Dante

“

I'm the best at what I do.

”

Dante the Hunter is a hero in Kingdom Rush: Frontiers. He is unlocked by paying $4.99 as an in-app purchase and is not available on Flash. He is unlocked at Emberspike Depths on the Steam version and starts at level 5. Dante is a hunter of the undead and was released alongside Bonehart in the Shadow-moon Campaign.

Lore[]

Dante's love story: enemies by nature, lovers by fate

And then he saw her, and the world stopped for a heartbeat. He pushed this feeling aside and scoffed at the idea of his enemy's daughter catching his attention.

His idea of rushing in guns blazing, which had seemed so efficient a few moments ago, had failed. He had intended to break in the castle and shoot down his mark: Vasile. The bloodsucker punk had been terrorizing the populace all over Linirea, and it was his duty to put an end to it. It would have been over by now if it hadn't been for her and the utter distraction she brought.

He knew Vasile had female company as he heard a velvety voice arguing with the old vampire, but he never expected to be smitten by her. If someone had even suggested such a thing could happen to an old seasoned hunter, he would have mocked them.

Vasile, knowing the odds were not on his favor, as his army of Vampiresas was not around, disappeared in a smoke cloud, leaving his daughter at the mercy of the hunter.

Dante pointed at her, masking his feelings under a blank stare and ordered her to stand still. Lucrezia silently looked at him to evaluate her adversary and the quickest way to get him out of her way, but her sight got caught in his eyes. In her countless years, she had never seen such profound eyes, like two dark pits, that mesmerized her. She blinked quickly to break the eye contact and gather herself back.

"Who are you? Why do you dare to break into my father's lair? I can't decide whether you are a fool, if you have a death wish... or both," she said with a soft voice.

"I am here to end Vasile's reign of terror, and whoever stands on my way to his demise, will face the same fate," Dante replied.

"I can agree he has done too much damage to these lands, but you are truly delusional if you think you can take him down with a few shots of your guns. He is an ageless immortal; it would take a lot more than that to banish him."

Dante quickly evaluated the situation; what she was saying was not lacking in truth. It was painfully obvious he needed a new strategy (a much better thought out plan) than the one he had. Dante needed to know Vasile's weaknesses, and he was staring at the creature that could enlighten him with that valuable information. He was going to get it, even if it meant bringing her along in his journey.

He ordered her to come with him, but she had other plans. With a mischievous grin, Lucrezia jumped through one of the castle's windows and disappeared. Dante cursed and tried to follow her, but she was nowhere in sight.

Dante was both frustrated and curious about this mysterious creature, not to mention, in desperate need of her knowledge; So he spent the next months tracking her down. Much like a chess game, every time he managed to make a move and almost have her in his grasp, she managed to outsmart him and escape.

With each encounter, the respect and admiration for the other flourished. Soon both began to yearn for those moments without even noticing it.

It is a dangerous thing for a hunter to be distracted from his objective, and this was almost Dante's downfall. He was tracking her down through the woods, planning a new antic to throw her off guard when he walked into a trap. Vasile and his vampiresas had surrounded him.

Dante knew his time had come, but he was not going to go down without a fight. He fought bravely and took many vampiresas down, but he knew he could never win as he was grossly outnumbered.

Vasile grabbed him and was about to rip him into pieces when suddenly a strong force pushed Vasile away. Lucrezia had come to Dante's aid and managed to tear him away from the danger.

She held out her hand to him, and he took it, fleeing from danger and knowing, fully well, they were never going to let the other one go.

A word of caution to the reader: When you walk through the roads of Linirea, you have to keep your eyes open; you never know when you will fall into an ambush... or into love.

Skills[]

AKIMBO STYLE (active) (cooldown: 18 seconds) (2/2/2 hero points):

Draws his 2 guns and makes 4/6/8 rapid shots that deal 40* damage each.

*In fact, it does Dante's attack damage.

SILVER BULLET (active) (cooldown: 15 seconds) (3/3/3 hero points):

Takes aim and shoots a silver bullet that deals 140/230/320 True Damage. (Deals double damage to Werewolf and Lycan-in wolf form.)

HOLY GRENADE (active) (cooldown: 15 seconds) (2/2/2 hero points):

Throws a jug of holy water that silences an enemy, disabling all of its abilities for 5/10/15 seconds.

RELIC OF POWER (active) (cooldown: 18 seconds) (2/2/2 hero points):

Unleashes the power of a holy relic that destroys 25/50/100% of its target's resistances. Effect is permanent.

BEACON OF LIGHT (passive) (1/1/1 hero point):

Dante's presence, even when dead, blesses nearby allies granting them 15/30/50% extra damage. Upgrading this skill also allows Dante to move even while dead and thus choose his respawn spot.

Order of Importance[]

If all of Dante's skills are available, he'll use them in this order:

Silver Bullet
Akimbo Style
Holy Grenade
Relic of Power

Stats[]

Dante has a 9% health regeneration, healing at 45 health per second at level 10.
Melee attack rate: 1.0s
Ranged attack rate: 1.5s

Level	HP	Melee (1.0s) & Ranged Damage (1.5s)	Armor	Heal Rate	Respawn
5	375	28-41	None	34	15s
6	400	31-47	None	36	15s
7	425	35-52	None	39	15s
8	450	38-58	None	41	15s
9	475	42-63	None	43	15s
10	500	46-68	None	45	15s

Tips and Tricks[]

Dante is a melee-capable ranged hero great at killing single, durable foes. He has the highest basic DPS among heroes in Kingdom Rush: Frontiers, slightly better on mobile with his faster melee attack speed. His skills are specialized in dealing damage to single or groups of enemies or weaken them temporarily to aid in the former.
Silver Bullet is Dante's most powerful skill, being able to deal, at tier III, 320 True Damage. With a reasonable recharge of 15 seconds, the skill is used quite frequently. Dante prioritizes foes closer to the exit, so simply position him slightly behind the desired target and he should use Silver Bullet on it.
- This skill is does not trigger unless a candidate enemy has more than 80 HP.
- A red crosshair appears on the torso of Dante's chosen target shortly before he fires the Silver Bullet. This interval may be used to change the selected enemy by moving Dante to avoid wasting the precious Silver Bullet on a less important target.
- Dante prioritizes enemies on the basis of EHP (Effective HP after factoring in armor); choosing the one with the most.
  - As Silver Bullet deals double damage to Werewolves and Lycans, Dante prioritizes to expend the skill on them first.
  - On the same vein, Dante does not target an enemy on whom the effect of Relic of Power is still active when there is a second enemy near it.

Akimbo Style deals as much damage as Silver Bullet, however it trades True Damage for the division of physical damage over a number of shots. The skill can be used more liberally than Silver Bullet , as it switches targets before/should the first target die, losing little to none of it's damage potential in overkill.
Holy Grenade lets Dante support Towers and Troops by temporarily suspending casting prowess of elite enemies , such as the Blood Trickster, Saurian Savant, Bluegale, Phantom Warrior, Blacksurge.
- When used on the right enemy in the early stages of a wave, it could be a crucial game changer.
- The skill has no AoE and affects only one target.
- Holy Grenade is activated only when there is a spellcaster within Dante's vicinity. In the case of numerous spellcasters close to one another, Dante selects the one closest to him.
- Dante can use Holy Grenade and Relic of Order in any order on the same enemy.
Relic of Power is best used on enemies with Medium or more Armor. such as Bloodshell, Blacksurge, Saurian Savant as these enemies are troublesome to deal with in large waves and can linger for later ones or against Spirit Shamans and Earth Shamans who support entire hordes .
- Relic of Power cannot be used against enemies with physical or magical immunity, like Bluegales or Phantom Warriors.
- To get the most of this ability, use it when the selected enemy begins down the path and is furthest from the end points.
Beacon of Light has a wide range of effect, however the 50% Damage Bonus may be considered negligible as the damage of most troops/ barracks is very low, their purpose being to stall the hordes. This makes it Dante's weakest ability in his kit. That does not translate it to be void of any uses:
- It can boost all of Assassins' attacks including Sneak Attack and Counterattacks. With this damage boost, fully upgraded Assassins deal 15-21 damage on their basic attack, 60-66 damage on Counterattack, and 60-90 True Damage on Sneak Attack.
- Beacon of Light stacks additively with the buffing aura of Death Rider and also buffs him, making the skeletons slightly more harmful obstacles.
- Secondary heroes are also affected by this skill.
Dante is best played aggressively, greatly rewarding micromanagement with his very unique kit performing superbly in both ranged and melee roles and holding the fastest respawn time of all heroes thus far in Kingdom Rush: Frontiers bundled with a moderate amount of HP, mitigates the risks of throwing him into a horde. He could be played in a support role as well, with Holy Grenade, Relic of Power and Beacon of Light while positioned behind troops.

Quotes[]

"I'm the best at what I do."
"There are many paths to redemption."
"Bless me, for I have sinned."
"I will vanquish evil."
(upon death) "My soul lingers!"

Trivia[]

The name Dante comes from the Latin name Durans, which meant 'enduring'. The most well-known Dante is Dante Alighieri, who wrote The Divine Comedy, an epic poem that tells of his descent through the many levels of Hell and then into the paradise of Heaven.
Dante also bears resemblance to many vampire hunters from pop culture, such as Solomon Kane, Abraham Van Helsing and Blade but also as a devil hunter from Devil May Cry. His grizzled appearance also gives him a strong resemblance to Daniel Garner, the protagonist of the game Painkiller. In the game files he is named as "Van Helsing hero", so one could conclude this character was the main inspiration when creating Dante.
Dante was sent to kill Lucrezia, the daughter of Vasile. However, he fell in love with her upon seeing her, and could not kill her. This later led to her turning on her father.
"I'm the best at what I do"
- The catch phrase of Marvel's Wolverine, one of the most popular comic book characters ever. The full quote is "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do best isn't very nice".
"There are many paths to redemption"
- A line spoken in the 2009 film Solomon Kane by an Abbot. The full quote is "There are many paths to redemption... not all of them peaceful"
"Bless me, for I have sinned"
- When Catholics go to confession, they greet the priest with the line "Bless me father, for I have sinned". The same line is spoken, not without sarcasm, by the hunter Gabriel Van Helsing in the 2003 movie.
- Dante feels regret for failing to fulfill his mission of killing Lucrezia.
Akimbo Style - Akimbo is a human body position in which the hands are on the hips and the elbows are bowed outward. Dante does not actually bend his arms into an akimbo position when using Akimbo Style - perhaps because this pose is often used by two-pistoled gunfighters in media, the word is sometimes mistakenly applied to any situation in which someone has a matched pair of weapons in his hands.
Silver Bullet
- A "silver bullet" is a simple solution to a complicated problem. The skill's ability to instant-kill Werewolves and Lycans is a reference to how silver is shown in pop culture as a method of killing werewolves, while the true damage that inflicts is a nod to the monster-killing effect that silver has in various works.
When dead, Dante's image changes to a frown instead of the normal teeth-bearing growl that he normally has.
Sometimes, when given a move command while in his respawn animation, he will be unable to reposition (although he will move to engage and use skills). It is unknown if dying resets this effect.