NERO Mandatory to go fast (You’re losing minutes if you don’t get these): • Charge Shot 1, 2, & 3 – Nero’s bread and butter damage dealer. Can be buffered. • Speed – Lets you run like you stole something. Very, very good (These open up a lot of combat options): • Roulette Spin – Exceed hits deal insane damage; DT hits even more so. • Snatch 2 – Utility. Deals no damage but makes approaches much easier. • Calibur – Good damage, good approach. Makes Nero have a lot more options for his air game. Needed for a lot of the big skips. • Split – Utility and damage. Try falling down a pit without it and see how much it sucks without it. • Trigger Heart – Nero’s DT is very important to his play. Having more is always a good thing. • Table Hopper 1 – A faster roll with Just timing. Not really needed but some people love this move and stand by it. • Air Hike – Double Jump. Needed for a lot of skips. Good (Get them if you have the proud souls, but keep in mind most of these are really expensive): • Snatch 3 – More of Snatch 2. Not really needed, but if you have the proud souls and you’re upgrading you might as well get it. • Streak 1 & 2 – Good approach, but is outclassed by Calibur. • Showdown – Amazing damage, but only on the last hit. Ignore until late in the run unless you’ve been playing like a god and can afford it. • Maximum Bet – Great damage against big bosses, but only really worth it for M19. • Exceed 2 & 3 – Adds massive damage and extra effects to Nero’s command moves at the cost of all your Exceed charges. Combo with Max ACT for really nice Red Queen damage. • Max ACT – Exceed with a Just timing. Gives you full Red Queen charges when pulled off. Okay (Not really worth getting, especially with the other options Nero has): • Table Hopper 2 & 3 – Wasteful, but cool. • Combo C – Amazing area of effect, but is outclassed in damage by Combo D. Needed for stylish play, but it’s not good for a speedrun. • Enemy Step – Mandatory for Jump Cancels, but it’s so expensive and Nero doesn’t really need it with his already insane air game. • Combo B – Slow as hell and has mediocre damage for the time you need to spend on the full combo string.

DANTE Mandatory to go fast (You need these): • Enemy Step – Unlocks Jump Cancels. If you don’t have this, you’re losing a lot of time against most bosses. • Speed – GOTTA GO FAST! • Stinger 1 & 2 – Need to kill something quickly? Spam this move. Amazing on Assaults. • Trickster 2 – Sky Star. Learn to love the move. Needed for skips. • Trickster 4 – DMC4 has some huge areas. Being able to warp to enemies with Air Trick speeds up how fast you kill them. Becomes less relevant in later missions as the areas get smaller. • Sword Master 2 – Aerial Rave, Beast Uppercut, and Climax. First is your bread and butter air attack, second is a great launcher with Just charges, and third is a good area attack. Really just worth it for Aerial Rave. • Sword Master 4 – Dance Macabre, the full Drive combo, Real Impact, and Bondage. First is a stylish combo string which you will never use because it’s slow, the second is a great distance damager against big enemies, the third is your massive damage dealer when combined with Devil Trigger Distortion, and the fourth is a utility move with Lucifer that makes pin conversation easier. Really though; you’re getting this for Real Impact. • Trigger Heart – DT isn’t as important for Dante until you get Gilgamesh, but it’s still very nice to have this for DT moves. • PF398: Revenge – ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED for a fast M18. Pretty neat if you can pull it out in other situations too. Very, very good (Almost required, but you technically can skirt by without these): • Ebony & Ivory Charge Shot 3 – Vaporizes Mephistos’ and Fausts’ cloaks, but not really used for much else unless you’re playing with custom binds that let you buffer the charge shots. • Coyote A Charge Shot 1 – Great damage, but you don’t really need more than the first level of this. • Gunslinger 2 – Rain Storm and Air Fireworks are both incredible for taking down the floating sandbags’ cloaks, but they’re not worth much else. • Royal Guard 2 – Allows an air release, which is amazing for counters. • Pin Up – Spam pins with Lucifer. A great move, but it’s only really used in a few areas very late in the run. Good (Not needed, at to be honest, you probably won’t be able to afford these except for PF124: Hatred): • PF124: Hatred – A better PF013: Epidemic, but you’re not going to use it too much because there are better options. • Gunslinger 4 – Honeycomb Fire and PF666: Omen are both nice to have, but they are very situational. • Kick 13 – Nice for M14, but you won’t use it after that mission. Quite frankly isn’t worth the time to buy. • Coyote A Charge Shot 2 & 3 – Not needed, but can be nice to have. Okay (You shouldn’t be getting these in a speedrun): • Royal Guard 3 & 4 – Brings Dreadnaught and more Royal Gauge to the table, but you’re not going to need either. • Sword Master 3 – No good moves here. • Gunslinger 3 – Again, no good moves here. • Trickster 3 – Once again, no good moves here. • Flush – Deals like no damage and isn’t worth the proud souls.