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Balrog is one of Dante's Devil Arms in Devil May Cry 5.[1]

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.[2]

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[3]
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

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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. As in DMC 4, it can be distorted for additional damage.

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 rather a kick version of 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

Action Command Description
Count to Ten Make 10 successful Balrog attacks in Blow Mode Series of punches activate Balrog, triggering ignition.
BalHeat

Activating Count to Ten and showing moves with Ignition.

Ignition Triggered by "Count to ten" Activated by rapid tappings. Lets out an impulse of Balrog's overheated energy, temporarily increasing your attacks
Ignition 2 and 3 Passive ability Increases the duration of ignition.
Light Blow On ground, press Button xbone y,Button xbone y,Button xbone y... Make a quick combination of punches.
BalLP

Series of Light Blows

Heavy Jolt On ground, press Button xbone rb + (forward) + Button xbone y Quickly overcome the enemy's defence and strike it with a powerful punch.
BalQP

Heavy Jolt and Fly Dragon

Fly Dragon After Heavy Jolt, press Button xbone y After charging forward with Heavy Jolt, send out your left fist to pound enemies into the air.
Welter Move On ground, while holding Button xbone y, move Button xbone ls push 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.
BalDodge

Three dodges from Welter Move

Bantam Revenge After "Welter Move", press Button xbone y 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 Button xbone y,Button xbone y,Button xbone y Perform a rapid three-hit aerial combo.
BalAC

Feather Combo

Rolling Blaze Automatically triggered by jumping Jumping discharges a blast wave that damages nearby enemies

Action Command Description
Balrog Combo A On ground, press Button xbone y, Button xbone y, Button xbone y Whip yourself into a spin to deliver a whirlwind of three hard kicks
BalLC

Balrog Combo A

Balrog Combo B On ground, press Button xbone y, Button xbone y, then Button xbone y, Button xbone y, Button xbone y, Button xbone y 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 Button xbone y Slam downward with a powerful kick from mid-air
BalKB

Friction

Updraft On ground, press Button xbone rb + (forward) + Button xbone y A high-flying flip kick that launches enemies upward. Great for intercepting airborne foes
BalRing

Updraft

Heat Up Hold Button xbone y 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 Jumping discharges a blast wave that damages nearby enemies

Action Command Description
Level 1
Middle Break On ground, press Button xbone b Spin up a high velocity punch attack that slams into the enemy with powerful cyclone winds.
BalGrab

Middle Break

Cruiser Dive In mid-air, press Button xbone b Deliver a brutal falling punch to a grounded enemy, coupled with an earthshaking shockwave that'll leave nearby enemies reeling
BalVolc

Cruiser Dive

Level 2
Minimum Dragon On ground, press Button xbone rb + (forward) + Button xbone b Penetrate the enemy's defenses with a defiant uppercut that'll launch them skyward.
Rising Dragon On ground, press Button xbone rb + (forward) + rapidly tap Button xbone b Focus your power into your fist, then release an uppercut so strong, it'll launch you like a missile.
BalDragons

Balrog "dragons"

Divine Dragon On ground, press Button xbone rb + (forward) + tap Button xbone b 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 Button xbone rb + (back) + tap Button xbone b Stop an enemy with the hit of your body, then rip them by making a combo of uppercut and knee strike.
BalRI

Real Impact

Action Command Description
Level 1
Break Spiral On ground, press Button xbone b Spin around lightning fast to deliver attacks over a wide area. Extend your spin by tapping Button xbone b repeatedly, and move around during the spin with L joystick.
BalBD

Break Spiral

Firestorm In mid-air, press Button xbone b, Button xbone b Go from a spin into a speedy one-two kick combo that launches enemies into the air.
BalLAC

Firestorm

Level 2
Flint Wheel On ground, press Button xbone rb + (back) + Button xbone b Make the battlefield your playground, back flipping to get around enemies.
BalSC

Flint Wheel

Level 4
Pyromania On ground, in "Ignition", press Button xbone rb + (forward) + Button xbone b, Button xbone b, Button xbone b... Maul your enemy with series of molten kicks and sway them away.
BalLW

Pyromania

Trivia

SFV Nostalgia Balrog

Balrog, with the "Nostalgia" outfit in Street Fighter V.[4]

  • The name of the weapon is a reference to Balrog (known as M. Bison in Japan), a character in the Street Fighter series[5]. The name originally comes from an ancient creature in J. R. R. Tolkien's work, using the power of fire.
  • The Balrog was the first weapon the development team worked on.[6]
  • 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.[6]
  • 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!".[7]
  • Balrog's voice is provided by Michael Schwalbe.[8]
  • As confirmed by Michael Schwalbe, Balrog is 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.

Gallery

See also

References

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