Booted this up the other day to work on my second playthrough. I had lost all will to play when I saw I had to play as V
when you need to regain all your pets
I finally solidered through all that but it was a little painful on my part. Didnt realize I needed to really keep my bird alive. Whew, I think I'm done will all of his sections now though. So now the fun begins again
Now dont get me wrong V is a great character. He brings something unique to the table. I just wish I could like- not be him though
I decided to do this in the reverse order. So, I started by trying to S-rank the most difficult missions on Hell and Hell first (10, 12, and 18). And then I eventually finished by cleaning up a few missions in Devil Hunter and completing Human. It made the last few sessions a bit weird as I was suddenly doing super easy stuff.
The stuff I thought was hardest:
Mission 18 on any difficulty. I hate how it's 4 boss fights in a row. The first ones aren't hard, but they're tedious to get through. I really wish the mission started with the final fight. I got so tired of this mission I eventually gave in and simply Fausted it on SoS, DMD, and HaH. It's the only mission I decided to cheese on nearly every difficulty.
Mission 8 on HaH. Usually no-damaging a mission means an automatic S rank on HaH, but you're expected to die at the very end here, so instead of a no damage bonus for not taking a hit you only get a no continues bonus. In addition to that, it isn't super easy to get enough points in this mission, so you can't play defensively. Figuring out a good set of arms helped a lot, though.
Mission 10 on HaH: A ton of fights and you need that no-damage bonus as it's super hard to get points on this mission. I eventually decided to make it easier for myself by using Faust on the more annoying fights.
Mission 12 on HaH: This is a weird one as doing it legitimately is insanely hard. It's a long mission and you also need that no-damage bonus as you get so few points in the mission. But... it's possible to skip nearly every fight by jumping up the gargoyles and the boss can be super cheesed with Faust. Which is how I eventually ended up doing the mission.
Second hardest stuff would basically be any other mission on HaH. I ended up disliking the difficulty a ton as I hate how punishing it is. Taking a single hit in any other difficulty is rarely a big deal, but it ruins everything in HaH. And in addition to that, you can't use Royal Guard, which is something I like using quite a lot as Dante. There were a couple of missions I didn't even try to do properly on HaH and I ended up using Faust immediately (like missions 16 and 19).
Why are missions 10 and 12 much harder to S-rank than other missions? All fights in those missions arbitrarily give you far fewer points than any other mission. How does the point system work? You get more points by dealing damage while you have a higher rank, and the game calculates an average of all damage you've done throughout a mission (and there are some bonuses: bosses give a big bonus when killing them and certain big enemies are worth up to 20% more points to hit than other enemies).
So, knowing that, you can create a good plan for getting points in fights. Ideally, you want to start by hitting weak enemies with weak attacks to raise your rank (or even better, raise your rank without dealing damage at all, like using taunts or Royal Guard). And then go all-in once you have a high style rank (as Dante, you can simply use SDT to cash in).
So having learned all of that, I didn't really have much difficulty getting S rank on any mission on SoS or DMD. Missions 10 and 12 did take a few attempts, but it didn't feel like I struggled.
Doing Human as the last thing was a bit weird (it was also the first time I played the difficulty in DMC5). Attacks which take half of my health on DMD take less than one unit of health on Human. And all the enemies just die to nothing. I especially found mission 17 to be pretty hilarious as the entire boss fight took less than one minute: https://www.twitch.tv/fluffyquack/clip/AggressiveDignifiedWatercressLitty
Anyway, S-ranking the game was a fun challenge, though I would be 100% okay with Hell and Hell never returning in any future DMC game. I also think they need to re-think how the ranking system works. I understand they wanted to simplify things by having a very straightforward system which needed minimal balancing, but it has some drawbacks (and they really messed up the balancing for missions 10 and 12).
Booted this up the other day to work on my second playthrough. I had lost all will to play when I saw I had to play as V
when you need to regain all your pets
I finally solidered through all that but it was a little painful on my part. Didnt realize I needed to really keep my bird alive. Whew, I think I'm done will all of his sections now though. So now the fun begins again
Now dont get me wrong V is a great character. He brings something unique to the table. I just wish I could like- not be him though
It's a shame that two modes which are referenced in game files aren't a real thing:
Online Bloody Palace: I assume this is Bloody Palace in coop and that would naturally be a lot of fun.
Divergence Mode: I think this means a mode where you can choose any character for any mission. That would also be a lot of fun (and it also would have been very nice for S-ranking the entire game as playing as V is a snooze fest).
Congrats on that FluffyQuack
I agree with your points on the highlighted missions, each and every one of those have been a pain to go through on each difficulty for S ranks, though I'm not quite up to HaH yet. I love playing the missions mind you, just hate trying to S rank them as it feels like they aren't balanced super good to S rank in some situations. Still a fucking brilliant game though, I really must get back and finish DMD mode this week.
So to get S-Rank I have to avoid being hit altogether?? Seeing as how my last mission rating on Hard was like a D score I don't see S-rank in my near future.
Logged on other day and got 13 Gold orbs from Stylish ratings. Community is ace. I know I always one up everybody so they can get paid too
So to get S-Rank I have to avoid being hit altogether?? Seeing as how my last mission rating on Hard was like a D score I don't see S-rank in my near future.
Logged on other day and got 13 Gold orbs from Stylish ratings. Community is ace. I know I always one up everybody so they can get paid too
You can get hit. You just have to make sure you don't die/continue/use gold orbs/revert to checkpoints (so do the mission in one go) while getting S-SSS combos. So mix up your attacks as much as possible (you won't get a good style score using the same move over and over). Also, only do manditory fights (the ones that gate off your escape route until all enemies are dead). Doing optional fights and getting low style ranks will tank your rating, making it harder to get a S rank.
Though its worth pointing out, if your going for the plat you'll need to clear the game without taking damage eventually when it comes to S ranking Hell and Hell mode (one hit kills!)
You can get hit. You just have to make sure you don't die/continue/use gold orbs/revert to checkpoints (so do the mission in one go) while getting S-SSS combos. So mix up your attacks as much as possible (you won't get a good style score using the same move over and over). Also, only do manditory fights (the ones that gate off your escape route until all enemies are dead). Doing optional fights and getting low style ranks will tank your rating, making it harder to get a S rank.
Though its worth pointing out, if your going for the plat you'll need to clear the game without taking damage eventually when it comes to S ranking Hell and Hell mode (one hit kills!)
Mission 18 on any difficulty. I hate how it's 4 boss fights in a row. The first ones aren't hard, but they're tedious to get through. I really wish the mission started with the final fight. I got so tired of this mission I eventually gave in and simply Fausted it on SoS, DMD, and HaH. It's the only mission I decided to cheese on nearly every difficulty.
Mission 8 on HaH. Usually no-damaging a mission means an automatic S rank on HaH, but you're expected to die at the very end here, so instead of a no damage bonus for not taking a hit you only get a no continues bonus. In addition to that, it isn't super easy to get enough points in this mission, so you can't play defensively. Figuring out a good set of arms helped a lot, though.
Mission 8:
- Ragtime and Buster Arm to easily deal with the Fury in the first fight.
- I equip Gerbera at the first or second statue so I can easily jump over a large gap (though I heard someone say there's an optional fight with a Behemoth which is good for points, so if going down the gap leads to that fight, you might wanna do it for points).
- I use Gerbera during the boss fight to make it easy to avoid attacks.
- The goal is to reach Urizen 2 without taking damage so you get the 20% "no continues" bonus.
That's all I can remember about doing mission 8. I don't think I ever created a super specific plan for the mission. I can't remember what arms I used in general during the mission (I'm a big fan of Punchline, so probably that).
This is what I did for mission 18 on most difficulties:
- First fight: Kalina Ann and the bike are great for stunning Griffon. I used Balrog's Real Impact whenever he was stunned for damage.
- Second fight: Kalina Ann and Dante Roundtrip for stunning Shadow. I tried to use Real Impact to deal damage whenever he's stunned (you have to be quick since you're rarely close as he gets stunned).
- Third fight: Immediately use basic Faust attack on Shadow. He'll get stun-locked and he should run away before Griffon even arrives.
- Fourth fight: Run around with Dante Roundtrip while waiting for Nightmare to run away. Then, use Faust basic attack to kill Griffon and Shadow. When Nightmare shows up to heal them, use Faust's Red Hot Night (the meteor attack). If fully charged, this will outright kill Nightmare on SoS and HaH (on DMD it gets him extremely low).
Maybe one of these days I should learn how to do mission 18 properly. I feel a bit cheap it's the only mission I cheesed on every difficulty except for Devil Hunter. But I got so tired of repeating the first few fights to get to the part which actually matters.
Mission 8:
- Ragtime and Buster Arm to easily deal with the Fury in the first fight.
- I equip Gerbera at the first or second statue so I can easily jump over a large gap (though I heard someone say there's an optional fight with a Behemoth which is good for points, so if going down the gap leads to that fight, you might wanna do it for points).
- I use Gerbera during the boss fight to make it easy to avoid attacks.
- The goal is to reach Urizen 2 without taking damage so you get the 20% "no continues" bonus.
That's all I can remember about doing mission 8. I don't think I ever created a super specific plan for the mission. I can't remember what arms I used in general during the mission (I'm a big fan of Punchline, so probably that).
This is what I did for mission 18 on most difficulties:
- First fight: Kalina Ann and the bike are great for stunning Griffon. I used Balrog's Real Impact whenever he was stunned for damage.
- Second fight: Kalina Ann and Dante Roundtrip for stunning Shadow. I tried to use Real Impact to deal damage whenever he's stunned (you have to be quick since you're rarely close as he gets stunned).
- Third fight: Immediately use basic Faust attack on Shadow. He'll get stun-locked and he should run away before Griffon even arrives.
- Fourth fight: Run around with Dante Roundtrip while waiting for Nightmare to run away. Then, use Faust basic attack to kill Griffon and Shadow. When Nightmare shows up to heal them, use Faust's Red Hot Night (the meteor attack). If fully charged, this will outright kill Nightmare on SoS and HaH (on DMD it gets him extremely low).
Maybe one of these days I should learn how to do mission 18 properly. I feel a bit cheap it's the only mission I cheesed on every difficulty except for Devil Hunter. But I got so tired of repeating the first few fights to get to the part which actually matters.
Awesome, thanks for the reply. Don't feel too bad about cheesing on HaH, that mode cheeses you anyways. It's ridiculous that you lose the no damage bonus in Mission 8 for taking the hit during Urizen 2 to trigger the cutscene.
I'll definitely have to adapt my plan for mission 18 based on what you said. On other difficulties, the nightmare fight is manageable but my strategy won't fly on HaH. It was: shotgun stinger on shadow to make quick work of him, swordmaster cavaliere R combo in midair to knock out griffon almost instantly (and also done on nightmare to rack up damage on him).
Finally I found the time to watch those live action cutscenes, and holy shit are they goddamn hilarious! The unintentional comedy was killing me at some points. Probs to the actors, who keep a straight face the whole time.
The thing about having "at least two" ways to fight things is key to what I missed about old DMC when DmC came out. Where it was way more signposted how to deal with each enemy type and how bosses has glowing weak spots* or appendages to pull to expose said weak spots.
Those Dreamweaver enemies are the exception to the rule though and more entertaining to fight than those red lizards in 5.
I said I would stop playing after getting the plat, but instead I'm having a go at seeing how many bosses I can fight with no damage on DMD.
Got distracted by life bullshit and haven't been able to play for a while, finally I can start up DMD mode.
Before that I have to say I'm very surprised by how much I ended up loving V. In the videos he just wasn't clicking with me but when I finally got him in my hands everything fell into place.
Just beat Nidhogg on DMD, seeing three of him come out near the end of the fight was a nice surprise. Nightmare is really key on this mode, especially for those damn behemoth enemies, good lord those things have a lot of health.
People say V is overpowered but for me Nero is the overpowered one, Blue Rose charge shots are fucking broken. Overture has surprisingly been the most useful for me(thought it would be gerbera but I'm damn good at dodging without it) and then Tomboy/DT combo for DT'd enemies.
If Fury doesn't have any new tricks then I'm not too afraid of it.
Not really looking forward to the boss rush with V, I don't want to fight a DT'd Goliath with only shadow.(do they DT on that mission?)
I could pick Nightmare first and just run around reading the book but that's not stylish.
God damn that mission 8 on hell & hell. I have been trying to S rank that mission for 5 days in a row, and last night I got 5500 points! What the hell. :O
Haven't had a chance to play much but I'm on mission 13 now in DMD mode.
Fury is a joke as Dante, they tried to throw two if those fuckers at me in mission 12 but they couldn't touch me. Now the one Fury I fought with Nero was a challenge, someone give me some tech to easily fuck those things over if I don't have ragtime or rawhide.
Gilgamesh was the same pushover he always was. Geryon wasn't much different then how I dealt with it previously, just took longer. I annihilated Urizen with Dante, my skills are finally returning to my peak DMC3 era levels.
The Nelo Angelo enemy takes forever to beat as V, not as bad at the behemoth but goddamn they have a lot of health.
DMD really exposes the flaws in V while in turn it highlights the benefits of Dante.
LTTP but I finally bought the game this weekend and finished it on Normal (aka : the tutorial) and sheeeeeeeiiiiit that was so dope.
Wasn't looking forward to playing Nero since I never felt like I ever got the hang of him in 4 but I had fun with him here, V felt a bit gimmicky but I had fun with him though I'm not sure how enjoyable he'll be once the opposition is stronger, we'll see. BUT HOLY SHIT AT UNCLE DANTE, THE CHARACTER IS PURE STYLE SWITCHING SEX. Felt soooo fucking good to play him again, I basically chose him everytime I could and went into BP with him right after the credits lol and got wrecked at floor 50. Dunno if that's good but I was having a pretty pretty good time.
Overall, the game is a great love letter to the fans, I was grinning the whole time during the last stretch of the game, where's my DMC5SE with playable Trish, Lady and Vergil at? I need it!
My critcisms would be how they cheaped out on the environment variety and how the women of the cast are treated like shitty sidekicks by the writing. I get it for Nico but Trish and Lady should have been kicking demon ass instead of... whatever it is they got this time around.
Anyway, all I want for now is diving back into the game, find the secret missions and health/DT upgrades, try harder difficulties, upgrade my dudes...GOTTA LET IT OUT GOTTA LET IT OUT! (Yeah, the music is perfect for the game)
Looks like the mod also erases dirt and visible veins/irritations to some extend.
Now imagine it combined with the one that gives him white hair and a real red coat... @o@ *shudder*
Ooh very nice I didn't know for the side/front/back damage depending on which mask. I knew about 3 masks down = free win thought. This is detailed and well explained, I wish I watched it before.
Finally S ranked Urizen with Nero and Dante on DMD. I actually thought Urizen was a trash tier boss until now. S ranking it on multiple difficulties had me completely change my tactics and forced me to learn each and every attack and the patterns he used. I SAID GODDAMN IT FELT GOOD TO S RANK! So many moments of risk vs. reward for moving in or staying back and taking shots from afar or healing with Devil Trigger. Hell, the use of Devil Trigger to heal or deal more damage to the shield was a decision that changed moment to moment depending on what I was doing. And with Dante. Using Royal Guard for both Urizen
and Vergil
was finally getting those perfect guards and using Royal Release at the right moments was fucking orgasmic.
This is the most fun I've had playing a game since doing run after run of DMC 4 Bloody Palace and DMD with Dante and Nero going for S ranks and perfect runs. Itsuno did it. Magnum fucking Opus. He exceeded my expectations.
