Devil May Cry 5 (DMC 5) - Advanced Combat Techniques Guide

Devil May Cry 5 Advanced Combat Techniques

Devil May Cry 5’s combat system is somewhat similar to fighting games, requiring a fair amount of practice and skill to maximize damage done to enemies. While it is possible to finish the entire game without having to use any of the techniques described below, it is satisfying to pull off flashy maneuvers during battle to raise your Stylish Rank.

A majority of the techniques below require a bit of practice to execute consistently, so take time getting comfortable with them in Void Mode.

Jump Canceling

Jump canceling is a mechanic that allows the player to perform extended combos in the air using the Enemy Step Ability to increase their damage potential. Jump canceling is the act of stopping the recovery frames of an aerial attack by jumping off an enemy as if you had already touched the ground. This allows you to spam attacks at a much faster rate than usual. It additionally lets you use attacks which would normally be only usable once per jump multiple times in the air.

To perform a Jump cancel, you must tap Jump at the exact moment your attack hits an enemy. If done correctly, your character should jump off the foe. This allows you to quickly follow up with another attack, which can also be jump canceled. Jump canceling skips a huge amount of recovery frames, making it possible to spam and connect attacks together.

Below is an example of jump canceling Calibur to Gerbera’s Jockey. This allows the player to perform multiple Caliburs while staying in the air the whole time.

The second example is jump canceling Nero’s Double Down, allowing the player to remain airborne indefinitely. You’ll need to press Jump at the exact moment Double Down hits to stay in the air. Performing it too early will cancel the hit frame of the move and performing it too late will send you plummeting to the ground.

Almost all attacks can be jump cancelled. The only exceptions are charged Devil Breaker attacks and Devil Breaker detonations.

Each attack has a different timing to when they can be jump canceled, so try to familiarize yourself with each.

Nero’s Color Up Charge Storage

Nero’s Color Up allows you to equip a maximum of three special bullets that deal more damage when firing with Blue Rose. The problem with the ability’s default mechanic is that the moment you release the Shoot button, Nero will automatically fire one of the bullets. This could otherwise be saved for a combo. You can store Nero’s three bullets by canceling the shot animation when the button is released by using a separate attack.

First, begin charging Color Up. Then, without letting go of the □ button, move your thumb toward the melee attack button and perform a single slash. If this seems hard too do, you can switch the melee and ranged attack buttons. There is a specific window where the slash attack will allow you to release the shoot button and save all three bullets.

If you’re having trouble timing the window to cancel Color Up’s release, you can perform Nero’s Streak, which has a considerably larger window for canceling Color Up’s release.

Nero’s Devil Breaker Charging

You can charge Nero’s Devil Breaker to perform its charged ability while still being able to throw out melee and ranged attacks by switching the Devil Breaker attack button (o) with the Devil Beaker detonation button (L1.) This does require a bit of getting used to, but the rewards of being able to connect your charged Devil Breaker attack during combos will pay off in the form of a high Stylish Rank.

Dante’s Mid Combo Style Change

You can quickly change Styles when using Dante by using your left index finger to tap the Directional Pad. Again, it might seem awkward at first, especially since it forces you to switch Dante’s guns with your middle finger, but being able to connect Style-specific moves to each other will allow more freedom to experiment with in combos that would otherwise be impossible to pull off.