.
He overheard that Nero is snooping around the castle.

Agnus berates Credo and asks him "what will
happen with that boy snooping?  What if he finds my
lab!"
Credo explains, coldly, that the objective is to find
Dante, and nothing else matters, which obviously
hurts Agnus' feelings and angers him.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 06

Sure enough, Nero has travelled down, down, down
into the lab area of the castle grounds.  Here he first
encounters demons that move like fish and can
"swim" through even the hardest metals, known as
the Cutlass.  He kills them to open the path, and
continues forward.  At this point he enters a room
set
up like an old game board.  There are spaces to
cover from entry to exit and it's fairly big.  He notes
that
now a game piece, a life sized white marble statue
of himself, has appeared at the start of the "board".
A huge, spikey dice lands and Nero has to time his
slashes correctly as he "rolls the die" in his favor.
If he messes up at all, demons flood the room to
attack, if he ends on a strange space he gains tons
of orbs of varying types, and if he lands on
teleportation spaces he moves more forward than
normal.

After besting the game and heading into the next
few areas, he encounters Agnus.  He has a bad
stutter,
and while a genius in his field, is quote obviously
insane and evil.  Nero is confused by his part in the
Order
because of the fact that the man obviously knows
alot about demons and seems to respect them.

Nero meets flying, sword demons, artificially created
by the alchemist Agnus, known as the Gladius.
His arm begins to glow while he notes a broken
katana blade in a containment chamber.  Agnus
realizes
Nero would come, so after they speak a little and
we learn Agnus is a secret part of the Order,  he
fills the room with the flying demons.  

Agnus blames Credo for all of this.  He also drops
Dante's name, and tells Nero he will study him when
he
is dead.  Nero kills all the demons in the room,
using his arm to fling them in their giant sword state
at
the observation glass where Agnus stands, taunting
you and writing things down.  After Nero shatters the
glass, he leaps up and tells Agnus it's time for
answers, and
Agnus is absolutely fascinated by Nero's
devil arm.  He tells him everything he can, for the
sake of knowledge and research.  He explains that
the 
sword was found near that first hell portal (mentioned
in the instruction manual), how nothing can
assemble
it's powerful form, and how it's a legendary blade.
He also spills that he knows how to summon
demons,
as he decides to take out Nero using the Bianco
Angelos he's assembled using his summoning and
alchemic powers.  They lances tear through Nero's
body and pin him to the wall, and he is weakened to
a near death state.  Nero thinks of Kyrie and how he
must protect her during all this, and his eyes open
glowing with power, as does his Arm.  Agnus turns in
shock, as the Yamato blade is assembled thanks
to Nero's powerful presence.  The blade flies through
the air and joins with Nero.

Nero comes staggering forth from the room, in an
almost trance like state, a blue, transpent, giant
glowing
demon behind him, coming from him and his arm.
The essence of the Yamato is one with Nero now.
He slashes the blade at Agnus deftly and destroys a
large portion of ceiling.  Agnus, taking such damage,
shows his true self, a moth-like demon.
He comments on the impossible power and
assembly of the 
blade, and flies away to regain power and do more
research his private quarters back at HQ.

Nero escapes the Lab area and heads back up into
the castle.  It's time to go after Dante, and Agnus,
who are both heading towards headquarters it
seems.  Taking a hidden, waterfall obscured
passage he
never knew of before, Nero ends up in a gigantic,
jungle like forest region he never knew about.
He runs
into Dante briefly here, who smirks at him and
comments on the effects of the hell gate creating
the
forest.  He tells Nero "this is gonna have to wait kid"
and leaps off a cliff into the deep of the forest.

Nero wonders at what Dante knows about the Order,
and heads off into the thick of the trees.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 07

In the Meeting Room of the HQ, we see Credo and
Sanctus talking about Nero's progress, and then
Agnus comes in and angrily stutters out how Nero
has full demonic power and the Yamato.  He blames
Credo.  Sanctus interrupts graciously and asks
Credo to apprehend his step brother.  Credo wonders
at
Dante's capture, and Gloria claims she can capture
and take down Dante.  She steps off camera as
Credo questions her loyalty.  Sanctus reveals that
she brought them the legendary Sparda sword.
Gloria listens in and Credo talks about how she's a
stranger.  Sanctus reassures Credo that Gloria will
be
fine and can be dealt with if she causes problems,
and then sends him off to fetch Nero.

Agnus whispers into Santus' ear, about how Nero
loves Kyrie.  He obviously doesn't care how Credo
feels
on the matter.  Sanctus smiles with this new found
knowledge.

Meanwhile, Nero traverses many areas of this
demonic forest, killing off parasitic demons and
lesser foes.
He gets to a bridge and encounters a serpentine
dragon.  It destroys the bridge as it follows Nero,
trying
to dine on him and his power.  Nero bests it by
escaping and moves on through more of the traps
and battles of this strange Forest.

Finally Nero emerges into a clearing with a giant,
green filled portal monolith.  He remarks on yet
another
one, and then the "dragon" returns, which is actually
the demoness Echidna!  He runs all up her body as
she whizzes about the forest at blinding speeds, but
just before he can strike her head, she spits seeds
forth that knock him out of the air and onto the
clearing ground again.  She reveals her true form to
him,
he kills her offspring and she madly dashes at him
in a rage.  Using cunning, skill with his blade and
gun,
and his Arm, along with his new form with the
Yamato, Nero wins the battle hands down.

Shaken, Echidna flees, knowing that if she dies,
so shall her progeny of offspring and her beloved
forest of
death.  Nero recieves a special item from her womb
after the battle, which allows him to destroy the giant,
demonic tree brances that block his progress to the
headquarters.  He can finally pursue Dante.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 08

After killing some new found elite demons, the
Assualts, and their parasite infected forms,
Nero braves the
forest and reaches the Order Headquarters.  Who
does he find, just out front, but the loyal Credo.  He
remarks "that's a look you shoot your enemy", to no
response from the gruff Credo.  Nero then demands
answers for why the Order seems to be involved with
demon-kind, and just who Dante is.  This insolence
provokes a rapid sword attack from Credo, and Nero
blocks is using his Arm.  Credo didn't know about it,
and can't believe Nero is a "demon".  Nero
comments on not wanting to hurt him, Credo laughs
and 
becomes his true demon form, an angelic general
with a large shield.  He explains that they are the
future,
and that he is the leader of the True holy knights.
Nero doesn't want a fight, but it can't be avoided, so
they struggle about the high set circular area in front
of the HQ for quite a while.  Repelling his attacks, 
throwing his own weapon back at him, and getting in
powerful blows of his own while in Devil Trigger form
using the Yamato, Nero finally manages to slow
Credo down.  Winded and beaten, Credo gives up his
shield to Nero's Arm and reverts to human form. 
Nero tells him that HE is the demon.

Now, poor Kyrie has come up to see what's
happening, only to find Nero with his Demonic Arm
and her
brother Credo on the ground nearby.  She shrieks
and Nero is hurt to the core.  He tries to explain and
she
wonders what is wrong with him.  Agnus appears in
human form and tells Kyrie Nero is a demon.
He even
hides behind her when Nero charges him!  Nero
pleads with Agnus "let her go!", and Credo is
angered
greatly as well, claiming this is his fight and not to
use his sister.  Agnus explains that Sanctus
ordered
Kyrie be "utilized" to bring in Nero if need be.
Agnus turns into a moth demon and flies up to the
top of the HQ with Kyrie.

Credo is hurt and explains to Nero where Kyrie
probably is.  He then turns back into his angelic
demon
form and wounded, flies off after Agnus, leaving
Nero to traverse the area on foot.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 09

Hurt, confused, and angry as hell, Nero takes off
into the HQ area.  Before he reaches the front gate,
however, a pair of assualts storm up behind him,
leap past him, and attack some white knights at the
front gate.  The Angelos are lead into the battle by
their superior, the Alto.  Alto annilihates the demons,
and sends the Biancos after Nero.

After a massive fight on the bridge leading into the
castle, Nero manages to kill off all the possesed
knight
armors and enter.  He tries to cross a drawbridge
but notes that it's held up by one of Echidna's
powerful
trees and he can't reach the root with his Arm yet.
Heading back the way he came, the entire castle
becomes a security trap, with fast, deadly lasers
streaming all around the various rooms.  Nero takes
a detour up into another part of the HQ castle, and
battles many knights and demons that have taken
over.

He finally gets trapped by a series of laser devices,
but discovers a special item called the Cronus Key.
Using it in tendem with certain special devices found
only in this castle, he can slow time and get through
the various patterned laser traps.  He also slows a
giant fan blade mechanism so that he can literally
jump up into the fan and use it's blades to continue
forward to Agnus' room.

When he revists the scientist and demon, he finds
Kyrie suspended, unconscious, in a tube of red fluid.
Agnus welcomes him and tells him he won't go easy
on him this time around.  Nero tells him he will kill
him to save Kyrie if he has to.  The battle about the
lab/bedroom chamber begins.

After using his own creations against him in battle,
and going into devil trigger to slam him around the
room, Nero nearly kills off Agnus.  Agnus tried hard
to suck the health from his body, and could summon
demons from his man made hell, but in the end it
wasn't enough to stop the enraged Nero and his new
powers.

Before Nero can kill Agnus however, the room fills
with Angelo troops.  They distract Nero and Sanctus
appears in full Angelo armor.  He instructs Agnus to
go and prepare.  After a spectacular fight sequence,
Nero loses his blade and leaps up after Kyrie and
Sanctus.  He barely reaches her necklace and grabs
it
(that he gave her), and is then pinned to the floor.
Sanctus comments on Nero having Sparta's power
in him now.  Nero kills all the knights in the room in
a rage as Kyrie is taken from him.  He looks at the
necklace longingly and falls to his knees a broken
man.  He slams the marble floor with his demon arm,
and destroys it.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 10

After having recovered from his emotional breakdown,
Nero notices that the hole he made in the floor
reacts to the fruit taken from Echidna.  He can
finally remove the massive branch holding the
drawbridge
up and move into the new parts of the headquarters.

After traversing more traps and demon challenges,
Nero ends up caged, facing off against many demons
in a small space as the elevator travels slowly up.
This is the Gauntlet.  After finishing off his opposition,
including the Faust demon, he discovers he's near
his goal of finding Dante, though now it hardly seems
worth anything compared to finding Kyrie.

Dante provokes Nero playfully, and Nero attacks him.
Dante continues to play with him while he tells him
he wants the Yamato, that it belonged to his brother
Vergil.  Nero goes into Devil Trigger mode as Dante
laughs it off and says "return it to me and I'll let you
go kid".  Nero attacks with all he's got and Dante
tests his strength once more.  After battling about
the large room Nero finally manages to get Dante out
of
breath.  Dante laughs and asks him if he's calmed
down yet, and tells him he can borrow the blade to
accomplish his goals then.  He explains how
powerful the sword is and how it can open and seal
demon
dimensions and how it has to "stay in the family".
He tells Nero to get goin to save Kyrie.

Nero compliments Dante in a very roundabout way,
they trade names, and he heads off.

Then, the powerful Gloria steps into the frame and
Dante is left alone with her.  They face off like a
massive
fight is about to take place, and then Dante busts
out laughing.  He says "that regal look suits you!".
In
a flash of movement, we discover that Gloria is Trish.
She has infiltrated the Order to give Dante the
inside scoop on things.  She wonders at Nero's skill
and asks Dante what happens if things go wrong.

He tells her that he'll just clean up the mess if he has
to later.  I think he believes in the "kid".

-----------------------------------------

Mission 11

Nero solves some more puzzles of the HQ and
faces more demons and knights.  He makes his
way up
the tower, higher and higher.  He finds a gigantic
statue of a man with halo like horns.  Sanctus is up
on
top of it and he taunts Nero with Kyrie, now inside
the statue's head, symbolizing it's "mind".  Nero 
prepares to fight but seems distracted.  Kyrie smiles
down at Nero, realizing now that he is not evil or a
demon.

Sanctus explains that Nero can join Kyrie, by
becoming the statue's core, it's "heart".  He tells
Nero the
statue is the Savior.  Nero smiles at Kyrie and tells
her to trust him, she smiles back and is absorbed
into
the beast.  Sanctus charges up his demon powers
and prepares to fight.

They battle, Nero knocks out Sacntus' "holy" shields
and goes into DT mode, with some of his best and
funniest dialouge.  He beats the posessed old man
to within an inch of his life and sends him flying with
the Arm's power.

However, Sanctus just flies away and into the body
of the Savior statue demon.  Things get hairy for
Nero at that point.  Just before he can finish off
Sanctus completely, he exposes Kyrie and Nero
stays his sword hand.  The statue grabs him and
binds him tightly, and Sanctus mocks him.
He explains
that he wanted Dante to be the "heart" of the Savior,
but he'll settle for Nero's power instead.  He steals
the Yamato from Nero and absorbs it's might.

Before he can absorb Nero fully, Credo appears like
a flash and slashes Sanctus.  He turns to tell Nero
to
run away, and in that moment Sanctus is healed
fully and runs him through with his Yamato.  He
asks
Credo why he betrayed the Order.  Credo explains
that he served the old vision of the Order, not the
new
demons, and that when they stole his sister away,
he couldn't just stand by doing nothing.

Credo plummets off the statue head in human form,
drained to near death, and Dante catches him.
Trish
waves at Sanctus smugly and he recognizes her as
Gloria, brushing it off.  He talks about killing Nero,
and Dante says "I'd wager the kid still has life in him!"
just as Nero uses the Demon Arm to try and kill
Sanctus.  But he teleports away and stabs Nero
through his arm, seemingly killing him.
Dante shouts to
Nero that he can't give up basically, to which
Nero replies "My options...are limited" as he sinks
into the
Statue to join it's heart.  Dante says he'll have to
come and get the sword himself then, and Nero
smiles
and flips him off with the devil arm, saying to
"come and get it".  Dante smirks about the
kid being such a punk.

In a deep black nothingness Nero floats and regains
consciousness.  He sees a reddish light and Kyrie
floating just ahead of him.  Are they becoming one
now inside of this giant demon statue?  She
awakens
and we can hear her song from the proluge being
sung.  The background goes bright white and Nero
tells
her he came to save her.  They try to touch hands,
floating in the light, and she begins to fade, taking
the
light with her to the "mind", and she says "Nero,
thank you".  Nero is absorbed by the darkness, as
he
cries out "I SWEAR I'LL GET US OUT OF HERE
KYRIE!".  He howls in pain and all goes black in the
"heart".  We see Nero's fading demon arm, trying to
struggle inside an actualy, physical heart, as the
statue slowly begins to come to full life and fly away,
high above Fortuna.

Dante and Trish are left nearby, with a dying Credo.
They make light of the statue's power and design,
and talk to Credo about it's incomplete state.  Credo
explains that Sanctus can manipulate the Savior
statue by using the sword of Sparta.  He will go to
annilihate all the demons, and then enslave the
human race.  Credo tells Dante that he, the son of
the dark knight Sparda, can save the world.  
Credo makes a dying request, he wants Dante and
Trish to save Nero and Kyrie.  He then turns into light
and sparks and floats away, as Dante and Trish
solemnly stand by.

Dante can't deny a dying request, so he goes off.
Trish talks about running into the city to save the
people
and Dante agrees with the idea, albeit jokingly. 
Since she is a half demon of some remarkable
battle skill, she should be just fine.  

-----------------------------------------

Mission 12

Agnus, cerimoniously carrying the Yamato,
goes to the ascension chamber and stabs it into a
sacred rock
area, to call forth the demons, both his artificial hell
and the real hell are to be opened.

We see the city from the sky, as a gigantic black
monolith opens, vomiting out shadow after shadow.
Upon closer inspection we can see that Mephistos,
Fausts, and Assualts are pouring through at an
alarming rate.  The few survivers that remained after
the initial attacks are hounded and hunted by the
evil entities Agnus just willingly released.  We see a
small family about to be killed by a Mephisto, when
it suddenly explodes with light and dies.  A white
knight is behind it, and it's obvious now that the
Order's
demons are being sent to kill the other demons,
in a display of confidence and power, to get the
humans on the side of their Order of the Sword.  

Then, the Savior statue, with Sanctus on it's head,
fires a gigantic fire beam that destroys most of the
demons in the city, and he tells the people to rejoice
for the end is not at hand.

Dante observes all this, bemusedly and sarcastically,
from a perch atop the HQ building.  He has to
escape the area and get back to where Nero is
being held prisoner.  Ironic that first Nero chased
him, and
now Dante will be chasing Nero through the areas in
reverse.

As he makes his way through lesser demons in the
HQ castle, Dante meets some giant scarecrow
demons with big blades.  He kills anything and
everything that opposes him, from the demons hereto
the knightly demons in the lobby.  A timer is
released and the building begins to fall apart and will
soon
explode.  The Savior's doing, no doubt.  After Dante
decimates absolutely everything in his path, he
exits and the HQ partially explodes.  He enters the
forest.

Dante has a flash back now, and we get to see his
office, The Devil May Cry.  Trish and he are in there,
lounging about, as we get a small glimpse at
previous weapons from the other DMC titles and see
some
other cool stuff, like a jukebox, drum set, and some
"two handgun" magazines Dante likes to read.  The
elusive and sexy devil hunter Lady, an aquantince of
Dante's since his early days, enters the office.
She tells Dante that she is working a job at Fortuna,
and that the humans there worship Sparda as their
savior and king, because he opposed the demons so
long ago.  Dante is amused by this idea and listens
on.  Lady requests Dante go to Fortuna and stop
them from capturing demons and stealing Devil 
Weaponry.  With all that power and a devil collection
at hand, Lady fears they are capable of anything.
Trish is already gone by the time Dante gets ready
to leave, she has the Sparda sword and left a note
"see you there".

-----------------------------------------

Mission 13

The forest is a mess.  It's more overgrown than ever
with plants and, more importantly demons and dark
energy.  Dante can't traverse it normally, like Nero
did, and he doesn't have the sephirothic fruit to
get through.  So he hears the taunts of a female
voice and enters various darkness portals to get
around the place.

He finally comes to the monolithic clearing where
Echidna resides.  She is flying around and ignoring
Dante, so he gets some of her seeds and kicks
them back at her body like a soccer superstar!  She
is
very upset by this and greets him with a "who the
hell are YOU?!".  Dante tells her he was tired of
being
ignored and will leave the forest now.  She proceeds
to eat him in dragon form.  He let's her clamp down
on
his body so that she's in close, then he breaks her
"jaw" open and exposes her weak point.  He then
proceeds to beat the crap out of her with ease and
style.  As she goes to escape, he pulls her back and
shoots her in the right spot, making her explode like
she was nothing.  Dante notes the monolith's power,
and gains ability from the dead Echidna.  Now he
has the Gilgamesh faceguard, gauntlets, and greaves.
He uses his martial arts skill and the new,
stronger than any material weapon, and annihilates
the monolith
so that the forest will be safer and easier to travel
than it previously was.

Smirking to himself he says "two to go", indicating
he probably can sense the other powerful demons
and monoliths.  Way to go Dante!

-----------------------------------------

Mission 14

Dante quickly kills all the demons in his path in the
forest and reaches the hidden waterfall bridge to the
Castle Fortuna.  He notices the entire castle is now
DEEPLY frozen, and he can't leave yet.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 15

As he traverses the castle, seeking out a way to the
frozen monolith and thawing the place, he encounters
a big, but brief lightning storm.  A massive, lighting
covered, rage fueled demon called the Blitz appears,
and Dante smirks and seems glad to face the
challenge.  After he decimates his demonic foes,
he finally
finds his way into the Castle Courtyard.  Easy
enough.

Dante smiles wide and cat calls the two floating,
red alien looking women as they take notice in him,
and
each other, seductively.  Dante ice skates (hah!) and
poses all around the pair, not quite letting them
touch him.  He checks them out and laughs, but
then calls out the giant toad like ice demon.

As it spews nasty green liquid it shouts "HOW DID
YOU KNOW?!", and Dante replies "you can cover up
that nasty body of yours, but you'll never be able to
cover that smell!", and the toad known as Dagon,
enraged, launches it's attack.  Since the demons
are all used to gobbling up prey after tricking them
with
their feelers, Dante easily trounces Dagon and cuts
him in half, mocking him for calling his brothers into
combat.

Dante discovers a special orb at the monolith and
absorbs it, to discover the evil Pandora briefcase.
It has 666 forms that match the user's intent, so for
Dante, of course, it's all fire power and bladed death
baby, woo!  He stylishly whips the case about and
notes it's powers, just as he sees the arena fill up
with
giant frog demons.  No wonder that ice is so
powerful!  He laughs as he uses the Pandor's many
transformations, from exploding crossbow bolts, to
bazooka, around to a bladed boomerang, a big
gatling
gun, and many other forms, then back
into a giant pod covered in missle turrents.
After blowing the demons all back to hell, he
annihilates the
monolith with ease and the case falls in front of him,
open, with shining gold light.  It begins to get too
powerful even for him to see, so rather than try to
see what's inside this demonic briefcase, he closes
the Pandora and poses like a hero.

The ground them promptly breaks away and he falls
deep, deep into the labs.  Whoops.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 16

Taking it all in stride, Dante brushes himself off and
surveys the lab area.  It's flooded with poinson gas!
He quickly retreads the path Nero cut earlier.  After
facing off against the deadly Cutlasses, he enters
the "game room" and the dice fall, just like with Nero.
Dante, however, has no time for this kid games, and
he smirks, turns, and promptly slashes the die so
hard it is slit in half and dissapears.

The alarm blares and the room floods with deadly
Gladius demons.  Using his gunslinger style and the
newly aquired Pandora, Dante has no trouble killing
everything in the lab until he reaches sweet air out
side.

It's not done yet, he heads upstairs and back into
the gassy lab, being slowly poisoned with he faces
off
against seemingly endless Knights, in the angel
creation lab.  He finally bests them all and manages
to
get up to the Grand Hall again.  No more poison!

Up top he heads for the city, and the Savior statue
demon, and from there, Nero.  But as he leaves and
enters the still snowy area, he is attacked by a few
of Agnus' dear dogs, the Basilisks.  Staying quick
on
his feet using the Trickster style, Dante manages to
kill off all the dogs in style as they fire their own
skulls (!!!!) at him from afar, and try to maul him up
close as a pack.

Berial is observing Sanctus inside the Savior, and
scoffing at a human's supposed power.  Dante is
lounging, sitting on Berials tail, not at all harmed by
the otherwordly fire that burned Nero so.  Berial
is shocked and flings Dante about.  Dante makes
some insulting, snide remarks and Berial looks
forward
to crushing the son of Sparda.  Sadly, it is not to
be, and Dante completely kicks the crap out of the
Fire Hell lord.  Attempting to fly back in a meteor
like body and kill Dante as a last ditch effort, Dante
simply fires his Ebony and Ivory pistols just so, and
Berial goes out with a whimper and not a bang, in a
small shower of sparks.  Dante seems dissapointed,
but perks up when he notices he can gain another
weapon from the monolith.  He absorbs the firey
(laser-y?) power of the quirky Lucifer, and makes
many
sexual innuendo remarks as he creates a heart of
flaming blades on the monolith.  He flicks the rose
from
between his teeth to a catchy Spanish tune and it
prompts all the blades he just created to explode,
getting rid of the monolith for good in a comical
fashion.  He then notices the Savior staring down at
him,
and he holds up his hand to it;  "Doesn't look so big
from here.", Dante says, as he regains a more
serious demeanor and heads into the city of Fortuna
from the mines area.

-----------------------------------------
Mission 17

Determined to reclaim the Yamato, Dante kills any
demons or knights he finds in the city limits and
works
his way into the heart of the opera house district.
After blasting through all his foes and switching up
weapons and combos with style, he finally reaches
the place where he first shot Sanctus and met
Nero, the place where the statue of Sparda
overlooks the opera house stage.

After one of the funniest and coolest scenes in the
game, where Agnus and Dante both ham it up and
overact in the theater, Agnus explains that Dante
shall never have the Yamato, as it is needed to open
the portals and keep demons streaming through, so
that they can look like heros in the Order, by killing
them all with the Savior.  People will submit to their
Savior, no matter the cost.  Dante scoffs at this
robotic, one sided thinking ,and Agnus transforms
into his demon form.

After a very one sided battle with Dante pulling no
punches, Agnus is hit SO hard that he reverts to his
weak, stuttering, human form.  He just can't
understand how since they are both half demon,
Dante is
so far ahead of him.  Dante explains (as Agnus
comically takes notes on his clipboard pad) that the 
hearts of humanity are more powerful than a demon's
brute strength.  He then promptly blasts the
clipboard from Agnus' hands and leaves him
trembling, standing near the pews of the House.
He tells him
if he wants to do better in the afterlife, he should pay
more attention, and blasts right through the original
bullethole of the paper, and into Agnus' eye, killing
him instantly.  The shot paper lands across his face,
and Dante takes his bow as the "crowd" goes silent.
It's time to reclaim the Yamato sword.

Dante gets it from the chamber and the portals to
hell close up.  But the monolith in Fortuna remains.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 18

The Yamato can open portals or close them.
Dante whips out the blade and slashes the air from
many
miles away, cutting off tree tops as the slices reach
home and destroy the monolith with neat, fine cuts.

The Savior statue is looking at Dante and Trish in
the town square where this all started, and Trish asks
Dante if he got the sword.  He says "one more to go",
and then asks Trish to make sure all the citizens
are as far away as possible.  

Dante leaps up and Sanctus has his Angelo armors
address Dante.  There are platforms floating above
the
city in the Savior's gravitational pull.  Sanctus tries to
bribe Dante but he says he'd rather die, and leaps
forward to attack all the armors.  Using the Yamato
in JUST it's shealth, and jumping around
spectacularly,
he kills many of the armors.  The Sanctus Armor
goes to kill Dante when his back is turned and
Dante
easily avoids him, appears behind him, and kills
him.  The armor falls empty to the ground below.

Dante squares off and looks at the statue demon
ahead, and begins to climb up the high platforms to
finish the fight.  Dante hops around all the high up
platforms as the Savior tries to destroy them and
flatten him with giant hands.  He quickly destroys
the blue crystals all over the Savior's giant body,
slowing
it down greatly.  It begins to fire it's giant lasers at
him.  

Once again in a great visual scene, Dante flips
about the aerial platforms while Sanctus taunts him
out of
fear and spite.  He throws the Yamato and it lands
just do in the Savior's stone chest.  He then flips
about,
and fires a row of bullets neatly right into each other
(!!!!!), as they all slam into Yamato and send it, you
guessed it right folks, right into it's heart!  Dante yells
out to Nero "hey kid, it's time to wake up!" as the
Yamato brings Nero forth from the heart and cuts him
out.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 19  

As Dante flips around the outside of the Savior,
keeping it distracted, busy, and weak, Nero tells him
he's
working on taking him down from inside.
He goes to a gigantic gameboard-like place like in
the labs, and
has to roll the dice on a bigger platform this time.
As he tries to count the spaces and roll correctly,
he battles numerous enemies for his mistakes,
gains orbs, teleports his piece at times, and is
forced into
mandatory portal battles, all within the Savior.
He works his way up higher and higher while Dante
continues the fight outside.  He spectacularly avoids
being crushed as Nero emerges from the game area.

Dante shouts "Hey kid, you should see what I'm
going through" while Nero gets shaken around inside.
"Guess we're in the same boat...", says Nero as he
heads for the mind of the beast, and Kyrie.  He's on
a one way collison course with Sanctus and the
Sparda sword.

-----------------------------------------

Mission 20

Nero tells Sanctus it's all over and he's cornered,
but he reveals his true power and takes on a slightly
more demonic visage.  They speak of love and power,
Sanctus mocking Credo and Nero for caring so
much about Kyrie because of love.  He also talks
about wishing Dante had joined with the Savior and
says he will do that.  Dante seems to be getting a
little tired out there.  Kyrie floats in a membrane.
Sanctus calls Nero a traitor and weak.  Kyrie smiles
at Nero and he draws his weapon to face off against
Sanctus.  With Dante and Kyrie cheering him on,
Nero and Sanctus clash blades.  The Sparda sword
is definately more powerful than the Yamato. 
The battle begins.

Nero does his best to fight Sanctus and hurts him a
good bit.  Sanctus then resorts to dashing about the
room with the Sparda sword out, an attack Nero
cannot overcome without using the Buster and
flinging
the Sparda right back into Sanctus.  Dying from a
fatal blow from the Yamato, Sanctus wishes for
Sparda's power.

Nero explains that Sanctus lacks a human heart,
something Sparda seemed to actually have.
Sanctus
goes to kill Kyrie while he still can, but Nero tosses
the Yamato into the air, distracting him.  He then
uses the Devil Bringer arm to slam Sanctus into the
wall, grabs the Yamato from across the room quickly,
and slashes Sanctus repeatedly with the dimensional
slashes it posesses.  Sanctus howls in agony and
bursts into light, dying finally.

Nero apoligizes to Kyrie for taking so long and cuts
her down, holding her gently in his arms.  She
smiles
up at him.  After delivering her from evil, we see
Dante outside fending off a final, massive blow from
the
Savior demon statue.  It stops after nearly grinding
him into the ground, and Dante laughs it off and
realizes
it's over.  Nero and Kyrie come bursting from the
crystal on it's head, and Nero has the Sparda sword
to give to Dante.

Dante smiles and seems a little impressed by Nero.
Nero and Dante both laugh and kind of poke at each
other.  The Savior, ruined and posessed by the
essense of Sanctus, raises up and screams in anger.
Nero hands the Sparda to Dante and tells him to
hang back, he wants to end this where it all began.
He asks Kyrie to wait for him and she smiles and
nods.

Nero tells God he hated having his Arm like this,
but now he understands what it's for.  "Who'd have
thought?", he says to himself, and the massive
statue, now on it's knees, raises up and looks down
upon him with malice.  Nero smirks.

They have a small conflict where Nero uses the
Buster to fend off the massive fists of the statue,
and looks
at his arm.  "Now I know" he says, and the arm gets
bigger than it ever was, grabbing the head of the 
massive demon.  "This arm is for sending guys like
you back to hell!", and then he squeezes his fist,
shattering Sanctus/Savior's head completely, finally
killing him.

Kyrie looks on lovingly at Nero, and he comes back
to her in the square.

-----------------------------------------

Epilouge 1
La Vita Nuova  -  

Note:  By the way, this means A New Life.
Coencidentally (or not!) a man named Dante
wrote a book called La Vita Nuova in 1293.
It was about love.

Nero talks to Dante about thanking him, and they
joke about both their attitudes.  They both
appreciate
one another.  Dante leaves and Nero stops him,
wondering if he wants the Yamato back.  Dante tells
him
to keep it, and Nero is shocked.  He thought the
blade meant alot to Dante.  Dante says that's the
only
gift worth giving, and what Nero does from here is
his call.  Nero asks Dante if they will ever meet again
and as he walks off, Dante gives a cool and
collected wave of goodbye over his shoulder.

Nero absorbs the Yamato into his Arm and Kyrie
asks him if it's all really over.  They talk about the
city
having to be rebuilt.  Nero talks about what Kyrie
wants out of their relationship, and is afraid he's not
human.  Kyrie reassures him that she loves him for
him, and that she doesn't know anybody as human.

They lean in for a passionate kiss and Nero fires off
his gun off screen.  He just shot a scarecrow demon.



There's still a few left to slay.  Kyrie says she can
wait for her kiss and all the Scarecrows leap up to
attack Nero.  He shouts "Let's rock!", as he
prepares to clean them up.  Cue the end credits.

During the credits, Nero protects Kyrie (as you play)
from all the arm and leg scarecrow demons.  If you
are successful in keeping her from taking a single
hit, you will get a hidden ending!

Nero and Kyrie embrace and we watch the credits
roll.  The broken fountain gushes water onto the
cobblestones and we get pretty pictures from
various in game moments as they look at one
another.

They will build a beautiful future together.
The music here is awesome!

-----------------------------------------

Epilouge 2
Just Another Day At The Office  -  

Back at the Devil May Cry, Lady comes in with their
pay.  Trish and Dante are lounging and Trish asks
Lady for more money, it's pretty meager.  Lady
scoffs and says half of this is Trish's fault, bringing
the
Sparda sword and all.  Dante is reading his "two
handgun" magazine (haha), and both the ladies look
to
him to resolve the issue.  He obviously doesn't care
much about the money.

Lady goes to leave and a phone call comes in.
Trish tells Dante it's a customer with the password,
and
they're nearby.  She asks Dante what they'll do,
and he stylishly flourish about the room getting his
sword and guns.

Lady asks if she can come along, and Dante says
"do what you want want, but don't expect to get
paid.".
Lady asks Trish if she gets as excited about this as
she does.  Trish replies cooly and Dante tells the
babes to prepare.  "Let's Rock!!!' they all shout as
they pose out front of the Devil May Cry office with
their weapons in hand.  Time for another adventure!



-----------------------------------------
Discussion, speculation, and theory section - 

This is NOT official.  I am just choosing the most
logical progression Capcom has presented us with
by
viewing the entire series as a whole.  I just recently
came off of playing all the games (including all of
Virgil's mode in DMC 3SE), before I played DMC 4,
so I hope to have accurate information in my recent
memory.  I have also used videos and other random
speculation from message boards in my theories.
Again, NOT official and half the fun is guessing at
your own suppositions, so enjoy.  My word is not
law and I'm not trying to enforce it as such!

-----------------------------------------

We know from DMC 3, that Virgil met the emperor
Mundus in a hell dimension sealed by Sparda.

We know that in DMC 1, which came after 3 in the
timeline, that while battling Mundus like his father
did,
for the challenge of it, Mundus defeated and
subverted Virgil to his will, binding him in the Nelo
Angelo
Armor, which ran off the power of Virgil's essence
and amulet.

We know that in DMC 1, Dante kills Virgil fully as
Nelo Angelo and takes his amulet.  The essence
faded
away into the air of the dark castle they were in,
possibly sending him back to his own hell dimension.

We know that (thanks to the instruction manual)
there was a portal (monolith?) and Nero got his arm
somehow there, off camera to us, the players and
viewers.  We know that it's strong and demonic.
We know that Agnus created that first (and all later)
portals, seeking the power of a Sparda sword, like
the Yamato.  It was very likely there in that portal
that Nero responded to during routine Order patroling.

Nero has the white hair of the Sparda sons.  He also
has the attitude to match.

Nero has an affinity for blue, just like Virgil once did.

Nero is the only one whose power (from the
possesed arm) can assemble the Yamato, which
was Virgil's
prized blade, given to him by his father Sparda
years ago.

We do not know how old any of these characters
are, but it can be assumed that Nero is very young
and
aged normally until he got the arm.

We don't know how old Virgil or Dante truly are, or
how much time spans between games.  Half demons
likely age quite slowly.  Though one can note that
while Lady looks different, and older, she's not THAT
much older than in DMC 3.

We know that Virgil was once Nelo Angelo and
now the Order has specs on his dark armor from
Mundus,
probably analyzed from the Yamato in statis.  That
could mean Virgil's essense was floating around the
portal where the arm and the Yamato seemingly
came from.

When Nero is in DT form and using his Blue Rose
revolver, his DT form is firing out constant phantom
swords into the enemy.  This was a favorite and
powerful long range attack of Vergil.

Nero talks about a voice asking him for "more power"
when he first is possesed by the Devil Bringer Arm.
Virgil always spoke of having more power, even when
he was sort of a "good guy".

We know so far that Sanctus sensed either Sparda
or Virgil in Nero, thanks to when he kidnapped
Kyrie and talked about power inheritence.

Nero sure is eager to clash with Dante, and it might
not all be his own brash attitude.  Virgil may be
aching to "finish the fight" from when he and Dante
have clashed in the years past.
-----------------------------------------
Some people tend to think that Sparda is reborn into
Nero and I won't discount that fully.  However, just
going off of the phrase "you have inherited Sparda's
power" doesn't literally mean it's Sparda.  It more
likely means that it's Virgil.  I say this because the
Sparda sword did not come for Nero or join with him,
but the Yamato does, more than once.

Some people think Nero is the lost son of Dante, or
even more likely, of Virgil.  That would explain the
compatability of powers, and we know very little of
Virgil before the events of DMC 3, the prequal, and
in
fact know little of him over all the series.  If Capcom
chose to write in that Nero is Virgil's son, I see it
as doable and possible, but I don't know.  His white
hair seems to put him into some sort of relation to
the
Sparda blood line, though.  Also his skills, arrogance,
half demon blood (now since the arm for sure at 
least).

The fact that Dante mentions keeping the Yamato
"in the family" and then lets Nero hold onto it after
the game ends could mean something.
I don't know what exactly.

There may be more to come if I find out any more
details.


==========================
VI.  FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
"King?  Yeah...here's your CROWN!" Dante, DMC 2
==========================

Hey, check it out.  There's been tons of the same
questions on the message boards lately.
Figured I'd try to stem some of that flow.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  How many Missions are there?

A:  Twenty total, seven for Dante, the rest are
Nero's.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  How many secret missions are there?

A:  Twelve.  Two is specifically for Nero, and one is
specifically for Dante.  That means anyone can do
the other's crossover IF he goes through the same
territories.  Use my guide above to be sure you're
okay for doing that.  The specifically designed
quests require moves only one individual character
can do.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  Do Proud Souls, Orbs, Weapons, Skills, and all
that like carry over into other difficulties and past
levels?

A:  Yes, they sure do!  Feel free to play on easy
levels first to build up your character for the hard
modes.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  Do Proud Souls and Red Orbs split between
characters or what?

A:  When you aquire Dante, all of Nero's spent
souls and orbs go to Dante.  All the items purchased
or
found by Nero ALSO carry into Dante's inventory.
Yup, that includes his health and devil trigger bars.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  How many difficulties are there?

A:  In order of easy to hardest:  Human, Devil Hunter,
Son of Sparda, Heaven or Hell, Dante Must Die!, and
Hell or Hell.  The first three just relate to your health,
their health, your attack and their attack.  As you go
up, things obviously get harder for you.  In Heaven or
Hell mode, they die in one hit, but so do you.  Not
as
bad as it sounds, remember your guns?  Oh yeah!
Also, in DMD mode, it really hits the fan.  Every
enemy
is really durable, really strong, you're paper thin
weak in every way possible, and to top it all off, the
foes
also get a devil trigger mode where they are
unstoppable and twice as strong.  In Hell or Hell
mode, you
die in one hit, but the enemies equal out to
something like Son of Sparda mode.  You get three
yellow orbs
EACH level, for free, to survive on, so you technically
gain three hits.  Good luck.  I will eventually expand
the guide to cover many of these difficulties, but this
will take time, since the game just came out and I
have to survive and then master the modes!
-----------------------------------------
Q:  Are there different costumes?

A:  Yes.  Nero and Dante both get Super modes.
I haven't earned them myself yet, but I assume you
gain unlimited devil trigger and more speed in these
modes.  I will update this when I find out more
myself.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  Did you know using the Buster move with Nero
on various lesser demons AND bosses busts out
super attacks?!

A:  Yes, yes I did, but thank you for bringing that up,
as some don't know this.  In fact, most bosses
actually allow for MANY different Buster hits, not
just one.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  Well, hey!  Did you know that once you gain
Devil Trigger mode for Nero, you can do even more
powerful Buster attacks on lesser demons and
bosses?  Huh?!

A:  Yes, once again, I did, and I also swear by it on
the hard modes (or I will when I get there).  These
moves can really knock an enemy to his death (and
into many others) and on bosses, they eat the
health away like acid on paper!
-----------------------------------------
Q:  The guns suck, so does the Lucifer weapon.

A:  I disagree, but it's up to you how you play your
game.  However, know that guns have various levels
of
charge, with Dante's gunslinger you gain many,
many more skills (GREAT for Pandora), and with a
little
practice, the Lucifer is very powerful.  Give it a try,
and flesh out your skills and gaming experience!  
Because again, it's YOUR game, that you paid for.
Also note, the guns are great for extending combos
while not absolutely killing your foes right off.  And,
that wasn't really a question, ya know.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  What is the disaster gauge?

A:  Dante is the one that gets this.  It deals with the
Pandora weapon only.  Using it and only it on
enemies and during combos on enemies especially,
you will notice it fill.  Switch to Gunslinger style and
get ready to rock!  After you purchase skills, you
can use even more devastation attacks.  Missle
launcher
laser, boomerange with blades, opening the case for
the gold light to kill everything.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  How does Royal Guard work?

A:  Again, this one is Dante only.  With this style
equipped, press B to block, or press B RIGHT as
an 
attack connects with you from a demon for Royal
block.  There are various forms of release, I suggest
you consult the skill section of my guide or in game
for details.  But by default, pressing up and B to
release the stored energy (you get a gauge for
Blocked damage that builds slowly), you can
decimate foes and bosses alike.  The timing is tricky.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  Can I go back into other levels and farm for orbs
and souls?  How, and which missions are good for it?

A:  As said a bit above, you sure can!  Here's a
decent example (look for more in the future!):  Start
up
Mission 03.  Go down the first right in the mine, kill
the three scarecrows with as high a style as possible.
Now turn around and go back to the fork, and take
the slight left, going through the fence.  Go into
Devil
Trigger mode (earn it in a future mission though),
and use your best combos for many, many
thousands of
orbs.  Then press start, go to the Systems
menu, and click on Retry mission.  You will cash
out 3800 orbs
or so, and a couple hundred proud souls.  After
an hour or so of this, you can afford many moves
and 
items, and make your character a bit tougher.
This is highly recommended on Devil Hunter difficulty
or above, if you have not yet leveled up.

            !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IMPORTANT
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Note:  PLEASE GO LOOK AT THE END SECTION 
OF MY WALKTHROUGH FOR MORE DETAILED
INFORMATION ON BLUE ORB LOCATIONS AND
SECRET MISSIONS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS.
This game allows you to replay missions so don't
fret if you miss something on the first play of a
mission.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-----------------------------------------
Q:  What's up with Automatic?

A:  It's a mode that supposedly makes combos
easier.  It'll autocharge certain moves and make
other 
skills pop up in mid battle.  I actually think it makes
the game harder and a bit more distracting, and it
will
RUIN you if you want to do hard modes later,
because you'll have to combo on your own and won't
have
a good grasp on how.  Bottom line?  I don't
recommend it.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  What gives?!  When I buy an item or a skill, the
number goes up for all the other stuff, or said item.

A:  The series sort of penalizes you for buying
expendable items, or really good ones.  Let's say
you need
alot of health, so you want a vital star or three.
When you buy one, note how the price for it now
goes up
by around 1000 orbs or so.  When you buy blue and
purple orbs (and you HAVE to if you want to play
hard
modes), they go up by many, many thousands at a
time.  But it's worth it.  When it comes to skills,
proud souls make your other remaining, unpurchased
skills go up in price by a few dozen to a hundred or
so at times.  So the more powerful you get in some
respects, the more it will cost to fully power others.
I will list essential skills in my guide under the skills
section, have a look to get those early and cheaper.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  I keep getting hit and losing my style rank.
What's up with that?

A:  No worries, it happens.  You just need to
practice against the type of enemy you're having
troubles with.  Keep in mind that patterns differ by
difficulty level.  Also, enemies in this game LOVE
to hit you from behind or even off camera.  Stay
moving, stay alive.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  What is the timeline for this game?  I'm a bit
confused, and may not even want to play if I'll be lost.

A:  First off, you won't get lost in the plot.
Dante and his crew will be a bit mysterious until
you do some
later ingame background reading, but that's about it.
You can fully enjoy it.  The game series falls in this
order chronologically:  3>1>4>2.  Part 2 is said to
take place fairly far into Dante's future, so any
number
of games can fall into the timeline from 4 and on.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  Is this game hard?  So hard I don't want to play
it hard?

A:  Nah.  Play on Human or Devil Hunter.  You can
still see the entire plot, the secret ending, all the
moves, get all the items, and do basically whatever
you want.  To do much of that in just one play,
however, you'll need to go through some missions
over and over again to get enough orbs and souls to
upgrade.  But it can be done, and it's not all that
time consuming to manage.  However, if you try out
Son of Sparda or Dante Must Die modes, you will be
in for some real pain and frustration until you get
good at playing.  I won't even begin to tell you how
hard Hell or Hell mode can be.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  I don't get the theories and/or storyline stuff in
some parts.  What's up with that?

A:  Please see my storyline section when it's
available, and I'll cover many of the popular theories
on
things that aren't confirmed, and I will confirm things
that are, of course, confirmed.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  How do I beat that stupid secret mission
Unbreakable (kill waves of enemies in the forest
without  taking a hit)?

A:  This one is hard.  There is one "sure fix".
See my section in the walkthrough above, near it's
end.
Tips for other modes though, include being agressive
as the wave starts.  Find all the
plant foes first (called Chimeras).
Then use trickster to dodge about (max 4 is
preferred, at least 2 is
needed to air dodge) using the shotgun with charged
blasts and if you have a chance, gunslinger mode.
If the Assualts get taken over, first off pray for luck,
secondly enter this battle with your disaster gauge
full
for the Pandora gun.  Double jump high enough to
never take a good hit, and use gunslinger and B to
fly above firing with X as fast as you can.  This can
take out a wave, but when you drop down if anything
is 
left have Trickster ready to go, and get moving with
that shotty again.  It's common sense, but strip
down
everything to repeatedly using quick attacks and
dodges.  Don't lead yourself on a wild chase and
end up
slamming right into another enemy hit though.
Side rolls, air dodges, double jumps, and charged
guns can
save your hide more than anything, it just takes time
and some luck.  Remember, shooting the plants
when attatched to anyone else kills them off
temporarily, after a few shots, so keep shooting
and don't use your sword, too slow.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  How do I do a Royal Block?
I just seem to do regular.

A:  You must press B (using this style as
Dante only of course) RIGHT as the enemy almost
hits you.
You have to know the frame of animation really
well to get anywhere with this attack.  If you're just
learning
it for the secret msision, you only need do it five
times in a row.  However, if you get hit OR miss one
in
that row of five, you have to start over again at zero.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  I need this life orb fragment and/or that secret
mission solution.

A:  No prob.  But bear with me for a bit, this guide is
still new if you see this text.  I will include sections
for this in both the main walkthrough and their own
sections, don't forget to use control F to find your
area and problem!

Again, please see my COMPLETE and very
detailed section in my Walkthrough chapter above.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  If I save during a mission and turn off the game,
do I have to restart it fully later?

A:  Yes, you will have to go back and restart, all
saving does is give you a cash out of your orbs and
souls earned up to that point, which is better than
nothing.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  How does IR (Instant Rev) work?  What exactly
is the Exceed System all about?

A:  Toughie, and will have it's own section.  Once
you master this and how to dodge correctly, you
will
be a master.  I'm still learning much of it myself.
There are many good japanese videos available
online.
Anyway, you can automatically rev if you press LT
immediately after you swing and just as you hit an
enemy.  I'm still playing around on exact window
times for each and every type of swing, so stay
tuned.
Now, when you use it, your gauge you earned drops
on the next hit, right?  Well, charge up to
three the normal way (see my guide, use LT until all
three fill), hit once, IR immediately EVERY time you
hit something, and you will always be very powerful.
This is by no means needed on the lower three
difficulties, or Heaven and Hell mode.  But on Dante
Must Die and Hell and Hell, it's almost a must to at
least understand.  Fairly trusted DMC gamers on
message boards over at gamefaqs.com seem to
think
the window for an IR gets smaller every time you
use it, so try to feel that out as well.

Also please keep in mind, when I finally experiment
with IRing to it's fullest for me, I will be thanking a few
people for their exellent input and guides that
assisted me.  This will take some time, as the
system is
deeper and much more volitle than many people
expect.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  What are all these funky but awesome names
I'm seeing?

A:  I will likely use a mix of the proper names and
explain them via visual cues.  There will also be a
list
of skills eventually for both characters, where I will
cover it all, and you can refer to it as a glossary!
This list is found in game at any time in your files.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  What is this Bloody Palace?

A:  Basically it's an arena introduced into the series
in DMC 2.  You travel many floors to gain power,
show off your skill, practice, have fun, get proud
souls, and rank up on the Live leaderboards.The 
challenge here runs VERY high, fairly early on,
so be warned and enter with a decent character.
You first
have to unlock it by beating Devil Hunter, but you
may not be strong enough for it unless you replay
many levels to upgrade yourself, and have good
health and a decent grasp of when to attack and
when to
dodge (and HOW to dodge).  Both characters go
into the Palace.  Also, they share Red Orbs, but
do NOT
share Proud Souls earned.  Remember that.
If you want specific moves for a character, use that 
character.  There are 101 levels, I think.

----------------------------------------
Q:  How do these couple of Dice Rolling areas work?

A:  First, you encounter this game twice.  The first
time it's farily small and simple.  The last is much
bigger and there is more risk involved as you will be
facing bosses in between areas.  Anywho, the
quick answer here is:  Look at the top of the dice,
find the number you want.  Count six rolls in your
head
and you should be at your number.  You can use
your sword, gun, or buster arm move, it should be
the
number you wanted on top, and that is the number
that counts.  The rolling animation doesn't actually
mean anything and is just a visual.  The top number
last displayed on the die is going to be your number.  

-----------------------------------------
Q:  Son of Sparda doesn't seem that different, what's
the deal?

A:  Well, first off, you had to earn that mode, so you
now know how to play well enough.  You also know
where to go and probably have a good deal of power
ups and things of that ilk, along with all the moves
and weapons.  But, the only major difference you'll
notice by that point would be enemies in different
spots
and things like that.  Notably, Blitzes (lightning guys).
-----------------------------------------
Q:  HELP!  How do I surive that credits mode for the
secret ending?

A:  First, thanks, you just saved me time on another
question.  To get a secret ending to appear in your
videos forever, you must protect Kyrie from
Scarecrows.  Types 1 and 2 show up on Human
mode.  Please
only attempt it on this mode.  It can be done any
time, but Human is the least frustrating for any
player.
Using Streak 1 keeps you close after you recover,
but Streak 2 sends them further back.
Also, Charge
level 1 or 2 (and oh baby 3) really work wonders
against a couple at at time.  Streak one side of the
area,
then shoot with Charge towards the other side.  In
real distance (in their game world mind you), if a
Scarecrow 2 type (foot blade) gets within seven fight
of Kyrie, BLAST HIM, fast.  They do an air attack
that covers that much ground, and it's fast.  Once
they leave the ground, it's too late.  If you notice any
Scarecrow at ANY distance looking at her, shoot
him with a charge shot or if he's near a bunch of his
buddes Streak at them.  On Human mode, going
back and forth constantly, most Scarecrows will just
look at you and never notice her.  Also, if you get
really bad off, jump, air grab one, and buster him
down
to the ground and onto all his friends.  Everyone
falls that way.  A quick ground buster works too.
Also
note, you can devil trigger in this mode, which is
good for shooting and streaks, but not for Buster,
it'll slow you down too much.
-----------------------------------------
Q:  Hey, what gives?!  You stole my idea/combo
technique/boss strategy/hidden whatever location!

A:  Hmm.  Let me start by saying I hate plagarism.
With a firey passion.  If you still aren't convinced,
realize a couple things.  One thing, there are a ton
of ways to do things, but only certain items are found
in certain places, some enemy strategies are popular
and maybe I came up with it when or even before
you did!  I'm not trying to "rip you off" or anything,
I promise.  In fact, ANY time I see something useful
on a message board or wherever (and I don't use
other guides unless completely stuck, and I mean
bad,
i.e. TWO instances with blue orb fragments), I make
sure to credit the proper parties involved, fully.  First,
I will try to reach you if need be.  Secondly, if I can't
get in touch with you in time or what not, I will simply
credit your online alias unless otherwise noted.
Lastly, if there is any sort of issue, contact me with
the
subject line very descriptive, and I will find you
eventually and make things right.  I'd expect you to
do the same for me.
-----------------------------------------
Q: You SUCK!  And your &%$^@#$ guide sucks too!
What's wrong with you?    

A: Not really a valid question.  But no, I'd say I did
pretty okay on this guide.  
And yes, as I have stated perviously, the guide will
end up far from perfect.  
This is a new game as of my writing, and I'm doing
my best, in my own free time.
Write a better guide, or at the very least TELL me
what you think is wrong so that I can work on it in 
this and other future guides.  How many FAQ/Guides
have
you written?  Anyway, relax, it's a video game. 
And I'm not the only source of info in town, there are
still message boards for your well thought
out rantings.
-----------------------------------------


POSSIBLY MORE SOON



==========================
VII.  Achievements  - 
"This party's gettin CRAZY!"  - Dante, DMC3
==========================

I will likely be adding a few tips where applicable, or
at the very least pointing you to the proper sections
of the guide when it is completed.

A Comfortable Pace (10)   Clear mission 11 in 
Human Mode. 

A Cut Above (30)   Clear all missions in Devil Hunter
Mode with an S ranking.   -  Time and Style are the
most important factors, with Style being most
important above all.  No Item and No Damage
bonuses
also help greatly.  You still need to try and score a
B for orbs, as I've seen SSD and only gotten an A
for
my trouble.  This was with a No Item bonus.

A Stunning Feat (40)   Clear all missions in Son of
Sparda mode with an S ranking

A Throne of Glory (50)   Clear all game modes

All Bow Before You (40)   Clear all missions in
Dante Must Die mode 

Bat Out of Hell (10)   Extend the Devil Trigger Gauge
to maximum capacity  -  They are all purchasable,
so just save up the orbs by farming missions over
and over with alot of style, or find a mission with tons
of orbs right at the start, quit out, restart and keep
doing this over and over.  Mission 03 is ideal for this
once you have Devil Trigger.

Brimming with Pride (20)   Aquire 100,00 Proud
Souls -  This one is cumulative, so just feel free to
spend
as much as you want while you try for it.  note:
I have not confirmed cumulative status myself.
When I have, I will add a permenant note to this one.

Covered in Blood (40)   Clear all Bloody Palace mode
stages 

Done and Done (20)  Clear all missions in Devil
Hunter Mode. 

Easier Said Than Done (10)   Clear mission 11 in
Dante Must Die mode 

Easy Does It (10)   Clear all missions in Human
Mode. 

Filled with Pride (10)   Acquire 10,000 Proud Souls.
Cumulative, feel free to spend on your way.  See
Brimming with Pride above.

Half Way There (10)   Clear mission 11 in
Devil Hunter Mode

Hardly a Simple Task (30)   Clear all missions in
Son of Sparda mode 

Item Collecter (??)  Aquire a Maximum of all items -
Needs ALL blue orb fragments as well as total cost
of all items in shop aquired.

King of the Palace (50)   Clear all Bloody Palace
mode stages with an S ranking

Legendary Devil Hunter (50)   Defeat a total of
10,000 enemies   -  Cumulative over every mission
and difficulty.

Modus Vivendi (10)   Extend the Vitality Gauge to
maximum capacity   -  Buy all blue orbs, find all
orb fragments, see my guide for those sections.
If you have already beaten the game and have most
skills this one won't take you but six hours or less.

Never Say Die (50)   Clear all missions in Dante
Must Die mode with an S ranking

Nothing Left Unsaid (10)   Clear all secret missions

Proud Millionaire (40)   Aquire 1,000,000 Proud Souls
Cumulative over all modes of play.
Can be spent.  See Brimming with pride.
See Brimming with Pride above for details.

Red Orb Millionaire (40)   Aquire 1,000,000 Red Orbs
Cumulative over all modes of play.  Can be spent.
See Brimming with Pride above for details.

River of Red (10)   Acquire 10,000 Red Orbs. -
Cumulative, see above.  CONFIRMED by me.

Rock and a Hard Place (10)   Clear mission 11 in
Son of Sparda mode

Rookie Devil Hunter (10)   Defeat a total of 100
enemies. -  Done over all modes.  You will get this
in one
play of even Human mode if you redo a couple levels
for orbs and things.

Simply Spectacular (10)   Complete a mission with
an S ranking. - Mission 01 is easiest to do this on
first.
Time and Orbs matter most in 01.  Otherwise you
want Style and Time.

Skill Collecter-Dante (??)   Aquire all of Dante's skills 

Skill Collecter-Nero (??)    Aquire all of Nero's skills 

Skilled Devil Hunter (30)   Defeat a total of 1,000
enemies   -  cumulative over all modes.
You will likely get
this one if you are trying for all the blue orbs.
Otherwise just keep on playing.

Smokin' Sick Style!!! (10)   Complete a Stylish
Rank SSS (Smokin' Sick Style!!!) combo. -
See my SSS
trick in Mission 09, when facing Alto Angelo at
the beginning (or any time, he's the gold knight).

Smokin' Style!! (10)   Complete a Stylish Rank SS
(Smokin' Style!!) combo.   -  See above.  (SSS)

Smokin'! (10)   Complete a Stylish Rank S (Smokin'!)
combo.   -  See above.  (SSS)

Speak of the Devil (20)   Clear the game with Super
Nero (Dante) 

Step into the Light (10)   Clear all missions in
Heaven or Hell mode   -  Won't take you long, use
your guns alot.

The Best of the Rest (20)   Clear all missions in
Human Mode with an S ranking.   -  See Devil
Hunter S clear for tips.

The Eight Circle (10)   Clear stage 80 of Bloody
Palace mode 

The Fifth Circle (10)   Clear stage 50 of Bloody
Palace mode 

The First Circle (10)   Clear stage 10 of Bloody
Palace mode 

The Fourth Circle (10)   Clear stage 40 of Bloody
Palace mode 

The Ninth Circle (10)   Clear stage 90 of Bloody
Palace mode 

The Second Circle (10)   Clear stage 20 of Bloody
Palace mode 

The Seventh Circle (10)   Clear stage 70 of Bloody
Palace mode 

The Sixth Circle (10)   Clear stage 60 of Bloody
Palace mode 

The Third Circle (10)   Clear stage 30 of Bloody
Palace mode 

Tonight, We Dine in Hell (10)   Clear all missions in
Hell or Hell mode   -  Good luck.  May add tips
section
eventually, first I have to get there myself!

Your Cup Runeth Over (20)   Aquire 100,000 Red
Orbs -  Cumulative over all modes, spend them,
it's okay.
See Brimming with Pride above for details.

==========================
VIII. Thanks and Ending Notes

"You want a date?  Well, forget it, because I make it
a point not to go out
with women who shoot me in the head!"  Dante, 
DMC 3
"Date a demon?  I'm not THAT desperate!"
Lady, DMC 3
==========================

Well, still a work in progress, and probably will be
for a long time with some of these modes.  Luckily,
I love Capcom's formula.  I've already played through
the game a couple times now, beaten all the secret
missions and found the Blue Orbs.  I will be working
diligently through Bloody Palace and higher difficulty
modes, and updating my guide accordingly.
There's a long road ahead.


Thank you Gamefaqs, for introducing me to a
wonderful community of like minded folks and all
types
of gamers.  Thank you for hosting my guide and
giving me proper credit, and thank you for giving us
the great message boards!

Thank you to my family, you motivate me to strive
high.

Thanks to Sephirosuy from gamefaqs for tips on
Blue Orb Fragments.  Especially the 2nd one in the
Second Mine area.

Thanks to fromac4 of youtube for the wonderful
Secret Mission location video for SM 11.

Thanks to the hardcore DMC player, 
aspen1910000 for the pointers on Hell or Hell
mode.

Thanks to youtube user (japanese):
4GHxNs6y from youtube.com for the tips on
Royal Guard killing the Blitz within seconds!

Thanks to ForeverPheo of youtube for tips in the
Bloody Palace and great vids!  He goes by
Devilix on the gamefaqs boards.

Thank you to my friends that have truly been there
for me, both in tolerating, encouraging, and for some
of you even joining me, in my hobby, and my pride.

Thank YOU for reading this, and if you enjoyed it,
for rating it high.  I hope I was of some help to you.

Thanks to Cnet for rewarding the people that love to
write guides and help others.

Thanks to helene, alluresilver(at)hotmail(dot)com,
for the tip on Dante getting a hard to find Fragment!

Thank you to
Ng Jeremy manwithmustache(at)hotmail(dot)com
for showing me that Dante can beat Nero during a
Buster sometimes!

Thanks to Jonathan Deering rbfskatantic(at)
hotmail(dot)com!

MORE COMING SOON

-----------------------------------------
Joe Barbee is:
lastfirstborn(at)gmail(dot)com
Gamertag: lastfirstborn


This document may not be reproduced under any
circumstances except for personal, 
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or
otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission.
Use of this guide on any 
other web site or as a part of any public display is
strictly prohibited, 
and a violation of copyright.  If you want to use this
FAQ on your website,
just send me an email and let me know. I will get
back to you as soon as I 
can. Feel free to print out this guide, for PERSONAL
use only.

These websites can use the guide along with full
credit given to me, 
completely unaltered: (revisions pending, possibly)

Gamefaqs.com (and all Gamespot users of course)
Unlimitedgamer.net
Supercheats.com


-----------------------------------------
THANK YOU for reading my guide!  Now, try a
harder mode, gain some more power, and try to beat
the Bloody Palace with an S rank!!  Good luck!
====================
"Are you crying?"  Lady DMC3
"No...it's just the rain."  Dante  DMC 3
"The rain has already stopped..." Lady DMC 3
"Devils Never Cry."  Dante DMC 3

-Trish cries.-  "Trish...devils never cry.  These tears,
tears are a gift only humans have."  Dante DMC 1