Guide (Major Spoilers): How to Beat Devil May Cry 5’s Final Boss Vergil

Capcom dropped Devil May Cry 5 in stores on March 8. Since then, the game has quickly become a critical success. That being said, some players may have a tough time taking on the game’s final boss. With that in mind, we have provided a quick guide to fighting the game’s toughest foe.

Overview (Spoilers)

Devil May Cry 5 sees returning characters Nero and Dante cross paths during a demon hunting bounty mission. Following an intense battle with a demon, the two demon hunters are quickly swept away in a bloody adventure to save the world.

The game culminates with an epic battle against longtime antagonist Vergil, the twin brother of Dante. Vergil’s big appearance proved to be a surprise to many players, as the antagonist emerged after his two halves V and Urizen joined together to reveal the villain.

Dante and Nero are then tasked with defeating Vergil, in hopes of saving all that they know. However, taking down Vergil is no small task.

Vergil’s Moves and Abilities

Vergil has a pretty extensive skill set, so you are going to want to familiarize yourself with his moves before taking him on. A large part of fighting bosses is just memorizing their skills. You can cut out a huge chunk of that grind by checking out his skill list down below.

Charging Attack: Vergil will hunch down and grab the hilt of his sheathed sword. When this happens, Vergil will either rush forward and slash you with his sword. Or, the boss will summon energy balls to fling at you.

Daggers: Energy will begin to form around Vergil. When this happens, the boss is about to fling piercing daggers at you.

Multi-Slash: Vergil will dash to the center of the map. Next, a circle will appear around the boss. This will indicate that Vergil is powering up for a heavily damaging multi-attack.

Devil Trigger: During the battle, Vergil will eventually use his devil trigger to enter his demon form. While the boss will not gain health as a result, Vergil will be faster and will deal more damage.

Demon Flight Attacks: Vergil will first dash to the center of the field. The boss will then fly upwards. This is a signal that Vergil is about to unleash a flurry of flyby attacks.

Teleport: Vergil will often teleport. The boss will first seem to just disappear. However, Vergil will soon reappear just beside you and unleash a flurry of attacks.

Blue Orb: When Vergil shoots out a blue orb, beware. When the orb either lands on the ground or strikes you, the orb will explode into a flurry of sword strikes. This deals serious damage.

Demon Copy: When below 50 percent health, Vergil will summon a copy of himself.

Blue Sword Attack: When below 50 percent health, Vergil will also summon blue swords that will track you. When they all converge on you, they will strike.

Tips and Strategies

There are two different portions to the final boss fight. First, you fight Vergil as Dante. Second, you fight Vergil as Nero.

Fighting Vergil as Dante

The bad news about fighting Vergil is that Vergil tends to counter most of your attacks. The good news is that you can use his own strategy against him.

When playing Dante, you can parry attacks with circle (B) while in your royal guard. Use this to your advantage by staying largely on the defensive during the boss fight. Try to keep distance between yourself and Vergil so that you can get a feel for his timing. After that, be ready to counter his attacks whenever an exchange breaks out.

You can achieve a full combination whenever you do manage to land a blow on Vergil. To make the most out of your open window for damage output, launch the boss into the air with back + triangle (Y). Juggle Vergil with some air combinations before capping things off with a few blasts from your ranged weapon.

Once Vergil hits the ground, it’s time to go back on the defensive. Back off of the boss before you get punished with sweltering amounts damage.

The key to this boss fight is to be defensive. Don’t get greedy. Take your time and parry Vergil’s attacks. Use your normal devil trigger whenever Vergil gets caught up in an attack, thereby boosting your damage.

Fighting Vergil as Nero

While it may initially seem that the battle is over, you are not quite done yet. Not quite defeated, Vergil will have to be beaten once more. This time, Nero will take to the battlefield with a brand new devil trigger.

The devil trigger will continue to build throughout the boss fight, so don’t be afraid to use it constantly. The R2 (RT) button also now provides an impressive grapple ability. Once Vergil is staggered, try to grapple the boss with this attack for some bonus damage.

Nero is not capable of parrying like Dante, leaving the strategy used by Dante quite pointless now. Rather, you are going to want to try to dodge Vergil’s attacks this time. You can be much more aggressive this time around as well. Nero’s new devil trigger and new grapple ability make things pretty easy compared to Dante’s tussle with the half-demon.

If you remain patient and only strike during Vergil’s brief moments of vulnerability, you should be fine. Nero’s fight with Vergil is noticeably easier, leaving the fight between Dante and Vergil as the true challenge to prepare for.