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Each game in the Devil May Cry series includes several difficulty levels, in order to increase replayability. Traditionally, a grueling but feasible difficulty is accessible from the start, alongside an easier difficulty that is sometimes unlocked by repeatedly failing in the standard mode. Successive levels of difficulty are then unlocked each time the previous mode is completed, all the way up to a "Dante Must Die" mode, where enemies also gain access to Dante's signature Devil Trigger, or in later games a "Hell and Hell" mode, where the protagonist will also die in one hit.

Overview

All games start the player on a "normal" difficulty, but, after fulfilling certain criteria, the player can opt to play through the story missions again on a higher difficulty. Enemies have more Vitality and deal more damage, making the main character seem weaker. In addition, enemy behavior is altered: lesser demons become more aggressive, bosses will utilize their special attacks more often, and in the highest mode enemies even gain their own Devil Trigger. Typically, difficulties above the default will also alter enemy waves, having powerful enemies appear much sooner than they normally would.

Some games in the series feature cheats, DLC or other methods that allow the higher difficulty modes to be unlocked immediately, and starting out on a higher difficulty with a "fresh character" is a common type of skill run for seasoned players.

The player is allowed to keep items and abilities gained from each playthrough when moving to a higher difficulty, with the exception of Easy Automatic in Devil May Cry.

Modes by difficulty

• Easy - Bosses and enemies have less health and deal less damage than normal. This mode is only available from the start in Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 5. In Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry 3, it must be unlocked by dying 3 times on Normal Mode, or in Devil May Cry by using a Vital Star on the first mission. In Devil May Cry it is directly tied to Automatic Mode, and is called Easy Automatic, while Automatic Mode is optional in Easy mode in 3. It is called Human in Devil May Cry 4, DmC: Devil May Cry, and Devil May Cry 5.

• Normal - The default difficulty setting for each game. Devil May Cry’s "Normal Mode" is more difficult compared to other hack-and-slash games. It is called Devil Hunter in Devil May Cry 4, DmC: Devil May Cry, and Devil May Cry 5.

• Hard - Bosses and enemies deal more damage and may have higher vitality as well, depending on the game. This is unlocked after beating the game on Normal. In Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 5, it is called Son of Sparda. In DmC: Devil May Cry it is called Nephilim.

• Very Hard - Difficulty in Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition comparable to the unique "Americas Hard" difficulty in the original version of Devil May Cry 3 sold in the Americas. Strength and vitality of enemies is increased even more than in Hard Mode. However, it is still less than Dante Must Die mode. A similar intermediate difficulty called Son of Sparda is present in DmC: Devil May Cry.

• Must Die - Prefixed with the name of the main playable character (Dante Must Die in all games, Lucia Must Die in DMC2's Lucia Disc and Vergil Must Die in DmC Vergil's Downfall DLC). Enemies gain access to Devil Trigger, which they enter after a set period of time has passed since the start of the fight. Strength and vitality for enemies are usually also increased.

Additional Modes

• Automatic Mode (Easy Automatic in Devil May Cry)- Simplifies combat by automatically performing varied and stylish combos regardless of input timing; however, there is no control over which combo is executed. For more information, see the article.

• Turbo Mode - Only available for Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (except PS2 European PAL version), Devil May Cry 4 PC Version, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, DmC: Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition, and Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition. It makes the game run 20% faster. Not truly a difficulty mode, rather being a gameplay option. Can only be changed at option, not during a mission.

• Legendary Dark Knight - Only available for Devil May Cry 4 PC version, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, and Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition. The strength and vitality of enemies is comparable to those on Son of Sparda difficulty, but enemies spawn in hordes per encounter, and even additional enemies that are not originally present in that mission will spawn.

• Heaven Or Hell - Everything, even the player character, dies from one hit of any kind.

• Hell And Hell - Available in Devil May Cry 4, DmC: Devil May Cry, and Devil May Cry 5. Enemies adapt to the difficulty of Son of Sparda Mode, but the player character still dies in one hit.

• Gods Must Die - Available only in DmC: Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition. Even more difficult mode than Dante Must Die, this mode makes enemies even stronger in addition to removing the ability to use items as well as reducing Green Orbs' drops rate.

• Must Style - Available only in DmC: Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition. Enemies take hits as normal, but will not take damage unless the Stylish Rank is S or higher.

• Hardcore Mode - Available only in DmC: Devil May Cry: Definitive Edition. Auto projectile-parry moves are removed, regular parries can only be executed on the first hit of an attack string, Devil Trigger Float is removed, Devil Trigger no longer launches every lesser demon on screen the moment it's activated, and Stomp's Devil Trigger full-screen launch is also removed.

Modes by Game

Devil May Cry

Devil May Cry is known for its unforgiving difficulty. There are four modes in total.

• Easy Automatic - This difficulty is unlocked if the player uses a Vital Star or Yellow Orb on the first mission, Yellow Orb on the second or 2 Yellow Orbs on the third mission. After the mission result screen the game prompts to switch to Easy Automatic mode or stay on Normal mode. Regardless of the choice the player makes, it will be added to the difficulty options when starting a new game. Many things are different in this mode. The combat system has simplified controls with various melee combos executed simply by repeatedly pressing the attack button, firing guns no longer requires manual lock-on and is done just by pressing or holding the shoot button (this does however render Charged Shots inaccessible outside of Devil Trigger). Some high-level enemies won't even appear in normal missions, like the Frost, Fetish, and Shadow. Dante himself gains greater resistance to damage, deals more damage, and starts out with 1.5 times the normal starting vitality and double the normal starting DT gauge (because of that the player can only purchase two Blue Orbs and four Purple Orbs from the store menu). The various enemies encountered also have less health. Dante can buy up to three Vital Stars instead of just one, and the same for Untouchables. The purchase limit for Holy Waters and Devil Stars is raised from 5 and 10 respectively to 999. Health in Devil Trigger is recovered twice the normal rate. Does not unlock anything, and only allows the player to proceed into New Game+ in Easy Automatic.

• Normal - Default difficulty, and the only one initially selectable. Completing this mode and reloading the completed save allows the player to proceed into New Game+ in Hard mode.

• Damage to enemies: 100%
• Damage to player character: 100%

• Hard - Enemies deal 2 times more damage. In addition, enemy waves are changed, with powerful enemies appearing much earlier in the game, while weak enemies such as Beelzebubs and Sin Scythes appear less often. Health does not regenerate as quickly while Devil Trigger is activated. Completing this mode adds a "Character Change" section (this game's name for selecting a costume) prior to selecting difficulty when starting a new game, allowing the player to choose either Dante or The Legendary Dark Knight. It also adds Hard and Dante Must Die modes to the difficulty select when starting a new game. Loading the completed save allows the player to go into New Game+ in Dante Must Die mode.

• Damage to lesser enemies: 100%
• Damage to bosses and Kyklops: 33% (from melee attacks in DT – 100%)
• Damage to player character: 200%

• Dante Must Die - The hardest difficulty, Dante Must Die mode allows enemies to enter their own Devil Trigger state, granting them increased defense and damage output and making them more resistant to hit-stun, knockdowns and launches. Some battles also feature a timer which will allow all remaining enemies in the wave (including those which have not spawned yet) to enter DT if the wave is not defeated before it expires. Any room with a DT timer is a sealed-room battle, even if it was not in Hard mode. It otherwise uses the same altered enemy waves as Hard. Lesser enemies have the same damage output as in Hard mode, but bosses now deal 5 times the Normal damage. Devil Trigger does not regenerates health at all. Completing this difficulty adds "Super Dante" to the Character Change section: this mode uses Dante's standard character model, but grants him unlimited Devil Trigger.

• Damage to lesser enemies (not in DT): 100%
• Damage to bosses and Kyklops: 33%
• Damage to player character from lesser enemies and environment: 200%
• Damage to player character from bosses: 500%

In addition, the versions of Devil May Cry sold in the Americas and European regions on the Playstation 2 modify the damage Dante deals and takes to make the game more difficult for western audiences. Dante deals 0.8x damage after existing difficulty modifiers on Normal and Hard and takes 1.2x damage after existing difficulty modifiers on all difficulties (damage dealt on Dante Must Die is unmodified from the original Japanese release). The version of the game included in the Devil May Cry HD Collection uses the unmodified damage from the original Japanese release across all difficulties.^[1]

Devil May Cry 2

• Normal - This is the default mode of the game. It is a fairly easy mode: enemies start mild and receive full damage.

• Enemies' vitality: 100%
• Damage to enemies: 100%

• Hard - This difficulty mode is unlocked by beating Normal with both Dante and Lucia. Enemies are more hostile and receive less damage.

• Enemies' vitality: 100%
• Damage to enemies: 66%

• Dante Must Die/Lucia Must Die - This difficulty appears once you have beaten Hard with both Dante and Lucia. Enemies are extremely hostile, receive less damage and, on top of that, have increased health. All regular enemies can now activate their Devil Trigger, but only certain bosses like Orangguerra, Furiataurus, Bolverk, etc. can also go DT as well.

• Enemies' vitality (except Flambat, Spicere, Nefasvermis, Larvae eggs, Argosax the Chaos): 150%
• Damage to enemies: 66%

Devil May Cry 3

Devil May Cry 3 is said to be the most difficult game in the series, and the original release is often regarded as one of the most difficult games of all time. Enemies and Bosses generally get tougher while the player gets weaker as the difficulty increases. It's also worth noting that the style ranking has a direct impact on the difficulty of the game in terms of enemy patterns and aggressiveness on nearly all counts.

It should be noted that most difficulty levels were shifted up by one in the original Americas release, making the Americas 'Easy' equivalent to Japanese 'Normal', Americas 'Normal' equivalent to Japanese 'Hard', and Americas 'Hard' being a unique difficulty that would later be known in the special edition as 'Very Hard'. The Special Edition release returned to consistent difficulty mode names across all regions.

• Easy - Easy mode is not available at the beginning. It is unlocked by dying at least 3 times in Normal mode. Enemies in this mode generally deal less damage and take more damage. Bosses are more docile. Easy also has Automatic Mode a mode for players which allows them to perform complex combos by just repeatedly pressing a button without regard to timing.

• Damage to enemies: 200%^{[please confirm]}
• Damage to player character: 50%^{[please confirm]}

• Normal - The default mode of the game. The player and enemies take normal damage. Bosses are tough and attack frequently.

• Damage to enemies: 100%
• Damage to player character: 100%

• Hard - Unlocked by beating Normal. Enemies deal more damage and take less. Bosses attack more frequently.

• Damage to enemies: 85%
• Damage to player character: 125%^{[please confirm]}

• Very Hard - This difficulty is only available in the Special Edition version of the game. It is unlocked by beating the game on Hard. Bosses attack even more frequently. The player deals less damage and takes more damage from enemies. It introduces the enemy waves and boss patterns used in Dante Must Die mode.

• Damage to enemies: 75%
• Damage to player character: 200%^{[please confirm]}

• Dante Must Die - This difficulty is unlocked by beating the game on Hard. Enemies are more aggressive and deal more damage. They also have access to Devil Trigger and activate it after a certain period of time. Enemies will also Devil Trigger once witnessing the death of at least two demons, which can be mitigated by using Devil Trigger Explosion or deliberately not finishing off enemies at low health.

• Damage to enemies: 50%
• Damage to player character: 400%^{[please confirm]}

• Heaven Or Hell - New to the series is the Heaven Or Hell mode. It is unlocked by beating the game on Dante Must Die. In this mode, all Enemies and Bosses die in one attack. However, the player character also dies in one attack.

Devil May Cry 4

With each rise in difficulty, enemies and bosses generally get tougher and the player gets weaker. There are 6 modes for the console versions of the game with an additional mode for the PC version.

• Human - This is the equivalent of Easy difficulty. One of the default difficulty modes of the game. Enemies have less health, deal less damage and are quite docile. Bosses take more damage. The player deals more damage and takes less. Clearing all the missions on this difficulty unlocks the special artwork "The Two Heroes," and 29 character images for viewing in the Gallery.

• Damage to enemies: 150%
• Damage to player character: 50%

• Devil Hunter - This is the equivalent of Normal difficulty. One of the default difficulty modes of the game. Clearing all the missions on this difficulty unlocks the Bloody Palace, Son Of Sparda difficulty, and the special artwork "The Cast".

• Damage to enemies: 100%
• Damage to player character: 100%

• Son Of Sparda - This is the equivalent of Hard difficulty. It is unlocked by beating the game on Devil Hunter. Enemies have more health, are more aggressive, deal more damage and tougher enemies appear early on. The player deals less damage and takes more. Some of Nero's levels have more complicated paths. Clearing all the missions on this difficulty unlocks Dante Must Die mode, Heaven or Hell mode, and the special artwork "The Demons" and 12 additional pieces for viewing in the Gallery.

• Damage to enemies: 85%
• Damage to player character: 175%

  

• Dante Must Die - This difficulty is unlocked by beating Son Of Sparda mode. Enemies get tougher and bosses utilize more attacks. Enemies and also now have Devil Trigger and frequently use it, Bosses will also use DT if their health is low enough (Except both Dante fights, though he will utilize Lucifer, Gilgamesh, and Pandora as a trade-off). Clearing all missions on this difficulty unlocks Hell And Hell mode, the special artwork "Demon Invasion", and the Super costumes for Dante and Nero.

• Damage to enemies: 70%
• Damage to player character: 300%

• Heaven Or Hell - Unlocked by beating Son Of Sparda mode. Enemies and bosses all die in one attack. The player character also dies in one attack. However, the player character is given 3~4 lives to use whenever they die. Clearing all missions on this difficulty unlocks the special artwork "The Ladies of Devil May Cry."

• Hell And Hell - Unlocked by beating Dante Must Die. The player character dies in one attack, but is given 3 gold orbs to utilize whenever they die. Enemies and bosses in this mode do not die in one attack, and adopt their difficulty from the Son Of Sparda mode. Clearing all missions on this difficulty unlocks the special artwork "Light from the Demon Blade".

• Damage to enemies: 85%

• Legendary Dark Knight - This difficulty is only available in the PC version and the Special Edition of the game. It is unlocked by beating the game on Human or Devil Hunter mode and in the Special Edition it is unlocked by default. It is similar to Son Of Sparda mode, but with more enemies spawning than before. In this mode, it is capable of spawning about 20~30 Scarecrows in a single room, making this mode a little bit harder than Son Of Sparda. Clearing all missions on this difficulty unlocks the special artwork "Secret Festival of the Sword".

• Damage to bosses: 70%
• Damage to lesser enemies: 130%
• Damage to player character: 175%

• Automatic Mode - Although not listed as a Difficulty Mode in the Mission Menu, it is equivalent to the Easy-Automatic Mode, but can be used on all difficulties. This mode can be activated depending on the player's choice in the New Game section or in the Character Selection screen.

Devil May Cry 5

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Only Human and Devil Hunter modes are available from the start, Special Edition adds Legendary Dark Knight to these. All other higher difficulties must be unlocked by beating the lower ones, either by completing the story mode normally (clearing Mission 20), or by defeating Urizen early in Prologue or Mission 08.

• Human - This is the equivalent of Easy difficulty. One of the default difficulty modes of the game. Decreased difficulty, with less aggressive and less damaging enemies. Devil Breakers are extremely common in Nero's missions.

• Damage to enemies: 150%
• Damage to player character: 50%

• Devil Hunter - This is the equivalent of Normal difficulty. One of the default difficulty modes of the game.

• Damage to enemies: 100%
• Damage to player character: 100%

• Son of Sparda - This is the equivalent of Hard difficulty. Unlocked by clearing any of the default difficulty modes. Enemies gain new attacks, deal more damage and receive less. Enemy arrangements are remixed, with later enemies now able to appear before their introductory cutscenes. Devil Breakers are less common in Nero's levels, and growths containing Green or White Orbs are less common in all levels. Red Orb resurrection costs are increased. Some Extra Bonus rewards are increased by 50%.
  Clearing all the missions on this difficulty unlocks Dante's Irregular Full Custom skill for purchase in the shop, which allows him to equip all of his weapons simultaneously without restriction, including all three of his swords, both versions of Cavaliere, and all three variants of Kalina Ann, as well as enabling all three swords and Ebony & Ivory to be unequipped at will.

• Damage to enemies: 75%
• Damage to player character: 150%

• Dante Must Die - Unlocked by clearing Son of Sparda or Legendary Dark Knight (SE only) mode. Enemies are extremely aggressive and gain the ability to Devil Trigger under certain conditions, including bosses, and in-level Devil Breakers and green and white orbs are practically non-existent. Enemy abilities and arrangements are inherited from Son of Sparda difficulty, in addition to new behaviors exclusive to Dante Must Die. Red Orb resurrection costs are now extremely high, with a second full heal costing over 300,000 Red Orbs. Some Extra Bonus rewards are increased by 100%.
  Clearing all the missions on this difficulty in the main story mode unlocks the Super costumes for Nero, Dante, and V, while doing so in Vergil mode unlocks his Super Vergil costume.

• Damage to enemies: 50%
• Damage to player character: 300%
• Damage to enemies (DT): 25%
• Damage to player character (DT): 600%

• Heaven or Hell - Unlocked by clearing Dante Must Die mode. Both player characters and enemies die in one hit. Enemy abilities and arrangements are inherited from Son of Sparda difficulty. Gold Orbs and checkpoints are disabled, and revives are limited to three per stage.
• Hell and Hell - Unlocked by clearing Dante Must Die mode. Player characters die in one hit, while enemy abilities, arrangements, and damage resistance are inherited from Son of Sparda difficulty. Gold Orbs and checkpoints are disabled, and revives are limited to three per stage.

• Damage to enemies: 75%

• Legendary Dark Knight (SE only) - Similar to Son of Sparda difficulty, but the number of enemies spawned is drastically increased. One of the default difficulty modes of the game.

DmC: Devil May Cry

With each rise in difficulty, enemies and bosses generally get tougher and the player gets weaker. There are 7 modes for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, 3 of which are selectable from the beginning. The Definitive Edition also includes 2 additional difficulty perks that can be added onto any existing difficulty.

• Devil May Cry/Vergil's Downfall - A category for the default difficulties. Clearing all the missions on any one of these difficulties unlocks the Son of Sparda difficulty and the Standard costume.

• Human - This is the equivalent of Easy difficulty. Enemies have less health, deal less damage and are quite docile. Bosses take more damage.
  • Lesser Demons and bosses health: 80%
  • Lesser Demons and Bosses damage: 75%

• Devil Hunter - This is the equivalent of Normal difficulty.
  • Lesser Demons and bosses health: 100%
  • Lesser Demons and Bosses damage: 100%

• Nephilim - This is the equivalent of Hard difficulty.
  • Lesser Demons and bosses health: 120%
  • Lesser Demons and Bosses damage: 125%

• Son of Sparda - Unlocked by beating the game on any of the default difficulties. Enemies gain new attacks, are more aggressive, deal more damage and receive less. Tougher enemies appear early on. Clearing all the missions on this difficulty unlocks Dante Must Die mode, Heaven or Hell mode, and Son of Sparda costume for Dante.
  • Lesser Demons and bosses health: 150%
  • Lesser Demons and Bosses damage: 200% (Bosses damage will increase to 300% in Definitive Edition)

• Dante Must Die/Vergil Must Die - Unlocked by beating Son Of Sparda mode. Enemies get tougher and gain the ability to Devil Trigger under certain conditions. Unlike DMC4 and DMC5, Dante Must Die mode in DmC doesn't share the same enemy deployment as Son of Sparda. Clearing all the missions on this difficulty unlocks the Super Dante perk for Dante, and the Super Vergil perk for Vergil.
  • Lesser Demons and bosses health: 200%
  • Lesser Demons and Bosses damage: 300% (Bosses damage will increase to 500% in Definitive Edition)

• Gods Must Die (Definitive Edition only) - Unlocked by beating the game on Dante/Vergil Must Die. The additional "extreme" difficulty, this mode makes enemies even stronger, spawning them in Devil Trigger state, in addition to removing the ability to use items as well as reduce the Green Orbs drop rates.
  • Lesser Demons damage: 600%
  • Bosses damage: 1000%

• Heaven or Hell - Unlocked by beating Son of Sparda mode. Enemies and bosses all die in one attack. Dante also dies in one attack. However, the player is given 3 Gold orbs to use whenever Dante dies. Clearing all the missions on this difficulty unlocks Hell and Hell mode.

• Hell and Hell - Unlocked by beating Heaven or Hell mode. Dante dies in one attack, but is given 3 gold orbs to utilize whenever he dies. Enemies and bosses in this mode do not die in one attack, and adopt their difficulty from the Son of Sparda mode.

• Difficulty Perks (Definitive Edition only) - A category for the difficulty perks that can be added onto the other difficulties.

• Must Style - Enemies only take damage when your Style Rank is S or higher.

• Hardcore Mode - Auto projectile-parry moves are removed, regular parries can only be executed on the first hit of an attack string, Devil Trigger Float is removed, Devil Trigger no longer launches every lesser demon on screen the moment it's activated, and Stomp's Devil Trigger full-screen launch is also removed.

Trivia

• The name "Dante Must Die" could potentially have been based on the 2000 film Romeo Must Die.
• The concept behind the Turbo Mode came from how European PAL versions of video games generally ran at 50 Hz during that time period.^[2] It was also partly inspired by Street Fighter 2 Turbo.^[3]
• For the original release of Devil May Cry 3 specifically, the reason why the Americas version was made harder was because customers in the USA (particularly in the state of California) could return purchased goods (including games) for a full refund within 30 days. Capcom USA instructed the Japanese development team to make the Americas version harder so players would be less likely to complete the game within that period^[4]. This practice was not unusual for Japanese games localized to the USA, particularly on the Nintendo Entertainment System, as such it's likely that the same applies to other Capcom games, including DMC1 and Resident Evil.
  • The game however was deemed too difficult by at a presentation in London, so Capcom tried to correct this by setting the European PAL version difficulty the same as the Japanese one.^[5] The Special Edition followed this decision, and all subsequent games had their difficulty unified across all regions.
• "Gods Must Die", as seen in DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition, was originally the name of a fan-made modification for Devil May Cry 4.
• Clearing all the Nephilim difficulty missions in DmC: Devil May Cry with an SSS rank unlocks the Jackpot award.

Sources

Gameplay
Interface	Gauges - Map - Stylish Rank - Vitality Gauge
Gameplay Features	Difficulty Mode - Bloody Palace - Costumes - Extra Bonus - Gameplay Extras - Secret Missions
Techniques	Actions - Aerial Rave - Air Hike - Air Raid - Buster - Charge Shot - Crazy Combo - Devil Trigger - Distorted Combo - Inertia - Jump Cancel - Just Charge - Just Combo - Kick 13 - Round Trip - Shot Cancel - Sky Star - Slash Cancelling - Stinger - Summoned Swords - Taunt
Styles	Dark Slayer Style - Doppelganger Style - Gunslinger Style - Quicksilver Style - Royalguard Style - Swordmaster Style - Trickster Style
Objects	Blood Clot - Divinity Statue - Items - Key Items - Orbs - Sealed Doors - Trigger Devices
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