====================================
Kunoichi/Nightshade Boss FAQ
Written By: Gen2000
Latest Version: 0.3, 12/24/04
====================================
=============================================================================
Contents
=============================================================================
For easier searching through out this FAQ, use the "Find" command in the Menu
bar. In Internet Exploder, the shortcut command is (Ctrl + F). Once the
Find/Search window is up; just type up the index number(s) plus the section
title to quickly jump to that part of the FAQ you're interested in.
In case you couldn't tell, this FAQ contains SPOILERS.
==================
I. Introduction
==================
1.1 Disclaimer, Copyright Info
1.2 Story
===============================
II. Controls
===============================
===============================
III. Characters
===============================
3.1 Hibana – Shinobi Agent
3.2 Hisui – Shinobi of Water
3.3 Hotsuma – Master of the Oboro
3.4 Joe – Shinobi of Legend
=============
IV. Bosses
=============
4.1 Kurohagane Alpha
4.1.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.1.2 Hotsuma
4.1.3 Joe
4.2 Dangomushi
4.2.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.2.2 Hotsuma
4.2.3 Joe
4.3 Imomushi (Non completed)
4.3.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.3.2 Hotsuma
4.3.3 Joe
4.4 Kazaguruma (Not completed)
4.4.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.4.2 Hotsuma
4.4.3 Joe
4.5 Tokage (Not completed)
4.5.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.5.2 Hotsuma
4.5.3 Joe
4.6 Onibi (Not completed)
4.6.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.6.2 Hotsuma
4.6.3 Joe
4.7 Ga (Not completed)
4.7.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.7.2 Hotsuma
4.7.3 Joe
4.8 Kurohagane Beta (Not completed)
4.8.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.8.2 Hotsuma
4.8.3 Joe
4.9 Jimushi (Not completed)
4.9.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.9.2 Hotsuma
4.9.3 Joe
4.10 Hisui
4.10.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.10.2 Hotsuma
4.10.3 Joe
4.11 Golden Place Door a.k.a "Door of Doom"
4.11.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.11.2 Hotsuma
4.11.3 Joe
4.12 unknown Hellspawn monster
4.12.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.12.2 Hotsuma
4.12.3 Joe
4.13 Kurohagane Final
4.13.1 Hibana/Hisui
4.13.2 Hotsuma
4.13.3 Joe
================
V. Conclusion
================
5.1 FAQ Version History
5.2 Credits
=============================================================================
I. Introduction
=============================================================================
This Nightshade (Kunoichi in Japan) FAQ will try to aid in you beating all of
the bosses of the game on any difficulty and with any shinobi.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 Disclaimer, Copyright Info
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This document is Copyright 2002 Alfred "Gen2000" Lynaum. You are free to use
this FAQ in any way as long as you don't make a profit off of it. If you want
to use this FAQ on your site, you must get permission from me first or else I
could take you to court. If that is the case there is a high chance that I
will win which is basically free money for me. Writing this FAQ took free
time away from me so if you want to use this FAQ on your site then please
email me at (gen2000__(at)hotmail dot com). Also if you are going to use this
FAQ you cannot modify it in any way. Any information you get from this FAQ
you must give credit where it's due.
-End of disclaimer-
The latest version of this FAQ can always be found here:
www.gamefaqs.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2 Story
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Akujiki...The ancient, cursed blade has consumed the souls of men for
centuries. It is said that he who wield Akujiki, wields absolute power. Many
wars were fought to control that power. Many lives were lost. A lone shinobi
took it upon himself to end Akujiki's legacy of blood. However, his struggles
proved only to be the beginning of yet a new battle."
- Nightshade instruction manual.
=============================================================================
II. Controls
=============================================================================
The default controls for the game and general controls for the shinobi are:
Left analog stick = Walk & Run
Square = Slash
X = Stealth Dash
Circle = Jump
Triangle = Kick
R1 = Lock-On to Target
R2 = Switch Targets (when you lock-on to an enemy)
R3 = Reset camera angle (click down on right analog stick)
L1 = Shuriken
L2 = Ninjutsu
Start = Pause Menu
Right analog stick = Camera Angle
A lot of past PS2 Shinobi players I know so far have changed their controls
from the default. Even some newcomers to the Shinobi series have change their
controls. Throughout the FAQ I will be referring to actual command names
instead of buttons (i.e. Stealth Dash instead of X) cause of everyone has a
different preference to the "perfect control layout".
=============================================================================
III. Character
=============================================================================
Information about the different shinobi you can control the game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1 Hibana – Shinobi Agent
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hibana is the first character you start off with and the main character of
Nightshade. Here is a list of Hibana's moves:
- Jump (Jump button)
Hibana jumps in the air, not much else to say. Press jump again mid-air
during the first jump to perform the double jump. After that you can't
perform any more jumps unless you land a successful hit on an enemy.
- Wall Running (Jump towards a wall and use the left analog stick to move)
Hibana clings to the wall and is able to move forward or backwards on it. The
wall running speed is slightly faster than Hibana's normal running speed.
- Stealth Dash (Stealth Dash button)
Hibana leaves a shadow of herself while blazing pass her enemies. When using
this your invincible during the whole period of the dash so you can use this
to go through enemies attacks if timed right (i.e. fireballs).
If you're locked-on, holding left or right while pressing the Stealth Dash
button will make you dash to the side or sometimes behind your enemy which
sets up easily for the back slash which causes critical damage (double).
- Aerial Stealth Dash
Same as the ground version only that it can be performed once in the air
unless you land a successful hit on an enemy.
When you lock-on to an enemy, pressing the Stealth Dash button will make you
dash directly towards that enemy.
- Slash (Slash button)
Hibana slashes her enemies with Utshushiyo, a replica of the Akujiki. Press
Slash button 3 more times to perform a small combo using the sword.
As you successfully kill enemies, the sword will glow a color similar to the
ways of Akujiki. The more enemies you kill in a row the more colors you will
see change. Each color represents a different strength. The color range from
light green (weakest) to fire red/pink (strongest). The art of Tate knows
which enemies to take out first so you can use your charged sword on stronger
enemies to take them down easier.
- Roundhouse Slash (hold forward + Slash button when lock-on during combo)
When performing the 3 hit slash combo, instead of the normal finisher on the
3rd hit you opt for the roundhouse slash instead by holding the left analog
stick towards your targeted enemy and press the Slash button at the 2nd hit
of the slash combo. Hibana will do wide spin while slashing anyone in the
sword's path. This move is useful cause it knocks down the enemy (or enemies)
setting them for easier Tate'ed hits.
- Kick (Kick button)
Hibana does a high kick. Press the kick button two more times to perform a
small combo of kicks. You can perform a kick in the air as well but you can
only do one instead of a combo. Please note that you can't kill any enemies
with this move.
In stages that have aircrafts or subs that fires missiles at you, you can
deflect them with the kick and redirect them towards your enemies. Locking-on
helps in doing this.
Besides that, the most important feature of the kick is its ability to break
the armor of your enemies and some bosses which they use that armor to
deflect all of your sword and shuriken attacks.
- Homing Kick (Jump button, then Kick button when locked-on)
Hibana performs a dive kick towards the enemy she is locked on to. Same
properties as her ground version of Kick however with the "dash-like"
property of the homing kick it can be used as a quasi-air dash when you're
trying to close in the gap between you and enemy. A combination of Homing
Kick > Stealth Dash (locked on) covers a lot of area.
- Short Sword Attack (hold direction away from enemy + Slash button when
locked on)
Hibana whips out Futaba and spins them around slashing anything near her.
Press the Slash button 3 more times to perform a small combo using the short
swords, you don't have to hold Back during the whole combo. This move is
weak compared to her normal sword attack and doesn't gain any power from dead
enemies. The advantage of using the short sword attack though is that any
enemy you hit will stay in "place" and not be knocked around. This is useful
for fighting enemies on small platforms and you want to keep said enemy in
the Tate.
Another advantage is that since short sword is so weak, but hits A LOT of
times, it's very easy to get 20-30 hits on big enemies which charges up the
Chakra Gauge quicker than killing everything with the sword. The higher your
combo hits are, the quicker the Chakra Gauge raises.
- Shuriken (Shuriken button)
Hibana flings a shuriken forward. If locked on, she tosses one at the
targeted enemy, which paralyzes them. You can only carry 32 shurikens at a
time. This move does very little damage, but can be charged by killing
enemies just like the long sword. To even noticed it does damage (i.e. finish
a Tate) you will have to kill about 3 or 4 enemies and then spam about 4-7
shurikens to finish off the last one.
- Shuriken Burst (Double Jump + Shuriken button at peak of jump)
Hibana stops and spins quickly as she releases a "burst" of shurikens
everywhere. This move stuns just about every enemy that was on the screen and
near Hibana when you did this move. Sometimes one or two might slip through
even if you think they should get hit. It cost 8 shurikens to do this move so
use only when you have to. You should rarely be using this move anyways. Like
normal shurikens, this move also does little damage to your enemies.
- Float Kick (hold direction away from enemy + Kick button when locked on)
Hibana will perform sweep and if it connects the enemy will be launched high
into the air. If you don't perform the follow-up, Air Smash (explained
below), the enemy will come crashing down and stunned giving you chance for
some free hits. This move can also break armor similar to a normal kick.
There is A LOT of lag time after this move if you don't follow up with Air
Smash. Like the normal kick, you can't kill anyone with this move.
Bosses and some heavier enemies will not be launched into the air but the
Float Kick will hit multiple times on them.
- Air Smash (jump and Kick button after performing Float Kick)
After a successful hit of Float Kick, press the Jump button then the Kick
button quickly and Hibana will drop kick the enemy straight into the ground
causing a small shockwave. The shockwave will knock down any nearby enemies
as well as breaking any armor off them they had any. Even some airborne
enemies will be stunned or they armor will break if they're low enough to the
ground.
This move can be thought of as a "free Shuriken Burst" as the stun/knockdown
range is about the same but it doesn't cost anything except for one grounded
enemy.
- Shadow Attack (hold down Slash button when locked on)
Also known as "Kage Bushin". If you have at least one level on the Chakra
Gauge you can perform this move. Hibana poses with 4 clones surrounding her
and releases 2-4 of clones depending on the levels you have in the Chakra
Gauge that seeks out and hits the targeted opponent. This is her strongest
move and the easiest way for her to get one hit kills on bosses since killing
other enemies in a Tate can charge it. When you first perform this move the
clones will be red but they will soon change to a light red color, which
means the move is ready to go (release the Slash button to perform).
The levels you have for the move is represented in the 3 units next to your
Chakra Gauge, one purple filled unit means you have one level, two means you
have level two, and three means you can perform a level three Shadow Attack.
The higher the level the more clones you send out during the attack.
- Level 1 = 2 clones
- Level 2 = 3 clones
- Level 3 = 4 clones
It's best to perform this as far as away from the enemy or boss as you can to
make sure that all of the clones hit. If you did this move by mistake, you
can cancel it by pressing the Stealth Dash button in another direction and
letting go of the Slash button.
- Canceling (various button commands)
This isn't a command exactly but just a feature of the game you should know
about to improve your game. Nightshade is no Devil May Cry, but canceling
attacks is still important if you want to get the most out of using Hibana.
The rules for canceling is if you hit any enemy on the ground with an attack
you are given the ability to cancel into another attack (slashing or
kicking), jump, shuriken toss, or stealth dash.
For example you may be using the Short Sword attack on one enemy but you feel
another enemy is about to hit you with a projectile. Since you were already
attacking one enemy with your previous attack you can cancel it into the
stealth dash and move out of harms way or THROUGH the projectile and attack
the next enemy adding up the Combo counter.
When mixing up Slash and Kick combos, you can't go "backwards" in the custom
combo. For example you can't do Slash, Kick and press Slash again to go back
the first slashing animation as before instead you would perform the second
attack of the Slash combo. The only time the combo resets is when you use
shurikens (Short Sword Attack > Shuriken) or jump (you jump when using
Shuriken Burst or Aerial Stealth Dash, so that counts too).
Stealth dashing surprising counts as part of the "combo" even if you don't
hit an enemy, i.e. Slash > Stealth Dash > Slash > Stealth Dash > Roundhouse
Slash. To reset the combos after Stealth Dashes you have to take a small
"break" before pressing the attack button again. This is important to know if
you want to hit multiple enemies at one time but don't want to include the
lag of the other attacks from the combos.
Anyone who put any decent time into this game should already know this but
there may be some players out there who aren't taking advantage of the
canceling ability of this game. Hibana has a lot more moves compared to
Hotsuma and co. from Shinobi. Canceling can help reduce the lag off a lot of
her moves. For example the Float Kick > Air Smash stuns the enemy for a while
but Hibana herself has some noticeable lag time before she can move again and
A LOT more if you didn't cancel into Air Smash. Using Float Kick > Stealth
Dash instead knocks the enemy high into the air but immediately afterwards
you can move on to the next enemy. Of course the armor breaking is an
advantage of the Air Smash but it's pointless to go through the whole process
if there aren't any enemies around with armor on when you performed the Float
Kick. This is useful if you want to stun big enemies and quickly kill some
smaller ones for sword power or if you just want to combo into something
better after the Float Kick such as Float Kick > Stealth Dash > Short Sword
Attack.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2 Hisui – Shinobi of Water
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hisui is the first character that you unlock in the game. She is supposedly
Hibana's rival. She plays similar to Hibana except she runs faster than
Hibana normally which makes her an great choice for Time Attack or timed
missions in Mission Mode and some of her moves have different properties than
Hibana's. Most are pointless, but some actually makes her more effective to
use. The changes are:
- Normal attacking / Roundhouse Slash (Slash button / Roundhouse Slash
command)
Hisui umbrella gives her GREAT range. The first slash alone makes Hibana look
pitiful. The Roundhouse Slash like attack doesn't cover as much area as it
should, but that's ok. Her weapon makes air Tate'ing a breeze (ok, almost).
- Repeated Stabbing (Short Sword command)
Here is another move that puts Hibana to shame. The range of this move is
about the same as the second hit of Hisui's normal combo, which is pretty
impressive when compared to Hibana's who has to be very close to her enemies
to get the most out of the attack.
- Shuriken/Shuriken Burst (Shuriken button/Shuriken Burst command)
Since Hisui is the "Shinobi of Water", her moves must have water/ice like
effects on them. The most notable one is when she uses shurikens. Instead of
the paralyze effect of Hibana's, Hisui shurikens freezes the enemies. They
turn blue and some ice covers them. The properties are still the same though
(i.e. can still Tate with them, gets charged, etc.).
- Water Geyser (Float Kick command)
Hisui creates a small water geyser in front of her that launches any enemy
that touches it. The speed of this move is the same as Hibana. It seems like
Hisui's version is better cause Hibana has to come in with a sweep which
creates a small gap for an enemy to interrupt if she doesn't bring that foot
in time while Hisui's version comes at the same speed all around in that
little circle of water only going upwards, so as soon as you enter the
command the enemy is launched (is possible). Could just be an illusion
though.
- Shadow Attack (Shadow Attack command)
Same as Hibana's except Hisui's clones are blue.
- Canceling (various button commands)
Hisui shares the same canceling properties of Hibana since they have similar
moves.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3 Hotsma – Master of Oboro
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hotsuma plays EXACTLY same as he did in Shinobi so players of that game
should know what to expect out of him. He has a very limited movelist when
compared to Hibana/Hisui and runs slower than them as well. The only
difference you'll notice is his sword is longer than it was in Shinobi.
Wielding Akujiki, Hotsuma is the strongest shinobi in the game when it comes
to slashing power. One charge from an enemy and Hotsuma can take down most
enemies in one swipe even on the Hard difficulty. The drawback of this though
is that Hotsuma must ALWAYS be killing something in order to suppress
Akujiki's craving for souls (your health bar).
Luckily, you easily get more "Ying" (red orbs) in this game compared to
Shinobi for killing enemies. A red Akujiki Gauge that drains slowly replaces
the Chakra Gauge. If the gauge drains completely, then Akujiki starts taking
health away from Hotsuma at a slow rate that can kill Hotsuma if you let it
drain away all of your health. The higher the difficulty the faster it
drains.
Another advantage is that Hotsuma can slash through enemies' armor. Be
careful though as enemies can still guard against slashes. This isn't so much
a problem vs. grounded enemies but can be when you're trying to complete air
Tates.
Hotsuma is meant to be played by experienced players only, as in careful
management of Tates and energy of his Akujiki Gauge is the key to slaying
enemies and bosses in one hit.
- Slash (Slash button)
Hotsuma does a standard forward slash downward. Press the Slash button three
more times to perform a small combo. The last hit of Hotsuma's slash combo
that takes a while to come out is possibly the strongest slash of his combo.
- Roundhouse Slash (hold forward & press Slash button when locked on)
Same knock back power of Hibana/Hisui's but with the length of Hotsuma's
sword combined with the power of his slashes this is the best version.
- Thunder Kick (hold direction away + Kick button when locked on)
This is Hotsuma's version of the "Kick". In Shinobi it was useful for
breaking opponent's guard when trying to kill them. It still has it same use
in this game, but also can be used to kick by missiles from aircrafts/subs.
You can only perform the Thunder Kick on the ground.
- Shuriken/Shuriken Burst (Shuriken button/Shuriken Burst command)
Hotsuma's Shuriken and Shuriken Burst work the same as Hibana's.
- Charge Attack (hold down Slash button when locked on)
Hotsuma harness the energy of Akujiki's collected souls and dashes forward
with a violent slash. You must have at least one level on the Akujiki gauge
to perform this move. This move goes through enemies or bosses armor and
guard. Like Hibana's Shadow Attack, this move can be charged by killing
enemies in a Tate. Learning how to use this move vs. bosses is the key
slaying them in one hit.
Even though this move can only be performed on the ground, if you use this
move over a gap Hotsuma will dash over it till he's either hits his target or
is finished with the Charge Attack animation.
If you want to cancel the Charge Attack just perform a Stealth Dash in any
direction and release the Slash button afterwards.
- Canceling (various button commands)
Same properties as Hibana/Hisui except of course Hotsuma has a very limited
movelist compared to them so he doesn't get as many options and Thunder Kick
also resets his normal Slash combo.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3 Joe Musashi – Shinobi of Legend
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Musashi is the last character you will unlock in the game. He plays
similar to Hotsuma except he doesn't have to worry about a sword draining his
health and he doesn't have a Charge Attack. He still has the same great range
with his sword like Hotsuma but the real advantage comes in his unlimited
shuriken ability that caters to Joe's more old school type of game style. He
has the same moves as Hotsuma except with different properties.
While Hotsuma is stronger, Joe's defensive type gamestyle through the use of
Shurikens allows him to be played by any type of player.
- Slashing (in general)
Unlike Hotsuma, Joe can't slash through the armor of enemies. That's what his
Shurikens are for.
- Thunder Kick (Thunder Kick command)
This move is like Hotsuma's except it knockdowns enemies and knocks them back
FAR. It can be used to break armor but the kickback power is so strong
sometimes you might boot the enemy right off the ledges.
- Shuriken/Shuriken Burst (Shuriken button/Shuriken Burst command)
Joe has unlimited Shurikens but they don't paralyze enemies. It's not a
problem since Joe's shurikens are the strongest in the game and it's VERY
EASY to Tate enemies using ONLY Shurikens. As Joe kills enemies with
Shurikens, his sword still gets the charge effect. They almost have limited
tracking abilities. Joe's shuriken is stronger than his sword until her gets
a 3x charge (i.e. kills three enemies). Even charged though Joe's sword isn't
that impressive in power.
The most important thing about the Shurikens though is that they break
enemies' armor. A big advantage to Joe since he doesn't have to be up close
or better yet hanging over a pit trying to break armor of an enemy who might
just decide to block. Anyone who plays Hotsuma knows the pain of this.
- Canceling (various button commands)
Same properties as Hotsuma.
=============================================================================
IV. Bosses
=============================================================================
There are 13 Stages in the game, 12 are actual levels with a boss on the end
while the 13th one is just a fight with the final boss. I will list all of
the bosses' attacks and some strategies (if possible) with the different
shinobi of the game. I will be listing strategies from a perspective of
someone who was trying to get an S rank in the stage. You lose Boss points if
you take more than 1 attack to kill the boss, but 2 or 3 are sometimes still
enough to squeeze in an S rank if you manage to get high points on everything
else (no damage, destruction, items, etc). Using shurikens on bosses doesn't
reduce Boss points so remember that.
You can beat most bosses in the game be repeatedly hacking away at their
health in Easy and somewhat on Normal mode but that WILL NOT cut it on the
later bosses of Hard mode. Strategies here are for the infamous one hit kills
or two-three powerful strikes at the most. Any strategy listed here is for
Hard mode but also can be applied to Easy and Normal modes, which should be
even more effective on those difficulties.
A general rule for the bosses when moving to higher difficulty is:
- Bosses defense gets better the higher
- If a boss has a projectile attack, it gets faster.
- The enemies that the boss summons get smarter/harder to hit.
- Those same enemies also gets better defense
There are two types of bosses in this game, Hellspawn Lord and Nakatomi
ninja/shinobi types. It's easy to notice the difference between the two as
the Hellspawn Lord are big monsters while the Nakatomi shinobi are small but
with equally annoying moves.
The biggest difference between them that's important to you is how each type
reveals their weak spot. Striking a weak spot rewards you with double damage
and is the only way for you to get one hit kills in Hard mode even if you
Tate every enemy in the room and use a lv.3 Shadow Attack/Charge Attack.
For Nakatomi shinobi types, like normal enemies, you can strike them in the
back for a critical hit. You can't strike Hellspawn Lords in the back as most
don't have a "backside" to slash at. You have to wait for the Hellspawn Lord
to perform their Taunt to get critical damage. All except the Hellspawn Lord
of Stage 12 will perform the taunt after a certain set of moves are
performed.
I won't mention any use of offensive ninja magic in this FAQ unless there is
a very specific reason to use it. Using ninja magic punishes you hard in the
rankings as you won't get any Boss points unless it's Raijin since it doesn't
actually strike the boss. You still lose a few Boss points for killing the
boss while using Raijin. Besides if you still MUST use ninja magic you can
incorporate the use of Ka'en magic or Fuga into the strategies listed. There
are few strategies where Raijin really pays off. If going for S ranks though
it's important to still collect all of the ninja scrolls and not use any all
to help in points.
NOTE: Most of the move names for these bosses are made up by me, I call them
like I see it so the names might not be the most creative but I named them
this way so you can identify with them better. Some bosses actually scream
out their move names though.
I will refer to each area between checkpoints as "maps".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1 Kurohagane Alpha
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kurohagane (will be nicknamed "Kuro" from now on) is the first boss you fight
in the game. He is a Nakatomi shinobi type and by far one of the easiest
bosses in the game. He rarely puts an effort in the fight even in Hard Mode
and the few attacks he performs are nothing to be afraid of. If there is any
boss you want to get away with being lazy on, then better do it on Kuro, as
it will be the last time you can get away with BS and still win vs. a boss in
this game. Here are his attacks.
Preparations:
- Ninja Scrolls
*One appears in a box early in the stage
*Second appears somewhere after your second encounter with the aircraft. You
will have to be on the look out for it as it will come flying by somewhere
between the middle and right wing (if you're facing the enemy aircraft).
- Chakra Gauge (Hibana/Hisui)
This stage is pretty easy to build CG energy in. Just make sure you perform
all Tates and you will get rewarded with a lot of CG energy throughout the
stage for them. You should have lv.3 before last set of enemies or somewhere
close. After you kill the last set of enemies the game drops two CG orbs for
you get which should get you to lv.3 if you wasn't there already.
- Akujiki Gauge (Hotsuma)
Make sure you have at least two levels of AG energy. It shouldn't be hard to
keep full AG energy in this stage. You can play pretty sloppy throughout this
whole stage and Tate the last set of enemies towards the end to get full AG
energy for the boss.
-Boss Attacks-
*****************
>> Punch Combo <<
*****************
Whenever Kuro gets close gets really close to you he will attempt to perform
a small combo (2 hits) of punch attacks. Dash away to avoid.
*****************
>> Slash Combo <<
*****************
Kuro will took a moment to pull out his sword and performs a slashing combo
similar to Hotsuma. Slash, Slash, Roundhouse Slash to be exact. He performs
this move when you're within range of the slash. You can easily dodge this
just by running away. Dash if you want to be sure to avoid.
*********************
>> Shockwave Punch <<
*********************
Kuro leaps into the air and comes down with a powerful punch that releases a
small barrier of energy around him. When he's done he will perform a backflip
to recover. This is Kuro's strongest move but still easy to avoid. Just jump
and/or dash away from him when comes down from the air.
***********
>> Block <<
***********
If you try to repeatedly slash Kuro from the front he will block the attack
and counter back with a Punch Combo or the ending Roundhouse Slash from his
Slash Combo.
****************
>> Quick Dash <<
****************
Besides casually walking around, Kuro will sometimes do a quick dash in your
direction usually to get within range for his Slash Combo attack.
********************
>> Summon Enemies <<
********************
Kuro gets tired of trying to chase you and summons 3 Genin Warriors
(white/grey ninjas) to fight you. You'll know he has summoned some enemies
cause you will hear this weird "robotic" noise. A unique thing about this
move and many more like it from other bosses is that he can cancel his other
moves into it. He will sometimes reduce the lag time from his Shockwave
Punch. It's no big deal since Kuro 1's offensive is very poor from the start
anyways.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1.1 Hibana/Hisui Strategies
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kuro is no problem for Hibana or Hisui. Kuro has very weak defense power that
even a full Tate'd lv.2 Shadow Attack can kill him in one hit even from the
front on Hard difficulty.
********************************
>> Repeated Slashing Strategy <<
********************************
If you just don't give a **** about your rank, you can just slash Kuro to
death. This is easiest with Hisui cause of her great attack range but
shouldn't be a problem for Hibana either as the guy rarely puts up a fight.
This is the only time you will see this type of strategy being listed here
and the only boss who it's effective on.
***********************************
>> Shadow Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
Doesn't get any easier than this, just avoid Kuro's attacks for a few seconds
and when he summons his enemies try to take out the one closest to him first,
then kill the rest. Charge up your Shadow Attack after you finish the last
normal enemy and let him have it. Kuro's defense is so weak that even an lv.2
Shadow Attack can kill him on Hard mode.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1.2 Hotsuma Strategies
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is not even a boss fight to Hotsuma.
********************************
>> Repeated Slashing Strategy <<
********************************
If you just don't give a **** about your rank, you can just slash Kuro to
death. Hotsuma hits hard enough that he should be able to kill Kuro quicker
than Hibana/Hisui can do using the same strategy.
************************************
>> Charge Attack Strategy (Tate'd)<<
************************************
Same as Hibana/Hisui's Shadow Attack strategy except you have to be careful
that Kuro isn't performing that Shockwave Punch move when you release the
button to do the Charge Attack, as you will most likely miss.
***************************************
>> Charge Attack Strategy (Bulldozer)<<
***************************************
When the battle first begins, do one Charge Attack. This should bring Kuro's
energy down to half. He will probably do some close range attack, just run
away and create some distance between you and him that was similar to the
length of when you did the first Charge Attack. Perform the Charge Attack
again and watch Kuro fall. If quick enough you can kill Kuro pretty damn fast
(i.e. 10 second battle). Just do this only for bragging rights as you won't
get good Tate Bonus points in the rankings.
*************************
>> Back Slash (Tate'd) <<
*************************
Just fight the same way you did for the Charge Attack Tate'd strategy, but
instead off killing Kuro off with a Charge Attack, you slash him in the back
for the critical hit which should take him down in one blow. You can try
Thunder Kick to stun him and dash behind him for the kill. One of the least
uses strategies in beating Kuro but still works and probably the only option
you have if you don't have enough AG energy (you should though in this
stage).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1.3 Joe Strategies
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fighting Kuro with Joe will probably take the longest since Joe has no real
"powerful attack" like Hibana/Hisui or Hotsuma.
********************************
>> Repeated Slashing Strategy <<
********************************
If you just don't give a **** about your rank, you can just slash Kuro to
death. Joe's sword doesn't have the strength of Hotsuma's but still has
pretty good range on it. But if you got unlimited shurikens, why waste your
time on this strategy except to look "cool"?
**************************
>> Shuriken Spam (Tate) <<
**************************
This strategy will be used for a lot of bosses with Joe. As soon as the
battle starts kill that Shuriken button. Kuro will block 80% of them from the
front side, but this is what you want to do. Just advance forward while
flinging shurikens. When you get within Shuriken Burst range, perform a
pattern of Jumping Shurikens and Shuriken Burst. He won't block the Shuriken
Burst and the normal Shurikens puts him in the same position every time.
He will summon some enemies but they will most likely be killed in the
pattern. Somewhere down to half his health, Kuro will try to get more
aggressive by using Quick Dash to close in the space but the pattern should
proved to be too much for him. Sometimes after the Quick Dash he will perform
the Shockwave Punch attack, just dodge like normal and go back into the
pattern.
When his life gets somewhere in the dark red wait till he summons the enemies
and kill them with shurikens or sword slashes and slash him one time for the
Tate. This is one of the easiest ways to get full points vs. him as you will
get the "No Damage" Bonus plus full "Vs. Nakatomi Ninja" Bonus points.
*****************************
>> Shuriken Spam (No Tate) <<
*****************************
Same as above, but once Kuro gets out of position by doing the Shockwave
Punch don't involve the Shuriken Burst in the pattern anymore cause if you
just hit Kuro with normal shurikens he most likely won't turn around and eats
up all the damage from them. This is quicker than the above method but you
don't get as many points since you didn't kill him in a Tate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1 Dangomushi
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dangomushi is the second boss you fight and the first Hellspawn demon type
boss. This is a pretty easy battle even on Hard Mode.
Preparations:
- Ninja Scrolls
*In the area of the 3rd map where you first fight the big crab like enemy who
can block. If you're playing with Hibana, it's the monster that triggers a
small cutscene when it first appears. The box that contains the scroll is to
the left of bridge right when you get off.
*In the 4th map of the stage and the area right before the boss. It's on one
of the sides of the building.
- Chakra Gauge (Hibana/Hisui)
Kill all flying enemies with jumping Slash attacks toss a shuriken at the
bigger enemies and perform the Short Sword attacks on them to rack up in the
combo hits to gain a lot of CG energy. In the beginning of the 3rd map of the
stage, head right instead of forward you should come across a lot of enemies
there, most of them are of the "big" types. If you're fast enough you can
score a Combo of 30+ hits. Even better is the box in this area contains even
more CG energy and there a few in the breakable "tank" like things here as
well. You should be pushing lv.2 when you get through with this area at the
least.
The area where the second ninja scroll is contains a lot of big enemy types.
The first area of the 4th map contains nothing but big enemies type, if you
perform a good combo of them and before, you should have a full Chakra Gauge.
If not you should be close. Drop off the sides of the building of the same
area and you should find some CG orbs to help you build a level. The last
area of the stage before the boss contains a purple orb on one of the sides
of the building if you STILL didn't have lv.3 CG energy by then.
- Akujiki Gauge (Hotsuma)
The last area before the boss should provide you with more than enough souls
for Akujiki. The most important thing is how you Tate them. If you are trying
to collect all of the scrolls, collect the third one before you start to Tate
the last set of enemies. First attack the bridge so that it falls, even
though it's behind a barrier you can still attack it. When Tate'ing, start
off with the enemies farthest away from the door and kill the crab like
monster thing last. This way you should be as close to the bridge as you can
while still having most of the Akujiki Gauge full when heading towards the
boss.
- Boss Attacks-
************************
>> Underground Attack <<
************************
Dangomushi sticks both of his tentacles into the ground and tries to attack
you. The attack looks like two small shockwaves coming after you. In Easy and
Normal mode this move travels pretty slow and can be avoided just running
away but in Hard mode it moves as fast as most shinobi can run so you will
have to use the dash to avoid it.
You can also stop it by cutting off Dangomushi's tentacles during the move or
before it. It's kind of useless though as he will grow them back very
quickly.
An important note to remember is that cutting off his tentacles increases the
Tate Timer back to full.
*****************
>> Roll Attack <<
*****************
Dangomushi glows then he curls into a ball and rolls after you. If he
summoned any enemies he will knock them down causing small damage to them so
sometimes he even kill them if he hits them enough times. Pretty easy to
dodge, just let him come to you and dash in a circle around him. The higher
the difficulty, the faster he moves during this move. By all means do not get
hit by this move cause if you get hit once you will most likely get hit
multiple times afterwards.
When he is done rolling around, he'll make a funny noise and hop back to a
random corner of the battle area. You can be damaged if you were in his way
when falling.
********************
>> Summon Enemies <<
********************
Dangomushi will "wiggle" a little and summon 3 of those four legged type
monsters. If he killed any enemy during his Roll Attack they will be replaced
a few seconds later after their death while he is still doing the Roll
Attack.
****************
>> Head Smash <<
****************
If get within range of Dangomushi's lower area he will try to headbutt you.
Miss or hit, he will be stuck to the ground for a while. It's easy to spot
this move cause he will "glow" a little before doing it but won't curl up
like when he's performing the Roll Attack, just move back away from him when
does this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2.1 Hibana/Hisui Strategies
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an easy boss with Hibana or Hisui thanks to their homing Shadow
Attack.
***********************************
>> Shadow Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
When the fight first begins quickly dash up to Dangomushi and make him
perform his Head Smash attack. This should waste time and you don't have to
worry about him doing the Underground Attack. Now when he gets up he should
summon some enemies and perform the Roll Attack. Don't worry about the
enemies and just dodge his Roll Attack. After dodging it for about 3 seconds,
start Tate'ing the enemies before Dangomushi gets back in position.
Dangomushi will perform the Underground Attack but you should have Tate'd all
of the enemies by now. Charge up the Shadow Attack and let Dangomushi have it
before you get hit. If (you should) did a lv.3 Shadow Attack, then peace out
Dangomushi.
This is the best way method to use if you were going for an S rank as it puts
you out of harm of any damage, so you can easily score the "No Damage" boss
provided you didn't take any hits earlier in the stage.
*******************************
>> Weak Spot Strategy (Tate) <<
*******************************
Do the same as above but now when you Tate'd the last enemy quickly go up to
Dangomushi and make him perform the Head Smash move then strike the Akujiki
piece with your charged weapon or Shadow Attack if you have enough time.
Should kill him in 1-4 hits depending on the attack you use and difficulty.
No real advantage of killing him this way. This is just a method to kill him
by striking the Akujiki piece on his back. If you didn't have any CG energy,
this would be your only way to take him down fast.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2.2 Hotsuma Strategies
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This boss can be kind of annoying with Hotsuma if you were trying to go for S
rank, but with practice it shouldn't be a problem.
***********************************
>> Charge Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
When battle first begins and the moment you have control of Hotsuma dash up
to the boss as quickly as you can and within range of the Head Smash move. If
you were fast enough, he will perform the move but if you were too slow he
will do the Underground Attack. You may as well start over (or Retry) if he
performs the Underground Attack or you want to continue the different
strategy below of killing him as it takes too long for the Underground Attack
to recover even if you stop it by cutting off his tentacles which means you
won't have enough AG energy to perform the Charge Attack.
If you were successful, just wait for him to recover from the Head Smash
attack and quickly go up to him and perform one Thunder Kick. He should let
out a scream. Dash away somewhere towards the area of when you first begin in
the battle and wait for him to summon the enemies. He will perform an
Underground Attack right afterwards. Kill each of the enemies slowly but
still in a Tate so when the Underground Attack ends you'll be open and able
to do the Charge Attack (you will barely have enough energy to perform so
don't mess up). One Tate'd powered Charge Attack should kill him in one blow.
This method is the quickest way to beat him and if you're good at dodging the
Underground Attack while at the same time Tate'ing, the best way to get the
"No Damage" bonus as well.
On Hard Mode the two biggest problems that comes from this strategy is not
getting to Dangomushi quick enough so he performs the Head Smash attack at
the beginning of the battle which sets up for the rest of the patterns and
the second is messing up your Tate when being chased by the Underground
Attack. If you mess up any of those key points, you won't have any AG energy
left to perform the Charge Attack and you will have to move on to another way
of killing him. To completely get rid of the second problem you can choose to
use the Raijin magic, which makes Tate'ing the enemies very easy but you lose
points in the "Tactical Success" and "Scrolls" portion of the rankings.
*******************************
>> Weak Spot Strategy (Tate) <<
*******************************
Same method as with Hibana/Hisui except with Hotsuma can only strike him with
his sword but Hotsuma's sword gets really strong when used in Tate's so you
should be able to take down the boss in one or two hits.
If you failed at the Charge Attack strategy, this will be the only way for
you have to kill the boss quickly.
********************************************
>> Last Resort Strategy (Tate or No Tate) <<
********************************************
This can apply to Hibana/Hisui as well, but they shouldn't need this. If the
two above methods of taking down Dangomushi is too tough you can always
focused your powered up sword on the lower area of him. After you strike that
part of the boss he should try the Head Smash attack, move back and strike
the weak spot of the boss. Be careful though, sometimes he will perform the
Roll Attack instead after you hit the lower area.
This method makes the boss fight pretty long as you will have to deal with
repeated Underground Attacks as well as the Roll Attack which you would never
see using the above methods. One pattern of this should take his health down
half on Hard mode and probably more on the lower difficulties. Usually after
the first pattern, he will perform the Roll Attack after you hit his lower
area, which makes this method the longest way to kill him.
You can get a "No Damage" bonus this way if you're good at dodging all of his
attacks but it's pretty pointless to aim for as you will have poor Boss
points and most likely won't get an S rank for the stage as well.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2.3 Joe Strategies
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
No matter which method you choose it's going to be a long battle with Joe
cause the boss acts so "sensitive" towards Joe's shurikens.
*************************************
>> Shuriken Spam (Tate or No Tate) <<
*************************************
Just repeatedly spam shurikens into Dangomushi's lower area right at the
beginning of the battle. After 3 or 4 shurikens he will perform the Roll
Attack even if he was in the middle of doing the Underground Attack. Dodge
the Roll Attack and repeat. This is pretty much all you do till you get his
down towards the red area (about 2 or 3 bars left). Then you have three
options:
- Tate the enemies and strike his lower area with the powered up sword or
more shurikens (if his the boss health is low enough) for a Tate finish.
- Continue on with the spamming of shurikens for a normal kill.
- Wait till some enemies are summoned and make him perform the Head Smash
attack, quickly Tate the enemies with shurikens and strike his weak spot with
your powered up sword. To make this easier, kill one enemy first before
making him do the Head Smash move.
Don't even worry about trying to reveal his weak spot through the Head Smash
and flinging shurikens at it as he will perform the Roll Attack after ONE
shuriken hits that area.
This is the longest way to beat him since you have to dodge so many Roll
Attacks, but the easiest way to get the "No Damage" bonus and full Boss
points.
********************************************
>> Last Resort Strategy (Tate or No Tate) <<
********************************************
Same way as Hotsuma's method, but will take longer cause Joe's sword isn't
that strong but it's easier cause Joe's shurikens makes Tate'ing the normal
enemies easier.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.10 Hisui
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Shinobi of Water, Hisui, shows no mercy as she lets out of her rage
against you for killing her master Jimushi. She has some serious defense in
Hard Mode but shouldn't be much of a problem in lower difficulties. She
alters her fighting style a little when fighting Joe.
Preparations:
- Ninja Scrolls
*First map, right when you start the stage head to your left and the scroll
is in an item box hanging the ledge of the bridge.
*One the third map. After scrolling the vertical wall, it's hanging on the
rail on the right side of the broken bridge. It's on the platform area where
you perform a second 3 enemy Tate on.
- Chakra Gauge (Hibana/Hisui)
There are 4 boxes in this stage that contains purple orbs worth one level on
the Chakra Gauge so there you shouldn't have any problems having full CG
energy by the time you reach the boss area. They are easy to find.
- Akujiki Gauge (Hotsuma)
Kill the last set of enemies with full Tate. Killing the big crab like enemy
last helps you have the most Ying when entering the boss area.
- Boss Attacks -
******************
>> Stealth Dash <<
******************
Similar Stealth Dash as when you're controlling her. She uses this to move
around quickly.
**************
>> Shuriken <<
**************
Hisui tosses out one shuriken that has decent tracking abilities. If it hits
you then you will become frozen. Press the Stealth Dash + any direction
rapidly to break away faster. This move doesn't go through objects, so you
can hide pieces of the bridge to avoid them or just dash out of they get near
you.
********************************************
>> Shuriken Counter-Attack (Vs. Joe only) <<
********************************************
If you attack Hisui with Joe's shurikens she will counter with a stealth-dash
to either the left or right and tosses 2 to 3 shurikens at once. She may even
toss 2-3 more after the first set. This attack is easy to avoid the closer
you are to Hisui cause you can just jump over them and the tracking abilities
of the shurikens doesn't kick in until they travel outward some.
I recommend not trying to avoid them but instead try canceling them with your
own shurikens (with Joe only). It only takes one hit to cancel one shuriken
from Hisui.
An important thing to remember is that canceling a shuriken from this attack
raises the Tate timer back to full.
***************
>> Rainstorm <<
***************
If you repeatedly try to attack Hisui at close range she will counter by
leaping high into the air and performing a Shuriken Burst. This move has
limited range compared the real Shuriken Burst as it only covers a small area
in around Hisui. Just dash away when you she her jump into the air to avoid.
*********************
>> Umberalla Swipe <<
*********************
If you get too close to Hisui she will perform the first attack of her Slash
button combo. This move is easy to avoid since this move has noticeable
start-up time. If you remain close to her after the first attack she will
continue with the combo.
***********************
>> Repeated Stabbing <<
***********************
If Hisui doesn't perform the Umbrella Swipe when you're near her, she will do
this move instead. She yells out "Die!" as she performs the same Short Sword
type attack when you're controlling her but it doesn't hit multiple times.
******************
>> Water Geyser <<
******************
Another attack Hisui performs if you're too close to her. This is the one you
should look out for the most though when at close range. Hisui yells out
"You're mine!" and summons up a Water Geyser similar to the one she uses when
you're controlling her and using the Float Kick command. It doesn't have the
Float Kick like properties but it hits multiple times and appears in the
location your shinobi was standing when she performed the move making this
one of Hisui's strongest attacks.
********************
>> Frigid Stinger <<
********************
Hisui's Umbrella glows a little then she rushes forward quickly with a
violent thrust with her weapon covered in ice. This is Hisui's strongest
move. It comes out very fast and covers some good distance but the start-up
time makes it easy to avoid.
She will perform this when you're at a mid-range distance and usually after
she performs a normal Shuriken attack.
After the attack, there is some lag time for her to recover and it's the only
time her "backside" is open for attack (hold in the dirty thoughts please).
*****************
>> Water Blade <<
*****************
Hisui yells "You won't get away!" as she sticks her Umbrella into the ground
and releases a shockwave like projectile of water that travels quickly in
your direction. This move has decent tracking abilities and is tall enough to
damage you if you don't double jump over it. It's better to dash away from it
instead.
She pulls out this move randomly at mid-range distance.
*****************
>> Water Flood <<
*****************
Hisui hops to one side of the battle area, says "Get ready!" then performs an
upgraded version of the Water Blade attack that lets out multiple Water
Blades but they lack the tracking ability. Right afterwards she floods the
whole area with water that comes up to the shinobi knees. The water slows you
down and prevents you from doing the Stealth Dash on the ground. When she
performs this move, 5 of those hovering type Genin Warrior enemies appears.
Afterwards Hisui "skates" across the top of the water flinging two shurikens
and one Water Blade attack at the same time each time she reaches one end of
battle area.
You can cancel the whole flooding process by getting near Hisui before she
takes off skating. She will try to attack you with an Umbrella Swipe ending
the Water Flood.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.10.1 Hibana/Hisui
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hibana and Hisui has the easiest time in fighting the boss on Easy and Normal
Mode. On Hard Mode, it's not so much difficult to take her down, but
difficult to get a one hit kill.
***********************************
>> Shadow Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
Make sure you have an lv.3 Shadow Attack ready to go. Just dodge Hisui's
opening attacks and when she gets ready to perform her Water Flood attack,
get close to right side or her. You basically want to be in her way when she
starts skating towards the wall. She will stop and try her Umbrella Swipe,
just perform a double jump and dash forward. You will cancel the whole Water
Flood process and she will jump to the other side of the battle area.
If you messed up just try to get close to her as she is skating across the
water, she will try to perform a Frigid Stinger instead.
Either way the enemies she summons during this move will still be around so
kill them as quickly as possibly before she gets back near you. After you
kill the last enemy in the Tate, land and try to create some distance away
from Hisui while charging your Shadow Attack. Let her have it, peace out
Hisui.
HARD MODE: The above is a one hit kill in Easy and Normal, but in Hard Mode
since Hisui's defense is so damn high you only take off half of her health
bar even if you use a lv.3 Shadow Attack. If you want a one hit kill strategy
for Hard Mode, skip down to the method below. Otherwise if you want to finish
off Hisui on Hard Mode, continue using the method above. After you use your
lv.3 Shadow Attack, perform an lv.2 Shadow Attack to drain her close to death
and use your lv.1 Shadow Attack to finish her off.
Obviously you won't get that many points in rankings doing this.
*******************************************
>> Perfect Shadow Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
*******************************************
This strategy can apply to Easy and Normal Mode, but you don't have to worry
about this unless playing Hard Mode and you want to get a one hit kill.
You basically do like before, but now when you kill the last enemy of the
Tate try to be near Hisui so she will perform the Frigid Stinger then QUICKLY
perform your lv.3 Shadow Attack on her backside. The lv.3 Shadow Attack
damage + the critical hit damage bonus from hitting in her back will allow
you to kill her in one hit.
The difficult part of this strategy is making Hisui do her Frigid Stinger
while having enough time on the Tate Timer to let off a Shadow Attack
afterwards. Remember that you can cancel your Shadow Attack if you feel
you're not in the right position or better yet can used to draw out the
Frigid Stinger from Hisui.
For example after killing the last enemy of the Tate, land and charge the
Shadow Attack. If you were at the right distance Hisui will charge up her
Frigid Stinger, just stealth dash twice away from her as she passes you by
and charge up your Shadow Attack again. Let go for the one Tate hit kill.
It's all about carefully managing the Tate Timer and drawing out Hisui's
Frigid Stinger in Hard Mode for the one hit kill.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.10.2 Hotsuma
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just like with Jimushi, careful management of Tates is the key to beating
Hisui with Hotsuma. The higher the difficulty the more precise you have to be
with your killings during Tate.
***********************************
>> Charge Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
First off if you don't have a near full Akujiki Gauge when you start the
battle you may as well start over if playing Hard Mode.
Dodge Hisui's opening attacks and wait for the Water Flood technique. Get
close to her and cancel it the same way you do when using Hibana/Hisui. Now
how you go on from here depends on the difficulty.
Easy and Normal Mode: Simple, kill all enemies starting with the one in the
far corner and work your way up towards Hisui. After killing the last enemy
land and charge up your Charge Attack. If Hisui is open, let go and finish
her off the one hit kill. If she performs the Frigid Stinger cancel the
Charge Attack with one dash to the side and perform the Charge Attack on her
backside for the one hit kill.
If you don't have enough energy for the Charge Attack wait for Hisui to
perform the Water Flood technique. When she summons the enemies don't kill
them right away but instead wait a little before she performs the Water Flood
technique again but not too late cause the enemies will disappear. The best
way to do this is to hit every enemy ONE time with a jumping slash, starting
right when the water drains down after you cancel the Water Flood technique.
If the enemy blocks your jumping slash, count that as if you actually hit the
enemy and move on to the next one. When you get to the last enemy start your
Tate by killing that same enemy and working your way down on the other
enemies. By the time you finish the last enemy Hisui should be preparing to
do another Water Flood technique and your Tate should be "failing" by then
giving you some red orbs for the Akujiki Gauge. Afterwards just go through
the same process as before to kill her off with the Charge Attack.
Hard Mode: You want to kill all of the enemies and absorb the red orbs just
as she performs the Water Flood technique again. To get the exact time wait
until all of the water is drained out of the area from the canceled Water
Flood technique then hit every enemy once with a jumping Slash and then start
your Tate on the last enemy just like before. The difference is that you have
to be very precise in doing this so that when Hisui floods the area you
should JUST be getting all of the red orbs from the dead enemies of the
"failed" Tate. If it worked then you're on your way to finishing her off. If
not, repeat the process until you get it down right. You cannot slack up on
this process.
Now cancel the second Water Flood technique like usual and kill just TWO of
the summoned enemies. I would suggest any two from the front area away from
the walls. Let the Tate "fail" so the two enemies die while you dash towards
the enemy in the far corner and start your Tate again by killing him, your
Tate timer should be ending just as your start slashing at him. The red orbs
from the previous dead enemies should just arriving to you somewhere around
the time you finish the second Tate giving you one level and half on the
Akujiki Gauge.
Land then charge up the Charge Attack but make sure your at the right
distance so the Charge Attack will hit multiple times (about the same
distance away that makes her do the Frigid Stinger) and let Hisui have it for
the one hit kill. If it doesn't hit at least 3 times then Hisui from the
front or 2 times from the back Hisui will live.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.10.3 Joe
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hisui steps up her game when fighting Joe by spamming as many shurikens as he
can! Be prepared to wear out that Shuriken button. Compared to the other
shinobi though, Joe has the easiest time in taking down on any difficulty.
***********************************
>> Shuriken Spam Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
Dodge Hisui opening attacks until she performs the Water Flood technique as
usual and be sure not to throw any shurikens at her. This just makes her
perform the Shuriken Counter-Attack and wastes time.
Cancel the Water Flood technique by getting in Hisui's way when she starts
skating. Kill the enemies using your sword. If you try to Tate them with the
shurikens, this will trigger Hisui to do her Shuriken Counter-Attack. It will
take many hits with Joe's sword since his is the weakest, but this is the
safest way to go about killing them.
After you kill the last enemy land and start spamming shurikens at Hisui. Try
jumping and tossing out the shurikens since you throw more that way making it
easier to cancel out Hisui's shurikens. If you somehow work Hisui in a corner
or in the open you can just stand on the ground pressing the Shuriken button
and you shouldn't get hit. Since canceling one of Hisui's shurikens raises
the Tate timer back to full, you just repeat the spamming of shurikens after
you kill all of the enemies until you get the Tate finish. You will get full
"Vs. Nakatomi Ninja" Bonus points.
If for some reason you mess up the Tate (i.e. you got hit by one of Hisui's
shurikens and the Tate timer ran out), just repeat the whole process again
and finish her off.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.11 Golden Palace Door a.k.a "Door of Doom"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nicknamed the Door of Doom. This is Stage 11's attempt at a boss. It was the
boss of Stage 8-A in Shinobi and it returns again. Surprisingly when using
Hibana or Hisui this boss is harder than Kuro Alpha when played at the higher
difficulties because of the armor you have to break from the enemies it
summons.
Preparations:
- Ninja Scrolls
*First map, you should see an item box on a ledge right when you start the
stage. Just make your way around to that area and get the scroll out of the
box.
*Third map, in the area where you fight 4 flying type enemies and a small
green platform. It's in the item box.
- Shurikens (Hibana/Hisui)
While not required, having at least 8 shurikens can make fighting this boss A
LOT easier. Shuriken Burst breaks enemies armors instantly but cost 8
shurikens to perform.
- Chakra Gauge (Hibana/Hisui)
There are plenty of purple orbs just hanging on the many walls you have to
run across on this stage and some in boxes such as in that area on the second
map where you have to perform the 10 enemy Tate. You should have no problems
having an lv.3 Shadow Attack ready by the time you reach the boss.
- Akujiki Gauge (Hotsuma)
You can either kill the last set of enemies before reaching the boss area or
kill all of the enemies the boss summons and let them die. It won't take a
full Akujiki Gauge to beat this boss.
- Boss Attacks -
********************
>> Summon Enemies <<
********************
This isn't really an attack of the boss but when you reach the boss area 4 of
those flying type enemies will show up. After a while 5 more enemies appear
including 1 big armored monster in the pack.
If you kill all of the enemies but didn't finish the boss in a Tate then they
will reappear. They basically just keep coming until you finish off the boss.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.11.1 Hibana/Hisui
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If it wasn't for the fact that Hibana and Hisui had to break the armors of
their enemies before damaging them they would be tied with Hotsuma for the
easiest time in taking down the boss.
***********************************
>> Shadow Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
If you have enough shurikens, then wait until all 9 enemies are summoned then
stand in the middle of the pack and perform the Shuriken Burst. All of the
armor from the enemies should be broken except maybe the big armored monster
on Hard Mode. Start striking down all of the enemies afterwards to begin your
Tate.
If you didn't have enough shurikens for a Shuriken Burst then I would
recommend knocking off the armor from all of the enemies first then start on
your Tate.
If the big monster gives you a hard time, start your Tate off on him first
and continue on with the weaker flying enemies. After your finish the last
enemy land and perform an lv.3 Shadow Attack, which should "kill" the boss in
one hit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.11.2 Hotsuma
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hotsuma doesn't even break a sweat with this boss since Akujiki slices
through armor. To slash the enemies that can block, attack them from their
backside.
***********************************
>> Charge Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
The only thing you have to think about is which enemy you want to start
killing first in the Tate. Just wait for all 9 enemies to be summoned and go
to work. If you have enough shurikens for Shuriken Burst you can use that to
calm down the flying type enemies from firing projectiles at you. The big
armored monster shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you saved him to be
killed last in the Tate he will go down in one hit from the charged sword.
Kill him last so you will be close to the door, land and perform your Charge
Attack on the door for the one hit Tate finish.
If you don't have enough energy to perform the Charge Attack then just kill
all of the enemies and let the Tate "fail" and absorb the red orbs to fill up
the Akujiki Gauge to about level 2 and go through the Charge Strategy as
normal. There's no reason for you to not use a Charge Attack on this boss.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.11.3 Joe
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only hard part about this boss with Joe is getting to him.
**********************************************
>> Shuriken Spam Strategy (Tate or no Tate) <<
**********************************************
Way too easy. Just kill off every enemy with Joe's shurikens and keep
flinging shurikens at the door afterwards. The easiest way to this is stand
against the invisible wall that was made when you entered the boss area and
jump around from left to right while repeatedly tossing shurikens. This way
you will avoid the enemies projectiles and the lock on system will target all
the enemies in order for you with the boss being the last target. If you're
quick enough with the shurikens you can keep the Tate timer "steady" until
the your drain all of the health from the boss for the Tate finish. Most
likely though the Tate timer will run out on higher difficulties before you
can Tate the boss but you should have put in a lot of damage before then. If
the Tate time runs out, get a few extra shuriken hits in on the boss and
repeat the process once the enemies are summoned again.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.12 Unknown Hellspawn Lord
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another one of my favorite Hellspawn Lord type bosses, mostly for its theme
song. This boss can be a real pain or you can actually breeze through the
battle with the girls and Hotsuma depending if you prepared yourself
correctly.
Sadly Joe has the most difficulty time with this boss, especially on Hard
Mode due to a lack of a "powerful" attack such as the Shadow Attack or Charge
Attack. If you try spamming shurikens you will be in for a very long battle.
This boss has 2 forms, the first form has very limited movelist and doesn't
have a health bar but only takes 3 hits to take down while the second form
has more moves and a health bar.
Preparations:
- Ninja Scrolls
*First map, the room where you have to perform a 10 enemy Tate in. It's in
the box right next to the big armored enemy.
*Third map, on the right side on the "third" level of platforms. It's guarded
by another big armored type enemy.
- Shurikens (Hibana/Hisui/Hotsuma)
Having enough shurikens for the Shuriken Burst can make a BIG difference in
this battle. The enemies the boss summons requires you to break their armors
first before killing them. This is not so bad in Easy and Normal Mode as it
only takes one kick to break the armor but in Hard Mode it takes 2 kicks.
This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the enemies on Hard
Mode are some of the most annoying mofos every put in a Shinobi game. As
you're trying to break their armor they sometimes will perform a rush attack
on you that grants them invincible frames at the start of the move if they
were wearing armor.
This is where Shuriken Burst comes in, since it breaks the armor of all
surrounding enemies, killing them in a Tate is much easier since you don't
have to worry about the whole "kick, kick, dodge a super accurate projectile
from enemy + dodge boss attacks" routine.
You will only need one Shuriken Burst at the least, but it would probably
safe to have two Shuriken Burst ready to go at the boss fight. Remember you
need 8 shurikens to perform a Shuriken Burst, at the least you should have 16
come boss time.
Hotsuma really doesn't need Shuriken Bursts but it makes the job much easier.
I would say you need 32 (maximum amount) on Hard Mode while subtracting 8
when going down to lower difficulties (i.e. Normal Mode = 24, Easy Mode = 16)
when playing with Hotsuma.
*First map, there are plenty of shuriken items in the different areas of the
room. One is hanging in the air of the "t" like section, another is hidden in
the green objects you can destroy. There is one sitting next a group of 4
flying enemies lined up vertically.
*Fourth map, on the small platform where the health container is on smash the
green object above and a shuriken item should be there.
I'm not saying you can't use shurikens in this stage cause you surely will
need them vs. some enemies. I use one shuriken on about every big type enemy
in the first map and didn't use any more until I got to the boss. I still had
32 shurikens when it came boss time. As long as you don't perform any
Shuriken Burst before boss fight you should be fine.
- Chakra Gauge (Hibana/Hisui)
Stage 11 doesn't sit well with a lot of players but I'm glad to say that you
can build around 2 levels and half before even reaching the second map. When
performing the Tates, kill the flying enemies first while saving the bigger
ones for last. On Hard Mode it's probably best to break the armor off all of
the flying type enemies first before starting your Tate to avoid it failing
because some flying enemy decided to perform the rushing attack against you
mid-Tate. On the big crab like enemies, kill them last and always with Short
Sword attacks. Mix in one shuriken to stun them if you want. You can easily
rack up 50+ combos on those guys.
On the bigger enemies that can shoot purple smog at you, it takes 11 jumping
Slashes on Hard Mode to kill them without any charge on your weapon. Since
you can't use Short Sword attacks on these enemies sometimes it's best to
kill all of the other enemies in the room but let your Tate fail so you can
perform 11 hit combos on these guys to rack up extra energy in the Chakra
Gauge. Now if your Combo counter was already over 11, then continue to kill
them normally with your charge weapon to add even more hits on the combo
counter.
By having 2 and half levels on the Chakra Gauge before even reaching the
second map you can avoid A LOT of unnecessary fights and still have an lv.3
Shadow Attack ready for the boss.
On the third map there are 2 purple orbs floating on the street walls you
have to climb. On the fourth map, there is a huge purple orb hanging on the
platform that leads you to the 3rd seal to break, which should boost your
Chakra Gauge to lv.3 if you weren't there already.
- Akujiki Gauge (Hotsuma)
Throughout the stage, skip as many fights as you can only fighting enemies to
break the seal barriers. On the fourth map, the last one, when you reach the
final seal to break kill the two big enemies first and the 3 flying ones
last. After the Tate scene quickly dash to the door but don't go through yet
until you got all of your red orbs.
SPECIAL HARD MODE S-RANK NOTE: It's possible to skip a majority of the fights
and still get an S-rank but you have to take little to no damage or else you
will always get an A even if you Tate the boss in one hit. I only mention
this cause I know how annoying this stage can be to players. This only
applies to Hibana or Hisui cause it's impossible to get an S rank on Hard
Mode with Hotsuma and Joe. If you still want an S-rank for this stage do the
following:
--------------------
- Try to take as little damage as possible or non at all if you can. Break
the armor off all enemies before Tate'ing to make it easier. On the big
enemies stun them with shurikens to calm them down. At the least you should
get a "Little Damage" Bonus at the results screen.
- You can skip all fights besides the ones that block you off with a barrier
seal. On the first map you can break most seals by flinging a shuriken at
them. Only fight in areas you need to for energy on the Chakra Gauge.
- On the third and fourth map, it's possible to avoid every fight except the
enemies on the platform leading to the two large moving platforms on the
fourth map. You will have to take out the flying enemies or your risk getting
shot when trying to hang on the moving platforms.
- Collect all ninja scrolls, shuriken items, and health items to aid in the
Nakatomi Supplies Bonus points area. There are health items in the boss area
too. They are easier to get during his first form right after he reveals his
weak spot.
- Tate the boss in one hit to receive full "Vs. Hellspawn Lord" Bonus points.
Don't use any magic, not even Raijin.
If you follow the above, you should barely squeeze in the required amount of
points for an S-rank.
------------------------
- Boss Attacks: First Form -
The boss follows a very strict pattern on both forms, here is the pattern for
the first form.
- Red Bars
- reveals weak spot
- Fire Cannon (sometimes a second round will follow the first)
- Demon Hands (must kill both hands to end attack)
- repeat
**************
>> Red Bars <<
**************
The boss sticks his fingernails (?) into the ground and they travel across
the ground taking up 95% of the screen. The first sets of bars are vertical
while the second set is horizontal. There are small gaps between the bars
that you can use to escape through or you can do the super lazy method of
avoiding them by hiding in one of the two corners on the side of the boss
before he performs the move. Most players would prefer this method.
*****************
>> Fire Cannon <<
*****************
The boss fires two fireballs toward your shinboi's location and explodes into
violent waves when they hit the ground. You can avoid this move by double
jumping and dashing into the center of the explosion or you can let the
fireballs hit the ground and outrun the waves by dashing repeatedly but you
must have enough room to do this.
He always performs this move after revealing his weak spot.
*****************
>> Demon Hands <<
*****************
The boss goes into the ground and on the other side of the battle area
appears it's two hands. Be sure to not be in way when the hands are rising
out of the ground or you will be damaged. The Left Hand shoots fireballs from
the palm of its hands while the Right Hand shoots 3 orbs of green blob at
you. When the blobs hit the ground they explode into small puddles that can
slow down your shinobi if you walk over it.
5 flying type enemies are also summon during this phase. If you kill off the
hands first the enemies go away with them.
He always perform this move after you hit his weak spot and after using the
Fire Cannon at least once.
- Boss Attacks: Second Form -
He still follows a very strict pattern:
- Red Bars (upgraded)
- reveals weak spot
- Meteor
- Summon Enemies (almost at the same time he performs Meteor)
- Fire Cannon
- Fire Cannon
- protects weak spot
- repeat
*The only exception is that is if you kick he 3 times when he reveals his
weak spot, he will perform the Roar of Hell and the pattern alters slightly:
Only after Roar of Hell
- Summons enemies (if they weren't any on screen before)
- Fire Cannon
- protects weak spot
- goes back to default pattern of attacks starting with Red Bars
The boss keeps all of his previous moves except for Demon Hands. Red Bars is
now upgraded to 3 sets of bars now, one vertical, one horizontal, and one
that covers all areas except for a small gap in the middle which you can
either run or dash through. He gains the following new attacks:
************
>> Meteor <<
************
The boss fires two meteor like projectiles at you that has decent tracking
abilities. If they miss and hit the ground they create small platforms that
you can step on.
Just keep dashing away from them to dodge and "trick" the projectiles into
hitting the ground instead of you.
*****************
>> Demon Swipe <<
*****************
Still not quite sure on the conditions of this move but the boss will swipe
from the middle of the battle area to sides. He usually only does this move
to get rid of the platforms created from the Meteor attack but I seem him
perform this move out of nowhere before.
********************
>> Summon Enemies <<
********************
After performing the Red Bars attack and around the same time he performs the
Meteor attack the boss will summon 5 flying type enemies that wears armor.
The enemies will stay on screen until you kill them or the boss kills them
with his Demon Swipe attack.
******************
>> Roar of Hell <<
******************
This is the "taunt" of the boss. After you kick the boss in the head a few
times he will let a VERY LOUD roar and summon some enemies on screen if there
weren't any on screen before. This breaks apart the normal pattern the boss
follows, he will do some more Fire Cannon attacks during this period.
During this whole time his eyes glows with purple energy indicating that this
is his "weak time" allowing you to do double the damage. You have plenty of
time to take advantage of this but after he's done he will go back to default
pattern of attacks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.12.1 Hibana/Hisui
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hibana and Hisui may have the hardest time getting to the boss, but they have
the easiest time in taking down the boss once they get there.
***********************************
>> Shadow Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
**************
| First Form |
**************
Avoid the Red Bars attack by hiding in one of the corners on the side of the
boss. It doesn't matter which one but I prefer the left side.
The boss will then reveal his weak spot, just perform a jumping Slash on the
boss and stand near him but have the camera facing him so you can see when he
performs the Fire Cannon attack. When he does this just dash repeatedly to
the other side of the room. You should outrun the waves this way. If he
performs another one just dodge it by using the double jump > dashing method.
When he goes into the ground and performs his Demon Hand attack, kill off the
Left Hand first. On Hard Mode it takes 11 hits to take down one hand. You can
easily do this by doing a jumping Slash > locked on stealth dash > jumping
Slash combination. After you take down the Left Hand, go to the Right Hand
and finish it off. Don't worry about the enemies but watch out for their
projectiles when attacking the hands. If you try to attack the enemies you
only waste time if trying to kill them and hitting the hands with your
charged weapon cause you have to break off the armor of the enemies first.
When you kill the hands go up near the boss but not too close or you will be
damaged as he is rising out of the ground. He will perform his Red Bars
attack again but you should be hiding in the corner before he does this.
Repeat this pattern 3 times to easily kill his first form.
***************
| Second Form |
***************
When you kill his first form, quickly get out of the boss's way as you can be
damaged when he is rising out of the ground some more. After he is done,
quickly hide in one of the corners to avoid his upgraded version of the Red
Bars attack.
After he is done with the Red Bars attack, stand in the center of the boss
and wait for the enemies to be summon and dash all the way around in a circle
against the walls. This way you will avoid the Meteor attack and any
projectiles the enemies fire out. Avoid the first round of the Fire Cannon
then perform a Shuriken Burst on the enemies. Go up to boss and perform a
double jump as high as you can then perform 3 Aerial Kicks on the boss's
face. This will trigger the Roar of Hell. Now quickly go kill off the
enemies, perform a Shuriken Burst again if you want to, land but make sure to
avoid the Fire Cannon attack before landing and perform a lv.3 Shadow Attack
on the boss in his weaken state. If you hit the boss after the Roar of Hell
while his eyes is glowing purple with an lv.3 Shadow Attack you will do
critical damage and kill him in one hit. Peace out boss.
If possible you can try to create a platform in front of the boss from the
Meteor attack to aid in you kicking him in the face. If you didn't have
enough shurikens for the Shuriken Burst then the best way to go about
Tate'ing the enemies is the break the armor off each first then start your
Tate.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.12.2 Hotsuma
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the boss's target area being so high in the air it's impossible for
Hotsuma to use his Charge Attack against the boss. To beat the boss you will
have to resort using charged Akujiki slashes but without an aerial kick to
trigger the Roar of Hell you will have to hit the boss repeatedly with
charged Akujiki slashes to kill him.
If there is a faster, more S-rank like method, for Hotsuma to kill this boss
let me know.
*******************************************
>> Charged Akujiki Slash Strategy (Tate) <<
*******************************************
**************
| First Form |
**************
Just follow the same methods as when using Hibana and Hisui except when he
summons the Demon Hands take out the Left Hand first then kill all of the
enemies. Don't use Shuriken Burst here, it's a waste. After you kill all of
the enemies then go for the Right Hand with your charged sword, which should
die in one hit. This way you get a good amount of red orbs back for the
Akujiki Gauge and slay the Right Hand quickly. Repeat this pattern until the
boss goes into his second form.
***************
| Second Form |
***************
Again dodge like usually but when boss summons the enemies kill all of the
enemies quickly then go up to boss, perform a double jump as high you can
then perform a locked on air dash > jumping slash combination. You should be
able to slash the boss THREE times with a powered up sword since the Tate
timer goes back up slightly when you hit him your sword.
To easily do this, start with the enemy furthest away from the boss and
finish off the one closest to him last but don't start Tate'ing until after
he finishes the Meteor attack. This way you should be airborne the whole time
while he is firing his Fire Cannon so you can avoid that.
After three hits the boss will protect his weak spot and quickly go back into
the beginning of his attack pattern starting with Red Bars. Just hide in the
corner to avoid like usual.
On Hard Mode 3 charged slashes should take off a nice chunk of damage. You
will have repeat this whole pattern four times to kill off the boss for a
Tate finish and less on lower difficulties. Of course since you hit the boss
so many times you won't do very well in the rankings, which makes it
impossible for Hotsuma to get an S-rank in Hard Mode. The lower the
difficulty the more damage Hotsuma will do to the boss per charged slash so
you could possibly get away an S-rank on Easy Mode using this method.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.12.3 Joe
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poor Joe, the boss treats him worst than Hotsuma. So far I haven't found an
effective method of taking down the boss that I'm proud of with Joe. It's
possible to use the same strategy as Hotsuma but lack of power from his sword
makes this battle way too long. Shurikens aren't effective on the boss as
they do pitful damage on Hard Mode.
**********************************************
>> Charged Sword Slash Strategy (Temporary) <<
**********************************************
Follow the same strategy as with using Hotsuma except with a few changes:
**************
| First Form |
**************
When he summons the Demon Hands you can kill them quickly just by spamming
jumping shurikens with Joe. Don't worry about the enemies.
***************
| Second Form |
***************
Joe has unlimited Shuriken Burst but by the time you all the enemies with
just shurikens the boss will be doing his Red Bars attack again. It's better
to just use the Shuriken Burst to break the armor and use Joe's sword instead
in Tate'ing. Do not hit the boss with shurikens as it will protect its weak
spot after a few hits from them.
If someone has a better method, I would really like to hear it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.13 Kurohagane Final
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kuro fuses with Akujiki and reveals his "perfect" form. Fighting with similar
style of Akujiki's past master, Hotsuma, with a little dash of Hiruko thrown
in, Kurohagane's perfect form proves quite worthy of the title "last boss",
at least for Hibana, Hisui, and Joe.
Final Kuro has 2 forms. The first form is mostly about breaking down his
energy barrier to do damage to him. You only have to bring his health down to
half for him to go into his second form. On his second form, he will be more
aggressive, have more attacks, and you have to bring his health down
completely to kill him.
Preparations:
- Ninja Scrolls
*One scroll is in the box right behind Kuro when the battle first begins.
*The other is hanging off the edges to the left of the first scroll. Perform
a single jump to it and double jump > dash back to the fighting area.
- Chakra Gauge (Hibana/Hisui)
This is pretty hard to fill up since you only fight Kuro and no other enemies
before the actual boss fight like the rest of the stages. Everytime you knock
down Kuro's barrier, you will get some purple orbs to fill up your Chakra
Gauge. In Easy Mode, you get at least one level worth of CG energy every time
you knock down the barrier, in Normal Mode about half a level and in Hard
Mode only about 1/3 of a level.
To aid in building CG energy in higher difficulties, get behind Kuro after
the barrier breaks and wait about 1 second while he is mumbling "Akujiki!
Awaken!" and floating then perform the Short Sword Attack. You should get
about 15 or 20 hits depending on how early or late you did the attack when
Kuro was landing.
While performing the Short Sword Attack he will either block your attack mid
way or jump out of it to perform his Leaping Shuriken Attack.
If he blocks, quickly jump straight up and perform an Aerial Kick > aerial
Slash combo, land and press the Slash button again. If he blocks repeat the
pattern again. Sometimes Kuro will try to strike you but you will override
his attack and he will get hit. If this happens just press the Slash button
again and again as long as Kuro takes the hits. Make sure you hit using only
the first slash of the Slash combo. If you try the other types of hits Kuro
override them with his Teleport Slash Combo. This method builds extra CG
energy slowly but it's better than non at all.
If he did the Leaping Shuriken Attack, dash away from him and dodge the
shuriken he tosses. Now if you want you can attempt to get close to him to
make him fall into the Aerial Kick > aerial Slash combo pattern again but if
you mess up your timing of your aerial or ground attack Kuro will attack you
first with his Teleport Slash Combo.
- Akujiki Gauge (Hotsuma)
Hotsuma starts with full AG energy, so he's good to go at the start of every
battle vs. Kuro.
- Boss Attacks: First Form -
********************
>> Energy Barrier <<
********************
Kuro puts a red barrier around him that acts like armor on normal enemies or
the armor from Kuro 2 instead of just deflecting attacks normally you will
take damage if you try to strike him. This works vs. all attacks except for
the Kicks and Hotsuma's Charge Attack. Shurikens will just be deflected
normally without taking any damage.
You will have to Kick Kuro a certain number of times to break down the
barrier so you can do real damage to him. The number depends on the
difficulty:
Easy: 3
Normal: 5
Hard: 10
While the Energy Barrier is up he will only perform the following moves:
- Safety Teleport
- Backwards Stealth Dash
- Shurikens
- Red Wave
- Gates of Hell
When it's down, he will perform all of the above moves except the Backwards
Stealth Dash plus the following moves:
- Teleport Slash Combo
- Forward Stealth Dash
- Block > Counter-Attack
- Leaping Shuriken Attack
****************************
>> Backwards Stealth Dash <<
****************************
If you're trying to kick Kuro from the front, he will move backwards quickly
with his arms folded to avoid the attack. Sometimes he will counter back with
the Red Wave attack or Shurikens.
*********************
>> Safety Teleport <<
*********************
When Kuro runs out of room to dash backwards to, he will teleport to the
other side of the battle area while leaving behind a red clone. Your lock on
target will still be locked on the clone if you were focused on Kuro before
he performed the teleport.
***************
>> Shurikens <<
***************
Kuro performs this move if you're either too far away from him or after
performing his Red Wave attack. He yells out "Come here!" and tosses some 4
kunais/daggers at you that has decent tracking ability. To avoid just dash
through them, or move in a "Left, Right, Left, Right" pattern to avoid.
Getting hit by one causes your shinobi to be paralyzed. Press the Stealth
Dash button repeatedly to escape.
Usually when you get within close range of Kuro while he is performing this
move and he has the Energy Barrier up he will stop but it doesn't work all
the time so don't rely on it.
**************
>> Red Wave <<
**************
Kuro floats a little above ground while mumbling something along the lines of
"This is Akujiki's Power and Justice" (I can't make out what he really say)
while releasing 3 red ground fireballs in your direction at the time when he
started the move. To dodge just dash to left or right repeatedly to avoid the
first fireball and the second one that follows on either side or perform a
double jump over the first one.
He will usually perform this move after a Backwards Stealth Dash. You can
knock Kuro out of this move before he lets out the fireballs by kicking him.
If you dashed behind Kuro to avoid the attack make sure not to be too close
while he is finishing the move as the third wave that comes out covers a
little of Kuro's backside so it's possible for you to still get hit.
*******************
>> Gates of Hell <<
*******************
Kuro screams "Gates of Hell!" as he floats up and lights up different parts
of the battle area with dark red energy. You are shown which areas will be
affected briefly before the beams of light come up so dodging this move is a
matter of not being in the affected area.
There are many patterns of this move, so far I counted up to 6 different
patterns but there could be more. He will usually perform this move after the
Shuriken attack.
**************************
>> Teleport Slash Combo <<
**************************
If Kuro's Energy Barrier is down and you're near him he will perform this
attack. He performs a 5 hit Slash Combo that looks very similar to
Moritsune's old combo from Shinobi when you fought him. After each slash of
the combo Kuro warps to another area near you to attack. For the first two
hits, he doesn't teleport as far but the third hit he can teleport all the
way from across the battle area to hit you.
You can avoid this move by just dashing away from him when he's near you or
you can stop it by jumping up and attacking him with the Aerial Kick or
jumping Slash.
If Kuro goes off the edge while performing this attack he will do a Safety
Teleport.
**************************
>> Forward Stealth Dash <<
**************************
Similar to the Backwards Stealth Dash only that Kuro moves forward (duh). He
will usually perform two of these in a row and he does this to get within
range so he can do his Teleport Slash Combo.
****************************
>> Block > Counter-Attack <<
****************************
Sometimes when you try to strike Kuro he will block and then quickly try to
counter back with a slow moving forward stab. He only does this move when his
Energy Barrier is down. To avoid just jump or dash out of way as the counter
attack is a very slow.
*****************************
>> Leaping Shuriken Attack <<
*****************************
If you try to strike Kuro up close and he doesn't block it, then he will most
likely perform this attack instead. He leaps into the air and falls down with
one Shuriken attack that seems to have way better tracking ability than the
normal ones. He also will do this move if you're repeatedly attacking him
such as with the Short Sword attacks. You can't stop this attack since he is
invincible when jumping high into the air.
- Boss Attacks: Second Form -
Kuro keeps all of his attacks from the first form except the Energy Barrier
and the Backwards Stealth Dash. He gains the following moves:
- Big Akujiki Slash
- Divine Judgment
- Shadow Charge Attack
Also after the Shuriken attack he will perform the Red Wave attack a lot more
instead of doing the Gates of Hell.
***********************
>> Big Akujiki Slash <<
***********************
Kuro lets out an ugly battle cry as he slowly takes Akujiki out of his sheath
and performs one huge slash with it. This move covers A LOT of area and is
his strongest attack, without any special conditions, as it easily eats away
half of your lifebar. He is completely invincible when doing this move so
it's not the best time to try to hit him with a Shadow Attack or Charge
Attack.
To avoid this move just get the hell away from the hit range of this attack
or perform a double jump. The hit range of this is so big that you can't
avoid it by jumping normally.
There is a lot of lag time after this move as Kuro will just stand there but
he will be in "block mode" so you can't just normally slash him (your sword
will be deflected) you have to use Kick or Thunder Kick and attack
afterwards.
He will perform this attack randomly out of nowhere or if you managed to
damage enough clones from either his Divine Judgment or Shadow Charge Attack.
*********************
>> Divine Judgment <<
*********************
While not the most damaging, this is easily the most annoying move of Kuro's
movelist. He summons 6 red clones then they along with Kuro himself all run
the edge of the battle area and gathers energy for about 4 or 5 seconds. You
can kill the clones with one hit but if you failed to hit a certain number of
clones in time they will light up the whole battle area with blue energy,
which is impossible to avoid by any normal means. The amount of clones you
must kill depends on the difficulty.
Easy = 2 clones
Normal = 4 clones
Hard = 5 clones
When you cancel the attack by killing the required amount of clones Kuro will
perform his Big Akujiki Slash instead so make sure you're not close to him
after killing the last clone.
If you failed to kill the required amount of clones, there is one way to
avoid taking damage but it involves a magic scroll. Perform a Shuriken Burst
then perform the Ka'en magic attack. Doing this you will have enough air time
to avoid the attack below. Doing this you will lose some points from the
"Tactical Success" and "Item Scrolls" part of the rankings but if you didn't
take any damage before and still want to aim for the "No Damage" bonus this
is the only way for you to keep it.
He usually performs this move after the Red Wave.
**************************
>> Shadow Charge Attack <<
**************************
Combining Hibana and Hisui's Shadow Attack with Hotsuma's Charge Attack
results in an attack that has the potential to be Kuro's most powerful one in
his movelist.
Kuro summons 6 red clones again, but this time they surround Kuro in a circle
as Kuro poses and charges up for about 4 seconds. Afterwards he will blaze
towards your direction with a powerful strike that can do a little or a lot
of damage depending on how many clones you didn't take out before he did the
move. If you didn't kill any clones and he performs the attack the damage he
can do is even greater than taking a hit from the Big Akujiki Slash.
Like Divine Judgment if you take out a certain number of clones you will
cancel the attack and he will do the Big Akujiki Slash instead. Same number
requirements:
Easy = 2 clones
Normal = 4 clones
Hard = 5 clones
He usually performs this move after the Red Wave if he didn't do Divine
Judgment instead.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.13.1 Hibana/Hisui
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hibana and Hisui have the second easiest time in taking down Kuro. The
hardest thing in fighting Kuro with the girls is having enough CG energy when
you get to his second form. This is not a problem on Easy mode as you get one
level worth of CG energy every time you take down the Energy Barrier but you
will repeatedly have to go through the process of breaking it down and
letting him summon it back up again to have enough CG energy in Hard mode.
**************
| First Form |
**************
This part is actually harder than the second form.
- Breaking down the Energy Barrier -
Breaking down the Energy Barrier is simple, but requires some patient on
higher difficulties. Kuro is only vulnerable to kicks from his backside, when
performing his Shuriken or Red Wave attacks.
To kick him on his backside just dash up to him quickly, lock on and perform
a dash behind him. You should be able to get 2 kicks in on Normal and Hard
mode and 3 kicks on Easy mode (the requirement to break down the barrier in
that mode). If you attempt a third kick he will perform the Backwards Stealth
Dash move and maybe the Red Wave. Just repeat the pattern until you break
down the barrier.
- When the Energy Barrier is down -
Get behind Kuro after the barrier breaks and wait about 1 second while he is
mumbling "Akujiki! Awaken!" and floating then perform the Short Sword Attack.
You should get about 15 or 20 hits depending on how early or late you did the
attack when Kuro was landing.
While performing the Short Sword Attack he will either block your attack mid
way or jump out of it to perform his Leaping Shuriken Attack.
If he blocks, quickly jump straight up and perform an Aerial Kick > aerial
Slash combo, land and press the Slash button again. If he blocks repeat the
pattern again. Sometimes Kuro will try to strike you but you will override
his attack and he will get hit instead. If this happens just press the Slash
button again and again as long as Kuro takes the hits. Make sure you hit
using only the first slash of the Slash combo. If you try the other types of
hits Kuro may override them with his Teleport Slash Combo.
If he did the Leaping Shuriken Attack, dash away from him and dodge the
shuriken he tosses. Now if you want you can attempt to make him fall into the
Aerial Kick > aerial Slash combo pattern again by doing a Slash attack when
you get near him but if you mess up your timing of your aerial or ground
Slash attack Kuro will attack you first with his Teleport Slash Combo. If you
want to make the battle of his first form go by quicker you will take this
risk.
After a while, he will bring back up the Energy Barrier and you go through
the process of breaking it down again. You basically repeat all of this until
you get Kuro's health half way down and make him go into his second form.
***************
| Second Form |
***************
If you got at least two levels on the Chakra Gauge then you shouldn't have
any problems. You basically wait for Kuro to do the Divine Judgment or Shadow
Charge Attack, take out the clones and finish him off with a Shadow Attack.
***********************************
>> Shadow Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
After Kuro goes into his second form if you haven't already, destroy the
little fence like structures on the edge of the battle area. It's not needed
unless you're going for S rank, but aids you in dodging Kuro's Teleport Slash
Combo.
Just get near the edges and if Kuro tries to perform the TSC attack, he will
go off the edge and teleport to the other side ending the attack. When he
does the Shuriken attack, be on the look out for the Red Wave attack
afterwards. Usually after he performs that attack, he will follow up with
either Divine Judgment or Shadow Charge Attack.
- If he performs Divine Judgment, try to kill 1 or 2 clones before they reach
the edge of the battle area so it's easier to take down the required amount
clones on the higher difficulties. After you done that, charge up the Shadow
Attack and wait for Kuro to be through with his Big Akujiki Slash and let him
have it for the Tate finish. If you kill about 4 or 5 clones and perform a
lv.2 Shadow Attack it should finish him off even on Hard mode.
- If he performs the Shadow Charge Attack, kill off the clones by slashing at
one, running normally up to the next one and slashing the next one. Once you
kill the required amount dash back or away from Kuro to avoid the Big Akujiki
Slash and charge up your Shadow Attack. Wait until the extra clones fade away
and let Kuro have it for the Tate finish.
**********************************************
>> Weapon Attack Strategy (Tate or no Tate) <<
**********************************************
Go through the same process as above except now when you kill the required
amount of clones dash up to Kuro after he performed his Big Akujiki Slash,
kick him and attack him with your charged weapon. If you're fast enough you
can strike him on his backside for the critical hit but you still most likely
won't kill him in one hit. This is easier to do after the Shadow Charge
Attack than Divine Judgment.
You would only have to resort to this method if you have less than two levels
on the Chakra Gauge.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.13.2 Hotsuma
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
You would think Hotsuma would have the hardest time fighting Kuro but his
Charge Attack allows him to sweep through this battle in record time. The
Charge Attack goes through armor so you don't have to worry about going
through the kicking process.
**************
| First Form |
**************
The only difficulty part about this form is getting in the right position so
your Charge Attack hits multiple times. You should be able to take out Kuro's
first form with at least 2 Charge Attacks. If not, you may as well restart.
To get in the right position for the multiple hitting Charge Attack try to
perform the attack in the dark color section where the item box is.
Another "sweet spot" is to the left of the item box where the dark color area
sort of forms a "U" shape. The first position is easier to get by following
the directions below.
- Setting up the right distance for a mega damaging Charge Attack -
When the battle first start perform two Stealth Dashes towards Kuro's body.
Tap forward slighty so that Hotsuma moves a little to the right of Kuro and
perform one jump forward. Right before you land perform another jump and dash
forward while holding down the Slash button at the end of the dash. When you
land you should be charging and created the perfect distance away from Kuro
for a multiple hitting Charge Attack. Release the button and hit Kuro with
the Charge Attack.
If you were at the right distance you will take all of the health required
for him to go into the second form. If you were slightly off you take down
about half of the requirement. To make up the damage, quickly go back close
to the same spot as before and perform the attack again.
Pat yourself on the back as you defeated Kuro's first form in under 3-5
seconds (depending if you got the perfect distance the first time).
***************
| Second Form |
***************
When Kuro is going into second form, he will get you some Ying (red orbs)
that should bring your Akujiki Gauge back to level two. Also Kuro always
performs the Big Akujiki Slash for his first attack if you finished his first
form off with a Charge Attack.
***********************************
>> Charge Attack Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
This is pretty simple. Let Kuro perform his Divine Judgment or Shadow Charge
Attack. Kill all of the clones but don't go in for the kill if you don't have
enough energy to perform the Charge Attack (you most likely won't on higher
difficulties). You basically do this to get some more energy in the Akujiki
Gauge. Just wait for Kuro to perform his Divine Judgment or Shadow Charge
Attack again, kill the required amount of clones and finish off Kuro with the
Charge Attack after he performs the Big Akujiki Slash. If he performed this
move after the Shadow Charge Attack dash away to avoid being hit and strike
him with the Charge Attack afterwards.
If you still didn't have enough energy for the Charge Attack, just absorb the
red orbs and wait for the next opportunity to strike him with the Charge
Attack. It's easier to strike him after the Shadow Charge Attack since you
will be closer when you kill the required amount of clones.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.13.3 Joe
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kuro is the hardest to fight with Joe not because of the difficulty but how
long the fight can be on higher difficulties. Thanks to Joe's powerful
Thunder Kick though it doesn't take long to break down his Energy Barrier
like Hibana and Hisui.
**************
| First Form |
**************
- Breaking down the Energy Barrier -
Get the first hit from the Thunder Kick the same way you did with Hibana or
Hisui. Thanks to Joe's powerful Thunder Kick you will knock Kuro off his feet
and he will be stunned. Just dash up to him and kick him again. You can
basically chain all the required amount of kicks together to break down the
barrier. If you are chaining the kicks together be sure to break the chain
after you reach the required amount of hits so the barrier will be broken
cause you can actually chain the kicks forever as long as you don't let Kuro
get up from the stunned pose.
- When Energy Barrier is down -
Just spam shurikens at him from far away. Using jumping shuriken attacks as
you can toss more at once than than the ground version. After a few shurikens
Kuro will perform the Leaping Shuriken Attack. Just keep on tossing the
shurikens and avoiding Kuro's Shuriken attacks and the Gates of Hell attacks
that follow them.
***************
| Second Form |
***************
Thanks to Joe's Shuriken Burst, killing the clones from Divine Judgment and
Shadow Charge Attack is very easy. The only difficulty Joe has is getting
Kuro's health down low enough for him to kill him in a Tate.
***********************************
>> Shuriken Spam Strategy (Tate) <<
***********************************
With no barrier to protect him, Kuro is open to all the shurikens Joe tosses
at him. Whenever he performs Divine Judgment, you can kill most of them by
getting in the center of the clones and using Shuriken Burst before they can
run to the edge of the battle area.
To kill the clones during Kuro's Shadow Charge Attack, get inside the circle
or right in front of the first clone and perform a Shuriken Burst to take
them ALL out. Dash away after killing all the clones to avoid Kuro's Big
Akujiki Slash attack.
You basically just spam shurikens until Kuro's health is in the red area then
kill all clones during Divine Judgment or Shadow Charge Attack and then
either:
- Get close to Kuro after the Big Akujiki Slash, use Thunder Kick canceled
into dash forward and slash at Kuro's backside for the Tate finish. This is
easier to do after the Shadow Charge Attack since you will be closer to Kuro.
- Spam some more shurikens until Kuro has ONE red bar piece left, kill all
clones and continue to fling shurikens at Kuro for Tate finish.
=============================================================================
V. Conclusion
=============================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1 FAQ Version History
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12/22/04 – First version of the FAQ, only covers the first 2 bosses and the
last boss. I decided to post it up since I read about so many people having
problems with the last fight with Kuro.
12/24/04 – Added three more bosses, Hisui, Door of Doom, Stage 12 Boss.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2 Credits
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sega – For creating this game. Always putting out some of the most fun and
creative games on the market even if they aren't that great at advertising.
Shinobi/Nightshade GameFAQs Message Board – A lot of experienced players
there. No need to name drop, they know who they are.
Spenze (Board member) – Helpful info on Stage 12 on how to avoid the Red Bars
attack just by hiding in the corners also a lot of technical data such as
damage multipliers.
Websites:
http://page.freett.com/hotsumaonekill/index.htm
- Japanese Shinobi/Nightshade site that has links to one hit kill vids with
Hotsuma in Nightshade as well some vids with Hotsuma and Moritsune in
Shinobi. A lot of the Hotsuma strategy in this FAQ came from those vids.
Truly some great players on that site.