DEVIL MAY CRY 4
Ranking System Cross-Console Guide v1.00
By Excruciatix
Ver. History
1.00 - Finished and published guide.
0.73 - Finished most of the guide, had to sleep.
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When I first started playing DMC4, it was the first DMC I've played from
start to finish. I was thrown into a sea of confusing letters, ranking
systems, and all that whatnots. A lot of confusion is still thrown around
the ranking system amongst new players, as well as veterans.
This guide will explain in general, then in detail what goes behind the ranking
system and how you can go about obtaining S rankings for your missions.
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Basic Ranking Breakdown:
Clear Time: XX:XX:XX
Style Points: XXXXXX
Orbs Found: XXXXXX
Bonuses:
XXXXXXXXXXX Orbs x0000
XXXXXXXXXXX
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These amounts are then associated with your style bonus and appropriate
multipliers to end up giving you a 'Devil Hunter Score'. This score is
essentially what determines what your mission rank is.
Now for the break down:
CLEAR TIME is exactly as it says, from the time you press "Start mission" to
the point where you land the killing blow on the boss. This EXCLUDES cut
scenes and paused activity. So don't worry about your rank if you have to press
start. It won't affect it.
STYLE POINTS is the battle breakdown of the moves you use accumulated with the
damage done per move at which rank you are at when the move was executed, as
well as what style rank you were at when you landed the final blow. This
section requires a fairly in-depth look so I will cover this with more detail
in a later section.
ORBS FOUND is the TOTAL AMOUNT of orbs found on a level. I formerly thought
that it was solely from the orbs obtained through hidden areas in the map,
i.e. invisible orb pockets, breakable items, etc. However this is not the case.
After extensive testing, the orb total includes what was obtained from mobs.
This then is matched up to the expected level total of orbs, giving you a
percentage score. Going above what the level requires of you does NOT give you
a score of over 100%. Instead it stays at 100%, but gives you the full
multiplier bonus anyways.
Devil Hunter Score is determined by this equation:
(Thanks to DTingley83 from the Gamespot Message Boards)
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(Clear Bonus + Style Points)
x Clear Time Rank Multiplyer
x Orbs Found Multiplier
x Bonus and Penalty Multiplier
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Devil Hunter Score
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- Clear Bonus is a set value for completing each mission, for you this is
as there are more important values to be concerned with.
- Style Points is from your battle ranking system. To be explained in the next
section.
- Clear Time Multiplier values are as follows:
S Rank - x3
A Rank - x2.5
B Rank - x2
C Rank - x1.5
D Rank - x1
- Orbs Multiplier are as follows:
S Rank (95-100%)- x2
A Rank (75-94%)- x1.75
B Rank (60-74%)- x1.5
C Rank (45-59%)- x1.25
D Rank (0-44%)- x1
- Bonus Penalties are as follows:
No Damage - x1.5
No Items - x1.2
Gold Orb Used - x0.7
Continues - x0.8
Enemy Level Down - x0.8
Super Char Used - x0.2
[Note: It is a common misconception that using items gives you a penalty,
hence people try to avoid using items at all costs, however this
is not the case, by using items, it simply removes your 20% bonus
from your score, but doesn't reduce your score at all. Think of it
this way, would you rather have 20% less bonus or 80% less score by
using a continue or a gold orb?]
[Addition Note: According to Solaris_Paradox & The Prima Guide, the number of
Proud Souls you obtain is equal to 3% of your total Devil
Hunter Score at any point in the game rounded down.]
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Style Ranking System
This is the meat and potatoes of what your score is based on. If you have a bad
style rank, no matter how high your multipliers are, you're going to have a
difficult time achieving a high mission ranking since there isn't much for
the score to multiply.
The ranking system goes in a letter grading system as follows:
D -> C -> B -> A -> S -> SS -> SSS
As the core of the DMC series, through each version, each letter stood for
some cheesy word relating to how stylish your doing. To progress through the
ranking properly, you are required to use AT LEAST 3 different attacks. For
example if you use the following attack sequence:
Streak, Buster, Buster
You will get a hidden style rank for the streak, then once the Buster is
executed, you will receive your D ranking. However, for the second Buster
attack, you WILL get style points, however, the style guage will not increase,
which is essential to getting to the next letter grade.
Base attacks without a multiplier ends up being about 1-3 style points a hit.
Once you get each letter rank, your attacks get multiplied by whatever rank you
are currently on. IE (Theoretical Values) if a Buster without a multiplier
would be worth 3 points, at rank A that would increase to about 60 or so, and
at SSS that could be worth as much as 300. So getting your letter rank up
as fast as possible is essential to getting a high Style Rating.
The Damage you deal with each attack also affects how much the guage is
increased. For example, if you use a Max Revved Streak on multiple mobs,
you are likely to get up to 2 ranks for this one attack. Using higher class
attacks and charge up attacks (Both with Dante and Nero) are a big part of
getting a high ranking fast.
Last thing is reflected or enemy based damage. Damage caused from an enemy, to
an enemy by direct influence by you, will net you a LOT of ranking as well.
This is commonly seen with demons such as the flying swords, or the cannon
hounds, if you chuck them or shoot them at other mobs, you will get a
sizeable chunk of your guage filled. More prominently is the reflected Black
Angelo Orb (unique I know) attack. Doing this nets you SSS instantly because
it takes into account Enemy Damage, Multiple Enemies hit, and High Damage Dealt
all at the same time.
You may have noticed this as you play, but the only way that you can rank down
by letter is if you get hit. Each HIT drops you down 2 Letter ranks, IE from A
to C, or from SSS to S, or from C to no rank. You may notice that your guage
decreases as you don't attack, and after a while the rank dissapears. FEAR NOT!
Your rank is still where it should be, even if it dissapears as long as you
don't get hit. However, your rank guage will be empty.
NOTE: Keep in mind that losing your rank is PER HIT! So any demon that
executes a multiple attack sequence such as an Assault's Seed Barrage or
a Chimera's annoying Tentacle Wave will put you down 2 ranks per HIT. So
it is possible to go from SSS to nothing if you get hit multiple times
by the same attack. It is Important to dodge or avoid these attacks
if at all possible.
A few final words on the style system. The points you receive are cumulative
throughout the mission, so you cannot lose points (not sure about death, will
find out once I rank grind later).
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S Ranking Requirements
(Thanks to Archon Fury from Xbox360achievements and Solaris_Paradox from
Gamefaqs Messageboards)
[Note: All the posts that I've found including this information do not include
orb requirements, as much as I have looked, I could not find that info
but you basically need 95% of the total amount of orbs found, I'm
guessing that if you do the math since you have the percentage and
the total for each mission, you can easily get the 100% amount, but
I suck at math so if anyone figures it out, let me know and I'll give
you full credit :D]
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HUMAN MODE ---------------------------------------------------
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Mission Clear Time Style Clear Bonus DH Score Req'd
01 0:45 500 500 5,100
02 11:00 6,500 1,500 42,500
03 13:30 10,000 2,000 55,250
04 13:30 6,500 2,000 42,500
05 9:00 6,000 1,500 34,000
06 16:30 12,500 2,500 68,000
07 15:00 7,000 2,500 42,500
08 11:00 6,500 2,000 42,500
09 9:30 10,000 1,500 51,000
10 15:00 10,000 2,500 59,500
11 11:00 11,500 2,500 68,000
12 7:30 7,000 1,000 38,250
13 13:30 7,000 2,000 42,500
14 13:30 6,000 ????? ???????
15 21:00 11,500 ????? ???????
16 18:30 10,000 ????? ???????
17 13:30 17,000 ????? ???????
18 7:30 5,000 ????? ???????
19 22:30 12,500 ????? ???????
20 2:30 5,500 ????? ???????
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DEVIL HUNTER MODE --------------------------------------------
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Mission Clear Time Style Clear Bonus DH Score Req'd
01 1:00 500 500 6,000
02 15:00 6,500 1,500 50,000
03 18:00 10,000 2,000 65,100
04 18:00 6,500 2,000 50,000
05 12:00 6,000 1,500 40,000
06 22:00 12,500 2,500 80,000
07 20:00 7,000 2,500 50,000
08 15:00 6,500 2,000 50,000
09 13:30 10,000 1,500 60,000
10 20:00 10,000 2,500 70,000
11 15:00 11,500 2,500 80,000
12 10:00 7,000 1,000 45,000
13 18:00 7,000 2,000 50,000
14 18:00 6,000 ????? ???????
15 28:00 11,500 ????? ???????
16 25:00 10,000 ????? ???????
17 18:00 17,000 ????? ???????
18 10:00 5,000 ????? ???????
19 30:00 12,500 ????? ???????
20 3:15 5,500 ????? ???????
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SON OF SPARDA MODE -------------------------------------------
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Mission Clear Time Style Clear Bonus DH Score Req'd
01 1:15 500 500 10,800
02 21:00 9,250 1,500 108,000
03 20:00 10,000 2,000 117,000
04 21:00 9,250 2,000 117,000
05 18:00 7,750 1,500 90,000
06 25:00 12,500 2,500 144,000
07 23:00 7,000 2,500 90,000
08 17:00 6,500 2,000 90,000
09 23:00 13,750 1,500 153,000
10 25:00 11,000 2,500 135,000
11 17:00 11,500 2,500 144,000
12 11:30 7,000 1,000 81,000
13 23:00 8,250 2,000 99,000
14 24:00 7,400 ????? ???????
15 34:00 12,250 ????? ???????
16 30:00 10,650 ????? ???????
17 21:00 17,000 ????? ???????
18 11:30 5,000 ????? ???????
19 50:00 20,000 ????? ???????
20 3:45 5,500 ????? ???????
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DANTE MUST DIE MODE ------------------------------------------
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Mission Clear Time Style Clear Bonus DH Score Req'd
01 1:25 500 500 18,000
02 26:00 9,250 1,500 180,000
03 25:00 10,000 2,000 195,000
04 33:00 9,250 2,000 195,000
05 21:30 7,750 1,500 150,000
06 30:00 12,500 2,500 240,000
07 28:00 7,000 2,500 150,000
08 21:00 6,500 2,000 150,000
09 28:00 13,750 1,500 255,000
10 30:00 10,000 2,500 225,000
11 21:00 11,500 2,500 240,000
12 14:00 7,000 1,000 135,000
13 29:00 8,250 2,000 165,000
14 29:00 7,500 ????? ???????
15 41:00 12,250 ????? ???????
16 37:00 10,650 ????? ???????
17 25:00 17,000 ????? ???????
18 14:00 5,000 ????? ???????
19 60:00 20,000 ????? ???????
20 4:30 5,500 ????? ???????
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Well thanks for reading my guide. I hope that this has cleared up most of the
misconceptions about the ranking system. If anyone has any info on the
S ranking Info that I don't have yet, please send me an E-mail and full credit
will be given to you. Thanks!
Good luck on your S rank achievements!
Joe Guevara || [email protected] || GT - Excruciatix
Contact me via email ([email protected]) if you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions about this guide. Just make sure that you put
the game name in the subject line, as I will delete the email thinking it
is spam if you don't.
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This document is Copyright (c) 2007 Joe "Excruciatix" Guevara. All Rights
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