NINJA GAIDEN Σ

Finally got this today. To others who are wanting to beat master ninja, DON'T GIVE UP! I have just a teensy bit of experience playing NG04 back a long time ago, so you can consider this guide to be based upon someone who has practically no experience with NG. I managed to get all but the first chapter on master ninja ranks, so I'll include some things for that. Go after all 50 scarabs, as the final reward makes chapter 18 a bit easier. Also, try to find every chest that you can to get Life of the Gods (LotG). I found all of them, and had no leftovers at the end of the game, and a beefy HP bar is a good thing.

Chapter 1 is hands down the hardest chapter in the whole game, as you don't have a very big arsenal to use, plus the Red Spider Ninjas are especially painful in the tight spaces of chapter 1. The ->Y attack is great against them, but don't spam it, as you can easily get grabbed when you hit the floor. Even with the Grip of Murder (GoM) and Azure Dragon Helm (ADH), you most certainly will be ripped a new one, unless you happened to play a ton of NG04 or NGB back in the day and can channel your inner ninja. Master ninja ranking for chapter 1 is downright awful. I think if you're getting plenty of ETs and UTs, and are meeting just about all the time bonuses, then master ninja rank should come. Not easily by a long shot, but it will come. If you can beat chapter 1, then it's downhill from here, but there are definitely some rough spots.

Chapter 2 is same old same old. The Samurai give lots of yellows, and with ETs/UTs, you can set yourself up nice for awhile. If using GoM and ADH, use 5000 yellow to get the Armlet of the Moon, and 1000 on the Inferno ninpo. This should always be equipped until you get Celerity in Chapter 12, where you should equip that depending on the situation. Master ninja ranking is easy enough if you are getting ETs/UTs off. Don't bother with Doku unless you just really want to.

(AMBUSH) Chapter 3 is not much different than very hard. There's a few more enemies per encounter, and a few more black soldiers, but that's really it, and this extends to the first ambush of the game. This is among the easiest ambushes in the game, and getting a Life of the Thousand Gods (LotTG) is nice to boot. It's also an easy place to get ETs/UTs for practically a guaranteed master ninja rank. You can also Flying Swallow (FS) everything except for the black soldiers. Be sure to grab the dual swords at the bottom of the ship, and buy all the technique scrolls at Muramasa. Dynamo is the same, but his ganks are black soldiers now. Dynamo is extremely easy with the dual swords. Use the Rotate Y attack with them (roll your LS around in a circle then press Y). If you're in a pinch, use an Inferno.

Chapter 4 is the same as very hard. Get the Lunar near the entrance you come in on, and immediately upgrade it to level 2. The Red Spider Ninjas guarding the Spirit of the Devils (SotD) are easy enough with Izuna Drops (ID). You can easily use the Han's Bar machine in the alleyway to get health and ninpo when needed, and can do it after the motorcycle fight to get the ninpo end of chapter bonus. For master ninja ranking, I actually had to replay this chapter to get it. Time bonuses were the biggest factor to get to master ninja from head ninja, since there's no real boss to this chapter for a ton of points.

(RACHEL/AMBUSH) Chapter 5 is also very similar to very hard. Rachel's first chapter is middle of the road for a Rachel chapter, but pretty easy. The Red Spider Ninjas in the monastery are a bit annoying, but doable. This chapter's ambush is another easy one, it's 120 pink fiends. Doing this hands you the legendary hunter (master ninja equivalent) rank on a silver platter. Use plenty of ETs/UTs to get lots of points and yellow essence saved up, and go ahead and buy the Earrings of the Sun. You should already be using the Biker outfit on Rachel, so these earrings are a nice damage boost.

Chapter 6 can be kind of difficult. You get your first free Talisman of Rebirth (ToR) right behind you when starting. Ninpo the motorcycles for easy mode, or you can get lucky with a guillotine throw. Either way, Han's Bar machine in the alleyway is great if you need more ninpo. Lots of Red Spider Ninjas prowl the streets on master ninja, be weary. There's 4 different encounters of those ninjas going from the save point after the draw bridge to Hydracubus, so it can be a bit of a pain.

(AMBUSH) Chapter 7 is very painful, almost like chapter 1. Though chapter 7's difficulty occurs in the monastery, while the underground part is easy. If you despise the cat fiends and monk fiends like I do, you'll hate the first part of this chapter. And by the way, there are EVEN MORE Red Spider Ninjas in this chapter. There are tons of those 3 enemies in the first part. You might have figured out that IDs are great at dealing with cat fiends. But the ones here in master ninja difficulty are black cat fiends, aka upgraded cat fiends. They are keen at stopping you from doing IDs, and you really shouldn't ID a cat fiend if there's more than 2. They are surprisingly on the tanky side with GoM and ADH. Your level 2 Lunar works pretty well on them. UTs are especially useful. The main hall in the monastery features a fight with red spider ninjas, monk fiends, and black cat fiends all at the same time. The monk fiends are more portal happy here, and the black cats are more likely to block your attacks and do their ever annoying neck swings. Monk fiends are fairly generous with red essence, so you should be using your Inferno against them, as monk fiends are very big threats. Chapter 7 once again features the Dragon Sword Doppelganger fight in the library. This is the easiest Doppelganger, and this should be your 3rd fight against him (unless you've been keeping up with your ninja trials!). After you've beat the Doppelganger, collect the goodies from the caged area, and IMMEDIATELY backtrack to the area behind Muramasa's shop (the actual shop, NOT any of the statues). You should use the Incendiary Shuriken on the cracked wall. This gives you the Dabilahro and a Jewel of the Demon Seal (JotDS) a few chapters early. The Dabilahro is excellent for the underground section of this chapter, and you can already get level 2 Inferno, which is capable of one-shotting everything I can think of besides bosses at this point in the game. Unfortunately, the devs didn't intend on you getting an early Dabilahro, so you'll have to wait til chapter 10 to upgrade it, but its damage is still really good at level 1. Back in the monastery, there is an ambush in the library after getting the book. I would highly advise you not to do this ambush. It's 80 black cat fiends, and 40 red spider ninjas. IMO, this is the 2nd hardest ambush in the game. The reward is really good (SotD), but the sheer difficulty makes it not ideal to do. The underground section is business as usual, nothing changes apart from a few more enemies per encounter. You should have a lot of yellow essence at this point, so use it for maxed Vigoorian Flails. IS work great against the wasps, and can easily get your UT train going for the encounter where you get the chalice. Use the Dabilahro for the next few fights, its UT has really amazing range and works really well in the small areas of the underground, and one-shots the zombies with GoM and ADH. With 1 UT being able to one-shot the zombies, you should have oodles of yellow essence, and as long as you're not using items like there's no tomorrow, you'll be set up for quite a few chapters. The archers on the walkway up make the Dark Souls 1 Anor Londo archers look like they have stormtrooper accuracy. They're insane, and can easily knock you off. The Dabilahro UT has good enough range that can kill 3/4 up there when you get as close as possible, so long as you keep them off screen and get lucky. The Windmill Shuriken (WS) can stun them for a bit if you need to set up. Bone Dragon is same as very hard. Rotate Y attacks with the dual swords are great here. There's so much opportunity for UTs in this chapter that it should be very hard to miss the master ninja rank.

(RACHEL/AMBUSH) Chapter 8 I think is the same as very hard. You actually don't need to do the ambush in this chapter for legendary hunter rank. With enough UTs and going around and killing everything you see, it should come naturally. Red Spider Ninjas prelude Gamov's fight, so be careful. Gamov is still easy enough if you can get off ETs consistently. Counter attacks with Y are good against him.

(AMBUSH) Chapter 9 is another money making chapter. You should already know of the power of the Unlabored Flawlessness (UF), and should have already made a good amount of progress leveling up the wooden sword. More weapons are made available to upgrade here, so do all of those first, then whatever else you need. Back in the room where you got the chalice in chapter 7 is another easy ambush, with a LotTG as your prize. Spam more Dabilahro UTs, and be mindful of archers, and you've practically already got master ninja rank for the chapter. Tons of more money to be earned here. Hopefully you haven't popped a ToR yet, so that would mean you need 1 more for max... but DON'T buy one just yet, as you get a free one next chapter. Save the 25k, or spend it on more elixirs or more levels towards the UF. The rest of the chapter is business as usual, though the 2nd Hydracubus has black cat fiends as ganks, and it can get annoying. The Ice Storm ninpo is shortly after that, but let's be honest, you're not going to find a use for it so you can ignore it, and use the JotDS you get just before that for maxed Inferno. So, if you've been vigilant about getting LotG scattered around, your health should be in excellent shape before Alma. I was able to get 4 total HP boosts in this chapter (Bone Dragon, ambush, Hydracubus, x9 LotG). You'll need it, as Alma is as annoying as ever. She's a ton more projectile happy, and is better at blocking your attacks and FSs. This is a good spot for you to use your ToR if you still have any. I suck at Alma, so I don't really have any tips.

Chapter 10 is just as dull as it was in very hard. The soldiers are all their mech forms now, but nothing is interesting about this chapter. The Alternator boss is no different than even normal difficulty. Rotate Y attacks with the dual swords shred him like Dynamo. Don't leave the level just yet! Make sure you get arrows, and go into the skull key door just outside Alternator's arena. Bird flip up, and go into the room at the top. Aim your bow to shoot out the glass, and shoot the button. You'll get a free ToR! I had to redo this chapter a couple of times for master ninja rank. The kill count for the bonus is pretty high, considering there's not very many enemies. You also will need more UTs than you think, and aim to get almost all the times bonuses. Use Han's Bar machine for ninpo to save items, so long as you have kept a good pace for this chapter.

Chapter 11 is still my least favorite level. The RPG spamming is pretty annoying, but not like NG2 on warrior difficulty. Not a single thing has changed here from very hard. Lean on your explosive and tank shell arrows, they work great against everything, and you can easily refill them. Once you get to the tanks, use your maxed Inferno ninpo liberally, since this is one of 3 places with a Team Ninja machine. Use it to deal tons of damage to the tanks, or abuse its i-frames to get out of tough spots against either boss. The tower lights part is especially horrible. The RPGs are highly accurate and come out at a faster rate than before. If you've done quite a few of the ninja trials, temporarily ditch the ADH for the Armor of Power once you are about to start the tank fight. For master ninja rank, you'll need a fair bit of UTs for some extra points. They're fairly easy to come around at the beginning where the soldier come out of the APC, and in the train turntable part. Upgraded Dabilahro here for an easier time with that.

(AMBUSH) Chapter 12 can be a doozy if you're going after both ambushes. You only need to do one of them, and the beetle one is very easy with the Dabilahro ET/UT attacks (the other is 120 crab fiends). A ton more money can be made from that as well, and if you've played your cards right, you can get the UF here. Great spirit elixirs are plentiful here, so avoid buying any if possible. It's also a good idea to save a few if you don't need them, since you're coming back through there during chapter 16. There's a lot of crab fiends here, be careful of their slide attacks. This chapter also introduces laser crab fiends, and their lasers do quite a lot of damage. Explosive arrows are good at dealing with both crab fiends. The worm and double worm bosses are still quite easy, however they can spit their electricity up to 5 times in a row now, so be mindful of that. The double worm fight has has one worm cover the other a bit more now, so there's a bit less of an opportunity to attack. The awful Dabilahro, explosive spamming arrow Doppelganger is still extremely annoying. Stay close to avoid any arrows firing, and wall attack with some XY combos with your maxed Dabilahro to make it more manageable. Paz Zuu is still...boring. His ganks are crab fiends, so ID them and forget about it. The best time for attacks against him are having him go to the door with the shorter stairs, get behind him, and jump XXXX with the dual swords for a good chunk of damage. Paz Zuu normally goes for stomp attacks on the short stairs, so if you get close enough to the door, he won't damage you. As long as you've done one of the ambushes, you'll get master ninja rank.

Chapter 13 is business as usual. Arrows and Dabilahro UTs are great at dealing with the fish, and doing Dabilahro UTs should easily get you max essence at multiple points throughout the chapter. Buy literally everything you can here, there's yellow essence for days, however if you have 1 ToR, don't buy one. There's 2 sneaky chests underneath the ledge where you use the key for this level. The first one is a LotG, and the last is a ToR! Get the oxygen cylinder first though, you'll drown without it for those chests. Doku is a joke with a max Dabilahro and the Armlet of Celerity. Use ETs/UTs with the essence from his ganks. Even without essence, you can get an easy Dabilahro ET off with Celerity, because charging one usually baits hit energy slam attack.

(RACHEL/AMBUSH) Chapter 14 is probably the easiest chapter in the whole game. It's super quick, and filled with easy things for the most part. The ambush (samurai and mages) will need to be partially done for legendary hunter rank to get the kills. I got the rank doing 20 kills in it. Alternatively, you can finish it for an extra hair style to use in ninja trials or another story playthrough. In the last part before the Nicchae/Ishtaros fight, you fight a few crab fiends, and then crab fiends and a berserker in a tight space, so keep alert, and counter the berserker into oblivion for an easier time. Use all your items, Rachel is out of action after this.

(AMBUSH) Chapter 15 is a beefy chapter, but probably the easiest to get the master ninja rank for. Grab the Kitetsu and go back underground to immediately save. Go back up, and pull the lever to progress. You can return to Doku's arena for the first of two ambushes in the chapter featuring...120 berserkers. It's honestly not terrible, spamming Lunar counter attacks against them works the best. The portals are an inconvenience, and can be spaced well enough. It's just that 120 berserkers are extremely tedious. I'd personally just hop around on the platforms to grab the goodies and do the easier ambush. As a note, do NOT open the two chests on the stairs at the top, they're both ghost fish and not worth it. Shortly after the arena, is the easier ambush on the stairs. 80 pink fiends and 40 crab fiends make for a pretty easy fight. Lunar ETs/UTs are great here. Business as usual the rest of the way through. ->Y attacks with heavy weapons (Dabilahro, War Hammer, UF) are excellent against ogres, though the UF can carry you most of this chapter. I'd encourage you to look up how to do a shortcut to get the Inazuma ninpo early, it makes dealing with Yotunfrau's cat fiend ganks so much better (IMPORTANT: when you get Inazuma, its in your best interest to only get it to level 2, as counterintuitive as it seems). Make a save right outside the fire worm boss arena. In case you didn't know, the UF gains damage when at low health. Jump into the lava and stay there until the HP bar flashes red, jump out and equip Celerity if you haven't already. Go into the boss arena. Immediately charge up a ET. If the worms cooperate by doing a slam down or slide out (they won't always cooperate, and can take a few tries to get favorable attacks), your UF ET will instantly kill the boss if it connects, and gives you a TON of points for the kill. Use the same low health UF strategy with the Fire Dragon. When the fight starts, charge up a ET. The dragon will always lower its head down at the start and you UF ET will connect. With low health, GoM, and ADH, an ET attack with the UF did about 60% of the dragon's health in 1 hit! After that, immediately jump up and XXXX with the UF and you'll have killed the dragon in about 10 seconds! This also gives a ton of points and you should get a very easy master ninja rank.

Chapter 16 is the same as very hard. Really the only thing I can say is that master ninja rank is a bit tough to get. I had to redo it a few times to get it. More time bonuses and UTs put me over the hump. The Vigoorian Flail Doppelganger is still present, and is still pretty easy. But watch out for its instant kill attack! 2nd Alma is still a horrible, horrible fight. Inazuma the ganks, and it is a smidge easier. Like the other Alma, I also suck at this fight and can't offer advice. But don't be afraid to use all ToRs that you have, you can get easy enough money before chapter 19.

Chapter 17 is pretty much identical to very hard, but there's a few more ghost fish, and the portal to the fiend realm now has a Doppelganger with the UF. It's pretty easy overall, and doesn't use the full set of the UF most the time. Try to melt it when it gets low health. Aim to get the time bonuses in each fish encounter, and use a good amount of ETs/UTs elsewhere, and master ninja rank is yours. The ghost fish boss fight once again has ghost Doku to gank. With Celerity and the Dabilahro, use the Fire Wheels ninpo and UTs to melt them really fast.

Chapter 18 is a carbon copy of how it was in very hard, I can't think of a single thing that's different. Plenty of opportunity to go back to a shop and get more items, as ghost fish are abundant. Make sure to get the 50th scarab on the 3rd floor and turn it in for the Dark Dragon Blade, not the crappy offbrand that Murai will use later. For the Marbus gauntlet, go in anticipating that you'll use both ToRs that you have. Use Inazuma to kill the sections with crab fiends. Nicchae and Ishtaros surprisingly don't get ganks in master ninja. Beat them like you did before. Nicchae is a much better Alma despite hitting hard. Ishtaros is actually a pretty easy and mostly fair boss, though her laser attack is a bit specific to dodge right. Marbus is the same as he was in hard difficulty, with the occasional crab fiend now. The Dark Dragon Blade works best against him, mainly with the XY attack after his dive bombs and slam downs. If you've used all your items, tag the save and Team Ninja machine, and go back and buy whatever you need. Emperor phase 1 is using the True Dragon Sword and rotate Y attacks for tons of damage. For phase 2, make sure you're at full health, and hop in the lava. Stand under it and spam Inazuma. If you followed my tip from before and have it at level 2, then you can cast it quicker for a little less damage. This gets you a lot more kills and thus more points for the end of chapter bonus. When the Emperor hops away, spam explosive arrows towards it and you should get the kill. Master ninja ranking is easy at this point from that.

Chapter 19 is the same as it has been. Inferno ninpo works great against him. Murai hits hard, hope you didn't blow both ToRs against the Emperor and still have some healing options. Don't hold back on using any items here since this is the last thing. Refill ninpo before the final blow to get the bonus.

Preface:
This is not an easy thing to do at all, so be prepared to be persistent,die a lot and soft reset the game every so often because you accidentally lost an important item to something embarassing that caught you off guard.

This guide is written assuming you have already cleared the game on Very Hard, so are familar with the enemies and controls, as well as the strategies for fighting the bosses.

Your run begins even before Chapter 1 starts. For beating the game on Very Hard, you will have unlocked the final costume for Ryu, the Grip of Murder. This raises both attack and defense for no detriment, so is an absolute no brainer to equip. When you first load into the game, head into your menu and equip the Azure Dragon Helm too. While this lowers Ryu's defense, when combined with the Grip of Murder, you will deal about double the amount of damage you would otherwise.

The hardest part of Master Ninja is getting to the first save statue. Until you make it here, every time you die (which will be often), you have to start from the very beginning again. The Red Black Spider Ninja are no joke, able to kill you in 3 sword slashes or a grab and a slash. If you can, kill them with an ET or UT, as this both grants i-frames and gives you extra Yellow Essence. The hardest two rooms are the first dojo area and the room with the trapdoor just before the save statue (remember to kill all the enemies in here, you won't make Master Ninja without them, and it is soul crushing to have to clear the first section again). Murai will also have 2 of the ninja assisting him per 20% health lost, so make sure not to catch too many Incendiary Shuriken.

If you can beat Chapter 1, you can make it to Chapter 6. Chapter 2 plays out much the same as it always has, though kiling the Samurai with UTs can help you build up a stash of money for Chapter 3. When you feel you have money spare, buy the Armlet of the Moon. With the costume and the helmet, you are already at maximum damage, so the Armlet of the Sun is useless, its much better to take that little bit less damage until you have other options like Celerity. If you have a lot of spare money, grab the Wooden Sword and upgrade it as much as you can, as quick as you can.

Chapter 3 has your first Ambush, which is pretty easy, until the white MSATs get RPG tubes. When this starts happening, whenever you make a kill, check the new spawn hasn't got one. If they do, they are priority 1, as the RPGs hit extremely hard and stun you for a long time, leaving you open. Upgrade your Dragon Sword to level 2 at a minimum and the Wooden Sword as much as you feel comfortable/can. When the time comes to fight Dynamo, utilize your Smoke Bombs and Inferno Ninpo as much as you need to. If you need to close in, drop a Smoke Bomb and he will engage the smoke for as long as it is present, allowing time to run in and start slashing away.

Chapter 4 is no more difficult on Master Ninja than it was Very Hard. Make sure to get the Spirit of the Devils from the roof in Clock Tower Plaza, get all the Golden Scarabs and at the very end of the level, feel free to use Inferno on the Motorcycle MSATs. If you don't grab the Lily Key straight away, head into the alleyway and refill your Ninpo using the Team Ninja monolith for the end of level Karma bonus to help with that Master Ninja rank.

Chapter 5 is again, nothing super difficult. As long as you are chaining ETs and UTs in the Ambush, you should not get hit very much and can earn a relatively easy Legendary Hunter rank, as well as setting Rachel up well with money for her next Chapter. Even if you are not aiming to Master Ninja every chapter, still complete this Ambush, as it will make the fight with Gamov easier in Chapter 8.

Chapter 6 is mostly easy. Grab the free Talisman of Rebirth from the chest on the roof. After getting onto Monastery Hill, the enemies will all be Red Black Spider Ninja bar one fight, so try not to let them hit you and definitely watch out for the jump that signals their grab, as this will make your health evaporate nearly instantly. Don't bother trying anything that isn't Inferno against the Motorcycle MSATs, it's worth the Elixirs of the Devil Way. Try and fight the Galla with the Dragon Sword if you can, unless you don't care about the end of chapter rank. Hydracubus isn't that tough, just watch out for his acid balls, as he starts throwing them very early on Master Ninja.

Chapter 7 is where you are going to probably get your s*** kicked in again, twice. First time will be the clone Ryu fight in the Archives. On Master Ninja, he is a cheeky little c*** and likes to parry and use his Ninpo even more than normal. You can attempt to fight him legitimately, or you can head to the 3rd floor and wait for him to try and climb up, then slash. He can't hurt you unless he gets a lucky projectile attack or manages to climb up, so he can be dispatched in relative safety. The second time will also be in the Archives, as the Ambush in the Archives is meant to be completed in this Chapter. 80 Black Bast Fiends and 40 Red Black Spider Ninja make for the 2nd toughest Ambush in the game. Don't be ashamed if it takes you an hour or two just to clear this section. I tried a number of different strategies and can say that there are two that are better than others. I recommend option 2.

1. Use the Level 2 Vigoorian Flail and chain UTs. This strategy works, as long as when each UT ends, you immediately block, then launch into the next UT, killing at least 2 enemies or praying for some Blue Essence if you have to make a non UT kill. If you are not in a UT animation, the Bast Fiends will grab you, flying swallow you, or just make a nuisance of themselves while you are trying to fight the ninja and you will die very, very quickly.

2. Use the Dragon Sword and abuse Izuna Drop. This relies on the same principle as the flail strategy, but doesn't require essence to proc the i-frames. After blocking a string of swipes, a flying swallow or a grab from a Bast Fiend, you are guaranteed to be able to Izuna Drop it, which will kill it every single time, even if you are wearing the White Tiger Helm. This is a choice you can make, but if you stick with the Azure Dragon Helm, sometimes if the enemy is close enough or has been hit more than once, the shockwave from the Izuna Drop will kill them too, saving you time and energy, as well as being more safe.

Regardless of which option you choose, focus on the Bast Fiends first, as if you can kill all 80 of them, you then get to fight the ninja one at a time, which is so, so much easier, and can allow use of UTs to make money. If you can clear this Ambush, you can make it to the end of Chapter 9.

Chapter 8 plays very similar to how it did on Very Hard. You will have to complete the Ambush if you want the Legendary Hunter rank, but if you did the one in Chapter 5, you should be able to go in with full items, or close to. 100 Flare Shadow Demons are easy prey for Rachel's ETs and UTs, with the 20 Ogres able to tank the hits, but will go down after enough and shouldn't be able to do much back to you, if you are charging your UTs with enough distance. The fight against Gamov looks tough on the surface, but he has two weaknesses. One, he takes a sizeable chunk of damage from the use of Sorcery and you should have enough Ninpo items to spare. Two, he still takes damage while knocked down, so knocking him down with Sorcery then launching into a wall attack or a hammer combo can stack the damage even more.

In Chapter 9, if you did not do so in Chapter 7. upgrade your Vigoorian Flail to Level 2, and newly available will be Dragon Sword Level 3. If you have spare money, Wooden Sword too. Before dropping into the hole, head down to the Ritual Room, as there is an Ambush there that can be completed easily using the Flail, which really helps by giving you another health upgrade, extra money and an easy Master Ninja rank. Make sure to head across the bridge in the Suspension Bridge Room, as this helps trigger the first fight in that pit properly. When fighting the Hydracubus, if he has any Bast Fiends alive, they must be killed before attacking the Hydracubus, as they will drain your health extremely quickly if left alive. If you can, kill this Hydracubus with a UT, as it drops a decent chunk of money if you do. Once you have beaten it, the rest of the level is not too bad, until it comes to fighting Alma.

Alma is as annoying as ever, now with more damage, better minions and more health. If you knock her down, even if she has minions alive, take the opportunity to attack her. The best combo I found was X, Y, X, X, X, X and then if you can, another X, Y. After the end of the first combo, if you use Inferno Ninpo, you have a good chance to hit her and knock her down again, while also dealing a chunk of damage, which can be looped as many times as she takes to die or you have Ninpo uses. If you don't use this, make sure to kill her minions quickly, with something like Izuna Drop, then use the strategies that you are used to against Alma alone, when it comes to dealing damage and avoiding her attacks. If you beat Alma, you can reach Peristyle Passage in Chapter 12.

Chapter 10 is not bad by any means. Make sure to head to Pleasure Street to fight the timed fight there, and kill any of the soldiers you see. Just fighting all of the timed fights and finishing with full Ninpo only got me Head Ninja here, so farm another 15-20 kills and it should turn into a Master Ninja. The RPG soldiers are not immune to Flying Swallow, but the riflemen are and have a specific counter animation that is guaranteed, so remember not to try it on them. Also make sure to grab the Dabilahro if you did not do so already, behind the breakable wall in Great Bridge Square. Alternator fights just like an annoying Dynamo, but his rush deals serious damage, so try and stick close so he doesn't use it, making use of Smoke Bombs and Inferno if you need to. After you kill him, do not end the level immediately. Instead, head back to Pleasure Street for a free Ninpo refill from the Team Ninja monolith if you need it/want the Karma at level end, then in the alleyway with the Muramasa statue, head up to the top platform and to the broken window where the 5th soldier was in the pre Alternator fight. Using the Strongbow, smash the glass and hit the button to spawn a chest containing a free Talisman of Rebirth.

Chapter 11 can be a little tricky in places, but it gives you access to one of your best weapons for the rest of the game, Explosive Arrows. Grab them, immediately equip them and use them to clear the first fight with relative ease. Refill before entering the Warehouse. When inside, don't use them on the Drones, use the APFSDS Cores instead. This is so you have them to use on the Soldiers on the Locomotive Turntable, which is full of very RPG happy guys. The Tank and Gunship fights are exactly the same as they have always been, except the gunship is more likely to fly in circles using missiles or a bomb run rather than head under the bridge. Use the control boxes and arrow refill crates as cover from the missiles when the gunship is perpendicular to the bridge, even more so if it flies under. If you use the APFSDS Cores crate as cover, you can hit it with a dozen or so arrows, which melts most of it's health away in one swoop. Just remeber that sometimes the missiles will hit you here, so stay out of one hit death range. For both fights, trading the Azure Dragon Helm for Armour of Power can be beneficial,as you get the same damage output, but Ryu will take less damage, which will be happening. For the Radio Tower, kill all of the RPG Soldiers before destroying all the dishes to earn the Time and KIll bonuses for the fight.

Chapter 12 has an absolute b***** of a fight in. Refill on Explosive Arrows before heading down, as you will want them to use on the Auriochs that are now here. After you clear a section with the Time and Kill bonuses, the enemies will respawn but you do not need to kill them, as there are 2 Ambushes in the Chapter that help easily make the kill bonus at the chapter end. The one with the Beetle Fiends is a good money maker (spam UTs with the Level 3 Dabilahro, then collect all but 2 Essence. Repeat), so you should be able to grab the Dabilahro Level 3 and the UF if you do not already have it. The single Electric Worm is just as easy as ever, it just takes a few more hits to go down. The Double Worms seem to like covering for each other with projectiles more, so dodges have to be more carefully timed and only go for damage when the other worm cannot hit you, regardless of whether you are using the UF, Dabilahro or Dragon Sword. Once you have access to Peristyle Passage, head to the Save Point outside the Hall of Balance. Then enter Peristyle Passage and face the Dabilahro clone.

This clone is even more of a c*** than the Dragon Sword one. If you are outside melee range, he will do nothing but spam his Explosive Arrows. Don't ever jump, but block and roll your way in close. Sometimes, even when you block the arrow will explode at Ryu's feet and deal damage and knock him back anyway. This just happens, accept it, move on. If the 2nd hit of his Flaming Hell Slash connects (it must deal damage), he will do the rest of the combo, which will drain you from full health to none if you let all the hits connect. Keep blocking at all times if you are not trying to attack him. Izuna Drops are a good method, just be prepared to roll and block attacks if you don't connect, or more Explosive Arrows if the distance is great enough. After you kill the clone, get the Golden Scarab and unlock the door before heading onwards/to Muramasa/a Save Point. If you kill this clone, you can make it to the end of Chapter 16.

120 Crab Fiends make up the Ambush here if you return, but using the Dabilahro or UF and its UT makes this pretty easy. Before fighting Pas Zuu, head to Muramasa and buy as many things you can/need/want, as you will easily achieve 99,999 Yellow Essence in the next chapter, probably more than once.

Chapter 13 starts with a fight against some fish. Each of these fish is worth 14,000 Yellow Essence if killed with a UT, and the Dabilahro UT can kill them from the small stone platforms, so you can farm max money in all of about 90 seconds. Because of this, you should easily have max items, on everything, max level for all weapons you use (this should be, at minimum the Dragon Sword, Lunar, Vigoorian Flail, Dabilahro and Wooden Sword/UF) and still have a substantial cash reserve. There is a Muramasa between the 1st and second areas, to spend all the money you earn, only to make it back from the fish in the next area. If you are at max money, can't buy anything else and just want to get through the level faster, Explosive Arrows are your best friend. A free Talisman of Rebirth is available, by swimming through the caged area under the door that needs the Triton Key, just remeber to get the Oxygen Cylinder first. Before facing Doku, if you do not have it already, get Dabilahro Level 3. Doku is a very easy boss, just kill his minions and UT him with the Dabilahro. Repeat and he should go down in like 30 seconds.

Chapter 14 is the last time you will use Rachel, so feel free to use items liberally. Clearing the Ambush is necessary if you want the Legendary Hunter Rank, otherwise you can skip it. Fight the berserker just like you would with Ryu, spam those counter attacks. After the small area with the two teleport circles, you do not have to win the fight with Ishtaros and Nicchae, so just die as fast as possible.

Chapter 15 is... soul destroying to try and get the Master Ninja for, but a clear isn't nearly as bad. If you just want a clear, skip the Ambush in Zarkhan Stadium. It's not worth the time and pain it will cause. If you want the Master Ninja, or the Spirit of the Devils that badly, prepare for pain. There are two ways to tackle the problem, a legitimate way and a cheap way.

1. The Legitimate Way. Equip the Level 3 Lunar and counter every single attack that isn't a portal or projectile. Listen for the sound of a block, as the screen will probably be full of explosion effects, as the beserkers thsat aren't in melee combat just portal spam. It is hard, grueling, takes a long time when done correctly and if you mess up, there's no saves, so you have to start all over again. The second slash of a combo will always guard break Ryu, so it cannot be countered.

2. The cheap way. Equip the Level 3 Dabilahro. Lure a berserker to the area that leads down to the elevator, making sure it steps into the area of brown bricks. On the stairs here, you can safely charge and hit the berserker with the UT from the Dabilahro. It will enrage, and an ET will then kill it. Once it's dead, use the Blue Essence it drops to heal if you need to, then lure another berserker in and repeat, 120 times. Its not fast, efficient, or exciting. But it is quite safe and repetable once you get it down. It might take an hour of play, but you should only need to do that once.

Once you have (or haven't cleared) the stadium, the second Ambush on the stairs and actual caverns section isn't too hard. When it comes to fighting Ogres, Inferno Ninpo is the best option, if you have the money to spare, with the UF being the best non-Ninpo option. Yotenfrau comes with Bast Fiends, but these are easily dispatched with Izuna Drops and the boss himself is one of the easier fights, having huge windups and a small attack pool. Remember to grab Inazuma on the way out. The Flame Worm will have a lot of different worms active at once, 5 I believe, but they rarely co-ordinate like the Electric Worms did. When it comes to Smaugon, the low health UF makes the fight last all of 10 seconds. Use the lava before picking up the deity statue to lower yourself to a point where the health gauge flashes. Then trigger the fight, and two full in air combos later, one dead dragon, with minimal risk.

Chapter 16 has some tough moments in it, even before Awakened Alma. After activating the stone circles, head to the Hayabusa Village and get the True Dragon Sword. Then head back to Tairon, to Great Bridge Square. Here there will a Ryu clone wielding the Kitetsu. This is the easiest clone of them all, as it often tries to use a Haze Straight Slash, which leaves him vulnerable to an Izuna Drop. It drops a fair bit of money too, for a single enemy, even if not killed with a UT.

Once you enter the Great Bridge Ambush, there will be 3 waves of 40 enemies each. The first is Auriochs, where your best weapon is Inazuma and a healthy amount of UF UTs or the True Dragon Sword, just grab Red Essence wherever you see it to help avoid using items. Next is Ogres, who can be killed with Inferno and/or the UF. Two combos on the ground should be enough, though it might take an extra hit or two sometimes. When you get to 78 kills, the first berserker will spawn. At this point, do not kill any more ogres, unless you want to make your life harder. Instead, equip the Lunar and counter attack spam all 40 berserkers to death, then and only then do you kill the last 2 ogres.

After this, head back along the path through the Hayabusa Village to face off against another Ryu clone, this one with the Vigoorian Flails. The clone is more aggressive than it has ever been, but that is a good thing, as it often tries to use the UT-style move that leaves it vulnerable to Izuna Drop. Just watch out for getting Guillotine Thrown and Red-Hot Iron Branded, as both of these moves will take chunks from your health. After you beat the clone, stock up on heals and Ninpo if you have used any, then head into Awakened Alma.

Awakened Alma is just as annoying as ever. For the Crab Fiends, just Inazuma them, its not worth wasting time or energy killing them with the True Dragon Sword. If you happen to knock Alma down too, then go bully her. If she's using a projectile attack, get dodging and when its over, try and Flying Swallow her. If you can't land a Flying Swallow, just keep trying, as being near this version of Alma when she is not knocked down will only end in pain. Lean on Ninpo if you have to, but just keep your patience and don't get greedy. Beat Awakened Alma and you can reach the Marbus gauntlet.

Chapter 17 starts out with berserkers, so Lunar counter attacks. The first battle for the key will be against the final Ryu clone, using the UF. He has a lot of the same opening as the Dabilahro clone, but as you deplete his health, his attacks will grow stronger. If you get him down to critical, one or two hits will kill you, so play even more carefully once his UF starts to glow. Still aim to use Izuna Drop wherever possible. The Labyrinth is no harder than on Very Hard, so I have nothing to say about it particularly. If you are not going to visit Muramasa next chapter, stock up on projectile weapons at his shop here. For Ghost Doku, equip either the UF or Dabilahro and Fire Wheels. Pop Fire Wheels immediately, then the Ghost Fish should be drawn to you. Use their essence to UT Ghost Doku, which should spawn the next wave of fish and repeat 4 times. He is one of the easiest Master Ninja bosses.

Chapter 18 starts you immediately against Ghost Fish, so don't let them kill you before you have the chance to save. When you get to the top of the Palace Core, save and use the Team Ninja monolith, then get ready for the final test of your skills. When fighting the Crab Fiends, rely mainly on Inazuma and use weapons only if you want to conserve Ninpo or don't have any.

Nicchae is the first boss, who on Master Ninja hits extremely hard, with one to three attacks being enough to kill you (depending on which they are) even from full health. Use the True Dragon Sword against her. If she does a swoop attack, Flying Swallow is a guaranteed hit, but won't knock her down. If you do knock her down with Ninpo or a Flying Swallow, same as Alma. X, Y, X, X, X, X and then either Inferno or another X, Y and 1/4 to 1/3 of her health should be gone.

Ishtaros is next. While only the laser attack is especially damaging, she can only be attacked after 3 specific moves, so you have to play mainly defensively. Your opportunties for damage are after a failed leg grab, when she kicks high in the air, after her slash and roundhouse kick and after she dives down from a swing attack. While she is swinging, if you charge an ET or UT, you can wait for her to yell and then release it, it should connect. If she is doing any other move, block and roll through it, as she will dodge any attempts to damage her during or afterwards.

Marbus is as Marbus has always been, except he has an annoying tendency to summon a supply of Bast Fiends rather than actually attacking Ryu directly. If he is just flying around and sumoning, Air Destruction Slash is a good way to chip away at him and soon enough he will stomp or do a dive-bomb. After a dive bomb, there is the opportunity to hit him with X, Y, Y twice, which does a good chunk of damage.

If you can beat this section, you can beat the game. After killing Marbus, the game only gets easier. Return to Muramasa if you need to restock on health or projectiles (Ninpo isn't really necessary anymore), then enter the Gates of Hell. Emperor, Angel Form has no differences except his lasers just do more damage, so try and strike using ETs and UTs, or with combos that don't knock Ryu off his little platform. Emperor, Devil Form is also pretty easy. Remember for projectiles, use them in this order.

Explosive Arrows > APFSDS Cores > Strongbow > Incendiary Shuriken > Windmill Shuriken

If you are accurate and land the UT when his big skull flies down, even on Master Ninja he should die before you run out of APFSDS Cores, or Strongbow. To charge the UT without having to worry about all the skulls, use Fire Wheels.

Chapter 19 only has the one enemy and you should be well practiced at the platforming section by now. Fiend Murai hits very hard, but gets stunned when you are attacking him, so if you wait for his move to end, you will nearly always be able to finish your own combo before he starts attacking again. Even if you have no health items, a quick takedown should be relatively simple now you have beaten the rest of the game. Even if you only make it with a Talisman of Rebirth or a Great Spirit Elixir, you should have little trouble killing him. Just don't jump into the dragon when avoiding his shockwave attack, as will probably kill you.