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<<---Enemy Strategies and Placements FAQ--->>
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By: The Nightmare Alpha
Also by: Vesperas-(iwbdk@hotmail.com)

Table of Contents

1. Versions
2. Contact Us
3. The Enemies
4. The Mini-Bosses
5. The Bosses
6. DTed Enemies
7. DTed Mini-Bosses
8. DMD Bosses
9. Easy - Norm - Hard - DMD! Enemy layout
10. Enemy Orb listings
11. Frequently Asked Questions
12. Thanks/Credits
13. Copyright

1. Versions

Version 0.9 (7/16/03): Most is done but the Mundus strat will come soon

Version 1.0 (7/21/03): Changed a bit of errors

Version 1.1 (8/3/03): Added a note

Version 1.2 (8/28/03): Well I was moving the last 3 weeks and I havent been
online for much time since I had to temporaraly disable my internet (damn DSL).
Anyway i'm back and working hard to get the Mundus strategy done. (seems as
though as I have much to do around here...). I checked some errors, erased
some extra stuff, added stuff here and there, and decorated a bit. Vesperas...
well I guess he is just lazy to update. (wait I forgot to give him the copy
before I left, my bad)

Version 1.3 (10/3/03): I have updated a bit to the boss section

Version 1.4 (10/27/03): Added a a couple new sections for the DTed enemies.
Also changed some of the strategies and moves a bit. Don't expect the DTed
enemies stuff done though

Version 1.5 (2/19/04): Nothing has changed but I do want to add that I haven't
been able to get to the DTed enemies idea till May/June. Too bad for my
viewers...

Version 1.6 (4/27/04): Took some info off.

2. Contact Us

You can contact me at ifritowner@netcape.net and you can contact Vesperas at
iwbdk@hotmail.com but do not send the following: spam, offensive or continous
flaming, or anything that has nothing to with the FAQ. Now we will respond in
a 48 hour period and if we don't get to your e-mail, we will answer as soon
as we can. If you want, you can Instant Message me at TNAForever11 and you can
Instant Message Vesparas at iwbdk.

3. The Enemies (By The Nightmare Alpha) (Sin Scythes by Vesperas)

(Note: The Bosses, Mini Bosses, and Enemies will be graded on a 1 to 10 scale
 on how hard they are)

Marionettes

Hardness: *

Description: These puppets are the solders who are hung by the devil's strings
with unpure faces of sorrow and despair. They are known to hunt the innocent
with their weapons and their clothes are different colors to distinguish
themselves.

My opinion: Not hard. These guys aren’t a threat and can easily defeated with
any of your weapons. Now just as a note: they have either double daggers,
double cleavers, or a shotgun Now when they travel in gangs they can get much
tougher, especially when they pack Shotgun's. Now since you can battle these
guy's with the Alastor or the Ifrit, I will separate the strategy into two.

Moves

Slash- Simple. The Marionette will swing its arm and slashes you with its
weapon. The Marionette only does this if you are too close to it. Now this
hurts pretty badly if you keep getting hit by it so to ensure that you don’t
get hit a lot there are many ways to avoid this: 1. As soon as you see him
raise his arm, run. After getting to a safe distance, meet it with a
Stinger/Kick13 to knock it down 2. If you have the Rolling Blaze, jump and the
Marionette will be stunned. Once you have stunned the Marionette, you can
Downward Kick it to knock it down 3. If you got Air Hike, do the double jump
then Downward Slash the Marionette. This is what the Shotgun carrying
Marionettes often use. (short range-light damage)

Double Slash- Now if the Marionette has the cleavers or the daggers, they will
do this more often. The Marionette will do a simple slash then it will do a
much smaller one afterwards. This, of course, is much dangerous than the one
above as it does more damage. Now if you get hit by the first slash you will
be stunned long enough to get the other slash. Now avoid this one like the
Slash and you'll be fine but be sure not to be near the second slash as it
still can hit you. Other than that, you'll be fine.
(short range-medium damage)

War Cry- The Marionette will stop and yell causing a sonic wave to occur. Now
if you are near this, you will be hung by the devil's strings. Now you will be
close to the Marionette so he will usually hit you with a Slash but if there
are many of them, it is a pain. Now to get out of this, shake the analog stick
so that you can escape but if you DT it will automatically allow you to escape
this move. (medium range-no damage)

Mounted Stabbing- The Marionette also does this if you leave one side of Dante
unattended and one is close to you. Now the Marionette will jump on Dante,
lock its legs around him, and stab him repeatedly in the neck. Now if you
leave the Marionette stab you, Dante will always throw them off but you will
be left with a good amount of damage. Now if you shake the analog stick, you
can get them off faster and it will damage them but either way will get you
damage. Best way to avoid this, is by not leaving your back or sides alone
to attack. Another way to avoid this is by DT-ing.
(short range-low to high damage)

Weapon Toss- Dangerous in general. Now if the Marionette has double daggers
it will do a stance, spins it daggers, and then tosses them. Now these are
faster than the other weapons and they travel in straight line. Now if they
have double cleavers they stand straight, spin their blades, then toss them.
Now these blades go in a curve path. Once they hit you, they will go back to
the Marionette (unless the blades hit the wall). Now there are many ways to
avoid this: 1. As soon as you see the Marionette spin the weapon, connect with
a Stinger/Kick13 to stop him 2. If you see it spin the weapon, roll to the
side or jump. If you have Air Hike, double jump to avoid this 3. If you have
Rolling Blaze, jump. The flames will come in contact with the blades and they
will not hurt you. (long range-medium to high damage)

Dead Aim- Deadly move and it can only be done by the Shotgun carrying
Marionettes. The Marionette will stand straight, spin the gun, get in a aiming
stance, and fire. Now these guys have pretty good aim and the closer you are,
the more damage you will get. Now to avoid this, kill the Marionette as soon
as you see one. Connect with a Stinger/Kick13 to stop them as quick as you
possibly can. Now if you don’t see it, try to time a jump. If you jump you can
avoid the blast and try to be far so that if you get caught in the blast, it
won’t hurt as much as being near. (long range-medium to high damage)

Death Spin- The Marionette will spin at the waist with its weapon at hand and
will begin to move. It will move in your direction then finally crash in some
other area. What you should note is that the Marionette travels quite a
distance at a pretty fast speed. Now jumping or rolling wont help as they may
hit you as you recover from the jump or roll so to avoid this: 1. Run as soon
as soon as you see the wind up then stay a distance. If it still gets close 2.
fire a Shotgun blast at the right distance to take it to the ground.
(long range-low to high damage)

Strategy for Marionettes
Now these guys will be all over the place in the game so you can use the Ifrit
or the Alastor to take them down.

Strategy with Swords- Now begin with a Stinger. Stingers can take down up to 3
Marionettes so start off with that. Then shoot with the Shotgun/E&I/Grenade
Gun to hurt them more. Now with E&I they can still recover and the Shotgun
keeps them on the ground but more blasts will kill them. To kill them with E&I
just High Time the Marionette and fire as it is in the air. You will get a
pretty good ranking as you fire. Now with the Grenade Gun, 1 to 2 shots and
they die. So to kill them with just the Swords you can High Time 2 or 3 then
Stinger them. Finally as they recover, slash them with a 5 or 3 hit combo to
finish them. Use the Shotgun if your overwhelmed.

Strategy with Ifrit- Easy to kill Marionettes with this. Usually a 4 hit combo
from Ifrit can kill it. The charged combo can kill one in 2 or 3 hits. Now the
same rules apply, do a Magma Drive then Kick13 as it/they fall and finally
Kick13 it/them to kill it/them. Grenades and the Ifrit do well together but
the Shotgun does well against them, especially in DT.

Bloody Mari

Hardness: **

Description: Bloody Mari's are the same as their equally creepy members.
Bloody Mari's tend to wear the blood of their victims that they slaughter with
their weapons.

My opinion: Now these guys are not different from the Marionettes only that
they have the same clothes and they have raised offense plus defense. Other
than that, they are easy.

Moves

Slash- Simple. The Bloody Mari will swing its arm and slashes you with its
weapon. The Bloody Mari only does this if you are too close to it. Now this
hurts pretty badly if you keep getting hit by it so to ensure that you don’t
get hit a lot there are many ways to avoid this: 1. As soon as you see him
raise his arm, run. After getting to a safe distance, meet it with a
Stinger/Kick13 to knock it down 2. If you have the Rolling Blaze, jump and the
Bloody Mari will be stunned. Once you have stunned the Bloody Mari, you can
Downward Kick it to knock it down 3. If you got Air Hike, do the double jump
then Downward Slash the Bloody Mari. This is what the Shotgun carrying Bloody
Mari's often use. (short range-light damage)

Double Slash- Now if the Bloody Mari has the cleavers or the daggers, they
will do this more often. The Mari will do a simple slash then it will do a
much smaller one afterwards. This, of course, is much dangerous than the one
above as it does more damage. Now if you get hit by the first slash you will
be stunned long enough to get the other slash. Now avoid this one like the
Slash and you'll be fine but be sure not to be near the second slash as it
still can hit you. Other than that, you'll be fine.
(short range-medium damage)

War Cry- The Bloody Mari will stop and yell causing a sonic wave to occur. Now
if you are near this, you will be hung by the devil's strings. Now you will be
close to the Bloody Mari so he will usually hit you with a Slash but if there
are many of them, it is a pain. Now to get out of this, shake the analog stick
so that you can escape but if you DT it will automatically allow you to escape
this move. (medium range-no damage)

Mounted Stabbing- The Bloody Mari also does this if you leave one side of
Dante unattended and one is close to you. Now the Bloody Mari will jump on
Dante, lock its legs around him, and stab him repeatedly in the neck. Now if
you leave the Bloody Mari stab you, Dante will always throw them off but you
will be left with a good amount of damage. Now if you shake the analog stick,
you can get them off faster and it will damage them but either way will get
you damage. Best way to avoid this, is by not leaving your back or sides alone
to attack. Another way to avoid this is by DT-ing.
(short range-low to high damage)

Weapon Toss- Dangerous in general. Now if the Bloody Mari has double daggers
it will do a stance, spins it daggers, then tosses them. Now these are faster
than the other weapons and they travel in straight line. Now if they have
double cleavers they stand straight, spin their blades, then toss them. Now
these blades go in a curve path. Once they hit you, they will go back to the
Bloody Mari (unless the blades hit the wall). Now there are many ways to avoid
this: 1. As soon as you see the Bloody Mari spin the weapon, connect with a
Stinger/Kick13 to stop him 2. If you see it spin the weapon, roll to the side
or jump. If you have Air Hike, double jump to avoid this 3. If you have
Rolling Blaze, jump. The flames will come in contact with the blades and they
will not hurt you. (long range-medium to high damage)

Dead Aim- Deadly move and it can only be done by the Shotgun carrying
Mari's. The Bloody Mari will stand straight, spin the gun, get in a aiming
stance, and fire. Now these guys have pretty good aim and the closer you are,
the more damage you will get. Now to avoid this, kill the Bloody Mari as soon
as you see one. Connect with a Stinger/Kick13 to stop them as quick as you
possibly can. Now if you don’t see it, try to time a jump. If you jump you can
avoid the blast and try to be far so that if you get caught in the blast, it
wont hurt as much as being near. (long range-medium to high damage)

Death Spin- The Bloody Mari will spin at the waist with its weapon at hand and
will begin to move. It will move in your direction then finally crash in some
other area. What you should note is that the Bloody Mari travels quite a
distance at a pretty fast speed. Now jumping or rolling wont help as they may
hit you as you recover from the jump or roll so to avoid this: 1. Run as soon
as soon as you see the wind up then stay a distance. If it still gets close 2.
fire a Shotgun blast at the right distance to take it to the ground.
(long range-low to high damage)

Weapon Shield- The Mari's will put their weapons up when they feel overwhelmed
and will usually counter with a Slash or a Double Slash. To safely get pasted
this, get away then come back with a Stinger/Kick13. (short range-no damage)

Strategy for Bloody Mari's
Now they are the same thing as the Marionettes so I wont explain how to beat
them but just as a note: these guys have more stamina so they will endure
more of a beating and they like to use their weapons as a shield so back flip
because they will counter with a Slash or a Double Slash then Stinger/Kick13
it to take it down.

Sin Scissors

Hardness: *

Description: Spirits that chose ghost bodies with large scissors as their
physical weapons. As they are ghosts, they can go through walls to escape your
attacks.

My opinion: Sins are not very hard. The only thing that is annoying is the
fact that their scissors block their face. Now for these guys you have to be
calm and attack when there's a opening.

Scissors Snip- The Sin Scissors will do some short snipping noises with its
scissors. Finally it will open them real wide and try to snip Dante. This move
is pretty obvious as you can easily jump away from them but at this time you
can do a couple things to hit the mask of the Sin: 1. At the right moment,
jump in the air and the snip will miss. Here you can hit the Sin with a
Downward Slash/Downward Kick 2. Position so that you will jump on the head of
the Sin. If done right, you can jump on his head and stun him. From here you
can Downward Slash/Downward Kick the Sins mask that will do extra damage 3.
Smack the scissors and the Sin will have his mask wide open. At this time get
as close as you can to the mask and fire. If you do this, you will probably
get a critical hit and extra orbs. (short range-medium damage)

Scissors Stab- The Sin will grab his scissors and back them up and finally the
Sin will stab them in you. Now this is pretty slow on the draw so when you see
its scissors back up, run so that this move doesn’t get you. Now if you are
close and you have no time to escape, slash at the scissors to knock it back.
From there you can get a critical hit and finish the Sin.
(short range-medium damage)

Scissors Pin- When you have angered the Sin more than enough, they will circle
around you then launch at you with their scissors parallel to their body. Now
this is pretty dangerous since this CANT BE PARRIED so rolling to the side to
avoid this move is the best way. (long range-high damage)

Scissors Toss- Now when you kill the Sin, it will toss its scissors in the air
and they will land where the Sin died. Now the power of this move all depends
on how high the scissors go. Now if the scissors go high in the air, they will
do pretty good damage but if it doesn’t go very high, it will do less damage
but it still does some good damage. Now to avoid this move, simply run away
from where the mask shattered and you'll be fine. (short range-high damage)

Strategy for Sin Scissors
Now of course I will split the strategy in two since they can be defeated by
the Swords or Ifrit.

Strategy with Swords- Now to kill them with swords is pretty easy. Now when
the Sin decides to snip you, jump and connect with a Downward Slash. Three or
less will do just fine. Also if you want, you can critical hit the Sin. To
critical hit him, allow it to do the Scissors Snip and smash the scissors with
a slash from your sword and the Sin should get stunned as the scissors are
backed up leaving the mask open to attack. Now get as close as you can to the
face and unload a Shotgun shot in its face. If done right, it will get its
mask shattered and extra orbs will be your reward for the hit.

Strategy with Ifrit- Now with Ifrit do the Downward Kick to its head when it's
open to attack. About 2 should deliver the death to the Sin, if not then hit
it 1 to 2 more times to kill it. Now to critical hit the Sin, get the Sin to
get near the ground so that you can hit the scissors a lot more better. Now as
it goes for the hit, Kick13 the scissors. If done right, the Sin will lose its
grip and it will be vulnerable. As soon as the mask is open, go in close and
fire a Shotgun Blast and it should kill it quickly.

Underwater Strategy- When you face them under water, have the Needle Gun and
fire at the closest one to take it out and make sure to keep a eye out for
them. Now if you want, you can critical hit the Sin. To do this simply fire
one round of needles (what I mean by round is how many shots are released
before you have to reload). So when you got to critical hit, make sure that at
least 1 needle hits the scissors so that the Sin will lose its grip on them.
After the Sin loses its grip, allow the rest of the round to smash it in the
face. If done right, it will die by the last needle and will give you a rather
big orb for doing so.

Sargasso

Hardness: *

Description: Spirits that chose skulls to frighten humans. They live from dark
murky waters to nightmarish areas. They solely live in the human world and
also live in another and are able to transport to do so.

My opinion: Not too hard. They are pretty fast but they can't get a advance on
you. The small ones take 2 Stingers/Kick13 but the larger ones take about 5 of
them.

Moves

Bite- The Sargasso comes in close and bites you. Now when you see this,
back flip to get out of the way so that this doesn’t get you. Jumping also can
get you away from this. (short range-low damage)

Ice Breath- The Sargasso will charge some energy in its mouth and fire several
spray's at Dante. This is rather wide ranged but it can be avoided by running
away from the breath attack. (medium range-low to high damage)

Strategy for Sargasso's
The Sargasso's shouldn’t take you much time to defeat. Both Devil Arms are
able to finish the job.

Strategy with Swords- One Stinger and a Shotgun blast can finish a Sargasso.
The bigger ones take about 2 or 3 Stingers followed by 1 or 2 Shotgun blasts.

Strategy with Ifrit- A Kick13 with a Shotgun Blast kills the small ones. The
bigger ones take 2 or 3 Kick13's with 1 or 2 Shotgun blasts.

Beelzebub

Hardness: *

Description: Demons that chose insect bodies to torture and scavenge the dead
and dying. They are very cannibalistic, eating each other for survival...

My opinion: HA! these are simply the easiest enemies in the game. A couple
shots and they fall to the ground faster than you can say Devil May Cry. The
ground types have more stamina but are still easy to kill.

Moves

Insect Bite- The Beelzebub will come in close and bite you. Now this is only
done if you stand still and can only be done by the ground types. Now this is
pretty light attack so you shouldn't worry too much about it. Simply jumping
out of the way will get you out of danger. (short range-low damage)

Maggot Spray- This can be done by both ground and flying types. Now the flying
types will spin around you and spray a bunch of these on you but the ground
types will just spit it at you. Now this does little damage as well but it
screws up your aim for a bit. Now to avoid the flying type's spray, simply
either shoot them down or avoid the area that they are spraying. For the
ground ones can be stopped by rolling away or attacking them. If you get
sprayed, simply fire your gun to get some off or all of them off.
(short to medium range-low damage)

Back Breaker- The ground type will jump on your back if you leave them to
sneak behind you. Then the Beelzebub will jump on your back and make a nasty
re-adjustment to Dante's spine. Now to avoid getting Dante's back split, keep
your eyes open for the ground ones. If you do see one sneaking up, kill it for
its misery. (short range-medium to high damage)

Power Up- The ground ones are only capable of doing this. If one of the flying
Beelzebub fall to the ground dead, the ground ones will feed on it. If one
does eat it, the ground one will gain speed and stamina. Simply attack the
Beelzebub so that it won't feed on the remains. (any range-no damage)

Maggot Throes- The Beelzebub will simply spray a bunch of maggots at you when
they die. This is pretty short ranged so you just have to stay away when it
dies. A Shotgun blast will clear any that are on you. (short range-low damage)

Strategy for Beelzebub
These bugs aren't much of a threat to you. The only thing that may overwhelm
you is the fact that they come in great numbers.

Strategy with Swords- Stingers can practically bring the ground ones to their
death. High Time's flip the ground ones on their belly then you can Downward
Slash their bellies to kill them. One single Shotgun blast kills the Flying
Beelzebub automatically and 3 kill the ground ones. Vortex and Air Raid with
Alastor kill the Beelzebub very quickly if you have DT to spare.

Strategy with Ifrit- Kick13 also does well for killing Beelzebub's and Magma
Drive's flip them on their backs then a Downward Kick finishes them. The
flying Beelzebub die in one hit to the Shotgun and the ground take 3 to die.
Meteors and Inferno's kill Beelzebub's quickly as well.

Sin Scythe: (By Vesperas)

Part 1: Attacks they use

Scythe Swing: This is a melee attack, They swing their scythe spinning in
front of them and it cuts you up. Best jump out of the way of this attack,
it’s not that hard to avoid.

Scythe boomerang: The Sin Scythe will circle you (This will indicate that they
are pissed) and then throw their scythes at you, hitting you a bunch of times
(this is very damaging) and then coming back for some more. You should jump to
the side and then jump to another side when it comes back (it doesn’t go in a
straight line-front to back..) or you can hit it back with a DT’ed slash, this
will ensure that they stay pissed. If you knock it back you can Critical hit
them, since they get knocked off balanced, however they don’t give up any
extra orbs like the other Sins.

Nucleus Umbrella: After they finish circling you after throwing their scythes,
they will plop a stick thing in the air. This will then pop out like an
umbrella and they will gain energy. You should never let them even get this
ritual done, you should be able to kill an off guard Sin very easily.

Steal Soul: If they gain enough energy, why not just let them pick you up and
rip your soul out? Just wiggle out if you get caught.

Falling Scythes: Just walk out of the way. This is only when they die of
course...

Part 2: Attacks you should use

Use Alastor: Downward Slash them as best as possible. When you got 3 symbols
just air raid, 2-3 three will kill any Sin scythe.

Use Sparda: One Downward Slash will usually kill a Sin Scythe.

Use Shotgun: Just keep shooting them with it, you’ll kill them a lot easier
than the scissors.

Use Grenade Gun: Oh boy is it great blowing up a Sin with a Grenade, 2-3 shots
and its dead.

Use Nightmare B: A fully charged shot will even kill all four of the Sin
Scythes in the courtyard...

Part 3: Other stuff

1. Sin Scythes are spirits with masks and Scythes. Those two things are their
only solid damageable body parts.
2. If you look closely they have different masks then the Scissors’ mask, but
retain the same girlish laughter.
3. You can jump and play on their umbrellas!
4. When they DT, they move faster, and will hurt you with their boomerang
toss.
5. They give about 40 - 51 orbs.

Blades

Hardness: **

Description: Demons that chose the body of reptilians for their speed and
cunning attributes but they lack the necessary defense that make them
vulnerable to attacks so they come armed with shields with magic to protect
them. With their claws they are able to impale any enemy and they are even
able to shoot them at you. Once you have been damaged severely, they will go
in for the kill like a pack of wolves...

My opinion: These guys are the "guards" that Mundus has put in charge. Now
they are quick and can escape some of your moves with ease plus the fact that
they wear armor for extra defenses makes them a superb enemy but they become
very easy to kill once the armor is off.

Moves

Claw Slash- The Blade will advance at you a bit and slash. This is predictable
so jump out of the way and counter with a Stinger/Kick13 to it. Usually this
is done as a counter when you knock them down to the ground or when you are
not paying attention to one so be careful. (short range-medium damage)

Dashing Slash- The Blade will be far from you, then he will rush and slash you
very quickly. Now, unlike the Claw Slash, this move is pretty hard to guess so
be prepared as its arm sticks out when the Blade comes in for the attack. This
does a bit more damage so when you see this, either fire a Shotgun blast or a
Grenade Shell to bring it down. A Stinger/Kick13 can also bring it down but it
must be timed. (long range-medium damage)

Downward Slash- The Blade will jump high in the air then come down with a claw
slash. This is much more heavier than all the other slashes but is really
obvious so as it comes down, fire your weapon or High Time the Blade. It
should be able to take it down pretty quickly to the ground. Now if you don't
have enough time to attack, roll to the side so that the Blade doesn't hit
you. (short range-high damage)

Stab n' Smash- The most stunning and dangerous move that the Blade gives out.
The Blade will stab you and carry you up. Then he will smash you down with his
claw and shove you off. This hurts Dante pretty well and stuns him afterwards,
just enough time to sometimes allowing another Blade to do another attack but
it is a short range move so keep the Blades busy with a Stinger/Kick13 to keep
them off you. (short range-high damage)

Blood Claws- This move is usually done if you are far away from them and is
the only move that the Blades underwater do. The Blade will screech at you and
bend over a bit. Finally the Blade will send about 5 to 8 Blood Claws at you.
Now this is pretty obvious and slow but it can stun you and set you up for a
move. Now to avoid this move, there’s a couple things to do: 1. With Ifrit,
use Rolling Blaze to deflect the claws 2. Time a hit so that the claws will be
deflected 3. run away so that they don’t hit you.
(long range-low to high damage)

The Scent of Blood- If Dante's life bar is on red, the Blades will get more
fierce in attacking you. Now this means that you got to be more alert as they
now get much more faster in execution of moves and their speed. Make sure to
be ready and don’t make mistakes. (any range-no damage)

Strategy for Blades
These guys are fast but with the right moves, they can be taken down rather
quickly. Your first priority is to take the armor off (if they have any) then
kill them.

Strategy with Swords- Stinger is your friend with taking off the armor. So if
there is one with armor, Stinger it to take it down and to weaken the armor.
Keep Stingering until it breaks then begin to do a combo, back up, Stinger,
and do another combo. Another way is to High time them and then Grenade them.
Now to critical hit them, you have to send them on the ground so that their
back is showing. Then quickly Downward Slash the Blade's back. You will know
that you critical hit him when he does a screech out of pain and blood comes
out more than normal. The Nightmare Beta is able to send them to the ground,
showing their backs in the process so use it to your advantage.

Strategy with Ifrit- Kick13 is your friend here with armor breaking. Smash the
armor (if it has any) them begin your assault with Grenade-Kick13 the Blade,
DT, and Kick13 auto-combo the Blade or you can: Kick13, back up, Kick13, and
back up. Now if there's one Blade, the Ifrit 4 hit combo stuns and damages the
Blade so use it. Now to critical hit the Blade, get it to land so that his
back is exposed then Downward Kick the Blade to critical hit it. With Ifrit
the critical hit does serious damage, especially when you do the kick at the
top of your jump.

Underwater Strategy
Now you are only armed with the Needle Gun so aim at the Blade and fire at it.
It won't take very long to kill. If it fires its Blood Claws, use the Needle
Gun to deflect the claws away.

Fetish

Hardness: ***

Description: The "generals" of the puppets. Known to be the masters of fire,
they wear a head dress and carry fire embedded Yo-Yo's to attack unsuspecting
enemies. They have odd bodies with the head of a bird and the feet of a cat
with a blue orb in the middle of their chests.

My opinion: Now the Fetishes are not as easy to hit because its defenses are
much higher than any of the other puppets. Best thing to do is to use high
power moves to take them down (ex: Stingers, Kick13). The Grenade Gun is
awesome against them.

Moves

Slash- Simple but rarely used in close combat. The Fetish will swing his arm
above his head and come down to strike you. This one actually does more damage
than the ones that the other puppets use. Now under rare circumstances it will
do this but if he does do this there are ways to avoid this: 1. as soon as the
arm goes up, move so that it doesn’t hit you and counter with a Stinger/Kick13
2. Blast it with the Grenade Gun to knock it down 3. Rolling Blaze still works
in stunning the Fetish so use it and counter to take it down 4. Air Hike does
well so double jump then you can hit it with a Downward Slash.
(short range-medium damage)

Flame-Thrower Limbo- This is usually the starter in a battle. The Fetish will
bend at the knees, like doing the limbo. Finally it will bend itself back into
place and fire a spray of fire. This is pretty dangerous as it has a large
range of the area. Now if you get hit by this you may fly back or if you are
close, you will get hit several times which takes large amounts of your life
bar and it isn’t good. Now to counter this there are 2 ways to do this: 1.
When the Fetish is bending down, smash him with a Stinger/Kick13 to bring him
down 2. Fire a Grenade to bring it down. (medium range-high damage)

Flaming Yo-Yo's- Now if you are far from the Fetish, it will do this move
sometimes. The Fetish will spin the Yo-Yo's, toss them at you, the Yo-Yo's
will linger in position, then go back to the Fetish. Now if you get hit by one
of these they will knock you down and leave you with some pretty serious
damage so be careful. Now suppose you miss it, you could still get hit by it
when it returns which will leave you in the same predicament as if you were
hit by the first one. Also if you miss the first pass and you touch it as it
lingers, you will get hit so be careful. To dodge this move rolling and
jumping over it will get you out of the way. Once again a Grenade knocks them
down if you don’t want to roll or jump. (long range-high damage)

Flame Shield- Now this is what makes the Fetish annoying. Now if the Fetish
feels overwhelmed it will block your attack with its Yo-Yo's and flame you
pretty badly. If you get hit, usually you will get knocked with pretty good
damage. To avoid this just don’t attack the Fetish with weak hits. Now if you
find yourself in the flames, run out as fast as you can so that you wont get
hit badly. (short range-medium damage)

War Cry- The other puppets can do it, so can the Fetish. Now the Fetish will
stand still and yell causing a sonic wave to occur. If you get caught in the
Cry, you will be hung by the devil's strings. Now here you will hang and be
wide open to attack. Now you wont be very far from the Fetish so it will
usually do one of its move but it will sometimes do its Slash to hit you. Now
in a group of Fetishes, this is bad so to free yourself wiggle the control
stick so that you can be free. This moment can allow you to counter back the
Fetish. If you have DT, you can DT and it will automatically free you.
(medium damage-no damage)

Fiery Death Spin- Now just like the other puppets, the Fetish will spin at the
waist with its Yo-Yo's at full flame. It will then start to spin faster and
move in your direction. Now the Fetish can cover a lot of ground and gain
speed with this move plus this move can hit you several times as well. Now
jumping or rolling wont be good here as the Fetish can hit you when you
recover. Now the best way of avoiding contact with this move is to fire a
Grenade so that it will send the Fetish to the ground. The only other way to
avoid this is by running but the Grenade does well on its own.
(long range-low to high damage)

Mounted Headbutt- The Fetish will jump on you, lock its legs around you, and
smash you with their bird head. Now this only happens when you are close to
one and you leave one side unattended. Now when the Fetish gets on you, he
will smash you for sometime then Dante will shove him off but you will get
damaged rather heavily but if you wiggle the analog stick you will still take
damage but it wont be as much as if you left the Fetish to stab you. DT also
rids of them rather quickly. (short range-low to high damage)

Strategy for Fetishes
Now since these guys love to use their Flame Shield to protect themselves, you
need moves that will send them to the ground.

Strategy with Swords- Start off with a Stinger to knock it down, then Downward
Slash it. When it gets up, you can High Time the Fetish then either carry
yourself with the Fetish and Downward Slash or stay on the ground and juggle
him with E&I until he dies. Grenades do well to take the Fetish down so use it
if you are overwhelmed. Air Raid with Alastor kills many Fetishes as well as
Vortex.

Strategy with Ifrit- Now start with a Kick13 to take it down then as it rises,
do a fully charged Magma Drive to launch it in the air and finish with
juggling the Fetish with E&I. Usually this can take out the Fetish but when
you encounter many, fire a Grenade to bring them down then Kick13 them as they
get up. Inferno automatically kills the Fetishes so feel free to do so.

Plasma

Hardness: ***

Description: A evil spirit that is made of electric energy that takes the
shape of his enemy to attack them. Due to this mimicking, they are able to
face anyone without danger to itself. Although they are able to take the form
of anything, their true form is that of a bat.

My opinion: Plasmas are tough in groups but signally they are pretty easy. Now
one note: don’t use Alastor for the Plasmas or the Nightmare Beta due to the
fact that the Alastor is electric powered so it does less damage to the
Plasma. The Nightmare Beta doesn’t hurt the Plasma because the NB beams are
evil energy and so is the Plasma so it is able to reflect the beam. Best to
use the Sparda or preferably the Ifrit.

(the moves will be separated as it has two forms)

Bat's Moves

Vertical Eye Beam- The bat will make a charging noise and fires a long
vertical beam starting from the ceiling all the way to the ground. This cuts
pretty quickly but it still gives you time to avoid this move so when you
see this move come out, roll to the side to get away. (long range-high damage)

Blade Beam- The bat will do the same charging move as the Vertical Eye Beam
but then it will make a horizontal blade of energy. Now this will track your
last position but it is pretty fast and damaging so to avoid this, jump away
from it so that you wont be sent to the ground. (long range-high damage)

Transformation- The bat will simply make a flash and will turn into "Dante".
Usually this will only happen when you get close to the Plasma but at times it
won't. Now the Plasma will usually stay on the ground and attack with melee
weapons more than the beams but it is still able to do beam attacks.
(short range-no damage)

Human's Moves

5-Hit Combo- When the Plasma gets close, it will unleash its sword and give
Dante a 5 Hit Combo. Now this is usually done when they get close and this can
be rather stunning as its quick so you must be ready. To avoid this move,
simply avoid the Plasma then come in with a Stinger/Kick13 to hurt it.
(short range-low to high damage)

3-Hit Combo- The Plasma will do the same as above but does your 3-Hit Combo
instead. Now this is actually done more than the 5-Hit Combo so this wont be
so rare but it does less damage than the 5-Hit Combo. When you see this, move
away then Kick13/Stinger the Plasma. (short range-low to medium damage)

4-Hit Combo- The Plasma will have "Gauntlets" on and do your 4-Hit Combo but
much more faster and less damaging. Now this is pretty fast but sometimes the
Plasma stalls in the combo so take advantage of this time and hit the Plasma
with a Kick13/Stinger to stop it from continuing the combo. Now don’t get
caught in the middle of a group as this can basically mean death so try to
move away from the group and nail one. (short range-low to high damage)

High Kick- Used as a recovery move when it has been knocked away by Dante or
when it is far away from him. Basically, the Plasma will run at you a bit then
give you a face full of foot. Now this can be annoying as it can stun you and
set you up for the other attacks that it can dish out. To avoid this move
there are 2 ways to avoid this: 1. Jumping out of the way will get you out of
trouble 2. Rolling or a Back flip will get you out of its range.
(short range-medium damage)

Electrical Interference- With the Plasma's "Gauntlets", it will punch the
ground and create a short shockwave of electrical energy similarly to your
Inferno. Now this move is truly poor and it does pathetic damage as it is used
in desperation but like other moves, it does stun so you must be precautious
and look around for others so that you don’t get blindsided. Staying away is
the best way to avoid this. (short range-low damage)

Desperation Eye Beam- The most damaging move that the human Plasma does. It
will rotate its arms in a mystic fashion and fire a long beam horizontally at
Dante. Now this is a heavy move but it can only be done when the Plasma is
about to die and it is pretty easy to dodge. Now when the Plasma does the
motions to the move, prepare yourself. When he launches the beam, jump away
from the beam and you wont get hit. Be sure to recover with a move as it will
continue to do this until it dies. (long range-high damage)

Duplication- When the Plasma feels overwhelmed or is about to die, it will
create a duplicate of itself ranging from one to three. Usually when it is
overwhelmed, it will create three clones of itself. When its about to die, it
will clone one of himself. Now when you face Plasma's this is actually random
so really you cant tell if it will do it or not. (any range-no damage)

Transformation- The "Dante" will simply make a flash and will turn into a bat.
Usually this will only happen when you get far to the Plasma but at times it
wont. Now the Plasma will rise up and stay airborne and fire its beams.
(long range-no damage)

Strategy for Plasma's
Plasma's aren’t affected by the Alastor or NB so don’t use them. Now you have
a choice of the Sparda or the Ifrit. As a note: if you can keep them in bat
form, they wont duplicate.

Strategy with Sparda- Start with a Downward Slash for the bat ones and Stinger
the human ones. Then continue with a thrusting combo if there is a single
human Plasma but if there are many, do a 5-Hit Combo then repeat with a
Stinger then High Time and another Stinger. Grenade Shells do well for the bat
Plasma so use them when they are in bat form.

Strategy with Ifrit- Better to use. Start with a Kick13 then a 4-Hit Combo.
Magma Drive's knock the Plasma's down so use them. When you have DT, Smash it
with a Inferno, Meteor, or a auto-combo. DT Grenade shots take the bats down
in 3 hits or so.

Nobody

Hardness: ****

Description: A group of "misfits" from the underworld. Although they are truly
horrifying they are real survivors, living through many hardships of the
Underworld.

My opinion: Nobodies are hard in groups as they can do some of the most
annoying things. When they are small, they cause no threat but can be nimble
but once they are big, they dish out more damaging moves and annoying counters.

(the moves will be separated as they have two forms)

Small Nobody moves

Punch- The Nobody will reel its arm back and hit you in the face. This can
only be done when the Nobody gets in close. This move is actually pretty weak
but stuns and can set you up for any other moves from other Nobodies so try
not to get hit too much. To get away from this move, try not to stand still
near a Nobody and it wont do this move. (short range-low damage)

Back Hand Slap- After the initial punch, sometimes the Nobody will then slap
Dante afterwards. Now this as well doesn’t do much damage so don’t be too
worried if you get hit by this but remember to not get hit too much as it can
set you up for other Nobodies in the area (if there are any others).
(short range-low damage)

Masking Ritual- When the Nobody has taken enough damage, it will put on a mask
and grow 2 times its size. Now this makes the Nobodies much stronger and it
now can do some of its annoying moves. You cant stop this from happening
unless you kill the small Nobody quickly (which is quite rare)
(any range-no damage)

Big Nobody moves

DT Ritual- The Nobody will only do this when you decide to go far away from
him. It will start to get on its hind legs and do a jig. After doing that, it
will turn the screen all wavy and take your DT pretty quickly. You don’t want
this so there's two ways to avoid this: 1. Don’t get far away from the Nobody
and it wont do the Ritual 2. If you go far away and it does this, quickly get
near it and smash it with a Stinger/Kick13. (long range-no damage)

Counter Kick- VERY annoying. When you knock it down with a hard hitting move,
it will run at you a bit then kick Dante pretty far as it flips to recover
ground. Truly annoying so to avoid this, there are a couple ways to get out of
this: 1. Try not to hit the Nobody in the face but the back. If you hit in the
back, it will lose his footing and fall over and it can't do this move leaving
it quite vulnerable 2. If you have knocked it down, meet the Nobody with a
Stinger/Kick13 as it starts to run. It may try the kick again so hit him as he
runs 3. Rolling Blaze protects you. Now it will do very little to no damage to
the Nobody but his move will do no damage to you. (long range-high damage)

Eye Explosive- Sometimes when in battle, it will grab a eye and put it on the
ground. This eye will not do anything if you are far but if you are close it
will move towards you until it hits you in which it will explode. Not a
damaging move but many of these eyes can really add the damage up so shoot at
the eye to pop it and leave you without any damage but be sure not to be close
as the eye can still spurt the acid inside of it. (short range-medium damage)

Grab n' Smash- The Nobody, when it is big, has a arm on his back and when you
are too close for its comfort, he will use it. He will grab you, smash you 2
or 3 times then leave you on the ground as it laughs at you. Probably it's
most damaging move. The best way to avoid this is not standing very close to
the Nobody as it will trigger him to do this. (short range-high damage)

Toxic Flesh- When the Nobody dies, the flesh will explode. This flesh is toxic
so it will damage you if you are near it. Best way to avoid this is by not
getting too close and you'll be fine. (short range-low damage)

Strategy for Nobodies
Now although they are very annoying, they are pretty easy to defeat. Using the
Ifrit or the Swords will do well.

Strategy with Swords- Now using the Swords is a good choice. When using the
Alastor, Stinger the Nobody (or Nobodies) to get your DT up and to damage him.
Once the Nobody grows, DT and Air Raid him. Now with the Air Raid, it will
either kill him or damage it to the point where it will grow back to small
size. When it turns small again, Stinger it a couple more times and it will
die. Now with the Sparda you don’t have the luxury of Air Raid so Stinger is
now your friend in killing it. Now when the Nobody is small, Stinger it but
when its big there is another way to Stinger that wont get you a face full of
foot. To do this, High Time the Nobody. When you High Time a Nobody, it will
rise in the air and slowly get back. When the Nobody does this, quickly go to
the back of it and now you can Stinger it as much as you want without the
Nobody countering. This also works well with Alastor if you haven’t killed a
large Nobody and you need DT.

Strategy with Ifrit- Using the Ifrit is a bit harder but still works. Now
start off with Kick13's to knock the Nobody/Nobodies out. When they grow,
launch a Kick13 auto-combo, Inferno, or Meteor at it. This will usually shrink
or kill the Nobody. If there any small Nobodies left, Kick13 to kill them. If
there are any big Nobodies left, Magma Drive the Nobody. This will stun the
Nobody so go around it and once it regains its composure, Kick13 its back as
much as you want to kill it without the Nobody countering.

4. The Mini-Bosses (By The Nightmare Alpha)

Shadow

Hardness: ****

Description: Shadows are demons that chose a cat’s body to stalk on innocent
victims and uses the shadows of its victims to shift-shape and create weapons
to get others.

My opinion: These guys aren’t that hard in my opinion..... oh yea there was
the first time I faced it when I used a vital star to pass the shadow. Cheap,
huh. Anyway these beasts aren’t as difficult as they seem once you break it
down and learn their moves. They are fast so you use the Alastor’s speed
to counter-act. Guns are the only things that will allow you to get to the
core.

Moves

Shadow Lance Thrust- This is a fast move but has some wind up before the
thrust. The shadow will stop moving, will sit on its hind legs, and its head
will “collect black energy”. At this time jump out of the way because a huge
spike will come out of his face. This move although has some wind up its still
fast and can pin you pretty badly. Make sure not to go on the balcony or any
high area because it’s a shadow so its attacks can pierce through the walls
and hurt you. This move can also be used against the shadow because if you
jump on the head of the shadow, you can attack its core with your guns without
the need of lowering its defenses to attack the core. To dodge this move
simply roll to the right or left also if you want, you can jump to evade the
spike. (long range-high damage)

Puddle o’ Spikes- a unique move that can do a lot of damage if you don’t move.
The first sign of the shadow to do this move is that it turns into a puddle
and doesn’t move. The second and final sign is when a little black spot of the
shadow appears below you. When that spot appears, dodge to the sides or back
so that the spikes don’t hit you. This tracks your last position so it isn’t
that bad. Also as a side note, this is the core’s only move so DT will help
you if you get hit because it is your only chance to attack it and you cant be
stalled. It will always do this move in puddle form. Oh if you don’t happen to
have DT and you have to attack the core, you can stay near it and you wont
take damage. (any range-low to high damage)

Giant Bite- This is a move that is somewhat hard to avoid but if you know what
your doing then it will be easy. The shadow will be in puddle form when he
does this but sometimes it will do it in cat form. Then it will back up a bit
and it will advance at you with a giant bite. This is not a hard move to dodge
but if you are not in view of the shadow then it will not be as easy plus it
increases your chances of getting bitten. Simply dodge to the opposite
direction of the bite or jump away from the Shadow and you’ll be fine.
(short range-high damage)

Bite n’ Smash- This is different from the Giant Bite. Instead of biting you,
it will bite and hold you in its jaws. After getting a grip on you it will
slam you twice then throw you. Dodge this in a similar manner of the Giant
Bite. It’ll almost always be in puddle form when he does this.
(short range-high damage)

Sickle Smash- This is annoying. The shadow will jump, so get ready, and morphs
its head into a sickle. After that it will spin in the air and smash with
devastating accuracy. First rule with this move: DO NOT JUMP. This will allow
the shadow to smash you a lot more accurately. There are two things that you
can do: 1. When you see it in the air and it comes down, dodge to the right or
left as soon as he comes into your range of view. There is a chance that after
the shadow lands he will sit there but momentarily so it will give you the
perfect chance to land a close range shotgun blast or two. 2. This can only be
done if there’s a obstacle in the way. When the shadow moves, try to make it
move near a pillar, rocky slab hanging down, or in the case of the Normal file
behind the fountain’s. Now when it jumps it wont be able to pass through the
rock slabs and pillars or the fountain BUT just to be sure, be ready to dodge
in case if it passes through some how. (any range-high damage)

Phantom Lances- Now if you decide to slash the Shadow (which you shouldn’t),
the Shadow will counter act: he’ll charge some energy, make some Phantom
Lances, then releases them or stabs you with them depending on if you are far
or not. This is a long range or a short range move depending on where you are
and it does stun you which it then can set you up for the Shadow's heavier
moves. Just don’t slash the Shadow and you'll be fine.
(any range-low damage)

Explosive Bite- This is the most damaging move in the arsenal of the Shadow
and he only does this when he is in his anger mode. It is similar to the
Bite n’ Smash only that it adds a explosion to the end in which it will die
but it will damage Dante pretty badly. What sucks the most about this move is
that the shadow does this about 3 to 5 times with the exception of him doing
the Puddle o’ Spikes or Lance Thrust but it is rare though. Remember that he
sort of back's up then advances towards you. He’ll almost always be in puddle
form when he decides to do the move. Dodge to the opposite direction of the
bite or jump to the side. (short range-very high damage)

Hybrid Explosion- In your first battle with the shadow in normal, you don’t
have to worry but in other battle’s you have to. Anyway the shadow will chase
you when it’s red and finally its core will come out while still in its cat
form. It will screech at Dante then implode on itself. If you get too close to
the explosion, it will push you far along with some good damage. Just don’t
get too close to it when this happens and you’ll be fine.
(short range-high damage)

Strategy for Shadows
The best thing to do is to use is the shotgun. It likes to stalk you so shoot
it repeatedly while moving to get you the chance of getting its core out. Also
you can DT and fire DT shots to expose the core even faster. Air Rand is also
a good move to do since you can hover over the shadow and fire bolts that do
more damage. Once you run out of DT and its core is out, stinger it. If you do
Air Raid and it hasn’t shown its core yet simply shoot 1 to 3 more shotgun
shots to expose the core. When the shadow reforms, make sure to see the color
and stay far when it reforms. If its black, keep on going. If its red... run.
If it gets you in the Explosive Bite, say goodbye to about half of your
health. Be lucky if it does the Puddle o’ Spikes or Lance Thrust cause it is
rare if it does it in its anger form. Once it dies watch out because that
explosion can still hurt you. Oh one more thing, the Nightmare Beta is a
great weapon for Shadows especially in tight corners because of the rebounds
and good power.

Multiple Shadows
Later on you will have to face more than one Shadow. Yes it COULD be harder
but its not as hard as it seems. Now you will have the choice of using the
Ifrit and Alastor.

Alastor Strategy- Now you can settle with this to beat the Shadows. Simply
gain DT and Air Raid. Now focus you're Air Raid on one Shadow while luring it
away from the others. Once you lure it away and the orb is out, stop flying
and Stinger the life out of the Shadow. Now you'll have it on red and it will
chase you. Run and jump away from the Explosive Bite. It will explode and now
you can get the orbs. Then repeat this to the others and you will win. Easy as
that.

Ifrit Strategy- With Ifrit, you can relieve yourself with the hassle of using
a lot of DT. Start with the closest Shadow and don't attack, once the Shadow
prepares it's Shadow Lance Thrust, get close to the Shadow. Once the Shadow
actually does the spear, jump on the spike. Preceed to DT and then fire a
blaze of DTed E&I shots as fast as you can. If done right, the Shadow will
turn red. Whats the idea of getting closer? Shadow's like to stick together
and so your aim may go to the other Shadow as you go for the one your after.
Getting closer to the Shadow that you want to destroy gives you more chances
of finishing the Shadow. If the Shadow doesn't turn red, then fire a couple
more shots until it reveals it's core. if you have some DT left, do a Kick13
Auto-Combo. It should then turn red and you must finish the rest. Another
alternate is Meteor Lvl 2. The difference is that you must be quick with
loading the entire Meteor or else the Shadow will return to normal and your
Meteor will go to waste.

Strategy with Nightmare Beta- Now using the Nightmare Beta is a good idea. All
you have to do is find a good time to fully charge the Nightmare Beta then
release it. If you charged it to its top, it will fire many beams all over the
place and the closer the space the quicker the core will be revealed. Once the
core is revealed, Stinger/Kick13 the core. Avoid the red Shadow and collect
the orbs.

Death Scissors

Hardness: ****

Description: The leader of the Sin scissors and fights with more complexity as
well as quickness. They have a cow skull that shows their dominance. They use
cages composed of human and animal bones that allows nothing to escape...
including Dante.

My opinion: Whoa, these guys make the Shadows look like a bunch of kitties.
They fight a lot more better than the Sins. These guys know how to battle with
their scissors as they are able to counter-act your moves so you cant make
stupid mistakes in this battle. Not only that but they have their energy cages
that don’t let you go.

Moves

Energy Cage- This is ANNOYING, more annoying than anything else. The Death
Scissors will seal you in a energy cage that you cant escape. You also can't
wall jump on the cage but you can use it to your advantage to avoid the moves
it pulls out. (no damage)

Scissors Snip- Basically the Death Scissors will do short sniping noises with
his scissors. He will then open them real wide and try to snip Dante in half.
This is the Death’s most obvious and often done attack. To avoid it simply
jump out of the way. Also you can counter attack after he does this move but
you must be quick or he’ll do a parry. (medium damage)

Death Swing- This is another of those annoying moves that the Death does. The
Death Scissors will hold his scissors in one hand, laugh, then swing them 2
to 5 times in a whirling pattern. Best thing to do for this move is to stay
far away from him. He wont be able to move from his position when he does this
move so simply stay away and he has a moment afterward where you can hit him,
but it’s brief. (medium to high damage)

Scissor Parry- This is annoying all by itself. As you know he is the
Sin Scissors leader therefore his combat skills are much more better. If you
try to hit him with your sword, he’ll not just dodge to the side but he’ll
allow his scissors to take the hit then laugh at you. Although it does no
damage it will probably allow him to set up for the Death Swing so try not to
make your attacks obvious or you’ll take damage from his counter-attack.
(no damage)

Death Stab- The Death Scissors will reel his scissors back, laugh, then stab
Dante with them. This is actually pretty long ranged and dangerous but slow.
Now the mistake that people make with this move is that they jump thinking
that that's it but the Death scissors follows you so he can hit you as you
land so to avoid this move, jump right before the initial attack then you can
counter attack with a Downward Slash. (medium damage)

Manta Cloak- Now if you attack the Death Scissors with Projectiles or your
Devil Arms too much, the Death Scissors will "cloak" his head and will slink
on the ground while using his robe to protect him then he will regain his
composure. During this time that he is on the ground he is invincible. Now
what's annoying about this move is that he usually does this right before a
attack that will hurt him pretty well. This also allows him to move from one
point to another, in the cage or out without any harm. At this time don’t do
anything to him as you're attacks will do no harm to him. (no damage)

Rainbow Stab- Neat but hurts. The Death Scissors will be above you and will do
a "back flip". After doing that he will be looking down at you and stabs you
downwards. Pretty easy to notice but annoying. Best thing to do is to take
advantage and hit his mask, as it is defenseless at that point of time. This
move is actually rare so you wont have to worry about this too much but if
you'd rather not attack it too then Rolling away will get you out of the way.
(medium damage)

Rage Boost- When you land a move like the Downward Slash from your Alastor and
it has taken enough damage he will lose one of his horns, shake his head, and
turn his mask red. Yes although you don’t take any damage from this move,
it’ll signal something else: 1. it shows that he is invincible during this
time period so stop what your doing and focus on staying alive 2. He is going
to do a move that if you don’t stop what your doing will probably kill you.
(no damage)

Death Twirl- Oh no I was wrong, this is THE MOST ANNOYING move it the Death
Scissors arsenal. This is the move I was taking about that accompanies the
Rage Boost. He will still be invincible so here we go: The Death Scissors
will align with you, his scissors will be closed, and he will have them
pointed at you. Once he’s done that he will twirl around and drill anything
in its path. The first pass wont be too bad but you might not notice that he
will come for another strike... and another... and another... and another,
eventually doing about 5 passes. This wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t that you
were cramped in a small cage. The first time you face him in the sewers, you
will usually see a little spray of water raise up. This could help you
determine where the pass is going to be. There’s also the other option of
jumping around like crazy, hoping that the Death wont hit you. 75% of the time
is that if you jump like crazy, you are going to take damage. Try to determine
where its at by the water and jump or dodge out of the way as soon as you see
it in your range. (high damage)

Scissor Toss- This is pretty easy to avoid. When the Death Scissors dies, it
will toss its scissors in the air of where it died. The best way to avoid it
is by running far away from the Death as soon as his mask shatters into
pieces. This will get you out of the pain of getting hit by that move. Usually
when he tosses the scissors in the air they wont go very high in the air but
can still hurt you significantly, so run as soon as it dies to not get pinned
by the scissors. (high damage)

Strategy for Death Scissors
This guy is definitely the most annoying guy in the game. Well anyway it takes
three to four rounds to get him to his death. The best way to damage him is
to shoot the shotgun in the beginning of the fight. He will stall to attack in
the beginning so start with some blasts. If you decide to take the fight to
him and start with a downward slash... you will pay. He will then probably do
the Scissors Parry in which he will counter with his Death Swing. You don’t
want that so shoot him. Take you time because with him patience is key with
the Death Scissors. Once he goes for his Scissors Snip here are three things
you can do: 1. counter his snip by taking a swing with the Alastor so that he
will lose his grip on the scissors then QUICKLY jump and slash him 2. let him
snip at you BUT at the last minute jump upwards to miss the snip and slash
downwards with the Alastor. You should go with option 2 to damage him the best
3. When he does this move try to position yourself so that when you jump, you
will jump on his head. This will stun him BREFILY and his wont give you much
time to slash downwards. If you do connect, it will do a little extra damage.
If you don’t connect he will do the Scissors Parry and counter so watch out.
Once you’ve done that he will most surely go into Rage Mode. Don’t attack and
focus on dodging his attack. Once he stops repeat the strategy above for about
two or three more times and he will die.

Kyklops

Hardness: **

Description: Although they look like Phantom, these miniature versions of
Phantom are low class demons. Although they are low class, Kyklops are very
durable as they are made of the earth below them. They are not just durable
but they also are able to leap huge distances.

My opinion: These guys are pretty easy and aren’t much of a threat. This
doesn’t mean that they are not a challenge. They are pretty much like Phantom
but weaker.

Moves

Pouncing- The Kyklops will lower itself down really quick then it will jump in
the air and try to land on Dante. This is probably the most damaging move in
the Kyklops arsenal. To dodge this move simply watch where the shadow of the
Kyklops goes and dodge to the opposite direction of where the Kyklops was
jumping to. Also as a side note: if you can make it land on another Kyklops,
it will hurt it pretty badly and it could make it kill the other one.
(any range-high damage)

Rocky Swipe- If you go into non-projectile combat and you go to the face, the
Kyklops will decide to get rid of you by swiping you and knocking you far.
This could then set it up for its Pouncing attack. Best way to avoid this is
by not attacking the face too much. (short range-medium damage)

Rocky Stabs- This attack is much more damaging than the swipe. Once again if
you decide to attack the face, the Kyklops will repeatedly stab you with its
claws. Now if you stay in its face and you allow it to attack you, then you
will suffer some pretty big damage. Simply don’t attack the face too much and
you’ll be fine. (short range-medium to high damage)

Charging Boulders- Similar to Phantom’s Fireball. The Kyklops will turn in
your direction if not already done. It will then stand there doing nothing.
Don’t and I mean DON’T attack his face, this can hurt you pretty badly. It
will charge something in its mouth then it will release several boulders at
Dante that will get a good range of the area. The good thing about this is
that it has a medium range and doesn’t go very far so its not something to
worry about. As another side note: you can use this to hit another Kyklops to
hurt it. (medium range-high damage)

Strategy for Kyklops
To beat these guys, there are three things you can do to kill them: 1. Take
out your Alastor and make sure you have a full DT gauge. If you don’t have a
full DT gauge, simply take out your Grenade Gun and fire some shells at the
Kyklops to get your gauge up. Once you have the DT gauge full, do Air Raid
then fire electric bolts at them. It should take it out pretty easily but if
you run out of DT, fire your Grenade Gun at it to get more DT. Then commence
Air Raid again. Although your in DT you still have to worry about what the
Kyklops are doing so pay attention to it and it wont take too long to kill it
2. You can do what you did with Phantom, wait until the Kyklops exposes its
face and slash then run. This is a bigger pain as you have to evade their
moves much more than in Air Raid 3. equip the Ifrit and go into DT then
do Kick13 auto-combo. This will do more than enough damage to it. Also if you
have Inferno it will hurt the Kyklops pretty well.

Death Scythe

Hardness: *****

Description: The undisputed leader of all the Sins and Deaths. They have a
large array of moves and are very fast. They have the best combat techniques,
combining speed with brute strength. Their red cloak and large mask shows just
how dangerous they really are.

My opinion: These guys will be the hardest Mini-Boss that you will face in DMC
with good reason. They have such a array of moves that will hurt Dante pretty
badly and when they gather their scythes... they bring their offense to a
whole other level.

Moves

Scythe slash- The Death Scythe will simply slash you with his scythe. The
Death Scythe will usually rush then slash at you. He has a pretty good mark on
you so you must be careful that you don’t lose sight of him or else he will
get you. To avoid this move: 1. simply dodge out of the way and he wont get
you or 2. you can equip the Ifrit and the do the Dashing-Downward Kick that
will cancel this move out. (close range-high damage)

Jack-in-the-Box Whirlwinds- The Death Scythe will fire red lasers from his
eyes near the area that Dante is at. They will then expand and swirl around.
If Dante steps on one of these whirlwinds, it will hurl him in the air and the
Death Scythe will go for the move I will describe next. These Jack-in-the-Box
Whirlwinds are meant to be used against Dante but they can actually support
Dante in hurting the Death. If you have the Ifrit Gauntlets, it will allow you
to hit the Death Scythe more accurately. How is this? Well if you notice how
the Death Scythe will follow you closely after you get sprung up, well use
this to your advantage and use you Dashing-Downward Kick to give him a
stinging blow. If you don’t want to step on this, simply move out of the way
of the circle it creates to not get sprung up (any range-no damage)

Scythe Spike- Well this is the result if you get sprung up and you do nothing.
The Death Scythe will speed at you then smash you with his scythe and will
send you back to the ground. This does a good amount of damage and Dante could
get setup for another move. Try to out-prioritize this move with the Downward
Kick so that he wont do this move. (short range-high damage)

Swirling Shield- Usually you will be on the ground shooting at him since he
will be high up in the air. So, to protect himself from your shots, the Death
Scythe will swirl his scythe so that your shots cant hit him. There is no way
to stop this physically as he is high in the air. The only two ways to stop
him from doing this move are: 1. get on one of his whirlwinds and hurl
yourself up there to stop this move 2. wait until the Death Scythe attacks you
which shouldn’t take too long. (any range-no damage)

Death Strike- This is a very painful move that can kill you in a matter of
seconds, depending on your damage. The Death Scythe will fly above you then,
without warning, it will rush at you and he will have his scythe out. As he
rushes, if you do nothing, he will impale you and shake you on the scythe.
Finally he will toss you, sending you with a lot of damage. This move can also
be done in the air when you get catapulted. The only way to dodge this
maneuver is of three ways: 1. As soon as he rushes towards, simply jump or
dodge out of the way to avoid it. It is quick on the draw so keep your eyes
open for the signs 2. If you got the Rolling Blaze, simply jump into the face
of the Death Scythe. He should automatically stop the attack and shake his
head allowing you to attack him, but its brief 3. If you get catapulted, 25%
of the time he will do this move. Simply Downward Kick him with Ifrit and he
will stop. (short range-very high damage)

Summoning of the Scythes- This is a move that does no damage to Dante BUT this
move brings the Death Scythe’s offense to a whole other level. It will allow
some attacks to be altered and also he can make new moves. Usually you can
tell if your going to battle with a Death Scythe if you see scythes all around
the area, then you know you will go to battle. Now in the beginning of the
battle the scythes will be inactive. If you take too long to kill the Death
Scythe or you keep avoiding him he will bring out his arms and he will collect
those scythes. He will usually carry three when he does this but if you take
too long again he will carry as many as four. This will allow him to get much
more accurate with his moves BUT at times this can also make him lower his
defenses as well. (any range-no damage)

Death Boomerang- This is the equivalent of the Sin Scythe's only that it can
be done once he has summoned his other scythes. He has practically no wind up
to this move as he will start throwing his scythes at you and in a way
“juggles” them at you. He’ll continue to throw them at you until he decides to
stop. It is hard for him to change direction as he has to get his scythes
back. Use this to your advantage and get a attack at him. If you get caught in
the middle of this, GET OUT by any means necessary. You are almost guaranteed
a lot of damage from this move so evade as fast as you can. If you have
Rolling Blaze, jump. The flames should give you coverage to get you out of
this attack. (long range-low to very high damage)

Death Combo- _The_ most insane move in the Death Scythe's arsenal. Once it
has collected all of its scythes, it will glow a more brighter red and will
begin to stalk you very slowly. At this time nothing happens until the Death
Scythe gets close. Once Dante is in striking range, the Death Scythe will
begin by doing two horizontal slashes (using a different Scythe to do so) and
then does a Death Boomerang attack to finish the combo. This move alone does
an insane amount of damage, even on Normal. This move is dangerous but alone
it can be the downfall of the Death Scythe. Once it begins to slowly stalk you
it will not do any other moves but wander around and follow you. Take the
advantage of this and begin to, slowly but surely, damaging the Death with
the Shotgun. DT and then fire whatever you can but keep moving away from the
Death to keep safe. Once your DT runs out, fire normal or charged shots to
gain DT. DT and repeat the proccess. Its safe, you can recover health, and you
kill him. Also doing a Downward Kick can help speed the death of the Death
Scythe but make sure to calculate where you will land because one mistake and
you will get shredded. (short range-very high damage)

Scythe Toss- This move is similar to the Scissor Toss. The Death Scythe will
toss his scythe in the air. This is a dangerous move on its own but when he
has collected three or more scythes this move is MUCH more dangerous. Now the
best way to avoid this move is to simply run away as soon as you see his mask
shatter. Now unlike the Death Scissors Scissors Toss, the power can depend.
If it goes barely in the air it wont do as much damage but it can still do a
good amount of damage. If all the scythes connect that can do some big damage.
If he is a lot higher and you kill him you will notice the scythe or scythes
dropping a lot more obviously but if you don’t move fast enough it will do a
lot more damage because of the height it gains. This will be a lot more
painful if there are more scythes present.
(close range-high damage to very high damage)

Strategy for Death Scythes
These guys have good offense as well as good defense. To balance this fight,
use Ifrit. It maybe slow but its Downward Kick is a good equalizer with good
speed and power. Once the battle begins, equip the shotgun and blast at his
face until he does his swirling shield. Now there are two ways to beat these
guys after they do their Swirling Shield: 1. whenever I decides to take a dive
at you, simply jump up and Downward Kick his face to do some good damage 2.
this is the better way to damage the Death Scythe. Simply get on his Jack-in-
the-Box Whirlwind and get catapulted. When you go in the air quickly Downward
Kick him. This will not only cancel his moves but sometimes you can get
catapulted multiple times and you can probably land consecutive kicks which
will do some major damage to him. If you DT and do the Downward Kick, it will
do a more damage. Also do DTed Shotgun blasts to do more damage to him when
he’s not doing his Swirling Shield. When he gathers his scythes he gets more
offensive BUT he also loses his defense in one move, the Death Combo.
Sometimes when he wants to perform this move he will sometimes be at a little
distant from you and he will stalk you slowly. This leaves him WIDE open for a
attack. There is two approaches when he does this: 1. You can DT and do a
Downward Kick or a Inferno doing some major damage to the Death Scythe but it
will make you lose DT and it might not kill him instantly 2. Simply shoot your
Shotgun at him. When you have enough DT use it and fire DT enhanced shots.
When you get about halfway through your DT turn it off and fire normal shots.
The thing is to KEEP MOVING away from the Death Scythe and shoot. Try not to
get boxed in any obstacles and fire until it dies. You should be far away from
the Death Scythe when he does his Scythe Toss but just in case, jump away. If
you have the Rolling Blaze, it will aide you when you avoid attacks as it will
cancel them or protect you from them. The Nightmare Beta is also great cause
it will ricochet all over the place doing good damage and it can hit him many
times. Also the Nightmare Beta shots are the only gun shots that can go
through their Swirling Shield.

The Living Fossil: Version 1

Hardness: *

Description: Is the creature that is described in mission 17, the creature
that blocks your path to the Nelo Angelo. He is a huge dinosaur who is brought
to life by the powers of Mundus.

My opinion: Easier than most things.

Moves

Fireball- This is a weak and slow move. This would be the easiest and most
obvious move in the game. The Living Fossil will charge energy in its mouth
and release it in a slow, straight path. This can easily be dodged and does
very little damage. This is its only offensive move and it’s the only move
that will kill it. You’ll see what I mean... (long range-low damage)

Weapon Barrier- Basically, this barrier protects the Living Fossil from ALL
your attacks. This barrier cant be broken so you must find a way to get past
its defenses... (any range-no damage)

Strategy for The Living Fossil: Version 1
This is a pathetic battle but it is counted as a Mini-Boss due to the fact
that you might not know how to beat him since his Weapon Barrier will block
your moves and you might give up (I don’t think you will though) Anyway have
the Alastor or any sword equipped and prepare when it fires its fireball.
When it is launched wait until it comes and time a slash. If you do it right,
it will be returned to sender and smash The Living Fossil. Two more times in
the face and its dead. Also if you try to jump to a higher level it will raise
its head to attack you so be careful.

The Living Fossil: Version 2

Hardness: *

Description: A re-incarnated version of the first one. It is put up to the
task of protecting the Bangle of Time. It has the more wider ranged
flame-thrower but has lost the Weapon Barrier so it is susceptible to any of
your weapons.

My opinion: This guy doesn’t give up. He has a flamethrower that does a tiny
bit more damage than the Fireball but is still a light move. Now he has no
barrier so he is MUCH more easier to attack but is still annoying.

Moves

Flame-thrower- This, along with the Fireball, is a pansy move. It does light
damage and it is easy to avoid. Simply stay far from the mouth of the Fossil
and it will miss or if you want to play it safe simply jump to the platform on
the left or right and wait until it is done. (short range-low damage)

Strategy for The Living Fossil: Version 2
Pathetic is what this guy is. Simply use Ifrit or Sparda and do a Kick13 along
with a charged Punch-Punch-Kick-Kick with Ifrit or do the Thrusting Combo with
the Sparda. These moves will do more than enough damage to take it down.

Frost

Hardness: ****

Description: Advanced versions of the Blades. They have been covered with a
layer of Sub-zero ice that it uses to destroy prey. Their hides are so durable
that they are able to withstand molten lava and not wear out.

My opinion: These guys are pretty hard and don’t take damage like their
counterparts easily. They can counteract pretty quickly and can do good amount
of damage without phasing themselves. They can be a pain and leave you with
a lot of damage but despite their durability they are susceptible to the Ifrit
but they can also be fought with the Alastor. The Shotgun is useful when they
do their Ice Inferno.

Moves

Sub-Zero Slash- The Frost will do a little leap and swipe at Dante with its
claws and do some good damage to Dante. This will probably be its most
frequent melee move with little wind-up for this attack. It is hard to see
when this is coming but there are two ways to avoid this move: 1. When you see
the Frost’s arm back up for the slash, counter with a Rolling Blaze Back flip
or a simple back flip to avoid this move and then you can Downward Kick to
punish it or Stinger it. Make sure to react quickly because this move is a
quick on the draw so be careful 2. Try to keep it on the ground so it can’t
do this move. Magma Drive's/High Times and Kick13’s/Stingers keep them at bay.
(short range-high damage)

Blizzard- A neat move that can do a lot of damage. The Frost will "crucify"
itself in the air then it will shatter into ice shards. Finally it will
launch itself at you direction. If you are in the middle of this, you will
will get hurt. Now when there's more than one Frost this becomes a pain to
avoid this move. Now there's a couple things you can do: 1. Simply stay near
its range and you wont have any problem's 2. If it does happen to do this
move, simply move away from where it is pointing at. What do I mean? Well the
Frost can only Teleport forward towards where he is facing at. so if you stay
out of its path this wont hit you. From there you can Magma Drive/High Time or
Kick13/Stinger the Frost as soon as he lands (long range-low to high damage)

Icicle Spear’s- This is a fast move but it has wind up before it. The Frost
will glow in a icy way, cross its arm over tis face, then wave its arm
releasing several icicle spear's all over the place. Now this comes out in two
ways:

Scatter Shots: The Frost will make all of the Icicles head in all directions.
You won't get too much damage if you hit one, but you have more chances of
getting hit from this. Jumping or Rolling away helps.

Lined-Up Shots: This is worse than the one above. The Frost will fire a stream
of rather slow moving Icicle's at Dante. Now this can hit you several times
but if you are away from the Frost, you can avoid the move easily since its
hard for them to direct the icicle fire. Now I warn you, this version of the
shots can be done twice. Usually the shots can be re-fired a 1/2 a second to
a second after it reloads.

Now this can be dangerous but there are ways of avoiding this: 1. Rolling or
Jumping away from the Icicle's can help 2. Rolling Blaze allows you to jump
and if any Icicle's come into contact, they will shatter 3. Time a hit with
the Ifrit or the Swords. This is actually bad to use as you can only hit 1 or
2 Icicle's. (long range-low to high damage)

Ice Inferno- This is a move similar to the Inferno that Dante can purchase but
more different. The Frost will jump swiftly in the air then it will land,
creating a shockwave of a large assortment of Icicles that come out of the
ground. The Ice Inferno can do a large amounts of damage if it is given the
chance. If you are at the core of the Ice Inferno you will receive a large
amount of damage. If you take damage from the outer edge you will take less
damage than taking damage from the core of the Ice Inferno but its still
pretty heavy. Now there are many ways to avoid this: 1. When he's in the air,
blast the Frost and he will land to the ground without doing the move 2. High
Time the Frost to stop him from doing this. Best time to do one is as he’s
coming down. As soon as you see him coming down, High Time him. Its hard but
it can be done 3. Simply move away from him as he does this and meet him with
a Stinger/Kick13 to knock him down. (medium range-high damage)

Ice Encasement- This is a recovery move that is a defensive move as well. The
Frost will slowly rise in the air but he wont "crucify" himself like the
Blizzard. Then a large case of ice will cover the Frost. Not only do Gun
projectiles render ineffective but it will allow the Frost to recover lost and
damaged parts. Best thing to do to the Frost at this time is to smash the case
of ice as fast as you can. Now the Frost will sometimes do this 2 to 3 times
so attack the Frost as soon as you break the case. If he creates a new one,
break it and keep on the attack. (any range-no damage)

Ice Shockwave- The Frost will simply create a shockwave of ice at you. The
ice has a similar look to the ones the Ice Inferno and can be done from far.
The noise it makes is a dead giveaway to the move. Now when there are more
than one Frost, this becomes annoying so there is one simple way to avoid
this, jump away. If you jump it will get you out of the trouble. Now if you
are using the Alastor, you can use Air Hike to get out of the way but a simple
jump will do. (long range-medium damage)

Sub-Zero Impale- The frost will pretty much stab you with its long claws.
Although this does high damage, it can only be done when Dante's life bar is
on red. Just like the slash, this is very sudden and shocking so don’t be too
surprised if this move is done. To avoid this, jump away.
(short range-high damage)

Strategy for Frosts
Now since Frosts can be beaten both ways you can use the Ifrit or the Alastor/
Sparda:

Strategy with Ifrit- Now the Frost don’t take damage easily as they can
recover pretty quickly but despite their durability, Frosts are weak against
the fire of the Ifrit. So the Frost will usually stalk you and unleash a move
once in a while. Take this time to pound the Frost with Kick13's and Magma
Drive's to keep them from attacking. DTed Shotgun shots do pretty well against
a Frost as it will knock it off course. Inferno does the job pretty quickly.
One Inferno is able to kill a Frost if it is at the core of it. Kick13 auto-
combo's are also good. Usually 2 of them are able to kill a Frost.

Strategy with the Swords- Now when you meet the Frost, simply Stinger it.
When you're close, slash at it, back up and do another Stinger, then another
combo. Rinse and Repeat. Shotgun shots do pretty well here as well so fire to
screw up the Frost then go for the kill. High Time's work will when the Frost
tries its Ice Inferno. When the Frost comes down for the Inferno, High Time
him. If done right, the Frost will fly up then hit the ground and the move
wont be done. Its hard but it can be done.

5. The Bosses (By The Nightmare Alpha)

Phantom 1

Hardness: *****

Description: One of the henchmen that Mundus has created. He is the demon that
looks for personal glory and greed to his own self pleasure. He is a large
arachnid/scorpion demon with the pure lava flowing through his veins and he
isn’t shy to gloat so punish him for his self-confidence.

My opinion: This guy is hard your first time around. Its normal if you die so
simply stick to the task and defeat him. He will actually be a lot more easier
once you know what you are doing.

Moves

Fireball- Phantom will point himself in your direction if not already doing
it, then he will charge a bright flame in its mouth. After a little bit of
charging, Phantom will release a fast fireball at Dante. Now this move, as I
said, is fast so you must be prepared. Once you see the area around Phantom
glow and he stands there at you, there’s four things you can do: 1. as soon as
he releases the Fireball, quickly dodge to the right or left, simple 2. as
soon as the Fireball is released, time a slash with the Alastor. If done right
the Fireball will be deflected and hit Phantom in the face doing some good
damage. This is MUCH more harder to do. If you are good with the sword try it
but I suggest not 3. while the Fireball is charging, go behind on of the weird
pillar like obstacles and when the Fireball is released it will hit the pillar
causing no damage to Dante 4. If you are near Phantom’s face and he is
charging a Fireball, Stinger his face and he will stop while causing damage at
the same time. This will also leave Phantom open for a quick combo 5. Air Raid
allows you to fly so use that to fly over this attack. Any of these ways work
pretty well in their own way.(long range-high damage)

Calling of Dead Souls- A dangerous move that is similar to the Shadow’s Puddle
o’ Spikes. Phantom will put his head in the ground. At this time DO NOT ATTACK
because this can significantly take a good amount of damage. So when Phantom
has his head in the ground, a lava pillar will rise at Dante’s last position.
As soon as you see a little circle of lava or even a hint of lava, dodge.
Phantom will usually do two at a time doing a total of six so be sure to dodge
and don’t get stuck in any obstacles. As a side note, if you touch a pillar of
lava as it comes down it will still do damage so watch out and allow the
pillar to lower down. This can be a annoying move if you aren’t in focus of
Phantom so keep a eye on Phantom. (any range-low to high damage)

Phantom Stabs- If you slash at Phantom’s face too much he will repeatedly stab
you with his claws until you decide to retreat. Now if you decide to stand at
his face and receive the blows, it can practically mean death. Now there’s two
ways that you can deal with this move: 1. basically go for your quick combo
but retreat as soon as you see him draw his claws upwards. This is pretty
obvious. Anyway you can do a quick 3 hit combo then retreat without waiting
for Phantom to attack. The time between finishing the combo and him taking a
stabbing at you isn’t far off so finish the 3 hit combo then run 2. This way
could get you into trouble if you don’t do it right. Simply DT then do a
combo. This will hurt Phantom enough to keep him from attacking but he may
still hit you which could then end you up with quite a bit of damage. Stay
with option one to be safe. (short range-medium to high damage)

Phantom Slap- This move can also be done if you attack Phantom’s face too
much. Phantom will simply use one of his claws and back hand slaps you which
sends you pretty far. He will usually do this after doing the Phantom Stabs as
a final hit. To dodge this, don’t attack Phantom’s face too much and you will
be fine. This move does about the same damage as the Phantom Stabs.
(short range-medium damage)

Pounce- This is really hard to see in this battle. Phantom will lower himself
very quickly then rises in the air finally landing on Dante if he is given the
chance. Don’t let him hit you with this move because it will do a lot of
damage. Simply watch Phantom’s shadow to see where its going then dodge in the
opposite direction but make sure that there’s no obstacles in the way. If you
can, you can use the pillars of this first battle to dodge this move. He wont
be able to get past the pillar but you must be quick and be ready to dodge if
he still makes it through. (any range-high damage)

Scorpion Thrust- This will be dangerous and annoying too. Sometimes when
Phantom gets annoyed by your attacks he will unfurl his huge scorpion tail.
Then, sometimes, after he has unfurled his tail he will make a stab of the
area in which he will either impale you or shove you pretty hard, either way
it will hurt. Now there are two versions of the tail attack:

Thrusting Version: Basically Phantom will stab in your direction if you are in
front of him. Now he will do a small thrust then he does a much more farther
ranged thrust. Usually the smaller thrust never gets you but the larger one
will for sure impale you if you are close to him then he finally smashes and
tosses you. This toss does more damage.

Sweeping Version: Now if you are on Phantom's side or back, Phantom will make
a sweep of the area. Chances are if you are near Phantom, you will go flying
back. Now although this one has a much wider ranged it does less damage.

Now to avoid this move simply don’t get in Phantom's way. Once you see Phantom
move his tail, get away from Phantom as soon as you can so that he doesn’t get
you. (medium range-medium to high damage)

Ashes to Ashes- This move doesn’t hurt Dante but it does help in damaging
Phantom. After doing the Meteor Rain or a lot of Fireballs, Phantom’s armor
will turn grey and wear out. The armor at this time will be able to be
attacked at all sides but its better to attack the face as it is more
vulnerable than ever. DT and then attack Phantom’s face and as soon as he
recovers he will usually do a Fireball so simply avoid the Fireball and then
do a quick 3 hit combo for more damage. (any range-no damage)

Phantom’s Fury- When Phantom has his health on red, he will get much more
faster and swifter with his move execution. Now be careful as Phantom can do
moves much more faster he can do several moves on you. Now attacking his face
gets a bit riskier as he does his moves a lot more faster than before so be
careful. (no range-no damage)

Phantom Claw- When Dante's health is on red, Phantom will do a low speed sweep
with his right claw. If you do get caught don’t try to wiggle out, he does
more than enough damage to you in which it will show a death animation of
Dante getting eaten. To avoid this, simply jump away from the claw and you'll
be fine. Now remember that this is a slow move so you wont have trouble
getting away from this move and try to counter attack Phantom.
(short range-high damage)

Strategy for Phantom 1
This will be fought in the cathedral where you get the Pride of Lion and this
battle will prove a challenge for beginners on their skills. Now besides
dodging all of Phantom’s attacks there’s two choices of how to kill him: 1. If
you have a DT in the beginning of the battle simply turn it on and if you have
Air Raid, do it. This will do some good damage to Phantom and you can hover
above him to avoid his attacks. If you run out of DT, simply use your Shotgun
and fire at Phantom. The shots don’t need to do any damage to him, this will
simply get you DT to do Air Raid again. Just as a note, sometimes Phantom will
get on his hind legs and cry in pain. He for some reason takes no damage so
simply go around and face his back. From there, you can continue the Air Raid.
It wont take that much time to kill him 2. This is a MUCH longer way of
beating Phantom. Dodge all the attacks and whenever Phantom has his face is
open, do a quick 3 hit combo. Sometimes when you are near Phantom and he
charges a Fireball, do a stinger to cancel it out then do a quick combo then
retreat or the Phantom Stabs will get you. When his back is exposed, jump on
his back and slash away but make sure that he doesn’t do the Scorpion Thrust
or you will get hit. When he does his Ashes to Ashes, go into DT and do your
strongest move to him. He will recover with a Fireball so simply use the
pillars to block the Fireball or avoid Phantom's face and do another quick
combo for more damage. When he goes into his fury make sure that you don’t get
hit and STAY moving. He will then die if you keep it up. Pat yourself on the
back, you beat your first boss.

Phantom 2

Hardness: *****

Description: Same as Phantom 1

My opinion: No more easy escape from Phantom’s Fireball as well as other moves
that were once easy to avoid due to the obstacles but its still a bit harder.

Moves

Fireball- Phantom will point himself in your direction if not already doing
it, then he will charge a bright flame in its mouth. After a little bit of
charging, Phantom will release a fast fireball at Dante. Now this move, as I
said, is fast so you must be prepared. Once you see the area around Phantom
glow and he stands there at you, there’s three things you can do: 1. as soon
as he releases the Fireball, quickly dodge to the right or left, simple 2. as
soon as the Fireball is released, time a slash with the Alastor. If done right
, the Fireball will be deflected and hit Phantom in the face doing some good
damage. This is MUCH more harder to do. If you are good with the sword try it
but I suggest not 3. If you are near Phantom’s face and he is charging a
Fireball, Stinger his face and he will stop while causing damage at the same
time. This will also leave Phantom open for a quick combo 4. Air Raid allows
you to fly over him so simply fly over him to avoid his moves. Any of these
ways work pretty well in their own way. (long range-high damage)

Calling of Dead Souls- A dangerous move that is similar to the Shadow’s Puddle
o’ Spikes. Phantom will put his head in the ground. At this time DO NOT ATTACK
because this can significantly take a good amount of damage. So when Phantom
has his head in the ground, a lava pillar will rise at Dante’s last position.
As soon as you see a little circle of lava or even a hint of lava, dodge.
Phantom will usually do two at a time doing a total of six so be sure to dodge
and don’t get stuck in any obstacles. As a side note, if you touch a pillar of
lava as it comes down it will still do damage so watch out and allow the
pillar to lower down. This can be a annoying move if you aren’t in focus of
Phantom so keep a eye on this move as it can catch you off guard.
(any range-low to high damage)

Phantom Stabs- If you slash at Phantom’s face too much he will repeatedly stab
you with his claws until you decide to retreat. Now if you decide to stand at
his face and receive the blows, it can practically mean death. Now there’s two
ways that you can deal with this move: 1. basically go for your quick combo
but retreat as soon as you see him draw his claws upwards. This is pretty
obvious. Anyway you can do a quick 3 hit combo then retreat without waiting
for Phantom to attack. The time between finishing the combo and him taking a
stabbing at you isn’t far off so finish the 3 hit combo then run 2. This way
could get you into trouble if you don’t do it right. Simply DT then do a
combo. This will hurt Phantom enough to keep him from attacking but he still
may hit you leaving you with quite a bit of damage. Stay with option one to be
safe. (short range-medium to high damage)

Phantom Slap- This move can also be done if you attack Phantom’s face too
much. Phantom will simply use on of his claws and back hand slap you which
sends you pretty far. He will usually do this after doing the Phantom Stabs as
a final hit. To dodge this, don’t attack Phantom’s face too much and you will
be fine. This move does about the same damage as the Phantom Stabs.
(short range-medium damage)

Pounce- Phantom will lower himself very quickly then rises in the air finally
landing on Dante if he is given the chance. Don’t let him hit you with this
move because it will do a lot of damage. Simply watch Phantom’s shadow to see
where its going then dodge in the opposite direction but make sure that
there’s no obstacles in the way. (any range-high damage)

Scorpion Thrust- Scorpion Thrust- This will be dangerous and annoying too.
Sometimes when Phantom gets annoyed by your attacks he will unfurl his huge
scorpion tail. Then, sometimes, after he has unfurled his tail he will make a
stab of the area in which he will either impale you or shove you pretty hard,
either way it will hurt. Now there are two versions of the tail attack:

Thrusting Version: Basically Phantom will stab in your direction if you are in
front of him. Now he will do a small thrust then he does a much more farther
ranged thrust. Usually the smaller thrust never gets you but the larger one
will for sure impale you if you are close to him then he finally smashes you
and tosses you. This toss does more damage.

Sweeping Version: Now if you are on Phantom's side or back, Phantom will make
a sweep of the area. Chances are if you are near Phantom, you will go flying
back. Now although this one has a much wider ranged it does less damage.

Now to avoid this move simply don’t get in Phantom's way. Once you see Phantom
move his tail, get away from Phantom as soon as you can so that he doesn’t get
you. (medium range-medium to high damage)

Ashes to Ashes- This move doesn’t hurt Dante but it does benefit him. After
doing the Meteor Rain or a lot of Fireballs, Phantom’s armor will turn grey
and wear out. The armor at this time will be able to be attacked at all sides
but its better to attack the face as it is more vulnerable than ever. DT and
then attack Phantom’s face and as soon as he recovers he will usually do a
Fireball so simply avoid him and then do a quick 3 hit combo for more damage.
(any range-no damage)

Phantom’s Fury- When Phantom has his health on red, he will get much more
faster and swifter with his move execution. Now be careful as Phantom can do
moves much more faster he can do several moves on you. Now attacking his face
gets a bit riskier as he does his moves a lot more faster than before so be
careful. (no range-no damage)

Phantom Claw- When Dante's health is on red, Phantom will do a low speed sweep
with his right claw. If you do get caught don’t try to wiggle out, he does
more than enough damage to you in which it will show a death animation of
Dante getting eaten. To avoid this, simply jump away from the claw and you'll
be fine. Now remember that this is a slow move so you wont have trouble
getting away from this move and try to counter attack Phantom.
(short range-high damage)

New moves

Meteor Rain- Now for this move, Phantom will have his tail out. Now when
Phantom's anger has gotten to its peak, he will charge a bright flame on his
back then releases several Meteors that will land on Dante's last position.
This move is extremely dangerous if you don’t notice it. As soon as the Meteor
is launched in the air make sure to stop attacking and FOCUS ON THE METEORS
ATTACKING YOU. Once you see the Meteors raining down, quickly dodge them until
they finish raining down or you can turn on the Alastor’s DT and run to avoid
all the meteors. This would probably be your best time to attack Phantom as he
will do the Ashes to Ashes right after this attack giving you the opportunity
to take a good portion of his health. (any range-high damage)

Strategy for Phantom 2
This is similar to the first battle but without the pillars to protect you but
you have more space. This will make this battle a bit harder but it isn’t a
change from the first. Now as you avoid Phantom’s move, there’s three ways you
can beat Phantom: 1. You should have more than 4 DT runes so that you can
punish Phantom even more. Simply turn it on and commence Air Raid on Phantom
while you avoid his moves. Just make sure to turn off the DT when Phantom does
the Meteor Rain as your DT gauge may run out and will leave you open when you
drop down. Then commence Air Raid again and if your DT gauge runs out shoot
Phantom to get DT then Air Raid him. Rinse and Repeat 2. The long way to beat
Phantom if you don’t have Air Raid (you should have Air Raid by now, though).
Basically do a 3 hit combo when his face is open to attack. Dodge when he does
any attacks. If he does a Fireball and your nearby, stinger him and he will
not do it then hit him with a quick combo. If he does the Meteor Rain, dodge
and he should do the Ashes to Ashes then you can turn on your DT and hit him
with your strongest attacks. He will usually recover with a Fireball after
doing the Ashes to Ashes so stinger him to stop him. When his back is open to
attack get on top then slash at his back but make sure that he doesn’t do his
Scorpion Thrust. Make sure to watch out when he goes into his fury as he is
stronger and faster so be nimble and keep on the move 3. A alternate way but
it is more of you to keep on the defensive. Simply dodge his other attacks
then when he does his Pounce, lure him to do it on the glass in the middle of
the area and when he comes into view, dodge. You should see the glass shatter
a bit. Once the glass shatters about 5 to 7 times he will instantly die. It
should take about that many times to break the glass. Either way will get you
a victory and finally defeat Phantom, Hooray!

Griffon 1

Hard: *****

Description: The loyal henchmen of Mundus. Ever since he was created, he has
been respectful to Mundus and has done all of the jobs that Mundus has given
him with no doubts. A huge eagle with the power of electricity, he is now the
one that must take the task of taking down Dante.

My opinion: Griffon has overwhelming offense as well as defense just like any
other boss. Also he has MANY long range moves that can get you off guard if
you don’t keep your eye on him. Later on you will learn that he is a thorn in
your foot.

Moves

Energy Scissors- Probably Griffon’s most obvious and most used move. Griffon
will simply create a ball of electricity in its mouth and he will either shoot
it down on the ground or will maintain it in his mouth but he will lower his
head a bit. Anyway the Energy Scissors will be opened wide open and will be
aimed at where Dante is at. Now depending on your position it will aim there.
Then after staying open for quite a while, they will close pretty quickly. To
dodge this move you can either: 1. jump over the scissors to avoid them 2. You
can roll to the left or right. This is much more riskier as the scissors maybe
close to the ground and they could make contact with you as they close. You
could also back flip but the problem is that if you do it too soon they will
close on you which isn’t good and if you do it too late the electricity could
still be lingering as you back flip where the electric “blades” have met and
can still hurt you 3. If they are over your head, stay on the ground to avoid
them. Either of these ways will get you out of trouble.
(long range-medium damage)

Electric Bomber- This is a pretty neat move but it is damaging as well.
Griffon will be flying in the air then makes a low sweep while still being in
the air. Finally he will drop MANY electric balls in the path that he is
taking. This is a pretty daring move that gives you enough time to react so
keep your eye on him if you cant see him so as soon as you see this move back
flip away from the electric balls or simply roll away from him. This should
get you the advantage of this move so that you can counter-attack.
(any range-low to high damage)

Electric Horizontal “Wires”- A pretty fast move that can get you off guard if
you don’t keep an eye on him. He will create a ball of electricity in his
mouth and will shoot out many electric “wires” that can home in on your last
position. To avoid this move you can simply either stand on the ground if they
pass over your head or you can jump over them to avoid you. He usually sends
this out with his Energy Scissors so watch out. (long range-medium damage)

Head Strike- Wow, Griffon actually has a close range move. Anyway, Griffon
will be on the ground he will then rush at you, waving his head to the right,
and then swinging it to the left. This could send you pretty far so you must
be careful because it could set you up for any of his energy moves. Simply
either back flip in the opposite direction of Griffon or roll to the side.
(short range-high damage)

Electric Vertical Wall “Wires”- BAH, this is a ANNOYING move that can catch
you in quite a predicament. Griffon will be on the ground and will create a
ball of electricity in his mouth. After that Griffon will make a wall of
vertical “wires” at Dante. What is truly annoying about this move is that it
can strike you many times due to the fact that he can create 4 to 6 of these
walls. Also that they can stun you and their speed can get you. The best
possible way to avoid this is between: 1. Going into Alastor’s DT and do Air
Raid. You can easily strafe to the right or left while firing electric bolts
at him to damage him at the same time 2. Simply go into DT and keep the R1
button on him and fire at him as you go into the nearest gap to escape the
walls. Its hard but I think the Air Raid is much more easier to avoid this
move. (long range-light to high damage)

Visible Platforms- These platforms are created as a side affect of Griffon
using his electric attacks. They provide, at times, relief from his attacks
and can get you out of trouble but they can also get you in some dangerous
spots as some of his move can lock on to Dante’s last position and you wont be
able to escape as fast as you want. Use these at your choice as they have
their good and bad uses. (any range-no damage)

Multi-Formational Electric “Wires”- He usually does this in the first battle
and in the third. This can be annoying as well. Griffon will be in the air
then he will shoot a ball of electricity on the ground that will expand and
fire horizontal and vertical “wires” on the ground in a diamond formation,
horizontal formation, and vertical on the ground. Now these wires will become
inactive and they will be invisible. After sometime, the wires will activate
and hurt you. Now this is where trial and error comes into play of how you
want to avoid this. Either you can do Air Raid and fly over the “wires” while
attacking Griffon but the bad thing is that if you don’t have enough DT, you
might land on a “wire” and you don’t want that. The other option is to stand
on the Visible Platforms that Griffon creates. This can leave you as a
stationary target but you will be out of the “wires” on the ground. Watch out
though cause they might disappear and land you on the “wires”. If that happens
quickly DT then Air Raid. (any range-light to high damage)

Electric Landing- Griffon will be in the air then electricity will come out
of his feet in a diagonal fashion. Finally, Griffon will land on the spot that
the electricity hit on the ground, practically dropping his weight on Dante
(ouch!). I find this easy to dodge as he takes his time in doing this. To
dodge this simply see the “wires” as they hit the ground make sure to run
away as fast as you can. Use Alastor's DT if you need to avoid this move a lot
more faster but it isn’t a lot of trouble to avoid.
(medium range-medium damage)

Storm of Lightning- In this battle, Griffon only does this at the end of the
battle but in the other battles this becomes a regular move of his so get used
to this move. Anyway, when he dies at the end of the battle he will glow a red
color and lightning will cover all over him like a shield. This can be fatal
so instead of doing a short range move, do a long range so that this doesn’t
hurt you. (short range-high damage)

Strategy for Griffon 1
For this battle, you can equip either E&I or the Grenade Gun. If you prefer
speed, choose E&I. If you prefer power, choose the Grenade Gun but remember to
cancel the recoil and reload with a roll to the side. The Devil Arm of choice
would have to be Alastor for Air Raid and its speed for this battle as the
Ifrit doesn’t have any skills as of yet. In the beginning of the battle turn
on your DT and use Air Raid on Griffon. It should take some good damage from
Griffon while you dodge his moves. When you run you of DT use the gun of your
choice to get your DT back. Rinse and Repeat. Once Griffon loses about 1/2 to
about 1/3 of your health, he will end up on his side for quite a while. Don’t
waste your time and attack! You can DT and slash away at him or you can do non
DT slashes, your choice. Keep avoiding his moves and use Air Raid when you
have DT. Use your guns to get DT back. Once again, Rinse and Repeat. Once you
run out of DT, fire more shots so that you can get DT back. Your last option
is if you have Round Trip, charge it to its top and launch it. It will slash
through his heart then you can DT and do Air Raid at the same time. You can
also unleash a Holy Water on him. This can hurt Griffon pretty badly but
there’s no need. Once you beat him, watch out for his Storm of Lightning and
collect your bounty.

Griffon 2

Hardness: ******

Description: Same as Griffon 1

My opinion: I think this fight is the best fight with Griffon. I don’t think
any other battles with him compare. Do to the rather narrow space of the ship
it will demand different fighting skills. You should use E&I for this battle
cause the accuracy will give you more chances to hit it and some of the
attacks demand it. Use Ifrit for this battle as now I bet you should have at
least the first three which will be more than enough to take Griffon but if
you have the Meteor Lvl 1, then it will help a lot but Alastor can still get
the job done.

Moves

Energy Scissors- Probably Griffon’s most obvious and most used move. Griffon
will simply create a ball of electricity in its mouth and he will maintain it
in his mouth. Anyway the Energy Scissors will be opened wide open and will be
aimed at where Dante is at. Now depending on your position it will aim there.
Then after staying open for quite a while, they will close pretty quickly. To
dodge this move you can either: 1. jump over the scissors to avoid them 2. You
can roll to the left or right. This is much more riskier as the scissors maybe
close to the ground and they could make contact with you as they close. You
could also back flip but the problem is that if you do it too soon they will
close on you which isn’t good and if you do it too late the electricity could
still be lingering as you back flip where the electric “blades” have met and
can still hurt you 3. If they are over your head, stay on the ground to avoid
them. Either of these ways will get you out of trouble.
(long range- medium damage)

Electric Horizontal “Wires”- A pretty fast move that can get you off guard if
you don’t keep an eye on him. He will create a ball of electricity in his
mouth and will shoot out many electric “wires” that can home in on your last
position. To avoid this move you can simply either stand on the ground if they
pass over your head or you can jump over them to avoid you. He usually sends
this out with his Energy Scissors so watch out. (long range-medium damage)

Electric Vertical Wall “Wires”- BAH, this is a ANNOYING move that can catch
you in quite a predicament. Griffon will be on the ground and will create a
ball of electricity in his mouth. After that Griffon will make a wall of
vertical “wires” at Dante. What is truly annoying about this move is that it
can strike you many times due to the fact that he can create 4 to 6 of these
walls. Also that they can stun you and their speed can get you. The best
possible way to avoid this is to simply go into DT and keep the R1 button on
him and fire at him as you go into the nearest gap to escape the walls. Air
Raid also works well here. Another good way is by going to the very top of the
mast to avoid this. (long range-light to high damage)

Visible Platforms- These platforms are created as a side affect of Griffon
using his electric attacks. They provide, at times, relief from his attacks
and can get you out of trouble but they can also get you in some dangerous
spots as some of his move can lock on to Dante’s last position and you wont
be able to escape as fast as you want. Use these at your choice as they have
their good and bad uses. Very rare in this battle though.
(any range-no damage)

Electric Landing-  Griffon will be in the air then electricity will come out
of his feet in a diagonal fashion. Finally, Griffon will land on the spot that
the electricity hit on the ground, practically dropping his weight on Dante
(ouch!). I find this easy to dodge as he takes his time in doing this. To
dodge this simply see the “wires” as they hit the ground make sure to run
away as fast as you can. Use Alastor's DT if you need to avoid this move a lot
more faster but it isn’t a lot of trouble to avoid.
(medium range-medium damage)

Storm of Lightning- In this battle, guess what, NO STOPPING Griffon from doing
this move. Griffon will land. Finally the place will get dark and lightning
bolts will soon home on Dante while some lighting bolts protect Griffon. The
lightning bolts don’t home very well but they do some good damage when they
make contact. This move is MUCH more fatal when he dies as he glows with the
energy and the lightning is much larger. To avoid this move, simply stay on
the move. If you stay in one place too long, Griffon will land and do this
move. If he does land and does this move, keep an eye on him and dodge to the
right or left but don’t get close to Griffon as these bolts become extremely
accurate if your too close to him. Also Air Raid does well to avoid this move.
(long range-medium to high damage)

New Moves

Multi-Energy Scissors- Wow, now this move has a bit more accuracy than the
regular one. Griffon will be flying and he will create a ball of electricity
in his mouth, then 4 of these “wires” will come out finally closing all
together. This is only a bit more tougher than the single one. To avoid this
simply keep on the move and dodge under one or jump over a “wire”. It wont be
too hard to dodge but they form a different formation every time.
(long range-medium damage)

Energy Phoenix- AHHHH!!! This move is VERY annoying as he makes this one of
his frequent moves. Anyway, Griffon will create a bird of red energy that he
will attach to you with yellow and black “strings” of electricity that wont
hurt you. The first time it makes contact with you it will catapult you in
the air, after that it will either hurt you or randomly catapult you. This
thing can not only direct your attention to the Phoenix but it will distract
you so cant see what Griffon is doing. For these reasons I HATE this move but
there’s ways to get rid of this: 1. Allow it to get you catapulted then fire
E&I shots at it so that it will disappear. It will get rid of it faster if you
DT and fire DT enhanced shots to the Phoenix. If you land on the ground use
the Rolling Blaze so that you can go safely through it then fire E&I to finish
it 2. Climb one of the masts and fire E&I as you jump over or jump away it
depending on its direction. This can be harder but its better that you have
Rolling Blaze to protect you 3. If you have Meteor Lvl 1, it is possible to
hit the Phoenix with it but he must be over your head and he must be high in
the air so that you can get the full Meteor on it. If you do land the Meteor
it should finish it. If not it will need a couple shots. Just jump if you
don’t get to shoot but ROLLING BLAZE jumps will get you through it safely.
This way is actually much harder so don’t try it.
(any range-low to high damage)

Multi-Directional Electric "Wires"- Truly annoying with the Energy Phoenix.
Now these wires are self automatic in the battle so be careful. Now these
"wires" wont appear on the ground like the Multi-Formational "wires". Now
these "wires" go off the ground heading vertically, horizontally, and
diagonally. Now these will be transparent but still visible then they will
turn solid. Now this is dangerous as you might jump and you could get hit by
this, setting you up for a different move. To avoid this, simply get out of
the way of these "wires" and you will be fine. (any range-low to high damage)

Strategy for Griffon 2
This is a battle that will not only test your endurance but your patience.
First rule in this battle, KEEP MOVING. If you want Griffon to do his Storm
of Lightning move then be my guest. I didn’t want that so keep on the move or
simply climb a mast so that he cant land there... or at least not reach you.
Now besides dodging the moves there’s three ways you can do this. Now as a
note, you can use Ifrit or Alastor for this battle.

Ifrit Strategy- Now if you use Ifrit, It can help pretty significantly so
these are some ways of defeating Griffon: 1. Equip E&I as it is fast and
accurate which will shake off the Phoenix. Now keep on the move as you shoot
and dodge Griffon’s moves. Once you have a good amount of DT, Climb one of the
low masts and then DT. Finally charge a Meteor Lvl 1 (2 does a lot of damage
but you don’t have to have it) at him then fire to take good amounts of damage
and keep sending Meteors at him. Once your DT runs out, drop down and continue
with moving and firing E&I shots 2. Simply fire E&I shots then when you have
DT, fire DT enhanced shots when your on a low mast. Once you run out, drop
down and fire E&I to get DT back 3. Allow Griffon to drop down to you and IF
you have it, Inferno him then dodge his Vertical Wall “Wires” or his Storm of
Lightning. Once he rises fire E&I to get DT and fire Meteors at Griffon on one
of the lower masts. Get DT back and if he lands Inferno him. Most of these are
Rinse and Repeat’s so either ways are good but some are harder to do than
others.

Alastor Strategy- Now Alastor still does the job in this battle but it just
does less damage. Now there are some ways of doing this: 1. Start by equipping
E&I and firing if you need DT. Once you got DT, Air Raid Griffon until your DT
runs out. Then fire E&I to get DT back 2. Now this does a lot more damage. Now
first, gain DT then do Air Raid but don’t waste all your DT as you will need
it. Now get more DT but allow Griffon to land. Once he lands, DT and do Vortex
Lvl 2 (cause Lvl 1 wont make it going through Griffon). Then get far before
your DT runs out and land in a safe place then repeat. These will easily end
Griffon but you must be careful of where you land.

Griffon 3

Hardness: ********

Description: Same as Griffon 1 and 2

My opinion: Phew, this seems better than the ship battle since the Phoenix
won't be here anymore but it still has many of his annoying moves. Not just
that, but he has less affect to your weapons. He will be much more tougher
than his other forms so be ready for quite a long battle. Ifrit will be the
better weapon. If you have Meteor Lvl 2, that will do some major damage to
him. Once again if you stick with Alastor it will still work.

Moves

Energy Scissors- Probably Griffon’s most obvious and most used move. Griffon
will simply create a ball of electricity in its mouth and he will maintain it
in his mouth. Anyway the Energy Scissors will be opened wide open and will be
aimed at where Dante is at. Now depending on your position it will aim there.
Then after staying open for quite a while, they will close pretty quickly. To
dodge this move you can either: 1. jump over the scissors to avoid them 2. You
can roll to the left or right. This is much more riskier as the scissors maybe
close to the ground and they could make contact with you as they close. You
could also back flip but the problem is that if you do it too soon they will
close on you which isn’t good and if you do it too late the electricity could
still be lingering as you back flip where the electric “blades” have met and
can still hurt you 3. If they are over your head, stay on the ground to avoid
them. Either of these ways will get you out of trouble.
(long range- medium damage)

Electric Horizontal “Wires”- A pretty fast move that can get you off guard if
you don’t keep an eye on him. He will create a ball of electricity in his
mouth and will shoot out many electric “wires” that can home in on your last
position. To avoid this move you can simply either stand on the ground if they
pass over your head or you can jump over them to avoid you. He usually sends
this out with his Energy Scissors so watch out. (long range-medium damage)

Electric Vertical Wall “Wires”- BAH, this is a ANNOYING move that can catch
you in quite a predicament. Griffon will be on the ground and will create a
ball of electricity in his mouth. After that Griffon will make a wall of
vertical “wires” at Dante. What is truly annoying about this move is that it
can strike you many times due to the fact that he can create 4 to 6 of these
walls. Also that they can stun you and their speed can get you. The best
possible way to avoid this is to simply go into DT and keep the R1 button on
him and fire at him as you go into the nearest gap to escape the walls. Air
Raid also works here as well (long range-light to high damage)

Visible Platforms- These platforms are created as a side affect of Griffon
using his electric attacks. They provide, at times, relief from his attacks
and can get you out of trouble but they can also get you in some dangerous
spots as some of his move can lock on to Dante’s last position and you wont
be able to escape as fast as you want. Use these at your choice as they have
their good and bad uses. (any range-no damage)

Electric Landing-  Griffon will be in the air then electricity will come out
of his feet in a diagonal fashion. Finally, Griffon will land on the spot that
the electricity hit on the ground, practically dropping his weight on Dante
(ouch!). I find this easy to dodge as he takes his time in doing this. To
dodge this simply see the “wires” as they hit the ground make sure to run
away as fast as you can. Use Alastor's DT if you need to avoid this move a lot
more faster but it isn’t a lot of trouble to avoid.
(medium range-medium damage)

Storm of Lightning- In this battle, guess what, NO STOPPING Griffon from doing
this move. Griffon will only do this when he loses his wings. Anyway, the
place will get dark and lightning bolts will soon home on Dante while some
lighting bolts protect Griffon. The lightning bolts don’t home very well but
they do some good damage when they make contact. This move is MUCH more fatal
when he dies as he glows with the energy and the lightning is much larger. To
avoid this move, simply stay on the move. If you stay in one place too long,
Griffon will land and do this move. If he does land and does this move, keep
an eye on him and dodge to the right or left but don’t get close to Griffon
as these bolts become extremely accurate if your too close to him.
(long range-medium to high damage)

Multi-Energy Scissors- Wow, now this move has a bit more accuracy than the
regular one. Griffon will be flying and he will create a ball of electricity
in his mouth, then 4 of these “wires” will come out finally closing all
together. This is only a bit more tougher than the single one. To avoid this
simply keep on the move and dodge under one or jump over a “wire”. It wont
be too hard to dodge but they form a different formation every time.
(long range-medium damage)

Head Strike- Wow, Griffon actually has a close range move. Anyway, Griffon
will be on the ground he will then rush at you, waving his head to the right,
and then swinging it to the left. This could send you pretty far so you must
be careful because it could set you up for any of his energy moves. Simply
either back flip in the opposite direction of Griffon or roll to the side.
(short range-high damage)

Electric Bomber- This is a pretty neat move but it is damaging as well.
Griffon will be flying in the air then makes a low sweep while still being in
the air. Finally he will drop MANY electric balls in the path that he is
taking. This is a pretty fast move that gives you enough time to react so keep
your eye on him if you cant see him so as soon as you see this move back flip
away from the electric balls or simply roll away from him. This should get
you the advantage of this move so that you can counter-attack.
(any range-low to high damage)

Multi-Formational Electric “Wires”- He usually does this in the first battle
and in the third. This can be annoying as well. Griffon will be in the air
then he will shoot a ball of electricity on the ground that will expand and
fire horizontal and vertical “wires” on the ground in a diamond formation,
horizontal formation, and vertical on the ground. Now these wires will become
inactive and they will be invisible. After sometime, the wires will activate
and hurt you. Now this is where trial and error comes into play of how you
want to avoid this. Either you can do Air Raid and fly over the “wires” while
attacking Griffon but the bad thing is that if you don’t have enough DT, you
might land on a “wire” and you don’t want that. The other option is to stand
on the Visible Platforms that Griffon creates. This can leave you as a
stationary target but you will be out of the “wires” on the ground. Watch out
though cause they might disappear and land you on the “wires”. If that happens
, quickly DT then Air Raid. (any range-light to high damage)

Strategy for Griffon 3
Hey this isn’t a joke anymore, Griffon is quite mad now so you must be
cautious. This battle will once again need the Ifrit as it will give you the
damage factor that you will need but Alastor still works. Besides the fact
that you will be dodging Griffon’s moves you will have to find a good move
to damage Griffon. Meteor Lvl 1 or 2 is your friend in this battle as well
as Rolling Blaze. Anyway if you don’t have Meteor Lvl 1, you can use DT
enhanced E&I shots OR the Grenade Gun with DT. These are some ways to take
Griffon out: 1. You can try out your Nightmare Beta in this battle. Simply
charge it to its top, then release it. These beams will go through Griffon
pretty well. Keep doing this until your DT runs out. Once it runs out, switch
to the Grenade Gun and fire to get DT back. Rinse and Repeat, but this is
more longer to do 2. Much more easier on you. Fire the weapon of your choice
then DT and launch Meteor Lvl 1 or 2 (if you have it). To do a good Meteor
try to do it after Griffon has done his Head Strike 3. Air Raid can still
work in this battle but it simply does less damage so accompany it with Round
Trip then fire bolts at him. Doing Round Trip will help you in the damage
factor but it is hard to do Round Trip as this battle is very hectic and
Griffon will be on the move. Now remember that Vortex helps a lot as well
because you can drill right through Griffon while being unaffected. There are
elevators on each side of the arena that can elevate you to the higher level
and have green orbs on either side. You shouldn’t use these though as your
view can get off course of you watching Griffon which can pin you pretty badly
if he can get one of his