NINJA GAIDEN II

This solution is not made for just getting this specific achievement. This solution is for getting ALL the weapon achievements in a faster way, without playing through the entire game 8 times for each weapon.

1. Start a new game (preferably starting from a save after you beat the game, aka a game + save file) on the easiest difficulty. You'll see why in #2. Hopefully you already went through the game on easy so you can use a game +, which means you keep all essence and upgraded weapons

2. Do NOT use any of the MELEE weapons at all for as far as you can go through the entire play through. In other words, run past enemies as often as possible. If you get to a point where you have to kill enemies (eg. a boss guy), use projectiles or ninpo only.

***Edit***
Apparently you can use melee weapons on the egg sacks in chapter 13 thanks to a patch on the game.

You can get as far as chapter 13 by doing this. In chapter 13 there's these egg sacks or whatever that ninpo and projectiles don't work on that you have to get past to continue playing. This is where you start your weapon achievement. You don't have to go all the way to chapter 13, but obviously the further you get the faster you can get all the rest of the weapon achievements. Once you get to the point where you start using your weapon, remeber the save slot that you used before you started using the weapon so you can reload it and start using a different weapon.

3. After unlocking the achievement for whatever weapon, reload the save and use the next weapon you need an achievement for.

Guide for bosses w/o melee weapons, written by Madcap182:
http://www.xbox360achievements.org/forum/showthread.php?t=76...

In fact you can go further then the egg sacks in chapter 13 with ninpo and projectiles only. You are allowed to hit and break them with the weapons so just punch the sack for 2-3 times to open it and kill what's inside it without using weapons. This way I reached level 14 just before Genshin and Elizabeth bosses (they were to tough to take out using ninpo and projectiles only) so each weapon run from this plase will require near 15-30 minutes.

Simply complete the game with only the dragon sword. Do not do damage with any other weapon and remeber that it switches you to the sythe and archfiend blades when you obtain them so switch it back before hitting an enemy. Best done in first playthrough since its the only weapon you can use in the begining. Only ugrade this weapon if going for its achievement.

I'm going to throw my hat into the ring and add some stuff in addition to what others have said. Everything here will be the same across all weapons.

The easiest way to get all the X weapon per game completion achievements is to make a manual save (IMPORTANT) somewhere late in the game. I personally did mine at the first save in chapter 13 right after the big mass of centaur enemies. And make multiple copies, just in case you accidentally save over one. If you're confidant in your abilities of projectiles and ninpo only against multiple Rasetsu enemies, you can go further and get the the save point just before the 2nd Alexi fight, or even go a step further and do it at the first save in chapter 14.

This is effectively about 90% of a projectile/ninpo only run. The Windmill Shuriken (WS) will be your main source of damage most the game, so load up a NG+ save instead of starting fresh (to do this, load your completed game from the main menu and you will restart the game will everything you had on your last playthrough, upgrades included. No leaderboard uploading when doing this though). The Windmill UT is excellent, and will get you a lot of money. Save it for when you need it, as you should have almost, if not all weapons maxed at this point. Also, it is very important that you have all your ninpo upgraded to the max. Muramasa shops will have some Jewels to upgrade them periodically if you missed them, outside of the Test of Valor rewards. Also aim to have at least 6 ninpo slots towards the end. Most bosses can only be damaged from ninpo, and you'll burn through a lot. I was playing on Warrior difficulty, and the Incendiary Shurikens (IS) also do great work against the tougher enemies later on. 2 IS will kill every non-boss enemy on Warrior difficulty, apart from Rasetsu and the dinosaur dragon things in chapter 12. Keep a full stock of IS at all times. If you run out, you can usually go back to a shop or body somewhere to refill.

Below are some general tips about your run.

I personally avoided pressing X or Y the whole time until I made my first save to start the achievements, that way I didn't accidentally hit something. This is especially important when button mashing to get out of grabs, like the ghost fish, because your inputs could carry over after you get freed.

You can use your weapon to block attacks (it's not like you could survive the Armadillos without doing that anyway), just don't hit any enemies with it at all. Destroying environmental objects (like the mandatory destroying computers in the airship or the rock leading into that awful worm boss fight) doesn't count against you.

If at any given point in a fight you aren't 100% sure you haven't hit an enemy with a melee attack, restart and save yourself any heartache.

Remember to be cautious about after the Volf fight in chapter 6 and after the final Genshin in chapter 14, the game will forcibly switch your weapons.

Be especially careful when lighting up a ninpo, quite a few times the game read my Y+B input as just Y and I ended up hitting an enemy and had to end up restarting from my last save. I don't think continuing from the game over screen will count against you, but I always manually reloaded a save from the main menu just to be safe.

There are some sections that you can run through, but just know when you need to stop and kill some enemies. Sometimes running away will make multiple groups of enemies be on you at once, and it can quickly lead to disaster. If you know the layout of the level, it can help. One such instance that is worthwhile to run through everything is at the end of chapter 11 before the 3rd Genshin fight. Lots of dogs and guys will chase you, but jump dash through it and you can get the cutscene and pseudo-checkpoint for the fight.

Below are some tips and strategies for fighting each boss with ninpo/projectiles only. This will not cover the final 3 bosses, as you will have already started one of the weapon achievements by then. These tips will assume that you've already gotten all ninpos maxed out and have full projectile supplies.

Rasetsu - inferno ninpo for the win, there's no other way.

Genshin (this is applicable to all Genshin fights) - it's pretty tricky. Ninpo won't ever really hit him. You have to time an IS during one of his longer attack strings, and will sometimes have to eat one of his attacks to make it go through. They do solid damage, but it usually took me about 15 IS actually doing damage to kill him. Try to not burn through many IS during the 2nd Genshin fight in the airship, and inferno ninpo his ganks during that fight to make it easier.

Gigadeath - business as usual being the worst boss in the game. Just UT bow shots to the head for the best damage. Use any of the 3 good ninpos to get out of any fish swarm or to i-frame through that stupid mask attack.

Giants - bow UT shots to the head, for a fairly easy win. Be mindful of the rocket launcher ganks in the chapter 8 fight.

Alexi - one of the toughest bosses for projectiles/ninpo only. Piercing Void ninpo does decent damage, but he loves to dodge it, or i-frame it through his spinning tornado attack. Manually aiming this ninpo seems to work a bit better. The Flame Phoenix ninpo does mediocre damage maxed, and can keep chip damage indefinitely going as long as you aren't getting hit. You can time an IS perfectly at the start of his spinning tornado and land it, but more often than not he will deflect it. It took me the 5 ninpo slots I had, plus the 3 mushrooms, plus a Talisman of Rebirth (ToR) refilling my ninpo to get through this fight with just Piercing Void. Some of those missed, so you don't need as many, especially on Acolyte difficulty.

Water Dragon - just stand on the platform and bow UT his face. Use ninpo to i-frame through anything that makes you feel unsafe. WS any ghost fish that come along.

Bone...creature...thing (I have no idea what this guy's name is. The first boss of chapter 6) - Bow UT the orb in his chest for the best damage. IS can work too, but it's a bit hard to land them.

Volf - hilariously easy with Piercing Void ninpo, just a small amount of those easily kills him. For his chapter 12 fight, I found it easier to ignore the centaurs, and manually aim that ninpo at him. He will go down quick.

Armadillos - if you have at least half your full supply of IS after the 2nd Genshin fight, it should theoretically go down super easy. Of course it's another terrible boss that likes to do just whatever. The dual Armadillos can be easily fought with a full stock of IS, just do your best to pay attention to what's going on. A red/orange arena with two huge red/orange bosses that shoot red/orange attacks is hard to deal with. There is a bug I need to point out with the dual Armadillos. Sometimes, whenever you kill one of them with an IS instead of an OT, the dead one will come back to life. It happened to me, and I have no idea what caused it. It won't always happen, but just be weary of this.

Zedonius - this guy is the hardest boss of your projectile/ninpo only run. He is very good about shielding your ninpo, and is impervious to projectiles. You will only have enough ninpo to kill him if you burn a ToR in this fight, I couldn't do it otherwise since he shields a lot of them. Be fully stocked on ninpo and mushrooms before fighting him. Piercing Void works the best. I found it slightly easier to manually aim it at his feet to get a hit. This is mostly trial and error. He summons those annoying snake things as ganks, so try to IS them to make it easier. His chapter 12 fight is as awful as ever, so try to avoid jumping, because he will hit you into the lava fairly frequently. Remember, there are those jellyfish mines to the door after his fight, make sure you blow all of them up before moving on, or you will have to fight the boss again.

Giant Worm - this fight is awful normally, but now it's even more so. You're only going to get hits in with a UT bow shot to the face, so that means having to stand out a hole in the tunnel and wait until it decides to come by.

Dragons - just like Volf, Piercing Void makes this hilariously easy. 2 of those ninpos will kill one dragon. Manually aim them, because they dragons move around a lot, and the auto aim might target one of the small guys. UT bow shot if you happen to run out of ninpo.

Elizabet - can be nearly as hard as Zedonius. I discovered (might not be the first to do so) an interesting thing. She sometimes has extended periods of being passive, and the Flame Phoenix ninpo is actually useful for once. Light it up, and spam dodges (but not jumps) in a close circle around her, and chase her if she moves away, in other words, stick to her like glue. She tends to get staggered easily from this ninpo, and if she remains passive, you can theoretically kill her with just that ninpo, so long as you aren't getting hit to end the ninpo. Also try to keep her close to a wall. You can sometimes land splash damage from an IS, but that's pretty inconsistent.

And like that, I was able to get the Dragon Sword achievement. I went and did the Lunar to see if I successfully did the run, and I was able to get that achievement. Now to just get the rest of the weapon achievements.