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DMC3 Royalguard Style

Royalguard Style in Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening

The Royalguard Style is one of Dante's styles in Devil May Cry 3, Devil May Cry 4, and Devil May Cry 5. It emphasizes minimization and countering of enemy attacks.[1]

Gameplay[]

The Royalguard Style is one of the most difficult styles to master, but potentially one of the strongest. The main function of this Style is to guard against enemy attacks to fill up a meter for a counterattack. The effectiveness of the block depends on how well timed it is. Perfect guarding nullifies damage, increases Style ranking, and more quickly fills the Rage Meter. Rage can be used for offensive and defensive purposes.

Royalguard can generally only defend against attacks that deal damage; it does nothing against those that do not, such as the Leviathan heart's Red Orb or Devil Trigger drain, or Geryon's time-distorting attacks. There are some exceptions to this, such as the vortex phase of Goliath's swallow attack.

In Devil May Cry 4 and 5, when Dante chooses this style he will lower his posture into a braced position, leaning forward with his right arm and leg as if exaggerating a heater-shield guard stance, and shouts "Royal Guard!" while snapping his left hand behind him. An electrical aura sparks along with it: a pale blue tint in DMC4; glowing red in DMC5, similar to the other Styles.

Devil May Cry 3[]

DMC3 Revenge Meter

The Rage Meter is represented by the Style level spheres on the HUD. Each sphere will blink as it is filling and will maintain a glow once it is charged.

Block & Charge is Royal Guard's primary ability. As the name suggests, Dante blocks attacks, which also charges the Rage Meter. Simply holding guard and waiting for an enemy attack will reduce damage taken from enemies, but by timing the block just before Dante is hit, he will block all damage and stagger the enemy. This also yields both a greater Stylish increase and a higher amount of Rage. Dante can hold his block stance indefinitely and weaker attacks without breaking, but larger demons with stronger attacks can break his normal guard. This can be dangerous because of the long recovery times which leave Dante open for attack. Blocking attacks also causes Dante to turn and face the attacker on contact. ‘’’Block & Charge’’’ has an instant start and cooldown animation that can be used to cancel other animations.

The arial variation, aptly named ‘’’Air Block,’’’ functions exactly the same as the ground version, but in the air. It does cause Dante to drop considerably faster than his typical rate of descent.

“Release” and “Air Release” expend all the Rage meter in exchange for a devastating attack. A full meter can kill lesser demons in one attack. While on the ground, Dante simply palm thrusts enemies with a normal Release, but a perfectly timed release will cause Dante to zoom past the target. Though situational, perfect ‘’’Release’’’ can be used as a pseudo-dash to close the gap between Dante and an enemy.

Royal Guard’s final ability is ‘’’Ultimate.’’’ When executing this move, Dante will put one his hands back and extend the other, creating a barrier of spinning circular glyphs in a triangular formation. When an enemy hits the glyph, their attack is completely absorbed and converted into health for Dante. This ability will only protect Dante from frontal attack and will only convert the equivalent of enemy’s base attack. Sufficiently powerful attacks will shatter the glyphs and Dante will take damage. Unlike ‘’’Block,’’’ ‘’’Ultimate’’’ has a relatively long startup and cooldown animation.

Devil May Cry 4[]

Dante's Gauge

Royal Gauge in DMC4 (Underneath Style Switcher).

The Rage meter is changed out in Devil May Cry 4 for a segmented meter that sits below the “R” on the Style indicator that slowly fills as Rage is collected. The maximum amount of Rage that can be stored is increased along with the Royalguard Style level.

Royal Block Image Replacement

Royalguard Style in Devil May Cry 4.

‘’’Block’’’ and ‘’’Air Block’’’ return functioning similarly as the last game, but with new visuals. Upon contact with Dante, a red shield will appear to reduce damage from an attack. This shield makes a metallic clinking sound when blocking an attack.

A perfectly timed block gets its own slot on the Royal Guard movelist as ‘’’Royal Block.’’’ It is signified by shockwave over the shield and a more bassy audio effect. ‘’’Royal Block’’’ still nullifies damage but will not parry attacks like in the previous game.

‘’’Release’’’ and ‘’’Air Release ’’’ return, also with new effects as well, replacing the white flash with a red one. ‘’’Royal Release’’’ is the name for a Release timed just before getting hit. Royal release has a louder high pitch ring while Dante charges through the enemy.

Royalguard Dreadnaught Form

Dante with Dreadnaught and Devil Trigger active.

‘’’Dreadnaught’’’ is the final ability that covers Dante’s upper body in impenetrable armor while the rest of his body is shrouded in a black shadow. Dreadnaught will last as long as there is Rage in the Royal Gauge and cannot be manually deactivated. While it is active, Dante will take no damage, cannot be staggered, or knocked back. He can also perform all of his normal actions aside from running.

Devil May Cry 5[]

Dante HUD

Royal Gauge in DMC5.

The Rage meter is once again redesigned and redubbed the Royal Guage. It is a segmented, circular gauge that sits around the "R" on the Style indicator. It starts out with four segments and fully upgrading Royal Guard will increase it to a total of ten. Using Super Costumes automatically refills the Guage in a short time.

Royalguard in Devil May Cry 5 is much more forgiving than in previous games, though contrary to many claims, the perfect guard timing window is exactly the same (6 frames). The biggest change is that Blocking no longer causes Dante to take chip damage and is unbreakable. Instead, a normal block will reduce Dante's DT gauge, and if it is empty, Dante's guard will be broken. Normal Blocks also fill the Royal Gauge. Royal Block increases the gains the DT gauge, Style bonus, and Royal Gauge. Blocking also no longer rotates Dante to face the enemy he is guarding; instead, he has multiple animations for guarding hits coming from different directions, and is even able to guard multiple hits with his back to an enemy. Dante also has voice cues that occasionally accompany Royal Blocks, particularly if he has executed several in a row.

A new ability called ‘’’Royal Revenge’’’ will completely nullify damage and counter at the cost of stock of the Royal Gauge. There is no timing requirement to Royal Revenge; as long as Dante is in the stance when he is struck, it will deal activate.

When Royalguard is used with Devil Sword Dante's Swords Formation active, the summoned swords will reduce damage from all incoming blows Dante fails to block, and increase all gains to the Royal Gauge from blocking.

Movesets[]

Action Command Description
Level 1
Block & Charge Button ps4 circle (ground) Block incoming attacks, slowly building up your anger and adrenaline. Just Block to increase the damage of the attack and charges the Rage Meter more than usual.
Release Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-up+Button ps4 circle (ground) Release pent-up anger charged from blocked enemy attacks to do major damage.

Just Release to deal significantly more damage than a normal Release.

Level 2
Air Block Button ps4 circle (mid-air) Block in mid-air. Can Just Block.
Air Release Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-up+Button ps4 circle (mid-air) Perform a release in mid-air. Can Just Release.
Level 3
Ultimate Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-down+Button ps4 circle Block enemy attacks and convert the block energy into life power for yourself. Cannot Royal Block. Anything that breaks a normal Block will break Ultimate.

Action Command Description
Block Button ps4 circle/Button xbone b (ground) Minimize the damage taken from an enemy's attack, while at the same time accumulating power within the Royal Gauge.
Air Block Button ps4 circle/Button xbone b (mid-air) Minimize the damage taken from an enemy's mid-air attack, while at the same time accumulating power within the Royal Gauge.
Royal Block Just Block Block an enemy's attack at the last second to negate all damage and greatly increase the angry energy stored within the Royal Gauge.
Release Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-up+Button ps4 circle/Button xbone rb+Button xbone ls-up+Button xbone b (ground) Release all the energy stored in the Royal Gauge, and lash out at your enemies with an explosion of dreadful power.
Air Release Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-up+Button ps4 circle/Button xbone rb+Button xbone ls-up+Button xbone b (mid-air) Release all the energy stored in the Royal Gauge, and lash out at airborne enemies with an explosion of dreadful power.
Royal Release Just Release Release all the anger stored within you as a violent, damaging counter-attack against those unfortunate enough to provoke you.
Dreadnaught Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-down+Button ps4 circle/Button xbone rb+Button xbone ls-down+Button xbone b A mysterious technique that transforms the body into a seemingly metallic shell impervious to enemy assault. The duration of the technique is linked to the amount of energy stored within the Royal Gauge.

Action Command Description
Level 1
Block Button ps4 circle/Button xbone b/Pc mclick1 (ground) Blocks enemy attacks and neutralizes damage while also filling the Royal Gauge. This technique expends the DT Gauge each time it is activated. While blocking, you can move around.
Royal Block Button ps4 circle/Button xbone b/Pc mclick1 Block an enemy attack as close as possible to defend without expending the DT Gauge. Fills the Royal Gauge more than a standard Block.
Release Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-up+Button ps4 circle/Button xbone rb+Button xbone ls-up+Button xbone b/Pc shift1+Pc up1+Pc mclick1 (ground) Release the energy built up in your Royal Gauge, dealing massive damage to enemies.
Royal Release Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-up+Button ps4 circle/Button xbone rb+Button xbone ls-up+Button xbone b/Pc shift1+Pc up1+Pc mclick1 Draw in an enemy attack before releasing the energy built up in your Royal Gauge to deliver a tremendous blast of damage.
Level 2
Air Block Button ps4 circle/Button xbone b/Pc mclick1 (mid-air) Activates a mid-air version of Block, neutralizing damage and filling the Royal Gauge. This technique expends the DT Gauge each time it is activated. you can also Royal Block on mid-air.
Level 3
Air Release Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-up+Button ps4 circle/Button xbone rb+Button xbone ls-up+Button xbone b/Pc shift1+Pc up1+Pc mclick1 (mid-air) Release the energy built up in your Royal Gauge in mid-air, dealing massive damage to enemies. you can also Royal Release on mid-air.
Level 4
Royal Revenge Button ps4 r1+Button ps4 ls-down+Button ps4 circle/Button xbone rb+Button xbone ls-down+Button xbone b/Pc shift1+Pc down1+Pc mclick1 (ground) Use one stock of Royal Gauge to nullify enemy attacks and perform a counterattack. Hold the button to maintain readiness.

Dreadnaught Glitch[]

A small visual glitch involving the Dreadnaught Form allows the player to use the Dreadnaught model and its audio clips while being able to move normally and taking damage as usual. In order to utilize this glitch, the player must switch their weapons precisely at the moment when Dante changes back from using it. However, this glitch was fixed on the PC release.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In real-life terms, the term "Royal Guard" describes as a military bodyguards, soldiers or armed retainers responsible for the protection of a royal person, such as the emperor or empress, king or queen, or prince or princess.
  • Dante's "Block" stance is similar to that of Fei Long from the Street Fighter series.

External links[]

References[]

  1. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening, Style File — Royalguard: "Minimizing the damage of an enemy attack, this style allows the player to maneuver into a more strategic position."
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