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Y8b. | | 8888888P" "Y888888 888 888 "Y888 "Y8888 | | | | | | | | 8888888888 d8888 .d88888b. | | 888 d88888 d88P" "Y88b by | | 888 d88P888 888 888 | | 8888888 d88P 888 888 888 Alexandre | | 888 d88P 888 888 888 "Delf" | | 888 d88P 888 888 Y8b 888 Bolduc | | 888 d8888888888 Y88b.Y8b88P | | 888 d88P 888 "Y888888" | | Y8b | o=======================================================o -=August 7th, 2005=- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ================= If you want to skip to any section right away, simply search for your questions below! They are not altered in any ways through the FAQ. 1. Introduction 1a. Disclaimer 1b. FAQ Introduction 2. About Dante 2a. Who is Dante? 2b. Why is Dante in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne? 2c. What is Dante's role in this game? :SPOILERS!: 3. Dante as an Enemy 3a. When/Where do I fight Dante? 3b. What preparations should I make before I fight Dante? 3c. Why is Dante my enemy? 3d. How do I get through the Third Kalpa? Dante is chasing me! 4. Dante as an Ally 4a. How do I recruit Dante? 4b. I turned down Dante's offer; is he gone? 4c. How do I beat Dante in his coin-tossing bet? 4d. What level/skills does Dante has when he joins? 4e. What are all the skills Dante can learn? 4f. What skills should I keep/discard? 4g. Why should I get Dante? 4h. Why should I not get Dante? 5. Misc. Information on Dante --. Coming Soon, Next Update! 6. Fans' Feedbacks and Opinions 6a. About Dante 6b. About this FAQ 7. Credits & Closing Words ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -= UPDATES =- 07/30/05: Began and finished writing the FAQ's first version. 08/07/05: Fixed the margin limit outbursts in the FAQ, and submitted again. Awaiting next update. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1==============1 | Introduction | 1==============1 DISCLAIMER ~~~~~~~~~~ The Shin Megami Tensei series, and its title, Nocturne, belongs to Atlus Co., and Devil May Cry, as well as its protagonist, Dante, belongs to Capcom. I do not own any of that. I do, however, legally own this FAQ, as its writer. This FAQ was originally submitted at GameFAQs.com, but may be submitted elsewhere, as long that I am CREDITED. If I am not credited, posting this FAQ on your website is doing FAQ theft, and if the FAQ is not credited or removed, legal action can and WILL be taken. You are warned. FAQ INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The single purpose of this FAQ is as simple and obvious as its title presents it to be. This FAQ is dedicated to Dante, a guest character who appears in Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. While this game has been released for a nice while, new players still venture themselves in this mesmerizing adventure, and even those who has done so already, some, if not many, might ne be completely clear about Dante's inclusion in this title. While to some, all about Dante might be somewhat obvious and easy to comprehend, it is not always the case, and whoever wishes to inform themselves about anything concerning Dante, they can use this FAQ for their own reading pleasure! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2===============2 | About Dante | 2===============2 WHO IS DANTE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dante is the main protagonist of the video game series "Devil May Cry," produced by Capcom. He is half-human, half-demon; born from a human mother and a demon father. Rebellious and reckless, Dante dedicates his life to slaying demons and devils, after taking on the same path than his father's; the path of justice. He has slain demons with us players for three titles on the PlayStation 2, and will come back on his fourth adventure, coming soon on the PlayStation 3. (As well as a now unidentified, mysterious PlayStation Portable (PSP) Devil May Cry title.) WHY IS DANTE IN SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: NOCTURNE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ How it happened is rather coincidencial, really. A member of the SMT staff happened to be a big, big fan of the Devil May Cry series, and eventually came up with the idea of including Dante from Capcom's series into their next SMT title. While they first thought it was a crazy idea, they realized; Dante is a "demon hunter," so it could work out, considering the Shin Megami Tensei titles pretty much are about religions and demons. After thinking about it, they eventually presented the "Nocturne" concept to Capcom. Before they presented the idea, they have shown a cinematic sequence to Capcom, to give them a better understanding of how they would've liked to incorporate Dante in their game. Capcom were then shown the sequence of when Dante leaps off the gigantic and tall Mantra HQ building, before landing behind the Main Protagonist, guns drawn. They used strategy guides and other reference materials to create the movie. The result was excellent, and just as they thought and hoped, Capcom approved and loved the idea; the rest is history. :: SOURCE :: http://www.atlus.com/smt/faqs.html WHAT IS DANTE'S ROLE IN SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: NOCTURNE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ::CAUTION! THIS SECTION CONTAINS HEAVY SMT: NOCTURNE PLOT SPOILERS!!:: Venturing through the "Vortex World," Dante finds his way to the post-apocalyptic Tokyo. But he did not travel to another world for no reason; he has a job. As a devil slayer, he takes any jobs of demon slaying that he deems worth of his time and attention, and his employer truly caught his interest. His employer is the mysterious old man on a wheelchair. Appearantly, this old man gave him a task similiar to the one he --- if the player accepted to do the work for him, for it is an optional quest --- gave to the main protagonist: Dante was given the task to find and kill a certain number of demons --- the Fiends --- including the main protagonist himself. The reason the old man commanded him to do the same thing job than the main protagonist's is simple: He, the old man, wishes for all Fiends, carriers of the Candelabrums, to fight between eachother, with only one supreme Fiend emerging victorious; the winner of all Candelabrums, and the one the Lord of Darkness deems worthy. Yes, the old man is none other than the Lord of Darkness, Lucifer. While at first, Dante is nothing more than a threat to the main protagonist's life, he eventually begins to suspect his employer's schemes, and begins to sniff around his own lair, the Labyrinth of Amala. During his investigation, Dante spots the main protagonist roaming around the Third Kalpa of the labyrinth, and tries to threaten him away. Failing to do so, he begins to stalk and attack the protagonist through the whole kalpa, until they both reach its end. After a battle, Dante leaves once again, venturing deeper, ahead of the protagonist, resuming his investigation. Later, as the protagonist enters the Fifth Kalpa, Dante explains Lucifer's scheme to him, and offers him to hire his services. From then, he can either be a bare stand-by NPC in the Fifth Kalpa waiting for a chance to be hired, or a very powerful ally for your party. The choice is up to you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3=====================3 | Dante as an Enemy | 3=====================3 WHEN/WHERE DO I FIGHT DANTE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You will fight Dante only twice in one playthrough. The first battle, unavoidable, occurs in front of the Mantra HQ, after you have won your freedom from the Mantra's prison. (After defeating Thor.) Once you return to the Mantra HQ to meet up with the Mantra leader, the candelabrum's flames will flicker wildly, signaling the presence of a Fiend nearby. Walk up to the entrance doors of the Mantra HQ, and Dante will attack you. The second battle, optional, occurs in the Third Kalpa. At some place inside the Third Kalpa, Dante will find and chase you through the rest of the whole Kalpa, and after the whole game of cat 'n' mouse between the two, Dante will trigger a battle with you. WHAT PREPARATIONS SHOULD I MAKE BEFORE I FIGHT DANTE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not much, actually; he requires small preparation to be dominated in battle. In the first battle, the following factories are recommended: -Bring a Momunofu, they have Physical resistance! -Ingest the Kamudo Magatama, it gives you Physical resistance! -The skill Rakukaja, it raises the entire party's defenses, because Dante will decrease it with Provoke! -The skill War Cry, it can decrease Dante's physical strength (By that point, an Oni can have your needed War Cry!) -Use -nda skills on Dante sometimes, it will make him waste one of his two press turns for his Holy Star! -You can use any means of offensives, excluding Expel/Death/Curse/Nerve/Mind skills With such simple preparations, this battle can be very ridiculously easy; especially since a Rakukaja/War Cry combo, along with Dante's Provoke rising your attack strength a whole lot, Dante pretty much won't last long at all. In the second battle, he's nastier; the follow factories are recommended: -Keep pumping yourself with stats boosting skills! You can still waste his turns for a Holy Star, but your own team is more important... -Ingest a Magatama that voids Mind skills, it will protect you from Dante's Bullet Time panic effect! -Bring your strongest Mind-protected demons so none of your demons fall victims of Dante's Bullet Time panic! -Bring one, just ONE, demon who either REPELS or DRAINS Electricity skills (Dante's Roundtrip, hits all party) -Spam your strongest spells! Have no mercy! He gets tougher by the turn!! I doubt I should bring up the concept of levels, because by the times you'll reach both fights, you shouldn't be too low on levels. Except if you're going for a Solo-Hero playthrough. Since I haven't been through that, I cannot quite say or suggest any levels you should be at, but bloody hell, get the Magatamas! WHY IS DANTE MY ENEMY? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As stated above, he was hired to kill you. Well, he was hired to kill the Fiends, you being one, but I didn't see him going after the horsemen or the Harlot or anything! He'll stop being a potential enemy by the time you get to the Fifth Kalpa, so no worries. HOW DO I GET THROUGH THE THIRD KALPA? DANTE IS CHASING ME! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I would go through this section, but I would be causing FAQ redudancy. This section is perfectly covered in another FAQ, and needs not to be covered here. So, I grandly suggest you go check out A I e x's FAQ/Walkthrough; it is a very good walkthrough and I used it through the game, especially during The Obelisk and the Kalpas. http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/shin_megami_tensei_nocture_a.txt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4====================4 | Dante as an Ally | 4====================4 HOW DO I RECRUIT DANTE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You will need to travel into the optional, annoying and tendious sub-dungeon: the Labyrinth of Amala. First of all, you can only travel inside the Labyrinth of Amala IF, and ONLY IF you accepted to collect the Candelabrumswhen the Old Man on the Wheelchair asked you to do so. Should you refuse to do this task, the doors to the Labyrinth of Amala will be closed to you. In other words, you won't be able to access the dungeon from Terminals for the rest of the game, so be sure to accept the task! Second of all, by doing this you will be given an item --- the Candelabrums of Sovereignty --- which will unlock the possibility to face other "Fiends," and collect their Candelabrums. Candelabrums are required to open up new Kalpas (floors) in the labyrinth. To recruit Dante, you will need to access the Fifth Kalpa (the last Kalpa, so to speak), which will require all the Candelabrums. In other words, to get Dante, you'll have to find and defeat all Fiends. All. As soon that you enter the Fifth Kalpa, Dante will show up on you, and eventually offer you to hire him. I TURNED DOWN DANTE'S OFFER; IS HE GONE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nope. If you refuse his offer, he will remain in the same room in the Fifth Kalpa, waiting for you to change your mind and hire him --- granted you do. He won't go anywhere, no worries. HOW DO I BEAT DANTE IN THE COIN-TOSSING BET? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pick heads. It's always heads. Always pick heads and you alway will win. His coin is tricked. INTERESTING NOTE: It is the same coin he used in Devil May Cry 2! WHAT LEVEL/SKILLS DANTE HAS WHEN HE JOINS? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When he joins, he will be level 80 --- and can still be recruited no matter what the level of your main protagonist is, be it the first playthrough or not. As for his skills, Dante begins with the following skills at his disposition (even if he used more than what he begins withwhen you fought him, but hey, he's a Capcom character, the poor ol' chap caught the Mega Man syndromn!) E & I Rebellion Round Trip Whirlwind Holy Star Provoke Never Yield Intimidate ~~~~~~ Bullet-Time (81) Stinger (82) Son's Oath (83) Showtime (84) He will learn his four other skills by each level ups, which means by Level 84, he'll have learned all skills. He begins with eight, though, and the maximum is eight! Time for replacements! WHAT ARE THE SKILLS DANTE CAN LEARN? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dante's skillset is pretty, uh... "unique." Some of his skills are simply animation/name disguised versions of other existing skills. Let's see... ------- E & I ------- MP COST: 3 TYPE: Physical Multiple Hits 1 Enemy --- Dante simply fires some weak shots at an enemy. Nothing special, it's not even useful by the time you get him! I suggest you replace this with Bullet Time later; it's pretty much an improved version of E&I. ------- REBELLION ------- HP COST: 9% TYPE: Physical High Odds of Critical 1 Enemy --- This is where Dante shines in the department of physical combat. With this skill, you can highly damage enemies, and with the high odds of striking critical hits, this skill can be a key for common extra turns! I personally found it useful against the last boss (not the True Demon ending one, the OTHER last boss). ------- BULLET TIME ------- MP COST: 10 TYPE: Physical, Panic Mid Damage All Enemies --- This is it, E&I's replacement! This opens the potential of Dante's handguns in this game. Not only can he now shoot all the enemies, he can now inflict the "Panic" mind ailment upon enemies! And it does more damage than E&I, though nowhere as close as Rebellion still. ------- NEVER YIELD ------- NO HP/MP COST Prevents Death (1 HP Remaining) 1 Time Only (per battle) --- Pretty much a renamed version of the main protagonist's "Endure" skill. This can be helpful to save Dante from death during a battle and give him a chance to give the enemy a deadly comeback strike. ------- HOLY STAR ------- MP COST: 10 Cancels -nda Effects Entire Party --- Dante's Dekunda; named after one of his items in Devil May Cry 2. Just like Dekunda, it cancels all -nda effects on your party. If another demon you use frequently has Dekunda, ditch Holy Star. ------- PROVOKE ------- NO HP/MP COST Lowers Defense, Raises Physical Attack Dante heals MP --- A godly "Taunt." Not only does he lowers the enemies' defenses (ald raises their physical strength) without any HP/MP cost, he heals his own self a nice chunk of MP just by provoking! Go Dante! ------- INTIMIDATE ------- NO HP/MP COST User tries to intimidate enemy during conversation --- Eh, I'll be brief: Intimidate is a waste of a skill slot for Dante. ------- SON'S OATH ------- NO HP/MP COST Increases Damage of All Attacks by 50% --- Guys, meet Dante from Devil May Cry 2; overpowered. With this skill on his skillset, Dante'll be even deadlier, and his Rebellion attack will unleash fury, most especially. Keep this. I suggest you do. ------- ROUNDTRIP ------- MP COST: 25 TYPE: Electric Heavy Damage All Enemies --- Dante enters the realm of elemental attacks now. Dante will grab his sword and throw it like a boomerang at the enemies, with massive electric volts surrounding its blade. Even though his sword is involved in the attack, this skill doesn't counts as physical. Strange, eh? But yes, this skill is very good, I recommend you keep it. ------- WHIRLWIND ------- MP COST: 25 TYPE: Force Heavy Damage All Enemies --- Despite a different animation overall, this is pretty much a Force version of Roundtrip. Since my main character was a Force Boost + Tornado "Force Fighter," I had no need to keep Whirlwind, but if you're short on Force attacks, you could keep this skill. If anything, as a last resort, it's either Roundtrip or Whirlwind. "This skillset ain't big enough for the two of us..." ------- STINGER ------- HP COST: 12% TYPE: Almighty Heavy Damage, Fatal 1 Enemy --- If there's one move I love from the DMC games, it's the Stinger. The Stinger skill is as useful in this game than in Dante's own series! Not only does it deals heavy damage, it can insta-kill an enemy! And the odds of his Stinger being fatal rise every single time he levels up! This is especially why Dante is known as a godly Random Battler. If you play your cards right, just by using Stinger, you can end most to every random battles in one Player Phase. (If there's more than two enemies, even by passing turns, you won't be able to end battles in one Player Phase... but that's where "Critical Hits" come into the picture. That's what I mean; play your cards right!) ------- SHOWTIME ------- MP COST: 40 TYPE: Almighty Heavy Damage All Enemies --- This is Dante's last skill, the last one he can learn, and it does not dissapoint. He has two Almighty skills here; one that insta-kills by gradually increasing odds, and now this one, a all-hitting, heavy damaging and, oh dear God, incredibly spiffy skill! INTERESTING NOTE: The words "BINGO!", "ARE YOU READY?" and "SHOWTIME!" appear on the screen during the skill. They are, in DMC2, the ratings of your combos, "ShowTime!" being the highest. That's it. WHICH SKILLS SHOULD I KEEP/DISCARD? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dante has a mix of this and that in his skills. Physical, Electricity, Force, Almighty, and a Phys/Panic skill. And some "support skills," too. YOU REALLY SHOULD CONSIDER KEEPING: Rebellion, for the Critical odds and the great damage Bullet Time, for all-hitting and panic Stinger, for insta-kill Showtime, for all-hitting almightyness! Son's Oath, for obvious reasons (makes you much stronger) Provoke, for MP recovery and great DEF decreasing YOU SHOULD KEEP (X) FOR (X) REASON: -Roundtrip, if you need a good, strong Electric attack (if hero/other demons/party in general lack any/much) -Whirlwind, if you need a good, strong Force attack(if hero/other demons/party in general lack any/much) Holy Star, if you need Dekunda YOU MIGHT NOT REALLY NEED: -Never Yield, Dante has enough protection and no weakness, he should rarely die! -E&I, two words: Bullet Time -Intimidate, because conversation skills are wasting slots for brutes like Dante! My final skillset for Dante was: Rebellion Bullet Time Roundtrip Never Yield (Would've kept Whirlwind, but you already know why) Son's Oath Stinger Showtime Provoke * = Not in any particuliar order WHY SHOULD I GET DANTE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are many reasons you could want to recruit Dante. First of all, the simplest reason: because you are a Dante/DMC fan/fanboy Second of all, as a Fiend, his strengths and weaknesses are pretty nice. He has no weaknesses, naturally, and he: -is resistant against physical and magical attacks -cannot be effected by Expel/Death/Ailments skills. At all. No effect. 0%. Third and last reason is his skillset and capability to pack a punch. I found him to be very, very useful when I fought the non-True Demon Ending last boss. This is the opinion of a Dante fan, and I'll admit; that's all the reasons you might want to get him. Unless you can bring up self-created reasons such as "HE IZ SECKSY!!111" or something. WHY SHOULD I NOT GET DANTE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ First of all, Dante cannot learn the skill "Pierce," so he cannot really, um, he completely useful against the True Demon Ending last boss (this last boss has insane defenses, and amount of HP, see?). His only utility during this challenging, tiring battle is his odds of striking criticals with Rebellion, but that's about it. Boy, you'd wish Stinger would work on bosses, eh? Second of all, once Dante joins your party, he cannot be fused, sacrificed, kicked out, etc. He stays there. In battle party or on the bench, he's not moving out. So make sure you want to sacrifice a party slot for this guy, because once you do, he made his territory. Third of all, though I dunno if that's a reason... Dante can be registered in the Demon Compendium in Cathedrals of Shadows, but in a next game (Cycle/New Game+), he cannot be summoned by the minister in the CoS. That means EVERYTIME you'll want Dante, and darn it all, without even wanting to get the True Demon Ending, you will have to defeat the Fiends, travel through the whole Labyrinth of Amala until the fifth floor, level him back up to 84+, just so you can play with him! By the 4th time, it gets annoying. IF you're patient. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5==============================5 | Misc. Information on Dante | 5==============================5 This section will contain information on Dante, including from the Devil May Cry series, etc. Keep an eye opened for the next update, dear players! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6================================6 | Fans' Feedbacks and Opinions | 6================================6 This section is dedicated to fans of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and/or Dante. They can give a piece of their mind on both Dante concerning this game, Dante in general, or hell, this FAQ! Be it fan mail or hate mail! HOWEVER! YOU MAY FOLLOW THESE RULES! -Check your language -dO noT TyPe lIEk dIS -English only, I don't speak Spanish/Italian/Arabian/Binary/1337/AOLER OMG!111 -Don't just write senseless stuff like "Dante sucks 'cuz I say so." Write well-formed arguements and opinions! -Don't spam. Or you're blocked. Forever. -If you're a member of a website that hosts my FAQ without crediting me, you damn better not email me if it's not to warn me about it! Anyone who wishes to deposite a feedback, or his/her opinions, email me at: thedelf2004 (at) gmail (dot) com (Haha, take that, Spam Bots!) ABOUT DANTE ~~~~~~~~~~~ GameFAQs User Yawgmoth121266 Wrote: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- He is a godly random battler, and I did use him when I was leveling up the protagonist so I could create my final party in my first play through. I know you don't NEED pierce against the true demon endings final boss, but why wouldn't you want it? What's dante gonna do in your end of game party that another demon couldn't do better? I really don't like the fact that you have to go through the laberynt all over again if you want him in the second playthrough. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: Everyone scream a huge "AMEN TO THAT!" for the last sentence. Twice. --- GameFAQs User Yawgmoth121266 Also Wrote: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- If your considering puting peoples opinions about Dante in the guide how's this. While Dante might not be the best demon in the game, his style and bad*** attitude make up for it. He definitly will be a vital part of your party at the time you get him, but his usefullness may diminish if you decide to get the true demon ending (he can't hurt the boss). If you get another ending he most likely will end up in your final party. After leveling some he will learn an Almighty skill that hits all the enemies and a skill that increases the damage he deals, which combined will make short work out of most random encounters. In sort, getting him is not just a must for Devil May Cry fans like myself. I trust that I will get proper recognition if this is used. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: I like this guy's opinion. Well written, makes sense, and yeah, he summarizes my FAQ pretty well. ^_~ --- GameFAQs User Aganar Wrote: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Dante is unfortunately in a situation where he is seen as a "noob" demon. The new players like him, and the "pros" usually hate him because of that. A popular guest character which the company throws in will no doubt be seen as nothing more than a way to boost sales, and the fact that he doesn't have pierce doesn't help. However, if people will simply look past the fact that he's Dante (I guarantee that if it had been an original character who just happened to be a Demon Hunter even the pros would be all over him), they'll find that he's actually an exceptional character. For one thing, he's got a pretty great skillset: E&I- Really Dante's only weak move. A single-enemy, multiple hitting but low damaging attack. He does, however, get an upgrade for it. Rebellion- A single-hitting, single-target move with a high critical rate. Though its damage is only about as high as "Divine Shot", it has the critical rate of "Spiral Viper", making it very useful for Burial Chamber battles. Round-Trip- An all-hitting electrical attack with a 15% chance of inflicting Shock. It's just Maziodyne, but having some back-up magic never hurts. Besides, Dante's got plenty of MP, and there are still plenty of strong enemies that still have a weakness to electricity. Whirlwind- Another spell in disguise, this time Mazandyne. An all-hitting force attack will occaisonally have its uses, though by the time you get Dante most enemies with force weakness have disappeared. Holy Star- This is Dante's dekunda, which can be either a godsend or pointless. If you don't have a demon with dekunda, having this on Dante can be a life-safer on burial chamber battles and boss fights. If not, it can easily be dropped. Provoke- Dante's version of "Taunt" will lower enemies defense, though at the trade-off of temporairly raising their atttack power. While questionably effective on boss-fights, this works wonders on random enemies, allowing you the few extra points of damage to finish off your enemy before they can attack. And with the added perk of recovering Dante's MP, it will keep him happily spellcasting. Never Yield- Like the Protagonist's "Endure", it will bring Dante back from the dead once during battle. Very helpful on the rare occaison he gets killed, since he's immune to all status effects and strong to all non-Almighty attacks. Intimidate- A bland conversation skill. Not terrible, but you won't mind dropping it. Bullet-Time- The more powerful and more useful upgrade to E&I will let Dante now hit all enemies, as well as having a chance to inflict a status effect. Not incredibly useful, though not without its moments. A cool-looking move for Dante fans, if nothing else. Stinger- The single most sought after skill of Dante's may be, if nothing else, your only reason to keep him. Aside from being an almighty skill with a good amount of power on its own, it has a random chance to instantly kill whomever it hits, death-resistant or not. A great move for fighting against any random enemy. Son's Oath- A passive skill that instantly ncreases all of Dante's physical attacks by 50%. Need I say more? Showtime- An almighty attack that hits the entire enemy party. You know you want it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: Another fellow who gives a senseful opinion about Dante's truths and lies. Especially like the "noob demon" thing. --- GameFAQs User ace_killer15 Wrote: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Well, actually i'm happy that Dante is here (in this game)...but really why is Kelly's FAQ so hard on Dante? Now my view is Dante ROCKS! Best boss and non-boss terminator in the game... he's useful in the Burial Chambers thats for sure....and Lucifer? Also that. Lucifer is just a demon that will lower attacks by 1/4 of what they are... if your the type of person that want's to save a slot or two for another skill rather than use a space slot for Tuant and Dekanda then Dante is your man. Holy Star + Provoke will be more than useful in the last battle. I think that's one reason ppl over see Dante... -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: Oh? Dante is useful against Lucifer? Perhaps, yes, PERHAPS he can be useful against the True Demon Ending last boss somehow, but how 'bout on Hard Mode, eeeeehhhhh?! --- GameFAQs User _Shiren_ Wrote: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Dante is useless to me only cause of the fact that he has to actually gain all those levels to become 40s in stats, and the only alternative is the incense method which is actually wasted on dante since you might wanna use it on your own hero, also one more thing is the fact that he requires a lot more experience to level up than the main hero. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: It cannot be denied that what _Shiren_ here said does makes sense. Dante requires a lot of babysitting, even for the powerhouse that he is. And when you're on your 4th playthrough and have to re-level him up... --- GameFAQs User average joe Wrote: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- the true ending final boss is overrated. i fought him on normal with the main character only having pierce. i used dante and the other demons in my party to buff, debuff and heal. he went down easily. also, on hard mode, you just have to have more levels and stats so you can endure the dude`s attacks etc... so it`s really not much different. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: That answers my added comments directed to ace_killer15. XD --- GameFAQs User crazymonkey Wrote: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Evil Melody does the job just as well as Stinger if you know what you're doing, and I found the Trumpeter to be more useful then Dante overall. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: While Evil Melody doesn't instant kills, it only takes one little breeze of a hit to kill whoever that's got Evil Melody'd. So, crazy has a point, here. --- GameFAQs User Aganar Also Wrote (in answer to crazymonkey): -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- True, but sometimes you like having party members who have "style". I could easily have chosen fiends over characters like Cu Chulainn or Ose, but I ended up using both of them for awhile because I liked them. Similarly, while Dante probably carries with him alot of resentment from SMT fans simply because he's a guest character (I don't see why though; the SMT guys asked Capcom if they could use him. Kaneko even did some illustrations for DMC3), he's a pretty cool character to have in your team. If he was able to learn pierce, people would rate him exponentially higher than they do now. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: *nods in perfect agreement* And I actually liked the DMC3 Devil Trigger mode because it reminded me of Shin Megami Tensei! d(^_^)b crazymonkey COMMENTS: Heh, don't worry, I understand. "Style" is why I used Matador for so long. :P --- GameFAQs User average joe Also Wrote: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- another point being you don`t NEED pierce on him. oh gee, he can`t do much damage to one single monster in the entire game. dante is still one of THE most godly random battlers in the game. also, he has that certain style and charm. also, his 3rd kalpa fiasco was damn awesome. one particular part was the best though. in one of those rooms where there are 2 little rooms with switches in them with the see-through walls. you enter one of the little rooms and you see the door of the big room opening and out steps dante. you both can`t get to each other but you see him and he sees you. like, both waiting for a possible encounter. it`s so cool IMO (very movie-like if you think about it). just one of those little things that make Nocturne godly <3 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MY ADDED COMMENTS: Hahahahahaha. Fiasco. And I like the somewhat cinematic point of view he has with the chase. ABOUT THE FAQ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ None at the moment. :: Waiting for More Feedbacks And Opinions! :: :: thedelf2004 (at) gmail (dot) com :: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7===========================7 | Credits & Closing Words | 7===========================7 Welp, that's pretty much it. Until the next update, fellas. I hope you all enjoyed this FAQ, as well as the game itself, as much as I did! .:: THANKS TO ::. -Atlus Co., for making such an awesome addition to the Shin Megami Tensei series! -Capcom, for allowing Atlus Co. to use Devil May Cry's Dante in their game! -GameFAQs.com for hosting this FAQ, and being the great video gaming FAQ host overall! -CJayC and co. for taking very good care of the website! -My bestest friend and girlfriend, Cara, for always being there for me, and beinst the most awesome person in the world; and also encouraging me to write this FAQ, we're both Nocturne maniacs. :P (Haha, "Nocturne ~maniacs~"!) -StephiePid for reminding me what Dante's starting skills are! -Everyone that commented for the Fans section! Until next time, folks. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ©Dante FAQ Copyrights goes to me, Alexandre "Delf" Bolduc ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~