Turn Dodge into pressure. Dante combines spectral spears, repeated knockback, teamwide Dodge support, reactive counterattacks and Main Stat reduction to constantly disrupt the opposing formation.
Dante is a midline Marksman from the Way of Eternity. His identity goes far beyond traditional Physical Damage: Dodge can feed his counterattacks, spectral spears repeatedly push enemies backward, and every successful spear can reduce the target's Main Stat.
Dante throws four spectral spears at multiple enemies. Each spear deals Physical Damage and pushes its target backward.
The Skill scales from Dante's Physical Attack. The damage is only part of its value: repeated knockback changes enemy positioning and can compress multiple Heroes closer together.
Dante increases the Dodge of all allies for seven seconds. The Skill scales from his Physical Attack.
Against Physical Damage, every successful Dodge represents an attack that failed to connect. For Dante, however, Dodge also directly connects to his offensive mechanics.
Whenever Dante or one of his allies successfully Dodges damage, Dante conjures a spectral spear and launches it at the nearest enemy.
The spear deals Physical Damage and pushes the target backward. Dante does not need to wait for his Energy bar before this mechanic can contribute: a successful Dodge creates an opportunity for Retribution to respond.
Whenever a spectral spear from Instrument of Fate or Retribution hits an enemy, Dante reduces that Hero's Main Stat for seven seconds.
Strength Heroes lose Strength, Agility Heroes lose Agility, and Intelligence Heroes lose Intelligence. The mechanic scales from Dante's Physical Attack.
Dante's mechanics are directly connected. Foresight creates more Dodge opportunities, successful Dodges activate Retribution, Retribution launches more spectral spears, and those spears deal damage, push enemies backward and activate Shackles of Weakness.
Dante currently has seven Skins: Default, Romantic, Solar, Winter, Spring, Lunar and Oblivion. Across them, his available development includes Agility, Dodge, two Physical Attack options, Health, Magic Defense and Armor Penetration.
Physical Attack comes first because it does more than strengthen Dante's regular attacks. His Skills also scale from Physical Attack, making both Physical Attack Skins central to his development.
Dodge has additional importance because successful Dodges can create new Retribution opportunities. It is therefore both a defensive stat and part of the mechanic connecting Dante's defense to his offensive pressure.
Health comes first to give Dante enough survivability to remain active, particularly during mid-game development. Dodge follows because it contributes to survival while also connecting directly to Retribution.
Bring all five Glyphs to Level 40. Beyond that point, additional investment should depend on your development objectives, including Skill Class progression.
Provides Dodge and Health. Health improves general survivability, while Dodge can both avoid Physical Damage and create additional Retribution opportunities.
Provides Agility, strengthening Dante's Main Stat and contributing to his overall development.
Provides a teamwide Dodge bonus whenever Dante activates Instrument of Fate, contributing to the wider Dodge mechanics of the composition.
Max Dante's Gift of the Elements. Without enough fundamental development, he can become a glass cannon. The goal is to provide the Health, Physical Attack and overall development necessary for him to survive while continuing to damage and disrupt the opposing formation.
Adds further Main Stat development while opening additional offensive potential through Critical Hits.
A natural combination for Dante. Physical Attack directly strengthens his abilities, while Dodge contributes to survival and can feed Retribution.
Dante's repeated knockback can compress the opposing formation, creating opportunities for Drayne to attack multiple targets more effectively.
Iris can capitalize on the battlefield Dante helps create while Dante continues manipulating enemy positioning with repeated spectral spear pressure.
Octavia can take the Dodge concept further by extending Dodge into protection against Magic Damage, expanding the possibilities of a Dodge-oriented composition.
Shackles of Weakness places a negative effect on enemies, making Iris particularly relevant against Dante and compositions built around him.
Pure Damage creates serious problems for Dodge-oriented defenses because it cannot be avoided through Dodge. This attacks the defensive philosophy behind Dante from a completely different direction.
Control can stop Dante from operating normally and interrupt the Dodge-driven machine before it builds momentum. Polaris is one important example.
Mechanics such as Chronostasis can Stun or stop Dante, preventing him from simply continuing his normal battlefield cycle while under control.
Looking only at Dante's damage misses a major part of his identity.
Instrument of Fate attacks and pushes. Foresight increases Dodge. Retribution converts successful Dodges into more spectral spear pressure and knockback.
Then Shackles of Weakness makes those successful spectral spear hits even more disruptive by reducing the target's Main Stat.
With Heroes such as Drayne, Iris and Octavia around him, those mechanics can become even more interesting as enemy positioning, Dodge and battlefield pressure begin interacting with the rest of the composition.
Watch the full guide for Dante's Skills, development priorities, Dodge mechanics, synergies, counters and battlefield interactions.