DmC Devil May Cry Speedrun walkthrough

Written by VegaSera, as of time of writing, current world record holder of NG+ Human Glitchless, which is the most popular run for DmC.

Mode - NG+ Human.

This guide assumes you have played through the game several times, as it requires completing Dante Must Die for Super Dante, required for competitive NG+ runs. Basic strats to use over the entire run.

Movement There are three main modes of movement in current speedruns. Angel Glide Hops - Just consists of Angel Glides consecutively. Angel Glide/Evade - Like above, but in between Angel Glides you fill in Angel Evades. It’s currently unknown if this is any faster than the hops above, but it feels slightly faster. Stinger - Spamming Stinger for forward movement. This seems to be the fastest, but it’s unreliable around corners, and anywhere there are spiders/enemies. The “optimal” run will probably include a mix of stingers and Angel Glide/Evade.

Devil Trigger Rebinding Devil Trigger (if you use a controller) is heavily recommended because L3+R3 is unreliable at times. Keep in mind that this is not possible through the game itself, you have to tweak ini settings. To do this, go to \Steam\steamapps\common\DmC Devil May Cry\DevilGame\Config\DefaultInput.ini Search for the field labeled DEVILTRIGGER and DEVILTRIGGER2 (DEVILTRIGGER2 is Virgil’s DT, it can be safely ignored if you never play Virgil’s campaign) Change each field from NTB_DEVILTRIGGER to NTB_DPADDOWN, or other button that you desire.

Having Super Dante is essentially required for this NG+ run, for the infinite DT.

Devil trigger will knock all non-boss enemies helplessly into the air, making it easy to kill them swiftly. It will also remove weapon restrictions, such as Angel weapons on the Frost Knight. You’ll be able to use any weapon against enemies. Activating Devil Trigger in the air will allow you to immediately grapple or attack out of the animation.

Combat Here are some general tips for combat.

ALWAYS have DT active in combat. There is one recommended exception for this on mission 19, but not required. Aquila(Thrown Glaives) is great at forcing enemies to group up tightly. Utilize Buy-In and switch to your sword to finish off a large group quickly. Arbiter(Axe) has the strongest single target DPS of any weapon. Revenant (the shotgun) is useful against enemies that will die in a single hit. Revenant shots can also be jump cancelled for a quick double shot. Osiris (The Scythe), Ebony and Ivory (Dual Pistols), and Kablooey(Explosive Dart Pistol) aren’t used. Most of the combat optimization is getting used to how many hits it takes to kill a certain kind of enemy.

Some enemies can and should be skipped! Level by level guide. Mission 1 - Found Kill enemies, then continue. The Pathos(Cherub without a shield) can be killed instantly with a shotgun shot. Kill the rest of the enemies. Carousel of Death. - Go in without Devil Trigger, use Buy-In to pull in the enemies directly underneath the carousel of death, then use Devil Trigger to knock them up into a kill field. Cancel Devil trigger once that wave dies. Do not cancel too quickly, because the enemies wont be killed by the carousel. Continue on, kill more enemies. Killing the last will make the hunter shoot at you. Ignore the attack and go straight into the fun house. Go through the fun house. Getting hit by the arm doesn’t cause you to lose any time because there is an invisible wall until the arm goes away. Continue on to gear room. Use the gear on the right to instantly kill any enemy you pull into it with Buy-In. This will most likely not kill them all, so some basic attacks are needed to finish them off. If you get to the doorway quickly enough once you kill the enemies, you can sometimes be ‘pulled’ by it. Continue on after the doorway to go fight the hunter. Hunter Fight - Run forward and immediately Angel Grab his face. The method I personally use it to Angel Grab Uppercut the hunter, which immediately knocks him to the ground without an animation but gives him a small period of invulnerability. You can also just attack his face repeatedly, which isn’t too much slower. Once he falls over, hit his face a few times with Arbiter.

[Renegade522 strat]As soon as the battle begins use Devil Trigger (DT), take roughly 3-4 steps and pull in close with Angel grab, hitting his face 4 times in succession with Rebellion (Sword) will force him to take a knee. 1 Strike with Arbiter (Axe) puts him down on the ground in this time you can easily set up the trinity smash for massive damage. 1 or 2 rebellion strikes may be needed to finish him. Risks - This strat is just as fast as vega's depending on execution. 1 mistake and u could lose time. The first Risk is that you need to be near frame perfect fot the fist 4 rebellion strikes otherwise Hunter has a chance to knock you down losing time. The second Risk is when setting up trinity smash if you do it 2 fast you can hit his invulnerability (which runs out as he fully lies down) or you hit his arm you must attack hunters head. This strat imo is for advanced runners of DmC due to the time loss risks and difficulty of understanding the game mechanics for this fight.

Mission 2 - Home Truths Combat and movement as normal until you get to the first dream sequence. Every major gap can be skipped with a double jump/glide. Demon grab is not needed at all in this dream sequence. However Demon grab is needed in the next section directly after the dream. The first gap can be jumped over but the second gap cannot. Second Dream Sequence - Double jump/glide can be used to skip the first two gaps. Every enemy can be skipped. Fight directly after the second dream sequence - Sometimes a Bathos can get stuck in the chandelier and can’t be gripped out. A very close shotgun shot will kill it. Platforming - The first two gaps can be done with double jump/glide, as well as the last right before it says “STOP”

Mission 3 - Bloodline Kill everything fast and doublejump/glide across the gap at the end of the level. Mission 4 - Under Watch Don't immediately kill the first enemies you see, instead, use a combination of Demon Grab and Enemy Step to gain height, jump to the platform in front of you and demon grab the eye. Now kill the enemies. Shotgun the demonic shards and kill the next enemies. When you see the Frost Knight, do not immediately kill it. Demon grab and Enemy step to get to the camera on the right first. Hop down and do the same to get to the platform on the left. Doing it this way will skip Kat’s scene. Combat and movement as expected until the end of the level. If timed right, you can double jump to the second to last platform and angel evade to the last one before it separates.

Mission 5 - Virility Enjoy Walking Simulator teaser. At the end the walking simulator keep to the left to trigger the cutscene slightly faster. Testing has shown that the right hand path is faster. The first two gaps can be skipped with double jump/glide without needing to demon grab. The first enemies you encounter can be skipped by grabbing one and enemy stepping up to the platform. Combat and movement as normal until you get to the next wide open area. Do not immediately kill the Pathos/Bathos. Instead use a combination of demon grabs, Enemy Step, and Gliding to reach the opposite side. This may take practice. Combat and movement as normal in the next room. Enemies can be grappled to and skipped in the tunnels. In the mixing room, you can drop/punch every enemy into the pit in the center. This is the fastest way to handle each pack. Mission 6 - Secret Ingredient Skip every enemy, only use them as grapple points. Get to the end of the tunnel as fast as possible.

Succubus Fight- Demon evade her swipes then two shot her face with basic attacks. Repeat twice for GG. Osiris Shredder seems to be the fastest way to make her lose grip at the end.

Mission 7 - Overturn The gap after you punch the truck with Eryx can be Double Jump/Glided across. The first death knights you see can be punched/kicked into the pit. After the Tyrant, climb up around the first corner like normal. You can Glide-Angel Grab- Glide around the second corner. When the wall pops out, dont take the detour like the game suggests. Glide towards the slight opening at the left side of the wall, and wall jump/glide to the angel grapple point. Aquila’s Caliber attack can make this easier. This will take practice. Movement and combat as normal. When you get to the Bathos near the elevator, demon grab+enemy step up to the next floor and into the elevator. The other enemies can be ignored. The next two Rage enemies can be shotgun’d off of the platform as long as you’re in DT. Cancel DT to make them drop into the pit. Movement and combat as normal.

Mission 8 - Eyeless Chase the harpies. When you get to the demon grab before the train, you can instead just ignore it and glide around the corner. There is an invisible wall however that can make this slightly tricky. Practice it once or twice and you’ll get it. If you’re going fast, which you should be, there’s a chance you can skip one of the trains in this part. If you do skip one of these trains, you’ll see it on the return trip, where it’s much more likely to hit you. Knock enemies into the trains above, kill enemies normally when there’s no train. In the large atrium, my preferred method is to Buy-In, Fireworks with the shotgun to remove harpy wings, and let them drop through the glass. Pathos/Bathos will require more direct shots, and newly spawned harpies can be killed normally. Alternatively harpies can be punched through the glass with Eryx. There’s no train to instantly kill the Rages on the way back. Enemies in the tunnel can be largely ignored except for the demonic shards. If you skipped the train trigger the first time around you will see it this time, without clear indicators of which side it’s on. Movement and combat as normal until the end of the mission.

Mission 9 - Devil Inside You can skip from the first platform to the third platform on the way down to Asiel’s wing. There are platforms that can be skipped by angel grab points. These places are fairly obvious. Dream sequence - Hop off to the right side, Buy-In, let the three Ravagers drop as you hop back onto the platform. First combat area - Combat as normal. Second combat area - All enemies can be punched into the pit. Platforming until the end of the area. Mission 10 - Bad News Platforming until the boss. Gliding/falling tends to be faster than sliding, keep that in mind. Bob Barbas DT will slow down his attacks. Do boss as normal but get SSS style before leaving intermissions. This will speed up your attacks and give you a slightly faster boss time. Arbiter’s Trinity smash with DT active is generally enough to kill him.

Mission 11 - The Order Combat as normal to start. On the ground, throw Aquila to shred the opening, then do the platforming. Combat and movement as normal. Note - Sometimes this Dreamrunner will need to touch the ground in order to end its fight. Cancel DT when it should die.

Mission 12 - Under Siege Welcome to the true walking simulator! Mission 5 was only a tease! Jumping is slightly faster movement here, but the only times it matters is the part before Kat hides in the hole, before Kat’s friends get shot, and at the very end of the walking simulator part. Combat as normal.

Mission 13 - Devil’s Dalliance Combat and Movement as normal. Go on the straight path after “Round 2”. Stinger enemies off of the platform. After the Rage Spawn room (BabyRage), Hit the button and go towards the path to the right. Then jump off towards the grapple point., grapple, and continue. Do not kill the first enemies you see, instead Demon Grab/Enemy step/Glide to the next platform. This saves ~15 seconds over killing them. As above, sometimes the dreamrunner doesn’t want to end the fight. Cancel DT and let him touch the ground. The rest of the mission is straightforward.

Mission 14 - Last Dance This mission is only a boss fight, but it’s also where one of the most important tricks is. Failing this trick costs you roughly 40 seconds. First you must get S style rank before you start the Lilith phase of the fight. If you have anything less, you will not have the attack speed to kill Lilith in a single cycle. You will just barely miss it if you’re too slow. Start with Trinity Smash, then spam Arbiter attacks.

[1 Cycle Strat by JellyFilledDoughnut] At the start, dodge the ground slam and then use Overdrive to hit the Hand Eye Ball. Cutscene will occur and then Aerial Rave when the baby opens its eye. After that, start with Trinity Smash, then spam Arbiter attacks.

Mission 15 - The Trade Do mission normally. Skip all enemies.

Mission 16 - The Plan Make sure you platform the first area quickly, but precisely, because if you fall you will have to start again from the beginning. Combat and movement as normal. From here on out Dreamrunners will be easily killable in DT. Kill all enemies until the Ghost Rages on Floor 105, those can be skipped by grappling up to the next floor. Enemies on the skybridge can be skipped. Every enemy on the way to the west wing skybridge can be skipped. Five Stories of Hell. Kill and Platform as normal.

Mission 17 - Furnace of Souls I personally start by DTing and going on the left path. Keep DT active for the regeneration. Skip every enemy. Go to the Divinity Statue and run in circles until the Butcher dies. Continue to run around in circles until you get a slowdown from a finished fight. Continue as normal, Skip every enemy. Get to the final fight platform. Skip every enemy and continue on.

Mission 18 - Demon’s Den Start the generators, starting at the one to the right of the entrance and going counter clockwise. (I do it in this order to avoid annoying Demonic Shard placement.) Once all generators are started, complete the puzzle. The fastest combination I have found for the puzzle is this. Virgil is North in this case.

North 1, East 2. South 2, North 2, West 3, South 1, North 2. N1E2S2N2W3S1N2, if you want to write it down somewhere visible.

Mission 19 - Face of the Demon Do the mission as normal. After you pull out the car, make sure you stay along the ground for your movement. If you jump too high, you have a chance to skip a trigger for Virgil, causing him to walk at the most leisurely pace that anyone has ever walked, costing you close to a full minute. If he is following you on the ramp downwards, you are fine and can continue.

Mundus Fight It is possible to one cycle each arm. You must get a perfect Demon Evade on a single slam (it’s a waste of time on a triple slam.) Then you must get to the arm very quickly and Trinity Smash. If he uses a breath attack, jump off of the platform. This will reset his attack. His giant debris projectiles are (in my opinion) easier to parry if DT is NOT active.

Fastest possible mission would be to one cycle each of the arms and parry two projectiles in his last phase, having never seen a breath. RNG can sometimes screw you over by giving you many breaths in a row. This is the biggest RNG factor in the game.

Mission 20 - The End Virgil is a relatively easy fight. You’ll want to use Eryx attack for everything.(Forward+Forward+B on controller) This will allow you to simultaneously parry an attack, break his guard, and attack him. Every hit should knock him into the next phase. Parry something in every phase until the judgement cut phase, just fully charge and hit him. The final phase seems to be slightly random in his attack choice. Parry, attack and end the timer on the final hit against him.