Maxed Out - I expect you to be TOTALLY maxed out in every way, though really you can have minimum health if you really want. Either way you can’t lose any to begin with. (Though max health helps for mission 12)

Transformation-Flux - Will be referred to as DTE, Trans-flux or anything similar.

Rebound Cancelling - The ability to jump out of air attacks rebounding off the enemy, then proceeding to attack/evade. This has excellent advantages, be it getting in max damage with Killer Bee or quickly evading an imminent attack below you.

K Bee Cancelling - This is one of the most powerful ways to get a good amount of damage in a short amount of time. I strongly suggest you get better at this technique. For non-moving enemies, do “Back flip Cancelling” which is basically holding back on the analog stick while K Bee Cancelling. This causes you to KEEP an angle on the non-moving enemy. Without doing that, you often start to jump above them, messing up the angle that K Bee needs

SSStylish - You should by now be able to get a SSStylish in combat WITHOUT FAIL and with all combinations of devil arms.

Taunt – TAUNT for the love of god. Use it as often as (safely) possible. Not only does it have great DT boost, it also has a huge style boost. It also seems to play a key roll in the final Style ranking. If you are finding yourself failing on style, odds are you aren’t taunting enough.

Devil Arms/Guns - You should be excellent with ALL combinations of devil arms including Nevan & all guns including Artemis. All weapons will be short termed as.

Reb - Rebellion
Cerbe - Cerberus
A & R - Agni & Rudra
Nev - Nevan
Beo - Beowulf

The only 2 guns that will be short termed are:

E & I - Ebony & Ivory
K Ann - Kalina Ann

Enemy Patterns/Attacks - You should at least know the attacks of most of the enemies you are fighting as well as a few personal ways of killing them.

Styles - You should know how to utilize ALL styles (except Doppelganger) to their highest ability, including Quiksilver & Royalguard. Styles will be short termed as:

TS - Trickster
SM - Swordmaster
GS - Gunslinger
RG - Royalguard
QS - Quiksilver
DG - Doppelganger

Super Dante - Just NO!! I don’t care if you use Super Dante….But if you use Super Dante + Quiksilver you deserve to be repeatedly hit by lightning. It would also explain why you are looking here for a mission 12 & 19 guide. (Of course, if you use SD without QS then it is still about as hard as it was anyway.)

Other Costumes - Other than SD, I really don’t mind what costume you plan on using. I switch it to whatever I feel like using (most commonly shirtless DMC1 Dante). The added abilities you get are really just minor upgrades/downgrades, so use whatever you fancy.

Moves - You must know every move and how to do them. Odds are I will probably mention all specific moves by name, so if you don’t know them, refer to the Style section.

Boss Move List - I really won’t expect you to know every attack of every boss, but I will NOT list all the moves of all bosses in this FAQ. I am expecting you to know at least most of them.

Wave/Extended Wave – A wave is basically a group of enemies that appear simultaneously. You get to the next wave if there is one, by killing all the enemies around you. An extended wave is basically, once 1or 2 enemies are defeated another will immediately re-appear. You can have separate waves in the SAME fight, I’ll tell you when that has happened

Gunslinger – When using Artemis, it is wise to change the “style” button to L1. This helps you move around while charging up Multi-lock. Of course you’ll have to move DT to O, you could move it to L2 (gun switch) to O as you won’t be switching guns often. This allows you to remain in total control whilst being able to charge DTE and Artemis simultaneously. It is, however, very uncomfortable on the hands. None of my strategies involve both Artemis and DTE simultaneously

Artemis – When using Artemis, hold the charge button and fire the arrows with the shoot button, so for example, hold L1 AT ALL TIMES and fire with []. This has several advantages, particularly not accidentally shooting at a time in which you can’t fire (mid attack etc).

Tells

Tells are giveaways in the game that tell you a certain thing has/is/will be happen(ing). (Like the whole screen turns grey when QS is activated or an audio cue for an attack by an enemy) Below is a list of Tells which you may not know:

Ranking - Though Style, Orbs and Time vary for an S rank, Item and Damage will ALWAYS stay the same. Therefore, for each mission guide I will only include the Style, Orb and Time requirements. Both Damage & Item have to be 0. There is NO exceptions.

Damage - 0
Item - 0

Yes, that is 0 damage on ALL missions including 12. Damage caused by the key item “Haywire Neo Generator” does not count. So if you feel that it is impossible, then quit now. But if you feel you can DO the impossible, then read on. (Also, note that Arkham and Soul Eater's grab move does not inflict damage.)

Transformation-Flux – When preparing Trans-Flux, the runes on your DT gauge will slowly turn red, indicating its power. You should be charging this at all times, unless otherwise stated.

Target Reticule – When targeting an enemy, the outer rim of the reticule displays their health in quarters. This is extremely useful for killing multiple enemies at the right time.

Royalguard – To the left of your health bar are 3 small orbs (circles). These orbs show how much “rage” you have built up from guarding. When all 3 are full and the final orb stops glowing, it is highly suggested that you use it to hurt something.

Note: Your rage will be wasted if you “Silver/Gold Just Release” at any time, enemy or not, and it will also be wasted if you release at a breakable/invincible object.

Royalguard / Trickster – All types of evasion and "parries" increase your style. The only exception is normal jump. For "Air Trick", you must be near an enemy for your style to increase. Trickster has the added ability of also sustaining the style meter during the entire manoeuvre.

Gunslinger - When charging Artemis, Shotgun or E & I, a flash will signify it being fully charged. This is not the case for Rebellion though (Drive).

Quick Cancel – This is the Quiksilver ability that grants invincibility upon activation of QS. This can be used at certain points to connect impossible hits and minimize damage to 0 at certain points. It has a long invincibility time and can be activated at any point (including mid attack). However, deactivating QS does NOT have the same effect.

Average Difficulty – The missions vary in difficulty. This is the average from easiest to hardest (this of course varies from player to player but is reasonably accurate)

1, 2, 6, 3, 10, 17, 20, 13, 8, 9, 5, 7, 4, 11, 14, 15, 18, 16, 19, 12 – These will REALLY test your endurance