Behold! The most annoying boss fight in the DMC universe thus far! For all his claims of phenomenal cosmic power, Sanctus is $@%# TERRIFIED of you!! He will run from you as if you're made of cooties! And let me tell you, the old bastard is damn fast for his age!!

...Sanctus 1 (Mission 11)
Nero's quest to rescue his girlfriend lands him in the middle of a demonic conspiracy at the heart of his religious cult, the Order of the Sword (of Sparda), masterminded by none other than the His Holiness the High Priest Sanctus himself! Nero first faces Sanctus on a long platform in Fortuna Castle.

How's your Hell Bound skill? Just okay?? Then I suggest you go back and practice in the Second Mining Area of mission 3 with all the floating Grim Grips, because you're not going to catch up to Sanctus! Do you have Snatch 3? You'll need at least Snatch 2 if you want to keep pace with him.

Sanctus will stay in the air at all times. Meet him on his own terms! He'll have two Grim Grips at his side, except they glow yellow instead of blue. When they're yellow, you can still grapple them with Devil Bringer, but they remain in Sanctus' control. This means that he can shoot them as projectiles at you anytime. If you find this becomes a problem, shoot at them to turn them blue and render them neutral, but frankly I wouldn't bother with it and concentrate on chasing Sanctus. The two Grim Grips and Sanctus himself are both Snatch-able targets you can use to stay in the air alongside him.

Sanctus will be surrounded by a spherical barrier of invulnerability. He'll fly around hurling various projectiles at you, but if you want to do some damage, you'll have to break that barrier and knock him out of the sky. Snatch your way over to him and do aerial combos on his barrier until it breaks. If he moves away from you, just keep on Snatching until you're level with him again. It IS possible to stay in the air constantly with Hell Bound. This will also help you avoid a lot of Sanctus' projectiles.

SANCTUS' ATTACKS
Aura Blast: When Sanctus is reforming his shield, he will glow ever brighter and then blow everything away from himself in a blinding explosion. Don't get caught in it.
Ground Lightning: Sanctus gathers electricity and channels it into a cone on the ground. Easily avoidable if you're in the air.
Aerial Lightning: Sanctus gathers electricity and it streaks all through the air around him. A lot harder to avoid if you're in the middle of slashing up his barrier.
Fire Waves: Sanctus sends two waves of fire rolling across the ground one after the other. Easily avoidable from the air.
Fireballs: Sanctus' aura glows and pulsates as he prepares to blast balls of fire at you. Either jump away or shoot them.
Grim Grip Launch: The Grim Grips around Sanctus fire up and shoot at you. Jump over them.

When you slash at Sanctus' barrier, it will turn from purple to red indicating how close it is to being shattered. Once it breaks, he'll make a quick retreat so keep Snatching towards him. It'll take a few more slashes to knock him out of the air, and this goes a lot faster if you're in Devil Trigger. If you can't catch up to him with the Grim Grips alone, wait for him to start casting an attack. This will anchor him to one spot for a little while, giving you a chance to jump up and slash him. You can even try shooting Charged Shot at him. If you see him become stunned, quickly jump and slash him to knock him down.

He'll be completely vulnerable on the ground, so Snatch him over to you and rip into him with everything you've got. Don't do more than one and a half combos, though, because you want to save time for your finishing move. Buster him and keep tapping the Devil Trigger button to pound away at His Holiness! I hope you have Devil Trigger left over for a damage boost! Afterwards Sanctus will break free and glow brightly as he reforms his barrier. Keep away from him or you'll take damage from his Aura Blast.

Repeat the process until his health gets to about a third. This last third of the battle is either the easiest or the most frustrating part of the fight (if not the game), all depending on how you handle it.

Sanctus will enter the giant Savior golem and order it to attack you. He'll try to flatten you with his hands, but he'll only try two times per session. You could roll/jump away, but a much, much better idea is to meet the Savior's fist with Devil Bringer! When Savior's hand is halfway to you, start doing a Buster so that it's fully extended when the hand is going to hit. It will take some practice, and you'll probably get squashed a number of times, and it will hurt, but it is so, so worth it! A successful parry knocks out the Savior and deposits a helpless Sanctus right at your feet!

If you choose to do it the hard way, then dodge Savior's swings and wait for Sanctus to come back out. Repeat what you've been doing all along, except this time Sanctus will be much faster in his evasion tactics, and often return to the Savior unharmed! I don't care how good you did in the first two thirds of the fight, this will make you cry and want to kill yourself. At this point you tell yourself, "No! Giving up is not an option! You must defeat him to earn the right to play Dante!! He's just one cutscene away!!" Keep on Snatching, keep on swinging, and don't forget to shoot him as he floats back into the Savior. Every little bit helps!

...Sanctus 2 (Mission 20)
Congratulations! You've finally made it to your girlfriend! But can you rescue her from the clutches of Sanctus Diabolica?

Sanctus opens the fight by blasting your face with his barrier formation, so get away from him as soon as it starts. This fight flows about the same as Sanctus 1: Snatch your way over to Sanctus, do aerial combos at his barrier until it breaks, then chase him down and knock him out of the air with a few more strong hits. The difference is that Sanctus accumulates a few new attacks, and he sometimes goes on the offensive in close combat.

In the first two thirds of the battle, after you destroy his protective barrier, he might disappear from the air and appear on the ground behind you swinging the Sword of Sparda. Jump over this attack and come down on him hard. If you catch him in time, he will be stalled and block you with Sparda. Use Devil Bringer's Buster to break his guard and slash him, or simply shoot him until he falls down. The same goes for whenever Sanctus tries to block you with Sparda in the air - Buster + hit, or shoot him to knock him down. Once he's on the floor, do a quick combo on him and finish it off with a Buster. This initiates a animation of epic proportions as you slam the old geezer into the ground by tapping Devil Bringer! Being in Devil Trigger helps.

In the last third of the battle, when Sanctus teleports to the ground after you break his barrier, he will not simply swing Sparda at you, but go into a rage and maul you with it like a lance four times. If you can time your Buster to grab him before he hits, good for you. For the rest of us, he will be neigh untouchable because he will reform his shield right after the sword blitz. Snatch yourself to him and Devil Trigger to slash him up before he forms the barrier, but you have very little time and will likely get hit by the Aura Blast instead. If you try everything and still can't get a hold of him to do some real damage, use some Holy Water when he tries to lunge at you and he will become disoriented. You can then slash him and render him vulnerable to a Devil Triggered Buster.

SANCTUS' NEW ATTACKS
Glowing Yellow Balls: Sanctus will disappear and surround you with a ring of glowing yellow balls that will flash and collapse into you. You can shoot them, but it's a lot safer to just jump before they hit you.
Sparda Swing: Sanctus appears on the ground brandishing Sparda's sword. Jump over the swing.
Sparda Lunge: Sanctus appears on the ground enveloped in wind and flame. He aims the Sword of Sparda and it glows bright red as he charges you once, twice, three times, and a fourth time after a quick breather. These do quite a bit of damage, but you can leap over them. Or, if you can get the timing right, Buster him as he's about to hit you in order to interrupt him.

...The False Savior (Mission 20)
OMG, die already!! Sanctus is a sore loser. Once you defeat him, he will retreat again into the Savior, except this time the golem will take on his facial features and his life force. He will try to punch you several times, and the only way to defeat him is to meet these punches with Devil Bringer! Don't freak out!! It's a lot easier than it looks. The weakened Sanctus/False Savior moves relatively slow and his hits don't hurt as much as they did before. Punch with Buster when you see his hand coming towards you to knock him back. He will try again, so punch out again. Done! 


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