Cuphead

Cuphead

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20-25h

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Beat The Devil At His Own Game

Beat The Devil At His Own Game

Complete the game on Expert

100

1.3%

How to unlock the Beat The Devil At His Own Game achievement in Cuphead - Definitive Guide

To unlock Expert mode you must complete the game once on normal difficulty. Once expert is unlocked, you can go across all the levels and play them in any order you want. You just need to complete the boss battle levels, the run and guns don't have an expert option.

In order to complete this on expert, I had to be fully alert. It is very easy to start raging on this game and start playing badly. If this happens, come back in the morning after you've gotten some sleep. In terms of the skill that is required, you should have dashing and the boss battle patterns mastered. Short hopping helps in tricky moments as well. The video below shows each fight being s ranked. You just need to focus on completing it. If you're having trouble with a level, refer to the guide to see what you're doing wrong. Keep a clear head and focus on the little things to figure out what you've done wrong.In terms of setup I recommend the charge shot for most levels and switch between the spread shot, green one that follows the enemy, and peashooter as a secondary depending on the level. I kept the smoke dash on the whole game as well. It is all up to preference though.

EDIT: According to schwartz the charge shot will be getting a nerf in the future. Switch up your strategies accordingly

This video isn't mine. Full credit goes to Packattack!


Some fights will seem legitimately impossible (Fuck the robot and phantom express). Just stick with it and you'll get it!
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02 Oct 2017 22:18

62 Comments
This achievement will be mine.

Someday.

Thanks for the guide and link to vid.
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By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 03 Oct 2017 01:29
Haha it just takes willpower to see it all through. U can do it!
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By Inferno118 on 03 Oct 2017 02:50
Phantom express is incredibly easy in co-op. In fact that's how I've been doing most of this game. Strongly recommended for some fights
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By VveniVvidiVvici on 04 Oct 2017 05:30
Yes but not everybody has the option of co op so I didn’t make the guide for co op players. I tried co op for a few levels and found it helped out at times but at other times it got to be too much on the screen to focus properly. If u prefer co op tho go for it
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By Inferno118 on 04 Oct 2017 12:50
Cagney Carnation is fucking impossible. Holy fuck. His first form takes FOR FUCKING EVER to beat.
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By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 07 Oct 2017 23:34
It's ok, just take a break and come back to it. The plants dont hurt you, just the little monsters they spawn do. It seems very cramped at first but when u take that into account it changes things
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By Inferno118 on 07 Oct 2017 23:41
yeah, I had to switch up my strategy. Took him down. I'm on Inkwell III now. Wally Warbles was a goddamn nightmare too. Took me an hour and a half to beat him. He spams that damn Egg projectile like nobody's business.
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By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 08 Oct 2017 05:31
I just got it today, mainly used the Charge shot. Right now it is completely OP, but I would recommend you put a note in the solution that the devs are gonna nerf it soon. It can't be relied on to destroy everything easily in the future.
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By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 09 Oct 2017 05:01
done
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By Inferno118 on 09 Oct 2017 14:38
Charge Shot really is OP. boss that gave me most trouble was last part of Hilda Berg. UFOs kept getting me. Was dumb and didn't notice there were 2 colors. There's enough delay you can fly under the red ones before they fire, but not the orange ones.
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By Archer Spense on 09 Oct 2017 23:46
Ahhh I noticed the different colors but didnt notice the pattern was color coded!
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By Inferno118 on 10 Oct 2017 01:20
Damn Yin, awesome exploit. Wish I'd known about that before spending 45 minutes trying to beat that fucker on Expert.
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By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 10 Oct 2017 03:44
Took me forever to learn that the two colors of UFO correlate to whether you need to fly forward or “juke” them. If I recall correctly, if the UFO is Red, the beam is delayed and you are expected to more forward to avoid it. The brown is the opposite, the beam is nearly instant, so flying towards it and moving back will trigger the beam and let you pass.
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By Yin on 10 Oct 2017 14:58
Yin, your exploit on the devil helped me get S by mastering stage 1 only <3 I have to add, that the hit area is not necessarily to the left, sometimes it was on the center, and sometimes on the right. Center is the worst because you have to jump side to side without falling or hitting the sides. I have the feeling that the exploit hit area is sometimes not exposed at all, but Im not sure.
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By emongev on 14 Oct 2017 11:29
For the love of god does anyone have any tips for Wally warbles? He’s the last boss I need for the achievement.. I can get past the first 2 sections but the last 2 are legitimately impossible!
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By ol ALEXKING lo on 25 Oct 2017 05:22
Just finished it up today and all I can say is that I REALLY think that the Twin Heart charm is way more valuable than the smoke dash in this run. You do a little less damage with the twin heart, but you get two whole additional hits before you die which usually was the difference between life and death on my run! I used the smoke dash for my whole normal run and pacifist and such, but in my expert run I honestly didn't even miss it save for a few places!!
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By FrozenImplosion on 26 Oct 2017 21:48
Do you need the S rank to get this achievement?
Or can you get just A or B instead?
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By masterofp on 31 Oct 2017 14:27
Just gotta beat it. Doesn’t need any special rank. You’ll know it’s completed because I believe there’s a red star next to the name when u bring up the list of all bosses
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By Inferno118 on 31 Oct 2017 14:32
Sorry, no idea why my browser double posted. Cheers!
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By masterofp on 31 Oct 2017 17:39
The flying missions are so painful... I've done virtually everything, but them. Dr Kahl's Robot was one of the easiest bosses in my normal run, but he seems soooooo much harder on Expert
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By PangoBara on 09 Nov 2017 19:43
Agreed, the 4 flying ones are quite possibly the hardest
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By Inferno118 on 09 Nov 2017 20:45
Can't use that exploit against the Devil any longer according to the latest patch notes.

http://studiomdhr.com/cupdate-patch-notes-v1-1-3/

Guess I shouldn't have taken a break from the game to complete Expert, ugh...
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By Schinderdiv on 02 Dec 2017 02:59
If you are scoping this achievement out after completing normal don't wait. The muscle memory is invaluable.
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By Aggie CMD on 20 Jan 2018 00:59
^ yep, don't put Expert on the backburner after you've beaten Normal. Jump straight into it. Memorization and twitch reflexes are key to beating Expert.
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By The SCHWARTZ 00 on 18 Feb 2018 20:26
5 bosses left...
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By Nyllon on 23 Mar 2018 02:55
I beat everything on expert (even got a star on my gamesave) and the chevo didn't unlock. Tried re-beating the devil and it still didn't pop. I hate life right now.
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By Macdaddy29142 on 05 Apr 2018 13:14
I can beat expert on the same save that I did normal, yes?
Where I can check EXPERT progress? On the list I see nothing. I killed few bosses already.
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By Legend#5793 on 07 Jun 2018 01:10
I think the flags for the map had a star on them or something. Also I remember there being a way to bring up the menu of bosses? It shows a star there as well. Sorry for vagueness haven’t played in many months. Also I think u go straight to expert from normal yeah same save
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By Inferno118 on 07 Jun 2018 01:18
I finally finished this on expert after many many hours. I hardly used charge shot,maybe for 3 bosses. The bosses that upset me the most were Cagney Carnation and Wally Warbles.

You can tell the expert bosses completed from looking at your checklist. A star in the check box means you have completed that boss for expert. A gold flag will also pop up on the map for each boss completed on expert mode. This is also the only way to tell the boss completion from inkwell hell because there is no checkbox for them.
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By Gente Blanco on 19 Jul 2018 17:59
You think beating the bosses are hard? Try S-ranking every. single. one. It took me 2 years, but I did it!
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By CrazyWharf625 on 04 Aug 2019 00:05
I'm 3 bosses King Dice, Devil and Wally.... Wally seems to be the most hated
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By LostGames#4189 on 02 Apr 2020 08:26
I genuinely the phantom Express.
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By flip407 on 24 May 2020 19:33
Wally legit caused me to quit the game for like a year, maybe was the worst one for me.

Dr kahls robot is pretty bad too.

Finally got it today after giving up on the devil yesterday.

Thank god
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By NikLimitless on 26 May 2020 10:37
just a heads up: 47:41 - This is about when the devil starts.
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By TonyTwoSteaks on 22 Jul 2020 17:35
FYI Inferno118, the video seems to be unavailable now.
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By IconoclasticGod on 17 Sep 2021 15:30
FYI Inferno118, the video seems to be unavailable now.
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By IconoclasticGod on 18 Sep 2021 05:00
Thanks for the heads up. Sadly that was a really good video, and had timestamps in description that went nicely with the guide. This no damage run seems well received and will do instead
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By Inferno118 on 18 Sep 2021 05:07
Do any of the DLC items make this any easier?
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By Yazite on 03 Jul 2022 18:27
Do any of the DLC items make this any easier?
Yes. I'm actually returning to this game after 5 years and finally trying this. There's Ms Chalice and the Divine Relic. The divine relic gives you access to all the weapons and you get full benefits of Smoke Bomb, Whetstone, Heart Ring (charm also included in the dlc that allows you to gain up to 3 extra health by parrying) and 52% of the Coffee effect.
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By afatlemur2277 on 04 Jul 2022 21:30
I just completed the whole base game on Expert today but the achievement didn’t pop. Not sure if it’s a bug because I used Chalice or new powers on some stages or it has to do with the DLC and now I have to complete the dlc on expert in not sure.

Even my save file says 200%

Hopefully it gets fixed. I was so excited to finish it.
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By Tavsnn G on 05 Jul 2022 05:41
I just completed the whole base game on Expert today but the achievement didn’t pop. Not sure if it’s a bug because I used Chalice or new powers on some stages or it has to do with the DLC and now I have to complete the dlc on expert in not sure.

Even my save file says 200%

Hopefully it gets fixed. I was so excited to finish it.
Dont see why that would happen. I've been using ms chalice and have been getting the achievements for A rank while doing expert. Going to be some more time until I beat it in expert. Anyone else have that issue?
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By afatlemur2277 on 05 Jul 2022 18:22
I’ll wait to see if this is a verified issue before including it in the solution, if that becomes the problem i guess you won’t be able to use ms chalice for Expert, or more likely you’ll need to beat the dlc on expert as well.
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By Inferno118 on 05 Jul 2022 18:26
Later today, I´ll try to beat the DLC on expert, and if not, I will beat the devil with Cuphead. I will report back for sure.
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By Tavsnn G on 05 Jul 2022 20:32
This just unlocked for me without any issues and I used Chalice on a few bosses and have not done all DLC bosses on expert.
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By Yazite on 05 Jul 2022 22:15
Update. I beat again the Devil using Cuphead and it finally popped!. Maybe it was just my issue with my game, thanks for the responses.
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By Tavsnn G on 05 Jul 2022 23:18
It worked for me playing with Ms. Chalice and I didnt beat all dlc bosses on expert.
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By JulioRosino on 06 Jul 2022 01:51
okay cool that’s enough confirmation from enough people lol, looks like it just bugged for tav
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By Inferno118 on 06 Jul 2022 03:27
yup did every boss with ms chalice unlocked fine. I didnt even do them in order. Last boss was king dice and it unlocked. Ms chalice makes this pretty easy with her double jump and the shield power.
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By afatlemur2277 on 10 Jul 2022 07:51
How do I get to use ms chalice in base game,do I need to start the dlc first?
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By mga74 on 10 Jul 2022 10:23
mga74, yes, just start the DLC by going to Isle IV (you can do so after beating the first mausoleum in Isle I). At the beginning of the DLC you’ll get briefed on how to use Ms. Chalice. Then you can use her in every level.
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By Renki on 10 Jul 2022 11:08
That’s great thanks for the reply
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By mga74 on 11 Jul 2022 11:29
I beat all the bosses in the base game on expert and didn't get the achievement. Do I need to beat the DLC as well? I even have P rank in all of my run and gun levels.

EDIT: Just a really big delay in it registering it seems. I thought it was not completing all of the King Dice bosses but that wasn't the case. I left for 30 min and I got a notification on my App saying it unlocked.
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By MomoActual on 17 Jul 2022 15:21
I put this game aside for almost 5 years because I just couldn't beat the stupid blue bird and robot doctor. Thanks to the dlc, and especially the divine relic, I finally did it!
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By Zohan2099 on 03 Nov 2022 19:19
damn i just beat all the flying levels then i saw Pucks comment FML
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By II Dish II on 21 May 2023 11:45
anyone know if theres a way to see if ive already beat the Casino/devil on expert. i remember attempting them but cant remember if i did them.
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By RiskyWhy on 07 Sep 2023 12:32
anyone know if theres a way to see if ive already beat the Casino/devil on expert. i remember attempting them but cant remember if i did them.
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By RiskyWhy on 07 Sep 2023 16:50
The cup on the flag turns golden after you beat a boss on expert.
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By n0rdicninj0n on 25 Sep 2023 15:25
You get a yellow flagpole for every A grade and the cup on the flag turns yellow once completed on expert. If you get an S the cup is replaced by an 'S' and P for pacifist on the run and gun levels.
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By JayD101 on 20 May 2019 06:45
Not sure why everyone is having problems with Wally Warbles and Cagney Carnation, they were not the hardest I thought. For Cagney use the tracking and shotgun bullets and first jump is auto parry charm. Wally was easy, just dodge and gun, shrink when needed and use the auto special fill charm. That fucking robot is complete utter BS though, the end is complete garbage especially when the foreground elements block the screen and you can't see when you need to dodge under a wall and through the bullets
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By Gamerjnb925 on 19 Feb 2021 02:26
There's an exploit that you can use to beat the Devil after completing the first phase. Bring the charge weapon with you and complete the first section of the battle, but do not drop into the hole to begin the next phase. Instead, stand directly to the left of the hole and shoot charged weapon shots straight upwards.

It takes a bit of finesse to get it to hit, but you can use the flashing of leftover suit (?) on the throne or the generation of your super as an indication that you are doing damage. Simply continue shooting upwards and you can completely skip the other phases.

Clippy clip:
playing
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By Yin on 09 Oct 2017 19:51
Just a heads up for those playing returning to this with the DLC: Divine Relic absolutely dominates for those stupidly hard flying levels. You get up to 3 health back with parries, and you get the coffee effect that boosts your super meter. You also receive the smoke bomb effect, which means you have a split second of invulnerability when you shrink the plane. Finally, you get whetstone, making your parry a fairly massive melee attack that is surprisingly useful on some bosses.
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By PuckJunkie on 04 Sep 2022 18:40
For the second stage of Wally Warbles I would definitely recommend making use of the dodge mechanic to slip in and out of the spiky eggs around him (all the while shooting him with the primary fire). Also make sure you're parrying his shots cause I usually was able to build up an entire 5 card attack from that to use on him!

For the last stage stay towards the top left of the screen and use the secondary fire (the bombs) they'll fall right on him! Be careful of the pills that pop up from the left bird though!

Also make sure you use the twin heart for the plane fights even if you don't want to usually part ways with the smoke dash!
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By FrozenImplosion on 26 Oct 2017 21:50
View all 62 comments Show less comments

Well, this is the challenge. Not much to say here, you just have to beat every boss (including the devil) on Expert difficulty. The good part is you just have to beat them. You don't need to worry about parries or super meters (although you should always try and get them). Just be frustration-free. Patience is key. You can do it! This trophy will pop after defeating the last boss on Expert difficulty.

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Difficulty unlocks after first playthrough
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04 Oct 2017 17:44

6 Comments
On plane bosses, take extra hearts, I didn’t notice a decrease in damage, but even if you lose one or two health points, the rating will still say 3/3
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By ProbablyNotVadya on 30 Jul 2020 04:35
If you don’t know how well you passed the boss, then look at the victory flag next to its location; if the mug turns yellow, then everything is fine and the high level has been passed. This is for those who doubt a good passage and received a B+ rating on the boss.
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By Tumyp on 15 Dec 2021 08:11
After completing it, the difficulty will become higher. You need to go through all the bosses again. There is no requirement to complete Run 'n Gun levels. Fortunately, all the improvements are open to you and this makes the passage easier.
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By Ticutio on 03 Sep 2020 11:58
Bosses will combine their attacks from different phases. Be careful.
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By Svmv81 on 31 Jul 2021 18:21
At this level, the perk of 5 lives and a weapon with a boomerang (one of the most powerful in the game) helps
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By Javany on 07 Jan 2021 00:43
Wherever you don't need a shadow dash, take 5hp, and these are all airplane levels. On reddit they write that the damage is reduced by 10%, but at least you will live longer. Some tips for bosses from myself:
- Frog brothers: default + homing. In the first phase we combine.
- Flower: in the first phase we run and clean everything with a homing weapon + a shield from it, then with the default one.
- Clown: in the last phase you need to jump when he calls minions with balls and take them out with your ult.
- Dragon: weapon charge + homing for the second stage.
- Bird: the bird and its eggs have a dead zone, so we fly along the top and throw bombs; if the egg flies on the bottom, we fly back a little, if on the top, we do nothing.
- Bee: homing for the first stage + lobber.
- Rat: default + bell + shadow dash, take out ghosts with ult.
- Captain: bell + homing for the last stage, the balls will not catch there if you lie down.
- Train: boomerang + bell, in the first phase we hit the trolley before the brick falls, so it will not move.
- Robot: first we fly down and throw bombs into the bottom hatch, then we take the beam up, finish off the center, and ultimate on the heart.
- King dice: we go behind the hand and shoot homing ones over the top, then at the other hand, if he changes the sequence - ult to immortality and repeat until victorious.
- Devil: we save immortality for the last phase.
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By MobileLord on 31 Aug 2021 18:39
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The main thing is to accumulate 5 cards before the last devil phase.
In the last phase we use invulnerability, there should be enough time.
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22 Aug 2020 03:30