Shield Special
Release
Dante holds out his left palm and lunges forward, using all his royal gauge. The more the gauge the stronger the attack, however it's overall weak even maxed out.
That is, unless he times the first frames of the attack with an enemy's attack. If hit during the first moments, he'll do a Royal Release, taking no damage and multiplying the attack's power, damage, and even range, zooming across the screen and punishing zoners.
This is another key ability of the royalguard style introduced in DMC3.
Neutral Special
Gunslinging Trickster
A multi-part special attack similar in the vein to Joker's Gun special
Grounded, Dante pulls out Ebony and Ivory and fires 3 shots forward, repeated inputs repeats the 3 shots forward. These shots are very short range but knock enemies that are too close up into the air.
From here, pressing Up will have Dante leap into the air and perform a Rainstorm, a spinning outwards to downwards series of gunshots.
Pressing Down will have Dante do Twosome Time, where Dante switches to shooting the shots in both directions at once.
Pressing Forwards or Backwards will have Dante do Trickster's Dash in the direction inputted.
He can also cancel the move with shield.
The gun attacks are all moves Dante is able to use in DMC3 in his Gunslinger Style while the dashes are key to the trickster style.
Aerial Neutral Special
Aerial Gunslinging Trickster
In the air, he does the same 3 shots initially which, true to the game, cause him to stall his fall slightly.
Downwards will then activate Rainstorm, explained previously.
Upwards will have Dante use his double jump if applicable, otherwise it cancels the move.
Forwards and Backwards will have Dante use Sky Star, where he dashes forward or backwards from a sigil formed in the air, giving him a situational airdash and combo extender
He can also cancel the move with airdodge.
The gun attacks are all moves Dante is able to use in DMC3 in his Gunslinger Style while the dashes are key to the trickster style.
Side Special
Round Trip
Dante charges for a quick moment before throwing Rebellion forward which travels, spinning around before coming back, knocking anyone caught back into Dante's face.
A move used since DMC1 but was altered to a version never used again in DMC3, though Vergil in that game retains the classic Round Trip.
Down Special
Devil Trigger
Dante transforms into a full bodied devil, embracing his demonic heritage and increasing the attack power of several of his moves, or even modifying others. Draws from a pool of energy replenished by attacking enemies. Pressing this button again cancels the transformation while conserving leftover meter. He also gains the ability to triple jump in this form ala MvC3 and to glide for a short period of time as in DMC3, patching up his recovery and adding a ton of more options to his mobility and comboes. All Rebellion attacks gain a red trail while all gun attacks are now charged with red electricity. His forward smash and grabs are modified.
An iconic part of not only DMC3 but DMC as a series.
Up Special
Air Trick
Dante teleports a short distance. While it's mediocre as far as teleport recoveries go and thus doesn't allow him to go far offstage, it doesn't put him in free fall and has next to no endlag, making his pressure game unparalleled
staple of the Trickster ability in DMC3
