Devil May Cry 5 – FAQ/Walkthrough

Walkthrough / Before You Start

Mission 19: Vergil

Reason for Existing

Vergil doesn't have as many attacks as Urizen had, but they are all deadly and fast. Unlike almost any other weapon in the game, Vergil can defend and heal damage. Shooting Vergil isn't really an option. If you think this means that a Kalina missile will trick him, think again. He'll deflect that, too.

He can also enter Devil Trigger and become an even bigger threat. His attacks will get more powerful, he'll move faster, and there will be almost no time between his attacks. And just like Dante's standard Devil Trigger, when he's in this form, he'll heal.

This is a very technical fight. Learning his moves is only half of the battle. It's not enough to simply avoid his attacks, you need to know how you can follow each on up with your own attack. If you're too slow, you lose out on some or all of the damage you could have done.

Let's start with his moves.

Phase 1

Punch - Whenever Vergil sheathes his weapon, he can quickly jab with the sheath in almost an elbowing motion.

Split - Vergil will leap into the air and swing his blade down towards the ground. Jumping or dodging is effective. If you jump, follow up with a Split of your own, otherwise, follow up with a combo.

Streak (picture 1) - He will shift his weight down slightly and lean on his front leg. His torso will tilt towards you and he'll grab the hilt of his word. It takes 0.7 seconds from the beginning of the animation until it's executed. Jumping is the most reliable dodge as the swing is somewhat wide and ends in a spherical flurry of slashes. Follow up with a Split or (if you dodged) a Stinger.

Trickster Dash - Much like a high-level Trickster dash by Dante. This is usually evasive, nearly instantaneous, and has a very long range.

Combo A - Vergil will swing the sheathed sword from left to right like a baton before swinging it back in a backhand motion. The second swing will end at roughly hip height with Vergil lowering his stance slightly before unsheathing the sword in a single diagonal swing with his right hand.

He takes a step with each strike and each successive attack gets longer as well. If you're close, you'll need to dodge each one individually or jump over it. If you're far away, you can wait for the distinct flash of the sword before using Stinger to get close. Make sure you wait until the attack is complete because each blow can turn 180 degrees should you end up behind him.

Dark Energy (picture 2) - Vergil will put his weight on his back foot and squat down. He'll pause for a moment before a line shoots across the ground at you. If it hits you, it will erupt in a sphere of sword strikes.

Sword Formation - Like Dante, Vergil can form blades of light. His will form in front of him (like the Darts attack from Urizen earlier). From here, he will shoot these out at Dante. Stay moving to avoid these. Jumping is an effective method of pushing forward while avoiding damage.

Phase 2 (<75% Health)

Stab - Vergil will assume a stance similar to Streak except that his sword will be unsheathed and held in his right hand with the blade directly facing you. As he assumes the stance, a bright white light will flash before he starts absorbing blue energy. A split second later, he'll charge at you and attempt to stab you. This is essentially a more damaging Streak attack.

Phase 3 (<50% Health)

Devil Trigger - Vergil will transform and amplify his abilities. He'll heal, be faster, and hit harder with normal attacks. Also, like with Dante, he'll parry any attack when he transforms and be able to follow up with an attack immediately.

Multi-Dark Energy - Vergil will assume the same pose as Dark Energy, but several spheres will appear after the first one following you, so if you stop or retrace your steps, you'll get hit. In other words, simply jumping straight up is not sufficient to dodge this. Jump at an angle.

Multi-Split - He can follow up the first Split with a second one, so make sure to move as soon as you complete your counter attack.

Slay All - Vergil will assume a stance similar to Dark Energy, except a giant dark sphere of energy will appear with him at the center. When this appears, GTFO. At the end of his charging period, the entire sphere will fill with sword slashes and you'll take devastating damage (about 4 bars on Devil Hunter) if you're in the area of effect.

Phase 4 (<25% Health)

Sword Shield - A circle of blue blades will appear and rotate around Vergil. Another set will revolve around you. After a couple of seconds, the blades around you will pull outward and then all of them will try to stab inward at the same time. Jump to avoid this. After that, the ring around Vergil will start shooting at you in succession.

If you attack Vergil during this time, it's possible to hit the swords themselves instead of Vergil or to get too close to Vergil and be hit by the swords as a result.

Combo A+ - This is the same combo except at the end, he'll fling a blue blade directly forward. Make sure to dodge to the side when avoiding the last attack.

Offense

As stated before, getting hits in here is tricky. Most of your attacks are going to be the result of an immediate counterattack after one of his attacks. As a good rule of thumb, if you manage to avoid an attack, mimicking that attack is your best option. If he performs a Split, jump out of the way and immediately perform one of your own. If he performs a Streak, follow it up with a Stinger.

Fighting Vergil is a mastery test to see how much you've learned about timing, dodging, and how your attacks link together. Learning how long it takes to dodge after you complete an attack is key. You can usually dodge or jump immediately after your weapon would have made contact, even if there's a long follow-through.

For instance, if you perform a Split, you can dodge as soon as Dante's sword hits the ground even though he'll usually stay in that pose momentarily after landing.

This battle is a huge step up from everything else in the game and you're going to fail. Much of this fight is about instincts. I still had some latent muscle memory from fighting a similar battle in DMC3, and I still got knocked out three times in a single battle (granted, I was little careless, but not THAT careless).

Like all other battles before, do it right first, then do it fast. Learn to dodge and survive. Once you get the hang of that, that's when you learn to follow-up with attacks.

Take your time. Vergil is probably twice as hard as any other enemy in the game, so just make sure you learn from your losses and you'll be crushing Vergil in no time.