Devil May Cry 5 Abilities: Best Abilities for Nero, V, & Dante

Best Abilities For Nero, V, & Dante in Devil May Cry 5

Devil May Cry 5 gives you three wildly different characters to play as; Nero, Dante, and a newcomer named V. Each of these characters have their own unique movesets and abilities to purchase, and it can be overwhelming to figure out what you want to spend your hard-earned red orbs on. Here are the best abilities for Ner, V, and Dante in Devil May Cry 5.

Getting More Red Orbs

Before you do anything, you’ll need to rack up a ton of red orbs to spend on abilities, and higher level stuff can be pretty pricey. To this end, you’ll always want to explore as much as possible in every mission, as there are always little alternate paths or secret areas tucked away that’ll reward you with even more orbs.

The good news is that everything you do in Devil May Cry 5 is persistent, and the orbs you get in any mission, on any difficulty, will carry over. This means that if you really want to, you can jump back into a mission you’ve played and replay it for even more orbs.

If you want to just double down for a while pick an early mission, like 2 or 3, and play through it a few times skipping all the cutscenes.

You should be able to beat it fairly quickly and get over 100,00 orbs if you’re willing to invest an hour or two.

Best Abilities in Devil May Cry 5

Before we dive in, remember that a lot of the abilities in Devil May Cry 5 revolve around playstyles and what you choose to use in battle. Still, there are a few that we’ve found more useful than others, and worth investing in first.

We’ll go over each character individually, and what tab to find the specific ability on. Now, here are the best abilities in Devil May Cry 5.

Nero

• Table Hopper (Abilities) – Table Hopper is a super important ability for Nero, as it essentially makes his dodging abilities better. Dodging is done by locking onto an enemy with RB (R1) then pushing left or right on the left stick and A (X). Table Hopper essentially increases the timing window on Nero’s dodge, and makes it easier to launch into a combo right after dodging. The second level of the ability will even let you do a quick dash after dodging.
• Air Hike (Abilities) – Air Hike is yet another early ability you should invest in, for two reasons. For one it’ll make platforming and reaching secret areas even easier by giving you a double jump. However, it’s best use is the fact that you can basically use Air Hike to dodge in the air. This is especially useful in boss battles as you can combo in the air, then quickly Air Hike out of the way.
• Wire Snatch Upgrade (Abilities) – Nero’s Wire Snatch is a huge part of his moveset, letting him grapple enemies to his side and grapple to larger enemies. Because of this the Wire Snatch Upgrade is essential as it’ll extend the length you can use the grapple.
• Color Up 2 and 3 (Blue Rose) – Nero’s gun may not be the focus of his moveset, but it’s great for whittling down enemy HP, and Color Up will help with that. You can hold down X (square) to charge Nero’s bullet which will then explode upon impact and cause good damage to an enemy. Investing in color up will let you charge bullets do even more damage, and these skill are especially useful for boss battles.
• Streak (Red Queen) – This is the first skill you should buy for Red Queen as it lets Nero quickly close the distance between himself and enemies by pressing forward+Y(triangle). It can also be worked onto the end of a combo to quickly launch right into another combo.
• Breaker Plus Slots (Devil Breaker) – Nero’s Devil Breakers are extremely useful, and you’ll find a good amount lying around while playing through his missions. If you really want to take advantage of all the Breakers lying around you’ll need to invest in Breaker Plus slots. There are five extra slots to purchase, and having more slots means you’ll have access to even more options in combat.

V – Best Abilities in Devil May Cry 5

• Promotion (Abilities) – Promotion is the very first ability you should unlock for V, a it’ll allow you to take direct control of Nightmare instead of having it controlled by the AI. You can press LB(L1)+B(circle) or press A(X) in the air to mount Nightmare, then control its attacks with B. Even better, you can still use the other buttons while mounted to control Griffon and Shadow.
• Trigger Heart (Abilities) – Nightmare is your best weapon while playing as V and, obviously, you’ll want to have the beast summoned as much as possible. To this end investing in Trigger Hearts it well worth it, as it’ll slow down the rate your Devil Trigger gauge is used, letting you keep Nightmare on the field for longer.
• Green Gainer (Abilities) – Since V can’t attack on his own he’s much more vulnerable than the other characters, so it’s quite possible you’ll take more damage while playing as him. Green Gainer boosts the chances of getting Green Orbs from enemies while Nightmare is summoned, so it goes a long way toward keeping V alive.
• Griffon and Shadow Vim (Griffon and Shadow) – Piggybacking on the previous ability, Griffon and Shadow are your weapons and when they’re KOed you’re left totally defenseless while they recover. The Griffon Vim and Shadow Vim abilities, found under each category, significantly speed up the rate your demons recover from Stalemate. Buying these two abilities will ensure you always have a way to attack.
• Hedgehog & Hedgehog 2 (Shadow) – Shadow is your close-range weapon, and its Hedgehog abilities can be great for crowd control. By holding down Y(triangle) and then releasing when charged, Shadow will shoot out giant spikes in every direction. When upgraded this ability also adds an area attack that shoots spikes up from the ground. This is easily V’s best ability when it comes to damaging multiple enemies, outside of Nightmare, of course.

Dante – Best Abilities in Devil May Cry 5

• Air Hike (Abilities) – Just like Nero, Air Hike is an essential ability for Dante to get, letting him dodge in midair. The good thing about Dante, however, is that Air Hike can be combined with his Trickster dodge to stay in the air for a long time or dodge multiple attacks.
• Trigger Heart (Abilities) – Again, just like V, Dante’s Devil Trigger is something you’ll be using a lot. The difference with Dante’s Trigger is that it soups up all of his abilties for all styles, and can even unlock new combos, so getting Trigger Heart will let you stay in the mode for longer.
• Stinger (Rebellion) – If you’ve played a DMC game before you’ll be instantly familiar with Stinger, and why you should get it. For all of Dante’s swords Stinger lets him dash forward with a powerful thrust, closing the distance between him and enemies and causing good damage. Considering Dante can’t grapple like Nero, Stinger is essential for getting around the battlefield, and the ability gets a huge boost in Devil Trigger.
• Cross Line (Cavaliere) – Cavaliere is a deadly powerful weapon, but its biggest flaw is how slow it is. Cross Line is a great ability to get because of its speed and reach. Dante’s moves with Cavaliere are all fairly close range, but Cross Line will let him dash forward with forward+Y(triangle) and then slash the enemy with his motorcycle blades. You can still rev the attack like the rest with Cavaliere, but this one is great for extending Dante’s reach with the weapon.
• Rolling Blaze (Balrog) – Balrog is Dante’s fastest weapon, and comes in handy for enemies that are super quick. It has a variety of good attacks, but Rolling Blaze can help add a little more damage overall. Once you’ve purchase Rolling Blaze, Dante will send out a small shockwave whenever he jumps with the weapon. This is a great way to maximize your damage output.
• Long Revolver (King Cerberus) – Long Revolver powers up Dante’s forward+Y(triangle) with King Cerberus, letting you use a massive electrical attack. Considering the short reach of the weapon’s nunchaku form, you’ll be using Revolver a lot. Long Revolver just powers up a move you’ll already be using all the time.
• Upgrading Styles – Dante’s styles make up the bulk of his moveset, and he can swap between all four of them on the fly using the D-Pad. However, there’s not one style that’s definitively better than the others as it mostly comes down to playstyle and situation. It’s best to focus on one or two styles and upgrade those rather than all four, since it’s going to be costly. Each tier for the styles will unlock new abilities and attacks, so purchase the ones you really find yourself using a lot. So if you barely ever use Royal Guard don’t spend on it, but if you constantly are using Gunslinger for powerful ranged attacks, try upgrading it.
• The Luce (Sin Devil Trigger) – Sin Devil Trigger is Dante’s most powerful ability, but it doesn’t last long. In order to maximize damage you’ll want to invest in The Luce. By pressing RT(R2), Dante will gather energy and then shoot out a mass of laser beams from his wings. This is easily his best Sin move for hitting multiple enemies and/or a wide area, so think about investing in it early.

Hopefully, that gives you some idea as to the best abilities for Nero, V, and Dante in Devil May Cry 5. For even more tips and guides on the game make sure to search Twinfinite, or take a look at our Devil May Cry 5 wiki.