Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition SS Rank FAQ

============================================
Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition SS Rank FAQ
Version: 0.8
Author: Alfred "Gen2000/Gen2K" Lynaum
Contact: [email protected]
Last Updated: 2/18/06
============================================

Use Ctrl + F plus section number (i.e. 3.7) to quickly jump to specific parts
of the FAQ

I. Introduction
1.1 About the FAQ
1.2 Comments from the Author

II. General
2.1 What Is An SS Rank?
2.2 General Tips For Getting An SS Rank

III. SS Rank Mission Requirements and Advice
3.1 Mission 1
3.2 Mission 2
3.3 Mission 3
3.4 Mission 4
3.5 Mission 5
3.6 Mission 6
3.7 Mission 7
3.8 Mission 8
3.9 Mission 9
3.10 Mission 10
3.11 Mission 11
3.12 Mission 12
3.13 Mission 13
3.14 Mission 14
3.15 Mission 15
3.16 Mission 16
3.17 Mission 17
3.18 Mission 18
3.19 Mission 19
3.20 Mission 20

IV. Closing
4.1 Links
4.2 Credits & Thanks

=============================================================================
I. Introduction
=============================================================================
-------------------
1.1 About the FAQ
-------------------
This FAQ is about tackling one of the hardest challenges that DMC3 offers to
the more experienced players. For quick references this FAQ will list the
requirements for each mission and some small advice on how to have an easier
time in meeting all those requirements.

It originally started off only being about the Original DMC3 game but hearing
word of DMC3SE I decided to hold up putting up the FAQ and decided make it
about that version of the game.

-------------------------------
1.2. Comments From the Author
-------------------------------
You don't unlock anything special for receiving all SS Ranks besides extra
pictures in the Image Gallery. Receiving SS Ranks is more about fully
understanding the game inside and out and pushing the limits of what the
developers consider acceptable methods for completing missions.

Also since you're reading this FAQ I take it that you beat Dante/Vergil Must
Die mode and looking for more challenge out of the game. Beating Dante Must
Die is only a small step towards being worthy of a SS Rank player, especially
a DMD SS Rank player. I won't go over the basic controls, go in great detail
about Devil Arms, Blue Orb locations, etc. since if you're reading this FAQ
you should have a basic understanding of all those things and there are plenty
of other FAQs that goes into detail about them.

=============================================================================
II. General
=============================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1 What Is An SS Rank?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SS Rank is the Rank you get when you receive an S at the end of mission
Results screen in all of the following 5 categories; Time, Orbs, Style,
Damage, and Items.

The ranking "SS" isn't actually displayed until you go into the Total Rankings
screen. Each mission has certain requirements you must meet to receive an S
for that category and the requirements are different depending on the
difficulty you play on. The higher the difficulty the stricter the
requirements are so the most challenging task to take on in DMC3 that's
documented in the game is completing Dante/Vergil Must Die mode with SS Ranks.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2 General Tips For Getting SS Ranks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is quick look at the Devil Arms, Guns, and some more advance techniques
you should know about for going about the missions in an SS Rank like fashion.

**************************************
>> Getting Started / Being Prepared <<
**************************************
Complete Dante/Vergil Must Die at least once without using items (aka item
less) is highly recommended. Relying on items puts you at a disadvantage of
not knowing how to react to enemies or bosses properly and also gets you
familiar with on how to maximize Dante or Vergil's moves for effectiveness in
certain situations.

You don't need a completely maxed out Dante or Vergil but having at least 1
and half bars of health, all moves for the Devil Arms, all guns, maxed out
Styles and guns makes getting SS Ranks much easier.

****************
>> Devil Arms <<
****************
***********************
== Rebellion (Dante) ==
***********************
This is overall a very good weapon to go along with others when SS Ranking.
Stinger is powerful and moves you around the screen fast and Helm Breaker is a
good knockdown move but more importantly Rebellion has plenty of cancel frames
on its attacks that are very useful for dodging incoming enemy attacks in a
pinch.

Moves to get more familiar with when SS Ranking:
- Combo I and Combo II
- Stinger
- Hightime
- Helm Breaker
- Sword Pierce (Swordmaster: in combination of Spiral Switch-Canceling)

**********************
== Cerberus (Dante) ==
**********************
Similar to Rebellion in cancel ability but in general is the weakest Devil
Arm in the game. Because of the weak attack power combined with the multiple
hitting attacks of Cerberus's basic combos, it makes for a great Style Points
building Devil Arm. Combo I is a quick and easy Style points building combo.
In the corner Combo II > Satellite is even better and more damaging.

Moves to get more familiar with when SS Ranking:
- Combo I
- Satellite
- Revolver (learn how to Jump-cancel this move)

**************************
== Agni & Rudra (Dante) ==
**************************
Compared to Rebellion or Cerberus Agni & Rudra has poor cancel ability but is
a balanced weapon with combos for crowd control or more powerful direct
attacking.

Moves to get more familiar with when SS Ranking:
- Combo I and II
- Whirlwind
- Jet Stream
- AERIAL CROSS (learn to take advantage of using quick multiple low jumping
Aerial Crosses, or E&I/Shotgun>Aerial Cross>E&I/Shotgun aerial combos).

*******************
== Nevan (Dante) ==
*******************
Because of its superior crowd control abilities Nevan makes for a great
secondary weapon. The bats that are summon during a majority of its moves are
considered projectiles and if you get more familiar with its attacks you can
have a constant stream of projectiles on screen to add on top of your other
attacks or combos where the overall damage comes close to or rivals the
stronger moves from other Devil Arms. The cancel ability of Nevan isn't that
great but if you stick with the moves mentioned below it shouldn't be an
issue and still deal out great damage/build up Style Points quickly.

Moves to get more familiar with when SS Ranking:
- Tune Up (should be first priority as it allows you to summon bats faster)
- Reverb Shock lv.2 (learn how to spam it by canceling the lag with the first
attack of a Devil Arm, one shot of E&I/Spiral/KA, or Guard Canceling to keep
a constant barrage of bats on screen)
- Air Play (learn how to summon multiple bats but without lag by performing
this move close to the ground)
- Jam Session (the ultimate Crazy Combo, easily builds style and can deal
equal damage to a large group of Hell/Abyss enemies at one time weakening
them before they DT. Learn how to cancel before the final hit vs. DTed
enemies to avoid getting hit during the lag time).

********************************
== Beowulf (Dante and Vergil) ==
********************************
The Devil Arm with the shortest range but makes up for it power. Its basic
non-style specific move list already contains some powerful tools but if used
with Swordmaster Style you can bring out its true power through combos
involving Hammer and Real Impact. Vergil's Beowulf has fewer moves than
Dante's but in general they are even more powerful.

Moves to get more familiar with when SS Ranking
(Dante)
- Combo I
- Killer Bee (learn to Jump-cancel this move)
- Straight (Full Charge Straight)
- Beast Uppercut/Rising Dragon (Full Charge Beast Uppercut/Rising Dragon)
- Hammer (Swordmaster Style)
- REAL IMPACT (Swordmaster Style)

(Vergil)
- Everything. Learn to Jump-cancel Starfall and Lunar Phase to get more
damage quickly out of Beowulf related combos. Do not underestimate the use of
DTed Beowulf attacks.

*************************
== Force Edge (Vergil) ==
*************************
Coming Soon...

*********************
== Yamato (Vergil) ==
*********************
Coming Soon...

***********
>> Guns <<
***********
***************************
== Ebony & Ivory (Dante) ==
***************************
- While being the fastest on their own E&I is also the weakest of the Guns,
only the 8th bullet of a firing session stuns an enemy, but E&I has nice
secondary uses that makes it a useful firearm to carry around when trying to
get SS Ranks such as the unique “hovering” ability one gets when firing
repeatedly in mid-air. When dodging an incoming attack from a group of enemies
hovering allows you to shortly examined the situation and see how you will
counter-attack. Also useful for dodging wide ground base attacks such as from
Nevan or Beowulf.

Since it has the least lag of any Gun it also makes for useful combos with a
Devil Arm with a good mid-air such as [Hammer > E&I > Hammer]x3. With other
Guns at best you would be able to get in 1 or 2 Hammer attacks.

E&I overall though are usually used to make for better Switch-canceling
combinations such as E&I/Spiral or E&I/Kailina Ann.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Any worthwhile use of this Gun for SS Ranking when used with Gunslinger? -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charge Shots gives off instant stun vs. most enemies and affects a much wider
attack area than Normal Shots gaining more Style points.

If you use mid-air Normal Shots > Rainstorm repeatedly you can gain even more
airtime than just firing Normal Shots. Rainstorm itself is a pretty powerful
move if you let Dante complete it all the way to ground, very damaging on
large targets such as the green Archanes.

*********************
== Shotgun (Dante) ==
*********************
If you can get over the lack of hover ability and range the Shotgun is a nice
replacement for E&I. Its Normal Shot fires in a wide attack area and will stun
most non-DTed enemies giving slight crowd control if need be. The damage
increases the closer you are to the target. At first it would seem as though
the fire rate is slow but this is easily fixed by taking advantage of low
jumps to cancel the lag animation. Sometimes referred to as “Triple Shotgun
Blasting/Shooting/Fire” you basically use [Normal Shot > low jump mid-air
Normal Shot > land then Normal again], repeat as necessary. The damage is
pretty impressive and an easy way to knock down DTed enemies if lack the
Kalina Ann.

Like E&I the Shotgun makes for a good partner in aerial combos not because of
the short lag time but because of the firepower. Shotgun/Spiral Switch-
canceling is just as good E&I/Spiral Switch-canceling, the former just
sacrifices fire rate for slightly better crowd control.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Any worthwhile use of this Gun for SS Ranking when used with Gunslinger? -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Charge Shots with the Shotgun are powerful even more so when using the “Triple
Shotgun Blast” pattern. Using Charge Shot > Killer Bee is a quick way to knock
Vergil 2 or 3 out his DTed Form.

Gunstinger is basically a Charge Shot without having to charge, it’s highly
recommended that you get more familiar with using follow-up “Point Blank” as
it’s one of the more damaging moves in the game. Since it’s considered a
projectile you can take advantage of this vs. some bosses, most notable is
Vergil after you stun him.

*********************
== Artemis (Dante) ==
*********************
Artemis is generally considered the Gun that was made for Gunslinger Style.
This is because its basic functions aren’t really that impressive. Normal Shot
does have a nice stun affect and it’s the strongest Gun that you can fire in
mid-air that has longest range though.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Any worthwhile use of this Gun for SS Ranking when used with Gunslinger? -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Multi-Lock, once you get familiar with charging while melee attacking and
releasing Multi-Lock shots mid-combo you’ll see destructive power that Artemis
can add to your close combat abilities.

********************
== Spiral (Dante) ==
********************
Coming Soon...

************************
== Kalina Ann (Dante) ==
************************
Coming Soon...

******************************
== Summoned Swords (Vergil) ==
******************************
Coming Soon...

************
>> Styles <<
************
***********************
== Trickster (Dante) ==
***********************
Coming Soon...

************************
== Gunslinger (Dante) ==
************************
Coming Soon...

**************************
== Sword Master (Dante) ==
**************************
Coming Soon...

*************************
== Royal Guard (Dante) ==
*************************
Coming Soon...

*************************
== Quicksilver (Dante) ==
*************************
Coming Soon...

**************************
== Doppelganger (Dante) ==
**************************
Coming Soon...

**************************
== Dark Slayer (Vergil) ==
**************************
Coming Soon...

**********************************
>> Tricks & Gameplay Techniques <<
**********************************
These Gameplay Techniques are also known as "Advanced" Techniques but I don't
find them that advance but whatever...more details coming soon.

*************
== Evasion ==
*************
Dante and Vergil has accessed to some useful tricks without even diving into
Style specific evasion moves to help avoid damage.

---------------
-- Side Roll --
---------------
“Side Roll? Why even mentioned that?” because it’s usually overlooked,
especially you’re a big Trickster where it’s easily overshadowed by Dash or
low jump > Sky Star in random direction but without using that Style this is
the best option you have if you want a quick evasion move that can grant you a
slight position advantage over your enemy. The invincible frames on the Side
Roll seem similar to that of Trickster's Dash. The main downside to Side Roll
is that you must be locked on to your enemy; sometimes the camera may not be
in your favor if you need to execute this maneuver in a tight situation.

-------------------------------
-- Just Jump (or Just Dodge) --
-------------------------------
If you haven't noticed by now Dante and Vergil have a decent amount of
invincible frames on the beginning frames of their jumping animation. This
means they’re invulnerable to all attacks as long as they are within those
frames. The more you get familiar with this the easier it is to avoid enemy
attacks even in a majority of worst case scenarios.

The term "Just Jump/Dodge" is play on Royal Guard's "Just Guard" technique,
it's an unofficial name but helps to easily reference the gameplay technique
of jumping "just" when an attack's about to hit you to have it whiff
completely allowing Dante or Vergil to pass it.

A basic example of this is stand in front of a Hell or Abyss, allow them to
swing their scythes at you and jump just before the attack hits your
character. If successful you'll noticed that attack will completely whiff.

Some more useful examples are vs. Fallen's sword swipe or Arachnes' claw slash.

One of the more extreme examples is to stand in front of an Hell Wrath DTE
then immediately cancel the DTE pose with jump, the DTE will trigger the
explosion from the Hell Wrath but you completely avoid taking any damage if
jumped just before the explosion hit you.

************************************************************************
== Easier Just Guarding and Just Releases Royal Guard Style specific) ==
************************************************************************
If you plan using playing as Dante and using the Royal Guard Style to get SS
Ranks on DMD difficulty you want insurance that your Just Guards and Just
Releases are perfect to meet the Damage requirement. Nothing is worse than
completing a long mission and seeing that you didn't get the SS Rank because
you took 100 points of damage from an improper Just Guard or that badass DTE +
Just Release combo you did on a boss but you failed to noticed the 10 damage
you took because of an improper Just Release. By taking advantage of blending
in the invincible frames of Dante's basic Evasion techniques with Royal Guard
techniques you obtain a higher success of perfect Just Guards and Just
Releases easier.

-----------------------------------------------
-- Just Jumping Guard / Just Jumping Release --
-----------------------------------------------
The principle of Just Jumping Guard or Just Jumping Release is simple, when
attacked you use the invincible frames of Dante's beginning jump animation to
avoid damage but immediately go into an aerial Just Guard. Since you're going
into the Just Guard animation right as the enemy's attack is on Dante's
character model you'll perform a perfect Just Guard, taking no damage at all.
When you're ready to be offensive replace the aerial Just Guard with an aerial
Just Release.

A basic example of this is vs. Hell Vanguard's scythe slash after it deflects
an attack of yours.

Some more useful examples include: Hell Sloth's teleport > slash pattern,
Archances claw slash, nearly every attack from Agni or Rudra, the Gigapedes's
biting attack (from the ones that are found in Leviathan), Beowulf's 3 hit
combo, stomp, cage punching attack, or Volcano attack, Geryon's dash attack or
his carriage swipe, Vergil's Starfall, Lady's Kalina Ann Normal Shot, Damned
Queen's charge attack, and Arkham's hand smash attack in his first form,
Vergil 3's Helm Breaker, Upper Slash, Stinger, or Berserker Trick Up > Helm
Breaker patterns (if he lacks the support of his Spiral Swords).

------------------------
-- Rolling Just Guard --
------------------------
Rolling Just Guard works on the same principle of Just Jumping Guard, you
blend in the invincible frames of the basic Side Roll while immediately going
into a standing Just Guard as the enemy's attack is over Dante's character
model.

Because of more invincible frames from a Side Roll compared the beginning
animations of a jump Rolling Just Guards guarantees perfect Just Guards easier
than Jumping Just Guards but in most situations Jumping Just Guards are more
effective unless the attack you're using Rolling Just Guards against hits in a
wide area.

A basic example of this is vs. Cerberus's claw slash.

More useful examples include: Hell Vanguard's teleport slash attacks, Agni's
sword slash, Leviathan's Laser or Twin Laser attack, Nevan's spin attack,
Beowulf's Volcano, or Arkham's arm swipe.

--------------------
-- Jump-canceling --
--------------------
This is a technique that is sort of mentioned in the game's tutorial sections
but never fully touched on. "Kick Jump" is the technique described as when
Dante or Vergil uses the wall (or an enemy) to jump off of to gain higher
ground. The game never mentions you also have the ability to cancel any aerial
attack with a Kick Jump if you use an enemy to jump off of but many DMC3
players found this out for themselves.

The DMC3 community refers to this as "Jump-canceling". Basically if you
perform an aerial attack or an attack causes Dante or Vergil to lift to ground
and their character models are on or near the enemy then you cancel that
attack with a Kick Jump.

A basic example is to test this out with Cerberus's Revolver. Once you get
familiar with Jump-canceling new combo and damage opportunities opens up to
you.

The more dominated Jump-canceled aerial attack is Killer Bee/Starfall. By
itself it's already a powerful attack but when used repeatedly through Jump-
canceling allows the player deal major damage to a target in a very short
amount of time. This most common example of this is vs. Hell Vanguard or
Vergil/Vante. Jump-canceling isn't just about being more offensive, because of
this unique cancel ability you can use it to avoid an incoming attack if you
feel one is about to interrupt your aerial attack. Note that Jump-canceling
off an enemy has the same properties as Kick Jump which means for when playing
as Dante you gain use of Air Hike or Trickster's Sky Star again even if you
used it before during your aerial assault. With Vergil he regains access to
any Trick moves he used previous to the Jump-cancel.

----------------------
-- Switch-canceling --
----------------------
All the Guns besides Ebony & Ivory have some lag (cool down time) before they
can be fired again. You can cancel this lag time by jumping or using a Devil
Arm melee attack. By knowing this small piece of information it's easy to see
how Switch-canceling was discovered so early in the game's lifetime. Switching
between Guns you can cancel the lag time of one Gun by firing another and
canceling the lag time of that Gun by switching back, repeating as needed to
create an projectile onslaught vs. enemies.

Ebony & Ivory has little to lag and is quick to draw, combining it with other
Guns makes up for the fastest Switch-cancel combinations in the game. While
Switch-canceling can work any combination of Guns the most popular, and
effective, set-ups involves Spiral in them. Spiral's Normal Shot is the
strongest and has the most range out of any other Guns in the game. Each shot
also boosts the Style meter greatly without being punished for repeatedly
using the same move over and over again which why Spiral Switch-canceling is
one of the easiest ways to get SSStylish vs. enemies or bosses. Certain set-
ups yield different results, for example:

Ebony & Ivory or Artemis/Spiral or Ebony & Ivory/Kalina Ann Switch-canceling
is a set-up to use when you one more direct (vs. 1 or 2 enemies) but powerful
Switch-canceling power. The later set-up doesn't give as much Style points as
the former but is has better crowd control abilities.

Vs.

Spiral/Kalina Ann Switch-canceling which is a set-up that has you sacrificing
an aerial projectile Gun for all out ground projectile power and crowd control.

-------------------------------------------
-- Guard-canceling (Royal Guard specific) -
-------------------------------------------
Guard-canceling is a simple concept, as you know you can cancel Devil Arm
ground melee attacks with another attack, roll, jump, or Style specific move
and Gun ground attacks with a jump, roll, or Style specific move. Guard-
canceling is basically tapping the Guard button to reduce the lag from those
moves and allow Dante to immemidenty go into another attack of his choosing
without worrying about the lag of canceling of the former mentioned moves.

This is because the releasing the Guard button and coming out of the Guard
Stance immediately puts Dante back in neutral position. Understanding this you
can how this brings forth some powerful new tricks for Dante both offensive
and defense wise.

While Guard-canceling melee attacks has some uses when SS Ranking the more
popular trick is Guard-canceling Spiral Normal Shots. If you're familiar with
how powerful Switch-canceling Spiral set-ups are then it's easy to see why
Spiral Guard-canceling is so effective. Spiral Guard-canceling is even easier
and does more damage faster than Ebony & Ivory/Spiral Switch-canceling.

**********************************
>> Tips On Meeting Requirements <<
**********************************
**********
== Time ==
**********
- DT and run (Vergil's DT Run is faster than Dante's) or use fast moving
attacks with small lag repeatedly to quickly move around in areas where they
are no enemies. Some popular examples:
-- Stinger repeatedly
-- Stinger > first slash of Rebellion or Force Edge > Stinger repeatedly
-- Stinger/Straight/Reverb Shock > Stinger/Straight/Reverb Shock.
-- Stinger > Trickster's Dash.
-- Stinger > Swordmaster's Dance Macbare's initial dash repeatedly.
-- Stinger > Gunslinger's Gunstinger repeatedly.
-- Guard-canceled Stinger/Straight/Reverb Shock repeatedly.
-- Air Hike Jump > Killer Bee at the apex of your jump repeatedly.
-- Low jumping Trickster's Sky Star repeatedly

- Fight only enemies or areas that you need to in other to help in getting an
S for other categories. Fighting every single enemy in some missions wastes
too much time and can throw off your S in meeting the Time requirement.

**********
== Orbs ==
**********
- Try to kill enemies with Sweet-SSStylish rating. The higher your rating when
you deliver the final blow to an enemy or boss the more amount of Orbs they
drop.

- Take advantage of Hidden Red Orb locations and Red Orb Crystal Fountains
scattered throughout some of the missions. That is if you left any before
starting the SS Rank challenge, you can only get them once per save file.

- Small orb farming (repeatedly going in and out of a room to kill enemies)
can help in meeting the Orb requirement as long as it doesn't interfere with
the Time requirement. Replaying short and easy Secret Missions is one of the
more popular examples of this.

- Collecting a Green Orb when you have full health nets you 300 Red Orbs.

***********
== Style ==
***********
- Constantly attack but also at the same time keeping some variety in your
attack patterns some to keep building up the Style rating.

- Taunting after the death of enemies still builds your Style rating.

- For Vergil, killing an enemy with the last attack of Yamato Combo, Upper
Slash (either the upward or downward slash), or the last attack of Force Edge
Combo and letting him sheath his sword as the enemy dies also counts as a
Taunt.

- Using the Roll or Trickster's Dash or Sky Star adds to the Style rating even
on defeated enemies who fading away such as Hells, Abyss, or Arachnes.

************
== Damage ==
************
- On lower difficulties where the Damage Requirement isn't so strict use Royal
Guard's normal Guard or Just Guard to reduce damage from enemies.

- Learn how to properly attack with Dante or Vergil's weapons, during an
assault you want to be sure that a cancel point is close by incase you have
to immediately evade an enemy's attack. Some attacks give you more freedom
than others to cancel the attack animation, i.e. Dante's Rebellion's first
slash of Combo I vs. Beowulf's Real Impact.

**********
== Item ==
**********
- Don't use Items. Using any item once reduces your Item ranking from an S to
an A or lower.

=============================================================================
III. SS Rank Mission Requirements and Advice
=============================================================================

NOTE: TIME REQUIREMENTS LISTED MEANS THAT YOU MUST COMPLETE SAID MISSION
UNDER THE REQUIRED TIME.
ITEM REQUIREMENT IS ALWAYS ZERO NO MATTER WHAT THE DIFFICULTY IS.

* = Not sure of exact requirement
x = Unknown requirement

NOTE ON VIDEO REFERENCES: A majority of the links here was posted with
original DMC3 being used as the source, before SE was even released, and was
based off those difficulties. SE changed around the original DMC3's
difficulties but I found that some of those videos could still be useful to
SS Rank players so I listed them here and named their difficulty accordingly
to what it would have been in SE. The ones with "+" by the difficulty name
are videos that were made using the original DMC3. The DMD difficulties are
same for the original and SE so there is no need to make a note on those.

Some missions from the original DMC3 have different enemy layouts in SE so I
excluded the following mission videos from the listings: Any difficulty M5,
Easy-Hard M14, any difficulty M15, and any difficulty M17.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1 Mission 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY 01:10 0600 4500 0
NORMAL 01:40 1700 5000 0
HARD 01:40 1700 5000 0
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE! 03:00 3900 5000 0

- The first mission is also the easiest mission in the game to get SS Rank
on, just constantly keep attacking the enemies and try to maintain a Sweet-
SSStylish rating throughout the majority of the mission. The Red Orb drops
from an enemy depends on the Style rating when delivering the final blow so
to meet the Orb requirement you need to main a high Style rating on all enemy
deaths. SS Ranking this mission on any difficulty is all about rhythm and
just having fun.

- V.HARD and DMD: Hell Wraths appears in corners of the office but they can
easily be dealt with safely and quickly while at the same time maintaining a
high Style rating by using Spiral Switch/Guard-Canceled shots in the upper
far-right corner of the office with Dante (direction based off which way he
is facing when the mission first starts). You can also use DTEs but cancel
the pose with invincible frame evasion moves such as Rolling, Trickster
Dashing, Jumping, or Vergil's Air Trick to kill them SSStylish as well.

- On lower difficulties where enemies die too fast to build a good Style
rating try to use Crazy Combos with (Million Stabs and Million Slash are some
good ones) and make sure the final attack of it kills them. Afterwards just
keep your Style meter high with DTEs, Taunts, and all that good stuff while
killing fast as possible. Don't waste your time trying to use Crazy Combos on
all groups or you won't meet the Time requirement.

Vergil can pretty much fight the same as he do on higher difficulties, just
make sure you involve more Spiral Swords during melee combos to easier get
group kill type SSStylish ratings.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
A1 - [HARD+] http://babildo.brinkster.net/videos/playthroughs.html
-- Rebellion[Ebony & Ivory]
A2 - [DMD] http://www.voritgous.com/gen2000/dmc3.html
-- Gunslinger-Rebellion/Nevan[Artemis/Spiral]
A3 - [VMD] http://www.vortiginous.com/gen2000/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2 Mission 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY 01:40 0700 4500 0
NORMAL 01:50* 1800 5000 0
HARD 01:50* 1800 5000 0
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 04:30 4500 5000 0

- This is similar to SS ranking M1 except you have a little bit more time and
room to fight. Just follow the above advice from M1 and you should be fine for
dealing with the Hell enemies and making the Orb and Style requirement.
An easy way to catch the first group in a Crazy Combo is to move Dante
slightly to the right at the start of the mission and turn around perform the
Crazy Combo while just attacking air before the actual Crazy Combo starts
[Video Reference: B1 and B2]. 9 times out 10 all of the Hell Prides will jump
into the attack instantly giving you a lot of Style points from the get-go.

A super lazy method to make Style requirement is to just abuse Artemis/Spiral
Switch-canceling or Spiral Guard-canceling but you must make sure you pick up
all the Red Orbs from the dying enemies. Trickster's Sky Star makes getting
them easier to do while at the same time keeping the SSStylish rating up for
the whole mission until the Hell Vanguard shows up if you plan to use this
method.

********************************
>> (Mini) BOSS: Hell Vanguard <<
********************************
EASY-HARD version - Just hack/beat up on him since US Easy Mode Hell Vanguard
doesn't perform his teleporting attack if you're constantly hitting him, he
only teleports to new location.

V.HARD-DMD version - Same deal as above except now the Hell Vanguard performs
a teleport attack after taking too much damage. On V.Hard he does 1 and on
D/VMD he does 3 teleport attacks in a row.

***********
== DANTE ==
***********
-- Trickster: If you want to be 100% safe just use low jumping Sky Stars in
the opposite direction the Hell Vanguard appears during his teleport attack to
maintain high Style rating and be out of harms way.

-- Swordmaster and Beowulf: After he finishes the teleport attack run behind
him and perform Real Impact [Video Reference: B4].

-- Royal Guard: Use Just Guard on each of his teleport passings is a good way
to build up rage and maintain high Style rating [Video Reference: B2].

-- With any other Style besides the above: Just use rolls, running, Just
Dodges, that sort of stuff and fire your Gun weapon after each of his passing
to keep the style meter up somewhat. When he reappears Taunt him to boost your
style a couple of ratings and continue with the normal pattern and use DTEs
when needed.

************
== VERGIL ==
************
You don't even have to move with Vergil vs. Hell Vanguard, just use Beowulf's
Lunar Phase while Summon Swords. On higher difficulties where Hell
Vanguarduses his teleport attacks you can stand in one spot and dodge without
much effort by using the invincible frames from your jump combined with Air
Trick.
While dodging continue to use Spiral Swords to add damage. Use DTEs when
available. [Video Reference: B5]

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
B1 - [HARD+] http://YuriSeal site here
-- Swordmaster-Rebellion[Ebony & Ivory]
B2 - [V.HARD+] Player Gen2000's Video: Currently Offline
-- Royal Guard-Rebellion[Ebony & Ivory]
B3 - [DMD] http://www.voritgous.com/gen2000/dmc3.html
-- Gunslinger-Rebellion/Nevan[Artemis/Spiral]
B4 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- Swordmaster-Rebellion/Beowulf[Ebony & Ivory/Kalina Ann]
B5 - [VMD] http://www.vortiginous.com/gen2000/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3 Mission 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY 05:00 6000* 5000*
x
NORMAL 06:00* 10000* 5000 3000
HARD 06:00* 10000* 5000 3000
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 10:00 12000 5000 0

If you didn't collect the Hidden Orbs before or didn't shatter the Red Orb
Crystal Fountains on your current save file then you can save a lot of time on
this mission.

- 66 Slum Avenue: Grab the Hidden Red Orbs, if available, by jumping up to the
highest the small gap behind the buildings.

- Then either...
A) Use a DTE to easily kill the Enigmas and finish off the remaining enemies
in the area and then head into the bar afterwards [Video Reference: C3 and
C6].

Or

B) Back track to Dante's office area and fight all the enemies there and skip
the Enigma area and run inside the bar.

Or

C) Ignore the Enigmas and run inside the bar area ignoring the enemies
outside, destroy most of the area and collect the red orbs from there. If you
go this route you will have to play the Secret Mission to help in gaining Orb
and Style points.

In the bar area break the random objects in there for some Red Orbs. The most
important ones are in the barrels but with Kailina Ann or Nevan using Combo
III you can quickly grab them all.

If the Hidden Red Orbs wasn't available then fight all the enemies in the area
before heading into the bar.

- Fight the enemies stylishly in the Love Planet area. Remember to get all the
Red Orbs from the tables, chairs, and such as well as the Green Orb above the
exit door. A good note to remember is that when you kill one Hell Sloth a
Hell Lust appears so on higher difficulties if you want to keep the number of
Hell Lust onscreen down only kill one Hell Sloth at time then focus on the
newcomer Hell Lust. Repeat until no more Hell Lust appears and finish the
remaining Hell Sloth off. I find this method is the easiest way with dealing
with the enemies without taking damage and maintaining high style rating
because Hell Lust are very hyper on DMD mode.

- 13th Avenue: Grab the Hidden Red Orbs, if available, on top of the Love
Planet sign.

Grab all orbs from outside on your way to Cerberus, some should be in a
dumpster, behind a fence like area and on a ladder. If you haven't shattered
it yet on your current save file then a Red Orb Crystal Fountain should be in
the fenced in area. I don't understand how the fountain determines how many
Red Orbs you get per hit but I like to use a combo like "Stinger, Hightime >
Helm Breaker" repeatedly to break it because it seems like you get more Red
Orbs that way.

********************
>> BOSS: Cerberus <<
********************
*********
==DANTE==
*********
If you stand in the lower left corner of the battle area then no attacks of
Cerberus can touch you besides the Yellow Dog Head's icicle drop. This makes
for a good spot for Shotgun/Spiral Switch-Canceling or use Shotgun to blow
off a majority of the ice armor then use Guard-Canceled Spiral shots. This
allows you deal heavy damage to him and raises the Style rating quickly.
Since the Yellow Dog head causes the most trouble try to focus all of your
damage on him, once he's gone it's much easier to fight within melee range if
you want to speed up the battle. This method may not be as fast as constantly
fighting within melee range of Cerberus but on V.Hard or DMD mode where
the Damage requirements more strict you can't risk getting hit by a random
attack from him.

A Max DTE in front and above the center of Cerberus not only instantly knocks
him down but also gives you a great Style rating boost that you can continue
to increase while he is stunned. This allows you to meet your Style
requirement if you haven't already. DMD Cerberus doesn't fall down too easily
from anything besides DTEs (it's still possible but time consuming) so save
your DT Gauge except for that since Cerberus is one of the few enemies in the
game "immune" to Dante's Taunt.

Some recommended SS ranking set-ups:
-- Trickster - A&R/xxxx[Shotgun/Spiral]: use Shotgun to get rid of ice
quickly, Shotgun > Aerial Cross for melee damage and Trickster's Sky Star to
aid in avoiding attacks, the Wall Hike becomes very useful avoiding the
icicle drops while spamming Spiral Switch/Guard-canceled shots in the lower
left corner. When within melee range always move in the opposite direction
from where Cerberus is facing to be sure you'll be safe during his attacks
[Video Reference: C3].

-- Swordmaster - Beowulf or A&R/Nevan[Shotgun/Spiral]: use Shotgun to blow
off his ice armor quickly and Hammer/Aerial Cross/Sky Dance > Air Slash for
major damage when within melee range as well keeping up a good Style rating.

You can also use a similar attack pattern to Trickster except instead using
Wall Hike to dodge the icicle attack you can use Cerberus's Ice Age.

-- Royal Guard - xxxx/xxxx[Shotgun/Spiral]: use Guard-canceled Spiral shots
to get rid of Cerberus's ice armor, Just Guard his tackle attack and use Just
Release vs. the same attack as well [Video Reference: C5]. On lower
difficulties were the Damage requirement isn't as strict you can Just Guard
the Yellow Dog Head's Icicle Drops instead to build rage quickly.

**********
==VERGIL==
**********
With Vergil use Aerial Rave + Summoned Swords spam to hack away at Cerberus's
legs to cause him to fall, then switch focusing on the Yellow Dog Head. When
it's defeated focus on the Red Dog Head [Video Reference: C6]. If you want a
quick fight don't use any Summon Sword abilities that drains your DT gauge,
instead save all your DT energy for Max DTE and whenever you knock Cerberus
down get rid of the ice armor off one or two Dog heads then let him have it
with a DTE followed by a barrage of DTed Aerial Rave attacks. Repeat until he
dies.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
C1 - [HARD+] http://babildo.brinkster.net/videos/playthroughs.html
-- Rebellion[Ebony & Ivory/Shotgun]
C2 [V.HARD+] Player Gen2000's Video: Currently Offline
-- Royal Guard-Rebellion[Ebony & Ivory/Shotgun]
C3 - [DMD] http://www.voritgous.com/gen2000/dmc3.html
-- Swordmaster-Rebellion/Nevan[Ebony & Ivory/Kalina Ann]
-- Trickster-Rebellion/Agni & Rudra[Ebony & Ivory/Shotgun]
C4 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- ????
C5 - [DMD] Player Venom's Boss Video: Currently Offline
-- ????
C6 - [VMD] http://www.vortiginous.com/gen2000/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.4 Mission 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL 07:00* 5000* 4500 4000
HARD 07:00* 5000* 4500 4000
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 16:00 11000 5000 0

- Head straight to the Enigma trio area. Ignore the Hell Lusts on higher
difficulties or kill them if you want. On lower difficulties Hell Prides
replaces them, kill them as they are much easier than DMD Hell Lusts in a
small area.

- In the beginning of the Enigma area use Nevan to block the arrows while
knocking the Style rating up very high usually gaining instant SSStylish and
unleash a Max DTE to kill them all in one blow. Clear out the rest of enemies
in the area how you see fit.

You can either use Spiral Switch/Guard-Cancel shots to snipe the enemies off
screen, Enigmas doesn't fire unless their onscreen, or you could try for a
more melee approach.

If doing the latter and on DMD difficulty weaken the right Enigma to one bar
of health then take out the two on the left on the opposite side of the door
and then weaken the and use a Max DTE to kill him and the Hell Lust all
together to save a lot of time. Take note that it's possible for the DMD Mode
Hell Lust to hit you on the small walking area with their uppercut attack
when standing above them so try to stand close to wall as possible fighting
the Enigmas. Kill the newcomer Enigma and finish off the previous weaken
Engima along with the last newcomer on the right side of the area.

- Optional: Go back to the hallway area and fight the Hell Pride + Hell Lust
group. This isn't really needed but with the weird Orb requirement on higher
difficulties it doesn't hurt. Not needed if there's a Red Orb Crystal
Fountain in the rising elevator area.

- The statues in the rising elevator area contains a good amount of red orbs
and if you didn't break it earlier then Red Orb Crystal Fountain in the
corner of this area can help with you meeting the Orb requirement. Not needed
if you fought the extra enemies in the hallway.

- Defeat the enemies in the next area as Stylishly as you can and head
towards the pit area.

- In the pit area on V.Hard and D/VMD Mode Abyss and Soul Eaters replaces the
normal Hell Sloth, Lust, and Wrath group. The easiest way to deal with this
area is to go in with a Max DT gauge ready. When you first enter beat up on
the first Abyss that Dante is facing towards for about three hits then run
towards where the Soul Eater is appearing turn your back towards him and use
your DTE to kill him. Sometimes you will get lucky and kill both Soul Eaters
but if you don't just charge another DTE (about 3 DT Orbs worth is about all
it takes to kill them). After the Soul Eaters are gone, taking care of the
Abyss should be easy.

Optional: Go back in the pit area and fight the enemies down there again. If
you skipped the DMD Lusts hallway area battle and didn't go back to fight the
Hell Pride + Lust group you can make up for the Orb requirement with a second
round of fighting in the pit area.

********************
>> BOSS: GIGAPEDE <<
********************
*********
==DANTE==
*********
The usual way of beating him by jumping on top of his head then beating him
down in DT form while ignoring the small hits that Dante receives works well
on lower difficulties but not so much on U.S. Hard or DMD due to a
combination of Gigapede's increased defense and him using the purple orb
attack much more often that does enough damage to throw off your chances of
making the strict Damage requirement. One of the easiest bosses in the game
turns out to be one of the hardest when trying to SS Rank him on V.Hard-DMD
difficulty.

This is where Spiral comes in. Spiral Switch/Guard-canceled shots does
incredible damage to Gigapede when lined up right as well as building the DT
Gauge up very quickly. The best times to fire at him is after hiding behind
the small area under the "bridge". The small structure sticking out should
block the purple orb attacks and once Gigapede passes by you try to quickly
line the gun up with him and spam Switch/Guard-Canceled Spiral shots to deal
massive damage, gain allot of Style points, and build your DT Gauge at the
same time. After Gigapede leaves, head back toward the entrance door and wait
for him to come back. Avoid any purple orbs that may have made their way
towards Dante and jump on Gigapede then hack/beat up on him while using DTE.
Repeat the process over until he dies. This method also work on lower
difficulties but I find it's one of the few ways to beat him on higher
difficulties that also doesn't put you at much risk for getting hit so you
can easily make the Damage requirement.

Another Spiral switch/guard-canceled method is to use Royal Guard style and
stand on the tall structure on the right side (direction based off when you
first enter Gigapede's lair) and repeatedly spam Spiral Guard-canceled shots
while using Ultimate (make sure your target lock-on is focused on Gigapede's
face before performing) to block the purple orb attacks. Due to the weird
camera angle it's hard to keep track of where Dante is and you may end up
falling off the platform that can be trouble if you do so at the wrong time
[Video Reference: D1].

On US Hard mode you can still get away with the "jump on top of his head then
hack/beat him up while deflecting some of his purple orb attacks" strategy if
you do so with while using A&R or Beowulf's DT form. Since the purple orb
attack does so much damage you can't just shrug off the attacks as normal
Dante if you want to maintain an S for the Damage requirement. A&R or Beowulf
gives Dante a major defense boost, Beowulf very much mores than A&R, so
you'll be able to shrug off some attacks and if you're lucky you can still
get the SS Rank.

On DMD mode other methods include using Royal Guard and A&R to deflect
Gigapede's purple orbs via guard-canceled A&R slashes. This is demonstrated
in a boss video by player kazak [Video Reference: D2]. While I use this
method with a good % of success I have yet to do it on a complete DMD SS Rank
run-through of M4 so I always go with the Spiral switch-canceled method when
fighting Gigapede for the SS Rank.

Quicksilver + Nevan's Jam Session is another good way to deflect the purple
orbs back at Gigapede. Simply start playing Nevan and once you see Gigapede
start his attack use Time Lag to start up Jam Session. The main problem is
that using Quicksilver for a majority of the mission isn't that great.

**********
==VERGIL==
**********
Coming Soon...

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
D1 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- Royal Guard-Rebellion/Beowulf[Spiral/Kalina Ann]
D2 - [DMD] http://ayayanoya.myweb.hinet.net/movie06.htm (Boss Video)
-- Royal Guard-Agni & Rudra/????[Ebony & Ivory/Spiral]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.5 Mission 5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL x x x x
HARD x x x x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 14:00 7500 5000 0

- Just head to Agni & Rudra like you normally would. The Hells in the hallway
can be ignored but on lower difficulties it doesn't hurt to kill them.

**********************
>> MID BOSS: Jester <<
**********************
*********
==DANTE==
*********
Coming soon...

**********
==VERGIL==
**********
Coming soon...

************************
>> END MID BOSS FIGHT <<
************************

- For Dante Nevan is a good tool to have in the Enigma's room on V.Hard or DMD
Mode. They go down pretty fast on lower difficulties but it doesn't hurt to
use for safety.

- Ignore the Hell enemies on your way back through the hallway.

- On the rising platform Beowulf's Volcano shines very well here. Just stand
in the middle of the platform, charge up Volcano, and wait for the Hell
Prides to drop then unleash for instant SSStylish. Repeat until you reach the
top.

************************
>> BOSS: AGNI & RUDRA <<
************************
***********
== DANTE ==
***********
Two of the most popular SS Ranks set-ups for fighting Agni & Rudra:
Royal Guard - Anything

Or...

Any Other Style - Cerberus with any other Devil Arm with the Air Hike ability
(not so much needed but nice to have).

Believe it or not but the best place to be in this battle is in the middle of
of the two brothers. This is to cause them repeatedly to try to hack at you
instead of using their stinger, jumping, dashing, or whatever other annoying
attacks.

-- Royal Guard: While standing between them Just Guard the attack of one
brother when you see they're about to attack (Roll Just Guard vs. Agni & Just
Jump Guard vs. Rudra) then Taunt afterwards to help build DT gauge. Use Just
Jumping Release + DTE when the brothers are using their charge attack, dodge
the first brother with a Just Jump and use Just Release on the second one to
damage them both [Video Reference: E2].

-- Any Other Style with Cerberus: Use Revolver to deflect their sword swing
attack and when you see an opening Taunt to build the DT Gauge. After
deflecting a few times and one brother drops his sword continue with the
Revolver spamming. If you were in the middle of the brothers while fighting
like suggested before then after making one drop his sword the other brother
won't be able to attack you because he will be deflected and possibly drop his
sword too starting a somewhat hilarious cycle of one brother being owned by
Revolver then when he recovers you owned the other brother. It's possible to
keep this up until they die, never letting them move the entire battle.

Both methods should easily help you gain the remaining Style points you need
to SS Rank the mission. It's possible to beat Agni & Rudra SS Rank like with
any set-up but the above are just two of the easiest ways and they work on any
difficulty.

************
== VERGIL ==
************
Coming Soon...

***********************
>> Video References <<
***********************
E1 - N/A

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.6 Mission 6
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x 0
NORMAL x x x 0
HARD x x x 0
VERY HARD x x x 0
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE! 09:00 6000 5000 0

Enjoy this mission while you can it'll be a while before you see one this
short and simple a gain.

- Fight Trial of Warrior area. On lower difficulties hit both dials to make
the Hell Lust deDT so they can be easier to take out. This can somewhat work
on DMD difficulty but the non-DT time seems to be much shorter so it's not
really worth going through the trouble so you're better off just fighting them
normally. You should meet your Style requirement easily and sometimes your Orb
requirement too if you were very stylish.

- Go through Trial Wisdom area.

- Go back through the area where you fight A&R previously and head outside to
gain some extra orbs by busting up the walls and small statues to help you
meet the Red Orb requirement. Kalina Ann or Nevan's Combo III is good to use
here. This part is sometimes not needed if you fought very stylishly in the
Trial of Warrior area but it doesn't hurt to stop by here to ensure you meet
the Orb requirement.

- Finish mission as normal, collect the extra Red Orbs on your way to the
mission exit to help with Orb requirement.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
F1 - [HARD+] http://babildo.brinkster.net/videos/playthroughs.html
-- Swordmaster-Rebellion/Agni & Rudra[Ebony & Ivory/Shotgun]
F2 - [DMD] http://www.voritgous.com/gen2000/dmc3.html
-- Gunslinger-Beowulf/Nevan[Artemis/Shotgun]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.7 Mission 7
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL x x x x
HARD x x x x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 20:00 15000 5000 0

- Head to Vergil/Vante like normal. Grab all the Red Orbs from outside of the
tower and the ones leading into The Divine Library. While inside there if you
want to increase your chances of making the Red Orb requirement kill all the
Damned Chess pieces but at best you only need to kill about 3 or 4 down there.
There are plenty more in the upcoming hallway.

Another method for meeting the Red Orb requirement is to ignore the Damned
Chess fights and either:

-- allow the Hell Greeds to summon a lot of enemies then finish them off.

or

-- Orb Farm in the hallway room that you run across between the required Hell
Greed fights.

Style should easily be meet from all the enemies in this mission alone. If you
haven't by the time you reach Vergil then it's not too hard to gain style
points on him.

This mission is pretty generous on the Time requirement, on D/VMD the Time
requirement exceeds 20 min. so you should have no problems here meeting it.

**************************
>> BOSS: Vergil/Vante 1 <<
**************************
EASY-V.HARD: At the beginning of the fight, after baiting Vergil into
attacking, either shoot at him or just get within his attack range then the
fight goes basically goes like this:

- You attack Vergil/Vante, then after he is knocked away you..
- Run towards the opposite direction jumping to evade his slashes, use Dash or
Sky Star with Trickster to do the same and keep the Style rating up, or if
you're good with Royal Guard then Just Guard his slashes.
- Attack him again as he put his sword in his sheath.
- Repeat until he dies.

When he gets low in life, as indicated by his hair falling down, then he will
use his Judgement Cut attack. There is a huge giveaway to this move. If you
have Rebellion, Force Edge, or Beowulf then you can use Stinger or Killer
Bee/Starfall to quickly close the gap between you two before he makes one
slash or if you're a Royal Guard freak it makes for good Rage energy.

D/VMD:
***********
== DANTE ==
***********
Basically the same except now Vergil summons Spiral Swords for the fight. This
wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the dreaded Blistering Swords which when
combined with his Air Trick can easily mess up your S rank in Damage. If you
want a guaranteed S rank in Damage then use Quicksilver for this battle and
whenever he does the evil combination use Time Lag to safely avoid the swords.
It's possible to beat him with any style but you're fighting against luck in
that he won't do the Damage Requirement killing combination on you.
Considering how long this mission can be I personally don't think it's worth
it if you don't have a lot of time to waste replaying this mission.

************
== VERGIL ==
************
Coming soon...

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
G1 - [DMD] Player "unknown Gunslinger player" Video: Currently Offline
-- Gunslinger-Rebellion/Beowulf[Artemis/Kalina Ann]
G2 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao Video: Currently Offline
-- ????

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.8 Mission 8
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL x x x x
HARD x x x x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 14:00 8500 5000 0

- Head straight for Leviathan's Heart. You don't need to worry about the
Secret Mission.

- On DMD mode you can use Nevan's Air Raid to glide over the mostly acid
filled hallways if you want guaranteed safety for the Damage requirement. It
also moves you through the area slightly faster than hugging the wall and
jumping the two parts where the acid covers your walkway.

- You're not required to fight the Gigapedes who chase you but if you're good
at killing them quickly then go for it to help with Orb and Style
requirements.

*****************************
>> BOSS: Leviathan's Heart <<
*****************************
This is how this fight works SS rank style, you
want to focus on the Left Organ to help meet Orb Requirement while only
worrying about the Right Organ when you're ready to finish Leviathan off. The
Hell Envies are only there to slow you down as you beat up on the organs but
you can use them to help meet the Style requirement. Just gather them up in
one spot and use a crowd control move that builds the Style rating up quickly
such as Jam Session, Crazy Roll, Twister, or Volcano (near full charged).
Note that DMD DTed Hell Envies aren't stunned by some hits of crowd control
attacks like the final hit of Jam Session so be sure to cancel before the
attack ends.

Basically the attack pattern goes like this:
- Beat up on Left Organ, ignore the Right Organ's DT drain.
- Before finishing it off get SShowtime-SSStylish rating on Hell Envies
(easier done on V.Hard-DMD)
- Finish off Left Organ
- Collect Red Orbs
- Either do damage to Leviathan's vulnerable spot or just ignore the opening.
On lower difficulties its defense is very poor.
- Repeat x3 or x4 (if you want to be sure you meet the Orb requirement)
- Beat up on Right Organ
- Before finishing it off get SShowtime-SSStylish rating from Hell Envies
- Finish off the Right Organ
- Repeat until he's dead, shouldn't take more than 2 reps, on DMD mode maybe
3.

***********
== DANTE ==
***********
Here are some style specific attack patterns to use:
-- Trickster: Take advantage of the added mobility from Sky Star to move
around the area easier, avoiding the Hell Envies, while you damage the
Organs. Shotgun/Kalina Ann switch-canceling does heavy damage to the Organs
and the Heart [Video Reference: H2].

-- Swordmaster: perform HEAVY damage to Leviathan during his twin laser
attack with air combos such as Hammer > Air Slash or Air Cross/Sky Cross.
Since you've been beating up on the Right Organ you should have some DT
energy for DTE as well [Video Reference: H1].

-- Royal Guard: Use Rolling Just Guard the single or twin laser attack to
build up Rage and use Release on Leviathan's Heart for major damage when
reveals lower vunerable spot.

************
== VERGIL ==
************
Coming soon...

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
H1 - [HARD+] http://babildo.brinkster.net/videos/playthroughs.html
-- Swordmaster-Rebellion/Agni & Rudra[Ebony & Ivory/Shotgun]
H2 - [DMD] http://www.voritgous.com/gen2000/dmc3.html
-- Trickster-Rebellion/Beowulf[Spiral/Kalina Ann]
-- Trickster-Beowulf/Nevan[Shotgun/Kalina Ann]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.9 Mission 9
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL 11:00* 7000* 3500* 5000*
HARD 11:00* 7000* 3500* 5000*
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 20:00 8000 4000 0

- Don't worry about fighting spiders stylishly. Your Style requirement will
be made up at Nevan.

- In the open area with all the Enigmas use DT run or Quicksilver's Time Lag
to reach the higher ground before the first two Enigmas starts firing their
arrows.

- You can either fight all the Enigmas or fight the Hells in the following
area(s) you're not required to fight them both.

- Collect all the orbs from the Subterranean Lake area to help with Orb
requirement.

- V.HARD-DMD: after getting the Ambrosia you don't have to worry about
fighting the Bloodgoyles on your way to Nevan. On lower difficulties fighting
the Hells shouldn't be too much of a problem and can help in making the Style
or Orb requirement.

****************
>>BOSS: NEVAN <<
****************
Put her in the Attack Loop to easily meet the Style
requirement and also kill her quickly [Video Reference: I2 and I3].

***********
== DANTE ==
***********
Attack Loop
Have Beowulf equipped (can be done with any Devil Arm but easiest to do with
Beowulf)

-- At the beginning of the battle follow Nevan to one of the end areas she
teleports to and stand close to her to trigger "Get Ready" spinning attack.
When you hear that jump back out of the range of the attack and begin
charging Straight. When she finishes let her have it, which should
successfully break her bat shield and give you major DT Gauge.

-- Attack the vulnerable Nevan but don't use a lot of DT Orbs or none at all
during your attack pattern.

-- After she regenerates her bat shield and teleports to the other side of
the area, follow her and stand close to her to trigger the spinning attack
again. Jump back when you hear the cue and charge Straight along with DTE.
After she finishes the move release Straight and if the bat shield didn't
break perform a Max DTE to guaranteed it that it does.

-- Attack the vulnerable Nevan but don't use a lot of DT Orbs or none at all
during your attack pattern.

--Repeat until she dies.

Sometimes the Attack Loop may not go as smooth as Nevan may perform her floor
electricity move if you weren't near her after she teleports to the other
side of the battle area. Using a Killer Bee + DTE can stop this usually
throwing her back into the loop.

Here are a few Style specific Attack Patterns to take advantage of during
Nevan's vulnerable state:

-- Trickster: Nothing really unique and damaging besides repeated jump-
canceled Killer Bees, just try to do the best you can while saving those DT
Orbs. Trickster's Dash or Sky Star makes it easier to quickly get to Nevan
after she teleports.

-- Swordmaster: DT Beowulf's Real Impact allows you to deal heavy damage
while still maintaining her in a loop.

-- Gunslinger: If your fingers will allow it, charging Artemis along with
Straight allows you do deal heavy damage when Nevan is vulnerable because by
the time she finishes her attack and you burst her shield you will have a
fully charge Multi-Shot ready to go during your attack pattern.

-- Royal Guard: ???

-- Quicksilver: ???

-- Doppelganger: ???

************
== VERGIL ==
************
Vergil can also put Nevan in a loop, just use Judgement Cut in place of
Beowulf's Straight to easily knock down her bat shield, afterwards just beat
up on her with DTed Beowulf attacks + Summon Sword spamming.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
I1 - [HARD+] http://babildo.brinkster.net/videos/playthroughs.html
-- ?????
I2 - [DMD] http://www.voritgous.com/gen2000/dmc3.html
-- Trickster-Rebellion/Nevan[Spiral/Kalina Ann]
Trickster-Rebellion/Beowulf[Ebony & Ivory/Kalina]
I3 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- Swordmaster-Rebellion/Beowulf[Ebony & Ivory/Kalina Ann]
I4 - [DMD] http://hosted.filefront.com/Pokey87
-- ????

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.10 Mission 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL x x x x
HARD x x x x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 11:00 5000 3500 0

- For V.Hard or DMD DT run past the Blood-goyles or use repeated Trickster
Dashes unless you're really confident in fighting the Blood-goyles in that
small area. On lower difficulties fight the Hells here for some easy Red Orbs
and Style points.

- Play Secret Mission 9 (Destroyer), optional choice is to play it 2 or 3
times to guarantee you meet the Orb requirement. Use Kalina Ann to clear the
area quickly.

- After inserting the Stone Mask and grabbing the Neo Generator grab all the
Red Orbs in the outside area before heading through the green door. Also make
sure you have Devil Arm with a good aerial attack such as A&R or Beowulf/Nevan
with Swordmaster.

- Kill the Dullahans that you required to fight. A&R's Aerial Cross,
Beowulf's Hammer or Nevan's Air Slash are great tools for taking these guys
down quickly.

- Not required but you can fight the Enigmas to help with Orb and Style
requirement. For DMD difficulty Nevan works wonders here by making it very
easy to take out the Enigmas safely.

- For the Arachnes battle, if the big green ones are giving you a have time
you can equip A&R with Quicksilver then use full DT Gauge Time Lag plus
repeated
Aerial Crosses on theirback side to quickly kill them leaving the easier white
Arachnes to deal with (best time to take advantage of this is after it does
its standing claw swipe). With smart use of the Taunt it should be easy to
build the gauge back up to full to take on the second one that appears. If you
skipped fighting the Enigmas then you'll have to focus more on killing the
spiders stylishly to help make the Style requirement.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
J1 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- ????

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.11 Mission 11
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL x x 4000* 5000*
HARD x x 4000* 5000*
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 12:00 5500 4000 0

- You're not required to kill the two Enigmas at the beginning but it doesn't
hurt to do so.

- For the Soul Eater hallway area on higher difficulties spamming Trick Shot
> Spiral Normal Shot > Trick Shot with your back turned in Gunslinger Style is
one of the easier ways to deal with them without putting yourself at much risk.

- In the Hell Vanguard + Soul Eaters room. It's best to take out the Soul
Eaters first after finishing one off with a DTE you can finish off the rest
easily by hanging out in the top balcony and a little towards one of the
corners so the HV can't reach you. Again Spiral with Gunslinger style can
shine here or you just wait for them to come up to you and take out with
Kalina Ann [Video Reference: K2].

- During the railcar area use Nevan's Air Play for guaranteed safety against
the Enigma's arrows. Use Air Hike to safely avoid the Hell Wrath's explosions
in the small area if you don't have enough room on the ground.

*******************
>> BOSS: BEWOULF <<
*******************
There are basically 3 "phases" of Beowulf. I've seen a wide variety of attack
patterns with different styles against Beowulf but all of them seem to come
down the same basic point, you want to do major damage during his 1st phase so
he skips the 2nd phase (the Volcano/run around the room/feather attack phase)
or is close to entering his 3rd phase. This basically evolves being very
aggressive. There are two hit boxes on Beowulf, his main body and one small
hit box on his weak eye. Hitting him on his weak eye does 2x damage but since
Beowulf is so tall you don't get many chances to safely attack that area.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
K1 - [DMD] http://www.voritgous.com/gen2000/dmc3.html
-- Gunslinger-Rebellion/Nevan[Artemis/Spiral]
-- Quicksilver-Rebellion/Agni & Rudra[Ebony Ivory/Spiral]
K2 - [DMD] Player "unknown Gunslinger player" Video: Currently Offline
-- Gunslinger-Rebellion/Beowulf[Artemis/Kalina Ann]
K3 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- ????

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.12 Mission 12
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY 08:00 x x x
NORMAL 12:00* 7500* x 9000*
HARD 12:00* 7500* x 9000*
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 18:00 13000 4500 0

MISSION NOTE: The damage drain from the Haywire Neo Generator doesn't count
towards your Damage Requirement.

Dante's health is constantly draining in this mission, the higher the
difficulty the quicker Dante's health drain from the Haywire Neo Generator.
All defeated enemies drops Green Orbs, a majority of them drops small ones but
the Blood-goyles and the Hell Vanguard can drop Green Orbs big enough to
recover 1 and a half bar of health.

- During the rail cart area use Nevan to help in avoiding the Engima arrows
safely and be careful of the explosion range of Hell Wrath's bombs in that
small area.

- After the rail cart area if you need some health you can push the statue
over to get a Green Orb. If you feel you have plenty of health then skip it
since it's impossible to get the 300 Green Orb bonus in this mission.

- The next area is one of the main areas that can mess you up health wise.
What you want to do is evenly spread out your damage to the non-DTed enemies
so that when they do DT then you can quickly finish them keeping your health
high. If using Royal Guard the sealed door is a good place to build up some
Rage, all you need is about two orbs you can build up the last one later.

- The hallway and Gears of Madness area contains the Blood-goyles. On DMD you
don't need to fight all of them but on need to take out at least 1 or 2 to
ensure you have enough health for the upcoming Hell Vanguard area.

- The next area is the dreaded Hell Vanguard + Lust. The most popular strategy
seems to be taking out Hell Vanguard first. On D/VMD this area is a nightmare
for most SS Rank players. Here are some style specific methods for taking on
this area for Dante:

-- Trickster with Beowulf: Spam jump-canceled Killer Bees on Hell Vanguard and
use Sky Star or Wall Hike to safely dodge his teleport attacks along with the
Hell enemies in the area. He should die in about 3 or 4 reps of this.

-- Swordmaster with Beowulf: Use Real Impact on the backside of Hell
Vanguard, dodge his teleport attacks and Hell enemies the best you can. Since
you're constantly DTed, it doesn't take that many to kill him.

-- Royal Guard you can safely build one orb (or the last orb if you built two
earlier). One Max powered Just Release rips Hell Vanguard's life in half.
Afterwards you can attempt to build an lv.2 and Just Release him again for
the kill or just him with other attacks.

-- In General: Once you take out the Hell Vanguard, use Switch/Guard-canceled
Spiral Normal Shots to snipe the Hell Lusts while they're off screen.

******************
>> BOSS: GERYON <<
******************
Geryon isn't that difficult of a boss but on difficulties like
V.Hard or DMD it's easy to be nervous when trying to SS Rank him since his
attacks are quite damaging.

For his first phase simply use Switch/Guard-Canceled Spiral shots or Drive
[Video Reference: L1]. For his second phase the main SS Rank like way to kill
is to take advantage of loop in his attack pattern that basically goes like
this:

1)Run around the arena
2)Stop and use flame move then either
3a--run around the arena again
3b--teleports and reappears in an attempt to run you over
Repeat

If he does Step 3b, after about 3 passes he will stop in the middle of the
arena. If you knock him down at this point he will attempt to swing the
carriage around to hit you. If you knock him down again he will try the
attack again, as long as you keep knocking him down he will be stuck in this
loop.

If you fail to knock Geryon down he will return back to step 1 and depending
on how much damage he took he will alter his "run around the arena pattern
some. It's also possible to knock him down at between the cool down time of
Step 2 and 3 but Geryon won't perform the carriage swing move if you knock
him down then, instead he will teleport away and either goes into Step 3a or
3b.

Here are some set-ups to take advantage of the loop during the second phase
of the fight:

***********
== DANTE ==
***********
-- Trickster-xxxx/Cerberus or Agni & Rudra[Ebony & Ivory/Spiral]: Use DTed
Combo I behind Geryon's back legs and the carriage to quickly knock him down
doing a lot of damage and gaining style points. After he's knocked down taunt
to build back some DT orbs then use Sky Star to escape his Time Lag dome and
to maneuver over his carriage swing to quickly get back in position to repeat
the attack pattern again until he dies.

-- Swordmaster-Beowulf/xxxx[Ebony & Ivory/Spiral]: Use Real Impact > Tornado
to knock him down and use Killer Bee for mobility in dodging his Time Lag
dome and carriage swing. Repeat until he dies.

-- Gunslinger-Beowulf/Cerberus[Artemis/Spiral] or Agni & Rudra: similar to the
Trickster method except you can take advantage of Artemis Multi-Lock while
dodging the Time Lag dome and carriage swing. Use Beowulf's for mobility.

************
== VERGIL ==
************
Coming soon...

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
L1 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- Swordmaster-Rebellion/Beowulf[Ebony & Ivory/Kalina Ann]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.13 Mission 13
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY 05:00 3000 x x
NORMAL x x x 6000*
HARD x x x 6000*
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 13:00 5000 4000 0

- Fight the first area, spamming Switch/Guard-Canceled Spiral shots and DTEs
clears it quickly and safely.

- Fight second area the same way, grab the Orihalcon Fragment then head
straight for Vergil 2. Don't worry about the Damned Chess pieces on your way
to him.

**************************
>> BOSS: VERGIL/VANTE 2 <<
**************************
***********
== DANTE ==
***********
Trickster or Quicksilver recommended for guaranteed
safety during the DMD version of this fight [Video Reference M1, M2, and M3].

************
== VERGIL ==
************
Coming Soon...

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
M1 - [DMD] http://www.voritgous.com/gen2000/dmc3.html
-- Trickster-Rebellion/Beowulf[Spiral/Kailina Ann]
-- Quicksilver-Rebellion/Beowulf[Ebony Ivory/Kalina Ann]
M2 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- ?????
M3 - [DMD] http://hosted.filefront.com/Pokey87
-- ????

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.14 Mission 14
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY 10:00* 4000* 3000* x
NORMAL x 15000* x x
HARD x x x x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 17:00 10000 4500 0

- V.HARD-DMD: Use Trickster with A&R, Swordmaster with Beowulf + Shotgun or
Royal Guard to quickly finish the Fallens, who replaces the Dullahans on
V.Hard and DMD difficulty, unscratched.

- During the rail cart area save your DTE for when the Hell Vanguard appears
then use a Max DTE to quickly kill any remaining normal Hells before the Hell
Vanguard starts attacking. That way you can focus all of your attention on
him. Trickster's Sky star or Dash or Royal Guard makes dodging his attacks in
that small area easier.

- For the Hell Highway area, spam switch/guard-canceled Spiral shots and DTEs
to kill the Damned Chess pieces quickly.

- In the open area with all the Enigmas use DT run or Time Lag with
Quicksilver to reach the higher ground before the first two Enigmas starts
firing. You don't really have to worry about fighting the Enigmas in this
area but it doesn't hurt to get them out of your way. Use Nevan's Air Play
for guaranteed safety vs. their arrows.

- Instead of going into the teleporting ray of light head to the door near
the last Enigma in the upper corner of the area and go through it to enter an
area with "sleeping" Damned Chess pieces. Either spam Switch/Guard-canceled
Spiral shots or just use a Max DTE in the center to get instant Stylish and
also of Red Orbs. If you exit the door and re-enter they will appear again.
Repeat this about 2 or 3 times to help make the Style or Orb requirement (or
both) then head back to the mission exit.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
N2 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- ?????

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.15 Mission 15
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY 11:50* 3930* x x
NORMAL x x x x
HARD x x x x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 24:00 8000 4000 0

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
O2 - N/A

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.16 Mission 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY 10:30* 5020* 3550* x
NORMAL x 6000* x x
HARD x 6000* x x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 25:00 9000 4500 0

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
P1 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline
-- ?????

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.17 Mission 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL 12:00 7000 4500 x
HARD 12:00 7000 4500 x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 18:00 10000 4500 0

- Just head straight for Doppelganger, don't worry about the Trial of Warrior
area. Grab all the red orbs from the outside areas and in the hallway with
the Abyss in it to help make the Orb requirement.

- Using Trickster's Sky star or Dash makes the Trial of Skill like area much
easier to go through.

************************
>> BOSS: DOPPELGANGER <<
************************
There are two main ways to damage Doppelganger, either
by catching him in an area filled with light and damaging him during his
vulnerable state or reflect back his dark fireballs. To trigger this attack
from him just light up two dials which either forces him to perform his dark
Volcano move or the dark fireball. When he launches the fireball just deflect
back. Doppelganger will try to deflect it back at you, just keep deflecting
until he gets hit. Each successful deflect builds up the style rating very
quickly. There are many, many SS Rank set-ups once use since Doppelganger's
attack pattern is pretty poor. Here are some I've seen from other players
along with some I use:

***********
== DANTE ==
***********
-- Trickster - Beowulf/Cerberus[xxxx/xxxx]: use the first part of Combo I to
weaken the light dial some and when Doppelganger comes within range of you
hit it a few more times to open it and catch him in the light. Perform a
stylish combo and use Trickster's Dash to quickly move on to the next time.
If you perform this attack pattern correctly then at some point you will have
all light dials open allowing you to damage Doppelganger even more. Repeat
until he dies.

-- Swordmaster - Beowulf/Cerberus or A&R[xxxx/xxxx]: Similar to the Trickster
method except only really focus on two lights. After you catch Doppelganger
in a light area use Real Impact. When Doppelganger tries to use his dark
fireball use Rebellion's Prop Shedder, Cerberus's Revolver, or A&R's first
slash > Cross Slash pattern to easily reflect it back at him.

Another set-up is to use Rebellion/Nevan[xxxx/xxxx]. Prop Shedder also makes
for a quick way to open the light dials as well as for deflecting
Doppelganger's dark fireballs.

-- Royal Guard - Agni & Rudra/xxxx[xxxx/xxxx]: Use G-canceled first slash of
Combo I to quickly weaken the light dial before Doppelganger gets near you
and bust it open when he gets within range. After opening two use guard-
canceled slashes to easily deflect the fireball back at him. Doppelganger's
Beast Uppercut and Volcano makes for easy Rage bait for Releases.

************
== VERGIL ==
************
Coming Soon...

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
Q1 - N/A

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.18 Mission 18
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL 09:50* 10500* 4700* x
HARD 09:50* 10500* 4700* x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 35:00 8000 2500 0

*********************************
>> MID BOSS: Damned Chessboard <<
*********************************
*********
==DANTE==
*********
Royal Guard or Quicksilver recommended on DMD mode. Only focus on King, use
Queen for Just Guard bait. On difficulties besides DMD just kill all pieces.

**********
==VERGIL==
**********
Coming soon...

**************************
>> END MID-BOSS SECTION <<
**************************

- Fight the bosses you have an easy time against. Agni & Rudra, Beowulf, and
Cerberus, aka "ABC", is the shortest pattern of bosses you can fight to exit
the mission. If you use that pattern you'll need to fight another boss or the
M2 like area to help meet the Orb requirement.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
R2 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.19 Mission 19
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x x x x
NORMAL x x x x
HARD x x x x
VERY HARD x x x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 16:00 5000 4000 0

- Fight first area as stylishly as you can. Spread your damage evenly on the
Abyss so that you're not stuck fighting a full health DTed Abyss.

- Use 2-4 orb DTEs + melee attacks to quickly destroy the mirrors in the
second area.

- Kill the Abyss as quickly as you can which shouldn't be a problem on Easy-
V.Hard. On D/VMD save your DTE and/or full rage Releases for the last group.
Remember after you kill one Abyss from the first group another appears further
down in the area. Go focus on him for a bit then bring him back to the
previous group and then try to finish them all off together with a DTE. You
don't want one or two of them DTing with more than half health as it takes too
long to kill them then.

******************
>> BOSS: ARKHAM <<
******************
***********
== DANTE ==
***********
Artemis/Kalina Ann or Spiral/Kalina Ann is highly recommended for the DMD
version of this fight. Kalina Ann for Legion (slug creature like things).
DTEs can also be used to kill them quickly during the first phase. During the
second phase just rely on Artemis or Spiral shots + Vergil's multi-slash
attack. Hug the walls to easily dodge Arkham's homing tentacle attacks during
his phase. Just jump either to left or right repeatedly to dodge them. While
you're jumping to avoid his attack have Kalina Ann or Spiral equipped and
press the fire button while you're jumping to have Vergil attack while you
dodge [Video Reference: S1].

************
== VERGIL ==
************
To take care of the Legion segments either run around and using Rapid-Slash
plus Spiral Sword spamming or just simply run in a circle while firing non-
locked on Spiral Swords [Video Reference: S2]. On VMD the latter method is the
safest way to take care of them.

**********************
>> Video References <<
**********************
S1 - [DMD] Player Detrimatrix's Video: Currently Offline.
-- ????
S2 - [VMD] http://www.metroid2002.com/kip/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.20 Mission 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIME ORBS STYLE PTS DAMAGE
EASY x 0 2500 3000*
NORMAL 03:30 0 2500 10000*
HARD x 0 x x
VERY HARD x 0 x x
DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE 08:00 0 2500 0

**************************
>> BOSS: VERGIl/VANTE 3 <<
**************************
***********
== DANTE ==
***********
- Trickster makes SS Ranking Vergil 3 easy mostly because Sky star comes in
handy for dodging his Helm Breaker + Phantom Sword combinations. If you don't
want to use Trickster then you can dodge them by jumping away as soon as
Vergil gets near you, just make sure you jump completely away from him and
out of the range of the swords. Since this mission only consist of a boss
fight you don't have to worry too much using Quicksilver's Time Lag to avoid
his Over the Shoulder + Phantom combination or his new Helm Breaker + Phantom
Sword combinations.

After a barrage of attacks from Berserk DTed Vergil during his last phase he
will cool down and become very vulnerable allowing you can spam a couple of
switch-canceled Kalina Ann shots before starting your melee attack pattern.
This allows you to get more damage out of the small time he is vulnerable.

************
== VERGIL ==
************
Coming soon..

----------------------
<< Video References >>
----------------------
T1 - [DMD] http://ayayanoya.myweb.hinet.net/movie06.htm
-- Rebellion/Beowulf[Ebony & Ivory/Kalina Ann]
T2 - [DMD] Player MoRenBao's Video: Currently Offline.
-- Rebellion/Beowulf[Ebony & Ivory/Kalina Ann]
T3 - [DMD] http://hosted.filefront.com/Pokey87
-- ????
T4 - [DMD] Player Venom98's Video: Currently Offline
-- Royal Guard-????

=============================================================================
IV. Closing
=============================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1 Links
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the main part of the FAQ I only listed links to videos showcasing SS Rank
gameplay, with a few exceptions that I felt were truly important to see for
an SS Rank player, but there are more DMC3 Video Sites out there so here is a
list of them, some not previously posted, that are active as of the date
2/02/06:

Player: kazak
- http://ayayanoya.myweb.hinet.net/movie06.htm

Player: kip
- http://www.metroid2002.com/kip/

Player: Gen2000
- http://www.vortiginous.com/gen2000/dmc3-ss.html

Player: Pokey86
- http://hosted.filefront.com/Pokey86
- http://hosted.filefront.com/Pokey87

Player: YuriSeal
- http://babildo.brinkster.net/videos/playthroughs.html

Mirror for various SS Rank Videos, courtesy of HeyDenty:
- http://anti-dentite.org/dmc3/ss/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2 Credits & Thanks
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Capcom
- For making this game of course.

Gamefaqs
- For hosting this FAQ.

Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition GameFAQs Message Board
- For being a good backbone for the DMC3 community.

Schicksal
- Starting up the idea of the FAQ and allowing me to finish it.

kip
- VERY HARD (will be added soon) and DANTE/VERGIL MUST DIE difficulty
requirements

SS Rank Players Who Made Videos: Detrimartix, kazak, MoRenBao, Pokey86, kip,
and YuriSeal.
- Thanks for timing the time to make these videos and share them with the
DMC3 community.

================
== END OF FAQ ==
================