Devil May Cry 5 – FAQ/Walkthrough

High Difficulty Mini-Walkthrough

If you're familiar with the series and/or the differences in difficulties, feel free to skip to the guide.

Introduction

Completing Devil May Cry on Devil Hunter difficulty has always been just one step in the journey. There are several difficulties above Devil Hunter, each requiring you complete the previous difficulty before continuing. These higher difficulties don't change the game world much, but they come with drastic changes to enemy layout and behavior. This section is designed to help you navigate these differences. This guide assumes you have completed the game at least once and have a basic familiarity with terms and move names. As a result, no effort has been made to obscure potential spoilers and many points are not elaborated on.

If you DON'T understand these things, don't worry! There's nothing wrong with that! Devil May Cry is a dense game. Most of the guide is designed assuming you don't know anything about the series. Please consult the following reference material to get up to speed:

• Normal (Devil Hunter) Walkthrough - Check our main Walkthrough section!
• Abilities you have - Check the thorough in-game section in Nico's Reports of the Main Menu
• Abilities you need to purchase - Check out Shop section
• Abilities you unlock - Check the Unlocks section (beware spoilers!)
• Controls - Check the Controls section, includes alternative suggestions
• Enemy Tips - Check our Bestiary
• Character Tips - Check the Characters section

Unlike some other games in the series, enemy placement is largely the same on all difficulties above Devil Hunter. Some enemies and their positions change slightly between modes, but pathing and strategies are almost identical across all modes. The main difference will be that you'll have much less room for error as the game gets harder. For that reason, this is written as a singular guide with notes about differences in difficulty mentioned alongside the main text.

Differences Between Difficulties

The most noticeable difference between difficulties will be damage values. Enemy health does not change per difficulty, but damage dealt to enemies (and to you) DOES scale.

This is just the most topical difference in difficulty, and it can have a huge impact. See below for a breakdown of the major difficulty-wide differences.

Any other differences will be noted in the guide proper as those differences become relevant.

Mini-Walkthrough

The following guide should be functional for all difficulties above Devil Hunter, but the higher difficulties require skill, timing, awareness, and improvisation. For that reason, I can only offer so much help and the rest will be up to you and practice. It's written primarily from SOS difficulty, but any differences between difficulties will be noted.

For both Hell modes, ranged attacks help immensely. It may not feel particularly stylish, but you don't need to be as stylish on these difficulties to get a good score. In most instances, completing the level without dying is enough to get an S.

A final tip: If you've got the Red Orbs to burn, Dr. Faust can clear even the toughest enemies (and bosses) with relative ease. Just the regular attack does huge damage. Red Hot Night (a Gunslinger attack) at full charge can knock off 75% of Nightmare's health on DMD, completely bypassing his Devil Trigger state. While powerful, it comes at a cost. Using Dr. Faust only on Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare in mission 18 cost nearly a million Red Orbs.

Prologue

Battle 1 - Largely the same as before. More Empusa and Green Empusa will appear.

Battle 2 - Starts the same, but it ends with an Empusa Queen. Very illustrative of the durability of enemies

Path to Urizen - More Empusa than before. Will spawn behind you.

Urizen - If you thought you got smoked before... He has all of his attacks, his attacks travel faster, they happen more often (frequently 2-3 at a time), and many will be denser (more Rain and double beam attacks). Even cracking the crystal once would be impressive.

Mission 01 - Nero

Battle 1 - Still just Empusa

Battle 2 (after cutscene) - Starts the same, but two Antenora and a Baphomet join. Antenora can now jump when raging so just jumping will not save you.

Red Empusa - There are now two Red Empusa here instead of one, so more orbs if you're quick

Qliphoth Root - Vines are more sturdy and attack faster after tell. They can also loop around to stab at you if you're too close for a normal attack to reach. Antenora will spawn behind you during the fight. Stay at the height of about one jump and attack there. Use Air Hike and Enemy Step to dodge side-to-side

Mission 02 - Qliphoth

Intersection - Starts normally. The second wave includes many more Empusa AND a Death Scissors. Take to the air to attack scissors safely before handling Empusa.

Over broken road (Optional) - No notable change.

Hotel Gates - Starts the same. The second wave is two Death Scissors. Try to engage at different heights.

Hotel Lobby (Optional) - Still 1 Red Empusa and 2 Empusa.

Hotel Stairs (Optional) - Still just 1 Red Empusa.

Hotel Room (Optional) - Still starts with 2 Caina but followed by 1 Antenora.

Hotel Double Room - Still starts with 2 Caina but followed by 1 Antenora.

Hotel Lounge - Higher density of enemies.

Alley Road 1 - Same battle against Empusa

Alley Road 2 - Same battle against Empusa

Alley Road 3 - Same battle against Antenora

Goliath - Much more durable. Layering damage with Blue Rose is key (It's your highest damage weapon). Will use more swipes when using physical attacks. Use Enemy Step to stay above sweeps, but watch for an upper-cut counter-attack. Behind him or his right shoulder is still the best spot to attack from. Attacks not drastically different, but speed and aggressiveness upped to bring in line late-boss difficulty.

Mission 03 - Flying Hunter

Rooftop 1 - Still Pyrobats.

Rooftop 2 - Still Pyrobats, Caina, and Antenora.

Rooftop 3 - Still 3 Red Empusa.

Sewer 1 - 2 Riots and 2 Tentacles. Either draw the Riots away from the Tentacles or take the Tentacles out quickly (Even they have more health).

Sewer 2 - New battle? After breaking first Bloodclot. 1 Lucashia.

Sewer Dead End - Riots and Pyrobats. Get high and kill the Pyrobats first.

Sewer Access Room - 3 Riots and 1 Lucashia. Try to get the Lucashia first. Its teleporting will likely keep it away from the Riots.

Library - The normal first wave will be followed by a second wave of 2 Death Scissors. As before, try to engage at different Heights.

Artemis - Uses late phase attacks at the start and more projectiles in attacks. Also has a repulsion attack now in case you stay too close for too long. Comes with a blinding white light. If you have Air Hike, you still won't be able to reach her with your triple jump when she performs her Holy attack (drifts up into the light). You will still need to create Grimp Grips and climb up. Scream Beam moves much faster.

Mission 04 - V

Starting Battle - Now includes Red Empusa? The second wave includes 2 Antenora.

Large Alley - Still Pyrobats but also a Behemoth. Behemoths can now dig so long as they still have their armor on. They will dig under the ground and a few second later will erupt from it somewhere else, dealing damage. Wait a few seconds and then get airborn. Try to stay there as long as possible until the Behemoth comes out.

Train Yard 1 - Largely the same battle

Train Yard 2 (other side of bridge) - This battle appears to be gone on SOS and returns on DMD for no apparent reason. It may have something to do with online play or breaking the bridge, but I haven't seen a pattern. When they appear, they are the same enemies as on DH.

Alley with breakable wall - Same battle, but after Antenora, there's a third wave with a single Nobody.

Alley beyond breakable wall - Adds Hellbat wave at the end

Street w/ Secret Mission Symbol - Antenora replaced by Behemoth

Streets before market - Full battle with Caina, Antenora, and a Behemoth

Market - Judecca and 2 Antenora. Try not to knock Judecca over or it will teleport. If you need to, bounce it around while you deal with the Antenora.

Nidhogg - Same battle, but vines are tougher and more aggressive, making it harder to stun. Otherwise, the same strategies work. Probably a bit easier if you have much more DT than originally.

Mission 05 - The Devil Sword Sparda

Sewer 1 - Riots. Tight quarters. Try to use allies as a wall to protect you. Hard to do in small space, so using Nightmare recommended.

Raised Platform - Starts normally but Judecca joins later. Try to clear others quickly and use the large space.

Secret Room - Caina and Antenora. Ends with Red Empusa.

Queen Intro - Starts the same but Green Empusa will join. Summon Nightmare and use other allies to take out Greens quickly. After Nightmare leaves, try to save DT.

Underground storage - Starts the same, but Empusa Queen battle replaced with 2 Nobodies and 2 Green Empusa. Nobodies are durable, so you might want Nightmare temporarily, but I would dismiss him once you're comfortable and the Greens are gone.

Sewer 2 (Optional) - Riots. Awkward space for such agile enemies. Rotate to various ends of the intersection to stay safe, regroup, and push your attack.

Elder Geryon Knight - Shoots more bolts. More physically aggressive. Time Bolts travel faster. Teleports a lot more, which draws out the battle. Spends more time in speed bubble (starting at 50% on SOS and HaH, 75% on DMD). The strategies are essentially the same. Remember that performing dodges with your familiars can counter-act that effect.

Mission 06 - Steel Impact

This mission is largely the same, though Gilgamesh seems a bit more mobile than before. Expect him to try harder to shake you off, be more aggressive with his tentacle blasters, and to travel around a bit more. Otherwise, there's little that differentiates this fight from the version you played on Devil Hunter.

Mission 07 - United Front

N Tunnel 1 - Two Death Scissors in a row. Try to parry them with a Split or break their scissors for a quick stylish kill.

N Hallway 1 - Nest spawning Antenora. Surprisingly difficult in contained wallway. Try not to knock Antenora down and go for nest quickly before getting swamped

N Lobby 1 - One Riot Nest. Hit the nest ASAP before clearing Riots.

N Lobby 2 - One Red Empusa and Two Mushrooms. Take out the Mushrooms with shots first to avoid losing your style to an errant hit.

N Upper Walkway 1 - Antenora Nest and two Caina. Rush past the enemies and use DT to take out nest fast. You won't have much time before you get swarmed.

At this point, the two sections reconnect and the rest of the mission is the same as it is in Devil Hunter except for damage input/output.

Mission 08 - Demon King

Pack a Punch Line. You'll have Fury in your third fight, and it may be helpful it keeping it off of you.

Initial Battle - Empusa replaced with three Caina.

Path Beyond - Enemies replaced with one Pyrobat and one Caina.

Outdoor Arena - Attacked by two Antenora. Save your DT. After they are dead, a Fury will appear. Use Vergil's crazy jumping height to get safe. Try to learn timing for parries if you can. Punch Line helps keep him off your back, but minimizes your ability to get big hits on it.

Post Bloodstream - two Caina instead of Empusa.

Dropping Platform 1 - Four Riots to start with many more following. If you have any hope of not falling, use DT immediately.

Post-Drop 1 - Same as the prior battle with Four Riots to start, but a Lucashia will join shortly. Focus on the Lucashia immediately to avoid its nasty attacks.

Baphomet Intro - Starts the same with One Baphomet. It will be joined by a Proto Angelo before long, but focus on the Baphomet so it doesn't get a glancing hit in on you.

Dropping Platform 2 - Starts with Four Empusa. Additional Empusa will spawn quicker than you can kill them unless you use DT.

Post-Drop 2 - Four Empusa appear followed by a Behemoth. More Empusa will spawn over time. Will spawn approximately a dozen total. Knock Off Behemoth armor to get some help from his thrashing about. Use DT to cut through the dense group of enemies quickly while shrugging off most hits you might take.

Pre-Second Lava Elevator - Three Baphomets appear. A Nobody will join them shortly. Try to knock the Baphomets over before chasing one down. Knock the one you're focusing on into the air to stay relatively safe from the Nobody. If you spin your camera around, anything off-screen won't be able to initiate any new attacks.

After Payphone - There will be scattered Empusa on the way to the Boss after the payphone, but generally not more than one or two at a time.

Urizen - This battle is almost identical except for damage input/output and aggressiveness. Urizen will be more aggressive and will sometimes double up attacks, especially with his Beam attack.

Mission 09 - Genesis

Behemoth Intro - Will still start with a Behemoth and two Caina. Shortly, two Antenora will join. Knock off Behemoth armor to get some help and prevent digging.

Short-cut path - On the path leading to the shortcut that can be opened by summoning Nightmare (there was once a Gold Orb in the rubble), you'll be attacked by a single Baphomet.

Long path around - All enemies on the long path around the shortcut appear to be the same except for a single Hellbat that appears in the battle by the sarcophagus.

Theater Rumble - two Antenora and two Judecca here. This bunch is a bit easier for V than others, but use your DT to make your life easier. Make sure to watch the Judecca, it's easy to miss their long range attacks charging up from far away. Additional Caina will spawn during the battle as well.

Crypt hall - two Hellbats and two Antenora. Try to take out the Hellbats first. Their attacks can consume a lot of your combat area in flames.

Crypt Basement 1 - Same as before. Empusa and Caina.

Crypt Bonus Room - Still Antenora and Tentacles, but also accompanied by two Death Scissors.

Crypt Upstairs 1 - Two Caina and two Lucashia. Focus on the Lucashia first for sure. Use DT for extra security. If either Lucashia is left alone too long, their big charge attack can be executed and knock off half of your health in a single blow. Watch out for the Caina, they are there to hit V while you're distracted.

Outside Crypt - Starts with two Death Scissors before two Proto Angelos join. Use your DT as much as possible. This battle is long enough you can probably use it multiple times. When you get low on enemies save up your DT for the next battle. Focus on the Death Scissors first since they are much softer targets.

Mini-Boss - Exactly the same battle as before, though they will be more aggressive and more durable, which can be tough in this relatively small arena.

Mission 10 - Awaken

Initial Battle - Still Empusa here. Ends with an Empusa Queen and two Green Empusa.

Battle 2 - The three Caina here will be joined by a Judecca. Focus on the Judecca when you can and hit the Caina when you can't. After some Caina are killed, an Antenora will join the battle. You may want to delay this as long as possible.

Chaos Intro - Avoid the initial attack from the Chaos. Charge a Sword Formation and unleash it to get some hits on its spines. If you need more, knock it over and hit it in the back. Another two Chaos will spawn after it dies. Repeat the process and stay in the air when they attack.

Pulsing Door - A single Fury. Prop/Shredder with DSD or use King Cerberus with Revolver or Ice Age to easily parry attacks. In a pinch, a charged Sword Formation will go a long way to minimizing its ability to attack, but will make it difficult to get good damage on it.

Next Pulsing Door - Two Caina, two Antenora, and a Judecca. Go for the Judecca as much as possible. Charged Sword Formation will likely help do damage to it without causing it to teleport around too much.

Purple Frag Room - There's a Red Empusa in here and an Empusa Queen will spawn. It'll start out red, so expect it to be fairly aggressive from the start.

Large Hall - a Baphomet and two Chaos. Use a charged Sword Formation to start working on the Chaos spines while you get into the air and focus on the Baphomet. Do this until

Double Pulsing Doors - one Hellbat and one Pyrobat to start. Instead of a Queen, you'll fight a Fury and Hellbat after the first two are wiped out. Take out the Hellbat first, if possible. It might help you take out the Fury.

After Collapsing Platforms - Three Scudo Angelos, one Baphomet, and a Proto Angelo. Take out the Baphomet first. After that, choose your targets based on your convenience.

Urizen Again - Same as in Mission 08 except you just need to do some damage and not die right away. After a minute or so, the battle will just abruptly end.

Mission 11 - Reason

Initial Battle - Two Caina and a Nobody.

Front Gate - Three Caina appear at first. After they are cleared, a Fury will spawn followed by three Tentacles. As soon as the tentacles appear and you have a free moment from the Fury, Use Gunslinger+Kalina Ann to carpet bomb the Tentacles.

Blue Frag Battle - One Nobody and one Lucashia. Focus on the Lucashia but watch out for wandering eyeballs.

Leaving Buidling - The Antenora will still show up but it'll be accompanied by a Choas as well.

Judecca Intro - Same as Devil Hunter difficulty.

Top of Rotunda - Four Scudo Angelos and one Proto Angelo. As good a time as any for a Sin DT. There's not a lot of room for them to run here. As their number decreases, a Nobody will join the battle.

Cavaliere Angelo - While your opponent is more aggressive than he was originally, you've got a new trick up your sleeve. Even easier than using Prop/Shredder is the King Cerberus Revolver. When you get into a duel with him, execute a Revolver in a mid-air. You should be able to just do it several times in a row. After the first parry, you'll be able to execute it again in mid-air. Repeat it until his offense is broken.

Other than this, it's essentially an identical battle.

Mission 12 - Yamato

Initial Battle - three Caina

Hallway 1 - one Fury will attack. Try to lure it back to the previous area to have more space.

Room - One Lucashia and three Antenora. Focus on the Lucashia to start and then the Antenora should be a piece of cake.

(From bottom Qliphoth Root)

Street 1 - two Caina, two Antenora, and one Judecca. This can be a little tough in such a small space, but just be relentless and watch for counter attacks. Be the one attacking.

Y intersection - two Chaos. Just remember that they'll potentially spawn behind you.

Fury Intro - You'll face two Furies here instead of one. Abuse Cerberus for an elegant solution or use Sword Formation charged attacks coupled with a lot of movement for a more consistent but slower solution.

Crossroads Intersection - Just a couple of Pyrobats.

After Crossroads - Empusa Queen and a Pyrobat Nest. Break the nest, clean up the bats, then crush the Queen.

Before Third Blood Clot - two Baphomets and one Nobody. Take the Baphomets first.

Urizen Rematch - This battle is identical to before, but be extra careful of getting hit. Urizen already hit pretty hard, and he's going to hit twice as hard now.

Mission 13 - Three Warriors

They enemy layout and strategies for this mission are identical to what they were on Devil Hunter.

Mission 14 - Diverging Point - V

There are only three enemies in this mission and they are largely the same as on Devil Hunter difficulty, however, your decreased damage results in longer battles and so there's more chance for some nasty attacks to come your way.

Still start with Shadow. On Goliath, put Shadow on Auto. Next tackle Artemis and grab Nightmare. The only attack you may have trouble with is the Sweep attack, so you'll need to time your dodge timing perfectly so you're invulnerable when the beams pass you. Finally, you'll be at full strength for your battle with Cavaliere.

Mission 15 - Diverging Point - Nero

You will not find Devil Breakers until towards the end of each section (well after you could have used them), so make sure to pack a couple of Gerberas for traversal.

Hollow Trunk - One Lucashia and One Chaos. Deviate slightly. Knock the Lucashia over and then break the spines of the Chaos. Return to the Lucashia to finish it.

Three Latices past Divinity Statue - Normally you'd trigger a battle with a Baphomet here, but instead, you'll fight a Fury if you choose to go into this room.

Scudo Hallway - The Scudo Angelo layout is identical, but a direct assault is even more ill-advised. Their shields are much tougher than before, so you'll need to drag them out.

Purple Light Room - You'll face two Behemoths in this room without smaller enemies. Break the armor off of both of them and let them bump into each other a little bit.

Pedestal Room - You'll face off against two Lucashia and two Antenora. Try to take out the Lucashia as quickly as possible. There's plenty of room here to get free of enemies, just make sure you don't bounce the Lucashia too far away.

Pit - largely the same as before, but the tight quarters and obstacles make this fight a bit tougher since you're enemies will resist your attacks better.

Malphas - Malphas will start with all of her attacks and use them right out of the gate. Expect a lot more spikes than before. Since you now have DT, make sure to use it, but also make sure to turn it off if she gets too far away so you don't waste it.

Otherwise, Malphas is the same as before.

Mission 16 - Diverging Point - Dante

At the start, there are still White Orbs in case you need to recover some DT.

Large Room 1 - one Lucashia and two Nobodies. Same as in Mission 11, just with more room.

Large Room 2 - Two Chaos and Two Green Empusa. Use a charged Sword Formation on the Chaos before going after the Green Empusa.

At fork, drop down Large Room 3 - Two Baphomets and a Behemoth. You have a few moments with the Baphomets before the Behemoth gets involved. Focus on the Baphomets first before unchaining the Behemoth.

Next drop - Towards the bottom of the next drop, before reaching the cold section, a couple of Hellbats could spawn, but they can also be passed entirely.

Pre-cold - One Antenora, one Caina, and one Judecca. Fighting by the ramp can give you a safe spot to hop to put distance between enemies.

Cold 1 - This one is dicey! Three Death Scissors, one Fury. If you have Ice Age for King Cerberus, it can be used to parry attacks from any of your enemies. Abuse the heck out of that. You can also use a charged Sword Formation to keep the Fury busy while taking out the Scissors.

King Cerberus - This one is very much the same as before, but it will start changing elements frequently right at the start. It will also make use of dashing attacks and regular physical attacks more frequently than before. It will also use more projectiles for any such attack (Icicles, Sparks). When it makes the little balls of electricity, a long range shotgun blast can take them out pretty easily.

Mission 17 - Brothers

This is pretty much the same fight as before, but expect a lot of attacks to be layered. It's unlikely for him to use one attack at a time. Instead, he'll hit you with a Time Bolt before shooting Meteors at you or use Geysers along with his Light Blades. It's crucial to be able to map these and figure out what the safe space is going to be on the fly.

He also seems to be a lot more mobile than before.

Mission 18 - Awakening

Griffon 1 - He'll shock the crap out of you if stay close to him for to long. You need to either dart in for a combo and get out or stay far away. He's actually not that threatening if you keep him at a distance despite how he may seem. Most of his attacks are designed to hit much less agile enemies than you.

Upper Path - You'll still find two Caina on this path by the Blood Clot.

Bloodstream Path - one Lucashia will confront you on the way. Can be annoying because of the length of the space, but not otherwise dangerous.

Shadow 1 - Like Griffon, he's much more agressive in his strengths than before. Dodge to the side and you'll evade most of his attacks. Jumping at an angle can also be very useful for many of his ground attacks.

Ascent - You'll still find the three Red Empusa on the way.

Cross the bridge to the right and break the clot there instead of climbing first.

Bridge back - On the way back to the climbing section, you'll be attacked by two Baphomets. Pull them to one side or the other so they don't fall off the edge.

Shadow/Griffon - Use rockets to try and stalemate them from far away. Getting close to either of them gets dicey. Griffon will use Area of Effect attacks while Shadow will use piercing attacks making it tough to find a safe spot close up.

Shadow/Griffon/Nightmare - Use ranged attacks (rockets) on Shadow and Griffon to stalemate them and melee attacks on Nightmare. On higher difficulties, he can use the purple pools on the battleground to heal. This will give him roughly half of his health back! Hopefully you broke the Blood Clots below which removes one of the pools and places an extra tower on the battlefield. Break the tower for health.

If you're having a hard time dealing with these guys, make sure you've powered up Dr. Faust and maxed out Gunslinger. You can shoot them to death and use Red Hot Night on Nightmare. Red Hot Night at max charge costs roughly 150k Red Orbs, but it can take him from 75% health to 0% health even on DMD (completely bypasses DT).

Mission 19 - Vergil and Mission 20 - True Power

Vergil has potentially two new moves here. They could have appeared earlier, but I didn't see them.

Sword Rain - Vergil can now execute a Sword Rain attack. A small circle of blue swords will appear over your head and plunge downward. Just keep moving (ideally dashing) to avoid this.

Demonic Double - Once per DT transformation, Vergil can create a blue ghostly duplicate of his DT form. This form seems to have slightly limited range and very little health, but is otherwise just as capable as Vergil. Recommend you take it out ASAP to limit the number of attacks you need to dodge.

This fight is much the same, but you have way less margin for error. You want to hit him with an attack every time he finishes an attack if you can, but you have to be careful because he'll start adding moves to attacks as the fight goes on to try and fake you out.

If you can use Trickster's teleport move to teleport to Vergil after he finishes an attack.

For Mission 20, bring Punch Line and make sure you keep Blue Rose charged up. You have the same goal as before, but Nero can do tons of damage from far away. As soon as he's done attacking, launch Punch Line and unload your entire clip. The Punch Line will keep him stun locked while the bullets hit him. Then you can get in close for some melee attacks as well.

Simply rinse and repeat. Completing this fight will earn one of the following depending on the difficulty: Doing Daddy Proud, Dance with the Devil, Stairway to Heaven, or Highway to Hell.