Steve
Fearfully and wonderfully made
Phantom
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 3 and Mission 8.
Phantom is the first boss you meet in the game, and he certainly isn’t a pushover. Make sure you have your Alastor and handguns equipped. Phantom’s body is virtually covered with rocky armour and with only two noticeable weak spots: his face and back. He has several pretty diverse attacks, and recognizing the tell-tale signs Phantom gives off helps inform you of what he has lined up next so try and learn his techniques and stay focused. His primary attack is a claw swipe attack that he will use to brush you away if you’re attacking him head-on.
Every so often he will also make a trio of lava pillars to erupt from the ground right under your feet; for this all you need to do is run to avoid them. Occasionally he will launch himself high into the air and attempt to land on you and squish you; try and jump away in the opposite direction and you should avoid it. His special attack is a fireball which he charges and launches from his mouth; provided you are at a safe distance you should be able to barrel roll out of the way, or if you’re close to one of the several columns in the room you can also take cover behind one of those.
Aside from those techniques I stated above, he does have a few moves which he will use in self-defence such as when you are standing and attacking his back, he will try and strike you with his scorpion stinger. Shooting at him from afar with your pistols can only do so good as well, as he puts up his pincers to shield his face and charge you. The best strategy for this battle is to get up close and personal with your Alastor and slash away at his face when possible, followed by his back when he attempts to cover his face, and retreating every so often to shoot him from a safe distance.
If you have the Air Raid ability available at this point then that will help a lot. Fortunately, every time you have to face Phantom (yes, there’s a fair few times) he will also stick to the same strategy – the only thing that changes is the location – but the same basic strategy will work for every encounter with him.
Nelo Angelo
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 4, Mission 11 and Mission 17.
Nelo Angelo Profile
You will be forced to fight Nelo Angelo a total of 3 times throughout the course of the Devil May Cry story mode, and with each visit he becomes more difficult (admittedly on the third and final encounter with him his difficulty does increase quite a bit). Fortunately he only has a small arsenal of attacks, but they can be deadly if you take your eye off the ball. Nelo Angelo’s moves list is similar to that of Dante’s; he uses a quick combo attack that resembles Dante’s, as well as his stinger attack, although he can charge from a much greater distance than Dante.
The best way of dealing with Nelo Angelo is by getting in his face and provoking him into using his combo attack; provided you can roll out the way and stinger him before he recovers then you should be able to get a few good hits in. Beware whenever he teleports as it means that he’s about to charge you; either go airborne or attempt a swift barrel roll manoeuvre. From time to time he will attempt to launch energy blasts at you but they take a second or two to prepare so try and strike him while he is vulnerable. But do not try and simply overpower him with standard sword slashing as he can block all your attacks if he sees them coming. After you have knocked a fair bit of health from him he will teleport away from you and the fight will continue on an elevated platform.
Nelo Angelo isn’t a particuarly difficult boss once you have learned his routine and can read his actions. For instance, whenever he holds his sword upright it means he will perform a certain attack and when he holds it horizontally it means he will perform another.
Fortunately during the second encounter with him his strategy remains virtually intact, the only major difference being that you have a much more compact arena to fight in. His third and final form however is quite different, by this time he will have developed a few new techniques as well as somehow sprouted an extra foot or two in height… Oh yeah and he takes his helmet off for you too… how sweet.
His most significant new attack in this new form is his ability to manifest several swords out of thin air and propel them at you in several ways. He will use this technique quite often and the effects are pretty random – sometimes he will launch them all at you at once, other times he will send a single one every second. Dodging these can be tricky but keep on your toes and you should be able to Air Hike out of the way.
Griffon
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 9, Mission 12 and Mission 15.
Griffon Profile
Griffon is perhaps the easiest boss in the game, although don’t take him lightly. On the higher difficulties he can pose a challenge, but fortunately he seems to become less of a threat with every encounter. He likes to use his ranged attacks to his advantage – he will almost always attack from afar with his electrical based attacks. Every so often he will charge you and attempt to peck you with his massive beak when he gets close enough; this is your cue to hack away at his exposed chest which should disorientate him and make him collapse on the ground for a few brief seconds allowing you to get a few extra hits in with your new Ifrit toy.
Griffon’s strategies stay pretty similar with every encounter too and as you progress he will learn a few new techniques but they still all revolve around lightning attacks from a distance. Almost all his long range attacks consist of some form of electricity and aren’t all that difficult to evade and after a while you begin to associate the attacks he’s about to use with his posture, allowing you to predict his next move. Your best bet is to go with the flow; your dual pistols do a decent job from afar but won’t be enough to finish him off alone. When he enters your vicinity just let rip with your Alastor and unleash your devil trigger whenever the opportunity arises.
Nightmare
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 16, Mission 18 and Mission 20.
Nightmare Profile
Nightmare can be a tricky adversary, as he constantly has you running through hoops in order to weaken him. He starts off in his liquid form which is invulnerable to all of your attacks. You must force him to transform into his solid form by damaging the large symbols scattered around the outside walls, which will turn the lights on, and with Nightmare being evil and what-not, he’s not so keen on the light. Once he is weakened and turns into his solid state he will reveal his core, which is your cue to unleash a flurry of attacks while he is vulnerable, but be quick as you are only granted a short space of time before the lighting expires and he returns to his invincible liquid form. At this point you will have to repeat the process over. Try to keep an eye open for his multiple stabbing attack in this form, they can reach pretty far but provided you are lively on your feet you should be able to dodge them.
You may notice that your devil trigger gauge will quite often be sapped by Nightmare, which he will occasionally use to transform into his own devil trigger form, increasing the power of his attacks. Equipping Ifrit is recommended for this fight as the techniques you can use will dish out a fair amount of damage to Nightmare’s core. Please note however that your newly acquired Nightmare Beta weapon will be rendered ineffective against this boss.
Mundus
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 22 and Mission 23.
The first skirmish with Mundus sees you take to the skies and initiate an entirely new fighting system (some people compare it to Starfox). Unless you’re fighting Mundus on the higher difficulties you won’t be able to witness just how powerful he is – just two attacks are capable of killing you. This fight forces you to use the Sparda sword and has you in your ultimate form for the remaining duration of the game. It also has all your regular moves replaced with a vortex attack as well as the ability to launch fireballs instead of your old firearms. You will also have the ability to transform into an extremely powerful demon dragon, which is capable of killing Mundus in a single hit if you have a certain amount of your devil trigger gauge filled.
After Mundus is defeated in the air, the fight will continue in a new area and you and Mundus will be separated by a stream of lava. It’s a good idea to use the Grenade Launcher as your primary weapon (although on the harder difficulty it is virtually useless) and, of course, use Dante’s fireball technique when in devil trigger mode. It’s also possible to use the space debris too as platforms to make your way towards Mundus and get a few melee hits in, but this is not really recommended. You should try and fuel your devil trigger bar by constantly taunting whenever the opportunity arises as it’s possible to earn up to 3 runes per successful taunt, but be careful of the ground below you as it will be rising and may cause you to slip into the lava. Provided you keep an eye on Mundus’ actions whilst also fuelling your devil trigger you should be okay.
On the final encounter with Mundus on Mission 23, it’s clear he has been greatly weakened by his previous battles with Dante and is basically a pushover on virtually all difficulty levels. He appears as a shapeless mass, and begins to become ever more shapeless with all damage inflicted. Fortunately he only has 3 main attacks in his final form, and the only one you need to keep an eye open for is his laser eye technique, which is capable of dealing a fair amount of damage in the later difficulties. He will also occasionally scream, which won’t cause any damage but it will render him invincible for a short period of time.
The easiest way to defeat him is by working up your devil trigger gauge, followed by immediately transforming and use the Vortex attack in his face, which should drain his lifebar completely.
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 3 and Mission 8.
Phantom is the first boss you meet in the game, and he certainly isn’t a pushover. Make sure you have your Alastor and handguns equipped. Phantom’s body is virtually covered with rocky armour and with only two noticeable weak spots: his face and back. He has several pretty diverse attacks, and recognizing the tell-tale signs Phantom gives off helps inform you of what he has lined up next so try and learn his techniques and stay focused. His primary attack is a claw swipe attack that he will use to brush you away if you’re attacking him head-on.
Every so often he will also make a trio of lava pillars to erupt from the ground right under your feet; for this all you need to do is run to avoid them. Occasionally he will launch himself high into the air and attempt to land on you and squish you; try and jump away in the opposite direction and you should avoid it. His special attack is a fireball which he charges and launches from his mouth; provided you are at a safe distance you should be able to barrel roll out of the way, or if you’re close to one of the several columns in the room you can also take cover behind one of those.
Aside from those techniques I stated above, he does have a few moves which he will use in self-defence such as when you are standing and attacking his back, he will try and strike you with his scorpion stinger. Shooting at him from afar with your pistols can only do so good as well, as he puts up his pincers to shield his face and charge you. The best strategy for this battle is to get up close and personal with your Alastor and slash away at his face when possible, followed by his back when he attempts to cover his face, and retreating every so often to shoot him from a safe distance.
If you have the Air Raid ability available at this point then that will help a lot. Fortunately, every time you have to face Phantom (yes, there’s a fair few times) he will also stick to the same strategy – the only thing that changes is the location – but the same basic strategy will work for every encounter with him.
Nelo Angelo
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 4, Mission 11 and Mission 17.
Nelo Angelo Profile
You will be forced to fight Nelo Angelo a total of 3 times throughout the course of the Devil May Cry story mode, and with each visit he becomes more difficult (admittedly on the third and final encounter with him his difficulty does increase quite a bit). Fortunately he only has a small arsenal of attacks, but they can be deadly if you take your eye off the ball. Nelo Angelo’s moves list is similar to that of Dante’s; he uses a quick combo attack that resembles Dante’s, as well as his stinger attack, although he can charge from a much greater distance than Dante.
The best way of dealing with Nelo Angelo is by getting in his face and provoking him into using his combo attack; provided you can roll out the way and stinger him before he recovers then you should be able to get a few good hits in. Beware whenever he teleports as it means that he’s about to charge you; either go airborne or attempt a swift barrel roll manoeuvre. From time to time he will attempt to launch energy blasts at you but they take a second or two to prepare so try and strike him while he is vulnerable. But do not try and simply overpower him with standard sword slashing as he can block all your attacks if he sees them coming. After you have knocked a fair bit of health from him he will teleport away from you and the fight will continue on an elevated platform.
Nelo Angelo isn’t a particuarly difficult boss once you have learned his routine and can read his actions. For instance, whenever he holds his sword upright it means he will perform a certain attack and when he holds it horizontally it means he will perform another.
Fortunately during the second encounter with him his strategy remains virtually intact, the only major difference being that you have a much more compact arena to fight in. His third and final form however is quite different, by this time he will have developed a few new techniques as well as somehow sprouted an extra foot or two in height… Oh yeah and he takes his helmet off for you too… how sweet.
His most significant new attack in this new form is his ability to manifest several swords out of thin air and propel them at you in several ways. He will use this technique quite often and the effects are pretty random – sometimes he will launch them all at you at once, other times he will send a single one every second. Dodging these can be tricky but keep on your toes and you should be able to Air Hike out of the way.
Griffon
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 9, Mission 12 and Mission 15.
Griffon Profile
Griffon is perhaps the easiest boss in the game, although don’t take him lightly. On the higher difficulties he can pose a challenge, but fortunately he seems to become less of a threat with every encounter. He likes to use his ranged attacks to his advantage – he will almost always attack from afar with his electrical based attacks. Every so often he will charge you and attempt to peck you with his massive beak when he gets close enough; this is your cue to hack away at his exposed chest which should disorientate him and make him collapse on the ground for a few brief seconds allowing you to get a few extra hits in with your new Ifrit toy.
Griffon’s strategies stay pretty similar with every encounter too and as you progress he will learn a few new techniques but they still all revolve around lightning attacks from a distance. Almost all his long range attacks consist of some form of electricity and aren’t all that difficult to evade and after a while you begin to associate the attacks he’s about to use with his posture, allowing you to predict his next move. Your best bet is to go with the flow; your dual pistols do a decent job from afar but won’t be enough to finish him off alone. When he enters your vicinity just let rip with your Alastor and unleash your devil trigger whenever the opportunity arises.
Nightmare
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 16, Mission 18 and Mission 20.
Nightmare Profile
Nightmare can be a tricky adversary, as he constantly has you running through hoops in order to weaken him. He starts off in his liquid form which is invulnerable to all of your attacks. You must force him to transform into his solid form by damaging the large symbols scattered around the outside walls, which will turn the lights on, and with Nightmare being evil and what-not, he’s not so keen on the light. Once he is weakened and turns into his solid state he will reveal his core, which is your cue to unleash a flurry of attacks while he is vulnerable, but be quick as you are only granted a short space of time before the lighting expires and he returns to his invincible liquid form. At this point you will have to repeat the process over. Try to keep an eye open for his multiple stabbing attack in this form, they can reach pretty far but provided you are lively on your feet you should be able to dodge them.
You may notice that your devil trigger gauge will quite often be sapped by Nightmare, which he will occasionally use to transform into his own devil trigger form, increasing the power of his attacks. Equipping Ifrit is recommended for this fight as the techniques you can use will dish out a fair amount of damage to Nightmare’s core. Please note however that your newly acquired Nightmare Beta weapon will be rendered ineffective against this boss.
Mundus
Difficulty (DMD):
Location: Mission 22 and Mission 23.
The first skirmish with Mundus sees you take to the skies and initiate an entirely new fighting system (some people compare it to Starfox). Unless you’re fighting Mundus on the higher difficulties you won’t be able to witness just how powerful he is – just two attacks are capable of killing you. This fight forces you to use the Sparda sword and has you in your ultimate form for the remaining duration of the game. It also has all your regular moves replaced with a vortex attack as well as the ability to launch fireballs instead of your old firearms. You will also have the ability to transform into an extremely powerful demon dragon, which is capable of killing Mundus in a single hit if you have a certain amount of your devil trigger gauge filled.
After Mundus is defeated in the air, the fight will continue in a new area and you and Mundus will be separated by a stream of lava. It’s a good idea to use the Grenade Launcher as your primary weapon (although on the harder difficulty it is virtually useless) and, of course, use Dante’s fireball technique when in devil trigger mode. It’s also possible to use the space debris too as platforms to make your way towards Mundus and get a few melee hits in, but this is not really recommended. You should try and fuel your devil trigger bar by constantly taunting whenever the opportunity arises as it’s possible to earn up to 3 runes per successful taunt, but be careful of the ground below you as it will be rising and may cause you to slip into the lava. Provided you keep an eye on Mundus’ actions whilst also fuelling your devil trigger you should be okay.
On the final encounter with Mundus on Mission 23, it’s clear he has been greatly weakened by his previous battles with Dante and is basically a pushover on virtually all difficulty levels. He appears as a shapeless mass, and begins to become ever more shapeless with all damage inflicted. Fortunately he only has 3 main attacks in his final form, and the only one you need to keep an eye open for is his laser eye technique, which is capable of dealing a fair amount of damage in the later difficulties. He will also occasionally scream, which won’t cause any damage but it will render him invincible for a short period of time.
The easiest way to defeat him is by working up your devil trigger gauge, followed by immediately transforming and use the Vortex attack in his face, which should drain his lifebar completely.