CHARACTER DESCRIPTION
The Alpha and Omega Vergil. DMC5‘s technical character and high speed powerhouse. Vergil is a very strong character with access to all the tools that matter. Despite some aspects of Vergil’s playstyle being governed by his Concentration system, he has a high freedom of movement if you have the execution. He also has a varied moveset and a fair bit flexibility in terms of how he can approach different situations.
He can feel a bit awkward at first but once his combat style clicks, Vergil is a unique character with a distinct feel you probably won’t find in any other game. Vergil has quite the learning curve and can be execution heavy. Mastering him is very difficult, but he is a rewarding character and above all else, really fun. He gives up a little in the way of air combat variety to Dante, but he makes up with for it with speed, power and motivation.
Also, I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING.
Contents:
BUTTON LAYOUT
Vergil’s default button layout serves him well. The only thing you might want to consider is moving Mirage Blade (Ranged Attack) to a trigger so that you can pin enemies up with Summoned Swords while Vergil does other attacks. This can free up quite a lot of inputs you’d normally need to do with only 1 finger in more high level Vergil play.
But in any case, you should play with whichever button layout you are most comfortable with.
MOVELIST
Since the full movelist can be viewed at any point through the pause menu, the movelist here will aim to detail more practical uses and/or hidden properties for each move. Also, for the purpose of keeping this movelist concise, the red orb cost of moves and basic abilities that are available on all characters will not be listed here. Please view those in-game.
The damage values listed below are Dante Must Die difficulty Void Mode estimates tested on enemies with normal attack affinity and Concentration Lv2. Lower difficulties increase player damage output and some enemies take more damage from different types of attacks. Vergil also loses damage on lower levels of concentration, so please keep that in mind.
Vergil’s Concentration
Above Vergil’s HP gauge is a blue bar called the Concentration Gauge. There are 3 levels of concentration: Lv0, Lv1 and Lv2. Each level of Concentration increases Vergil’s power and being at Concentration Lv2 gives him access to his powerful Super Moves.
The concept of gaining and maintaining Concentration can be thought of as playing like Vergil, the boss character. Actions that lose concentration:
- Taking damage
- Running
- Whiffing attacks
- Blocking
- Continuously using Trick Dodge, but you don’t dodge through attacks
- World of V
Actions that gain concentration:
- Standing still
- Walking slowly
- Landing attacks
- Trick dodging through attacks
- Perfect Judgement Cuts
Playing ‘well’ maintains concentration, but Vergil can feel a bit bottlenecked if you want to say at Lv2 but you can’t run around or embed summon swords to Air Trick teleport towards enemies. Jumping around doesn’t deplete concentration so it can be used to move around rather safely but it isn’t very ‘Vergil’.
Depending on how you want to play the character, you should consider how important Concentration really is to you. Vergil is most powerful at Lv2, but Concentration is a gauge that can be both lost and gained fairly quickly. In that case, whiffing attacks for movement purposes and then making Concentration back by landing hits or Perfect Judgement Cuts can balance the Concentration gauge while making it feel like less of a restriction.
Special Abilities
Important skills that provide Vergil with utility.
⮞Show/Hide Movelist
| NAME | DMG | MOVE DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Enemy Step | – | Command: Press the Jump Button when near an enemy while in the air.
Use enemies as a stepping stone to cancel any air move at any point. A fundamental component of combos. |
| Side Trick | – | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Horizontally + Jump after a ground attack
Vergil’s Side Roll get’s powered up into a swift horizontal dash when you use it after ground attacks. If close to an enemy, Vergil will circle around them. Can also be triggered after using Trick Actions during Yamato attacks where he draws the sword (The post teleport sheathe animation can be Side Tricked). Has invul. While in SDT Vergil performs this action instead of Side Roll regardless if used after an attack. |
| Trick Up | – | Command: Trick Action
Teleports directly upwards. Also works while in the air and can cancel certain moves like Starfall. Has invul. |
| Air Trick | – | Command: Lock-on + Trick Action
Embeds target with a Mirage Blade, then teleports to it. Instant if target is already embedded with blade. Even follows enemies that are in the air. Can be used to cancel many attacks. If multiple targets are embeded with blades, to can select which one to teleport to with the Left Stick. Has invul. |
| Trick Dodge | – | Command: LeftStick Direction + Trick Action
Ground dodges. Has invul. If you continue to dodge through attacks, it can be chained with continuous invul. |
| Trick Down | – | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back-To-Forward + Trick Action
Teleport backwards on the ground. Fastfall diagonally downwards while in the air. Can be used to cancel a lot of moves. You are going to use this a lot. Has invul. While in SDT the input command can be done with Lock-on + LeftStick Back + Jump |
| Block | – | Command: Lock-on when getting attacked and Concentration Lv1+
Defends against incoming attacks at the cost of Concentration. Seems to negate damage, but best thought of as a security blanket as opposed to a functional defensive mechanic. You can also parry projectiles with this I guess. |
| Sin Devil Trigger | 57 | Command: Hold Doppelganger Summon (Devil Trigger) button, release when SDT gauge is full.
Vergil’s Devil Trigger. Increases speed, power, defense, grants HP recovery, super armor and powers up some special moves. Activation can be used to cancel certain actions like Air Trick. SDT activation has invul when the animation plays out. There is a delay before the SDT gauge starts being consumed and the HP recovery kicks in. This means that you can have access to SDT for no cost if you go into the form for a little bit each time, kind of akin to Dante’s Quadruple S but without the style rank requirement. |
| World of V | ~988 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick 360 + Trick Action
Consumes the whole Concentration Gauge to summon a Sony AAA title’s signature cinematic gameplay experience where you do literally nothing, except watch V along with his gaggle of funtime critters do a little puppet show for the kids. Puppet show duration and damage depends on Concentration Level. |
Yamato
Vergil’s iconic katana. Inflicts Slash Damage and has tools to cover distance, launch enemies, juggle enemies, inflict guard break, inflict crumple stun, and can also deal damage with chained Perfect Judgement Cuts and with SDT Combo A.
Yamato has access to Judgement Cut, a tracking multi-hitting slash-based projectile that can be canceled into, and chained up to 3 times. Judgement Cut is performed by holding and then releasing the Melee attack button. If you release with Perfect timing (the moment the sheathe glows), you can perform a Perfect Judgement Cut which has increased power, speed and less recovery time meaning Vergil can act faster after them. The Perfect Judgement Cut timing is unique for every Yamato attack and the window is relatively small meaning that this is something that you need to practice if you want to be consistent at it.
Yamato gains a damage increase and an attack range increase per Concentration level. Certain attacks will also hit more times. Overall, Yamato is an exemplary weapon that serves as the core and defining component of Vergil’s playstyle.
Yamato’s lengthy sheathing animations can also earn you Devil Trigger gauge if you let them play out without canceling them. However, this functions like taunting where there is a cooldown for a while after earning DT so you won’t earn some every time. Mirage Edge Combo B has a Yamato sheathing animation and can also earn DT if you let it play out.
⮞Show/Hide Movelist
| NAME | DMG | MOVE DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Yamato Combo A | 187 927 |
Command: Melee Attack x4
Quick ground combo with Yamato. Final hit causes knockback. |
| Yamato Combo B | 292 471 |
Command: Melee Attack x2, delay, then Melee Attack
3 hit combo. Final hit knocks enemies back then embeds a summoned sword into the target and launches them once Vergil sheathes Yamato. |
| Yamato Combo C | 356+ 442+ |
Command: Melee Attack x3, delay, then Melee Attack repeatedly
Yamato barrage ending in knockback. The barrage portion doesn’t deal lethal damage. Also inflicts a little bit of heavy stun. |
| Aerial Rave A | 143 | Command: Melee Attack x3 while in the air
Quick 3 hit air combo that knocks enemies downwards onto the ground. |
| Aerial Rave B | 281 | Command: Melee Attack x2, delay, Melee Attack x2 while in the air
Rising spinning slash follows by a knockdown on the ground right in front of Vergil. Can launch standing enemies and offers some height gain while in the air. |
| Judgement Cut | 50 150 |
Command: Hold Melee Attack, then release
Tracking multi-hit slash-based projectile that can penetrate energy/projectile barriers. Can restand grounded enemies. Judgement Cut can be used after all Yamato attacks with Perfect timing. Perfect Cuts can be chained up to 3 times in succession. The window is smaller on the ground than it is while in the air. Perfect Cuts hit harder and have less recovery time. While in SDT Judgement Cut can hit 3 different enemies at once. |
| Rapid Slash | 142 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Melee Attack
Yamato Stinger. A rushing attack that deals multiple hits. Does not cause knockback and instead passes through enemies. Number of hits increases with Concentration level. Can inflict crumple stun but only on the last hit of the sequence so you need to be spaced properly. While in SDT, Rapid Slash can be chained indefinitely. Once the attack completes, all enemies hit, will be embedded with summoned swords and launched like Yamato Combo B. |
| Rising Star | 93 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Hold Melee Attack
The Rapid Slash launcher. Only triggers when rapid slash connects with an enemy. |
| Upper Slash | 56 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back + Melee Attack
Slashes upwards and launches enemies into the air. Hold the button to follow them up. |
| Aerial Cleave | 206 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back + Melee Attack while in the Air
Yamato Helm Breaker, but causes ground bounce. Has 2 hits with the first letting Vergil hang in the air unaffected by any accumulated weight gain. Important if you have been in the air and have not used Enemy Step for a while. |
| Void Slash | 175 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back-to-Forward + Melee Attack
Cuts through space and time to cause a slow down effect on enemies. Inflicts guard break and also inflicts crumple stun on standing enemies. Can also restand grounded enemies. A bit slow to startup but decent area of effect. |
| Judgement Cut End | 750 862 |
Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Melee Attack + Trick Action Requirements: Concentration Lv2, While in SDT or SDT is max Slay all. Yamato Super Move. Slashes at high speed over a wide area dealing high damage. Has some invul. Consumes the full SDT gauge while in human form. |
Beowulf
Vergil’s powerful gauntlets. Inflicts Blunt Damage and makes up for it’s lack of range with charge attacks that have sheer power. Beowulf has tools to launch enemies, parry enemies, juggle enemies, guard break and deal damage. Because the charges can take some time, Beowulf can see some good use in conjunction with Heavy Rain Swords or Mirage Edge’s Roundtrip to pin enemies down.
Beowulf gains a damage increase per Concentration level. Concentration Lv2 also allows a third charge level on attacks for more devastating damage. Beowulf’s charges also have a just frame release which can dramatically increase damage. You know you’ve hit this when there’s an SFX that sounds like someone pushed a metal table into a wall. Couple this with Hell On Earth and Beowulf is the highest damaging weapon in the game.
⮞Show/Hide Movelist
| NAME | DMG | MOVE DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Beowulf Combo A | 210 373 |
Command: Melee Attack x3
Quick 3 hit combo ending in knockback. |
| Beowulf Combo B | 390 650 |
Command: Melee Attack x2, delay, Melee Attack x2
Million kicks followed by a powerful straight that causes knockback. The kicks portion of the attack can inflict crumple stun. |
| Starfall | 132 231 |
Command: Melee Attack while in the Air
Vergil’s divekick. It can cause knockback on grounded/ close to ground enemies. Surprisingly quick ground recovery time. Can be canceled in motion with Trick Up. If you Hold Melee Attack while in SDT, there’s a follow-up rising kick. Tends to only work when there is a demon within a small range of where Vergil landed though. |
| Lunar Phase | 171 276 |
Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Melee Attack Air OK
Spins furiously ending in a leg drop that ground bounces enemies. Vergil counts as airborne even during the ground version of the attack. Very large parry window. |
| Beast Uppercut | 126 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back + Melee Attack
A powerful uppercut with Beowulf that launches enemies. Simple and straightforward. |
| Rising Dragon | 270 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back + Hold Melee Attack then release after Beowulf glows
Vergil’s Shoryuken. Leaps into the air with a rising uppercut that launches enemies. |
| Dragon Breaker | 1035 1345 |
Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back + Hold Melee Attack then release after Beowulf glows 2 times
Adds a destructive follow-up uppercut to Rising Dragon that breaks dragons. Also launches enemies. |
| Flush | 36 | Command: Press the Jump Button with Beowulf equipped
Adds a small hitbox to basic jumps . Very good for parrying. |
| Kick 13 | 192,180 299,224 |
Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back-To-Forward + Melee Attack
Ifrit’s old kick combo ending in a launcher. The button can be held for a follow-up to launch the enemy higher. Inflicts guard break on the final hit of the ground sequence. Can also restand grounded enemies. |
| Hell On Earth | 1750 2012 |
Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Melee Attack + Trick Action Requirements: Concentration Lv2, While in SDT or SDT is max Now I’m a little motivated. Beowulf Super Move. Strikes at the ground causing a huge explosion that knocks even Super Heavies and some Bosses into the air. Has invul. Consumes the full SDT gauge while in human form. |
Mirage Edge
Definitely not the Force Edge. Inflicts Slash Damage and has a core moveset that’s similar to Rebellion/Sparda/Devil Sword Dante. It has tools to launch enemies, guard break, cover distance in the air and pin up enemies with Round Trip and Over Drive. It is a weapon that serves to offer utility and versatility to Vergil’s combat style.
Mirage Edge gains additional damage and hits per concentration level. This increases dramatically to the point that it’s kind of underwhelming at Lv0 Concentration. But on Concentration Lv2, it can inflict heavy stun on most demons very easily.
⮞Show/Hide Movelist
| NAME | DMG | MOVE DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Mirage Edge Combo A | 143+ 207+ |
Command: Melee Attack x3
A large swinging 3 hit combo ending in knockback. Has a Million Stab type window if you press the Melee attack button repeatedly after the first attack. |
| Mirage Edge Combo B | 157 | Command: Melee Attack x2, delay, Melee Attack repeatedly
Moves and slashes repeatedly with both Yamato and Mirage Edge. The attack can be steered. The finale ground bounces enemies. Once the multiple slashes starts, the attack doesn’t deal lethal damage right up until the finale. The vertical spin of the finale also counts as Vergil being airborne and can be jump canceled. |
| Round Trip | ~63 | Command: Hold Melee Attack, then release when Mirage Edge glows
Throws the sword and have it spin in place like a vortex drawing in enemies, and keeping enemies in the air propped up. Does not inflict lethal damage. Using the Melee button again during Round Trip with Mirage Edge equipped will call the sword back. |
| Helm Breaker | 121 | Command: Melee Attack while in the Air
Sends Vergil and enemies in front of him downwards with a falling strike. Will knockback on the ground portion of the attack. |
| Stinger | 82 248 |
Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Melee Attack
Rushes forward and skewers enemies causing knockback. Vergil’s stinger is quite good to use as a parrying tool. Air OK. |
| Million Stab | 137+ | Command: During a Stinger, continue to Hold the Melee Attack button. Repeatedly press the Melee Attack button for more strikes
Very good for inflicting Heavy Stun on demons with Concentration Lv2. You can do any Trick to cancel out of the stabs making this move rather safe. The Million Stabs do not inflict lethal damage. |
| High Time | 77 248 |
Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back + Melee Attack
Mirage Edge’s launcher. Hold the attack button to follow into the air. A very consistent launcher for heavier enemies. |
| Drive | 222 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back-to-Forward + Melee Attack
Go to hell. A fast, long range energy wave that launches enemies even far away. Does not seem to count as a projectile in terms of which demon shields can block it. Tracks upwards to some extent. Very good move. |
| Over Drive | 95+ 162+ |
Command: Hold the Melee Attack button after Drive
A wide horizontal wave that travels along the ground after Drive. Inflicts guard break and can be charged even further for more hits and damage. Can also restand grounded enemies. |
| Deep Stinger | ~1274 ~1736 |
Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Melee Attack + Trick Action Requirements: Concentration Lv2, While in SDT or SDT is max Mirage Edge Super Move. Uses the Yamato & Mirage Edge to perform a Psycho Crusher that can be steered. Inflicts guard break and has invul. Also inflicts crumple stun with the finale causing a hard knockdown. Consumes the full SDT gauge while in human form. |
Mirage Blade
Also known as Summoned Swords. Inflicts Piercing Damage and is the outlet for Vergil’s ranged attacks. It has a unique property in that Vergil has no animation when he uses Summoned Swords so they can be done at any time during almost any other action. This, along with their utility is one of the reasons for considering moving Vergil’s Ranged Attack button to a trigger.
⮞Show/Hide Movelist
| NAME | DMG | MOVE DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Mirage Blade | 3 | Command: Mirage Blade button
Fires floating blades made out of magic power. Can be rapid fired, and distance increases with each upgrade. If a demon is embedded with a Mirage Blade, Vergil can Air Trick to the demon. Can be used to quickly prop up falling demons in the air while Vergil is doing other actions. |
| Spiral Blades | ~3 per tick |
Command: Hold Mirage Blade button Costs 1 block of DT The sword belt. Summoned Swords orbit around Vergil, acting as a shield. You can stop and send them outwards by holding the Mirage Blade button again. |
| Storm Blades | 250 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Hold Mirage Blade Costs 1 block of DT Summons 8 swords total that stab the target. Good for keeping any launchable weight class up in the air. |
| Blistering Blades | 150 | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Forward + Hold Mirage Blade Costs 1 block of DT Sends swords to orbit a target and then close in and launch them upwards high. Can cause hard knockdown and is generally pretty good for crowd control. |
| Heavy Rain Blades | 130+ | Command: Lock-on + LeftStick Back-To-Forward + Mirage Blade Costs 1 block of DT Spawn swords on top of the target and rains them down over a wide area. The blades cause a long slow down effect on demons, perfect for setting up Super Moves or Beowulf charge attacks. Good for crowd control. |
Doppelganger
While above 3 blocks of DT gauge, you can summon a Doppelganger, a shadow clone that mimics Vergil’s actions and consumes Devil Trigger gauge over time. The Doppelganger’s Haste, Normal and Slow settings control the time delay before the Doppelganger uses your inputs. Normal(purple) is a small delay, Slow(red) is a larger delay and Haste(blue) is minimal/no delay. If you press the Doppelganger’s currently set state setting again, you can cancel its actions and call it to Vergil’s side. Pressing the Banish setting will dismiss the clone.
Doppeglanger activation is invul, launches enemies and Vergil also gains an attack increase and some degree of super armor while it’s active. The Doppelganger can be hard to use effectively since it’s practically controlling 2 characters at once with the same inputs, but is a very fun mechanic all round. You could just use the Doppelganger as a body double for dealing more damage or for having access to a disjointed Judgement Cut regardless of your equipped weapon if you want. But the Doppelganger can also add quite a lot of depth to Vergil’s combat if you experiment with it. Either way, it is not a tool to be overlooked regardless of how you want to play the game.
If you want to use the Doppelganger properly, it is important you understand the rules the Doppelganger follows, and also the concept of how to create space between you and your Doppelganger in order to use it effectively and stylishly.
Doppelganger Rules
- Always uses Yamato. It can also use the powered SDT Yamato moves if you are in SDT too.
- Cannot use Enemy Step. No Jump cancels. It also seems to suffer from DMC5’s accumulative gravity system, where you keep falling faster and faster if you don’t jump cancel to reset your air weight.
- Can parry attacks.
- Performing a Perfect Judgement Cuts always teleport the doppelganger to Vergil’s side.
- If you do perfect releases on Beowulf hold attacks, the doppelganger will also teleport to your side and do a perfect cut.
- Its actions are canceled into normal Judgement Cut when you do a normal Judgement Cut regardless of its delay setting
- There is a short cooldown on delay setting changes and recalling the Doppelganger. There’s also a cooldown on dispersing the doppelganger once you’d summoned it.
- Will automatically teleport to Vergil’s side if it moves too far away.
- Doppleganger has it’s own lock-on rules, so there’s times where it’s displaced and can end up locked on to a different enemy from you.
- Will be banished when using a super move like Judgement Cut End , World of V or if you exit SDT.
- Inputs for special moves are done with it’s position in relation to the enemy, not Vergil’s. Example: if an enemy is in between Vergil and the Doppelganger and you press the input for Upper Slash, the Clone will perform Rapid Slash instead.
- The only Trick Action button input it emulates is Air Trick (teleport to enemy). It cannot Trick Up, Trick Dodge or Trick Down.
- When recalled, The doppelganger will always be summoned to Vergil’s right side. Useful for knowing which direction to input when it comes back.
- It can Jump, use Side Roll and Side Roll’s augmented Side Trick, but the input has to be Doppelganger relative to the lock on target.
- You can control the Doppelganger during Vergil’s Blood Palace Taunt. The ‘You think to make a fool of me?’ Taunt where he stays in a fixed stance for a long time. However, you cannot change the delay setting or teleport the doppelganger to your side during this. Why? I don’t know.
Creating Space between your Doppelganger
This can also be thought of as deliberately displacing the Doppelganger to create interesting interactions. Creating space between your Doppelganger is important precisely because it mimics your inputs. This is quite a complex aspect of the Doppelganger and best learned by experimenting on your own, so I will only be providing the basic concepts as guidance and the building blocks necessary to get started.
Doppel’s Rapid Slash displacement.
A simple one. Using Rapid Slash as Yamato’s primary ground movement tool, you displace the Doppelganger. This can be done by doing Rapid Slash’s follow-up Rising Star with Normal or Slow delay settings, using Rapid Slash input with Beowulf, Tricking Down out of the Rapid Slash/Stinger or inputting Rapid Slash while Vergil is in the air and the Doppel is on the ground. A slightly more complex application is doing Void Slash, recalling the Doppel, and then sending it off with Rapid Slash while Vergil completes the move.
Recall Doppel During Motion
Recalling the Doppelganger the moment you use an attack with movement like Rapid Slash or Stinger will leave it behind sending you forward. You can then input an action immediately to further displace the Doppel.
Body Swapping
An application of the above, but you recall the Doppel once Vergil disappears for an Air Trick (teleport to enemy). The timing can be a bit tricky because Air Trick also affects the Doppelganger, but if you do it correctly the Doppel will be where Vergil was before he started the Air Trick making it look like they swapped positions.
Input Deleting
Slightly more complex, but if you do some inputs while on the Slower setting, then switch to the Haste setting before the actions come out, the Doppelganger doesn’t do anything and the inputs are effectively ‘deleted’. You can use this to make the Doppel have the concept of waiting or skipping if you really wanna do some fancy shit.
There is a lot more ways to displace your Doppel, try to experiment on your own and find whatever you think is coolest and expand upon it.
Taunts
Gain Devil Trigger gauge while provoking nearby enemies.
⮞Show/Hide Movelist
| NAME | DMG | MOVE DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| Provocation | – | Command: Taunt Button
Performs a taunt depending on your current style ranking. |
| Air Provocation | 75 | Command: Taunt Button while in Air
2 Variations. Below S rank, throws out Summoned Swords that launches enemies upwards. Above S rank performs a very fast pseudo air Judgement Cut. |
| EX Provocation | – | Command: Hold L3+Taunt Button
Taunt awarded for wasting money. The meme dance taunt. Extremely long but gains a fair bit of style. |
| Special Provocation | 400 | Command: Press L3+Taunt Button
Taunt awarded for clearing Bloody Palace with Vergil. You think to make a fool of me? A very long pose followed by a horizontal slash that slows enemies and inflicts guard break. |
STANDOUT MOVES
Vergil’s Unique Abilities
Special functions that only Vergil can do.
- Judgement Cut. Full-screen hitscan projectile attack that can be chained. Kneel before me.
- Unique Cancels – Air Trick & Trick Down. Other characters primarily have to rely on enemy step to cancel actions.
- Trick teleports. Makes Vergil’s mobility have a high degree of speed and freedom if you have the execution to keep up.
- Doppelganger. Input mimicking shadow clone for maximum style.
- Firing Summoned Swords regardless of his current action. Very useful for keeping enemies propped up while you do other moves.
- Super Moves. Other characters have huge flashy moves but they don’t quite feel the same as landing Judgement Cut End or Hell on Earth
Invulnerability Skills
Abilities and moves that have invul frames on them allowing you to avoid damage.
- Jump
- Side Roll
- Block. Concentration dependent so not reliable
- All Trick related skills
- Sin Devil Trigger Activation
- Doppelganger Activation
- Yamato – Judgement Cut End
- Hell On Earth
- Deep Stinger
Parrying
You can use many moves to parry but the list below highlights ones that have the most ease of use. This depends on your playstyle and how well you can learn the timing of attacks.
- Yamato – Combo C
- Yamato – Upper Slash
- Yamato – Aerial Cleave
- Beowulf – Starfall
- Beowulf – Flush
- Beowulf – Lunar Phase
- Beowulf – Rising Dragon
- Beowulf – Kick 13
- Mirage Edge – Stinger
- Mirage Edge – High Time
- Mirage Edge – Helm Breaker
- Mirage Edge – Million Stab
- Mirage Edge – Combo B
Heavy Stun
Moves that build up the Heavy Stun gauge on enemies. When they get inflicted with Heavy Stun, they are unable to act for a while. It’s indicated by a blue bubble-like effect on the enemy’s head.
- Almost all Mirage Edge attacks while in Concentration Lv2
- Especially Million Stab
- Judgement Cut End If they survive
- Yamato Combo C, but rather low stun build rate
Hard Knockdown
Moves that ground enemies. This is a special knockdown for specific enemies like Hell Judecca that teleports out of other knockdowns.
- Mirage Edge – Deep Stinger finale
- Mirage Blades – Blistering Blades
Crumple Stun
Moves that make standing enemies shudder, and then crumple to the floor. Useful for crowd control or ground time on some Heavier demons.
- Yamato – Void Slash
- Yamato – Rapid Slash. Although it seems as if it’s the final hit of the sequence so you’ll need to space yourself properly.
- Beowulf – Combo B kicks portion.
- Mirage Edge – Deep Stinger
- World of V first hit. You can jump to cancel the rest of the sequence before Vergil stabs himself.
Guard Break
Moves that break shields, and break through blocking enemies defenses.
- Yamato – Void Slash
- Beowulf – Kick 13
- Mirage Edge – Over Drive
- Mirage Edge – Deep Stinger
- Special Provocation. Bloody Palace taunt.
Super Armor
Moves that allows you to power through incoming attacks uninterrupted. You still take damage though.
- Doppelganger grants Vergil some super armor
- Sin Devil Trigger
Launchers
Moves that launch enemies upwards and let you combo them in the air.
- Yamato – Yamato Combo B
- Yamato – Aerial Rave B
- Yamato – Rapid Slash’s follow-up Rising Star
- Yamato – Upper Slash
- Yamato – Combo B final hit
- Yamato – SDT Rapid Slash ender
- Yamato – SDT Yamato Combo A last hit
- Beowulf – Kick 13 and its follow-up
- Beowulf – Beast Uppercut’s attack tree
- Mirage Edge – High Time
- Mirage Edge – Drive
- Mirage Blades – Blistering Blades
- Doppelganger Activation
- Sin Devil Trigger Activation
- Air Provocation summon swords throw variation
Ground Bounce
Moves that hit enemies downwards and they bounce into the air off the floor. Less useful on Heavier enemies or when enemies are in Devil Trigger.
- Yamato – Aerial Cleave
- Beowulf – Lunar Phase. Enhanced in SDT.
- Mirage Edge – Combo B final hit
Crowd Control
Useful for Legendary Dark Knight difficulty.
- Yamato – Combo C
- Yamato – SDT Judgement Cut
- Yamato – Rapid Slash
- Yamato – Void Slash
- Yamato – Judgement Cut End
- Beowulf – Hell on Earth
- Mirage Edge – Combo A & B
- Mirage Edge – Drive
- Mirage Edge – Over Drive
- Mirage Edge – Deep Stinger
- Mirage Blades – Spiral Blades
- Mirage Blades – Blistering Blades
- Mirage Blades – Heavy Rain Blades
- World of V
High Damaging Attacks
Attacks that put up big damage in a relatively short space of time. What you should look for if you wanna deal damage to a boss when an opening arises.
- Yamato – SDT Combo A
- Yamato – Perfect Judgement Cut chaining
- Yamato – SDT Rapid Slash chaining
- Yamato – Judgement Cut End
- Any of Beowulf’s Lv3 Perfect Releases
- Beowulf – SDT Combo B
- Beowulf – Dragon Breaker
- Beowulf – SDT Kick 13
- Beowulf – Hell on Earth
- Mirage Edge – Deep Stinger
- World of V
VERGIL’S DIFFICULTY
Vergil’s movement may seem limited at first since he doesn’t have a double jump and has restrictions on running around and whiffing attacks. But once you become efficient with his Trick Actions you can zip around the battlefield faster than any other character in DMC5. He can also cancel almost any attack with Air Trick or Trick Down. But this, coupled with his speed can quickly make Vergil an execution heavy character who fights with the camera.
Overall, you need practice, temperance, execution, precision and motivation to master Vergil.
Below is a list of concepts that constitute to Vergil’s difficulty:
- Managing Concentration
- Taking damage is more detrimental since you lose concentration which directly affects Vergil’s moveset and damage output
- Keeping enemies embedded with summon swords for Air Trick
- The faster you move with Vergil, the more the camera can come into play
- Using Summoned Swords to pin up enemies during other actions
- Perfect Judgement Cuts have unique timings on all Yamato attacks
- Knowing which tools are most effective against certain enemies requires some research
- You can end up using the back-to-forward input a lot
- Somewhat small Aerial toolset makes air combos require a decent bit of creativity
- Vergil is kind of really strong so weaker enemies can die before you get to do anything cool if you’re at Concentration Lv2
- Trying to use the Doppelganger properly is hard
- Tricks have travel time so Air Trick to far enemies or Trick Down at big heights prompt you to ‘wait’ or your inputs will disappear
- Trick Up needs Lock-on to be released which can cause you to lock on to another enemy after using it
- Vergil’s speed is limited only by your execution and keeping up can be hard
For more information on V enemy strategies or how to approach certain demons or bosses, please have a look at the DMC5 Demon DB or the DMC5 Boss DB.