Your basic strategy for this battle should be to walk in a little closer and wait for him to swing the balls about wildly. As such, this is a test of dodging as much as it is of offence, and it can be a humbling test indeed. If you're not blocking it's going to really, really hurt. He's an enormous demon that swings chain balls around - and even if you're blocking, you really want to ideally avoid being hit by them. Onryoki - Isle of Demons (Mission Level 5)Īfter old Derrick, second boss Onryoki might well be viewed as the first 'true' boss of the game. Keep this up and he'll go down quickly enough. He'll charge at you like a big ol' idiot, and once again you can sidestep him and get in on him while he's open from his ill-considered dash towards you to attack. It'll smash him.Įventually he'll transfer into a second phase (because of course he does), you'll want to hang back a bit. At this point in the game you'll have a lot less weapon choice, so allow us to make a base suggestion: use the battle axe. The basic strategy here is to make Derrick whiff: dodge his heavy attacks, and when he swings and spectacularly misses that's your cue to get in there and lay on some hits to do some damage. The good news is that Derrick is big and lumbering, meaning all of his moves have pretty obvious tells and wind-ups as you approach him. It's really designed to test your knowledge from throughout the prologue level, which is basically a lengthy disguised tutorial for what the rest of the game will be. This first boss battle is really about as simple as they come, since it's the battle that tops off the starting area. Needless to say, there'll be spoilers of boss names and strategies on this page.ĭerrick the Executioner - Tower of London (Mission Level 1) We don't cover every boss in the game here, but if you can make it that far, you'll be well-prepared to tackle everything Nioh throws at you. Under each entry we go into a little detail on each boss, talking about their move sets, their strengths and weaknesses, ways you might be able to catch them out or cheese them, and even a few tips on recommended weapons and stances for each battle. To help you work out what those lessons are, we've put together a guide to the bosses in the game. These lessons will really help you in the broader game you'll have a much better time in normal encounters once you master Nioh's many foibles. For example, many players get through the first two bosses with a bit of effort, but run smack into Hino-enma, AKA Learn To Block 101.
You need to learn how to really play Nioh, understanding how it differs both from Dark Souls and more classic action games, in order to proceed. Some of the bosses in Nioh are deliberate difficulty gates. Nioh's bosses are massive, epic encounters, and you're sure to die to a few times before learning their patterns and fighting style - eventually turning that back against them. If you're hit a wall, you should check our Nioh guide for general combat tips and strategies - but on this page we'll be talking about the stumbling block that's going to drive most Nioh players to screaming frustration - the bosses. You may find that you struggle more than with a Dark Souls game, thanks to the demanding action and a lack of chese strategies, and Ninja Gaiden fans may in turn be at a loss as to how to leverage the game's obscure systems to best effect. If that sounds like it's going to be difficult, yes well - it sure is.
Nioh is quite a bit more than just Dark Souls with samurai - it's a convincing blend of the action-packed combat Team Ninja made its name for with Ninja Gaiden with some of the RPG structure and challenging difficulty that made the Souls series great. Nioh is tough all the way, but the bosses are where things really get interesting.