Devil May Cry 5 – DMC5 The Legendary DSD Guide

 

Introduction

 

This part of the guide will focus on how Auto Spectral Formations affect your Melee combos.

For example, Stinger and forward attacking moves usually summon Million Stingers.

These extend the range and allow for faster juggles.

Attacks that go round in motion summon Spiral Roundtrips.

Unfortunately, these Round Trips only Circle Dante extending his range rather than a home in on the enemy.

Rising moves such as Hightime, Highside, and even Real Impact give Dante High Times.

While most of Auto High times sends the enemy higher, some High Times such as Updraft (2nd Image) actually have High times that juggle

The others follow the motion of the attacks, such as Aerial Rave or Firestorm. The direction of the attack can intuitively guess the majority of spectral swords.

In the next section, you can see the full table of Dante’s Spectral attacks side by side with the normal attacks.

Spectral Swords Combat Table

 

Auto Formation

The DSD swords react depending on your currently selected style. The most varied being the Sword Master style due to how the Spectral Blades react depending on each attack. Most of these Spectral Autos are actually Four Hands but in different shapes. The formation of the Spectrals can be intuitively guessed by what kind of action Dante is doing. For example, if Dante is attacking forwards, the Spectrals spam mini-stingers; if Dante is doing a circular or charge attack, the Spectrals spin in circles around him.

Memorizing these Auto Spectral Formations is integral to maximizing Dante’s combat potential in 5 as it adds an extra dimension of depth to every Melee based attack.

Furthermore, DSD formations can be activated anytime during animations and even when Auto Spectrals are happening.

Spectral Swords Attack Table

All Attacks that are influenced by Spectrals Swords can be referenced herein. They’re normal vs. Auto Spectral Formations.

Rebellion/Sparda

 

		Rebellion Combo A
		Rebellion Combo B
		Helm Breaker
		High Time
		Stinger
		Million Stab
		Prop
		Shredder
		Aerial Rave
		Round Trip
		Dance Macabre

 

Devil Sword Dante

While the Spectral Formations are mapped to the Swordmaster style, the DSD Movelist is the same as Sparda and Rebellion Melee strings except for the following.

 

		DSD Combo B
		Overdrive

 

Spectral Swords Combat Table 2

Balrog

		Light Blow
		Heavy Jolt & FlyDragon
		Welter Move & Battam’s Revenge
		Feather Combo
		Balrog Combo A
		Balrog Combo B
		Mode Switch
		Friction
		Updraft
		Heat Up
		Middle Break
		Cruiser Dive
		Minimum Dragon
		Rising Dragon
		Divine Dragon
		Real Impact
		Break Spiral
		Firestorm
		Flint Wheel
		PyroMania

 

Spectral Swords Combat Table 3

 

Cavaliere/R

 

		Cavaliere Combo A
		Air Cavaliere Combo A
		Idling
		Crossline
		Slipstream
		Highside
		Braking
		Cavaliere Combo B
		Air Cavaliere Combo B
		Full Throttle
		Wheelie Jump
		Redline

 

King Cerberus

		Cerberus Combo A
		Cerberus Combo B
		Swing
		Crystal
		Revolver
		Ice Age
		Long Barrel
		Long Barrel Air
		Thunder Clap
		Long Revolver
		Cerberus Combo C
		Cerberus Combo D
		Pole Play
		Rock Back
		Hot Stuff
		Revolution
		Turbulence
		King Slayer
		Percussion

 

DSD Desync in-depth & Notes

 

DSD Desync:

Referring back to the main guide, DSD Desync happens when the Spectral swords spawn where Dante was previously located before an Air Trick, Ground Trick, current X, Y, Z value charge attacks (Stinger, Friction/Divekick, Roleplay, etc.).

As you can see in the clip above, Dante relaunches the Caina with a rose then Ground Tricks. While he was Tricking down, a Stingers on DSD was inputted before his position value was updated. This allows the enemy to be hit by Stingers while you’re already on the ground, ready for a setup or finisher. In this scenario, going Twin Cascade, Overdrive, Cut-In Front on Shotgun are excellent follow ups.

For the Hightime rose set up, you can even substitute Four-Handed and then do the Ground Trick > Stingers set up. It is highly recommended you practice these setups to get a feel for the DSD Desync.

* It’s important to note that you have to wait and delay the Ground Trick after the 2nd Rose comes out for this particular setup to work. It would be best if you got used to inputting Stingers/Four Handed immediately after Ground Trick with DSD equipped.

Floating Round Trips in-depth & Tech notes

Found by combo players on Twitter, especially on the Japanese side. Floating Round Trips refers to the DSD formation not homing in on the enemy and sending itself as a projectile you can use as a trap instead. Huge thanks to Whitelion on Twitter for in-clarification and testing and tekitô: https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm35803991

Round Trips Type	Reference
Normal Round Trips
Floating Round Trips
Split Floating Round Trips

The first thing to realize is that there are 3 types of Round Trips for DSD.

• 1. Normal (Homing on Locked-on or last enemy arggoed).
• 2. Floating Round Trips (Goes past the last enemy hit and is sent forward to where Dante is facing).
• 3. Split Floating Round Trips(Some will home in on targets, and some Round Trips will float away).

This entire Floating, DSD Round Trips system depends on 4 systems, which are:
Aggravation (Aggro), Input Timings, Round Trips Homing Memory (Each DSD Spectral Sword has its own tracking), and very occasionally Camera Angles (only applicable in scenarios relating to Aggravation).

The 1st type of Round Trip is straightforward to do, you hold style after doing any of the manual Sword Formations on SwordMaster, and the Spectral Blades will spin behind Dante and will start Homing in your Locked on Target.

Floating Round Trips:

For the 2nd kind to activate the Floating Round Trips to go past the enemy, you need to have Dante in Neutral Aggro and then switch style (safest to switch to is Trickster) to shoot Round Trips in front of where Dante is facing to have them “Float.”

You can do this with DSD Combo B (Prop Shredder), Do Aerial Rave away from the enemy without Lock on at any point of the string, after Rose or taunt. As long as you can let go of the Lock on (the conditions for Floating DSD will clear and allow you to use it).

This works because of the enemy aggravation system linked to the Spectral Sword’s Homing Memory. Locking On also generates this Aggro. Therefore by doing setups such as:
Melee x1 with Dante facing away from the enemy, you’ll find it much easier to be successful to send out Floating DSD. Taunting, even though Dante is facing the enemy, also makes the enemy aggro neutral to Dante (even with air taunt), which gives taunting mid-combo/combat great utility.

Example of Floating Round Trips Setups:

Combo String	Reference
DSD Combo B > Four-Handed (Charge Round Trips) > Lock-on Off & Switch to Trickster > Shotgun (have enemy fall on Floating DSD) > Twin Cascade
DSD Combo B > Four-Handed (Charge Round Trips) > High Time > Let go of Lock-On & Air Hike (Backwards) > Rose > Switch to Trickster (Release Floating DSD RTs) > Shotgun > Taunt > Man in Red > OverDrive (Charge) > Man in Red (Release) > OverDrive (Release)

These setups can really open up your combo paths and help you do more creative set ups in the air. Moves that plant you and require the enemy to stay still, like Kalina Ann’s Hysteric, become very useful in this scenario.

These are not the only ways, but some of the easier and more useful set ups I’ve found. Don’t be scared to pop in the void and try whatever set up you think works.

Split Floating Round Trips:

The 3rd kind, which is split Round Trips, requires you to understand the differences between Hard Enemy Arggo, Neutral Enemy Aggro, and No Enemy Aggro. The easiest but not completely accurate way of understanding this is that:
Aggro [ON] = Normal Round Trips
Aggro [Neutral] = Split Floating Round Trips
Aggro [OFF] = Floating Round Trips

By going into Neutral Aggro, you can do set ups with Floating DSDs and have a bit of tracking on one/more enemies. For example:

Normally Twin Howitzer won’t connect in the air due to the distance and projectile speed. However, thanks to the 1 Split Round Trip, we can shoot into the Floating Round Trips and set up a nice Hysteric for a finisher.

Furthermore, you can also use these Split Round Trips between the original homing type and Floating Round Trips across different enemies.

This can be extremely useful for specific combo setups and freestyle DSD combat. Managing multiple enemies at once and creating space for yourself to even Round Trip with more Rebellion and the Sparda gives you an insane amount of control in the arenas.

Making use of DSD in Combat

Now that we’ve covered all the Auto Spectral Swords let’s try out some combos!

Weapon Set [Melee: DSD | Guns: E&I]

DSD Combo A > Four Handed > Drive > Stingers

Weapon Set [Melee: Cavaliere/R, DSD, Balrog | Guns: E&I, Shotgun]

Wheelie > Stingers > E&I > Friction > Flint Wheel > Hightimes > Shotgun Stinger > Interceptor > Overdrive

Now that you’ve got a feel for chaining Spectral Formations in the middle of combos with Interceptor, it’s time to mess around a little with the additional tech!

Weapon Set [Melee: DSD, Balrog | Guns: E&I, Shotgun, Double Kalina Ann, Faust Hat]

DSD Combo B > High Time > Air Hike (Backwards) > Rose (Taunt) > Ground Trick – (Immediately After) Stingers > Twin Cascade

We get perfect spacing here because the last hitbox of Stingers actually hits forwards and increases in hitbox size, which allows it to get hit. If you time it earlier, it’s possible to connect it still much more safely.

Weapon Set [Melee: DSD, Balrog | Guns: E&I, Shotgun, Double Kalina Ann, Faust Hat]

DSD Combo A x2 > High Time (Rise) > Rose (Taunt) > Sky Star (Away) > E&I Shot > Rose (Taunt) > Trick – Stingers > Air Hike (Backwards) > E&I Shot > Friction *Swordmaster Switch > Firestorm > Enemy Step > E&I Shot > Rose (Taunt) > Ground Trick – Stingers > Twin Cascade

Weapon Set [Melee: Rebellion, DSD, Balrog | Guns: Double Kalina Ann, Faust Hat]

Balrog Combo A x1 > Heat Up > Prop > Roundtrip > Stingers > Taunt (Start Charging Round Trips) > Switch to Trickster (Floating Round Trips will go past enemy) > Twin Howitzer > Man In Red > Set Hat > Hat Trick > Pyromania (Accumulate/Charge SDT)> Stingers (2nd last hit of Pyromania > Man In Red (Finish/Projectiles) > SDT (Sin Devil Trigger) > Demolition

Now that you have some examples head to the void and figure out some ideas for yourself. Don’t be afraid to change and customize weapon load-outs and spend as much time in the void as you want. Experimentation is key!

Thank you & Extra

Now that you understand the full depth of how DSD, Auto Spectral Swords, and how to use them in your combos, kick some a*s!

 

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