- Well, well, what do we have here? Nature's call? It's in the back.

Despite some frustrating aspects like the camera, I enjoyed this game a lot more than I thought at first. Enough to go after the achievements. There are already various guides on the matter, and some rather well done at that, but I still did find myself bouncing from one place to another to find information. So I tried my hand at a guide that aims at giving you all (most of) the information you might need, including how to plan your playthroughs, but without bloating it with unnecessary detail, like achievements that you are going to get automatically.

It's my first time writing a guide, so I hope it helps! If it does, please rate and comment and all that, and don't hesitate if you have any specific feedback, etc.

- A man with guts and honor, I like that!

There are 4 difficulty levels:

• Normal: The game does not allow to select difficulty right from the start: the first playthrough is automatically in Normal. Other difficulties are unlocked later.
  
  
• Easy Automatic: At some point during the first missions an opportunity is given to switch to Easy. Do not do that, as you won't be able to unlock higher difficulties on that save file.
  
  
• Hard: Completing the game on Normal unlocks the Hard difficulty. Actually, it forces you into Hard difficulty. The second playthrough on the same save file is necessarily in Hard mode.
  
  
• Dante Must Die: Completing the game on Hard unlocks Dante Must Die. It also finally lets you choose the difficulty before starting a new playthrough.

When completing a playthrough, another is directly started on the same save file, keeping all upgrades, money, and consumable items. Difficulty is set right from the start, and can't be changed afterwards. Alternatively, a New Game can be created from the main menu, to start everything from scratch.

Beating Hard unlocks a new character: Legendary Dark Knight (mostly Dante in a different outfit, and some very minor gameplay differences). To use it, you have to start a new game and don't get to keep the progress from your previous playthroughs with Dante, so it's not really useful. Beating Dante Must Die unlocks Super Dante, with unlimited Devil Trigger, which makes things easier but you've already beaten Dante Must Die.

- Flock off, feather face, or you can stick around and find out the hard way!

There are 33 achievements for the first DMC game. Most should come naturally while playing, so there is no need to worry about them. I will focus mainly on the achievements that are more complicated, or require some special care.



There are 12 Secret Missions in the game. Most require backtracking to some previously visited areas at certain specific times. You may find some of those by chance, but it would be challenging to get all of them without a guide. The secret missions can be completed over several playthroughs (you can get the ones you missed in a NG+), but it is definitely recommended to complete them on Normal difficulty. Indeed, some of those missions are reasonably easy to complete successfully, but others can be rather challenging even on Normal.



To maximize your health bar, you need to acquire all the Blue Orbs available in the game. This requires 1) completing all the Secret Missions; 2) finding all the Blue Orb Fragments hidden in the environment; 3) purchasing all 7 Blue Orbs from the shop. This can be completed over multiple playthroughs: those missed or not purchased during the first playthrough can be acquired during the subsequent NG+ ones. Getting a larger health bar is obviously going to make your life longer and easier, so it's worth working on this early on. But it's not a big issue if you miss some of them during your first playthrough. Purchasing the Blue Orbs from the shop should not be a priority (better upgrade your skills first). Blue Orb Fragments that have already been found, are replaced by Yellow Orbs in subsequent playthroughs.



Yellow Orbs are used to revive Dante when you die in combat. If you have any yellow orb in your inventory, it will be used automatically and you will respawn right before the fight that caused your demise. If not, you will have to restart the whole mission. In the playthrough during which you aim for this achievement, just make sure to RESET and reload a previous save any time you die, directly after using a Yellow Orb. It is recommended to go for this on Normal difficulty, to minimize the frustration.



You can access the Enemy Files from the Files tab in your in-game menu. Each enemy has between 1 and 14 paragraphs, mostly describing its different abilities or weaknesses, which are unlocked by witnessing the enemy perform certain moves, or performing certain actions against it. One option is to get all possible entries as soon as possible (e.g. first encounter). But there is a total of 147 entries, so it can become a grind. However, most will unlock naturally as you play, and they remain unlocked in your save file for all subsequent playthroughs (I only had 11 missing after playing Normal and Hard). So another option is to not worry about it, and clean up the missing ones later. It should be noted that some entries can only be obtained in Normal. And a few entries practically require you to die, and use a Yellow Orb.



The highest difficulty, Dante Must Die, can get frustratingly difficult at times. It's mostly the bosses that are problematic, as they become very tanky and do a lot of damage. And there is only so much you can do to avoid damage, when the camera does not cooperate. Basic enemies can be devastating as well when they activate their own Devil Trigger, but that was generally not too difficult to avoid. Thankfully, the difficulty can be greatly mitigated by the use of items (Untouchable, Devil Star, Holy Water). You cannot buy many of these from the shop, but you can make additional playthroughs in Normal/Hard to stock up on those items, before starting Dante Must Die. Once you start Dante Must Die, you're stuck in it, so it is possible to end up essentially blocked if you're not prepared.

---

There are a few other achievements that should come naturally as you work towards the ones mentioned above, but are not technically absolutely automatic, so you may want to keep them in mind:



The Devil's in the Details. Purchase all of Dante's skills. This concerns the upgrades to the 2 main melee weapons Alastor and Ifrit. Upgrading those weapons should be your first priority anyway.




Thunderstruck and Hot as Hell. Perform an S Rank Combo using Alastor/Ifrit. This might be hard to achieve when you're starting up, but once you get used to the combat, and get a longer Devil Trigger bar, it will become hard to avoid. Just learn to use both weapons and do not always stick with the same one (some enemies have clear vulnerabilities to one or the other anyway).


Smashin Sensation. Achieve S Rank on any Mission. Complete the mission quickly enough, collecting enough red orbs, without taking too much damage and without using any item. This might happen by chance or innate talent during your first playthrough. But otherwise, it should not be a problem later on, as you master the combat, learn to know the enemies, and stop getting lost all over the place. Mission 13 is a very easy S-rank on any difficulty (kill the first two blades and swim past the others).


Untouchable. Clear a mission without taking damage. Again an achievement that might seem impossible at first, but that I ended up getting without making any particular effort. If it's still missing when you have most of the other ones, find a mission that's short enough, or where most enemies can easily be skipped (e.g. Mission 2 or 5) and replay it a couple times until you get it.

- I should've been the one to fill your dark soul with light!

A minimum of 3 playthroughs is required, one for each difficulty. However, you may want or need to do more than 3. The game is not very long: once you're used to it, a casual quick run through Normal takes maybe about 3 hours. So you might enjoy it more, and possibly even spend less time overall if you give yourself more freedom regarding when to address the most demanding achievements, and more preparation and items to tackle the Dante Must Die difficulty.

On the other hand, I like my first playthrough to be completely blind, so I missed a lot of things that I should have done if I wanted to get everything done in no more than 3 playthroughs.


If you want to play it blind (or at least without following a guide every step of the way), just go ahead and enjoy the game without worrying. It won't cost you too much in the long run, since it is useful anyway to add one or more additional playthroughs before Dante Must Die. Maybe just check out the Red Orbs Farming tips section below (no spoilers there).

The only issue is that you will probably be missing many of the Blue Orbs, and your health bar won't be maxed out at the end of the first playthrough. You will have two options:

Option 1. Start your Hard mode playthrough (the game does not allow a second playthrough on Normal on the same save file). It will be a bit more difficult if you didn't collect everything in Normal. But you can collect the missing things in Hard follwing the Mission Guides below.

Option 2. Create a New Game and start from scratch. That second "first" playthrough will be a lot easier since you already know the game much better. The drawback is that all the progress you made during your first "first" playthrough (upgrades purchased, etc) will be lost.

• Do some Red Orbs Farming here and there, read the section on that matter below.
  
  
• Complete all Secret Missions and collect all Blue Orbs (to max your health bar), as well as other items. For this, just follow the "Mission Guides" sections below while you are playing.
  
  
• Unless you really want to complete everything in no more than 3 playthroughs, you don't really need to worry about anything else.

Optional (unless you want to get all achievements in no more than 3 playthroughs):

• Make sure not to use any Yellow Orb: anytime you die and use a Yellow Orb, immediately RESET and reload a previous save, and restart the mission from the beginning.
  
  
• Keep an eye on your Enemy Files. Read the section on that matter below. Most entries will be earned by simply letting enemies do what they do without killing them too fast. There are 2 entries that practically require you to die and use a Yellow Orb, so leave these ones for later. Ideally, you'd want to get all other entries in Normal, but you can still get the missing ones in Hard. Some entries must be obtained in Normal, so make sure to at least get these ones.
  
  
• Pick up all items (Untouchable, Devil Star, Holy Water), and do not use any.
  
  
• Keep save files every few levels, so once you finish the playthrough, you can replay some specific missions of your choosing to get Untouchable, and the S-rank achievements, in case they didn't pop.

• Try to get the two near-death Enemy Files (for the "Blade" enemy), see the corresponding section below.
  
  
• Pick up all consumable items: Untouchable, Devil Star and Holy Water.

Optional (unless you want to get all achievements in no more than 3 playthroughs):

• Make sure to get all missing Enemy Files.
  
  
• Do not use any consumable items, so you can have them in Dante Must Die.
  
  
• Max out everything (buy all Blue/Purple Orbs, etc), if that's not already done.
  
  
• Keep a save file after completing Mission #22 (see below).

• Max out everything (buy all Blue/Purple Orbs, etc), if that's not already done.
  
  
• Pick up all collectible items (Untouchable, Devil Star, Holy Water), and do not use them. I'd say having 15-20 Untouchables is a reasonable goal. More details in the Dante Must Die section at the bottom of this guide.
  
  
• If you haven't unlocked the achievement yet: do not use any Yellow Orbs. More precisely, make sure to RESET and reload from a previous save whenever you die and use a Yellow Orb.
  
  
• If they didn't pop yet, get the Untouchable (mission without damage) and the S-rank achievements.
  
  
• Get all the missing Enemy Files.
  
  
• Keep a save file after completing Mission #22 (see below).

• When you finish the last Mission (#23), you have to save directly at the start of the next playthrough (with the difficulty already chosen). So before you start Dante Must Die, make sure to keep a save file at the end of Mission #22. That way, if it turns out to be too punishing and you want to go back to Normal to farm some items, well you still can. Otherwise you're stuck in Dante Must Die.
  
  
• Everything else should be unlocked, just complete the playthrough. There are a few tips in the Dante Must Die section at the bottom of this guide.

- Jackpot!

Red orbs are the game's currency. They are used to buy upgrades to your melee weapons, Blue Orbs to extend your health bar, Purple Orbs to extend you Devil Trigger time, and various consumable items.

During your first playthrough, you may want to spent some time here and there to farm for some red orbs. There are a lot of possible farming locations. I will leave a few in the next sections (Mission Guides). But those are not necessarily the best ones, and definitely not the only ones.

A few general tips:

• There are a lot of places where enemies respawn as soon as you leave the area. After defeating some enemies that paid out well in red orbs, just get out to the next (or the previous) area and directly come back. If they respawn, do it a few times until you get tired of it, then move on.
  
  
• If you save and reload, you will restart from the beginning of the mission. But the red orbs collected from murdering enemies will still be yours. So if the beginning of a mission nets you a decent amount of red orbs from kills (Orb statues, and orbs in the environment will not respawn), you can save and reload before finishing the mission, and restart the mission to collect some more.
  
  
• It is definitely worth saving from time to time during missions, and before any boss battle, to ensure your red orbs remain yours in case a fight does not turn to your advantage, i.e. you die horribly and do not use a yellow orb. You can even save in the middle of a fight, do so when you get low on health.

- What a BIG surprise. I hope for your sake you have something inside that big body of yours.

Enemy files describe the abilities/weaknesses of the different types of enemies. Each one has between 1 and 14 paragraphs, for a total of 147 entries. Most will unlock naturally by just giving enemies the time to do what they do, and by desperately trying to get rid of them. After playing through Normal and Hard, I only had 11 entries missing. So you can either grind those entries right from the start, or not worry about it and clean up the missing ones later.

Pay attention to the 2 near-death entries, and the ones that can only be obtained in Normal mode. For the rest, see below for a short reference guide of all entries related to regular enemies and bosses. In most cases, it should be enough, but if you need more details for a specific entry, check out these guides:

• Enemy Files FAQ, by Tai Chi (Chi Wai Ho)[gamefaqs.gamespot.com]
  
• Collectable & Secret Mission Walkthrough, by FutureEcho[www.playstationtrophies.org].

There are two entries that relate to a finishing move that the enemy only performs once your health bar is in the red. These attacks will generally kill you, and you will then need to use a Yellow Orb, because otherwise you reload from a previous save and the entry won't be recorded. So it is generally recommended to obtain these entries in a playthrough where you do not aim for the no-Yellow-Orbs achievement. Note that it is possible to obtain these entries without dying, if you somehow manage to evade the attack, or if you quickly use a Vital Star after the enemy started the animation (thanks to SpiderSausage for the tip).

• Blade Entry #5. Its groundside finishing move, that it sometimes performs when your health is in the red. A good spot to get it is the first encounter at the beginning of Mission 9.
  
• Blade Entry #7. Its underwater finishing move, that it sometimes performs when your health is in the red. Good spots to get it are at the beginning of Mission 12 or 13.

There are some entries that can only be obtained in Normal mode. So make sure to get these ones during your first playthrough if you want to go for all achievements in only 3 playthroughs. Although these enemies appear early in Normal, so if necessary you still can replay the first few missions in Normal after beating DMD.

• Shadow Entry #8 When it shoots its spear at you, jump on top of it, and blast it with your handguns. You need to deal enough damage so that it turns red, so it's a lot more difficult or even impossible on Hard/DMD, even with Devil Trigger activated.
  
• Sin Scythes all Entries. These enemies do not spawn at all in Hard/DMD. The last mission where you encounter them in Normal is Mission 16 (when you return to the castle with the Wheel of Destiny). You can respawn them indefinitely by entering/exit the area where you found Ifrit.

Marionettes / Bloody Marionnettes
[#1] Meet it. [#2] It fires a shotgun [#3] It throws daggers, [#4] It throws blades, [#5] It leaps onto you, [#6] It makes a war cry that immobilizes you. [#7] Kill it. For #2-4, check out which weapon they are carrying (and kill them last if you need the Entry). For #5-6: stay close and have Devil Trigger off.

Sin Scissors
[#1] Meet it. [#2] Kill it. [#3] Attack the cape [#4] It descends to attack [#5-6] Critical Hit, this is required for Secret Mission #1 (see Mission Guides). [#7] When there are several of them, wait for them to circle quickly around you.

Sin Scythes
[#1] Meet it. [#2] Kill it. [#3] Attack the cape [#4] It throws the Scythe [#5] Evade the thrown scythe [#6] It puts an umbrella (see below) [#7] It jumps you after the umbrella (see below) [#8] Let them quickly circle around you. [#9] Stun it by hitting the thrown scythe (see below) [#10] Shoot the thrown scythe with your guns, in Devil Trigger [#11] Shoot its head with your guns. [#12] Critical hit (see below).

• #6 and #7: Wait for it to put some kind of umbrella on the ground. It comes with unmistakable green-blue electric lines. It's not a common attack, but it will do it eventually. When it does, get close to the umbrella and let it catch you with its next attack. LonelySadness proposed in the comments a strategy to trigger it: after exiting the Coliseum in mission 16, chip away at the health of the 4 Scythes with pistols and they should circle around you (entry #8), after which they usually pull out the umbrellas.
  
• #9 and #12: Critical Hit. The enemy must not have been damaged previously. When it throws the Scythe at you (vertically), hit it with Alastor, then jump and shoot the shotgun in its ugly face while it is stunned. This doesn't always work, and may require multiple attempts. A "Cool" style indicator will appear when you finally get it right.

Death Scissors
[#1] Meet it. [#2] Try to escape the electric field it puts up [#3] It performs a screw attack [#4] Fight it in the air (Devil Trigger Alastor with Air Raid and/or Vortex) [#5] Shoot its head with your guns [#6] Jump slash its horns [#7] Attack its cape [#8] Hit its scissors with Alastor [#9] Its head glows red before an attack.

Death Scythes
[#1] Meet it [#2] It descends to attack [#3-4] Walk into the black tornadoes/elevators, and jump while inside [#5] It picks up 4 scythes (once it takes enough damage, don't finish it too quickly) [#6] Attack its cape [#7] Hit the scythe with Alastor (in Devil Trigger mode) to stun it.

Shadow
[#1] Meet it [#2] Attack the shadow form with Alastor (not in Devil Trigger) [#3] It attacks with ground spears [#4] You reveal its core [#5] Shoot at the core with guns [#6] It performs an air spin attack [#7] It shoots a spear at you. [#8] Jump on the spear and shoot it red (see below).

• Entry #8: Get it in Normal as it is difficult/impossible to obtain in Hard/DMD. When it shoots its spear at you, jump on top of it, and blast it with your handguns until it turns red (Devil Trigger not absolutely necessary, but can help dealing enough damage).

Beelzebub
[#1] Meet the blue one [#2] Get hit by the vomit from the blue one [#3] Meet the green one [#4] The green one feeds on his dead friends (kill a few others and wait) [#5] Turn your back to the green one, and let it leap onto you. [#6] The green one gets flipped on its back from your attacks.

Kyklops
[#1] Meet it. [#2] It shoots rocks from its mouth. [#3] Attack it.

Blade
[#1] Meet it. [#2] Hit it on the shield. [#3] Shoot at it. [#4] It fires blood projectiles at you. [#5] Ground finishing move (see below). [#6] Meet it underwater. [#7] Underwater finishing move (see below). [#8] Launch it in the air with Alastor and keep slashing while it's in the air. [#9] Knock it down face first, then attack from the air (e.g. jump above and slash down with Alastor). [#10] Attack it from behind (you can knock it down, take position, and wait until it gets back up).

• Entry #5: Finishing move that it sometimes performs when your health is in the red. Have to use a Yellow Orb afterwards to save the entry, as you'll most likely die in the process. It may require a few tries, until it decides to kill you with that move.
  
• Entry #7: Underwater finishing move (when your health is in the red). Have to use a Yellow Orb afterwards to save the entry, as you'll most likely die in the process. It may require a few tries as well.

Sargasso
[#1] Meet it. [#2] Approach it.

Nobody
[#1] Meet it. [#2] It drains your Devil Trigger gauge. [#3] Destroy its mask (and it grows bigger). [#4] It drops an eyeball. [#5] It throws the eyeball (see below). [#6] Let it grab you (stay close, with Devil Trigger off) [#7] It jump-kicks you (stay close, in front of it). [#8] Kill it and it explodes.

• Entry #5: It throws the eyeball. Try not to go too close to any eyeball on the ground (or it explodes). Wait and dodge, after a while it may pick it up. Keep waiting and dodging, not too close to the enemy, after a while it may throw the eyeball at you.

Fetish
[#1] Meet it. [#2] It throws flaming wheels. [#3] It leaps onto you (stay close, Devil Trigger off). [#4] It makes a war cry that immobilizes you (stay close, Devil Trigger off). [#5] It breathes fire.

Frost
[#1] Meet it. [#2] It slashes you. [#3] It throws ice projectiles. [#4] Go behind it. [#5] It freezes the ground below you (stay far away). [#6] It spawns ice spears from the ground (stay close). [#7] It levitates and dashes at you (stay at mid distance). [#8] Attack it until one of its body parts shatters. [#9] It regenerates lost body parts, surrounding itself with ice (leave it alone once damaged). [#10] Attack it with Ifrit.

Plasma
[#1] Meet the bat form. [#2] The bat shoots electric blades. [#3] Meet the humanoid form [#4] The humanoid fires a beam. [#5] The humanoid clones itself (attack it, but don't kill it too quickly). [#6] Shoot it with Nightmare-beta. [#7] Attack it with Alastor.

Phantom
[#1] Meet it. [#2] Attack its opened mouth. [#3] It attacks with its tail (stay close and dodge). [#4] It spawns fire pillars (stay away from it). [#5] It shoots a fireball. [#6] It shoots fireballs from its back (only during 2nd and 3rd encounter). [#7] Jump onto its back and attack it from there.

Nelo Angelo
[#1] Meet him. [#2] He throws an energy ball. [#3] He slashes at you with his sword [#4] He teleports. [#5] He does a Stinger move. [#6] He levitates and summons blue/green blades [#7] He uses these blue/green blades to protect himself (shoot it with grenades when it summons the blades). [#8] You get his pendant (automatic after defeating him).

• Entries #6-8 (and maybe #5?) can be obtained only during the last encounter in Mission 17.

Griffon
[#1] Meet it. [#2] It shoots horizontal lines of red electricity. [#3] Airborne, it releases a red energy ball that shoots two electric lines. [#4] It fires columns of red lightning (mission 15). [#5] It charges at you and attacks with its head (stay far away from it). [#6] It drops red energy balls from the sky. [#7] It goes high up in the sky and drops on your position, talons first (stay close to it). [#8] It attaches electric wings on you (mission 12). [#9] It lands on the ship, absorbs energy, and fires red lightning (mission 12).

• Entry #4 can be obtained only in Mission 15.
  
• Entries #8-9 can be obtained only in Mission 12.

Nightmare
[#1] Meet it. [#2] Shoot it with Nightmare-beta. [#3] It gets into armoured form. [#4] Let the slime form engulf you. [#5] It fires blue beams like a machine gun. [#6] It throws some sort of flying boomerang (2nd and 3rd encounter only). [#7] It attacks with spears (stay close to its side). [#8] It emits a white light when exposing its core. [#9] In slime form, it sends worms after you. [#10] It shoots homing projectiles when exposing its core (you may need to shoot at those). [#11] It drops a net on you (see below). [#12] It shoots a beam of freezing energy. [#13] It reveals its core. [#14] It drains your Devil Trigger gauge (let the core exposed without attacking it).

• Entry #11 This can only be obtained during the 3rd encounter (Mission 20). Let it stay in slime form for a while and eventually it will jump up to the ceiling (it might do this more often towards the end of the fight). Put yourself under it and it will catch you inside a net. You can slash your way through to get out.

Mundus
[#1] Meet him.

- How much longer are you gonna keep zapping? Come out and show yourself!

The Mission Guides below are meant as quick checklists to ensure that you do not to miss anything in each mission. They include:

• The Secret Missions (how to start them, and some tips on how to complete them).
  
• The location of all collectibles: Blue Orb (Fragment), Yellow Orb, Untouchable, Devil Star, Holy Water, as well as the weapons you can acquire.
  
• Some Red Orbs Statues and caches, and some possible locations to farm for Red Orbs.
  
• A few notes on good spots to get some enemy files.

Those Mission Guides are not walkthroughs, and do not include tips on defeating enemies. For this, you can find plenty of information elsewhere. I wanted to keep it short and simple so as to not distract much from just playing the game.

On subsequent playthroughs, you may still want to keep an eye on these Mission Guides, to make sure you don't miss any collectible items. You only need to complete each Secret Mission once (even though you could repeat them in higher difficulties). Blue Orb (Fragments) collected previously will be replaced by Yellow Orbs.

• Yellow Orb: In an alcove just up the stairs from where you started.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #1: Before passing under a small bridge, wall jump to get on top of it, then go inside the little tower on the left.

• Blue Orb Fragment #2: In the Main Hall, in an enclosed space left of the Mundus statue. Reach it by wall jumping from the ground floor.
  
  
• Red Orbs cache: You will get some free red orbs if you manage to jump on top of the lance of the horse statue. Start from the back of the horse, and once on its neck jump twice (but without the directional stick).
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #3: In the next room, destroy the four suits of armor.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #4: Climb to the top of the spiral staircase and go through the door. You'll see chains in the middle of the room (which is currently a dead end). The fragment is in a pool of water just to the right of the door.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #5: After unlocking the blue doors in the Main Hall, you'll find yourself in a room with an airplane. Climb on top of the right wing of the airplane. There is also a Red Orbs cache on the nose of the airplane.

• Blue Orb Fragment #6: At the start of the mission, you will be standing in a circular hallway. Go to the left and through the door at the end of the hall, to get inside a small room with a Divinity Statue (hourglass). Destroy the table to the left of the statue.
  
  
• Shotgun: When you pick up the Rusty Key from a painting, destroy the table on the other side of the floor.
  
  
• Red Orbs cache: In a courtyard with a fountain in the middle, jump on top of the fountain.

• Stinger: Make sure you have acquired this skill for Alastor before starting the mission.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #7: After the bridge collapse and the underwater fight, return to the other side of the bridge (either by platforming on the bridge pieces, or via the underwater way).
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #8: Back on the castle side of the broken bridge, wall jump to get on top of the porch above the door and you will reveal a Red Orbs cache. From that position, face towards the bridge and use the Stinger ability to leap away, you should end up on a piece of bridge and receive the blue orb fragment.
  
  
• Secret Mission #1 (Blue Orb Fragment #9): After defeating Phantom, return to the broken bridge and jump into the water. To one-hit-kill the Sin Scissors you need to 1) wait until the scissors are wide open and hit them with Alastor. The Sin Scissors will be destabilized and hold the scissors with only one hand. 2) Quickly step closer, aim the shotgun and shoot it point-blank right in its ugly face. If it dies, you'll receive your blue orb fragment. If you fail, you can re-try as much as you need, but you will be losing health constantly while in the water (although that won't kill you).

• Red Orbs Farm: When the mission starts, run down the circular hallway until a cutscene shows the return of Phantom. Keep running until the end of the hallway, jumping to avoid the fireballs. Then turn around and destroy the beast. This will net you 500 orbs. Save and Reset, then reload and go again. Purchasing Air Raid and ideally also Air Hike for Alastor, and maybe one or two Purple Orbs, would be very useful for your survivability and ability to retrieve collectibles.
  
  
• Secret Mission #2 (Blue Orb Fragment #10): At the very start of the mission, equip your pistols, and head back through the statue/door and into the Cathedral. You need to shoot and kill 100 mini-spiders within the allocated time. There are several groups of them, so kill a bunch then move on to another spot.
  
  
• Secret Mission #3 (Blue Orb Fragment #11): After completing Secret Mission #2, run down to the end of the circular hallway, and enter the room with the Divinity Statue. This time you cannot use weapons, so just run around to stomp them.
  
  
• Enemy File: Shadow Entry #8: In the courtyard with the fountain, a battle takes place with Shadow. This is an opportunity (you'll have more later) to obtain an entry that can only be unlocked in Normal difficulty. Jump on his spike, then shoot it until it turns red. Devil Trigger may be needed to do enough damage.
  
  
• Secret Mission #4 (Blue Orb Fragment #12): After defeating Shadow, go back in the circular hallway and towards the room with the Divinity Statue, but take the door on the other side of the painting, to return to the room with the airplane. Save your game and activate the circular switch to take the elevator down.
  
  This is a tough one, as you need to defeat 3 Shadows. Roll and dodge as much as you can, and shoot them with the shotgun. When one turns to an orb, Devil Trigger and attack it with the sword. When it turns red, jump and dodge for your life until it explodes. Having Air Hike (double jump) and items like Vital Star / Devil Star can help. If you die, you fail. In that case, make sure to directly RESET and reload a previous save, since this is the only way to re-attempt this Secret Mission.
  
  
• Red Orbs cache: When you find yourself in a bedroom, jump on top of the bed.

• Air Hike & Air Raid: You want to have Air Raid and ideally Air Hike (double jump), before starting this mission. You'll be fighting Shadow as soon as the mission starts. Try to have your Devil Trigger full by the end of the fight, as it will make it easier to grab the collectibles. The mission is on a timer. It is very forgiving, but save your game once you've collected everything, in case the timer runs out.
  
  
• Untouchable & Red Orbs cache: After the fight, climb up to the upper walkway where the battle with Nero Angelo ended in the previous mission. At the end of the walkway there is a large square tower on your left (mostly off-camera from that position). You can easily get on top of it with a double jump. Alternatively, you can get there by jumping on the wall at the end of the walkway and redirecting towards the ledge of the tower, but it's more difficult.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #13: From the top of that square tower, activate Devil Trigger and use Air Raid to float towards the smaller tower on the opposite side of the walkway. Get inside and you'll receive the blue orb fragment. It's also possible, but a lot more tricky, to grab the ledge by wall jumping from the walkway.

• Blue Orb Fragment #14: At the start of the mission, head to Dante's right into a dead-end corridor. There is an alcove (or broken wall) on the left side, walk into it, stand there or maybe jump a bit, to release the blue orb fragment.
  
  
• Red Orb Statue: When you get out of the room where you collected the Rusty Key, enter and follow the small corridor in front of you to find some green orbs and a red orb statue that you can smash.

• Red Orbs Farm: Run back to where you came from during the previous mission, and Phantom will once again attack you. Same strategy as in Mission 4. Destroy the beast for 500 Orbs, save, reset and reload.
  
  
• You could already attempt the next Secret Mission by going back into the room where you found the last Rusty Key. But better leave this for later, as your health is currently draining.

• Secret Mission #5 (Blue Orb Fragment #15) Backtrack through the bedroom and jump down the tower, all the way to the room where you found the last Rusty Key in Mission 6. You will be facing two Kyklops, and have to make sure of one them kills the other. Visualize the middle point between the two of them, and keep jumping over that point, from one side to the other of the Kyklops. They should be spitting rocks at each other. If one of them jumps at you, double jump to try to avoid any damage. When one dies, you'll get your blue orb fragment, and you can kill the other or just leave.
  
  
• Red Orbs Farm: As you make your way back to the tower, you'll be attacked by Sin Scissors/Scythes (at least in Normal). Kill them, then enter the tower, and you'll be facing some bugs. Kill them, then use the same door to go back into the sewers. Basically, you have one door with enemies on both sides, who respawn as soon as you come through the door.

• Blue Orb Fragment #16: After defeating Phantom, do not jump down the ledge, but use Stinger to leap away from it. You'll land on a small platform with the blue orb fragment. Alternatively, you can also reach it from the courtyard with the Trident, by jumping from the head of a horse statue.
  
  
• Red Orbs caches: In the same courtyard with the Trident, on top of the left horse statue. And another one on top of the small fountain to the right of the horse statues.
  
  
• Grenade Gun: On a skeleton next to the trap door in the room below that courtyard.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #17: After using the Trident, you will have to rush down to the room downstairs, before the metal gate closes. When you succeed, do not go through the next doors just yet, but jump over the railing into the pool of water on the right.

• Red Orbs caches: After crossing the drawbridge at the beginning of the mission, wall jump on top of each of the 3 pillars with a flat top.
  
  
• Devil Star: In the center of the same area, pick it up behind the large tablet.
  
  
• Enemy File: Blade Entry #5: After descending a spiral staircase, you'll encounter the Blade enemy in a large outdoor area. If you're not on a no-Yellow-Orbs run, this is not a bad place to try to have it perform a finishing move on you.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #18: In the same area, walk to the (camera) right from the entrance and you will reach a tombstone. Attack it until it moves to reveal the blue orb fragment. In the same area, you can also find a Yellow Orb (in a corner on the other side from the entrance), and Holy Water (follow the path straight from the entrance but go to the left before the gate. It is on top of a small circular building).
  
  
• Devil Star and Yellow Orb: In the next area (where you find Ifrit), at the two opposite extremities of the top floor.
  
  
• Holy Water: After beating the demons in the misty garden, jump on top of the tree stump (which will reveal a Red Orbs cache), then double jump from there in direction of the wall (to the right if facing the building with a door) and you should reach a protruding platform.
  
  
• Yellow Orb and Devil Star: In the next area, with a staircase and tombstones. The Yellow Orb sits on an elevated platform to the right. Then get on top of the cylindric structure to the left (bottom of staircase) and then jump over the wall. The Devil Star is behind a breakable tombstone. There is also a Red Orbs statue.

• Red Orbs cache: When you start the mission, you will pass below a wooden structure with cow skulls, wall jump on top (or near) the right post.
  
  
• Red Orbs cache: The second (or third) time that you pass through the area, interact once again with the tablet that released the white light.
  
  
• Holy Water: After fighting the Kyklops, on the ground in the left-side corner of the area, next to a green Orb and some statues.

• Secret Mission #6 (Blue Orb Fragment #19) When the mission starts, turn around and go back through the door. There will be some Sin Scissors in the area but they won't attack you. You need to jump and enemy jump on their heads to get high enough to catch the Blue Orb in the air above you. Air Hike and Air Raid can help a lot. Once you catch it, you're free to kill the enemies or just leave the area directly.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #20: You'll find yourself facing a Death Scythe in a Courtyard with a large tree in the middle and two greenhouse areas isolated by glass walls, on each side. On the far end of the left greenhouse area, you'll notice the Blue Orb Fragment sitting on a pedestal. You can access it by wall jumping on a ledge and going through a hole on the other end of that same greenhouse area.
  
  
• Devil Star: There are some platforms above the entrance that you can access by wall jumping. You'll find some Red Orbs, and you can jump to a floating platform for the Devil Star.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #21: Drop down the pit between the entrance and the tree, and dispatch the Blades. There is also a Divinity Statue and a weak wall that you can destroy to release more Blades. The blue orb fragment will appear in the middle of the circular room, once all the Blades are have been murdered.
  
  
• Red Orbs cache: On a ledge right above the place where you find the Sign of Chastity.
  
  
• Red Orbs farm: The Blades in the pit respawn if you leave and re-enter the pit.

• Red Orb statue: On the left side of the cavern when you first see the ship.
  
  
• Untouchable In the first underwater room that you enter inside the ship, swim a bit to the right and examine the treasure chest.
  
  
• Enemy File: Blade Entry #7: This is your first encounter with underwater Blades. If you're not on a no-Yellow-Orbs run, this is not a bad place to try to have it perform a finishing move on you.
  
  
• Needlegun In the upper dry room inside the ship, next to the small staircase.
  
  
• Devil Star Examine the wooden chest in the same exact spot where you picked up the Needlegun.
  
  
• Red Orb caches: When you reach the deck of the ship, do not investigate the door just yet. Climb up each of the three masts to pick up some visible Red Orbs. There are some hidden ones: first mast (from the back of the ship), left side of second level; second mast, right side of second level; third mast, right side top level.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #22: Get in the center of the top level of the third mast, and use the Stinger ability to leap in direction of the front of the ship. You should land on the bow and receive the blue orb fragment.

• Blue Orb Fragment #23: After you pick up the Staff of Hermes and the cabin gets flooded, exit through the vent and fight the Blades to unlock the exit. But first swim down the hole directly on your left when you exited the vent, next to where you found the Needlegun. You'll see the Blue Orb Fragment guarded by some more Blades.

• Secret Mission #7 (Blue Orb Fragment #24): Head back inside the ship all the way through the ventilation shaft and into the Captain's cabin and interact with the Captain. You'll have to defeat 8 Blades. Try not to get surrounded, and focus your fire on the same enemy until it dies (they'll usually drop Green orbs that will help you stay alive).
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #25: When you exit the ship and jump out of the water, go and jump into the pool of water on the other side of the ship. The blue orb fragment is visible from afar and hard to miss.
  
  
• Holy Water: When you enter the corridor in the cavern, there are two chests directly to your left before the staircase. The Holy Water is in the open one.

• Blue Orb Fragment #26: After riding up the elevator, double jump over the stairs to reach an elevated platform on the right and retrieve the blue orb fragment. From there, you can double jump (or Air Raid) to get on top of the elevator's pavilion, and again to reach the rock platforms on the other side of the area. Climb up to the top above the waterfall to find a Yellow Orb.
  
  
• Holy Water: Down in the water at the center of the waterfall. It cannot be seen, but can be grabbed if you're close enough.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #27: The next area is a cliffside with some enemies and 3 entrances. The top one is the one you came from. The bottom one is the exit. Take the middle one, climb up some platforms and cross the bridge. You will see a Red Orbs Statue to the left, and you can jump down on a platform to the right for the blue orb fragment.
  
  
• Devil Star: After unlocking the door with 200 Red Orbs, you will be in an area with a staircase. Defeat the enemies and grab the Devil Star on a platform to the left. If you go up the circular building to the right, and follow the narrow path behind the wall, you will reveal a Red Orbs cache.

• Red Orbs farm: If you backtrack towards the waterfall area, you'll have a bunch of enemies to fight. It's on the way to the next Secret Mission, which might require a few attempts anyway. Just make sure to save when you reach the elevator.
  
  
• Secret Mission #8 (Blue Orb Fragment #28): Backtrack all the way to the waterfall area and take the elevator down. Go to the right (Dante's left) and examine the skull engraving at the end of the corridor, before the area with the spikes. You'll have to defeat 3 Shadows. You should more or less know how to do this by now, but there is not much room to fight. You might be able to take them one by one (or at least not 3 at the same time) if you try to stay close to the skull engraving and don't backtrack too much towards the elevator.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #29 and Holy Water: Past the door with the Blue Shield Emblem, grab the Luminite and jump on a small platform right above it for a Red Orbs cache. Then down the stairs, dispatch the enemies and break the weak wall. Destroy all the junk in the next room to get the blue orb fragment, holy water, and a bunch of red orbs.
  
  
• Yellow Orb: Past the door with the Red Shield Emblem, you'll find a Red Orbs cache at the same place, and a Yellow Orb in the room full of junk.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #30: At the end of the area behind the Red Shield Emblem, do not directly grab the shiny item on the pedestal (Nightmare beta weapon, or the Pair of Lances if you started with the Red instead of Blue Shield Emblem area). Jump down the pit, kill the enemies, and wall jump under the small platform with the shiny item. This should release the blue orb fragment, which you can pick by going on top of that platform. Do not pick the item until you've acquired the blue orb fragment.
  
  
• Untouchable: Once you've dealt with the two Shield Emblem rooms, go back through the large open gate, and climb up to the platform where you previously found Ifrit.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #31: Open the door with the Pair of Lances to enter the Coliseum. Do not go in the center of the area, but take one of the elevators on the side. Run across the very top side of the bridge. The blue orb fragment will appear when you reach the glass section in the middle. You can also find two green orbs and a Yellow Orb around the top floor of the Coliseum walls.

• Complete Blue Orb #1: At the very start of the mission, next to the elevator.
  
  
• Secret Mission #9 (Blue Orb Fragment #32): After exiting the Coliseum, directly go back inside. You need to enemy jump on top of the skulls to reach the blue orb fragment. Make sure to equip Alastor for the double jump (and to avoid burning the skulls with Ifrit and Rolling Blaze).
  
  
• Enemy Files (Sin Scythes): You have four of them when you exit the Coliseum. They respawn if you exit the area (e.g. via the Ifrit gate), and you can even trigger some of them individually. This is the last time you will see them (in Normal, they don't spawn in Hard/DMD), so unless you plan another Normal playthrough, make sure to get all the entries now.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #33: Back into the main hall of the castle (as in Mission 1), the blue orb fragment is under the stairs on the right side of the room.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #34: Still in the main hall, hovering in the air between the horse statue and the Divinity Statue. Reach it with Air Raid, or Stinger from the head of the horse or from the Divinity Statue.
  
  
• Red Orbs farm: In the next room after the blue doors, you'll meet some Plasmas. You can just walk back through the door into the main hall, and then return, to make them respawn.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #35: In the circular corridor after the airplane room. Go to the left and jump around in front of the painting next to the door that leads to the small room with a Divinity Statue.
  
  
• Red Orbs cache: In the last section of the corridor before the door to the cathedral, jump / wall jump near the place where there used to be another door..
  
  
• Secret Mission #10 (Blue Orb Fragment #36): After defeating Nightmare, go back to the airplane room. You need to find and defeat 4 Shadows. Two are in the airplane room, one is in the main hall, and one is in the room with the 4 suits of armor (take the red door from the main hall).
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #37 and Untouchable: After using the Staff of Hermes, jump into the mirror on the right. The fragment is on the side of the bed, the Untouchable on top of it.

• Secret Mission #11 (Blue Orb Fragment #38): At the start of the mission, directly go back through the teleporter. You must cross the broken bridge without falling in the water. It may be tempting to use Air Raid, but you will need it for the Secret Mission itself (though you can still use a Devil Star). If you fall in the water, you must RESET and reload a previous save.
  
  The goal of the secret mission is to reach the blue orb fragment high up in the air above the center of the broken bridge. First, try to get high enough (either by using the Death Scythe with its black elevators and jumping on its head, or by climbing above the door to the cathedral and wall jumping some more). When you are high enough, activate Devil Trigger and Air Raid, and float towards the center of the bridge. You will see the blue orb fragment and whether or not you are indeed high enough. If at any point you fall into the water, you'll fail the mission and need to RESET and reload a previous save Once you catch it, go back through the mirror.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #39: After defeating the Dragon, wall jump to the upper floor above the entrance area, and go to the right to find an outdoor balcony. Stand in the middle of that balcony to release the fragment.

• Blue Orb Fragment #40: When you find yourself underwater, explore the different rooms and shoot the barrels to release some red orbs. The last prison cell on the left contains nothing but a single barrel, which hides the fragment.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #41: Once out of the water, you'll return inside a familiar tower. Activate the circular switch to flood the area, and swim up right above the first protruding platform (so you can land on it when the water drains).
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #42: A battle with Nightmare will take place in a familiar courtyard (which had a fountain and a Lion statue in the early missions). Do not trigger the battle by interacting with the fire. But instead jump to the upper level, and go through the door. Follow the corridor until you reach the blue orb fragment at the end.

• Blue Orb Fragment #43: After going through the mirror and getting out of the bedroom, you will be in the mirror version of the Courtyard where you first fought Nelo Angelo. Wall jump next to the door to get to the upper level, and you should see the blue orb fragment floating next to a large square tower. Double jump on top of the tower, then grab the fragment by dropping off the other side of the tower (jump but without pushing the left directional stick). You could use Air Raid, but better save it for the next fragment.
  
  
• Blue Orb Fragment #44: Go back on top of the square tower then use Air Raid to float into the thin tower on the other side, in the same (mirrored) location as the blue orb fragment in Mission 5. It seems that you must collect fragment #43 first (or maybe even all of the previous?), or this one doesn't appear.

• Enemy File: Nightmare Entry #11: This third fight with Nightmare is the only moment where you can obtain this entry. Let it stay in slime form until it jumps on the ceiling (might need to hurt it a bit first). Then stand under it so it drops its net on you. Escape by slashing through it.

• Untouchable: Backtrack through the white door to the area where you fought Nightmare. The item is behind a pillar on the far end of the room, to the right of the red door.
  
  
• Holy Water: Go back in the room where you started the mission. The Holy Water is on the floor, to the right of the door with claws.
  
  
• Secret Mission #12 (Complete Blue Orb #2, Bangle of Time): From the same room, examine the wall in front of the Divinity Statue to reveal a secret passage. Head down the corridor and always take the right path. You'll be fighting some Nobodies and you will see the Blue Orb in one of those arenas. You'll eventually reach a green door. Smash the Red Orb statue and climb up the platforms right next to the entrance. Defeat the dragon (only melee attacks), and the enemies that will appear afterwards. Some new platforms will appear. Just climb up until you find the Bangle of Time.

• Nothing here, have fun!

• Nothing here, have fun!

- Let's rock baby!

Except for the bosses, it's really not that hard, as long as the enemies do not go in Devil Trigger mode. There are lots of enemies that can be skipped, so skip them. For the rest, Ifrit + Grenade rolling (Grenade launcher, then jump or side-roll to reload cancel and shoot faster) takes care of most situations. Alastor+Pistols for Shadows. Besides a few Yellow Orbs, I didn't need any items, outside of the boss fights.

Items can make Dante Must Die a lot easier. This is why people often recommend to make several farming playthroughs for preparation. Here is a rundown of the different types of items, and how much I needed them myself:

• Yellow Orbs Since Blue Orb fragments are replaced by Yellow Orbs on subsequent playthroughs, you should have plenty. And you don't need that many. I used a few for each boss fight, until I got a good start. But once you use other items, you're better off restarting the mission (otherwise these items are wasted).
  
  
• Vital Star You can only carry one, and can only acquire it from the shop. It costs 5,000 Red Orbs in Dante Must Die, so better come prepared. Counting one per mission with a boss fight, that's 14x5000 = 70,000 Red Orbs. That is to be really safe: I only used 9 myself, and Red Orbs are collected during the Dante Must Die playthrough as well, and you don't need Red Orbs for anything else at this point, Just don't forget to buy a new Vital Star after using it.
  
  
• Holy Water You can collect 7 per playthrough. So that's already 21 even without additional farming runs, assuming you don't use any in Normal/Hard. They are rather useful to trim the health of bosses (although they don't work on Mundus; and from my experience, better not use them directly on Nightmare either). I ended up using a total of 11 Holy Waters on boss fights, and a few more on small enemies during the last missions. I could have made some boss fights practically trivial by using more, but it felt a bit like cheating.
  
  
• Devil Star You can collect 6 per playthrough. So that's already 18 even without additional farming runs, assuming you don't use any in Normal/Hard. They are always mildly useful in any fight, but save at least 10 for Mundus (see below), just in case. I ended up using 6 on Mundus, and 5 during the other boss fights.
  
  
• Untouchable You can collect 5 per playthrough. So that's already 15 even without additional farming runs, assuming you don't use any in Normal/Hard. This is a rather useful item, as not only does it make you invincible for a short (but not that short) amount of time, it also gives you full Devil Trigger during that time. Save at least 4 for Mundus (see below), just in case. I used 12 during the other boss fights, mostly to be really safe and avoid any last minute disappointment once the boss was close to death.

Overall, if you collect all items and don't use any during Normal/Hard, DMD is very doable without additional farming runs. Though 1 or 2 of those runs can make things feel safer and more comfortable, even if you end up not really needing them. If you had to use items to go through Hard, then definitely make one or a few farming runs. The Untouchables are probably the ones in most limited supply (10-12 before starting DMD should be enough, 15-20 is good, more if you want to be really safe or cheese most of the boss fights).

These are just a few tips that I gathered during my own playthrough, and certainly not meant as a full strategy guide. Look up online if you have specific troubles with a boss fight.

Phantom
Grenade roll to recharge Devil Trigger. And attack either with Inferno, or (slower but safer) one Stinger hit in the face then jump back. Didn't really need any items, except 2 Vital Stars over the 3 fights.

Nelo Angelo
The first two fights are not too difficult, with Ifrit and some jumping around. I only needed a Vital Star during the second fight. The third fight is another story, as he does a ton of damage. A few (4-6) Holy Waters make things more bearable.

Griffon
The first fight (mission 9) can be skipped by not going to grab Ifrit (since you already have it).
For the second fight on the boat, equip your pistols to quickly get rid of the flying thing that grabs you, and I used mostly Alastor with Air Raid ranged attacks. Third fight was mostly against the camera for me, grenades and ranged Devil Trigger attacks and/or Inferno when it's on the ground. Besides Vital Stars, I used a couple Untouchables and Holy Waters to finish the fights safely.

Nightmare
Use Ifrit charged punches/kicks on the core, with Devil Trigger active. You need to do a maximum of damage in as few hits as possible to not break the core (half-broken green is still ok; but if it turns red, it's really bad news, as that means it will have a lot of damage resistance... and it stays broken for the next fights!). Recharge Devil Trigger by letting it turn to slime and grenade rolling. You could use Holy Water when the core is exposed, but that seemed to break the core really quickly, so I avoided. Holy Water is fine for the inside bosses though (Phantom, Griffon, Nelo Angelo).

Mundus
You can fight him fair. The first part just avoid the attacks when you're far away. When you get closer, make a circling movement over half the screen: come down in the middle shooting at the orbs or Mundus, then (with speed boost - jump button) go to one side, up, and back towards the middle. This should protect you from most attacks, except the white beam (for this do the evade move, with the sword attack button). The second part well, Shotgun, and Round Trip, and fireballs. And avoid taking too much damage. Might take a few attempts. I guess... I did not bother tbh.

Or with some items, you can make the fight a lot easier. For the first part, fill your Devil Trigger with 2 Devil Stars, then make the dragon attack, then repeat. It takes 10-12 Devil Stars. For the second part, Untouchable then jump in the lava and just attack him with the sword. And use another Untouchable as soon as the lava starts damaging you. It takes 4 Untouchables.

- It looks like we have a winner!

Well that was a cool game. Challenging but in the end nothing too difficult nor time consuming. I have about 50 hours playtime on Steam (including a lot of idle time, in good part writing bits for this guide), and my save file indicates about 25 hours (which does not include reloads). So maybe 30-35 hours, and I'm sure it can be done a lot faster, since I'm not particularly good or anything.

I hope you liked the guide, let me know if it helped!



If you're interested, I made similar guides for DMC2, DMC3, and DMC4:
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2940707560
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2949541899
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2992272611