NINJA GAIDEN Σ

This is the time where each Chapter absolutely has to be Master Ninja. If you don't have the achievements for the difficulties below, they will also unlock, so you actually need not care about ranking until your Master Ninja playthrough. Keep a Save at the beginning of a Chapter until you have Master Ninja on it, lest you need to redo it because you were too slow or did not complete an Ambush. Ranking for a Chapter is determined by the overall amount of Karma that was obtained, both in-level and at the end of the Chapter. Mid-Chapter, you can earn Karma by:

Essence Techniques and Ultimate Techniques - Each ET (Hold Y until Blue particle effects are generated, or absorb 1 Yellow Essence) landed while the Time bonus is still possible will earn 2000 Karma, each UT (Hold Y until red particle effects are generated, or absorb 1 Red or Blue Essence, or 2 Yellow Essence) 5000 Karma. There is a limit on the amount of times this bonus may be earned per fight, but this is only relevant in a few Ambushes.

Time Bonus - Each fight has a target time to try and beat. Any time below it earns 10,000 bonus Karma, any time above nothing.

Kill Bonus - Each enemy killed during a timed fight will contribute towards the Kill bonus. Even if the Time bonus is missed, 1000 Karma per enemy killed will be awarded at the end of the fight. (Except with the Ghost Fish in the Labyrinth, who seem to give more than this). All bosses have a fixed kill bonus of 100,000

If you leave the area before you have finished the fight, 100 Karma will be given for each kill made, but no Time bonus will be given. Once you have lost the bonuses, they are gone forever, even if the enemies respawn.

At the end of Chapters, bonus Karma is given for:

Time Taken - Each Chapter has a target time, Beating it at or below earns 100,000 Karma, with the bonus decreasing after this time is exceeded.

Kills - A certain number of kills have to be made in order to earn the 100,000 Karma. Each one less than the target loses you part of the bonus.

Essence - The amount of Yellow Essence you have at the end of the Chapter. As long as you aim to always make a profit from a Chapter, this should always be good.

Ninpo - Each remaining Ninpo use scores you points. The full 100,000 Karma is earned with full Ninpo, with fractional rewards given for partial fills. For example, having 1 out of 2 Ninpo will get 50,000 or 50% of the Karma bonus. Having 3/4 gets 75,000, or 75% and so on.

Now that you know how ranking works, here are the scores and times I had in each Chapter, to give you a rough guide of where you need to aim for, along with any notes that might be useful.

Chapter 1: The Way of the Ninja
Time: 0:14:03
Karma: 366,530

In the room where the Ninja jump from behind the rotating walls, stay and fight all 16 Ninja (Watch out for the trapdoor!). Without this, I did not earn a Master Ninja rank and had to replay the level. No Ninpo bonus is possible.

Chapter 2: The Hayabusa Ninja Village
Time: 0:18:20
Karma: 575,364

This score includes a 100,000 Ninpo bonus, but doesn't include the 100,000 from being able to beat Doku. As long as you use enough UTs, kill all of Masakado's Samurai Mages and have Ninpo at the end, you don't need to kill Doku.

Chapter 3: Skies of Vengeance
Time: 0:23:26
Karma: 765,255

As long as you complete the Ambush here, you should earn a Master Ninja rank. Depending on how many ETs and UTs you use will just inflate the score and I did use a fair number, especially during the Ambush.

Chapter 4: Imperial City Infiltration
Time: 0:11:25
Karma: 459.940

Make sure to use the Spirit of the Devils you acquire here and before approaching Han's Bar, visit the Team Ninja monolith in the alleyway. This allows free use of Inferno against the Motorcycle MSATs, as you can visit the monlith again before picking up the Lily Key to ensure you get the 100,000 Ninpo bonus.

Chapter 5: The Fiend Hunter
Time: 0:13:07
Karma: 703,910

This score includes a lot of UT bonuses, as that is the best way to fight with Rachel. As long as you complete the Ambush however, you should earn Legendary Hunter.

Chapter 6: The City of Fiends
Time: 0:11:41
Karma: 592,280

Without a 100,000 Ninpo bonus, I did not make Master Ninja rank, so use Elixirs of the Devil Way while fighting Hydracubus to ensure you earn one.

Chapter 7: The Monastery
Time: 1:00:19
Karma: 1,003,860

The Ambush inside the Archives is meant to be completed in this Chapter, which is why the completion time is so high. 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 of practice 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.

Chapter 8: Alma, Greater Fiend
Time: 0:24:20
Karma: 869,180

Another Chapter with an Ambush, 100 Flare Shadow Demons and 20 Ogres make for relatively easy pickings. Kill 1 or 2 of the Flare Shadow Demons, then just chain ETs and UTs until they are all dead. Then make distance between you and the Ogre, charge up a UT, release when it gets close, then jump away and repeat. If you did not already do so, equip the Earrings of Celerity (purchase from Muramasa). 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.

Chapter 9: Hidden Underground
Time: 0:39:07
Karma: 1,174,833

Before dropping into the hole left by the re-dead Bone Dragon, head down to the Ritual Room, as there is an Ambush there that can be completed easily using the Flail. This along with fighting all the fights will almost guarantee 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.

Chapter 10: Tairon Under Alert
Time: 16:55
Karma: 440,020

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. After fighting Alternator, do not end the level immediately. Instead, head back to Pleasure Street for a free Ninpo refill from the Team Ninja monolith for a free guaranteed 100,000 Karma bonus, and to spawn the free Talisman of Rebirth.

Chapter 11: The Military Supply Base
Time: 23:21
Karma: 903,080

My only tip here is to make sure you kill all of the RPG soldiers on the Radio Tower before destroying all the dishes, otherwise it counts as a "run away" and not a completed fight, so you do not earn the Time and Kill bonuses.

Chapter 12: The Aquaducts
Time: 0:43:21
Karma: 1,831,850

Just make it through both Ambushes and you will easily get Master Ninja. The one against the Beetle Fiends is a good place to make money by abusing the Dabilahro UT, then absorbing all but 2 of the Yellow Essence orbs befor letting off the next one. The same strategy works well against the Crab Fiends in Peristyle Passage too, but they are not worth as much.

Chapter 13: The Path to Zarkhan
Time: 0:19:32
Karma: 652,190

Nothing fancy for this one. Just remember to kill everything, including the enemies in the Monk's Room and you will get Master Ninja

Chapter 14: The Ancient Twin Deities
Time: 16:19
Karma: 821,580

Clear the Ambush on the bridge where Ryu fights Masakado for your Legendary Hunter. This will be the last time you play as Rachel. so liberal use of items is encouraged to lessen the pain of having to do yet another relatively boring UT spam. When the Red Black Spider Ninja spawn at the end, just use Sorcery. You do not need to win the fight against Alma and Nicchae (trust me, it's bad enough in Mission Mode where you do have to beat it).

Chapter 15: The Caverns
Time: 1:24:48
Karma: 1,974,660

Chapter 15 is... soul destroying to try and get the Master Ninja for, because of the Ambush in Zarkhan Stadium. 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 cleared the stadium and the Ambush on the Stairs to the Imperial Palace, Master Ninja rank will be yours when you finish the level.

Chapter 16: The Fiendish Awakening
Time: 1:02:45
Karma: 842,090

Easy Master Ninja rank is obtained for this Chapter by completeing the Ambush in Great Bridge Square. 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. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for another round of pure pain, but without a set of safe stairs to kill those berserkers in.

Chapter 17: Vengeful Spirit
Time: 14:58
Karma: 692,440

Nothing fancy here. Just kill all the Ghost Fish and Master Ninja comes easily.

Chapter 18: The Core
Time: 32:58
Karma: 1,326,030

Nothing fancy here. It's more about just being able to beat the level, as there are so many enemies and few shopping opportunities, that Master Ninja rank comes easily as long as you don't take ages to beat everything.

Chapter 19: The Dark Dragon Blade
Time: 0:02:45
Karma: 428,580

This is all about how quick you kill Fiend Murai. You should still get a good Ninpo, Essence and Kill bonus, just take him down as fast as you can, as it doesn't matter if he takes all your health items, as you won't be needing them after he dies.

If you got Master Ninja for every Chapter, then you will get Master Ninja when you finish the game and then your achievements will pop and you can breathe easy, knowing you beat the 2nd hardest part of the game. The hardest awaits in Mission Mode...

This guide is a plus to DJ Frigid guide, as i got aware of a missing all chapters rank wich you can get Master Ninja, counting every kills plus actual Ki/Nimpo, and on a NG Sigma plus vita version the guide is:

Chapter 19 + Overall *(Personal Score)

Time - Less than 10-15 hours (08:46:49 - 100,000)
Kills - 3,000+ (4,355 - 100,000)
Essences - 10,000+ (27,240 - 10,000)
Ninpo - 4/4 or 5/5 (4/4 - 100,000)
Total - 15,123,718

Is easiear to get MN on All Cleared than some chapters, mainly the first one will be my last