Devil May Cry 5 is out this week, and while it’s a great game it’s also understandable if this kind of game seems intimidating to newer players. If this is your first Devil May Cry game, there’s probably a few things you need to know before you start that the game might not necessarily tell you. If this is not your first Devil May Cry game, there’s still a few tips in here that I certainly wish I knew before I started playing.
As I always try to with my tips guides, there will be no spoilers in this guide, so read ahead if you’re wanting to go in blind. I encourage it!
If you’re a Devil May Cry vet or even a newcomer to the series, you’ll no doubt find the unique combat style of V to be a little bit jarring at first. He’s a character who doesn’t make direct contact with his enemies and because of that you’ll rely on summoned demon pets to do most of your bidding.
Unfortunately, out of the gate, they’re rather weak and prone to being “stalemated” which means they’ll basically be knocked out by enemies at pretty much any moment.
These abilities not only give your pets more health before they’re stalemated, they’ll also be out of the action for less time if they are stalemated, making them invaluable skills that you should look into investing in first when you first gain control of V.
In Devil May Cry 5, Nero has eight Devil Breakers to play around with (twelve if you got the Deluxe Edition) and they all have different features. It’s understandable if you don’t want to break any so as to save them, but we really recommend that you do. The reason being that it’s more than worth your while to try them all out individually and work out which ones work for you.
Many modern action games these days have a dedicated dodge button, which definitely makes things easier but not as dynamic as a game like Devil May Cry. In Devil May Cry 5 there are heaps of different ways to dodge, many of which are unique to the character you’re playing. That being said, it’s very important to learn the best way to dodge for each character in order to make it through levels unscathed.
Every character has a dodge roll attack which is executed by pressing X or A, along with a direction on your controller while locked on to an enemy. Your character will roll in that direction and usually, if timed right, avoid damage. Similarly, the moment you jump normally is usually a point where you can’t be damage either, so get used to jumping to dodge too.
Nero has access to a few different dodging techniques – you can use the Jockey ability from his Gerbera Devil Breaker to avoid damage, though if you get hit during this the breaker will break so be cautious! Nero can also dodge most attacks whenever he taunts in the air (which is super handy). V is a little bit simpler – he can use Griffon or Shadow to dodge the same way as a dodge roll would work, but be warned as it will remove those pets from whatever attack they’re initiating.
I could write about skills and techniques all day, but hopefully this one is enough to get you started.
This is one of the handiest ways to improve your combos and subsequently your scores. It’s a technique that has existed in every Devil May Cry game, though one that is rarely explained to the player. So what is it?
Jump Cancelling is basically when you use an enemy in order to cancel whatever move you’re doing so that you can begin another one. Why would this be handy? Simple! Imagine you have a combo that only is three hits and then it ends. If just after that combo is finished, you jump off an enemy, you’ll have another opportunity to do the same combo, essentially resetting your “allowance”.
Be sure to purchase Enemy Step to pull this off, it’s an absolutely essential skill that no Devil May Cry player should be without. I’d recommend it more for Dante and Nero than V, since V doesn’t get as up close and persona as the other characters do.
Devil May Cry is designed to be played over and over, and it really doesn’t change much with Devil May Cry 5. The game is split into missions that can be completed at varying times depending on which one you’re up to, but have you ever gone back to try a mission again? Most players first runs will be abysmal or not up to their standards, but Devil May Cry is designed to be played over and over again. Not only will you know everything about the level going in, you’ll also have an opportunity to do better and work towards that coveted S-Rank.
One thing I did notice when playing Devil May Cry 5 is that the pool of Red Orbs you earn are not character specific. So if you earn thousands of Orbs with Nero there’s nothing to stop you with saving them all and spending them on V instead. This is what I mean by a shared pool – but I implore you – it’s not worth saving your orbs so you can power up Dante when you play as him later in the game.
The reason I say this is because it’s worth spending and investing your orbs in the character you’re playing as now because then you’re much more likely to get better rankings if you have a wider range of abilities to play around with. Better rankings, as discussed above, means better payouts.