Balrog (Devil Arm)

• MAIN
• DEVIL ARM

Balrog
Name information
Katakana	バルログ
Romaji	Barurogu
Weapon information
Type	Devil Arm
User	Dante
Form	Gauntlets, Greaves, and Shoulder Pads
Element	Fire
Real-life information
Appearances	Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare Devil May Cry 5

“

Ignite the flames! Now!

”

—Balrog during Heat Up, Devil May Cry 5

Balrog is one of Dante's Devil Arms in Devil May Cry 5.

Appearance and Description

Balrog is a set of gauntlets, greaves, and shoulder pads (Blow Mode only) created with the sealed power of the king of Fire Hell.

All of Balrog's components are metal and plated in such a way that they look like magma once fire starts flowing through them. The gauntlets have yellow eyes on the back of the hands that have black slit pupils. The shoulder pads have two large spikes that curve out to the sides of Dante before curving upwards. During certain attacks, the gauntlets increase in size.

File

Devil May Cry 5 promo site

A Devil Arm made for melee combat, brimming with the sealed power of the king of Fire Hell.

Kick Mode unleashes powerful kicks, while Blow Mode allows for nimble maneuvers. Make use of either mode to crush demons with ease.

Nico's Weapon Report - Balrog

There's an area in the underworld called Fire Hell, once ruled over by a big nasty beast named Berial. After he bit the dust, they say this even bigger badass, Balrog, inherited the burning throne.

Bad luck for him, he ran into our boy Dante, who whooped him like a rented mule and added his power to his collection of Devil Arms.

The way this thing builds up heat to unleash powerful attacks— there's no doubt this is the power of the king of flames. Anyone else would burn to a crisp wielding this beast, but Dante's a seasoned vet' when it comes to handling hot stuff.

Gameplay

Dante performs an uppercut in Blow Mode.

Balrog is analogous to the Devil Arms Ifrit, Beowulf and Gilgamesh from previous games, being a set of greaves and gauntlets that allow for short-range punches and sweeping kicks. Unlike all previous iterations of this weapon type, Balrog does not charge up its attacks if the attack button is held.

Also unlike those weapons, Balrog has two complete movesets, one for punches (Blow Mode) and one for kicks (Kick Mode). These are toggled between using back + melee attack, which will change the selection icon in the lower-right to highlight which is selected. Switching modes is a single quick attack, and the player can instantly switch back after one hit to vary up their combos. Balrog also has an associated set of Swordmaster moves for each mode, making it an extremely flexible weapon.

A special mechanic known as "Ignition" allows the weapon to light up on fire and deal additional fire damage to enemies: it is also a prerequisite for using the Swordmaster moves Real Impact and Pyromania. It also governs whether there is a visible fire trail to Rolling Blaze, though Rolling Blaze still deals damage even without Ignition. Balrog will enter the Ignition state if Dante scores ten sequential hits in Blow Mode (getting hit, evading or jumping will reset the count, dodging with Welter Move will not) or performs the "Heat Up" dance move in Kick mode for a short time. If the weapon is inactive for a period of time, the fire will fade away, and it will have to be ignited again. Balrog will voice a countdown as Ignition runs out. The duration before it expires can be upgraded.

Blow Mode is a style resembling boxing: it is highly focused, short-ranged, and the less mobile of the two modes, with inferior ability to move between enemies. The basic attack is an infinitely repeatable machine-gun jab which triggers Ignition after ten hits: holding the button allows Dante to enter "Welter Move" which allows small side dodges that do not break the Ignition count as normal dodges do, with the option to end a dodge with a powerful counter-blow. The forward attack is a strong straight which does not knock enemies away, which can be followed with an uppercut that does. The air combo is three hits, the last of which is a down-strike that sends enemies to the ground.

The Swordmaster moves in this mode are mostly the same as previous gauntlet weapons. Middle Break is a powerful forward punch that will leave a brief swirl of wind in the air that stunlocks and deals damage over time: with Ignition, it will be a more powerful swirl of flames. The classic ground-slam punch is still present, but now only accessible in the air. Rising Dragon returns, but is implemented a little differently: by default it is just a lunging uppercut called Minimum Dragon, but if the player repeatedly hits the style button it can be performed at two additional levels of power, called Rising Dragon and Divine Dragon. In short, rather than being hold-to-charge, it functions rather like a Crazy Combo now. Balrog also has Real Impact: as in the previous games, it is a short-range punch with a long windup which will launch into a mighty jumping uppercut which scores two additional hits if the first hit connects.

Kick Mode somewhat resembles capoeira, incorporating a lot of flips and cartwheel-kicks. This mode is slower, but performs attacks with better reach and stronger impact, and is much better for rapidly moving around. The basic attacks are a series of powerful kicks, while the air move is the classic dive-kick which can be used to rapidly move around the battlefield. There is also a flip-kick launcher, Updraft, and the "Heat Up" move which can be used to build Ignition. Heat Up renders Dante more vulnerable to damage, though the breakdance sweep of the animation does actually score a weak hit to keep enemies away.

Kick Mode's Swordmaster moves are more situational than Blow Mode: the basic attack, Break Spiral, is a breakdance move that scores continuous weak hits to all enemies around Dante, and can be good for building up Style when surrounding by less dangerous enemies. The air move is a short combo that launches enemies higher. Flint Wheel is a backward flip that can function as both an attack and an evasive move. Finally, Pyromania is a powerful kick combo somewhat reminiscent of the DT Kick 13 combo of Ifrit: it is a fixed series of moves like Rebellion's Dance Macabre, though unlike Dance Macabre it cannot be interrupted by the player and does not prevent enemies from dying before the final hit.

Moveset

• Standard
• Swordmaster

• Blow Mode
• Kick Mode

Action	Command	Description
Ten Counts	Make 10 successful Balrog attacks in Blow Mode	Series of punches activate Balrog, triggering ignition.	Activating Ten Counts and showing moves with Ignition.
Ignition	Triggered by "Ten Counts"	Activated by rapid tappings. Lets out an impulse of Balrog's overheated energy, temporarily increasing your attacks Ignition 2 (10000): Upgraded version of the Ignition attack buff technique. Effects remain active for longer. Ignition 3 (40000): Ultimate evolution of the Ignition attack</n>buff technique. Dramatically lengthens effect duration.
Light Blow	On ground, press ,,...	Make a quick combination of punches.	Series of Light Blows
Heavy Jolt	On ground, press + (forward) +	Quickly overcome the enemy's defence and strike it with a powerful punch.	Heavy Jolt and Fly Dragon
Fly Dragon	After Heavy Jolt, press	7000 After charging forward with Heavy Jolt, send out your left fist to pound enemies into the air.
Welter Move	On ground, while holding , move left or right	Ride your own momentum after an attack to keep yourself clear of enemy counters. Tilt Left joystick left or right to dodge in that direction.	Three dodges from Welter Move
Bantam Revenge	After "Welter Move", press	5000 Execute a counter in the direction you dodged with Welter Move. Slip through enemy attacks and lay on the pain.
Feather Combo	In mid-air, press ,	Perform a rapid three-hit aerial combo.	Feather Combo
Rolling Blaze	Automatically triggered by jumping	15000 Jumping discharges a blast wave that damages nearby enemies

Action	Command	Description
Balrog Combo A	On ground, press , ,	Whip yourself into a spin to deliver a whirlwind of three hard kicks	Balrog Combo A
Balrog Combo B	On ground, press , , then , , ,	A stylish Balrog Combo A spin-off. Your high speed spin kicks will pull in nearby enemies for more punishment
Friction	In mid-air, press	Slam downward with a powerful kick from mid-air	Friction
Updraft	On ground, press + (forward) +	3000 A high-flying flip kick that launches enemies upward. Great for intercepting airborne foes	Updraft
Heat Up	Hold after an attack	Dazzlke the dance floor and trigger Ignition. You take additional damage while Heat Up is active
Rolling Blaze	Automatically triggered by jumping	15000 Jumping discharges a blast wave that damages nearby enemies

• Blow Mode
• Kick Mode

Action	Command	Description
Level 1
Middle Break	On ground, press	Spin up a high velocity punch attack that slams into the enemy with powerful cyclone winds.	Middle Break
Cruiser Dive	In mid-air, press	Deliver a brutal falling punch to a grounded enemy, coupled with an earthshaking shockwave that'll leave nearby enemies reeling	Cruiser Dive
Minimum Dragon	On ground, press + (forward) +	Penetrate the enemy's defenses with a defiant uppercut that'll launch them skyward.
Level 2
Rising Dragon	On ground, press + (forward) + rapidly tap	Focus your power into your fist, then release an uppercut so strong, it'll launch you like a missile.	Balrog "dragons"
Level 3
Divine Dragon	On ground, press + (forward) + tap even more	With maximum power, launch yourself at full force drilling through an enemy like a drill.
Level 4
Real Impact	On ground, in "Ignition", press + (back) + tap	Stop an enemy with the hit of your body, then rip them by making a combo of uppercut and knee strike.	Real Impact

Action	Command	Description
Level 1
Break Spiral	On ground, press	Spin around lightning fast to deliver attacks over a wide area. Extend your spin by tapping repeatedly, and move around during the spin with L joystick.	Break Spiral
Firestorm	In mid-air, press ,	Go from a spin into a speedy one-two kick combo that launches enemies into the air.	Firestorm
Level 2
Flint Wheel	On ground, press + (back) +	Make the battlefield your playground, back flipping to get around enemies.	Flint Wheel
Level 4
Pyromania	On ground, in "Ignition", press + (forward) + , , ...	Maul your enemy with series of molten kicks and sway them away.	Pyromania

Trivia

Balrog, with the "Nostalgia" outfit in Street Fighter V.

• The name of the weapon is a reference to Balrog (known as Mike Bison in Japan), a character in the Street Fighter series. The name originally comes from an ancient creature in J. R. R. Tolkien's work, using the power of fire.
  • While the weapon's namesake is based off of Balrog, both movesets resemble Dudley and Elena's movesets. Notable examples include Middle Break and Corkscrew Blow and Dante's "Shall we dance?" quote being taken from Brave Dance.
• Most of Blow Mode's moves are named after weight classes in professional boxing. Likewise, "Ten Count" is a reference to knockouts in boxing.
• The Balrog was the first weapon the development team worked on.
• Director Hideaki Itsuno wanted two different weapons for punching and kicking, but he couldn't extend the weapon number that far, hence the weapon doing both at once.
• Producer Michiteru Okabe stated that he loves the Balrog, when he saw Dante performing the "Blow Mode" attacks with it he thought: "This game will sell well!".
• Balrog's voice is provided by Michael Schwalbe.
• Contrary to popular belief, Balrog is not the default Stylish Rank announcer in Devil May Cry 5.
• Break Spiral has Dante use the same "I'm on fire" he used in his youth with Spiral's "Sniper" move, said in exactly the same way.
• Balrog marks the first time Dante's starting loadout includes a Devil Arm that is not a sword.

Gallery

Balrog's concept art for DMC5

Devil May Cry 5 - Balrog

See also

• Ifrit
• Beowulf
• Gilgamesh
• Eryx