To raise your Style Rank you need to acquire Style Points during combat, this is done by building up combos and using different abilities your character has. After getting in multiple attacks during combat the Stlye Rank will appear on the right side of your screen in the form of letters. The Style Rank consists of 7 ranks and each has their own letters and word assigned to them. The lowest Style Rank you can get is a D, while the highest is an SSS. The full list is below.
• SSS - Smokin' Sexy Style!
• SS - Sick Skills!
• S - Savage!
• A - Apocalyptic
• B - Badass
• C - Crazy
• D - Dismal
There are several ways you can earn the Style Points needed for raising your Style Rank, these are listed and explained below.
Use Different Abilities
When you incorporate different combos and moves during fights with enemies your Style Rank will increase. Choose the abilities in such a way that you minimise the pauses between attacks.
Buy New Abilities
Purchase new abilities for your character whenever possible to expand your attack inventory as repeatedly using the same attack sequence will not raise your Style Rank.
Taunt the Enemy
Taunting the enemy at the beginning of a fight or when they have been knockded down can slightly increase your Style Rank. It is advised that you don't attempt this during battle since it takes several seconds and will leave you vulnerable to enemy attacks as you will not be able to move or dodge when taunting. To taunt an enemy you simply have to press the touchpad.
Use Exceed Attacks
You will be able to increase the amount of damage you deal by using the Exceed system. Take advantage of this technique by revving the handle of the Red Queen before battle so you will be able to use a multitude of Exceed Attacks. In order for you to maintain the Exceed slots, you will need to use the Ex-Act. Activating this at the same time an attack hits will fill an Exceed slot. Once you have mastered the timing you will be able to use Exceed for much longer.
Use a Powerful Devil Breaker
Activating a powerful Devil Breaker at the end of a combo to finish enemies or just charging them up for a final attack can raise your Stylish Rank considerably.
Avoid Enemy Attacks
It is crucial that you avoid getting hit by an enemy during a fight as doing so ends your combo and the Style Rank goes down. Successfully dodging enemy attacks will keep your Style Rank up.
Raising your Style Rank so that it is high at the end of the mission will reward you will with a substantial amount of Red Orbs which you can then use to purchase upgrades and skills from Nico's shop or from the Divinity Statues. Maintaining a high Style Rank will also make your evaluation go up at the end of the mission and enable you to get the trophies that require you to have a high clear rank.
Check out our What are Nero's Devil Breakers page to find out more about these weapons used by Nero.