Combat System Guide and Tips

[Foxtrot94]

Welcome at the Devil May Cry!

Are you tired of spamming the same move over and over, getting hurt cause doesn't always work, and getting those disappointing low Style rankings end mission?

Don't worry, you've come to the right place. Our friend Dante, expert in stylish demon ass-kicking, will show you how to pull off cool combos and rip em a new hole!

Now, there's A TON in DMC3's combat system, but don't worry, we're gonna go slowly. Starting with the basic stuff, ending up talking about he most advanced concepts.

We're gonna use Dante's shop for this one. Don't worry, he doesn't mind.

So, let's start with the basics, shall we?

THE MOVEMENT​

Can't go more basic than this. It's how you move in the game. You could say "What's so important about moving around?", but that's the thing, it's extremely important. The concepts of positioning and evading are something you wanna master if you want to become a kickass demon hunter!

First off, there's something you never wanna do in combat, and that is trying to evade incoming enemy attacks by stopping your moves and running away. That's a big no. Usually the recovery time from attack animations to running will make you get hit, so get used to not do that. There are more reliable tools to dodge.

Jumping​

The good old jump! It's not just for getting over obstacles. It's actually an extremely useful tool in combat as well. Why? Because it has invincibility frames at startup.

Scratching your head? Don't worry, I'll explain. Basically invincibility frames are bits of an animation that make you untouchable while they're playing. The jump animation has invincibility frames at its start.

See? That poor guy missed Dante while he was jumping. Poor thing was sure to hit him, aaawww.

Don't forget about this notion, use jump to avoid incoming attacks. And don't forget that you can jump back or forward, if you wanna reposition yourself.

However, as much as jumping is important, landing is equally essential. But... what if you don't want to land?

Staying airborne​

That's right. Nobody forces you to immediately land after a jump. You have the option of staying in the air. For example, if you avoid an attack by jumping, but another enemy is about to hit you as you land. You don't wanna get that hit, do you? Then stay airborne!

There are a wide number of tools to keep yourself afloat, some of which are pretty hard to use, and we'll get to talk about them later.
For now, just know that Dante's trusty twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory, are very good and reliable. Just shoot repeteadly after you jump.

Be careful though, cause the longer you keep shooting, the faster you descend, so keep in mind that you can't stay in the air forever using the pistols.

You can use other easy methods though, like Flicker with Cerberus or Sky Dance with Agni & Rudra, although those are used more to juggle enemies airborne, another thing we'll see later.

Rolling​

Sometimes there might be some danger in the air so you don't wanna jump. What to do, then? Well, just roll away!

Don't underestimate the roll, it's a good tool to reposition yourself into a less dangerous position.

Dashing​

If you have the Trickster Style equipped, you can completely ditch roll and use the dash instead.

It's extremely reliable to succesfully avoid attacks, as it's got invincibility frames just like jumping. Be careful though, cause the recovery time can be kinda tricky. Pun intended.

As you level Trickster up, you gain up to 3 dashes to perform in a row, which is extremely useful to get out of dangerous situations, and you also gain Sky Star, an invaluable tool to dodge airborne threats, as it has invincibility as well.



That's it for now! We're gonna continue next time, now get out and get yourself some pizza!

 

[Foxtrot94]

Hey there! You warmed up? Ok then, it's time for another lesson. Let's move to another location though, Dante's shop was okay for movement stuff but now we're gonna swing some blades so moving just outside of it will be better. Are you ready?

Ok, let's get into it.

THE COMBO SYSTEM​

So, what's a combo to begin with?

A combo is a string of moves fluently chained together.
Fluently meaning that you don't have to get hit in the middle of it, and above all, there shouldn't be a delay between one move and the next.

How to do that? Well, it's simple, really. You have to input a move, and as soon as the animation finishes, input the next move you wanna do. It's important that you perform the next move's input as soon as the previous one's animation finishes, not too early, not too late.

Let's see a simple combo timed correctly.

Now let's see what happens if I input Prop Shredder (the first move I use to launch the enemy into the air) too early.

Uh-oh, it didn't come out at all. It can also happen that it does come out, but before you want it to come out, breaking the flow and your thinking process.

What if I input it too late?

Predictably enough, it came out too late and the flow was disrupted. Also, the enemy was not launched.

Launching and Juggling​

So you now know what a combo is and how to perform it. But how to extend it? How to make it last as long as possible?

One of the most effective tactics is to launch your enemy into the air. Once it's launched, you can keep it afloat by juggling him. You can juggle an enemy while on the ground or while you're in the air.

Let's see an example of ground juggling, with our trusty Ebony and Ivory.

And this is an example of air juggling, still with the twin pistols.

Obviously you can use whatever airborne move you want to juggle your opponent while floating.



Juggling is not the only way to extend your combos, and what's in the combat system is not even all there, but those are the next topics, so stay tuned, see ya later!

 

[Foxtrot94]

Welcome back! It's time for another lesson! You excited?

We're gonna continue what we started last time, namely the combo system. We talked about the basics, juggling, launching. Those are nice methods to extend your combos but not the only ones. So let's take a look at what's next!

Cancels​

This is one of the most important things to understand when it comes to combos. What's a cancel?

A cancel is when you start a move, and input another one in the middle of it, so that the newly-inputted move will interrupt the previous one's animation and start its own.
It's very important because almost always, a single full move animation has some recovery time when it ends, which will make you vulnerable to attacks. By cancelling that animation, you nullify that recovery time while keeping your offense (and in some cases, also defense) up! Ain't that great?

Let's take a look at some of the most important cancels to know.

Switch Cancel​

One of the easiest. It simply consists of starting a move with a certain weapon, and cancel it by switching to another weapon and immediately start a move with it. Let's look at a quick example.

See? I cancelled Aerial Rave by switching to Agni & Rudra and inputting Sky Dance, then cancelled that by switching to Rebellion and inputting Aerial Rave again.

This cancel is a nice alternative to Jump Cancel, which we'll talk about later.

Dash Cancel​

This can be used to extend combos, sure, but primarily, it's about getting out of tricky situations or avoid incoming attacks.

Pretty simple to do, if you have Trickster Style equipped, press the Style button to interrupt your attack and dash away.

Has to be timed just right to work well, so practice your timing.

Guard Cancel​

Works exactly like Dash Cancel but with Royalguard Style equipped. Often used to interrupt relatively long animations like Agni & Rudra's moves, without changing postition.

Again, work on your timing.



Only Jump Cancel remains, but that technique has more applications than just combo extending, so I think it deserves its own lesson. For now, let's stop here, and don't forget to practice!