Devil May Cry 5 Bosses Ranked Easiest To Hardest (And How To Defeat Them)

Devil May Cry 5, DMC, Devil May Cry


Devil May Cry 5 is a very hard game that you can practice for days on end. There’s a lot of action going on throughout the entire game, and as such, it makes sense that the game would have difficult and highly-intimidating bosses.

I tried to be as objective as possible with the order of the bosses, but don’t be startled if you find a high-ranking boss easy or a low-ranking boss hard, a lot of it comes down to preference. We’ll take a look at all of the bosses, how hard they are, and some tips on how to approach beating all of them!

14.Qliphoth Roots

Qliphoth Roots can barely be considered a boss. But, since you meet him early on in the game as Nero with a very limited toolset, it’s understandable why the boss is so easy.

The Roots are connected to a big red bubble which serves as the core of this amalgam. You have to hit the boss there, or else he will not take damage. He has a few tentacle attacks, which should be easy enough to avoid once you understand the timing. The most influential attacks will be coming from Red Queen, and quickly the Qliphoth Roots will fall down.

DEVIL MAY CRY 5 - Qliphoth Roots Boss Fight Gameplay

How To Defeat Qliphoth Roots:

  • Be wary of the tentacle attacks, they can be a bit hard to avoid at the start
  • Take your time, the boss won’t be getting stronger or faster, just slowly cut him down
  • Position yourself so that you can see and dodge all tentacles

13.Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh is a weird demonic-metallic being that Nero has to fight. He resembles a big insect and is one of the biggest bosses you will fight. He’s rather simple to defeat once you know how to approach his fight.

Gilgamesh has a big weak spot on his back. To get to his weak spot, you will have to knock the armor off of some segments on his leg and use Wire Snatch to climb all the way to his back. He, much like other bosses, will become more aggressive after you take him down to half HP, but the entire fight revolves around you getting on his back and smacking him.

DMC5 | Mission 6 Boss Guide | Gilgamesh | Attacks and Full Round | No Damage

How To Defeat Gilgamesh

  • Knock off the armor on his legs and climb up to his back
  • Be careful while you’re on his back since he will try to take you down
  • Don’t rush too much until you get the feel for his moves, since all you lose once you fall down is some style points

12.Nidhogg

Nidhogg is the first boss that you face as V. He is a demonic parasitic life form which clings to the Qliphoth tree in Red Grave City. He has an interesting design, but his moves are rather simple and easy to see through if you’re careful.

Nidhogg is a big red dude in between two roots that will attack you. The roots are a little annoying, but since you’re playing with V, you can just stay at a distance and let your familiars clear them out for you. Keep in mind that when at low health, Nidhogg and his roots will attack you at the same time, but when you destroy the roots, he will be temporarily stunned.

DMC5 | Mission 4 Boss Guide | Nidhogg | Attacks and Full Round | Few Abilities

How To Defeat Nidhogg

  • Destroy the tentacles first!
  • Take your time, his attacks are easy to avoid unless you’re rushing him

11.Proto Angelo

Proto Angelo is Mundus’ attempt at cloning Sparda and his kin. He looks like a humanoid demon wearing a pulsating intricate armor. He greatly resembles Nelo Angelo from the original Devil May Cry game.

You will fight Proto Angelo as either V or Nero. He’s not alone and he has a few goons at his side, which makes him a little more tough to handle. You should clear out the minions around him and then patiently attack him after dodging his moves.

Devil May Cry 5: Proto Angelo Boss Fight

How To Beat Proto Angelo

  • Clear out his minions first
  • He has a shield that can block your attacks, so attack him after he misses you

10.Goliath

Goliath is the first real boss that you will face. He is a big brute with heavy attacks that can take out a big chunk of your health easily, but he’s also slow and full of openings. The main thing to be concerned about when facing him is to not panic and to take things slowly.

You will start your fight with Goliath on the top of a building. As you’re fighting however, you will fall through the building and eventually leave it and fight out in an open space. Be careful because Goliath has some ranged attacks and can charge at you.

Devil May Cry 5 : How to Beat Goliath (First Boss)

How To Defeat Goliath:

  • When you see him swing for an attack, stop everything and dodge
  • You can run around the area and find green orbs to heal yourself up
  • Don’t forget to use your Devil Breaker to escape Goliath’s Fire Vacuum

9.Artemis

Artemis is an angelic-looking demon, it is actually a fusion between the Artemis weapon and Lady. It’s a very ominous looking boss, and one of my favorite designs in the whole game.

Artemis is a flying enemy that will shoot projectiles at you. Luckily, you can see when and where (more or less) she will shoot her lasers, since they’re shown a bit before she actually shoots. You’ll have to perform some aerial combos to stick to her and deal a decent amount of damage, and you should also focus the projectiles that she spawns because they can help you get to Artemis’ weak spot.

DEVIL MAY CRY 5 Artemis Boss Fight #3 (1080p HD 60FPS)

How To Defeat Artemis:

  • Try to get a feel for the projectiles first
  • Find a way to stick to her as much as possible without getting hit
  • At 50% HP she will fly into the air, use the projectiles she throws then to climb up to her
  • If you deal enough damage to her while she’s high in the air, she will fall down unguarded after which you can do even more damage

8.Nightmare

Nightmare is the last boss that you will face before the game’s final antagonist - Vergil. Since V has become one with Urizen, the familiars have nowhere to go to, so they’re all putting up a last stand against Dante who’s on his way to fight his brother.

In this fight you’re fighting against Shadow, Griffon and Nightmare at the same time but only Nightmare has an HP bar that you need to deplete. If you focus on clearing out Shadow and Griffon first, you’ll be doing that for a very long time since they can respawn indefinitely. Your best course of action is to focus all your power on Nightmare while dodging his deadly laser attacks and avoiding the other familiars.

Devil May Cry 5 - Griffon, Shadow and Nightmare Boss Fight

How To Defeat Nightmare

  • Focus on bursting him down instead of clearing out Shadow and Griffon
  • Dodge his attacks, they’re very powerful but also very slow and predictable

7.Elder Geryon Knight

The rider of the Elder Geryon is none other than Cavaliere Angelo who you will meet again in later battles. The Elder Geryon is a demonic horse that can alter time in an area around him.

During the first half of the battle Elder Geryon Knight can charge at you and he will attack you with his sword. When his blade glows with energy, you should already anticipate a charge and abort your attacks. Around half HP, Elder Geryon Knight will also start teleporting and creating time bubbles where you will have your movement slowed down. Don’t let him overwhelm you, and focus more on evading attacks than attacking him in his second form.

DMC5 | Mission 5 Boss Guide | Ancient Geryon Knight | Attacks and Full Round

How To Defeat Elder Geryon Knight

  • Don’t move too far away, because he can charge you and teleport to you
  • Avoid time bubbles at all cost
  • Be very defensive in the later stages of the battle
  • Griffon’s charged attacks will let you stay as safe as you can be while doing some damage to the boss 

6.Urizen

The Urizen we’re talking about here is the one you will fight with Dante after he unlocks the Devil Sword Dante and his Sin Devil Trigger. At this point it is still unknown who Urizen really is, but we do know that he’s the King Of The Underworld and you’ve failed attacking him multiple times in the game already.

You should already know most of Urizen’s attacks since you’ve faced him many times before. He will throw a lot of projectiles at you, so carefully evade those with Dante’s trickster style. You can use Dante’s Sin Devil Trigger easily in this fight a couple of times to dish out a load of damage and quickly take down Urizen, if you can dodge his attacks and steadily amass your Devil Trigger power, this fight will be easier than expected.

Devil May Cry 5: Dante vs Urizen Boss Fight

How To Defeat Urizen

  • DODGE, don’t focus on attacking at any cost unless you’re in Sin Devil Trigger Form
  • Use the trickster style as much as you can
  • Sin Devil Trigger is very strong since Urizen doesn’t move a lot

5.Cavaliere Angelo

Cavaliere Angelo is a Demon Boss wielding a greatsword that arrives on the scene of the battle on a motorcycle. He’s designed to be the better version of Nelo Angelo and after beating him it’s revealed that Trish was inside of him.

Cavaliere Angelo has a lot of attacks at his disposal, so you should be very careful with how you attack him, since he’s way better at brute force than Dante. The most important thing to note is that if he teleports away and raises his sword, you should run away because a big AOE attack is coming.

Devil May Cry 5 - Boss fight Cavaliere Angelo

How To Defeat Cavaliere Angelo

  • Avoid his big AOE attack
  • Parry his sword swings with Royal Guard Style
  • Don’t shoot at him when he’s got his cape up, since you won’t be doing anything, aim for his head with your melee weapons instead

4.Malphas

Malphas is a large female demon with a very disturbing design. The lower half of her body is a giant featherless baby-bird-like monstrosity, on top of which are 3 humanoid women that are melded together. Nero fights her to save V.

She has a lot of projectile attacks and she can even teleport. Blue Rose’s charged shots deal a lot of damage and let you keep your distance and dodge attacks easily. She will fall down a couple of times when you deal enough damage to her, after which you can do some damage for free.

Devil May Cry 5: Malphas Boss Fight

How To Defeat Malphas

  • Keep your distance and use charged attacks
  • Unleash the most hellish combos you know when she’s knocked down
  • Be careful for her teleport attack, it’s indicated by mist that gathers around you

3.Urizen - Devil Form

This is Urizen’s form after he eats the fruit Qliphoth tree. He regains his full power and sheds some parts of his ‘armor’. In this form he looks (and is) way more agile and dangerous.

At the start of the fight Urizen will not be moving so much. He will have an upgraded version of the projectiles he was using in fights before this one and will add in a few kicks and punches which can be very nasty if you get hit by them. Later on in the fight, he will start moving way more and even teleporting and using phantom blades. Key part of this fight is that you need to keep up with him, and your best option to do that is to use the Trickster Style.

DMC5 Boss Guide - Urizen (M17) DMD, No Damage!

How To Defeat Urizen

  • Use Devil Trigger to regain health when necessary
  • Be vary of his kicks, since you should be used to his projectiles by now
  • Don’t rush him since he can always attack you in the middle of your combos

2.King Cerberus

King Cerberus is not the first Cerberus that Dante encountered, but it’s definitely the strongest. Each of the three heads control a separate element and personality. It’s important to note that since the gameplay heavily reflects that.

King Cerberus’ will change between elements during the fight. If he’s using fire, you can expect him to be very aggressive with a lot of charge and paw attacks. Ice element will use a few paw attacks and a lot of ice walls to prevent you from engaging him easily. Lighting will, as you may have guessed, have a lot of projectile attacks that you will have to avoid. If you do enough damage he will temporarily fall down and switch elements which will cause a huge blast that you have to avoid.

DMC5 | Boss Guide - King Cerberus

How To Defeat King Cerberus

  • Once you’ve damaged him he will fall down and you can deal a lot of damage to him then
  • Once he tries to switch elements you can enter into Devil Trigger form and if you time it right Dante will be invincible during the explosion
  • Get a good feel of his attacks and forms and attack him when he’s most vulnerable

1.Vergil

After Urizen and V fuse once again, Vergil gives Dante some time to regroup and find him for their final battle. He’s the last boss of the game and you’ll be facing him with both Dante and Nero.

Vergil has way too many attacks for me to list them all out, but you’ll have some opportunity to mess up and learn his moves if you’re playing on the easier difficulties. The most important thing to note is - when he’s in his Devil Trigger, run. After 50% HP he will get a Devil Trigger clone next to him which will copy his attacks, your best course of action here is to defeat the clone first and then continue fighting Vergil.

DEVIL MAY CRY 5 Dante Vs Vergil Boss Fight #16 (1080p HD 60FPS)

How To Defeat Vergil

  • You won’t be able to do it unless you get a feel for his attacks and you know what to expect from him
  • Be very careful and don’t rush him ever
  • Don’t fight him in his Devil Trigger
  • Defeat the clone when he shows up

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As a young lad from Serbia, David chose to sustain his sanity and nutritional needs by playing games and reading books. He wishes to share his experiences by writing about his favorite games.
Gamer Since: 2008
Favorite Genre: RPG
Currently Playing: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Top 3 Favorite Games:Sleeping Dogs, Shovel Knight, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor


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