Devil May Cry

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DANTE MUST DIE MODE FAQ
By: Orca782 (orca782@hotmail.com)
Version 1.0
Originally for: www.gamefaqs.com
July 17, 2002
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================
Contents
1.	Footnote
2.	Legal Matter
3.	Preparation
4.	Devil Weapons
5.	Monsters
6.	Bosses
7.	Fun Things to do in Super Dante Mode
8.	Conclusion
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FOOTNOTE:
It has been awhile since I conceived of this guide, however some things 
got in the way.  Mainly my temper.  I realized there were already tons 
of guides out for this great game, but none on how to beat the hardest 
mode of the game; Dante Must Die.  Now I will do my best to go in depth 
so that even the least of gamers can beat this troublesome mode, and 
come out victorious with the famed "Super Dante" mode.  I started 
playing this game about a year ago, when I was first amazed with its 
style and action.  I beat normal mode, made it to hard mode, to the 
third fight with Nightmare, and promptly broke my game.  (Note, that as 
this is a Dante Must Die mode faq, there will be tons of spoilers which 
you should already have known, seeing as you have to beat the game at 
least 2 times in order to reach this mode).  I have an outrageous 
temper when it comes to games, and oftentimes either the controller or 
the game disk takes the brunt of it.  Stupid... yes, I know.  So I bought 
a used copy of the game.  This time I got all the way to Mundus on 
Dante Must Die mode.  I was getting better and better, until I couldn't 
take it anymore, and broke the disk again.  Still being angry, I erased 
my data.  However, this third game, I do intend to beat the mode.  I 
have more preparations than before, and I am more skilled (surprising 
to me too, I don't know how that happened).  Dante Must Die mode is the 
exact same as the other game modes except that the enemies get harder, 
and you get weaker.  Having said this, I will not walk you through the 
game.  I have already told you that you get weaker.  There's nothing we 
can do about that.  What we can do is change the fact that the monsters 
are harder.  If you are skilled enough, you can still take them.  So, 
all I will cover will be the bosses and monsters of DMD mode.  The game 
itself remains unchanged.
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LEGAL MATTER:
Okay, here it comes.  I expect you all know this already, but here 
goes.  This is my FAQ, don't take it off of gamefaqs and post it on 
your site, or say that it is your original work.  Don't take sections 
of it without my permission.  Don't post it on any websites that aren't 
titled gamefaqs (I've grown wary of other webmasters).  Other than 
that, don't rip off the game or gamefaqs.  Thank you.
++++++++++++++

===============================================================
3. PREPARATION
Okay, in order to get to Dante Must Die mode, you have to beat the game 
on NORMAL, then on HARD mode right?  So this is what I'd recommend.  
First, beat the game on normal.  Accumulate a lot of cash towards the 
end, and get as many of the blue orbs as you can.  Buy all the skills 
you can as well.  Here is a list of skills you will NEED:

Alastor:
---------
Stinger Lv2
Air Raid
Air Hike

Ifrit:
-----
Inferno
Meteor Lv2
Kick 13 Lv1
Rolling Blaze

Those are the skills you will need, feel free to buy others also.  I 
wouldn't recommend cyclone for Alastor, it's nigh on useless.  So after 
you do that, beat the game on Hard.  If you are having trouble on Hard, 
I'm afraid Dante Must Die mode isn't for you.  If you really want to 
push on, read a guide for Hard mode.  But you should be able to whup 
hard modes' *** if you plan on taking Dante Must Die mode down.  Now, 
you are finally given a choice of difficulty.  I would recommend taking 
Normal again.  This time through, make sure you pick up ALL the blue 
orbs you missed the first time, complete all the secret missions 
(guides elsewhere) and buy ALL the Purple orbs and Blue Orbs from the 
time statues.  After you have all of that, but as many Devil Stars as 
you can, same with Holy Water, and Vital Stars and Untouchables.  Now, 
as a side note, you should not have used any Holy Waters or 
Untouchables since you started playing, so you should have a lot of 
them.  There are a total of I think 4 untouchables in the game, leaving 
you with around 10 for Dante Must Die mode (use 2 on hard if need be).  
Here is my list of items before I started Dante Must Die mode.  

Required Item List:
-----------------------
15 Devil Stars
15 Holy Waters
6 Untouchables
1 Vital Star
92 Yellow Orbs

I missed a few untouchables, and used 2 out of spite on hard mode, 
which was a mistake on my part.  But I should get 3 more (can't find 
that 4th one).  So by now you should have all 10 Devil Stars, and both 
Life Bars full.  Overall, remember that items are there for you to use.  
When I beat the game, I was left with 8 of the 10 Untouchable's I had 
amassed.  That doesn't mean you should start popping them, but don't 
hold back if you need to throw an extra Holy Water to end a fight.  
Now, onto the game.
===============================================================

4. DEVIL WEAPONS
---------------------------
The three Devil Weapons (Sparda, Alastor and Ifrit) are Dante's closest 
allies, as they do tons more damage than any firearm he possesses.  
This section will give a quick rundown on how to properly use each.

Alastor:
Alastor is the first which you attain, and hence you should be most 
familiar with it.  In Dante Must Die mode, the Devil Mode of Alastor is 
not used except on rare occasions when you need to use Air Raid.  
Overall, just know the fighting technique with Alastor.  The typical 
attack is Slash-Slash-Slash.  This is not the optimal attack however.  
If you wait after the second Slash, you will get different moves.  Now, 
if you wait too long, you will get the Slash-Slash-
Stabstabstabstabstabstabstab, which is not what we want either.  Many 
enemies will take the overly long pause to block the stabs, and besides 
it's harder to add a finisher on the end of that.  
No, the best combination is the infamous Slash-Slash-Slashslash-
Finisher.  After the first two slashes, pause for a half second, then 
slash twice again, in which Dante will reverse his stance to swing 
upwards twice, quickly.  Then you get to pick the finisher.  Just 
hitting circle again will do a heavy downward slash.  This is kind of 
boring methings, so I'll throw a Stinger on as the finisher.  That 
probably does the most damage, but the problem is that if the enemy is 
not dead, it throws them far away, far enough to recover and attack.  
My favorite finisher is the High Time.  After the two quick upper 
slashes, do the High time upwards slash, but not the jump.  Unless you 
are fighting a boss, the enemy will go skywards, and you can now juggle 
them to death with Ebony and Ivory.
A note on jump attacks; don't use them.  Overall Alastor is very weak 
when attacking in the air, because Dante goes straight down.  The range 
is pitiful.  Only use it on bosses.  Besides that, Alastor's only other 
plus is Air Hike.  This double jump ability is great for evading most 
anything, and is the only reason I can see to use Alastor.

Ifrit:
Ifrit are the fighting gloves Dante uses, that are fire imbued.  Some 
people prefer these, but I can't get used to the slower speed.  The 
difference between these and Alastor, besides the obvious, is that 
these are much slower, always do a 4 hit combo, and can charge each 
hit.  If you hold the button, Dante's hand/foot will begin to burn, 
indicating more power.  You can take out Marionettes by the score like 
this, but I still prefer Alastor.  Mainly, I will only utilize this 
weapon against larger bosses that only give you short opportunities for 
damage.  The one major pro of Ifrit gloves is Inferno.  It will lay 
down insane amounts of damage in a short time.  
In case you really like these gloves, the combo set up is punch-punch-
kick-kick.  Dante will do a short charge before each punch, so he has 
some range.  You can substitute either the fire uppercut or Kick 13 for 
a finisher, but it doesn't matter much.  Another major pro of Ifrit 
gloves is the air.  The Rolling Blaze renders Dante a weapon while 
jumping, and the jump kick will move horizontally as well as vertically 
in the air, homing towards the enemy.  This is great against some 
monsters.

Sparda:
Can't say much about Sparda.  It is a hella cool looking sword.  We 
will be using it often on bosses, as it is basically Alastor without 
the Devil mode, that does probably double damage, making up for the no 
Devil mode.  It also has a greater range, and a cooler sword throw.  
Use the same combos as listed for Alastor.
===============================================================

5. MONSTERS

The monsters are a large part of Dante Must Die mode (hereon titled DMD 
mode, I'm tired of writing it).  You will obviously fight more monsters 
than bosses, so you need to know how to beat them.  I will give 
descriptions of how to beat each, the changes that occur to them in DMD 
mode, and the best weapons for each.  One change that is universal in 
monsters is their Devil Mode.  In its premier appearance, the Devil 
Mode is now available to enemies as well as you.  They will get a 
redish glow around them, and red electricity.  Others have mistaken 
this for invincibility, which it is NOT.  The monsters simply get 
faster and stronger, and harder to kill.  Sometimes the game will throw 
in a time limit where there wasn't one before.  This is a limit before 
the enemies go Devil Mode.  Some enemies also get a spirit ball or 
something that shoots energy harpoons at you like Mundus did.  These 
enemies are rated from * to *****, similar to bosses.  The scale is the 
same, so a *** monster is the same toughness as a *** boss.

Marionette
-------------
Difficulty: *
Size: Small

Here we have the typical 'zombie' enemy of the game.  The Marionettes 
come in several different colors ranging from purple to blue to green.  
Most have stylish hats and an assortment of weaponry.  You can often 
find them lying against walls or hanging from ceilings.  When 
approached, they come to life and attack.  They have either two small 
scythe fist weapons, two daggers, or a magnum.  Watch out for the ones 
with magnums.

Attacks:

Ranged Attack:
You will her a spinning sound, which means the enemy is spinning its 
weapon in preparation to attack.  Jump or roll the instant you hear it 
stop spinning.  If it's a magnum enemy, roll a bit sooner.  

Howl from Beyond:
There will be a silent scream as one enemy rears back, and you will be 
held up by strings like a puppet yourself.  Rotate the stick rapidly to 
break free.  Or stay a few feet away and remain safe.

Back Attack:
One marionette will jump on your back and stab at you.  Once again, go 
crazy on the stick to shake them off.  

Cyclone:
A marionette will start to spin faster and faster, then come towards 
you.  This is an extremely damaging attack.  Jump over it at all costs.

Overall, these enemies are slow and easy.  Juggle one into the air with 
High Time or the fire uppercut and let loose on it with the handguns.  
Or any normal attack should take them out.  In large numbers, you may 
want to use Devil Mode, but not often.


Bloody Mary:
----------------
Difficulty: *
Size: Small/Medium

Slightly larger than the Marionettes, and also the only puppets dressed 
in red, the main difference between these fellas and the marionettes is 
stamina.  These guys can take a lot more lickings and keep on ticking.  
Besides that, the attacks and everything are the same, same strategies, 
etc.  They appear along with other marionettes, so as to act as sort of 
drill sergeants among cadets.


Fetish:
-------
Difficulty: **
Size: Medium

Larger than the other puppets, the Fetish are the commanders of these 
rambling armies.  First viewed in their own special cut scene right 
after the first Griffon fight, these enemies are upgraded to the max 
(as marionettes go).  They are brown, have a blue shining circle in 
their center, and have somewhat of a head-dress.  They also have 
flaming half-circle blades on either hand as weapons.  They have the 
same attacks as the marionettes, with the fire aspect of course.  They 
do not have the Back Attack however, and their range attack differs.  

Attacks:

Range Attack:
The Fetish have a different prepping sound, and if you see them they 
will be spinning their weapons wildly along the ground.  After a second 
they will shoot them across the ground at you in a fiery path.  This 
attack is harder to dodge, as the attack is seeking, and more damaging, 
so be careful.  I'd recommend jumping it.  

Fire Breath:
After doing a full limbo backwards bridge, the Fetish will come forward 
and shoot fire at you.  Just stay a bit away for this one, or hit them 
while they're bent backwards.

To kill these enemies, the same strategies apply.  If you get a lot of 
them at once, the grenade gun is a good tactic, and Devil Mode may be 
applicable.  Inferno and Air Raid work wonders.  Another good tactic is 
High Time, then a grenade, then High Time, etc.


Sin Scissors:
---------------
Difficulty: *
Size: Small

These ghost like apparitions are more bark than bite.  Or laugh than 
bite, should I say.  Constantly in hysterics, these ghosts circle 
around you and attempt to get the odd shot in with their scissors.  If 
they ever do, it does a hell of a lot of damage for such a weak enemy.  
But then, it's easy to avoid.  These ghosts also have the stereotypical 
ability to go in and out of walls.  

Attacks:

Scissor Cut:
They will open their scissors, quite obviously, and cut you.  However, 
you are given ample time to hit them with Alastor or Sparda, which 
knocks their scissors away, and stuns them.

You beat these pesky enemies with the shotgun.  Strangely enough, the 
scissors can block a shotgun blast.  However, once you hit the scissors 
and the enemy is stunned, get as close as possible quickly, and blast 
them in the face.  It's a one hit kill.  
(IN WATER:  Yep, you get to fight these guys once in the water.  Just 
make sure to shoot the one nearest you with the nail gun, then the ones 
farther away.  Quick and easy).


Sin Scythe:
-------------
Difficulty: *
Size: Small

Not much of an upgrade from the Sin Scissors, but you don't mind do ya?  
Add in a few more attacks, a less annoying weapon, and you have the Sin 
Scythe.  Almost identical in appearance, and annoying as always with 
the laugh.  They do scream when you shoot them though (wheee!).  

Attacks:

Round Trip:
You get it; they get it.  They will start flying in circles around you, 
and spinning their scythe.  After some prep time, they'll let fly at 
you.  It will come at you in a straight path, then return to them in a 
straight path.  Roll aside each time.  

Scythe Trap:
They impale you on their scythe and hook you to one of many floating 
pins.  It's been awhile since I was hit by this one, but they make 
several floating pins (like sewing pins) in the air, and if they hit 
you, attach you to it for more damage.  Just stay more than 3 feet away 
from this enemy (easy) and you're all set.

Besides that, I think that's it.  Their Scythe cannot block shotgun 
blasts, so blast away.  1 or 2 shots should do it, depending upon 
range.  These guys are easy money.


Death Scissors:
------------------
Difficulty: ****
Size: Medium

Man, these guys are harder than some bosses.  The only thing that saves 
you is they have such pitiful life.  Their scissors block any ranged 
attacks, (besides the obvious like Meteor) and they are susceptible to 
very few melee attacks either.  Mostly it's an all aerial battle.  To 
top it off, they have the phantasma cage that makes it a close range 
fight.  These are a highly leveled up form of Sin Scissors, with all 
the ghostly abilities.

Attacks:

Phantasma-Cage:
Once you start a fight with one of these infernal denizens, the cage 
will come up around you in black energy.  You can't leave it, it's that 
simple.  About midway through the fight I think it will enlarge 
slightly so that you have slightly more room.  It won't hurt you, but 
you can't kick jump off it's walls either.

Scissor Slash:
The same as the Sin Scissors, but these guys have scissors 3 times that 
size.  You can still stop it with the hit from one of your swords.  
Don't get hit, this does almost a full life bar of damage.

Scissor Spin:
They will start spinning their scissors very quickly.  If you are 
within the radius, this is almost a one hit kill.  You can hit them 
before they get going, or stay out of range. 

Scissor Dive:
After angering them, their head will glow red, indicating they are 
momentarily invincible, and they will disappear.  They will start from 
the top of the screen after that, diving downwards in an invincible 
missile of death.  Keep your gun pointed at them so you know where they 
are, and roll out of the way after you know they're there.  How do you 
know?  Time it.  After getting hit once or twice it's easy.  They take 
about 2 seconds between dives, so roll at 1.5 sec.  They will dive 3 
times before becoming vulnerable again.

How do you deal with these pains in the rear?  Good question.  No, 
really, just stay in the air as much as possible.  They can't block air 
attacks, so with either a sword or Ifrit you can keep hitting them.  
Just be sure to dodge the Dive when it comes.


Death Scythe:
----------------
Difficulty: **
Size: Medium

Much weaker and easier than their cousin with the shears, these guys 
probably have more life, but much less damage deal.  They spin around 
you like the Sin enemies, and overall they just dive in for an obvious 
attack you can counter.

Attacks:

Ground Heave:
Not really an attack, but more of an ability.  There will be circles on 
the ground that launch you skyward.  Once in the air, instantly use 
your air attack to get back on the ground so that you don't get hit 
with....

Scythe Spike:
Once in the air, they will go for a spike.  If you are off a ground 
heave, they do it really fast too.  They will swat you back to earth 
for quite a bit of damage with their scythe. 

Scythe Slash:
After a while of tooling around, they'll come in close to you and 
attempt a slash.  All you have to do is hit them first.  Simple?

Not having the cage makes these guys a lot easier, and their defense is 
much less than the Death Scissors as well.  If you want a quick fight, 
use Inferno when they come in close.  But really Ifrit jump kicks are 
the best way to deal with them.  Because jump kicks are seeking, just 
keep doing a kick jump then jump kick and you'll hit them 40% of the 
time.


Blade:
-------
Difficulty: *
Size: Small/Medium

A famous marvel vampire hunter who uses a sword... Just kidding.  These 
lizard like warriors have one major advantage over Marionettes, and 
that is that they work well in numbers.  Where Marionettes just kinda 
mull around while you hack the life out of them, Blades all try to hit 
you at once, so you have to keep dodging.  One alone is an easy fight.  
Sometimes they have a larger brown Blade with them, but most are small 
green lizards with bone helmets and shields.  

Attacks:

Jump Slash:
They will go underground, burrow towards you, then come up and jump 
slash at you.  Unless you stand still, they will miss.  It's that easy.  
Just take one step backwards and you're safe.

Blood Spike:
They will send several redish spikes flying at you.  This attack is the 
only attack they use in the water, I might add.  On land, it's not too 
hard to see coming and either roll or jump over.

Quick Slash:
This is their most used move, and the one that will hit most, 
consequently.  From up to about 10 feet away they will quickly leap and 
take a slash at you.  Keep rolling or shoot them with the grenade gun 
when they leap.

To kill these guys is not a problem unless they are in extreme numbers.  
If there are more than 5, I'd say go with Inferno or Air Raid.  If not, 
roll around and constantly shoot them with the grenade gun.  It may 
take awhile, but it works.  (IN WATER:  A few times you gotta get these 
guys while submerged.  Shoot them repeatedly with the nail gun.  If 
they shoot you, either dodge or keep shooting at them and your needles 
will deflect their spikes).


Frost:
------
Difficulty: **
Size: Small/Medium

These guys can be really tough, or can be somewhat nice to you.  I 
think it depends mainly upon range.  They are an upgraded version of 
the Blades, with the ice aspect added in.  Most of their close range 
attacks are easy to dodge, but long range is another story.

Attacks:

Quick Slash:
The exact same as the Blade's attack, but a bit more damaging.  Roll 
out of the way, or shoot em.

Ice Patch:
The equivalent of Inferno for you, but it does much less damage.  Still 
considerable though.  They will jump up, then land in a radius of ice.  
Stay away for this one, so as not to be hit.  

Blizzard Teleport:
The Frost will raise itself in the air, and after a second it will 
shoot icicles at you, and appear where the icicles land, usually behind 
you.  Roll out of the way and hit them when they land.

Blizzard (x2):
The Frost will cross its arms for a moment, then hurl icicles at you.  
It may do it twice, so beware.  Roll either way to dodge.

Ice Regen:
If they've taken heavy damage, Frosts will raise in the air, become 
intangible, and become part of a giant ice cube.  They are gaining 
life.  Don't let them get away with that, HIT THEM!!!  If you can 
manage to break the ice cube, they won't gain any life.  You usually 
can't, but hit it anyway to make the life gain less.  Only use melee 
weapons, ranged ones do little to no damage.

To kill these frozen lizards, same strategy as blades, keep on with the 
grenade gun.  If you want a quick kill (and sometimes you do) use 
Inferno.  Because they are ice monsters, fire is a killer to them.


Nobody:
----------
Difficulty: *
Size: Small/Medium

These guys can grow by putting on a mask of some sort.  Either way, all 
they are is annoying.  Most of their attacks do pitiful damage.  They 
look like spider monkey's made of body parts.

Attacks:

Gauge Steal:
They will jump up and down hooting and little red emblems will fly from 
you to them.  This is your devil gauge.  Hit them to stop them.

Pounce:
They will leap at you and try to land on you.  Roll away.  Counter with 
either Ifrit or the grenade gun.

Eyeball:
Only enlarged Nobody's do this attack.  They will let an eyeball roll 
away from their  body.  It is explosive, so either shoot it or stay 
away from it.  It does average damage.

Death Splatter:
To add paramount status to their annoyingness, these enemies will 
explode as they die, shooting body parts at lethal speeds.  Stay away 
from them in order to not get hit.  After the splatter stops, go in to 
get your orbs.

To kill these truly annoying beasts, I'd recommend the Blade method.  
Roll and fire with the grenade gun.  Truly, the grenade gun is my least 
favorite gun, but it has a lot of power behind it.  If you need a quick 
death, again go with inferno when they're all around you.


Sargasso: 
-----------
Difficulty: *
Size: Small

This is going to be short, as these are probably the easiest enemy in 
the game, above even Marionettes.  You will find them inside of 
Nightmare as well as underwater and in some secret missions.  They look 
like giant skulls, and the upgraded ones have only one red eye.

Attacks:

Bite:
Typical.  Well, they come in and bite you.  Roll away, jump away, or 
hit them.

Unholy Breath:
They will charge for awhile, with white steam coming from their mouths, 
then they will blow at you.  Dodge, and try to hit them before they hit 
you.

To kill them, use either the shotgun, grenade gun, or any melee weapons 
air or ground attack.  This enemy has no defense, so hack away.


Kyklops:
-----------
Difficulty: **
Size: Medium/Large

These hulking spiders are slightly smaller than Phantom, and are earth 
elemental as opposed to fire.  They are slow, but have many of 
Phantom's attacks as well.  You have to have them kill each other in 
one secret mission, which is fun.

Attacks:

Rock Blast:
They will blow 10 or so boulders at you.  Just don't be in front of 
them when they do it.  Run to either side, or jump over them.  This 
attack will hurt other monsters.  It also does considerable damage.

Jump:
Similar to Phantom's attack, when they jump, you jump, so that they 
land before you do.  You are invincible to this attack while airborne.

Claw Swipes:
Slightly slower than Phantom's attack, this is the same thing for less 
damage.  They will swat at you with their front claws.  Jump over it, 
or roll away.  

A note on beating these guys, Stinger-ing them in the face before they 
rock blast you will not stop them, as it would Phantom.  The best way 
to beat them is Air Raid, or just keep hitting them in the face.  Often 
times because of their slow speed and upped armor, I just leave them 
alone.  You can have them kill each other if you choose, by staying 
between them and jumping a lot!


Plasma:
---------
Difficulty: **
Size: Small

These guys are also annoying.  First off, instead of dying, whenever 
they are in man form they often just split into two, and one will die 
while the other starts fighting you again.  You can tell how close to 
death they are from their shade.  If they are light blue, they are 
fine.  If they are almost black, they are nigh on dead.  If they are a 
bat, it is easy, just shoot them.  If they are in man form, they have 
the same moves as you, so be wary.  They can also split into up to 3 
men, so beware as they will attack in groups.

Attacks:

Vert Ray: (bat)
This attack is a vertical ray.  You will hear the bat charge, so just 
roll when it tries this.  This is slow, and you should see it coming 
before it hits you.  The second bat attack is not so.

Sonic Wave: (bat)
This it the bat's only other attack.  The charging sound is the same 
however, so watch out.  This attack is much faster, and it is a 
horizontal wave.  You have to jump over it.  Rolling is usually 
ineffective.  I'd say for maximum safety jump left or right to avoid 
either bat move.

Horizontal Ray: (man)
This is a desperation attack.  When almost dead, the man plasma will do 
this.  The good thing is that it hits other enemies too, so if there 
are other plasmas it will hit them.  And it does a lot of damage.  Be 
sure to jump over it.

Lightning Field: (man)
A very weak lightning based version of Inferno.  The man plasma will 
kneel down and cause a small field of lightning.  It does pitiful 
damage, and range is pitiful.  You'll see it coming too, so just get 
about 2 feet away.

Sword Combo: (man)
The same as your 5 hit combo.  Stay clear, as this does a bit of 
damage.

Ifrit Combo: (man)
The same as your Ifrit combo, but faster and weaker.  Again, stay 
clear, or hit him first.

The key to beating these blue nemesis is your range weapons.  If you 
want red orbs, look no further.  These guys are asexual, and reproduce 
often when near death.  So in a room with them you could get upwards of 
20 guys, one after another, and kill them all for considerable cash.  
But you have to use melee weapons.  If you kill them with range 
weapons, it will kill them faster, but they won't multiply.  I'd 
recommend the shotgun, or maybe the pistols, as they will dodge 
grenades.  For melee, either Sparda or Alastor is preferable. 


Baelzebub:
-------------
Difficulty: *
Size: Small

Another annoyance among enemies, these are the insects from Hell.  
There are too kinds, the smaller gray flying ones, and the larger green 
crawling ones.  Both have similar attacks.  From what I can tell, 
actually they only have one attack.  The green ones might have a 
typical slash move from close range, but I think it's just the...

Attacks:

Maggot Toss:
The bugs will spew or shoot maggots at you.  It's a close range attack, 
and they will do it if hit sometimes.  To get the maggots off, do a few 
stingers or jump attacks.  They won't damage you much.

To beat these enemies just go crazy with any ranged weapon.  The 
shotgun's great, Ebony and Ivory are good too, and the grenade gun 
still packs a wallop.


Shadows:
-----------
Difficulty: ***
Size: Small

Save the best for last.  I admire these enemies, for their cunning, and 
as probably the hardest standard enemy out there.  They could take any 
other enemy by force.  They have tons of moves, and sometimes they come 
in up to packs of 3, which combined is (*********), which is more than 
any boss.  Their failing is their weak forms, which can only take a few 
hits.

Attacks:

Ground Spike:
They Shadow will fade into a shadow on the ground, and black spikes 
will shoot up about 15-20 feet impaling anything in their path.  As 
long as you even walk, these will miss you.  But don't hit ones that 
are already raised up.

Impale:
The Shadow will poise itself and its head will get thinner until it is 
a stake.  It will then shoot upwards of 100 feet in an attempt to stab 
you.  It will aim where you most recently were.  Analysis: don't be 
there.  Jump or roll, and keep moving whenever fighting.

Devour:
The Shadow can devour you form either a standing position or a shadow 
in the ground.  If it is a shadow in the ground it will quickly raise 
into a 3d form momentarily before launching itself at you.  Either way, 
it can jump upwards of 20 feet to get you, so be in the air or dodging 
when it does.  It will start to look like a giant mouth when it does 
this move.

Devour Kamikaze:
An added move to the devour, only red shadows can do this (almost dead 
ones).  After a successful devour, they will slam you about on the 
ground, then explode with you in their mouth.  I'm pretty sure this is 
a one hit kill on Dante Must Die mode.  Stay airborne and don't get hit 
by that devour!

Spinning Wheel:
The shadow will jump into the air, land, then jump again and become a 
spinning black chainsaw sort of wheel.  It will then fly at you and 
crash to the ground.  Roll the instant it starts towards you.  This is 
a heavy damage attack.

Most attacks a Shadow does are heavy damage, and they are cunning, so 
keep moving and shooting.  You can only shoot them to hurt them while 
they have a form.  If you do a melee attack, a purple orb will appear 
and shoot lances at you.  After enough shooting, they will turn into a 
pile of black ooze with a glowing red ball in the center.  Go Devil 
Mode (preferably Alastor) and do 2 full 5 hit combos on the ball.  By 
this time the Shadow will have reformed as a Red Shadow.  This means it 
is ready to die.  It is now invincible.  However, if you can dodge for 
long enough, it will simply explode.  Don't get into the explosion 
radius, and they will usually drop full health.  



===============================================================

6. BOSSES

The bane of any DMD mode player, the bosses.  Most bosses have upwards 
of 3 stages, so get ready for some serious action.  The first ones 
aren't a large step up from before, but the later ones are a real 
killer.  The bosses will be rated from * to ***** as a hardness level.

---------------
PHANTOM
---------------
Difficulty: ***
Size: Large
Weapons: Sparda/Pistols

The lovable giant spider is the first boss of the game.  Quite a 
personality too.  Phantom is basically just a collection of moves you 
need to dodge, besides that you can just keep pounding away at him.  I 
recommend Sparda for this fight because it does more damage than the 
other two weapons, and you don't really need a Devil Mode for this 
fight.  Inferno does less damage to Phantom (probably because he's made 
of fire!) and Alastor only succeeds in hurting you, as all you should 
use it for is air raid.  The Devil Mode of Alastor is nothing compared 
to the damage Sparda does.  So first come Phantom's attacks.  

Claw Swipes:
Phantom rears back a bit and swings both front legs at you.  This is an 
easy one to see coming.  Just jump over it, hopefully onto his back 
where you can tear away at him.  The damage it does is minimal compared 
to other attacks.

Tail:
Phantom unfurls his scorpion tail and swings at you.  I'm not sure of 
the range, it very rarely hits me.  If you are on his back while he 
does it, it will hit you though.  If he succeeds in a hit, he will grab 
you and throw you with it.  Damage is also minimal.  Just stay in front 
of him, or at a distance.

Lava Geyser:
Phantom will stick his head into the ground and after a second 6 
geysers will come up out of the ground.  If you are far away, just run 
in circles every which way so that they don't hit you.  If you are 
close enough to Stinger him, do so, it will throw this move off.  
Damage is pretty heavy on this one.

Fireball:
Phantom's signature move, his fireball.  He'll use it any chance he 
gets.  If you're feeling lucky, hit it at the right time and you can 
reflect it at him.  I wouldn't go on luck in DMD mode though.  He 
oftentimes also shoots 2, which it is nigh on impossible to reflect 
both of.  If you are far away, jump then Air Hike to dodge, or roll out 
of the way.  If you are close enough to Stinger, do so, as with Lava 
Geyser it will disrupt him.  

Jump:
Another signature move, Phantom will jump through the air and land 
where you last stood.  The easiest way to avoid this is to jump in the 
air so that you are airborne when he lands.  It doesn't matter if he 
lands by dropping through you, apparently you aren't hurt.  There is no 
way to counter this one so don't try.

Okay, now how to beat him.  If you can dodge all his attacks, basically 
just dodge then hit him.  His vulnerable areas are his back, his head, 
and sometimes his rear.  When he turns black, almost his entire body is 
vulnerable so hack away.  Phantom often pauses for no reason, so feel 
free to whack away.  Also, if you stay in front of him he will 
repeatedly do the Claw Swipes, so just keep jumping them and hitting 
him.  He will soon die.
For the second and third encounters (both hallways) you have a choice.  
On DMD mode, I'd recommend skipping both (just run).  The only rewards 
is a bit of cash.  If you do want to fight, get out Alastor, go Devil 
Mode (for once) and pound away at him.  In the first hall, make sure to 
roll side to side so he doesn't hit you with fireball.  At the end of 
the hall, while hitting him, Alastor seems to nullify fireball, so 
pound away, and hopefully he dies first.
On the 4th (and final) encounter, you have a choice.  Choice one is to 
beat him as you did the first time.  Choice two is to constantly stay 
behind him, and try to stay on the glass circle in the center of the 
arena.  When he jumps, make sure he lands on the glass.  After 6 jumps 
or so it will crack and the fight is won.  

----------------------
NELO ANGELO:
----------------------
Difficulty: *** (3rd encounter is ****)
Size: Small
Weapons: Sparda/Grenade Launcher

Nelo is (gasp) your brother, so not surprisingly he fights like you.  
His first two stages are almost identical, except that in stage two he 
also uses punch attacks, and there is health in the second arena.  The 
third stage is a whole lot different, the difficulty being upped a LOT 
by his pain in the *** ethereal swords.  He's the most dexterous boss 
you'll encounter.  To know him, you need to be able to dodge him.  His 
main flaw is that he taunts you after every attack.  Always be ready 
for a counter from him.  Rolls are your best friend.  

Slash-Slash-SlashSlash:
Similar to an incomplete combo of yours, Nelo will first raise his 
sword straight up, then swing four times.  If you can hit him while his 
sword is raised, he will usually be stunned, and you can do a combo on 
him.  Only ever do one combo at a time, cuz after that he will block 
and counter.  Heavy damage (25% to 50% of full life).  Just stay out of 
range for this one.

Punch-Punch (Up Slash/(Jump Kick))
This is one of his deadliest and most versatile moves.  He will quickly 
do a punch punch combo, which you can't see because his sword won't 
glow.  After the two punch's, he may stop, or he may do an upper slash 
to send you skywards.  After that, he may quit, or he may even tack on 
his version of High Time, which, being better than yours, ends with a 
Jump Kick.  Even if he missed with the first three hits, the jump kick 
is long range and it will target you wherever you are, so be ready to 
dodge.  Damage on this one is heavy.  Dodge or jump over this (unless 
he jump kicks).

Dark Stinger:
His sword will glow, and he does an incredibly long ranged version of 
Stinger.  9 times out of ten he will stop, but he may go into a combo 
right from there.  Dodge or jump over it.

Charge Slash:
Similar to Dark Stinger, but instead he will position his sword 
perpendicular to the charge, and he will start a combo if he hits.  
Half the time he'll start a combo even if he misses, so try to jump 
over it.  Then counter.  Heavy damage.

Dark High Time:
This is Nelo's version of High Time, better than yours because of the 
Jump Kick at the end.  Just roll out of the way and counter.  Damage is 
very heavy.

Counter:
On Normal mode, and even Hard mode, you could beat Nelo by going Devil 
Mode with Alastor and just hacking away, because after awhile you'd 
break his defense and hit him.  This remains unchanged, except that now 
he will counter a lot more often.  Though you may break his defense, 
and whenever he starts any of the above moves (except maybe punch 
punch) you will hit him first, breaking his combo, Counter is 
unstoppable.  You may try to beat him with Alastor's Devil mode, which 
is okay, but when he does this, run for your life.  He will hold his 
sword almost behind him, and even if you are hitting him, in a split 
second he will go into a wide ranged very damaging combo, probably his 
best move of all.  The good thing about using Sparda is that he can't 
counter just a 5 hit combo that you do to counter his, so you won't see 
this move.

Fireball:
A pansy version of Phantom's fireball.  You can see him charging it for 
quite awhile, and even if the fickle camera isn't allowing you to see 
him, you can see the light growing as he charges it up.  Jump it or 
roll away.  This is a great time to hit him in the back.  I have never 
tried, due to this being smaller and predictably faster than most other 
fireballs, but I do bet you could hit it back at him were you feeling 
extremely lucky.

Ethereal Swords (Nelo Angelo 3 only)
This has to be my most hated move of Nelo's.  After taking a beating, 
he decides "oh, I'm hurt, better resort to my pansy long range 
invincible moves."  He will float above either side of the arena, and 
shoot swords at you.  There are several patterns, and all are dodge-
able, but most require a bit of luck, and I'm betting if anything kills 
a skilled player, it's going to be these.  Luckily only his third stage 
has them.  Here are the formations.

Flat Line (Horizontal)
Flat Line (Vertical)
Cross 
Spinning Round (Raises right before dropping)
Spinning Round (Drops in clockwise pattern)
Spinning Round to Center Stab
Center Stab
Seeking Center Stab
Sword Armor

Both flat lines and the Cross are formations that appear in the air in 
front of him, then shot towards you.  Vertical comes all at once, 
whereas horizontal goes one at a time.  Cross is also one at a time.  
Roll away from vertical, and the swords will follow but not fast 
enough.  Horizontal and Cross jump around to dodge.  You can shoot the 
swords while they make their formation, destroying them, but you won't 
be able to destroy all of them.  All spinning rounds start as a circle 
of swords above you pointing straight down.  The high drop one will 
disappear off the top of the screen, then will randomly come down after 
awhile, so keep rolling.  Nelo will probably attack while it is in the 
air also, so dodge him too.  The normal spinning round will drop in a 
clockwise pattern.  Just give yourself enough room, and keep rolling 
right to avoid this one.  The spinning round to center stab is a fake 
out, and at the end of their spin they will quickly go to center stab.  
Center stab is also a circle above you, but they will all be pointed at 
you, not the ground.  Time it right, waiting a second, then jump.  They 
will all come at the same time under you and miss.  Seeking Center Stab 
is perhaps the most deadly of the projectile swords.  They will be in a 
mixed Center Stab formation, but each sword will fly separate of the 
others, and all will seek you.  Just keep jumping and pray. 
Finally the bane of the sword moves, the Sword Armor.  Nelo will decide 
he needs a leg up, and will make a Spinning round or Center stab 
formation around himself.  Now all you need to do is be near him, and 
the quickly spinning swords will all hit you, guaranteeing a one hit 
kill.  When he does this, keep running from him and jumping until they 
shatter.  If it is the Center Stab formation around him, also watch 
out, as they sometimes shoot out from him at you.  Countering or 
hurting Nelo while he's doing the sword moves is pretty much 
impossible, which is why I hate them so much.  One almost surefire way 
to avoid these weapons is Rolling Blaze.  If you are doing damage to 
something the exact moment it damages you, you will take no damage.  
Hence, if you are jumping and a sword hits you, you will destroy it 
before it destroys you.

How to beat Nelo.  Well, his first two stages are somewhat pansy, and 
similar to normal mode.  If you attack him, he will block.  A few ways 
to get around this: wait until he attacks, dodge, and hit him.  Jump 
over him and hit his back.  Or go Devil Mode and you can break his 
defense.  But watch out for Counter if you do that.  So the first two 
stages use any weapon you want.  Alastor is good for once with its 
Devil Mode, but I prefer Sparda for its massive damage.  The third 
stage is the one that really matters.  You will probably need a vital 
star, and maybe throw some holy waters towards the end.  The best 
method I have devised for beating him is to dodge his attacks and hit 
him with Sparda, and to the best of your ability go berserker on him 
and whenever he blocks jump over him and hit him.  Primarily keep 
jumping over him and hitting his back with an air attack.  Inferno and 
meteor with Ifrit might work too, as they do a lot of damage, but I 
have yet to beat him.  It's probably just my dislike of Ifrit.

-------------
GRIFFON
-------------
Difficulty: ****
Size: Large
Weapons: Alastor/Ebony&Ivory(2) Ifrit/Ebony&Ivory(3)

You may have noticed that I like Ebony and Ivory for boss fights.  A 
lot of people say "use the grenade gun, it fills up the guage faster."  
Well, first off I only use the Devil Guage in half of my boss fights.  
And asides from that, the grenade gun takes forever to fire, and you 
have to be on the ground to do it.  Ebony and Ivory are versatile, 
fast, and you can fire while airborne which prolongs your air time, 
sometimes saving you a hit.  Secondly, they charge the fastest for 
Devil Shots, so I use that sometimes just to throw in a little damage.  
Griffon is a big target, so I do tend to use the Devil Shots on him 
more than any other boss.  I would use them on Phantom, but he has the 
armor.  Griffon just has natural armor, i.e. he flies.  There are 3 
stages to Griffon, but being the lucky people we are, we already have 
Ifrit.  Therefore you can skip the first fight by lighting to torch on 
that door afire without ever entering the room where you get Ifrit.  If 
you're in for a thrill kill, go ahead.  Otherwise, move on to stage 2.  
Stage two is when Griffon attacks you aboard the ship.  The problem 
here is the lack of space.  And that annoying air bird thing.  Once 
again Ebony and Ivory save the day, just unload on the phantom wing 
(red flying thing that flings you skyward) and it will disappear.  The 
third stage of Griffon is by far the hardest, even with the large arena 
and two green orbs.  Try to stay on the ground at all times.  Here are 
his attacks.

Come Together Lightning
Griffon fires an orb which starts with the two lightning rays at 180 
degrees to each other, but they quickly close up.  They are at the 
level that you are when he fires it, so if you are on the ground, jump 
over them, if you were airborne, just stay on the ground.

Lightning Ray
This is a follow up for Come Together, which Griffon often does.  He 
will start firing horizontal rays at you that are at the level you are 
when he fires them.  The best strategy is to jump one, then he'll fire 
one in the air.  Stay down for that one.  Then he'll fire a low one.  
Jump it.  Etc.  He also mixes this attack up with Lightning ray then an 
electricity ball.  Use the same strategy.

Chain Lightning
Had to have it.  It's so trendy to say.  Usually after the above 
attacks Griffon will Utilize Chain Lightning.  If you're lucky, he 
won't use it until stage 3.  An ethereal path of lightning will appear, 
and usually it passes through you.  This means in approximately .75 
seconds real lightning is going to hit you.  Keep moving and jumping so 
that none of these ethereal lightning stay through you, and you'll be 
fine.  The matrix of electricity will subside after he does another 
attack.  However, to add fun factor Griffon will often do Come Together 
while doing Chain Lightning.

Dive Bomb
Griffon will fly almost too high to see, and then with a terrific 
display, land in a crash of lightning.  You can tell it's coming when 
he goes really high, so just run away.

Landing
Griffon only does this in stage two.  It is a weak attack that stuns 
you for a second.  He will be over the middle of the ship, and he will 
land.  If you are on the ground when he lands, you will take damage and 
be stunned.  Just predict it and jump.  Air Hike is a good one for 
this.

Thunder Storm
Griffon will send a line of lightning coming down from the sky at you.  
It will start at him and go towards you.  Don't run or jump, as it is a 
fast enough seeker to still hit you.  Instead, stare it down and when 
it is close, roll away.  He will do it 3 times in a row.  It's 
especially hard to dodge on the ship.

Lightning Grate
Only utilized in the third battle (thankfully).  Griffon will send 
basically a cage door of lightning at you.  It consists of about 9 
vertical rays with spaces in between.  Given a clear view of him, which 
the camera often will not give you, and some distance, you can stay 
between the rays.  If you can't see him, just keep rolling and pray.

Bombing Run
Griffon only does this in stage one, so you shouldn't even have to 
worry about it.  He will fly low, starting from quite a distance, and 
drop hundreds of lightning orbs.  Roll about three times away to avoid 
it.

Charge!
This is Griffon's opening.  He will grow angry and charge you while on 
the ground.  If you stand still like a dumb *** he will hit you.  
Otherwise, he has very little chance.  Turn into Ifrit and start up the 
Inferno.  He will not do this on the ship.

Wing Gust
After Griffon rises from being beaten up for awhile, if you are still 
too close he will flap his wings for small damage and send you a bit 
away, where he will start shooting rays, etc.

How to beat Griffon.  Well, as I already said you don't need to fight 
his first form.  His second form consists of 3 stances basically.  
There's the "hit me" stance, the "I'm a coward" stance, and the "DIE" 
stance.  He will start with the coward one.  This consists of him 
attaching a lightning familiar to you, which will fling you into the 
sky.  Shoot it with Ebony and Ivory.  It should die, but if not, jump 
it to dodge it and shoot it until it dies.  After the first hit, which 
sends you skywards, further hits will damage you a lot.  He will often 
repeat this attack, which is annoying because you can't hurt him.  
After awhile, he should go into the hurt me stance, where he comes to 
the middle of the ship and lands.  This is your chance to turn into 
Alastor Devil Mode, (yes, you heard me right.  I believe this is better 
than Ifrit for at least this fight).  This way, when you start to fly, 
you can repeatedly Air Raid him while he shoots Thunder Storms at you, 
which you simply fly around.  If you don't have the Devil guage, then 
just dodge the Thunder Storm then go in to hit him to fill your gauge.  
Then, the one stage you do NOT want to see, the DIE stage.  Once you 
get him in the hurt me stage, he usually just keeps jumping up in the 
air and landing, then doing Thunder Storm.  Sometimes however he will 
stay in the air.  Then, with little space to dodge on the cramped ship, 
he will fire Come Together attacks, Lightning Rays, and Chain 
Lightning, oftentimes all at once.  Good luck dodging that.
Stage 3 consists of two parts, the part where the aerial arena is 
available, and the part where it's not.  He will start the battle with 
a charge.  Now you should have Ifrit on, and a full gauge.  Open up on 
him with Inferno, and he should fall over after 3 hits.  Now use the 
Kick 13 super combo you can use while in devil mode on his chest.  
After awhile he will get up.  Now he should have a bit more than half a 
life bar left.  I'd recommend getting Alastor out for Air Hike so it's 
easier to dodge.  Griffon will start firing Come Together, Lightning 
Ray, and Lightning Grate, combined with Chain Lightning for the first 
two.  Usually he won't do Lightning Grate unless you use the magic 
elevators.  You can use them, as either side of the arena does have a 
green orb that fills one entire life bar, but I find it extraneous 
seeing as he usually gives you all hell once you get up high, and it 
will hurt you more than help.  Basically, just keep jumping his attacks 
and firing nonstop with Ebony and Ivory.  Though they do do pitiful 
damage, a minute or two of this should end the first stage of this 
fight.  A short CG of him falling will ensue.  Now the aerial arena is 
gone.  I think this part is easier, because he stops using the Come 
Together and Lightning Ray stuff.  He will over use Lightning Grate 
though.  Go back to Ifrit and hit him with Inferno whenever he charges, 
or you get near enough.  At the end of the fight, start throwing Holy 
Waters if you feel like it.  I threw 4 I think.  Down he goes for good.

-------------
NIGHTMARE
-------------
Difficulty **** (***** last stage)
Size: Medium/Large
Weapons: Ifrit/Ebony&Ivory (or Grenage Gun)

This fight relies highly upon your Devil Guage, so find your preference 
gun and use it.  The grenade gun will usually fill up almost one entire 
ruin with a shot, but Ebony and Ivory are more dexterous, as I've said.  
Nightmare has two forms, the invincible one and the not so invincible 
one.  You have to activate the ruin circles in the arenas in order to 
access his not invincible form.  But before you do, always shoot him 
enough to fill your Devil Gauge.  He only has a few attacks while he's 
invincible, whereas his not invincible form has tons.  He is mainly a 
pisser because he has mini bosses inside him, and you can only hurt his 
center (orb).  Here are his attacks, with his form listed after them.  
He will only use invincible attacks while he is invincible, and so on.  
And in case you didn't know, his invincible form is when he's the ooze, 
the not invincible form is when he's the large kinda shell like thing.

Nightmare Spawn (invincible)
This is a small section of Nightmare that breaks off and comes for you.  
7/10 times they will jump at you and move around you.  After a minute 
they will drop off and become an ice explosion.  Keep jumping to stay 
away from the explosion.  However, 3/10 times they will do the deadly 
sudden burst, where they just walk up and ice you, hitting you for a 
quarter of a life bar.  I find that shooting them with Ebony and Ivory 
often prompts them to do this attack.

Swallow 1 (invincible)
This is a non damaging move that will bring you inside Nightmare, where 
you must kill a bunch of weakling enemies, then a sub-boss, 
(Phantom/Griffon/Nelo Angelo).  There is a chance you could get a green 
orb down here, but it's a slim one.  The other good side is that after 
killing all enemies, you emerge and Nightmare looses around 1/4 of his 
life.  However, I wouldn't recommend doing this until he is at about 1/2 
life.  See below for why.

Swallow 2 (invincible)
If you have already been swallowed, swallow 2 will look the same, but 
does massive damage, to the point that I'm pretty sure it is a one hit 
kill.  Just dodge it.  Don't ever catch yourself standing in the middle 
of invincible Nightmare.  Always stay away from him.

Air Missile (invincible)
Only used in stage 3, Nightmare will jump to the ceiling, and shoot 
missiles at you.  With Rolling Blaze you can just keep jumping around 
the perimeter and be okay.  Otherwise just keep moving. 

Drop Cage (invincible)
If you happen to be under Nightmare after Air Missile, he will drop on 
you forming a cage.  From there he will shoot more Air Missiles at you.  
Just jump around with Rolling Blaze to break out.  And of course, you 
should never be under him, so this attack should never phase you.

Orb Spray (Not invincible)
Once you make Nightmare vulnerable, he will instantly make about 4 
small orbs that shoot lasers at you.  Just keep moving, because if you 
stay still they really will hurt you, but a shot her and there is 
nothing.

Ground Lightning (Not invincible)
Just thought I'd make it clear that this is visual effects not an 
attack.  Feel free to run through it any time.

Multi-Missile (Not invincible)
Usually the first attack Nightmare employs while making his heart 
vulnerable.  This is also the easiest to deal with.  Go Ifrit Devil 
Mode, and start Inferno-ing the heart.  The missiles will usually not 
phase you.  If you are not devil mode, run around and pound away at the 
heart/orb with your chosen gun.

Body Stab (Not invincible)
This is the shortest attack Nightmare will do with his heart visible.  
He will shot parts of himself out to stab you.  Just keep jumping.  He 
will do it 1-3 times.  After he does, go for the heart, but don't go 
Devil mode unless you just want to use 2 ruins.  Besides that, the 
heart is only out for a short period.

Light Ray (Not invincible)
The most devastating of Nightmare's attacks, the dreaded Light Ray.  
His front will start to glow, and small rays will pass along the ground 
towards you.  Do whatever it takes to get on top of him, or behind him.  
This ray will take you down at least one full life bar, and usually 
freeze you in place for a second hit.  He will also start to spin 
rapidly near the end of the ray.  The pro is that if you can get on top 
of him you can Inferno his heart with impunity, because he won't move 
at all except for spinning.

Spinning Shard (Not Invincible)
Less damaging than Light Ray, but probably the hardest to dodge is 
Spinning Shard.  The heart will once again come out the top of 
Nightmare, but with it will come a section of Nightmare, which spins 
around the screen and seeks you.  If it hits, it will do a lot of 
damage.  Try to stay on the ground while it starts spinning, it will go 
around then go low.  Now get on top of him and Inferno the heart.  The 
shard should just go back into Nightmare in the side.  

Trish (Invincible/Not Invincible-Stage 3)
In stage 3 only your lovely compatriot will back stab you and start 
shooting lightning from one of the blue walls surrounding you.  Just 
stay away from the wall.  I've had it hit me before, and I think it 
does little to no damage anyway.  

Death Throes (Not Invincible-Stage 3)
In stage 3 only, for Nightmare's last 1/16th of a life bar, he will go 
into death throws.  This is an amazingly devastating move that you have 
to watch out for.  If you got this far, good, but don't lose it now.  
Either go Alastor Devil mode, if you are a conservationist, or start 
throwing Holy Waters.  You shouldn't need more than 2 to finish him 
off.  He will shoot multiple rays from his heart, which is not 
permanently visible, at you.  Also there will be Multi Missiles and the 
little orbs still firing.  It's very chaotic, and any hope of living 
you have is going to be jumping in circles around him rapidly, until 
you can get Alastor Devil mode off.

How to beat him?  Good question.  Well, you should start the fight with 
a full Devil Gauge.  Now fill up the ruin circle and start the fight 
with him (examine the pool, the torch, or in the 3rd fight you have to 
fill the ruin while fighting him).  Whichever attack he does, he should 
only do one before the ruin circle fades and he goes into invincible 
mode.  Now run around him dodging attacks and get the devil gauge back.  
Fill the ruin circle again and hit him again for all you've got.  He 
may do two attacks if one of them is the Body Stab, as that one is 
short.  Fill your Devil Guage again and repeat.  By this time he should 
be at half life or less.  If you are in good shape, good.  Now is the 
time to be sucked inside him.  Kill all the minor enemies, hoping for 
life, and then kill the miniboss.  Use strategies from above.  They all 
have less life than their former selves, and they have the attacks of 
their first stage selves.  I'd recommend Sparda for Phantom and Nelo, 
and Ifrit for Griffon.  However, if you use Sparda, change to another 
weapon for the last hit, so that after the miniboss dies, and it 
refills your Devil Guage, it has something to refill.  Then get the 
life (hopefully) and go back out of Nightmare.  Now the ruin circles 
will take twice as long to go out, allowing Nightmare two times the 
attacks.  So with that full Devil Gauge, pound away at him, and bring 
him near death.  One more Devil Guage should do him in, or start 
dropping Holy Waters.  Remember, besides maybe 4-5 Holy Waters on 
Griffon's third stage, and maybe a few on Nelo's third, all your Holy 
Waters are meant for Nightmare.  When you beat him, the majority of the 
game is done.

--------------
MUNDUS
--------------
Difficulty *****
Size: Enourmous (XL)
Weapons: Sparda/Shotgun

Yep, we're whipping the old westerner for this fight.  The shotgun's 
spray capability will do a better job against Mundus' orbs than 
anything else you have, with the exception of possibly the Nightmare 
Beta.  (I never use that gun though).  You have to use Sparda, 
thankfully, cuz I would have chosen it anyway.  Mundus has 3 stages, 
but stage 3 is a joke, so forget about that.  Stage 1; well, do you 
remember all those Devil Stars we've saved?  Maybe you used a few to 
speed up the fights with Nightmare, but besides that this is your 
chance.  You will go into a rail shooter style format and Mundus will 
shoot stuff at you.  Fun.  Well, you start with a full gauge so use it.  
You will send a Demon Dragon at him, hammering him for immense damage.  
Now whip out two Devil Stars and do it again.  Again.  Again.  Is he 
dead yet?  Then do it again.  All it should take is 10 stars max.  Now, 
onto stage 2, the real fight.  Here are his attacks.

Force Ray
Mundus shoots a force edge at you that you can see as a distortion in 
the air.  Roll away.  He may do it twice, so roll twice.

Hand Lances
Mundus will spray the field with lances from his hand.  When he gets to 
you, roll repeatedly to the right, so as to roll through his barrage.  

Back Lances
Similar to Hand Lances, but these come from above.  Just keep jumping 
and I find that you can evade them all as long as you jump back and 
forth.

Small Orbs
Mundus will call on these to appear near him and shoot lances at you.  
1 or 2 shotgun blasts will down these, and give you a Devil ruin.  
These will appear either around his head or between he and you.

Small Orb Row
Mundus will call 10 or so orbs in a row near you.  Shoot as many as you 
can with your shotgun, then when he mentions again, jump and roll away 
so they don't hit you when they come to life, firing lances.  They may 
circle the arena an entire time and come for you again, but that's 
rare.  

Large Orbs
These orbs do nothing but sit at 90 degrees apart so that you can shoot 
them and gain Devil ruins.  Try to kill at least 2.

Super Fireball
The best fireball in the game, and possibly Mundus' most damaging 
attack.  The Large Orbs you have not destroyed he will absorb, then 
they will circle his head in a fiery trail then fly at you at high 
speeds.  I have heard rumors that you can reflect them with your sword; 
Don't try it.  Use Air Hike (which you now mysteriously have for Sparda 
too) and jump up high, so that they fly at you as you are descending.  
50% of the time they will miss.  Just pray.  If you get it down to only 
one, it will miss 99% of the time.  

Super Punch
Mundus rears back, then punches you.  A weakling attack at best.  Roll 
to the left, go Devil mode and take this opportunity to hack away at 
him.

Geyser
Exactly the same as Phantom's, except Mundus gets more.  Just run 
around to avoid it.

Dragon Rocket
Mundus will summon a fire dragon from a patch of ground under you.  He 
will make quite wild gesticulations before hand, allowing you ample 
time to dodge.  If it does hit, this may even outdo 2 Super Fireballs 
worth of damage, as it is devastating.  

Fire Dragon
Mundus will put his fist down (literally) and a Fire Dragon will come 
forth from the lava.  It will destroy any rocks in its path, and come 
for you, moving slowly counter clockwise.  It will start by shooting a 
fireball at you after rearing back.  Try to reflect it with Sparda.  If 
you do so, it will die one shot, and you get a green orb (Whopee!).  If 
not, it will damage you, and blast away with the shotgun.  He will try 
the fireball again after awhile.  You can dodge both fireballs and kill 
him with the shotgun, but it takes awhile and towards the end Mundus 
will get ornery and start some of his own attacks, making you fire at 
the dragon and dodge both Mundus' and the dragon's attacks.

How to beat him.  Well, I got to this point before and nearly beat him 
the fair way.  However, I'm quite fed up with playing fairly at this 
point.  I'd suggest dodging his attacks and getting up on the rock 
platforms that surround him, and start hacking away at him with the 
traditional sword pattern, with the Stinger finisher.  When you run out 
of Devil Mode, or almost out of life, pop an Untouchable.  If you 
happen to kill a fire dragon and get more life, use a Devil Star and 
remain hacking away at him at close range.  If not, keep popping those 
10 Untouchables you have.  See how he likes it.  You do have the option 
of shooting meteors at him, but they do such pitiful damage that it 
takes forever to get anywhere that way.  If you have Meteor 2 you can 
even charge them but damage remains minimal.  I'd just use those 
Untouchables.  

===============================================================
FUN THINGS TO DO IN SUPER DANTE MODE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Well, now that we have our Super Dante mode, we can do tons of cool 
stuff we couldn't do before.  Though I'm sure you've all thought of 
stuff to do already, and you will find more, here are a few ideas.  

As we all know, Super Dante mode  is where your Devil Gauge does NOT 
decrease.  Therefore you can stay in Devil Mode infinitely.  The 
obvious things are:

Stay in Air Raid forever, shooting lightning and flying around.
Stay in Ifrit forever, doing the Kick 13 combo to anything and 
everything.

Now, there are some things you'd rather not waste the gauge on in the 
normal modes that you can now do freely.  Such as buy Vortex 2 and spin 
around every room you enter.  Or get Meteor 2 and hurl them at any 
monster you see, while shouting "KAMEHAMEHA!!!"  Or you could do the 
auto upgraded attack with Alastor, the upper slashes included and all.  
The Ifrit devil has the Kick 13 combo where if you hit forward you will 
do 5 hits very fast, the last one upper-cutting them for more 
punishment.  
Sadly enough, in Super Dante mode Sparda loses all its flair, for it is 
no longer your best weapon.  However, on the Mundus fight, you still 
get your infinite gauge.  This means you can shoot infinite dragons at 
him until he goes down in the first stage.  The third stage will end 
almost before it starts, as you don't need to charge your gauge.  And 
the second stage allows you to stay in Devil mode firing fireballs and 
using the lengthened Sparda.  

Another great bonus is the Nightmare Beta.  This gun is useless in any 
other mode.  A gun that takes your Devil ruins?  What for?  Does it 
shoot a nuclear missile?  No.  It simply shoots reflecting rays.  The 
good thing is that these rays are almost sentient in their pursuit of 
evil.  Now, in Super Dante mode you can fire it repeatedly for free, 
without fear.  So charge it until you can see the outline of the cube 
around the end of it.  Now fire.  Around 20 rays will go bouncing every 
which way, annihilating any foe, and getting you a superb rating in the 
end.  You can do this as many times as you like.  From the crappiest to 
the best, what a promotion.

===============================================================
----------------------
9. CONCLUSION
----------------------

So there you have it.  My favorite part is that the hardest boss in the 
game is not Mundus, but Nightmare.  If you can deal with Nightmare, 
you've got it in the bag.  You may need 1 Untouchable for Nightmare, 
but do what you gotta do.  Now you should be the proud owner of "Super 
Dante" mode, which allows you to beat the entire game in Devil Mode.  
Whoopdedoo.  I'm just glad to say I beat the game on Dante Must Die 
Mode.  Thanks for reading my FAQ, any question or concerns can be 
mailed to me at Orca782@hotmail.com, but if you ask me something that 
is in the guide I will ignore your letter.  Secondly, don't email 
asking for codes, I've gotten too many of those from my other guides 
and I'm sick of it.  If you can't beat a game fairly, that's your 
problem.  I abhor gamesharks and those that use them.  Besides that, 
good on you for getting this far, and I'll see you in my next guide.  

---------------------------
Orca782
Copyright 2002
Orca782@hotmail.com
DMC DMD Mode FAQ
---------------------------

End Document