Dante actually has his own perks.
To begin, sword strikes with the Rebellion is much more powerful than strikes with Nero's Red Queen (without Exceed).
Nero always needs to weaken the bosses to perform a proper Buster on them but anytime Dante can hit the bosses with a Real Impact, he does just as much damage (or more if you master the 'Distortion' glitch).
Trickster Style's Dash is like having free TableHoppers without the need for specific timing. On top of that, he can do Dashes in air.
Air Trick is Dante's own Hell Bound but he's invincible when executing the move, plus he only needs to lock-on to the enemy (and not be way too far).
Fireworks (Gunslinger move for Coyote-E) can remove Faust and Mephisto cloaks much faster than Nero can, when done at point blank.
I could go into more detail but I might end up writing a FAQ on the spot...
You just need to practice a bit more with Dante. He has a lot of moves that makes up for his lack of grabbing and grappling abilities.