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	This article is a stub and is missing information. You can help the Devil May Cry wiki by expanding it. Reason: fill the Gameplay section, add Concentration level effect per weapon/ability

Concentration (コンセントレイション, Konsentoreishon^?) is one of Vergil's basic gameplay mechanics in DMC4SE and DMC5SE. It is a combat mechanic that rewards calm and precise play.

Concentration is represented by the Concentration/Focus Gauge (集中ゲージ, Shūchū Gēji^?) which is located to the left and above the Vitality Gauge. It has 3 levels (0, 1, and 2/Max)—a high level of Concentration enhances attack properties such as damage and range, and grants access to unique moves.

Concentration increases during an enemy encounter when standing still, walking slowly, using Trick Actions and when successfully hitting an enemy. Avoiding incoming attacks with any form of dodge (while locking-on) such as a Side Roll or with a jump's starting invulnerability frames instead gain a large amount of Concentration.

One must be aware that perfect-dodging and landing attacks (with each action among them varying in gain amount) while also gaining Concentration, also halts the usual passive gain rate for a while until a few seconds pass. Thus casting Summoned Swords also even when stationary halts the passive filling as well (though only a small bit of Concentration is gained when fired in tandem); the special Summoned Sword commands however, only halt the gain rate upon initial cast and not when already active.

On the other hand, Concentration decreases when running (which drains it), missing a physical-direct attack (which removes a chunk), getting an attack deflected (which removes a chunk) and getting hit (which removes a large chunk).

File

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition

DMC4SE Official website — Vergil

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition

DMC5SE Official website — Vergil

Gameplay

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition

The higher the Concentration level, the more potent Vergil's attacks will be in terms of overall damage and other mixed benefits. This is notable with Judgement Cut especially having its vortex size and slash amount increase massively (especially at max Concentration) for both the normal and Perfect version.

When at near max, Vergil emits a blueish-purple aura from his head-to-shoulders while also having a brief afterimage for most of his attacks. Vergil's Concentration levels will rise up faster when close-to-max, whereas being at lower levels give it a slower filling rate in comparison. Concentration at near-max is also required to execute Judgement Cut End whilst in Devil Trigger state, though using moves that are enhanced by Concentration does not deplete the gauge whatsoever (including usage of Judgement Cut End).

It should be heavily noted that Vergil outside of an enemy encounter (or just upon finishing one until the next time he ends up in combat) cannot gain nor decrease his Concentration level until he is within range of enemies; even when the battle theme is playing, Vergil MUST be close enough to an enemy target to cause an interaction with the Concentration Gauge. Not even getting hit by hazards can decrease his Concentration if Vergil is not in actual combat.

For each weapon, Vergil's Concentration levels provide the following buffs:

• Yamato: Increases the hitbox range of any of Yamato's unsheathed slashes, allowing Vergil to cut at targets from further away outside of the slash trail range. The size and damage potency of both normal and Perfect/Just Frame Judgement Cut also increase per level. Yamato's slash trails turn from white-to-blue as an indicator for high-enough Concentration.
• Beowulf: When full or near-full, grants all chargeable attacks the ability to freely use their Lv 2 just charge versions in the form of an extra 3rd charge tier, also being indicated by everything else being darkened a bit by the more intense flashes of light upon said charge level being released; while 1st and 2nd Beowulf charges can be held for as long as the player wants, 3rd charge tiers force the attacks to be unleashed.
• Force Edge: Attacks involving the weapon gain multi-hit properties as Vergil has afterimages trail his animations, as well as increasing the size and damage of Round Trip.

Upon activating Devil Trigger, Concentration reduces at a lesser rate overall due to the super armor effects, and has increased filling rate than usual; actions that deplete Concentration still will do so (including Vergil getting hit while in DT but not flinching) unless in the middle of performing Judgement Cut End.

Basic tips for maintaining Concentration

For most beginners, it is recommended that they get used to connecting gap-closing attacks, walking, perfect dodging, and making use of lock-on Air Trick teleports in order to properly maintain and/or increase concentration levels. This will help them maintain Vergil's potency throughout a fight and actively pay attention to multiple enemies and/or incoming attacks that must be preemptively avoided. Using camera isolation tricks to prevent enemies from attacking at once can also help Vergil maintain his rhythm.

Beginners might also try to jump away from enemies repeatedly to ensure Vergil can escape from them without accidentally running (as jumping has valuable invincibility frames on startup), as well as using Trick Up (Style/Trick Action button without locking on) to try and jump above in tandem with using Enemy Step. However, jumping, while giving small chunks of Concentration, also prevents it from generating as much as standing still or walking until Vergil stands idle or walks once more.

Spamming Summoned Swords also halts the rapid gain rate, though it's only the casting commands that do so; Spiral Swords, Blistering Swords, Storm Swords and Heavy Rain Swords all do not interfere with the gain rate if standing still after casting them.

In the end, simply keeping one's cool is key to maintaining Concentration, and once understood properly can allow players to perform advanced combos or minimal proper-timed movements without it depleting. Even if Concentration happens to be lost in the heat of combat, being patient and calculated is enough to gain enough of it back.

Note that getting any of Vergil's attacks deflected into a recoil also decreases Concentration by a chunk as well, so certain shielded enemies can be dangerous to recklessly attack unless you manage to avoid their counter attack to recover some Concentration in trade.

Projectile attacks such as Drive also will neither increase nor decrease Concentration, as only whiffing/missing with any directly-physical attacks removes chunks of Concentration (amount varies depending on the attack).

Be very wary that when making use of non-lock-on Tricks or Air Trick to zip around the battlefield across multiple enemies, there's a high chance you might struggle with the camera orientation frequently. Air Tricking in general should be done with caution unless you know you'll be able to safely get in and start an offense.

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition

While being akin to the same as before, Concentration now gives extra benefits to Vergil depending on the amount, and will be expended in accordance as a resource for specific actions. Though there are a number of notable changes:

• At lower levels, Concentration both fills up idly and lowers faster (such as when Vergil runs), though it fills up slower past Level 1.
• In trade, whiffing attacks or getting them deflected removes less overall chunks in comparison.
• Jumping in general now fills up the gauge in more consistent chunks.
• Trick Dodging (done by using the Trick/Style button in a direction while not locking on) now depletes Concentration, but not when used to dodge attacks. Perfect-dodging against attacks fills up more Concentration on top of the usual perks of increasing Style ranking and refilling DT runes.
• Landing any Just Charge/Perfect Judgment Cuts also fills up the gauge with notable chunks, unlike all other attacks which fill up by a small amount.
• Sin Devil Trigger state however, does not prevent Concentration from lowering when active, though build-up is still prevented when taking damage, running, and the like.

Essentially, the benefits provided for Yamato, Beowulf and Mirage Edge (in the place of Force Edge) largely remain the same as well as access to Judgment Cut End, though the other 2 Devil Arms now also have their own super attacks tied in tandem to the SDT gauge.

Block

Requires Concentration Level 1 or higher. Blocks any incoming attacks, preventing damage. Decreases the Concentration gauge upon use. At Concentration Level 2, Vergil will parry and deflect incoming projectiles towards the enemy he is locked-on to. This only works if Vergil is not in the middle of any of his attacking animations, otherwise he'll take damage normally.

At near max Concentration, Vergil's Block can also, if he's not moving while locking-on nor doing any other animations save for jumping, outright deflect certain attacks at a very small Concentration unit cost. Using Beowulf's Flush move to deflect such attacks instead will not trigger Block however.

World of V

Upon inputting a circle input while locked-on and ending with the Style button, Vergil turns away to impale himself with the Yamato, turning him into V for a brief period with enhanced mechanics where V floats in midair and automatically controls his familiars and attacks the entire area in real-time with their strongest attacks in a chaotic order. When the duration is about to end, V finishes it with a Royal Fork before landing back on the ground and transforms back into Vergil with the Concentration Gauge depleted.

At higher Concentration levels, this move lasts longer as V summons more of his familiars at once and restores more Vitality to Vergil (Level 2 causes him to enter Devil Trigger and also summon Nightmare). The period where Vergil swings out the Yamato and stabs himself just before turning into V can damage nearby enemies within range and both blows can knock most weaker foes back, but said range is quite close to point-blank. If done during SDT, then Vergil does not need to have high Concentration levels to activate World of V, but it will still empty his Concentration regardless afterwards.

Vergil can also get interrupted during the early period of trying to execute World of V, and will only have invulnerability frames when the Yamato nearly connects upon his body; it can also be executed in midair for safety if needed, but one must be careful to not fumble the circle motion and accidentally lock-on Air Trick to an enemy that will jeopardize Vergil. However, it's also possible to somewhat safely combo into World of V's input.

While Vergil does not need to have the Yamato currently equipped to execute this move, he will automatically switch to it upon stabbing himself with it; for the duration of World of V, Vergil can then toggle between his weapons freely even though he ends up with Yamato when he recovers from transforming back.

Despite its on-demand healing, the AI of V's familiars tend to fluctuate in their targeting; depending on where in the area Vergil activates World of V and/or how many enemies are present, it can be very likely that not all enemies will be properly caught in all of the attacks from each of V's familiars, and that his finishing Royal Fork might not be enough on its own. That, and it leaves Vergil with 0 Concentration afterwards.

Yamato

At Concentration Level 2, Yamato's unsheathed slashes will gain their prior increased attack reach. Vergil again gains access to the super attack Judgment Cut End, provided that he either is in Sin Devil Trigger or has a full SDT gauge in human form. This time, Yamato's slash trails now increase in size to provide proper visual of the increased attack range.

Beowulf

Level 2 gives Beowulf access to just frame Level 2 charge attacks in the form of a 3rd tier like before, while giving Vergil access to the super attack Hell on Earth, provided that he either is in Sin Devil Trigger or has a full SDT gauge in human form. This time however, 3rd tier charges can be held for as long as the player desires and will not automatically unleash the chargeable attacks/inputs.

Mirage Edge

Mirage Edge deals extra hits via an afterimage effect as a successor to Force Edge at Level 2, as well as enhancing Round Trip's size. Vergil can also perform the super attack Deep Stinger at Level 2, provided that he either is in Sin Devil Trigger or has a full SDT gauge in human form. This time however, the additional hits increase Enemy Stun time as opposed to dealing additional significant damage outright, as that is exclusively reserved for the Sin Devil Trigger's version of Stinger.

Deep Stinger is also the only super attack of Vergil's that provides full invincibility from the startup-to-duration, but at the cost of lower overall damage compared to the other super attacks (also made up for by doing a larger amount of continuous hits).

Super Attacks

For the aforementioned moves Judgment Cut End, Hell on Earth and Deep Stinger, they consume the SDT/Sin Devil Trigger gauge fully whenever Vergil is in human form, and not the current Concentration Level.

However, there is only a partial cost (30%) of the SDT gauge whenever Vergil performs any of the super attacks with SDT active while also not requiring it to be full. Thus, a worthy strategy that involves some prep time is to activate SDT, then immediately input the super of one's choosing (one must remember to have the proper weapon equipped first), and immediately transform back in the middle of the attack or after it whenever possible to conserve SDT. Though if Vergil is completely safe from any incoming attacks, his Concentration will remain high enough to allow Vergil to use another super attack straightaway with enough SDT left over + above-Level 2 Concentration. Though only 2-to-4 super attacks roughly are possible before the SDT gauge is fully drained if his Concentration Level doesn't decrease in the middle of it, where he must then build up Concentration again.

Because Vergil would be in SDT when performing the super attacks this way, he will also be able to armor-through a larger number of attacks without being interrupted. Even if his Concentration Level might be depleted upon getting hit, SDT's armor will prevent him from flinching and still execute the attack either way (though again as aforementioned, he will have to build Concentration for another round).

Also because the super attacks build a ton of normal DT runes, if needed, Accumulate can be used right after to expend built-up DT runes to fill the SDT gauge again for another go (unless again, he must build Concentration once more for some reason such as getting hit in the middle of executing a super attack). While the DT gain is far more substancial in human form, as a direct trade off to the super armor and decreased SDT gauge cost, this is offset by the need to then drain the entire DT gauge to either perform another super attack or transform into SDT.

Deep Stinger with its aforementioned full-on invulnerability is an exception to these overall strategies, as Vergil does not have to worry about ever getting hit by incoming attacks once he performs Deep Stinger, but at the same time the low amount of on-demand damage and being forced to commit to drilling towards his target can also put him into a difficult position. And even then, Vergil also cannot interrupt the super attack animations himself, so it can be possible to have to forcefully commit to using one unintentionally, since jumping or Tricking can no longer cancel their animations on accident or demand either.

References