Devil May Cry 4 – Bloody Palace

Devil May Cry 4 - Bloody Palace guide
Version 1.00 by Joshua Vaughn, a.k.a. Mikadok on GameFAQs/GameSpot and
I Kei I on Gaia Online and Shoryuken.com

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Copyright info
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Copyright 2008 Joshua Vaughn

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by 
their respective trademark and copyright holders.

This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise 
distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this 
guide on any other website or as a part of any public display is 
strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright.

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Why'd you make this guide?
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Ever since hitting the top U.S spot on the 360 leaderboards (though I 
doubt that will be held for much longer), I have been getting a lot of 
questions about aspects of the Bloody Palace, as well as the game in 
general. I'm hoping this guide will help alleviate some of those 
queries.

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What IS the Bloody Palace?
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For anyone unfamiliar, the Bloody Palace is Devil May Cry 4's 
equivalent to a survival mode. You fight and fight and fight until you 
can't fight anymore, for one reason or another. Originating in Devil 
May Cry 2, the Bloody Palace made its return in the Special Edition of 
3, and here again in Devil May Cry 4, albeit with a few changes to 
offset it from the previous Palace incarnations.


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What makes it different?
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Whereas before, you simply fought until you died or cleared the entire 
Palace, now, you have a set time limit that you must adhere to which 
adds to the already grinding fact that should you die, it's game over, 
for running out of time yields the same result. You start out with a 
meager two minutes worth of time, but destroying enemies gets you even 
more time to work with. Doing it with style will net you that much more 
time. Detailed farther below are the time bonuses that you get from 
killing certain enemies, as well as how many spare seconds a style 
bonus will get you.

Clearing stages will net you time bonuses as well. You'll get anywhere 
from 10 to 15 seconds worth of bonus time, and that amount will double 
if you clear up the stage without taking damage.

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Stages of the Bloody Palace
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In this incarnation of the Bloody Palace, there are 101 stages. As 
compared to the 9999 stages in the earlier games, to most, this would 
seem to be quite a relief, but it's leveled out by the fact that the 
enemies become much more tenacious to deal with, and bosses are thrown 
into the mix every twenty stages. Here are the stages and the enemies 
therein, in order from 1 to 101.
 
1 - Scarecrow x 3  
2 - Scarecrow x 4  
3 - Scarecrow x 6  
4 - Frost x 2 
5 - Bianco Angelo x2  
6 - Mephisto x 3  
7 - Gladius x 6  
8 - Chimera Seed x 9  
9 - Chimera Seed x 9, Scarecrow x3  
10 - Scarecrow x 12  
11 - Assault x 2  
12 - Mega Scarecrow x2  
13 - Assault x2, Bianco Angelo x2  
14 - Faust x1 
15 - Bianco Angelo x2, Alto Angelo x1  
16 - Scarecrow x6, Mega Scarecrow x1  
17 - Alto Angelo x2  
18 - Blitz x1  
19 - Basilisk x4  
20 - Berial (Boss)  
21 - Mephisto x2, Frost x1  
22 - Frost x2, Faust x1  
23 - Assault x3, Frost x2  
24 - Assault x 3, Basilisk x 4  
25 - Assault x3, Blitz x1  
26 - Blitz x1, Basilisk x4  
27 - Frost x2, Bianco Angelo x2  
28 - Assault x2, Gladius x8  
29 - Blitz x1, Gladius x5  
30 - Frost x4, Assault x6, Blitz x1  
31 - Chimera Seed x6, Mephisto x3  
32 - Scarecrow x3, Faust x1  
33 - Mephisto x2, Mega Scarecrow x1  
34 - Mephisto x6  
35 - Mephisto x3, Frost x1  
36 - Scarecrow x2, Faust x1  
37 - Mephisto x2, Assault x3  
38 - Mephisto x2, Blitz x1  
39 - Chimera Seed x9, Faust x1  
40 - Bael (Boss)  
41 - Chimera Seed x9  
42 - Chimera x5, Chimera Seed x5  
43 - Chimera x4  
44 - Chimera Seed x6, Gladius x6  
45 - Chimera x2, Blitz x1  
46 - Basilisk x2, Chimera Seed x4  
47 - Chimera Seed x5, Bianco Angelo x2, Alto Angelo x1  
48 - Scarecrow x1, Chimera Seed x6  
49 - Chimera x3, Faust x1  
50 - Scarecrow x6, Chimera Seed x12, Assault x4  
51 - Scarecrow x6  
52 - Scarecrow x3, Gladius x8  
53 - Mega Scarecrow x3, Frost x2  
54 - Scarecrow x5, Alto Angelo x1  
55 - Mega Scarecrow x1, Faust x1  
56 - Mega Scarecrow x1, Alto Angelo x2  
57 - Scarecrow x4, Mephisto x3  
58 - Mega Scarecrow x1, Basilisk x5  
59 - Chimera x2, Mega Scarecrow x1, Chimera Seed x4  
60 - Echidna (Boss)  
61 - Bianco Angelo x4  
62 - Cutlass x2, Bianco Angelo x3  
63 - Blitz x1, Bianco Angelo x2  
64 - Bianco Angelo x1, Gladius x6  
65 - Bianco Angelo x7, Alto Angelo x1  
66 - Alto Angelo x1, Basilisk x4  
67 - Blitz x1, Alto Angelo x2  
68 - Bianco Angelo x2, Scarecrow x6  
69 - Alto Angelo x1, Frost x2  
70 - Bianco Angelo x10, Alto Angelo x2  
71 - Gladius x16  
72 - Mega Scarecrow x1, Gladius x9  
73 - Gladius x8, Frost x1  
74 - Cutlass x2, Basilisk x4  
75 - Alto Angelo x1, Cutlass x3  
76 - Cutlass x4, Gladius x8  
77 - Basilisk x10  
78 - Frost x2, Basilisk x4  
79 - Cutlass x2, Basilisk x2, Gladius x4  
80 - Angelo Credo (Boss)  
81 - Mega Scarecrow x1, Scarecrow x5  
82 - Mephisto x4, Faust x1  
83 - Frost x3  
84 - Chimera x4, Chimera Seed x10  
85 - Blitz x2, Chimera Seed x3  
86 - Bianco Angelo x2, Alto Angelo x1  
87 - Basilisk x4, Gladius x7  
88 - Cutlass x3, Bianco Angelo x2  
89 - Mega Scarecrow x3, Blitz x1  
90 - Scarecrow x20, Mega scarecrow x3, Chimera Seed x3  
91 - Faust x3  
92 - Alto Angelo x3, Bianco Angelo x4  
93 - Assault x8  
94 - Chimera x3, Chimera Seed x6, Bianco Angelo x2  
95 - Basilisk x16, Chimera Seed x4  
96 - Gladius x8, Cutlass x3, Bianco Angelo x3  
97 - Mephisto x6, Mega Scarecrow x2  
98 - Chimera x4, Chimera Seed x3  
99 - Alto Angelo x2, Bianco Angelo x44  
100 - Angelo Agnus (Boss)  
101 - Dante (Boss)  

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Monsters and time bonuses granted
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NOTE: This part was partially borrowed from Excruciatix's guide and 
expanded upon somewhat, so credit goes to them.

Scarecrow                   +5 Seconds
Frost                      +10 Seconds
Bianco Angelo              +10 seconds 
Mephisto                   +10 seconds
Gladius                     +2 seconds
Chimera (Un-attached)       +2 Seconds
Chimera (Attached)         +XX Seconds
Assault                    +10 seconds
Mega Scarecrow             +15 Seconds
Faust                      +20 seconds
Alto Angelo                +20 seconds
Basilisk                    +5 seconds
Cutlass                    +XX seconds
Blitz                      +30 seconds

As you can see, destroying enemies quickly is paramount to having 
enough time to do what you have to do. In the case of Boss encounters, 
you will be given a 2:00 bonus at the beginning of the fight. Defeating 
them without being damaged will grant you an entire minute of bonus 
time.

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"A mode where style is key."
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When the game tells you this before entering the Bloody Palace, pay 
attention ecause it is telling the truth. Yes, as you may have 
surmised, time is indeed of the essence, so killing your enemies 
quickly and in the most efficient way possible is important. Getting a 
high style ranking while doing so, however, will help you that much 
more, since killing an enemy while having a high style ranking will get 
you even MORE time from them than usual.

Let's say that you kill off a Blitz. Under normal circumstances, it 
will give you a 30 second bonus of time. Manage to take it out before 
it can destroy itself, however, getting you a SSS rank in the process, 
and your bonus will increase to 42 seconds. Keep your style as 
consistently high as possible while killing enemies as quickly as you 
can.

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Why use Nero?
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Right off the bat, no matter who you decide to use, be sure to come 
into the Bloody Palace with every one of your skills intact, all of 
your health, and a full Devil Trigger gauge, the DT gauge being the 
most important, since outside of bosses and certain enemies dropping 
health, using the Devil Trigger will be your only way to recover 
health. You also will want the extra strength to destroy anything and 
everything you can as quickly as possible.

Of course, when it comes to character preference, using Nero shows it's 
benefits as you go through the game itself. His attacks are powerful 
with wide range and he can strike rapidly enough while moving quite a 
distance to avoid enemy attacks while doing so. Then there's the Devil 
Bringer. This in itself is VERY important to keep in mind, since there 
are enemies that are bound to be stubborn enough not to be staggered by 
multiple sword strikes. This will knock them off balance, if they can 
be snatched up, so you can launch them easily. Also, using the Buster 
on certain enemies makes a bit of a shockwave when they get slammed to 
the ground that off-balances the other enemies. Use that to your 
advantage.

The name of the game with Nero is crowd control. Use the EX versions of 
his moves to pile enemies, then continue your assault. Never let up on 
a group of enemies you manage to pin down. Also, another nice thing to 
keep in mind about Nero is Charge Shot 3. This thing is EXTREMELY 
potent. The shot itself does great damage on most enemies, then an 
explosion follows for even MORE damage. So long as you are able, keep 
this charged while fighting so you can nail an unsuspecting enemy, or 
any that hopes to sneak up on your back or side.

Finally, a very useful thing to know about Nero is that his Devil 
Trigger works much like a Burst from the Guilty Gear series. So long as 
you aren't activating it during an attack in a combo or a Buster, the 
transformation grants you a moment of invincibility, and it will also 
damage any enemies nearby. It will even launch some of them. Use it to 
save you from a few tight spots.

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Random tidbits to keep in mind
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First of all, as in past DMC games, jumping gives you frames of 
invincibility. Keep this in mind. If you're grounded and in the middle 
of a move that you know that you can jump cancel while the enemy is 
doing something that you know will put serious hurt on you, like Berial 
swinging his sword down, for example, jump away from it. This will only 
work while grounded, however; you do not get any invinicibility from an 
Air Hike.

Secondly, when fighting multiple enemies that either stay grounded or 
close to the ground, the two best things to do are to either stay 
airborne so that other enemies wont have much of an opportunity to 
attack you, or to focus on one enemy and one enemy only, to the poit 
that that enemy is the only one on the screen, since enemies that are 
off-screen WILL NOT attack you. They will instead spend their time 
getting back into your line of view before doing so.

Finally, before going into any level, take a moment to rev your Red 
Queen on up to Level 3. Kicking off each fight with a level 3 Exceed 
move will help it end that much more quickly.

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Dealing with normal enemies
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I'm pretty certain that if you've got this mode unlocked, normal 
Scarecrows are the least of your worries, so I'll omit them.

Frost - Keep the Frost off-balance as best you can. Snatch him often 
and use EX moves whenever you need to strike and knock down, or knock 
him out of a move animation. At any point you see a Frost go airborne, 
snatch him down from the air immediately, or move out of the way. Be 
careful, because in the later stages, they will begin to flip out of 
your Snatch/combo attempts, and they'll also dodge your Snatch attempts 
while closing the gap on you. Whent hey get to being this way, use EX 
attacks to knock their health down. After that, they won't be as 
certain to pull away from your attacks.

Bianco Angelo - Make these guys guard, then get behind them and you 
have a free Buster. Not too difficult to deal with, but be careful when 
there are more than one of them, or worse yet, if an Alto Angelo is 
around. They will sometimes fight other enemies as well, so long as 
they aren't Angelos, but you're better off taking care of everything 
yourself.

Alto Angelo - These guys are worrisome. They tend to be difficult to 
staggerwith anything less than an EX strike or a Charge Shot 3, and 
worse yet, if they don't come with Bianco Angelos, who will go through 
Hell and high water to protect them, they'll often be with OTHER Alto 
Angelos, or other enemies altogether. Like the Bianco Angelos, they'll 
fight other enemies, but letting them do so isn't worth the trouble and 
time.

Mephisto - A point blank Charge Shot 3 will damage their cloaks 
immensely. Snatch them after this, and they'll be out of their cloaks. 
Wail on them as the explosion does its damage and you can take them out 
no problem.

Faust - Basically an amped up version of a Mephisto, it will take more 
than one Charge Shot 3 to take these guys out of their cloaks, but once 
you do, a good DT combo will take care of them quickly. The Showdown DT 
attack will often take mass amounts of health from them, if not take 
them down completely, once they're cloak-less.

Gladius - These things are more of an annoyance than most enemies, 
simply because they tend to come in large numbers, but shooting them 
with charge shots when they start to spin will do the most damage to 
them (I've seen some of them die outright from this). Take them down 
quickly, since in the Bloody Palace, they will come to yield Devil 
Trigger orbs.

Chimera Seed - Another enemy type that should be taken out quickly, but 
for different reasons, those being because Chimera Seeds grant you 
health, and because you will often see many Chimera Seeds come paired 
with Assaults or Scarecrows, each of which it can and will infect if 
left unchecked, so kill them off quickly. Your Buster is an instant 
kill of them, Devil Trigger or not.

Assault - They will often come in groups of two, three or more. Strike 
them with EX Streak to knock them over, then jump and snatch them to 
you. Combo them from there, but be careful in the later stages, because 
like the Frost, these guys will recover in midair from your 
Snatch/combos attempts. If they start to guard, a couple of EX strikes 
will break their shields.

Assault/Scarecrow (infected) - You basically deal with these the same 
way that you would the normal varieties of Assaults and Scarecrows. 
Don't throw caution to the wind, however; they'll start to swing their 
tails about at intervals. This will anger most, because it can destroy 
a great combo streak you might have going if you're being too 
offensive. A charge shot will often stop them from flapping their tails 
about, though.

Basilisk - These will probably be one of the most annoying enemies for 
a lot of people. They aren't hard to kill, but they often come in large 
numbers, and the accuracy with which they fire their projectiles is 
scary at times.  EX Streaks will close the gap easily, and you can use 
them to pressure them and take them down quickly.

Cutlass - The Cutlass can be pretty evil, if you're prone to doing near 
stationary combos on some other enemy. If you keep moving, however, 
them hitting you shouldn't be a worry. When you have the chance, a 
Charge Shot will stun them long enough for you to hit them with a few 
sword strikes to pull them from underground. Either way, so long as you 
get them out of the ground, they aren't a threat.

Mega Scarecrow - If anyone EVER tells you that the Mega Scarecrow is 
NOT a threat, do NOT believe them. Sure, so long as you don't let them 
do much of anything, there isn't much to them, but give them a spare 
moment, and they have quite the arsenal of moves to use, the most 
terrifying being one where the Mega Scarecrow will roll towards you, 
shielded by its blade. To this moment, I've yet to see anything outside 
of a Charge Shot or Devil Triggering at the last moment knock them out 
of this move, and if it hits you, it can cause massive damage. These 
often must take priority, unless, of course, they are being aided by...

Blitz - ...these guys. The Blitz are, by far, the biggest threat in the 
Bloody Palace. Some may not have much of a problem dealing with one of 
them, but the Bloody Palace often likes to throw these guys at you with 
other enemies...and in one stage, you even have to fight two of them at 
the same time.

I personally find dealing with a Blitz easier with Dante, thanks to the 
Royal Guard style, but this is covering Nero, so my strategy for 
dealing with a Blitz normally goes as follows: Start out by hitting the 
Blitz with a POINT BLANK level 3 Charge Shot. If the explosion hits and 
doesn't take the electricity off right away, which it often does, then 
the next charge shot/explosion will do so without a doubt. After the 
electricity is gone, hurry to the Blitz and Buster him. During this, 
have the Blue Rose charging, turn on your DT, run up as it's recovering 
and Buster it again. By this time, your Charge Shot should be ready 
again. As the Blitz is trying to flip back to his feet, let him have 
that charge shot. It'll knock him onto his back, and the summoned 
swords will do even more damage. Streak to catch up to him while 
charging your gun, then Buster him once more. This will leave him 
within an inch of his life, and that level 3 Charge Shot that you 
should now be holding should be more than enough to kill him before he 
can start his little suicide run, netting you a SSS ranking.

Another way that is even faster, though much more risky, is to Devil 
Trigger as soon as you enter a stage with the Blitz, or as it's 
appearing. Fire off a charged Maximum Bet, but be quick about doing so. 
If the first doesn't take the lightning off entirely, fire off one 
more, if you have time enough before it gets on the move. Once the 
lightning is gone, turn off your DT, then run right up next to him and 
DT again. This will launch him into the air. Start your Showdown DT 
attack as he's recovering, and it should take his health down quite a 
bit. Buster him before he can gather himself to drop his health down 
more. By the time he starts to glow, a Charge Shot or two should be 
sufficient enough to finish him off.

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Dealing with bosses
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Berial - He's way more fierce this time around, and worse yet, there 
aren't any houses around to help heal you. I've heard from many people 
that they make it to Berial and die. If you have Charge Shot 3 with 
Nero, this is where you can see its potency best. If you have plenty of 
time, you can go the safe route and avoid Berial's attacks while 
plugging lots of level 3 Charge Shots into him. They will stagger him 
and stop him from doing anything involving his sword, plus doing Charge 
Shots on him repeatedly DOES NOT decrease your Style meter. Once you 
figure his fighting style out, being offensive against him isn't as 
risky as you might think, so long as you have meter to Devil Trigger 
and are decent enough with knowing when you can cancel combos with 
jumps, since when you DT or jump, you gain a bit of invinicbility in 
either case. Once you learn the timing between your Charge Shots and 
the explosions that occur thereafter, you can mix in Nero's Showdown DT 
attack every now and then, which takes good amounts of health from 
Berial, not to mention the fact that it will dissipate his flames that 
much more quickly.

Bael - This boss, to me, at least, isn't hard in the least. When he 
lunges to ty to chew on you, double jump out of the way. When he 
launches the ice spikes that come crashing down, the shadows will give 
away where they will fall, so avoid them accordingly. When fighting 
him, stay on his side as often as possible while you attack and charge 
your gun so that he'll have to spend most of his time trying to turn 
towards you and attack. When he sends in the Rusalikas (the glowing 
blue female "antennae" or what have you), stay airborne and keep going 
for a snatch. When you eventually catch them, Buster them down. This 
will either hasten their departure or stun whichever one you're 
slamming that much more quickly so you can pull Bael back out to wail 
on him. Lastly, whenever you Buster Bael at all, be sure you're in DT 
state so you do the most damage possible.

Echidna - She will almost always begin the battle by swinging her body 
about the battlefield in a sweeping motion to smack you, so jump 
towards her as you approach. Wail on her with aerial combos while she 
holds herself above ground while being careful to move away if you see 
her try to swing her whip-like head at you. When she plants herself 
into the ground, always make sure you attack her from the other side, 
since she will be prone to calling her tentacle-like appendages up 
through the ground to try to hit you. Completely ignore any Chimera 
Seeds she summons unless you NEED the health, and focus only on her. 
When she powers up near the end and charges at you without the dragon-
like head surrounding her, you can hitch a ride by nailing her with a 
Buster with good timing to jam your sword into her and rev away. Mind 
her head when you're in close, keep away from the tentacles and shoot 
any projectiles she fires at you, and you'll do fine.

Angelo Credo - A fun boss to fight, in my opinion, but not necessarily 
hard. When he's walking towards you, attack him. It may sound crazy, 
knowing that all he'll do is guard the attack, but trust me when I say 
that this is what you want, for two reasons, those being that guarding 
attacks weakens Credo's shield, and because Credo will often 
counterattack immediately after guarding a sword strike from you, often 
with a couple of sword strikes, followed by an attack from the air. 
After Credo misses this, he is left WIDE OPEN to an attack. Streak in, 
then follow up with a Buster to do even more damage and repeat until 
he's defeated. Just be mindful of any spears or other projetiles he 
throws. Also, in the instances where he does his aerial slash that 
leaves a swath in the ground twice in a row, Air Hiking, then firing 
some Blue Rose shots will usually help you avoid this. When he calls 
his "summoned swords" around you, simply turning on your Devil Trigger 
will rid you of those before they can attack you.

Angelo Agnus - This fight can be the most annoying, and if you aren't 
careful, it can be the end of your Bloody Palace run. To deal with 
Agnus, keep an offense going on him at all times. If he summons 
anything, take care of it quickly, and go right back to beating on him. 
If you hear him say anything along the lines of "TIME TO DIE!" or "Your 
strength...!!", stop him at ALL costs, because if you don't, you're in 
for some serious hurt, and he'll put salt in the wound by recovering 
his own health simultaneously in the case of the latter attack. When he 
does the attack where he spins like a top while holding the two Cutlass 
enemies, avoid it by getting as much distance as possible, then Air 
Hiking as high as you can while firing off the Blue Rose. Make sure to 
avoid Agnus' more devastating attacks, keep up your offense, and you 
should drop him soon. Oh, and, goes without saying, but be sure you're 
in DT mode when you Buster him. ^_^

Dante - Most people will more likely than not die when they come to 
fight Dante, and with good reason. Dante is a force to be reckoned 
with...if you approach him the wrong way, that is. There are two ways to 
go about beating him without much trouble. One, as most people know, is 
to keep firing your gun as you approach him, then Buster him when you 
get in range. The other, and the most safe way I find, is to keep 
charging your gun to Level 3, then blast Dante when he leaves himself 
open. Your best times to let your Charge Shot go are as follows...

-	The moment he touches the ground when missing a Helm Splitter or 
aerial kick from the Gilgamesh gauntlets. Any later, and he'll 
simply jump or roll out of the way.
-	When he pulls out Lucifer and starts swinging it about. When he 
jumps into the air to set a few phantom swords, shoot him down.
-	If he starts a combo with Rebellion and starts the Million Stab, 
he's vulnerable if you catch him before the end of that 
animation.
-	If he does the lightning kick combo with the Gilgamesh gauntlets, 
he's open there as well.
-	When he pulls out Pandora to try to form it into the laser 
cannon.
-	When he puts down Pandora to open it up to use Omen. (!)

When Dante tries to use Omen, you MUST STOP HIM. A Charge Shot, any 
level, is sufficient enough to do so. If you don't, and your health 
isn't high enough (say, nearly full), wave byebye to your entire Bloody 
Palace run.

If he ever turns on his Royal Guard style, don't fret. This is actually 
a good thing, because he will attempt to block anything and everything 
you do, including your Devil Bringer, which he CANNOT block against. 
Turn on your Devil Trigger, run right in his face and Buster him. Just 
be sure to regain any distance you had between you and him afer the 
DT'd Buster, or he'll be bound to ruin your Stylish ranking with a 
random shotgun blast or something else. 

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Dealing with troublesome stages
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The most important thing to bear in mind is that once you make it to 
level 81, all the enemies from there on out, with the exception of the 
bosses, will start to Devil Trigger, making them harder to kill, which 
means that you will have to kill them off that much more quickly if you 
hope you clear them out without much of a hassle.

Most people tend to have the most problems out of stages where there is 
a Blitz with other enemies about. In these occasions, oftentimes, the 
enemies that are around can be snatched in, so go airborne and Split 
them to the ground after one or two strikes. If you don't, the Blitz is 
liable to appear above the both of you and smack you out of the sky. If 
you try to take out the enemies while grounded, the Blitz won't waste 
time getting in close to you to either come back into view or to try to 
attack you, resulting in your sword strikes hitting it as well, causing 
you to take unnecessary damage. Use your DT to speed up the 
annihilation of the other enemies so that the Blitz is all that stands 
between you and the next level, then deal with him accordingly.

Levels with lots of Basilisks, Gladius enemies or Cutlass enemies are 
also troublesome. Keep as many of them off of the screen at one time to 
keep yourself from being attacked from multiple angles, especially in 
the case of the Basilisks.

Finally, levels that have multiple Bianco and Alto Angelos spell doom 
for a lot of people that have contacted me. There are three ways to go 
about this. You can either take out the Alto Angelos first so that the 
Bianco Angelos aren't so vicious, you can take out all the Bianco 
Angelos in the area except two so that the Alto Angelo will have a 
higher probability of having them help him launch the huge energy 
attack that you can deflect back at them, or you can be patient and 
wait, and the Alto Angelos will eventually order the Bianco Angelos to 
pull a suicide strike, which you can dodge with a couple jumps. This, 
of course, is not recommended if you plan on getting the highest score 
possible, since the number of enemies you kill counts towards you 
score.

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Now, we'll cover dealing with the nuances of the Bloody Palace with 
Dante.

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Why use Dante?
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Dante, as you may likely know by now, whether by experience using him 
or facing him, is extremely versatile. There isn't a single situation 
that he can't push past given the right style and weapon selections. He 
even has a far easier time with most enemies than Nero does, due to the 
strength of the red-clad Devil Hunter. His attacks are more 
straightfoward than Nero's (quite literally in most cases), but they 
are powerful nonetheless, and knowing which ones to use and when to use 
them are key to making good time when using Dante within the Bloody 
Palace. Styles and their nuances will be explained further below. Some 
of the things to keep in mind with Dante are rather obvious, yes, but 
they are also things that are bound to slip some players' minds as they 
fight their way through the Palace.

First of all, it is imperative to note that many of Dante's moves and 
combos either end with him being quite stationary, or they won't kill 
the enemy at all until the very last hit, so you always want to be wary 
of the enemies' health as you're attacking, as well as the other 
enemies around you, so you aren't interrupted in mid-attack.

Second, always use the style best suited to the situation. If you find 
yourself facing a large group of enemies, for example, like a gaggle of 
Scarecrows or Chimera Seeds, it would not be ill-advised to switch to 
DarkSlayer style and utilize the Dimension Slash to damage many of them 
at once, or if you're carrying a full Disaster gauge with Pandora, you 
can switch to Gunslinger and use Omen to kill everything in the room 
instantly.

Third, the only guns that are recommended are his Coyote shotgun and 
Pandora. The damage dealt by Ebony & Ivory, sadly, is far too miniscule 
in comparison, and using them will do nothing more than whittle away 
precious seconds of your time.

Finally, Dante's Devil Trigger transformation, unlike Nero's DOES NOT 
push the enemy back in the slightest. It does, however, give Dante a 
form of Super Armor, allowing him to take either multiple hits or one 
big hit before being staggered or knocked back. If you absolutely MUST 
finish a combo that you're doing and you're about to be hit, turn on 
your DT and you can do so unhindered.

= = = =
Styles
= = = =

Trickster - Your all-purpose evasion and mobility style. This is best 
used in situations when your enemies are extremely mobile, or if 
they're about to do something quite painful to you so you can avoid it. 
Good for closing the gap quickly between you and a far away enemy as 
well.

Gunslinger - You should only shift into Gunslinger mode when you have 
to deal with certain situations. Most of the time, these situations 
entail you using a form of the Pandora for some reason or another.

-	Using Omen when facing a Faust or Mephisto, regardless of how 
much of the Disaster gauge is filled, will dissipate their cloaks 
completely. It will also knock the electricity right off of a 
Blitz.
-	Using the aerial version of Fireworks with the Coyote is another 
way to rid the Fausts and Mephistos of their cloaks, and doing so 
this way gives you the added advantage of being able to recover 
quickly enough to do more damage, possibly killing them before 
they can recover.
-	Finally, using Omen with a full Disaster gauge is enough to kill 
off a room full of small fry enemies like Chimera Seeds or 
Scarecrows instantaneously.

Royal Guard - Your main defensive style, of course. This is only 
recommended if you'reeither A) exceptionally good with Royal Blocking, 
or B) Against a Blitz. As most know, you can cancel an attack with a 
Royal Guard. Utilizing this, with good timing of course, you can strike 
a Blitz with an attack, then Royal Block the aftershock that comes up 
to keep yourself from being damaged. Doing this repeatedly will allow 
you to take the electricity off of a Blitz in mere seconds, afterwhich 
you can follow up with a couple Distorted Real Impact attacks 
(elaborated upon below) to drop his health to the point where a mere 
bullet can destroy him.

Outside of dealing with the Blitz, however, building the Royal Guard 
gauge has its benefits. A Royal Release on a boss, for example, can 
take anywhere from 40 to 60% percent of its health. Again, relying on 
this is only recommended for those that have good timing with Royal 
Blocking in the first place.

Swordmaster - Your all-out assault style. This style gives you moves 
that you can use to deal with enemies either extremely quickly with 
straight-to-the-point killing strikes (that yield few style points over 
time), or long, drawn out stylish combos. There are a few moves that 
are recommended in this style in particular.

-	Drive is a solid move to use when you've got some distance 
between you and enemies that are easily launched, so long as 
they're in somewhat of a line.
-	The Beast Uppercut is your easiest and most effective launcher. 
Use this to set up for...
-	...the Real Impact. This is a monster of a move, and given the 
proper execution, can be made all the more deadly.

It's also worth mentioning that the Lucifer has its uses from time to 
time with this style. Use Bondage or Discipline to put multiple phantom 
swords into enemies, then leave them be while you do more damage to 
other enemies in the area. The swords will more often than not stagger 
them as they attempt to advance on you.

DarkSlayer - This is an extremely underrated style for Dante by some, 
simply because it's a toned down version of Vergil's style from the 
Special Edition of 3. The DarkSlayer style, though, is most definitely 
an integral part to advancing with Dante, the most prominent reason 
being the Dimension Slash moves that it has. This attacks a wide area 
with one hard hit that knocks enemies back. Normally, a Stinger will 
put an enemy within perfect distance for the far version of the 
Dimension Slash to hit an enemy.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Crowd Control methods with Dante
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

As implored by the above section for Nero, crowd control is a very 
important aspect of the Bloody Palace overall. Knowing what to do to 
gain a measure of crowd control with Dante is essential to clearing 
stages that much more efficiently. Some crowd control techniques for 
Dante include...

- Omen (Of course. :P)
- Dimension Slash
- PF594: Argument (with at least half of the Disaster gauge full.)

There are, of course, other methods for keeping hordes of enemies under 
your thumb. Use them at the proper moments to make your life that much 
easier.

= = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Distorted" Real Impact
= = = = = = = = = = = = =

On its own, the Real Impact is a deadly move that can take out most any 
normal enemy with a single use. There s a "trick", however, that will 
up the strength of the Real Impact, making it that much more potent.

Dubbed by players the "Distorted Real Impact" (hereafter referred to as 
"DRI"), this move can turn fight that would otherwise last minutes into 
a seconds long affair. To do a DRI, initiate a Real Impact attack. As 
the first hit connects, turn on your Devil Trigger. This will kickstart 
a flash that will give you an extra hit in the move. When you get to 
the top of your leap with the attack, turn off your Devil Trigger and 
it will add one more hit to the attack. Just one of these is enough to 
cripple Berial's flame and take nearly 35-40% of his health away, to 
give a solid example of the strength of this move, so don't be shy 
about utilizing it.

There's word that other moves can be distorted to increase the strength 
as well, such as the end of the Dance Macabre, but I have yet to test 
this out myself.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Dealing with normal enemies
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

In each enemy section with Dante, I will tell my most recommended 
methods of dealing with enemies as I did before with Nero, only in this 
section, you will see notes every so often called Stylish Kills; these 
are alternate ways to deal with these enemies specifically in DMD mode 
(which is good to know, considering the enemies are at that difficulty 
after level 80), and were submitted by Septimus Prime from 
Shoryuken.com.

Scarecrow - Again, normal Scarecrows should be the least of your 
worries. However, to rid yourself of these quickly, a Beast Uppercut 
followed by a Real Impact will take them out.

((Stylish Kill: Scarecrow - These can be a problem when they DT, so 
here's a way to take them out quickly. Rebellion, Swordmaster. Do two 
Stingers in a row, then slash, slash, launch (hold), three aerial rave 
slashes, Dark Slayer, two Yamato slashes. If the scarecrow isn't dead 
by then, come down with a Rebellion slash, and then do two more 
slashes.))

Frost - A Beast Uppercut while DT'd will launch them. After this, a 
Real Impact will finish them off. If you're facing Frosts on higher 
levels, use a DRI instead of a normal Real Impact.

Bianco Angelo - Like with Nero, if you can get behind them, dealing 
with them is infinitely easier. Something to keep in the back of your 
mind, however, is if they decide to get defensive and guard everything 
that you do, switching to DarkSlayer and repeating the grounded Yamato 
combo will let you keep up an offense that they cn't fight against. It 
will break their shields and you can keep up the assault from there.

Alto Angelo - Dealt with in a fanshion similar to that of the Bianco 
Angelos. Just stick to it to make it hard as possible for it to 
counterattack. If you break its shield, launch it with a Beast 
Uppercut, then use a DRI.

Mehpisto - There are two ways to drop the cloaks of Mephistos with 
Dante quickly, those being using Fireworks with the Coyote and using 
Omen. Using the Coyote is more recommended, since doing so will leave 
you with more time to do the damage necessary to destroy it. If there 
are multiple Mephistos, though, use Omen so you can focus on one 
without worry of the others creeping up on you.

Faust - Deal with their cloaks the same way you would the Mephistos' 
cloaks. After their cloaks are gone, hit them with a DRI and they're 
dead.

Gladius - Trickster+Coyote is a good combination for dealing with 
these. The shotgun will knock them out of the air immediately. Dash or 
teleport to catch up to their prone forms quickly, then dispose of them 
as you wish. Another good method, though costly, is to use Argument 
form of Pandora. With at least half your Disaster guage full, fire off 
a missile barrage, but DO NOT lock on to anything. This will make the 
missiles attack whatever they come close to instead of focusing on a 
single target and converging there.

Chimera Seed - You can deal with these easily, with repeated Stingers, 
Pandora, the Coyote...however you choose to do it, do it quickly -- since 
Dante lacks the Devil Bringer, taking them down out when they come to 
bum rush you can be a chore.

Assault - If you've played Devil May Cry 1, facing these down with 
Dante should give you a sense of deja vu. Helm Splitters and Stingers 
are your best friends against these things. Just be wary if any burrow 
underground.

Assault/Scarecrow (infected) - Again, deal with these the same way you 
would deal with the normal versions of them. Just don't get too happy 
with your offense. If you do, you'll pay for it dearly when their 
"tails" start flapping about. The worst thing to do is to Stinger them 
while DT'd. Do so if you're curious, and suffer an extremely quick 
demise.

((Stylish Kill: Chimera Scarecrow: (I think this is how it goes) Use a 
charged shotgun blast for knockdown, then jump kick in, punch, punch, 
point-blank shotgun. Kick-13 probably works too. 
Chimera Assault: Start with Coyote-A, Gilgamesh, Dark Slayer. Do one 
point-blank charge shot for knock down, jump kick, Kick-13, 3-slash 
Yamato combo. That's it. If they start flailing, jump and gun for some 
extra damage.))

Basilisk - Like the Gladius, Trickster+Coyote is your best bet here. 
These things stay on the move far more often, so you'll have to keep 
moving in order to immobilze them with the Coyote long enough to start 
impaling them with the Stinger until they die.

Cutlass - Dealing with these with Dante can either be extremely easy or 
a chore, depending on whether or not you have enough Devil Trigger to 
do what is necessary to take them down. Shotgun blasts will slow them 
down enough for you to strike them with a DT'd Stinger, which should 
drag them right out of the ground. A Real Impact will take them out 
right away once they're out.

Mega Scarecrow - Launch these with a Beast Uppercut, then finish them 
off with a DRI to end them quickly. Just be wary of the falling blade 
when they go. If you're unlucky enough to face a DT'd one, refer to 
Septimus' strat, which consists of hitting it with a Stinger, then a 
full Dance Macabre, foolwed by a DRI.

Blitz - There are quite a few ways to deal with a Blitz with Dante, 
some time consuiming, yet safe, and others far less strenuous on time, 
but much more risky to do. The most efficient, but riskiest, way to 
deal with them is to switch to Royal Guard style, equip the Gilgamesh, 
then get near it and attack it. Just as your punch hits, guard. With 
proper timing, you'll Royal Guard the aftershock. This method will take 
the electricity off of them quickly, afterwhich a couple of DRIs will 
take his health out rapidly, leaving him vulnerable to be killed by a 
shot or two from any firearm.

{{Stylish Kill: Blitz: First, use charged shotgun blasts to remove his 
shield (don't use Omen because you want the extra damage when Blitz is 
still in his "safe" yellow mode). As soon as that dies down, DT and do 
a full Dance Macabre (try to distort the last hit, if you can; I can't 
really do it, so whatever). Switch to Gilgamesh, jump kick, Real Impact 
(try to distort if you can). At this point, Blitz will start to turn 
red. While he's charging his shield, jump kick him, and that should do 
it right there. If not, blast him in a face a few times with your 
shotgun.))

= = = = = = = = = = =
Dealing with bosses
= = = = = = = = = = =

Again, notes from Septimus will be added if his strats and mine don't 
coincide with each other.

Berial - Keep a reasonable enough distance in relation to Berial to 
keep him from feeling the urge to come charging in with his horns 
glowing red. If he misses anything that leaves him particularly open, 
go for a DRI if you have the Devil Trigger to spare. It will make the 
fight go much faster. Just be wary of hitting him with a Stinger or 
anything that might launch, since it will make him kick his legs up.
((Septimus' Berial strat: Use Trickster and Lucifer. Spam that one move 
where he throws five blades in front of him over and over, and then 
dash out when Berial tries to do anything. Stay close, or Berial will 
do his fire dash thing that's really hard to dodge. And, of course, Sky 
Star out when he does his explosion. Once Berial turns dark, DT and 
keep spamming. You'll knock him down, and then you can do a distorted 
Real Impact on his face for more damage.))

Daegon - As with Nero and Bael, keep as close to his sides as possible 
while you attack, avoiding his attacks as they come by Air Hiking. If 
he goes for his attack where he tries to chew on you, Air Hiking or 
using the Sky Star will let you avoid it easily enough. If you stun him 
and knock his down, go for a DRI. For future reference, Pandora does 
more than reasonable damage to him.
((Septimus' Bael/Daegon strat: What a joke. When the Rusalka twins are 
out, just try to get in a few hits on them with whatever you feel like. 
Then, when Dagon comes out, run/dash to his side and spam that Lucifer 
thing until he falls down. Then get in front of his tongue, DT, and do 
the same thing, and he'll probably just die right there. If not, when 
he jumps back, there should still be some blades stuck on his tongue, 
so detonate those, and you should be peachy. Otherwise, wait around to 
do it again.))

Echidna - Just like with Nero, she'll start the fight by sweeping her 
body across the ground, so jump as you come in, then start slashing 
away with the Rebellion in Swordmaster mode, avoiding the "tentacles" 
as best you can. When she perches herself in the ground, get in close, 
DT, then nail her with a DRI after she uses her purple wave to try to 
push you and stun you for a moment, since that will have left her open 
long enough for you to hit her with it. Shoot back any projectiles she 
fires at you, and if she comes charging in, shoot her in the face with 
the second form of Pandora to divert her course.
((Septimus' Echidna strat: Jump kick into her face, and then start 
punching. Jump when you need to. When she floats in front of you, use 
aerial Yamato slashes. And, if you have a full Disaster gauge, do the 
missile barrage twice to score some big damage.))

Angelo Credo - A first for Dante, fighting Credo with him is quite fun. 
The Gilgamesh gauntlets do exceptional damage to his shield. Keep up 
your offense with them and he'll leave himself vulnerable soon. If he 
ever falls to his knees, that's a free DRI for you.

Angelo Agnus - This fight is far easier with Dante than it is with 
Nero, simply because it's a much faster battle for him. Septimus and I 
share the same strtegy for defeating Angelo agnus with Dante, so of 
course, here are his notes
((Septimus' Agnus strat: Use Gilgamesh and Dark Slayer. Start attacking 
him with aerial Yamato slashes. When he calls the Gladiuses, run behind 
him, DT, and then slash at his head with Yamato. You'll kill the 
Gladiuses and do more damage. Keep this up until he staggers, and then 
do a Distorted Real Impact, then repeat. You can pretty much ignore the 
Basilisks he calls, or you can just Stinger them over and over, since 
the ones he calls get knocked down, unlike the ones just chillin' on 
the street. Dodge his spinning attack with Air Hike and Sky Star.))

Dante - Dante vs Dante is actually a far easier affair than Nero vs 
Dante. While it still isn't recommended that you close the gap with 
Dante (unless you either have a full Royal Guard gauge or are some sort 
of Royal Blocking god :P), most everything that the Dante doppleganger 
can and will throw at you can be countered easily using Trickster to 
dash about, evading his attacks and getting in the occasional Stinger 
or Coyote shot. Like any other grounded enemy, the doppelganger isn't 
exactly fond of DT'd Stingers, so if you feel you can spare the DT, go 
on and impale him with a few. Also, it's worth noting that Dante will 
shoot whenever you do. Bearing this in mind, you can simply jump and 
use the Coyote to get shots in on him, since he'll try to match them 
with Ebony & Ivory for some reason. Again, stop him from using Omen or 
any other Pandora forms to keep from getting into too much trouble.

= = = = =

I hope that this guide is helpful to whomever may read it. I know how 
much of a pain the later levels can be, and I hope that it helps some 
people push their way through to the end.

= = = = = = = =
Special Thanks
= = = = = = = =

-	To Capcom for making such as awesome series.
-	To Septimus Prime from SRK for his Dante input.
-	To peeps around the Devil May Cry communities all over the net 
for their kind words and advice.
-	To the good Lord above for protecting me and my family and 
friends throughout the harsh, volatile weather recently (since I 
live in Arkansas x.x).