_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ XBOX Ninja Gaiden BOSS FAQ Version 2.20 March 12, 2005 Written by Dauragon C Mikado88 (Travis Rappa) -------------------------- I. Table of Contents -------------------------- 1. Introduction to Ninja Gaiden 2. Introduction to Boss Fights 2A. Basic Strategies 2B. Weapon Overview 2C. Projectile Overview 2D. Ninpo Overview 3. Chapter 1 Boss - Murai 4. Chapter 2 Boss - Samurai Horseman 5. Chapter 3 Boss - Vigoorian Commando 6. Chapter 5 Sub-Boss - Dragon Fiends 7. Chapter 5 Boss - Tentacle Fiend 8. Chapter 6 Boss - Bone Dragon 9. Chapter 7 Sub-Boss - Tentacle Fiend II 10. Chapter 7 Boss - Alma 11. Chapter 8 Sub-Boss - Helicopter, Tanks, Turrets 12. Chapter 9 Bosses - Tanks, Helicopter, Soldiers 13. Chapter 10 Sub-Boss I - Giant Worm 14. Chapter 10 Sub-Boss II - 2 Giant Worms 15. Chapter 10 Boss - Ancient Dragon 16. Chapter 11 Boss - Doku 17. Chapter 12 Boss - Ice Fiend 18. Chapter 12 Sub-Boss - Flame Worm 19. Chapter 12 Boss II - Flame Dragon 20. Chapter 13 Boss - Alma II 21. Chapter 14 Boss - Spirit Doku 22. Chapter 15 Sub-Boss - Tentacle Fiend III 23. Chapter 15 Sub-Boss - Ice Fiend II 24. Chapter 15 Sub-Boss - Lord of the Fiends 25. Chapter 15 Boss - Vigoorian Emperor 26. Chapter 15 Boss - Vigoorian Emperor II 27. Chapter 16 Boss - Evil Murai 28. Submitting A Strategy ******Updated***** 29. Contact Information 30. Legal Information NOTE: If you notice I skip a chapter boss. It's not because I actually skipped one, it's because a boss doesn't exist on that chapter. ----------- II. Versions ----------- VERSION 0.50 - Bosses go up to Chapter 8, basically the bare bones of the FAQ. VERSION 0.70 - Bosses now go up to Chapter 10. Some custom strategies have been added. VERSION 0.80 - Finished Chapter 10 Bosses. Bosses now go up to Chapter 12. More strategies added to the FAQ. Especially to Alma, more to come. VERSION 0.90 - Finished up to Chapter 14. More strategies added. Next version will complete version 1.00 of the FAQ. Also read the updated section about submitting a strategy, because now it has some more ground rules for sending one. VERSION 1.00 - All bosses finished! A few more strategies, all that remains to the FAQ is filling up strategies and maybe some cleanup. :) VERSION 2.00 - Added 4 completely NEW sections to the FAQ. Many new strategies. Also take note of the Submitting A Strategy. I was bombarded by emails, and it has been edited again. If your strategy didn't get posted, I am really sorry, I was taking a break after version 1.00, and I was getting overloaded by too many submissions. Sorry! VERSION 2.10 - Added a few more strategies, touched up some misspells, and completed the short weapon guide. VERSION 2.20 – Basically a grammatical update, no new strategies added. Corrected some out-of-line characters, and corrected many spelling and grammar errors. Please note that the ‘Submit a Strategy’ section is CLOSED. I am no longer accepting strategies, since the FAQ is basically done, and only that remains to do is corrections and fixes internally. Sorry for the VERY long time to update, but the FAQ was done in terms of actual guide content. -------------------------- 1. Introduction to Ninja Gaiden -------------------------- Ninja Gaiden is the long hyped game for Xbox, that nearly every gamer was waiting to play since Halo. After 3 delays, the game is finally on US shores, was it worth the wait? You bet! Ninja Gaiden is a very difficult game, with very fresh and fluid gameplay, along with some difficult puzzles, overall making the game very balanced in nature. -------------------------- 2. Introduction to Boss Fights -------------------------- Mastering the combat system in Ninja Gaiden is hard, but the trip to get there is very entertaining. As you get more skilled at the game, you will think you are a real pro at the game, until you get to boss fights. Boss battles are a true test of how much 'Ninja Skills' you have, all the bosses are fairly balanced, and all be won easily when you are truly a master of the non-button mashing combat system of Ninja Gaiden. But at first, some bosses can be very challenging and difficult, so I have written this FAQ to hopefully help some struggling players defeat the boss to continue to the next chapter. <<>> Please Note that this FAQ is based upon facing the bosses on NORMAL difficulty. As of now, this FAQ does not support Hard Mode. However, I plan to add a split section on each boss as the FAQ progresses. --------------------------- 2A. Basic Strategies --------------------------- There are some basic strategies to know for bosses, before engaging any of them. Ninja Gaiden is NOT a button masher, and all bosses require you to take full control of an ability to defeat a boss. ********************* HIT AND RUN! ********************* Ninja's are not full on assault men as we all perceive them in a coolness factor. Ninja's are actually warriors of stealth, and use tactics and sneak attacks to defeat their enemies. In Ninja Gaiden, directly engaging bosses will get you killed. Using hit and run attacks, especially the flying swallow attack (Lunge Jump + Y) proves to work nicely on many bosses. Always try to get off a few slashes, then jump backwards or roll to manage to stay on top of the boss at all times. ********************* USE YOUR ENVIROMENT! ********************* Many of the battles have an environment that you can use to your advantage to defeat a boss. Many close quarters areas are good for using wall attacks as much as possible to defeat a boss. A good example of this would be Murai. In very large spaces, such as the battle with Alma, or the battle with the Tanks, you have to stay mobile more, since these bosses tend to keep on top of you quite frequently. You'll have to use the open area as an advantage to allow yourself to work around bosses, and position yourself to various places on the map. ******************** USE NINPO! ******************** While a handful of the bosses are vanquished easily using your weapons, Ninpo can become a great need when you are in a tight jam. Note that Ninpo makes you invincible during the animation period. This is great to get up close and personal with a boss, without having to worry about taking damage. It's also good to deal the final touches to a boss, especially if you are low on health with no healing. ******************** CHOOSE YOUR WEAPON WISELY! ******************** The game can be beaten just using the Dragon Sword, but it is not necessarily the best weapon to use. The Dragon Sword is balanced it is good in power and agility. While the weapon like the Warhammer is slow, yet packs a punch. The frails are not great to use on bosses, unless they are shooting destroyable projectiles at you, that go all around you (such as the second to last boss). So if you die, experiment with weapons until you find the weapon best for the situation, you don't have to always follow the guide. ******************* BE PREPARED! ******************* If you get hit by a boss when you least expect it, you will most likely be hit hard if you are not prepared for items. You know a boss is near if you spot a save point, and you have been wandering around the level for a long time. If you do happen to be caught off guard, backtrack to a shop and stock up on items, or just go on killing-sprees until you get enough money to max out on necessary items. Don't try to be a hero all the time! ------------------------------ 2. Weapon Overview ------------------------------ Before heading into a boss battle, you should be aware of what type of weapon is best for the situation. Typically, the Dragon Sword will be able to put away almost every boss in the game, but there is always another way to defeat the boss. ****************** Dragon Sword ****************** Your default weapon, as well as the most balanced in power and agility. Your first encounter with a boss, you should always use the Dragon Sword, unless it is obvious you are getting defeated easily using it, which isn't common. At Level 2 and Level 3, this sword is very deadly, especially with it's Flying Swallow attack, it's your best weapon if you plan to hit-and-run bosses. Overall Rating: 5/5 ******************* Nanchaku ******************* Very basic frails that you find in the streets of the Vigoorian Empire. It serves an excellent purpose against the early enemies, by racking up amazing combos, you give your enemy barely any space to attack you. Of course, bosses will barely flinch to this, so it's strongly recommended you do not use a Nanchaku unless the enemy is shooting a bunch of hittable projectiles at you. Overall Rating: 3/5 ******************* Vigoorian Frails ******************* Basically the same as the Nanchaku, except it can be upgraded once, and can execute more deadly combos on your foes, but basic enemies only, because like the Nanchaku, it's not great against bosses. Overall Rating: 3/5 ******************* War Hammer ******************* The War Hammer may seem perfect for pumbling bosses, but like the Frails, it's best for hitting normal enemies only. The War Hammer against bosses may be powerful, but the delay time between each hit will leave you wide open to a counter-attack. Unless the boss is really slow, and overall very easy, you should just stick to the Dragon Sword. Overall Rating: 2/5 ******************** Dabiliharo ******************** Exactly like the War Hammer, except it is extremely powerful at level 3, and can kill default enemies in one simple combo. I have tried using this against bosses, but it doesn't do that much damage, like the War Hammer, and leaves you open to counter-attack. It's best to use the Dragon Sword, again. Overall Rating: 2/5 ******************** Wooden Sword ******************** There is no point even considering using this on a boss. Not until it's been upgraded to Unlabored Flawlessness. It does extremely small damage, and will take forever to beat a boss with this. The only real use I can find for it in terms of boss is to provide a challenge for those who find the bosses too easy. Overall Rating: 0/5 ********************** Unlabored Flawlessness ********************** The final upgraded version of the Wooden Sword. It is like the Dabiliharo, for it packs a powerful punch, with the downside being the sacrifice of speed. I still would recommend using the Dragon Sword for bosses. Overall Rating: 2/5 ******************** Kinetsu ******************** Acquired late in the game after defeating the first Doku. It is a powerful sword, and pretty agile like the Dragon Sword, with the huge downside of it draining your life every second. The feeds off the souls of demons, so it would be OK to use for regular enemies, but for bosses, unless you are quick enough, this sword isn't worth it. Overall Rating: 2/5 ******************* Dark Dragon Blade ******************* Arguably the most powerful sword in the game, however, it cannot be acquired your first game play through. In Chapter 13, when you return to Hyabuasa village, it will be in Muramasa's shop. The downside is that it is pretty slow, but not as slow as the Dabiliharo or the Unlabored Flawlessness. So feel free to use it later on instead of the Dragon Sword to see which one you'd rather use. Overall Rating: 4/5 ----------------------------- 2C. Projectile Overview ----------------------------- ****************** Shrunken ****************** The default projectile weapon. It is only good for practically the first stage, until you get the Bow. Early in the game, it is still weak and you will need a lot of throws to kill someone. The upside to it is you can use it infinite times, but as you progress through the chapters, bosses will be completely immune, and will fire back at you. Eventually, normal enemies will do the same. So replace the Shrunken as quick as possible Overall Rating: 1/5 ****************** Bow ****************** The bow is gotten early in the game, and will prove to be a great weapon until you get the Strongbow. It is best for picking off enemies, especially at defeating the Samurai Horseman. It will be your best projectile until you get the Windmill Shrunken and various other arrows. Overall Rating: 3/5 ****************** Windmill Shrunken ****************** This fires one powerful windmill like Shrunken at an enemy to deal damage, this is able to stay powerful for quite a lot of stages in the game, so doing the few wall jumps in the alley to get it is worth it. It is infinite like the Shrunken, so it is great for using combos and using this for a lot of stages, and also on bosses. So pick this weapon up as soon as you can get it, for it's useful against a lot of stages, especially against those mini-choppers! Overall Rating: 4/5 ****************** Explosive Arrows ****************** The most powerful projectile to use against organic bosses. These let out an explosion on impact, which can do some pretty hefty damage to bosses. When facing long distance with an organic boss, pull out these arrows and let loose! Overall Rating: 5/5 (On Organic Bosses) ******************* APPSDS Arrows ******************* These are the opposite of the Explosive Arrows, and are best to use against mechanical bosses, such as the tank. These are armor piercing, so it is also great to use against bosses who have heavy protection on them. If the boss is an organic creature, use explosive arrows first, then these to deal some more damage. But use these first if you are facing any sort of machine boss. Overall Rating: 5/5 (On Mechanical Bosses) ****************** Explosive Shrunken ****************** A good alternate to the Explosive Arrows, but not great. These let out an explosion after about 3 seconds of landing on an enemy. These are good for picking off normal enemies, but do mediocre damage to bosses. Best used if the boss is on low health, and you need something to finish the job. Overall Rating: 3/5 -------------------------- Ninpo Overview -------------------------- ******************** Art of Fire Wheels ******************** Horrible for using on bosses. The fire wheels are only useful for rushing a boss, which the boss can easily dodge. A projectile attack would still mean damage, so you just wasted your Ninpo for taking damage anyway. Get Art of the Inferno as fast as possible. On normal enemies, this can be useful, however, just not on bosses. Overall Rating: 1/5 ******************** Art of the Inferno ******************** The best Ninpo to use on most bosses! When you first use it, you become invincible for a short time, as you level it up, the invincibility state becomes longer, so take good use of it, especially if you are about to be attacked by something heavy. It is a projectile, fireball, but note that it does not home in on that target, but it still has a good chance of hitting. Use this whenever in a tight jam. Overall Rating: 5/5 ******************** Art of the Ice Storm ******************** This is basically a beefed up version of Firewheels, except it leaves you invincible for about 5 seconds, and destroys anything that comes near you. It is better to use than Fire Wheels, and not as good as Art of the Inferno, and it does very light damage to bosses. Only use this if a bunch of projectiles are coming at you. Overall Rating: 2/5 ******************** Art of the Inazuma ******************** The best Ninpo to use if the boss uses spawn creatures, or sends out a bunch of hittable projectiles. These send a powerful lighting bolt to all nearby directions, in which can stun bosses for a moment, and usually destroy all spawnies, and projectiles in one or two hits. But like the Ice Storm and Fire Wheels, only use this if the enemy is using a lot of spawns and projectiles. Overall Rating: 3/5 -------------------------- 3. Chapter 1 Boss Murai -------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: N/A. BOSS ATTACKS: Only combos with his Nanchaku. DIFFICULTY: Easy My Strategy: Facing Murai is not as difficult as it may seem. However don't judge him by his size, since he can attack quickly with his Nanchaku. The best method here is to try to work your way around him, and get off some quick combos. While you can use your shurikens to deal some damage to him, it is not recommended, since there is a chance that he can send the shrunkens right back at you, plus it doesn't even do much damage to him in the first place. Your best bet here is to make good use of your only weapon at the moment, the Dragon Sword. Also take into mind that Murai has short range, and has no ranged spells to hit you with, so this fight will mainly involve working around Murai, or battling him head-to-head to defeat him. If you choose to fight him head on, block all his attacks that he will throw at you, and land a few slashes on him before he can attack you again, either roll back, or block his attacks once again before hitting him again. Like I said before, Murai has short range, so you can also work around him. You can try methods such as wall slashes, and continue to simply hit him gradually, because it's better to be safe than sorry, since Murai can mess you up quickly if you leave yourself vulnerable. Overall, the best method here is to do hit-and-run attacks to keep Murai from doing combos on you. After you lower his health to about 3/4, the battle will end in a cutscene. Ron Arc's Strategy: This guy's pretty easy because he only has a few attack patterns. One way to find out is by blocking his attacks. Watch if he throws 3 nunchuk swings, he'll stop afterwards, leaving him open for counter attack by Ryu's basic slashing combo. But beware though, if he only swings twice, that means you have to roll out of his way, because he will link his third attack with either a grab, or a charge attack (which hurts a lot). Either way, just jump/roll out to safety when he swings twice and stops. After rolling out, you can always get back to him and repeat the blocking method. Richard Kidd's Strategy: The best strategy I used was going head on, since the Y button is basically strong attacks, if you can block some of his attacks then use a combo that involves they button you will most likely go into one of those weapon clashes in which you should easily get the upper hand and be able to deal to him deadly combos. -------------------------- 4. Chapter 2 Boss Samurai Horseman + Mages -------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword/Bow BEST NINPO USED: The Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Ki Balls from the Mages, Also head-on attacks. The Horsemen attempts to plow you with his horse, slash you, and even use his grab attack (hurts a lot). DIFFICULTY: Medium. Easy if Mages are killed. My Strategy: Facing this boss this early definitely proves to be one of the most difficult boss battles for so early in the game. If you are not starting to get good with the combat system, you will notice yourself restarting this battle a lot, just like I did. While it may seem like a 1v1, and an easy fight with the horseman, it turns out he's brought some friends to prevent an easy assault on him. The mages attempt to stand away from you and fire ki balls at you as you attempt to attack the main horseman, this proves to be difficult to do, because the mages can also teleport behind you and assault you from the back. So what is the best method here? To kill the mages. Facing the horseman while getting ambushed by the mages proves to be very difficult, and taking out the mages makes this battle as easy as pie. There will be two mages that are always on screen to fight, sometimes three. As you attempt to slash the mages, they will teleport around you, avoiding damage. They will then teleport for an attack, simply block it then assault the mage. One full combo kills a mage. As you kill a mage, another one will respawn. But don't worry, this cycle is NOT infinite, and the mages will eventually stop appearing once you kill about 12. So what about the horseman? Yes, he will attempt to plow you and slash you as you combat the mages, and due to the camera, it's hard to know if he's coming or not. Your best bet is to try to roll out of the way if he attempts to plow you over, or jump to the side. He will then run back to the other side, and then attempt to hit you again, giving you some time to kill a mage or two. If he does happen to hit you, it could hurt a lot, especially if he gets you in his grab move, which can take away up to 3/4 of your health. Luckily, once you kill a mage, they tend to drop health, allowing you to replenish health without having to use a potion, unless you really think you need it. After the mages are dead, the true domination begins. Continue to dodge the plow attempts from the horseman, then pull out your bow and let him have it, sending some arrows into his back. These will deal some very nice damage to him. If you happen to run out, it's still not that hard. As he comes at you, jump into the air and attempt to hit him with the 'A' slash. You may miss a few times, or he may hit you instead with his slash, but don't worry, it doesn't do much damage. If you have some Ninpo here, hit him with the fireballs from the Art of the Inferno, a shot from this will decimate his health nicely. After he's defeated, you receive the Counter Attack ability, arguably the best skill you get. Ron Arc's Strategy: This fight is extremely easy. Just dispose of the mages first with a good finishing combo (one set of combo should kill one mage right away), and roll out of the way when the horseman gets near. I think you can block most of his spear thrusts easily. After the mages are gone (there are about 10 or so, I don't remember), it's time to dispose this menacing horse rider. The easy way is to wait for him to walk to the other side of the bridge. When he's far enough, charge your sword with the Y attack. Wait until he gets close, and then unleash the attack. If timed correctly, you should appear right behind the horse, giving you a great spot to slash him several times, and roll out to safety. That's it! Just repeat the pattern a couple of times, and he should be done in a moment. Rinse, lather, repeat. Dennis Tapia's Strategy: I completed it without having to use one elixir; a cheap way to do it but effective.  I would stay at the door where he came out of and just continuously wall run straight up and then attack down.  It would attack any mage near me, or the horseman himself if he ran at me. It's rather hard to tell when he's coming so I would just keep doing it each time I landed, and if I saw him coming before I could get back up I would tuck and roll out of the way and keep going back up the wall Henry's Strategy: On the 2nd level boss, the horseman with mages to help him, I’ve found a really effective and quick way to kill him. Once you kill a mage they usually drop a blue essence and if you time it right you can unleash it right into the horse-rider. The huge combo will kill him after just 3-4 times. And if you need hp then you can just absorb the blue essences instead. Good Luck to anyone trying to beat this. Ghost Dog's Strategy A somewhat easy way to help defeat the Samurai Horseman is to use the bow that was found earlier in Chapter 2. Before entering the bridge area make sure that you are stocked up on arrows from the dead ninja in the area you fought the lesser samurai horsemen. When the fight with the boss gets started fire your arrows at him. Make sure to stay away from the mages and dodge their fireball attack. By the time you run out of arrows the horseman should be down to half of his health or so. Now all you have to do is slash him in the front roll out of the way of the horse and slash at the back of the horse. Just remember to dodge the fireballs from the mages and block their attacks. You can kill them if necessary to collect essence and health. --------------------------- 5. Chapter 3 Boss Vigoorian Commando (Thanks to Justen E Ganson) --------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword (Level 2 helps here) BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno (But not necessary) BOSS ATTACKS: Various long range blasts, and powerful slam/throw. DIFFICULTY: Medium. Hard for Button Mashers. My Strategy: While this big man may look tough, he's not so hard if you are very familiar with the combat system now. If you have been button mashing through the first few bosses, you'll notice this as a nearly impossible boss fight. This boss is big, and his speed isn't that great, allowing you to breeze through the battle if you are good with rolling and dodging. If you stay away from him, he will fire a bunch of purple beams at you, which are easily dodged by jumping or rolling away, but they can hurt if you get hit by one. Once he pauses for a moment, hit him head on with a few slashes, he will attempt to slam down on you, with really hurts if you get hit, but it's predictable and slow, so you can roll out of the way, allowing you to get more shots on him before he can turn and try to hit you again. Basically, stay toe-to-toe with him to avoid running from his gun blasts, and just roll and work around him to eventually take the big man down. Marcus' Strategy: I found the easiest thing to do was first make sure you have the level 2 Dragon Sword for the air dash slash (jump+y) move.  And basically the only tactic you need to do is stand a few feet away from the fat man, far enough that he won't try to slam you and wait for him to charge up his weapon, then jump toward him and perform your air dash slash.  Then back up a bit and wait for him to charge up again then air dash slash again.  Basically this is all you need to do. ------------------------------- 6. Chapter 5 Sub-Boss 3 Dragon Fiends ------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno (But not necessary) BOSS ATTACKS: Powerful Claw Slashes and Tosses. DIFFICULTY: Hard when facing head-to-head, Easy using the Wall Trick. My Strategy: Facing the Dragon Fiends can either be a huge pain, or a cakewalk. Facing these 3 Dragons head-to-head is the last thing you want to do, because one slip up can mean a ton of health drained before you know it. The best method to do here is to lure a dragon or two near a wall, then run up the wall, and press 'Y' you should rip right through the dragon, dealing some nice damage, you may also rip through 2 dragons if they are lined near each other. Once you do this, the dragon should lean back for a moment, allowing you to stab it a few times if you want, but there is no need to. Simply keep repeating the wall running/wall slash and you will easily remain untouched, and will remain in good condition for the immediate boss battle right after this. Ron Arc's Strategy: For those who don't really like using wall-run moves, you can use the same method used against Chapter II's boss. Just charge the sword, stun the dragon, slash 3 times, and roll out to safety. Just make sure you're not surrounded by the others, or else you'll be in trouble. Rinse, lather, repeat. ---------------------------------- 7. Chapter 5 Boss Tentacle Fiend ---------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword (Level 2 for Easiest Fight) BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno (But not Necessary) BOSS ATTACKS: Various tentacle whips, and some easy to dodge energy rains DIFFICULTY: Very Easy My Strategy: This is arguably the easiest boss battle in the game, and it will be over before you know it, provided you know what you are doing. Remember when facing the 3 Dragon Fiends, that you worked around them, using the wall running + Y button? Well the same deal works here. The boss will have 2 primary tentacles to destroy before you can actually damage the boss. Simply target one tentacle, jump into the air at it, and press 'Y', if done correctly, you should quickly launch a powerful air slice, going right through the boss. 2-3 of these slashes will destroy the tentacle. The tentacle should rarely hit you at this point, so only heal when you are low on health. Once both tentacles are down, the monster will stop for a moment to try to regenerate them. At this point, hit it with all your powerful attacks, for it takes great damage from sword attacks. Repeat the process of slashing the tentacles off, then pumbling the boss, and this fight will be over really quickly and effortlessly. ----------------------------------- 8. Chapter 6 Boss Bone Dragon ----------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Bone Drops, Claw swipes, Tail Whips, and a Devour Move (This usually means death) DIFFICULTY: Easy to Medium My Strategy: This Boss is not that hard, but can be difficult if you are lacking on potions. The objective here is to simply destroy all the feet of the Bone Dragon to destroy it. The feet remain stationary most of the time, but sometimes it will rise into the air to try to swipe you. The best strategy here is to deal some quick attacks, then run back to avoid a swipe. As you attack, it will also attempt to drop some bones on you. These do not hurt that much, and are not that difficult to dodge. You may also want to consider using the lunge jump + Y attack to deal some quick and powerful aerial damage, usually allowing a quick dodge of the bone drops. As one leg is destroyed, it will shift around, sometimes trying to nail you in a tail swipe, which can hurt. But it's very easy to notice when it's coming, and it can be jumped over pretty easily. Once it changes shifts, continue the normal method. The 4th attack it does, and luckily is easy to dodge, and rare to occur is the devour move. The dragon moves back its head, then lunges forward, in attempt to grab you in its jaws. If you aren't on full health, you are most likely going to die from this move. But it's predictable when it's about to happen, and it can be avoided by jumping to the right. The boss overall has no variation, and will continuously use the bone drop, and the claw swipes to try to defeat you and only 1-2 tail swipes during the entire fight, and usually 1 devour attempt. Also don't worry too much about the claw swipe, it doesn't do it too often, and it's predictable like all the other moves of the dragon, and it gives you time to jump back to wait until it's done. Also consider using Ninpo to take down its health quicker, since the claw is usually in one place, hitting the claw is nearly 100% hit chance. ------------------------------------- 9. Chapter 7 Sub-Boss Tentacle Fiend II ------------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Tentacle Whips, Energy Rains DIFFICULTY: Easy My Strategy: You experience this mini-boss after you unlock the room by using the switches in the Red and Blue eye rooms. This boss is exactly the same as the first boss; with the old difference is increased damage if you take a hit. Use the same tactics as before, and use the lunge jump + Y to rip through a tentacle, usually destroying it in 2-3 hits. Then attack the boss with sword slashes, or Ninpo to quickly take down its health, then destroy the tentacles again, and repeat the attacking process. If you do manage to get hit in a tentacle whip, you will see your health go down a lot faster than before, so just heal as necessary, and this fight will be as easy as the first time. -------------------------- 10. Chapter 7 Boss Alma -------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword. Nanchaku work well here too. BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno (A huge key here) BOSS ATTACKS: Various quick attacks, slashes, and a powerful grab move. DIFFICULTY: Hard at first. Easy when you figure out a good method. My Strategy: The first time you face Alma, you are going to get obliterated, fast. Hitting her seems next to impossible, since she is the quickest boss you will experience so far, so you'll have to time your attacks to defeat her. Start off the battle having Art of the Inferno Ninpo equipped, for it is your best method of winning this battle. As the battle begins, charge up your Ninpo, and hit her with a fireball. She will immediately be stunned, so quickly hit her with some sword or a Nanchaku combo to take down some nice percentage of her health. You most likely have 2 Ninpo at this point, and hopefully a few devil elixirs. Be sure to time your Ninpo, because Alma's speed allows her to dodge the fireball, which will not fare very well in defeating her. Keep stunning her with your Ninpo, and attempt to get her down to 3/4 of her health, give or take. If you run dry of Ninpo, the battle will get harder. You will have to work around her, and dodge around her attacks, jumping into the air and pressing the 'A' button works well in getting off some moderately powerful quick shots. Don't bother the lunge jump + Y attack, because you will go right through her, however, the jump + y downward attack does hit her, and does some nice damage as well. If managed to get her down with your Ninpo, then finished her off with some quick aerial attacks, this battle will be way easier than it looks. Ron Arc's Strategy: Probably one hard momma at first. What I did was a lot of evasive maneuvers. Wherever you run, make sure you make a good wide-circling run around her. This maneuver works best when she starts one of her attack patterns (either a lunging aerial attack, or when she throws the 2 stone pillars at you). As for the pillar attack, just roll once, and jump before the roll animation is fully complete. 95% you won't get hit by the pillars. As for her pink fireballs, just dodge them. Her most damaging move is when a pinkish warp thingy appears under your feet. Make sure you memorize the sound when this happens, and run away! or else she'll take half your health out (yeah, slug Ryu in the stomach, and kick him back face first on the floor. Oof). I don't really like using Ninpos here coz they're pretty useless, except just to stun her. Besides, your score is reduced by using them anyway. So, I'll just stick with basic slashes when she decides to land. Just make sure you roll out of the way after slashing her 2-3 times, or else her counter attack will hurt you a lot. Janos 'Merkhava' Audren's Strategy: For this boss fight, DONOT uses the Flails. The Dragon Sword is a FAR better choice. You need to have it at level 2. At level 2, a move called 'The flying swallow' becomes available. To perform it, have Ryu jump towards the target and press the Y button immediately.   When she is moving around on the ground, or when she has just finished performing an attack, hit her with the flying swallow. Unless she manages to dodge, this move is a guaranteed hit. Not only will it hit her, but it will also knock her to her knees. This will allow you to follow up the attack with a combo. You can quickly switch to the Flails for this if you aren't comfortable with the sword. Simply perform this flying swallow attack and follow it up with a combo. I was able to beat her in a matter of minutes by performing this only 6-7 times.   Other tips: The Bow and Arrow really helps. Just as you dodge her magic attack, hit her with the arrow. It doesn't cause much damage, but a few good hits can add up. Try to stay in mid range. If you get too far, she'll constantly use her magic and dash attacks. If you stay too close, she's lift you up and take out nearly half of your health. Sometimes, it helps have a more clear view of the battleground because the camera moves so fast. I suggest that you let her destroy all the surrounding pillars before you start attacking her. It will really open up the place. Messy's Strategy: If she floats near you she'll use an energy beam to catch you pull you to her, smack you twice and throw you down for 3/4s of your health, if your in a position of life this will kill you and she hasn't thrown you down yet, if you hit start fast enough you can get to the menu to drink a potion before the impact with the ground might kill you.  That move will mostly end people so if you happen to have any Ninpo handy, such as the fireball one, when she swoops in to headbutt, stomp, grab you with her energy beam or otherwise using it will temporarily make you invincible, if she's close enough the initial energy surge will throw her to the ground and the fireball will knock her back a bit, then run up and beat on her.  If you upgraded the Flail to level 2 then it’s a better weapon choice to use on her because it will hold her on the ground longer when she does land to do more damage. Her primary attacks are her swoop-headbutt, stomp, her energy grab, she'll rip the columns off the walls and throw them at you and she also shoots energy blasts. The headbutt is blockable or dodgeable, the stomp you BETTER dodge because she lands when you do and you can whip out your flail and rip into her, her energy grab is bad, either click start like a nut if your about to die from ground impact or click a ninpo before she grabs you to give yourself immunity and knock her down. The columns requires a lateral dodge roll jump to get ahead off and the energy blasts as well, either if you get hit by the first volley you will have a hard time dodging the rest.  Using jump and Y on the move is the best bet to bring her down with the Flail, then churn out some damage on her, if she tries to beam you when she floats back up either ninpo or take it but you have to be on the ball to ninpo them.  You can rearrange this information for clarity's sake but this is what I used after I learned her timing I beat her fairly easy. WAHSWORDPLAY's Strategy just ran around the room in a circular motion, wall running off the walls to avoid her projectile attacks and flying attack.  I found that wall running off the fence and flying cicada slashing when she is near is very effective, followed by Forward + Y, Y Slashes. (The slash that has Ryu leaping up, then slashing straight down) BUT you MUST get away from her immediately afterwards as she will most likely grab you. Keep away from her at all times, and keep moving, preferably running  around the room and wall running, unless she is idly floating or walking on the ground, at which point you can try a Flying  Cicada Slash, Forward + , Y slash, OR if you prefer, Ninpo. This may not work for everyone, but I found it easy.  I even had a Talisman of Rebirth I had saved since the 2nd Chapter, specifically for use on her, and I managed to not even use it.  I also managed to beat her without using Ninpo.  Good Luck!! --------------------------- 11. Chapter 8 Sub-Boss Turrets/Helicopter/Rocket Launcher --------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Bow/Strong Bow BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Machine gun blasts from the Turret/Chopper Rockets from Rocket Launcher (Duh) DIFFICULTY: Easy My Strategy: This fight will turn out to be quite easy, and you should be able to breeze through it. The fight will start off with two turrets unleashing machine gun fire at you. You can block them completely with your sword. As they reload, make a break for the sealed military gate. There will be a corpse with some arrows on him, so pick them up if you are out of arrows. Don't leave this area just yet, get to as close to the end of the gate as possible, but just enough so that you can see the turret, but they cannot fire at you. If in a good position, you can aim your arrows in first person, shoot them at the turret, and kill the guy controlling the turret. Once the two turrets are out of action, you will be attacked by a military chopper which never stops firing at you. So you'll be blocking all the time. So how do you defeat it? You don't. Simply keep in a block stance and block all the machine gun fire. After awhile, the chopper will simply fly away. Finally, look up to a broken window, south of the military gate, and you will see a rocket launcher guy standing in the broken window, firing some rockets at random. Take your bow; hit him twice to kill him. Once it's completed, you are free to exit back to the Skull Gate, in then which you can hit the switch to the military gate. If you went here previously, you could of picked up the Strong Bow (which you need to hit the switch anyway), which makes beating the turrets and rocket launcher easier. --------------------------- 12. Chapter 9 Sub-Bosses --------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED - APPSDS Arrows, Explosive Arrows BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Rockets, Machine Guns, Getting Ran over. DIFFICULTY: Medium My Strategy: You have to fight a series of little boss fights at this time. You must fight two tanks, finally combat the Helicopter, and then battle some soldiers along the way. First let’s start with the Tanks. ***** Tank ***** The tanks are probably the hardest part of the ordeal, since you have to actively dodge, and fire off shots, while also avoiding the danger of being run over, or shot by a cannon. The man on the machine gun turret can also deplete your health quickly. Anyway, first start off the battle using a fireball using your Ninpo, straight at the side of the tank. If done correct, the machine gunner should disappear from the turret spot. Shoot as many APPSDS Arrows as possible at the tank, which the tank seems to take extra damage when the gunner is gone. By the time the gunner comes back, 3/4 of its health should be gone. Once again, try to hit the side of the tank with your Ninpo to get the gunner down the hole again. If not, try to fire some shots into the tank, but be careful of distance from the tank, and try to roll and jump around to avoid machine gun fire, then fire off a few shots to destroy the first tank. Just as you thought it was over, you must now fight a second tank. You are most likely out of APPSDS arrows right now, so you'll have to quickly retreat to get more. A good suggestion is to get some new arrows while the old tank is almost dead, to avoid getting it in the new fight. Anyway, after the two tanks are destroyed, an elevator will come down. But before you go on, look towards the right to find a treasure box with a full healing spiritual potion. This will prove useful for the next boss. ********** Helicopter ********** Once you are up the elevator, head down, not up. There is a hidden save point here, so if you happen to die, you will not have to face the tanks again. Proceed up the stairs and you will see two soldiers with rocket launchers quite hidden at the end of the stairway. Simply jump over the rocket as it comes near you, and then make another jump and hit them with the lunge jump + Y slash through, stunning both of them at once. This will give you time to quickly kill one, then kill the other one before they can fire off another shot. If you are low on health, their corpses should typically drop some health. After defeating the soldiers, the old Helicopter that retreated from before is back, and this time it's brought some missiles along. At the beginning of the battle, the chopper will remain stationary, and do nothing; try to aim the APPSDS arrows at the yellow light in front of the helicopter, since that deals the most damage. After it's taken some hits, it'll attempt to shoot you with its machine guns, then fly over head of you. You can block, or still fire, since it doesn't do much damage, also provided you have some potions. It will now attempt to fire off some missiles at you. Fire off a shot as you see it coming, which should hit the Helicopter, this may sound weird, but when the missiles are pretty close, that is when you attempt to jump out of the way. Since the missiles home in on you if you start to move early, it's better to move late. After firing off a batch, the Helicopter will be a vulnerable again, so hit it with some more arrows. It will then fly right, and come up to the side of you, sending more missiles. Hit it a few times, and try to jump out of the way of the missiles again. It will then fire off more machine shots, and circle back to where it originally started, sometimes it goes under the bridge and pops back up; this is a good time to fire off a few more shots as it's rising. Once the Helicopter is down a bit from 1/2 its health it will begin to fire two batches of 4 missiles. Ignore the old strategy of waiting late for them to come, because once you jump out of the way of the first one, the second batch of missiles will probably hit you, so attempt to keep jumping around to avoid a missile. After the 2 sets of missiles, fire off more shots into the Helicopter. If you run out of arrows, there is some spare at the far left of the stage. Just remember the Helicopter fires a set movement and attack pattern. Usually 2 rounds of missiles, then it flies over you while firing the machine guns. Luckily the Helicopter isn't very strong, so you can take it out quite quickly, aiming well is also the key here. ************************* Soldiers/Rocket Launchers ************************* Once you finish off the Helicopter and head up, you will have to fight various soldiers as you make your way to the Radio Tower. First it will start off with easy machine gunners, which you should be able to dispose of quickly. Then you will notice rockets being fired at you. Draw your bow w/ explosive arrows and you will see a bunch of rocket launchers scattered on the Radio Tower. The objective is to destroy the Radio Tower, but killing all the Rocket Launchers makes it easier. If you choose to kill the soldiers, aim well, since they are small, and as a rocket approaches you, quickly jump or roll out of the way. There is explosive arrows at the right side of the stage if you run out. After you kill about 12 they will stop spawning, there will be some glowing lights at the right of the Radio Tower, towards the bottom. Hit those with your arrows, and they should explode. Once you destroy them all, the Radio Tower will explode. You can just destroy the Radio Tower to kill all the Rocket Launchers and save yourself the trouble, but you'll have to frequently dodge rockets as you try to aim; both have ups and downs. Yaska Chack's Strategy: Kill all the machine gunner except one, and then take the tower down with the explosive arrows. The amount of damage a gunner does it nothing compared to the Rocket Launchers EmpyrealHell's Strategy: Equip the windmill star (in the alley by Han's bar, wall walk across the blue streaks) and enter the battlefield. Once the battle starts, run up to the side of the tank, and jump and throw the star. If you time it right, it will take out the soldier manning the tank gun in one shot. After that, load up the APPSDS Core arrows and start unloading. If you stay right up next to the tank on its side, towards the middle, it should try to turn into you, but it can't turn that tightly, and it will just spin around you. you can go into to first person mode and just unload on it. If you see it start to back up or move forward, get out of the aiming mode and get back into place. Once the Soldier comes back to the top, just windmill him again and keep going. If you do it right, you should only have to kill the soldier twice. When the second tank comes, disable the soldier, and go refill your arrows, jumping to avoid the tank gun. Then keep at him like you did the first time. Varchild's Strategy: What I did was stand right in the center by the gate to get a good view and shot down the RPGs out of the air with my bow.   Since there’s an infinite supply of arrows just to the right in that box, you can keep on firing away.  You have to be very skilled at the bow with this strategy but it lets you keep your view of the tower in tact. --------------------------------- 13. Chapter 10 Sub-Boss Giant Worm --------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: War Hammer, Strongbow, Explosive Arrows, APPSDS Arrows BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Thunder Balls, Body Sweep, Lunge DIFFICULTY: Easy with Arrows, Medium without them. My Strategy: It is best you fight a few enemies on the Aqueduct before you must face this mini-boss. There is a shop located in the stage, to the left of the insect door, so it's recommended you stock up on some explosive arrows and some APPSDS Arrows before fighting this boss, otherwise it will be difficult. The battle is also in close quarters, so you do not have a lot of room to run around in. To make things worse, the water that the boss rests in is electrified, causing you to take some effect damage if you try to assault the boss. Without arrows, you will need to be frequently dodging its lunges at you, then getting off some shots before it retreats back into hole. If you have arrows, start off the battle by unloading some explosive arrows at it. It should fire off a thunder ball at you, which can do some heavy damage if you get hit directly, so either jump or roll out of the way. Don't aim in first person either, since the battle is so close, and it'll be too late to dodge the thunder ball, and get out of first person aiming at the same time. Once it starts to take too much damage from arrows, it will retreat into a small hole to catch its breath, it may lunge out at you as it comes out, so be careful, and so just simply jump over it. Another attack it may try is to sweep you with its large body. This is easily dodged by jumping over it. Once your explosive arrows are depleted, switch to the APPSDS arrows. If you run out of those, hopefully the boss will be on pretty low health, also, don't attack the boss when it's in its hole, because it seems invulnerable in this state. If you do run out of arrows, wait until the boss lunges at you, dodge it, then get a shot or two into him, and use the warhammer since it will do more damage to him than the Dragon Sword at this moment, just don't go into the water to attack him. To make the battle even easier, buy some Incendiary Shrunken in addition to the arrows to end the battle even quicker. So like I said above, it's recommended you fight in the Aqueduct for awhile to get a lot of money to max up on projectiles. Paul Taatjes's Strategy: Stay out of the water, just keep throwing the windmill shuriken, it does decent damage and can be thrown while in the air...and of course it is unlimited. When the worm does his flop to the side, a quick y button (yellow) attack takes off some serious damage. EmyrealHell's Strategy: I would recommend against arrows, as later you will have to fight 2 of these guys at the same time. Equip the windmill star and the dragon sword. Don't use the hammer, as it leaves you open for too long. The battle will start, and he will almost always start shooting electricity balls at you. His lunge hurts, a lot, so try to avoid getting caught by that, as it usually means death. If you keep moving, he won't use it, but you have to be constantly moving. Run back and forth across the small platform and do a wall kick off each time you hit a wall. At the peak of the jump, throw your windmill star, and it will hit him for a little bit of damage, if he is not in his hole. If you see him come close to you, (the body slam or the lunge attack) Jump up a bit before he would hit you, and press Y. You should jump way up and slam right down into him. This will likely cause him to go hide in his hole for a bit. Just keep this up, and he will fall in no time. Also, if you want to practice your timing, for the battle ahead, do that all without the wall jumping; just learn to watch his attacks and keep moving to avoid his electricity balls. Ron Arc's Strategy: Even though you have a very small space to run around, actually it's not hard to avoid this boss's attacks. It only has 4 patterns to recognize. 1. When its head seems to have a lock-on pattern that means he's going to shoot 2 electric balls at you. If this happens, simply run/jump to the side for safety. Remember, it takes about 2-3 seconds between electric shots, so you have enough to time your jump correctly. 2. When it lifts its head up, and sways it sideways, that means it's going to sweep the floor from one side to the other. I would stand a little in the middle of the ground and see where its head will land first, and then make a run to the opposite side, wait till it starts to swing its head, and do the wall-jump flip to avoid the attack. If possible, do the wall-jump attack to hurt it. 3. When it dips its head in the water that means: Stay out of the water 4. When it lunges straight at you from its hole, run/jump away to the side. That's the sign when it tries to bite you, and this pattern is the most damaging. I recommend using the Dragon Sword (even better if upgraded to level 3), or either the heavy weapons (War Hammer/Dabilahro) for your melee attacks since these weapons deal good damage on the worms. First, just jump out of the way when they use the sweeping attack. If you time your jump right, you'll land close to its body. Before you land, use your jump attack to hurt it. Remember that it's not easy to land your jump correctly. You might miss it for the first couple of tries. As for projectile, you can use any of your arrows. But if you're running low on ammo, you can always use the Windmill Shuriken. I found out that you can actually hurt the worms even though when they're still hiding in the hole. Not much of a damage, but it still hurts them. Like I said before, I'd rather not use Ninpos even though they deal a lot of damage; they still take your Karma Points away in the end of the chapter. If you decide to use Ninpos, make sure you have Devil Elixirs to replace them back. jhood's Strategy: If done right you won’t even get touched. What you’ll need are maxed out Vigoorian flails and that’s it. At the beginning of the battle stay in the middle of the screen if he shoots the lightning balls dodge as usual what your waiting for is for him to do the move where he swings his body at you when this is done jump straight up and come down with a hard y button kick he will go back into his whole make sure when he goes in the hole your right in front of it wait there and he will come out of the whole and try to grab you dodge then hit him the x (They take cover for Ninpo) BOSS ATTACKS: Thunder Balls, Body Sweep, Lunge DIFFICULTY: Hard with Arrows, Very Hard without Arrows My Strategy: Thought the one worm was tough? Well now try being attacked by two worms at once! This battle is difficult either way, and you must be quick to act on this boss. First start off going as left as possible. Be sure you are stocked fully on Explosive and APPSDS arrows. Unload all 15 APPSDS arrows into the left worm. If any of the worms attacks with the thunder balls, just stay mobile to dodge them. Usually the left worm will attempt to sweep you, if he does this, run all the way to the right, and jump, and it should miss. Then head back to the left, and continue to pelt the left worm with arrows. When the APPSDS Arrows run out, use Explosive Arrows to take out the remaining health of the left worm. After its dead, you should have about 7-8 remaining explosive arrows. Be sure you start off with APPSDS on the left worm, because explosive arrows do more damage to the worm, so waste the APPSDS first! Unload the 7 arrows into the right worm, while dodging thunder balls and its sweeps. After it's all out, the worm should be down to about 1/2 its health. Now use your Dragon Sword to finish the battle. Stay towards the middle of the battlefield, you'll find it typical that the worm will try to sweep you. If you attempts to sweep left, and then run right and jump, it should be right near you, so quickly slash it in a combo before it retreats back. If it heads from the right, run to the left to dodge, then slash it some more. If it sinks its head into the water, try to run up to it and get one slash or so off. If it comes out of its hole really fast towards you, quickly try to get out of the way, because it may try to devour you, and that does a ton of damage. So heal as needed if you get hit in the tail whip, and just deal off shots only when it misses its sweep. If you go into this battle with no arrows, you WILL die, unless you are the best Ninja Gaiden player, it's extremely hard without arrows. Fight in the room where the Insect Door is, the enemies constantly respawn if you leave the room then go back, then use the money to max out APPSDS arrows and Explosive Arrows. WindyCityWhiteSox's Strategy: If you stand in the left corner of the room you are too far away for the right worm to hit you so you can just focus on the left worm. All you have to do is throw your windmill shrunken at him which will take a little damage but it adds up to about 1/4 of his health if you use it enough. When he shoots lightning at you just dodge it, it's very easy to dodge. When he sweeps at you just block it and you can put in a 20 hit combo with the Vigoorian Flails. After he's dead you can take care of the other worm using the same strategy. All in all you will take minimal to no damage and the battle will be over in about 3-4 minutes. David Brook's Strategy: Before entering fight have the maximum amount of APFSDS and Explosive arrows, and Explosive Shurikens. I started out this fight with 10 small healing potions and 3 large ones. Starting the fight on the far left of the screen; unload all of your explosive arrows into the left worm. Block when he swings at you, jump or roll if he tries to eat you or fire electricity at you. When you are out of explosive arrows use the APFSDS arrows to finish it off. Fire the remaining APFSDS arrows at the right worm then switch to the Explosive Shurikens. When using the Explosive Shurikens time it so you hit him just as he is coming out of the hole. If you do it too late he might go back into the hole before the shurikens explode doing no damage. After you have exhausted your supplies of Explosive Shurikens he should be down to 1/2-1/4 health left. Break out the Windmill Shuriken and finish him off. I defeated this boss very easily (I had more than half of my healing potions left), and it took only about 2 minutes total. ----------------------------------- 15. Chapter 10 Boss Ancient Dragon ----------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: BOSS ATTACKS: Laser Beam, Rock Collapse, Wing Slash DIFFICULTY: Easy to Medium My Strategy: Just when you thought that the worst was over with the two worms, this time you have another boss to face! Luckily, it is not nearly as hard as the two worms. I recommend you save when you get the sword you need, because it'll be a pain if you actually do die. So take the trip back to the save point before engaging this boss. There is no need for arrows on this boss, you just need to stay mobile, and give off periodic combos. When the battle begins, run to the side of the leg of the dragon and you use the lunge jump + y to slash through the leg, or the jump + y attack, which does more damage. The dragon may sometimes try to hit you with its wing, which doesn't hurt too much, but it will eventually accumulate. You can try to jump back when possible to avoid the hit. When enough damage it done to the leg, the boss will lower its head in which you can then strike it for some nice damage. It will then regain balance, and jump to the other side. It will then try to hit you with a laser beam. This will take off at least 1/2 of your health, so jump around to where the boss landed to get back to damaging the legs, while avoiding the laser as well. Every once in awhile, the boss will jump on a pillar to avoid attack. Simply go under the pillar so it cannot attack you either, it'll then go back to the ground within a few seconds. Attack the leg a few more times, until the head lowers, then continue the pumble on the head. Repeat the steps until you win. Ron Arc's Strategy: For long distance patterns: 1. Straight Laser Blast; the laser will be followed by a firewall. To avoid it, simply run to the side. 2. Sweeping Laser Blast; similar to the first one, but this time it makes a sweeping motion from side to side. If you're caught right in its semi-circle arc, just jump to the back/front. 3. Bull-charge (Dragon-charge?); if you stay too far away, it'll start running towards you to trample you down. Usually, avoiding this attack by staying close to the sidewalls is the best way. 4. When it jumps up to a platform above; if you stay a distance from it, it just does the sweeping laser blast. But if you try to stay right under the platform it is on, the dragon will flap its wings, and throw you off. So, I recommend keeping your distance when it does this. For close encounter patterns (that is, you stay really close to it. These patterns usually appear after you finish your attack combos): 5. Wing Flap; this will throw you and knock you off to a nearby wall. Like I said before, this usually happens after you finish your combo on it. So, jump out of the way right after you do your combo. 6. Foot Stomp; similar to wing flap. Just stay away when you finish your attack combos. 7. Munch Time! this is a random pattern, and it's just plain frustrating to watch. Basically if you get caught on this one, you're just having a bad luck. Yeah, got bitten by a huge, skeletal dragon, Jurassic-Park style! For close-combat, I don't really have any additional methods to nail this boss down. Just make sure you approach the boss with a good jumping attack, continue with good combos, and get out of the way. As for long-range attack, arrows will do fine. But if you run out, you can always switch to your trusty Windmill Shuriken to nibble away its health meter. Besides, there's not much you can do to hurt this boss from afar anyway, since the real battle is in close combat. Well, that's for chapter 10. I'll update again as I learn more from the following chapters' bosses. It turns out that if you spend a couple of attempts trying to learn the patterns for each boss, that's the whole idea for the boss fights. Avoid attacks, retaliate, rinse, lather, and repeat. ----------------------------------- 16. Chapter 11 Boss Doku ----------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno (Can be done without) BOSS ATTACKS: Various powerful slash strikes. DIFFICULTY: Easy if you know your abilities well. My Strategy: If you haven't perfected your close-combat skills, this battle will be extremely hard for you. Any slip up, and a powerful shot from Doku can clock down 1/2 your health in one powerful swoop. Like Murai, Doku focuses usually on close combat, and will pursue you if you move away from him. Also like Murai, it's best to work around Doku, rather than match brawn. You can try to use your lunge + y attack to try to hit Doku off guard, and is usually the safest way to beat him. Doku will try to hit you you with various sword combos, in which they can really take a plow on your health. Either roll, and jump back to avoid the slash, and then hit him with the jumping lunge attack. You can also try to face Doku head on, and block and roll out of his shots, then get a combo into him. Just be warned he can knock off your guard, leaving you open to attack. So it's best to work around him. It's hard to give a perfect strategy on him, other than make sure you know your skills well, because this is basically a 1v1 sword fight to see who is truly the best warrior. J-E's Strategy: This fight is hard hard hard!!!! It took me 5 tries to beat him. One rule, don't get too close to him. It would be really helpful if you don't do combo on him since he will block all of it and you will be wide open for his attacks. Instead do a dash slash in mid air, he will block it maybe 55% accuracy but he will get hit sooner. When he blocks it, quickly flip back before you got hit. He also has a grab move so be wary. He's most annoying move is his combo slash that you can't block and if you get hit it’s impossible to get out unless you use a ninpo magic and he will back down. If you manage to get hit, you'll lose 60-70% of your health. That's why you need to keep doing the dash slash in mid air a lot.  Good luck, you'll need it. Mix Master D's Strategy: Doku is a lot like Murai, but the difference is that you have different weapons and different techniques, so this boss is a walk in the park. Keep guarding while he attacks, and in the slight pause he takes between attacks, slash at him. But you may want to keep your distance because he can throw you and that will hurt. My best advice though, would be to use the flying swallow on him, or to have him back you up against a wall and then use a wall based Y attack. Ninpo, I see no need for it. **Use Dragon Sword Philip Johnson's Strategy: When the battle begins, let Doku get somewhat close to you and immediately start running in circles around him.  The idea here is to stay in about mid to far range away from him.  At this range, he will not attempt his combo or throws which are two of his most lethal moves.  A good way to tell if you are the right distance away from him is that he will do his sword throw move a LOT.  This move is pretty much harmless as long as you just keep circling around him.  Also he will sometimes do his shockwave move, which is easy to jump over.  What you want him to do is his lunge move.  He seems to charge it for a brief moment before rushing straight at you.  Again, if you are still circling this is no problem and will miss you.  As soon as he does this, do a lunge + y attack to knock off a little of his health.  Repeat this sequence over and over until he is defeated!  If you are in a tight spot, sometimes Art of the Inferno is useful as it will keep you from getting damaged while casting and usually takes off a decent amount of health from Doku.  It seems that once Doku gets down to 1/4 of his health or so, ninpo will become ineffective, though.  Using this strategy it is possible to beat Doku using very few or no potions. ---------------------------------- 17. Chapter 12 Boss Ice Fiend ---------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno (But not needed) BOSS ATTACKS: Bouncing Attacks, Ice Impale DIFFICULTY: Easy My Strategy: You would expect a fiend as large as this one to be quite a challenging fight, well it turns out he is an easy fight. There is no need for Ninpo here, for you just need to attack the fiend from behind. Most of the time he will bounce around the battleground, trying to squish you for some moderate damage. The objective is to either use the lunge + Y jump to attempt to slash through him, which sometimes fails, or try to get to the back of him to land some combos. Usually when you attack him from the back, he will send up icicle shards from the ground to try to impale you, they are easy to dodge, just simply keep moving, and even if you do get hit, the damage isn't that much. He'll continue to bounce around the field, in which you should still be trying to cut through him, or deal damage from behind. You should be able to easily crush this boss without having to use much, if any potions. -------------------------------------- 18. Chapter 12 Sub-Boss Flame Worm -------------------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inazuma (But not needed) BOSS ATTACKS: Fire Rings, Lunge, Sweep DIFFICULTY: Very Easy My Strategy: Yet a very easy boss on Chapter 12. It's ANOTHER one of those worms. Surely by now you've mastered its tactics? The only difference is it shoots out fire blasts, and it's over a pool of lava, otherwise it tries the same tricks. When it first comes out of the hole, try to stand towards the center of the field, it should try to sweep you with its body, if it does, move backwards towards the stairs, and it will miss, without you having to jump over it, then quickly run back and deal a combo to the worm. If it shoots a ring of fire at you, jump around, and it should target in the air, and miss you while you are on the ground. Be careful for standing in the center while it's in it's hole, because it may try to grab and bite you, which does the most damage in this fight. If you see it springing out of its hole, quickly jump to the right, and then get another combo. Stick to staying in the center, dodging fire rings, and when it attempts to sweep you, step back towards the door/stairs. Then get a combo off, repeat until its dead. I did this without taking any damage the entire fight. ------------------------------------ 19. Chapter 12 Boss Flame Dragon ------------------------------------ BEST WEAPON USED: Dragon Sword (at least level 2) BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inazuma BOSS ATTACKS: Flame Wall, Flame Thrower, Bite DIFFICULTY: Hard on Lower Platform, Medium on Upper Platform My Strategy: ************************** FIGHTING ON LOWER PLATFORM ************************** Fighting on the Lower Platform is the harder way to win this battle. Stay in blocking position the entire time, until it lowers its head. Typically, it will shoot fireballs all the time, so just roll left or right to dodge them. It may use its fire wall attack, which most can be blocked into minor damage. Rarely, it may use its flame thrower attack jump over it just as soon as it's getting near you. At this point, it should lower its head for you to get off some shots. It will rarely bite you on this level, which the bite takes off 3/4 of your health. The downside to this is the Dragon barely lowers its head at this level, and constantly uses the fireball attack, this way requires less reflexes, but the battle drags on longer. ************************** FIGHTING ON UPPER PLATFORM ************************** Fighting on this level makes the battle quicker, but requires faster reflexes to win the fight. The dragon will very frequently try to bite you on this level, so you have to know when to jump or roll out of the way, if the bite misses, you may be able to get off a combo. Typically the boss will rarely use the fireball attack now, and will use the flamethrower attack the most here. Be quick on jumping to avoid it, and also be sure to block its fire wall attack. After a flamethrower or two, it will lower its head for you to get some hits on it. It will lower it's head on the upper platform a lot more than the bottom platform, but again, you must be right on your timing for rolling out of the way of bites and fireballs, and frequently jumping over the flamethrower. The choice is yours. Agent Wilson's Strategy: The first couple of time your fight this dragon, you will probably die.  When you figure out how to beat him however, he's not that bad.  First, you'll notice a ground button on either the left or the right.  Pick one, and hit it.  It will send you up to the second level of the room, and makes this fight much easier.  His usual attack will be when he beats flames off his wings to do some damage to you.  It's very hard if not impossible to dodge, but while you're using Ninpo, you are invincible.  When he does the wing attack, use one.  It will do a little damage, and will protect you as well.  He will also do a horizontal flame thrower, which is VERY easy to dodge.  The only other move is his bite.  The bite HURTS!  The only thing I noticed is that if he does have you in his mouth, button mash.  You will escape quicker.  Between these attacks he’ll bring his head on top of the platform.  This is your chance to wail on him.  Just rinse and repeat this process and you should be able to win this one without too much trouble. J-E's Strategy: There's a way beating this dragon without using ninpo magics.  Although you might lose some bit health but it's really helpful if you already wasted your ninpos.  When the battle starts, choose which switch you want to go (it doesn't really matter where you go). When he start flapping his wings with fire at you and you can't dodge it, block it. Yes you can block this attack but you will get hit only a little bit better than getting hit a lot. You can tell if he's going to do the move if you see his ears flapping, so that's your cue to block. He will mostly do it twice and then he will try to bite you so dodge it as soon as possible.  This trick helps me in this fight without me using ninpos. Ati Morillo's Strategy: When the battle starts, run to either of the switches and hit them to go up. The dragon then tries to bite you, flaps his wings to spread flames, or sweeps flames. When he shoots the flame thrower, one can easily jump over it. I personally, jumped back toward the wall and let go of the thumbstick so Ryu holds the wall for a second right before the flame sweeps. It's very easy to dodge like that and you won't fall accidentally. I see that people say the flaming wing flap is hard or impossible to dodge. Well it isn't at all. You should be guarding whenever the dragon is readying for an attack so when his ears flap he will perform the flaming wing flap. Just roll in any direction when he does it and you will receive no damage. Now when he lowers his dome closer to you just smash him. I personally use the Dabilahro's X- X- X- X- Y combo. You can kill him in like four or five of those. Just watch the bites after he lowers his head and you should be straight. Varchild's Strategy: At the start of the battle hit the dragon with an Inazuma.   The dragon will lift its neck up into the air from the blow.  At this time hit the Dragon with a couple Explosive Arrows.  As the dragon lowers its neck your arrows will bounce off.  So, hit the Dragon again with an Inazuma.  Dragon raises his neck.  Hit him with Explosive Arrows. If you run out of Explosive Arrows, switch to incendiary shurikens. In no time at all you will have the dragon at near death.  Afterwards, having taken absolutely no damage at all from the dragon because the dragon never got a chance to attack, jump into the Lava and slash away at him. Vicious' Strategy: This is for the chapter 12 main boss: the flame dragon. I discovered this little trick when I didn't have any health potions or essence to buy more (also I was playing on normal so I don't know if this is as effective as it was in normal). The dragon is incredibly easy and all you need is to have a decent supply of explosive arrows, those anti-tank arrows, the art of inferno ninpo at a decent level, and hopefully a full ki bar with a few devil potions. When you start the battle, all you have to do is hit him with the inferno blast, and this sends him reeling. While he's reeling, he won't be able to block the arrows, so he'll take a good amount of damage from them. You should be able to get 2-3 good shots of before he recovers, then just hit him with the ninpo again and repeat. Extremely cheap? Yes but I take it considering I had no health potions ;-) -------------------------- 20. Chapter 13 Boss Alma II -------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: True Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inazuma BOSS ATTACKS: Energy Balls, Various Lunges, and a Grab move DIFFICULTY: Easy to Medium My Strategy: This new and improved Alma is basically the same as the first Alma you fought in Chapter 7. What you want to do here is stick close to Alma, and continuously use some sort of jump move on her. Either the Jump + A combo, Jump + Y Combo, or the Lunging Jump + Y Combo (Flying Swallow). Just be careful if she grabs you, because the move does a ton of damage. The energy balls don't hurt too much, but if you get hit by 2-3, then you start to feel it. Basically, the same method applies to the first Alma fight, except having Ninpo isn't as important as the first time. You can stun her like the first fight, but using the jumping quick attacks seems to work best. Also be warned of her speed again, she may dodge some of your attacks, but keep trying until it connects. Derty's Strategy: This strategy is for when you fight Alma the second time at the start of Chapter 13. You'll have the true dragon sword by this point. Basically just use the Flying Swallow attack (jump towards the enemy and then Y) to wear her down. It’s fairly easy and using the Ninpo Art of the Inferno makes things easier. Her attacks hurt a lot though, especially her grab which typically runs down 3/4 of your health bar at full. So have plenty of healing potions and you'd better be quick on your feet. dragon user27's Strategy: This strategy is for any difficulty, including VH. First off, have your newly acquired True Dragon Sword in hand.  When the fight starts, Alma will do one of two things: either shoots pink fireballs at you, or charge. If she shoots fireballs, just dodge them by running and rolling. If she charges, wait until she is about in X attack range (a little bit closer, actually).  At this point, start the Blade of the Nirriti combo. If you timed it right, you should go right through her, and finish the combo on her back.  Your last downward swing won't always connect, but the combo still does excellent damage. On VH, it takes about 1/8 of her life off; more if the downward swing connects. It will do more on Normal or Hard, but I have yet to try it on those difficulties. Make sure you time the combo correctly though; if you start it too early she might catch you with her tail grab move. If you do it too late, she'll either plow you over or you'll only get in a 3 hit combo on her back. On rare occasions, if you do it too early, she won't grab you and you'll do the combo on her front. However, it works best when you start it at X-attack range and finish it on her back. ---------------------------- 21. Chapter 14 Boss Spirit Doku ---------------------------- BEST WEAPON USED: True Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno (Heavy Damage, but he can dodge easily) BOSS ATTACKS: Powerful sword slashes and combos DIFFICULTY: Medium to Hard My Strategy: Facing the Spirit Form of Doku is a lot like the original form of Doku, the exception is much faster speed, very high damage, and has the ability to restore health. Like the original Doku, you will have to work around him, and try to deal off shots periodically. You can try the Lunge Jump + Y attack to damage him, but most of the time Doku will block it, and counter attack you for heavy damage. One huge hit from Doku can send 1/2 your health down, a complete combo from him will most likely kill you, so this battle requires some awesome skills. Try to stay near Doku, as odd as it may sound, and jump back to avoid his slashes, then either cut through him with the lunge jump, or attempt a few slashes, for there is no easy way to beat Doku. One method I found that decimates Doku's health is Art of the Inferno, a fireball from this will CRUSH Doku's health REALLY fast, practically 1/4 of his large life bar. The downside is he is good at dodging it. Blocking his slashes is very difficult a well, since a hit knocks back Ryu's guard, opening you to counter-attack, so stay mobile more when he attack you, rather than block. With some skill and luck, he shouldn't be too much of a problem. Mix Master D's Strategy: the same as [Doku], but don't get too far because he'll throw his arm at you if he can. Ninpo really works; I hit him 3 times with inferno and slashed at him to bring him down. If your Ki power is gone, then I would advise to use the flying swallow to get behind him, and then slash at his back. All in all, this boss shouldn't be too difficult, it took me two tries. just make sure that you have great elixirs and that the phantom fishes didn’t hurt you too badly. **Use True Dragon Sword** ------------------------------ 22. Chapter 15 Sub-Boss Tentacle Fiend III ------------------------------ BEST WEAPON USED: True Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Tentacle Whips, Powerful Grab Move DIFFICULTLY: Easy to Medium My Strategy: Up to a THIRD time of facing that pesky tentacle boss. Once again he has increased difficulty, and seems to be more intelligent this time. Still continue to use the Flying Swallow attack to strike through the boss. Two hits will destroy the tentacle completely. However the boss can sometimes hit you when you go for the strike, causing you to take some moderate damage, it is recommended before you even enter the fiend realm, you have all devil elixirs and healing elixirs stocked on max, because you have 2 more bosses to go after him. When the tentacles are down, get off a few combos, repeat to slash the tentacles, while dodging swipes, and heal as necessary. ------------------------------ 23. Chapter 15 Sub-Boss Ice Fiend II ------------------------------ BEST WEAPON USED: True Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Powerful Smack Move, Ice Impale DIFFICULTY: Very Easy My Strategy: It's the second version of the boss you fought in the Ice Cavern; he is just as easy as he was before. He will flop around the stage aimlessly, so jump up to him and hit him a few times with the 'A' button. Stand near him, and he will attempt to hit you with a giant attack or two, simply jump away or jump to the side to dodge it, if he hits you with it, it's up to 1/2 of your health gone, but it is very easy to dodge. If he misses, he will remain idle for a moment, allowing you to get a combo off. Sometimes he will surprise you by trying to send ice under your feet to damage you; this doesn't hurt nearly as much as the smack, and is easier to dodge. Continue to jump around the boss, and hit him off with A attacks, and fake him out, making him attack, then dodge, and get off a combo. If done correctly, it's possible to take no damage on this fight fairly easily. ------------------------------ 24. Chapter 15 Boss Lord of the Fiends ------------------------------ BEST WEAPON USED: True Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inazuma BOSS ATTACKS: Lunges, Fireballs and Spawn Summons DIFFICULTLY: Easy to Medium My Strategy: After all the trash this guy talks, he isn't as much as a challenge as you may of thought. He sticks to a very basic pattern, and makes him quite easy to attack. Most of the time he will hover above you, and will attempt to lunge, or send fireballs at you. If he is going to lunge, he will appear to move himself back a bit, just stay mobile and move around so he will miss, then you can hit him once or twice. If he is going to use fireballs, he will laugh, so also stay mobile to dodge them. Use the Flying Swallow attack to deal most of the damage to him. Ninpo isn't extremely effective on him, so you can avoid it all together. If he summons 3 spawns on you, then feel free to use the Art of the Inazuma to kill them in a hit or two, as well as dealing some minor damage to the boss. So simply hit him when he misses his lunge, and attempt to use the Flying Swallow on him when he is hovering in the air, to finish him off, which may take an awhile, since you can hardly score a full combo on him. ------------------------------ 25. Chapter 15 Boss Vigoorian Emperor ------------------------------ BEST WEAPON USED: True Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno (HUGE HUGE HUGE ADVANTAGE) BOSS ATTACKS: Purple Beams DIFFICULTLY: Very Easy with a lot of Ninpo, Very Hard without FINAL PERPERATIONS: After you defeat the Lord of the Fiends, you will have the demon statue you need. Save, then verify you have plenty of healing items, and most importantly, some Devil Elixirs, I recommend going back to The Core, and going near the gate of the imperial place, and equipping the Frail, and go crazy on the flying fish, huge combos make them drop insane amounts of essence, allowing you to get 10,000 essence in one complete round, then go through the large imperial door, then go back into the core, and fight the fish again. Once you got about 60,000 or 70,000 essence, go to a shop, and stock up on all healing items, devil elixirs, and 3 Talisman's, then stock up on all arrows possible. Once this is all completed, you are completely stocked, and have more than enough to breeze past to the end of the game. My Strategy: By now, you should have 3-4 Ninpo slots; equip the Art of the Inferno before heading into this battle. You will be on a tiny platform, in which you can control to get closer or further from the boss. If you get hit from the boss, you will always land on another controllable platform, which you take back up to the boss. Get near his chest, and his head, and then use all Ninpo on him. This will take away about 1/10 of his health. Keep using the Ninpo until a cutscene shows him swaying in pain. The Ninpo will still do a lot of damage, but once he starts to get to about 9/10 his former health, he will start to become immune to it, so just move the platform near his arm, and finish him off with a few slashes. That’s it! Very easy! You are invulnerable during the Ninpo animation, so don't worry about his beams! Josh Gardner's Strategy: I would recommend using the strongest weapon you have, regardless of speed. During this boss fight, you will be on a small platform. Moving left or right will move the platform left and right. If you jump or fall off, you will appear on a new platform without being hurt by the fall. To damage this boss, you need to target the areas with the two yellow circles on the chest or either of the arms. This boss uses different variations on two different attacks. In the first, multiple beams of light will come out of her. For the first few seconds, they won't damage you, so make sure none of them are pointing at you. If they simply move to the side, just run around with them. If you feel you can't dodge them, don't hesitate to use Ki. If they bounce around, just do what you can to dodge them. Hit the boss whenever you feel you can safely. Also, the boss will occasionally try to smash you with its fists. When this happens, wait until just before he's going to hit you and jump off your platform towards the camera. Dr. Doom's Strategy: I just used The Ice Storm Ninpo and U.Flawlessness (or DABILAHRO). Fly up to him/her/it and use the X,X,Y combo until you see the purple beams forming. When the balls start to rotate, just use Ice Storm. It should last all the way thru the Bosses attack, making you invincible AND dealing decent damage. Rinse and repeat. ------------------------------ 26. Chapter 15 Boss Vigoorian Emperor II ------------------------------ BEST WEAPON USED: Vigoorian Frails, True Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: Art of the Inferno BOSS ATTACKS: Shooting Skulls, Tail Whip DIFFICULTLY: Easy to Medium My Strategy: Just when you thought you disposed on the Vigoorian Emperor, he's back for one last dance, this time he's Undead. You will notice a bunch of skulls attached to him, this is also part of his life force, damaging these does slight damage to him, so he has many target points, making the fight easier. As he is in his pit of lava, take out your explosive arrows, and let as many as possible into him. If he begins to shoot out his skulls, equip the Frails and just mash the A button to dispose of them, causing him damage, and little to no damage to you. When he sends out all the skulls, the giant main one will come at you, just run away from it, and jump away from it. At this point, he will once again shoot skulls at you, or jump to a platform at you can get to. If he does get under his legs and get a few combos off, for some moderate damage. He will then tail whip you, or typically jump back into the lava. The tail whip doesn't do too much damage. Hit him with some explosive arrows again, then unload the APPSDS arrows into him and even down to the Strongbow if you need to, once all projectiles are wasted, he should be down to less than half his health. If he shoots out the skulls again, crack them open using the frails, cut him a few times if he jumps onto the platform, and repeat until dead, you should have plenty of health items to easily survive this fight. Like the last two bosses, this boss has an extremely easy pattern as well. Josh Gardner's Strategy: This strategy is with the True Dragon Sword or the Kietsu. The weak point is the horned skull, but damaging the other skulls will hurt the boss to a degree. This boss has several attacks. In the first, he sends a wave of giant skulls at you. You can dish out some damage while avoiding all to most of them by repeating the air destruction slash while jumping side to side. This would also be a good time to use the lightning Ki. Watch out for the final, horned skull, which can do massive damage. In his second attack, he will come onto the land and stomp around. Use the flying swallow attack to go right through him repeatedly. Between these attacks he will sometimes just walk around in the lava for a while. When this happens, take out the ASDF cores or the explosive arrows and fire away at the horned skull. Dr. Doom's Strategy: Again, Ice Storm/U.Flawlessness/Dabilahro worked wonders for me. When the boss is circling the lava pit, use explosive arrows on his head. When the boss stops and sends the skulls flying at you, use Ice Storm. It should completely obliterate the first wave of skulls, when the Ninpo wears out IMMEDIATELY use another. It should destroy the remaining skulls that run into you, and make the bosses bite attack miss. Rinse and repeat. Occasionally, the boss will jump, not over to the other side of the pool, but right into the center of the platforms you're standing on. He's basically asking you to kill him now, so grant his wish. Run over to him and slash away at the skulls on his underbelly. Just make sure you avoid his feet as he turns. Wayne C's Strategy: You must have at least 3-5 Ninpo slots, and your max of 3 Great Devil Elixirs (which you should easily have if you rack up massive combos on the Ghost Piranhas in Spirit Doku's former chamber). Equip the Inferno Ninpo and while he's walking around in the lava, just let loose with your Ninpo. I took off close to a quarter of his life (using all 5 Ninpo slots) by the time his Horned Skull tried to chomp on me. When he jumps onto the platforms, use some combos to take off even more life. Repeat as necessary. ------------------------------ 27. Chapter 16 Final Boss Evil Murai ------------------------------ BEST WEAPON USED: True Dragon Sword BEST NINPO USED: (Fight with Honor :P) BOSS ATTACKS: Various slashes. DIFFICULTLY: Easy (Hard if you haven't prepared with healing) My Strategy: It's time for the final battle; you fought Murai in the beginning, and you fight him in the end, this time he's come way more powerful, and wielding the Dark Dragon Blade. He is much quicker this time, and he can cut down your health in seconds if you aren't a true Ninja up to this point. Like the first Murai, you can work around him, and use the Flying Swallow attack to keep him at bay. Facing him head-to-head is difficult, because his slashes knock you off your guard very easily. If he does, try to roll back to avoid any damage. Continue to use the flying swallow attack to deal damage, or the Jump + Y attack as well. If he rushes through you and misses, pump a combo into his back for even more damage. This fight will be a cakewalk if you stocked up on healing and talismans before you fought the Vigoorian Emperor, and you can easily afford to heal if he gets some shots on you. After he's defeated, sit back, and watch the ending cutscene :D. Josh Gardner's Strategy: This boss can be either very difficult or very easy depending on how you approach it. He can do a lot of damage but can't take too much, compared to many other bosses. He has a variety of ranged and melee attacks, a couple of grabs, and a nasty magic dragon attack. This boss will truly test your skill in Ninja Gaiden. However, if you just want to beat him quickly and easily, there's a very simple way to do so. This will work best with the Sun Armlet. I used the dragon sword, but this could work with that or the Kietsu. Now here's the secret: simply use the flying swallow attack to go through him over and over. That's it. If you time it right, he should be stunned just long enough after each hit that you can hit him with the flying swallow attack, and then quickly hit him again with it so that he cannot move or try to attack you at all. ----------------------------- 28. Submitting a Strategy ----------------------------- I am accepting no more strategies as of now. Thank you to all who contributed to this FAQ, and I apologize if your submission was not added. ---------------------------- 29. Contact Information ---------------------------- I have tried my best to clear up the bosses in this FAQ, but I suppose that it may not be enough, depending on how many potions you have left or so. I strongly consider going to the GameFAQs message board if you still struggle with a boss. Mainly because my strategy is covered here, so asking me for help would be pointless. So I only consider contacting me if you have a mild question about the FAQ. And please, no emails asking about how to beat a certain chapter, or how to solve a puzzle. There will be other FAQs to cover this. If you wish to contact me, email me at: DarkChaosPrince@hotmail.com --------------------------- 30. Legal Information --------------------------- I do not believe that my FAQs should be restricted only to GameFAQs. If you wish to host this FAQ on your site, you are more then welcome to email me at DarkChaosPrince@hotmail.com to request the FAQ to be added to your FAQ. I will most likely accept. However, This FAQ is solely copyrighted to me, and under no circumstances may you steal this FAQ, or edit it in any form for your own hosting without my permission first. COPYRIGHT 2004 Travis Rappa 'Dauragon C Mikado88'