---------------- Ninja Gaiden II ---------------- FAQ/Walkthrough for the Xbox 360 Copyright 2008 Jennifer N. Rigsby This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. This guide is only to be hosted by the sites listed below: Gamefaqs.com Honestgamers.com Neoseeker.com Supercheats.com The newest version will always be found on GameFaqs first. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Before emailing me with a question, PLEASE make sure it isn't answered in this FAQ. Check the Frequently Asked Questions section in particular. You can email me at BeautyFiend66ATgmail.com Replace the AT with @. Be sure to make the subject of your email Ninja Gaiden II Faq or it may be deleted. -----------------This guide contains boss spoilers.-------------------------- Table of Contents I have added a quick search feature; to use it, hold ctrl+F and type in the characters listed in parenthesis next to the section you wish to view. For example, if you want to look at chapter one, hold down ctrl+F and type C1SKT in the search box. 1. Update History (S1UH) 2. Items and Essence (ES1I) 3. Ninpo and the Ki Gauge (ES2N) 4. Melee and Projectile Weapons (ES3W) 5. Chapter 1: Sky City Tokyo (C1SCT) 6. Chapter 2: The Castle of the Dragon (C2TCD) 7. Chapter 3: Thunderclap of Catastrophe (C3TOC) 8. Chapter 4: A Captive Goddess (C4ACG) 9. Chapter 5: The Aqua Capital (C5TAC) 10. Chapter 6: The Lycanthropes' Castle (C6TLC) 11. Chapter 7: The Flying Fortress Daedalus (C7FFD) 12. Chapter 8: Submit, or Die! (C8SOD) 13. Chapter 9: Heart of Darkness (C9HOD) 14. Chapter 10: The Temple of Sacrifice (C0TOS) 15. Chapter 11: A Tempered Gravestone (C1ATG) 16. Chapter 12: Quickening Devestation (C12QD) 17. Chapter 13: The Underworld Abyss (C3TUA) 18. Chapter 14: Poisoned Blood (C14PB) 19. Unlockables (ES4U) 20: Frequently Asked Questions (ES5F) Updates: (S1UH) June 13th - Fixed the broken unlockable section quick search code, added the frequently asked questions section, updated allowed sites list, added two missed chests in chapters 4 and 5, slightly revised some boss strategies (working on more in depth boss strategies now) June 7th - Added table of contents, the Items and Essence section, Ninpo and the Ki gauge section, Melee and Projectile Weapons section, finished walkthrough, added alternate way to kill the Water Dragon, added two Crystal Skulls I missed before in chapters 2 and 6. started unlockables section. June 5th - Submitted FAQ up to Chapter 8 Note: The enemy sections of this guide are intended for the Path of the Acolyte difficulty setting. A major difference between difficulty settings is that you will face different enemies at different times. I plan to update this guide regularly and will note the differences and update boss strategies accordingly. Items and Essence (ES1I) Yellow Essence - This is the most common of the three Essences. It is used like money at the shop. Blue Essence - This will restore your health, as well as the red part of the health gauge that doesn't refill after a battle. Red Essence - This is the rarest Essence to find. It will restore your Ki gauge, allowing you to cast more Ninpo. Herb of Spiritual Life - This item restores a small amount of health and is commonly found in chests. Grains of Spiritual Life - Restores a moderate amount of health. Lives of the Thousand Gods - Use this item to permanently increase your health bar. Using it will actually completely refill your health, so I recommend holding on to these and using them during particularly challenging boss fights. Can only be bought at the shop if you missed one during the previous chapter. Life of the Gods - Basically, 9 of these equals Lives of the Thousand Gods. Once you have found and used 9 of these items, your maximum health will permanently increase. Can only be bought at the shop if you missed one during the previous chapter. Talisman of Rebirth - This item will resurrect you with full health and Ki. You must physically use it before you die if you wish to be resurrected. These are rare to find. Devil Way Mushroom - Restores one section of your Ki gauge. Jewel of the Demon Seal - Use this item to upgrade one of your Ninpos. Can only be bought at the shop if you missed one during a previous chapter. Spirit of the Demon - Use this to permanently increase your Ki gauge by one section. Crystal Skulls - These items don't do anything. Just collect them for achievements. Rod of Trials - Make sure you pick this up in Chapter 2. You won't be able to do the Tests of Valor without it, and this is your only chance to get it. A legendary implement that grants access to the Tests of Valor. Ninpo and the Ki Gauge (ES2N) The Ki Gauge - Your Ki gauge will be full at the start of every chapter. Once depleted, Red Essence or certain items will fill it back up. Each Ninpo costs one section of your Ki. In addition, Ryu cannot be damaged while casting a Ninpo. The Art of the Inferno - A Ninpo that converts the caster's Ki into crimson flames. The Art of the Wind Blades - A Ninpo that converts the caster's Ki into slashing blades of wind. The Art of the Piercing Void - A Ninpo that allows the caster to control and project gravity. The Art of the Flame Phoenix - A Ninpo that converts the caster's Ki into protective phoenix spirits. Melee and Projectile Weapons (ES3W) Melee Weapons: Dragon Sword - Ryu's starting weapon. The symbol of the Dragon Ninja, passed down for generations. Lunar Staff - Found in Chapter 1. A staff said to harbor the mysterious powers of the moon. Falcon's Talons - Found in Chapter 2. A unique evolution of a Ninja's traditional hand-mounted claws. Dragon's Claw and Tiger's Fang - Found in Chapter 4. Large Japanese swords, they are wielded as a pair. Kusari-gama - Found in Chapter 5. A ninja weapon made from a sickle with chain and weight attached. Eclipse Scythe - Ryu gets this automatically at the end of Chapter 6. A giant scythe handed down in the Lycanthrope tribe of Fiends. Tonfa - Found in Chapter 7. A powerful martial-arts weapon originating from Okinawa. Vigoorian Flail - Found in Chapter 9. A vicious flail made during the Middle Ages in the Vigoor Empire. Projectile Weapons: Shuriken - Ryu starts with this. A standard Ninja throwing weapon. Fiend's Bane Bow - Found in Chapter 2. A powerful bow, decorated with twin dragon head carvings. Incendiary Shuriken - First found in Chapter 3. A throwing knife-shaped Shuriken with a small explosive attached. Gatling Spear Gun - Found in Chapter 5. A Gatling-type spear gun, only usable underwater. Windmill Shuriken - Found in Chapter 11. A large boomerang-type Shuriken, long used in the Hayabusa Clan. **A note concerning chests: Chests will not always contain the same item, and in some cases, a chest listed may not even be there. This changes because of the difficulty setting you are playing on. In addition, if a chest contains an item you are already maxed on, the chest will likely contain Essence.** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1: Sky City Tokyo (C1SCT) 2 Skulls Special agent Sonia appears at the door of the tiny shop run by master swordsmith Muramasa amidst the skyscrapers of Tokyo. She inquires after the Ninja Ryu Hayabusa, his whereabouts a mystery. She brings news of a terrible danger facing the world, bearing a message that must reach Hayabusa at any cost. As night falls, the evil Black Spider Ninja Clan emerges from the shadows to infest the streets of the unsuspecting city. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- After the opening scene, you will need to take out the attacking enemies immediately. You start with the Dragon Sword equipped. Take this opportunity to learn the basic controls, which are displayed at the bottom of the screen. You will see a hole in a wall directly in front of where you started. Press the Right Bumper to open it for another scene. Afterwards, the camera controls will be displayed below. Return to the shop and open the chest in front of the counter which contains an Herb of Spiritual Life (Acolyte Only). You can break the barrels outside of the shop for additional Yellow Essence. Continue down the path until you get a short tutorial on the Earth Dragon Statues. You can save and heal at these when no enemies are in the area. After saving, four enemies will come from the other side of the walkway and attack. Take care of them however you see fit. Continue past the shop until you come to the now opened red gate. Enter through the gate and walk down the stairs and across the platform until you see a door with a chest on the left side. This chest contains the Reverse Wind Technique. This is basically a quick dash. Hold the Left Trigger then push the left stick in the direction you wish to dash to perform it. Now kick open the door and take out the four Spider Clan Ninjas that attempt to ambush you. Continue down the hallway. The chest at the end contains Blue Essence which restores your health. Go down the other hallway in this V shaped area. Four more ninjas will run across the wall, just to be stopped by a gory death. Take the ladder down into the small room below. There is a chest here which contains The Technique of Shadowless Footsteps. Press A to jump at a wall and hold the direction you wish to wall run with the Left Stick. Climb back up the ladder and use your new technique to get across the gap (though you may have noticed you didn't need it to get across this gap.) Four more ninjas will attack you at the other side. Open the chest at the end of the hallway for The Furious Wind Technique. Press the Left Trigger and push the Left Stick in the direction you wish to go to dash away while blocking an enemy attack. Continue into the large room and open the chest on the left, which contains your first Ninpo, The Art of the Inferno. Continue to the outside area. You should see a glowing object on a roof across from you. Jump across the gap towards that roof instead of taking the ladder down. This is Crystal Skull #1. Jump down below after picking it up. Several enemies will attack you here. Test out your new Ninpo and/or Technique on them. Go inside from this area and open the chest. This chest has Red Essence, used to refill your Ki gauge. Go up the stairs and kill the four ninjas. The chest to the left has a Lives of the Thousand Gods item. Use this to permanently increase your health. Continue across the balcony area. At the top of the next set of stairs is another chest with an Herb of Spiritual Life inside. Open the door on your right. Two ninjas will attack you inside. You can climb down the ladder to the area below, but there isn't anything down there. Instead, wall run across the gap. Several enemies will attack you as you head up the stairs. After dealing with the enemies, wall run across the next gap. You may also jump at the horizontal pole in the center of the gap to swing yourself across, but you're Ryu Hayabusa, not Lara Croft. Again, there is nothing in the area below. Examine the body in front of you for The Obliteration Technique. Press Y near an injured enemy to finish them off. Three enemies attack you as you continue down the walkway. Try out your Obliteration Technique on them, which usually ends in a severed head. Continue down the walkway. Soon you'll come to another dead body. Examine him to get The Flying Bird Technique. This technique allows you to continuously jump between two walls to reach higher ground with the A button. There is also a heal/save statue near the body. Continue to find... the perfect place to learn how to use The Flying Bird Technique. Several enemies will greet you at the top, including a few more powerful clawed ninjas. Jump into the water and go left. Eventually you will come to a small boat with a chest inside of it. Open it to get a Devil Way Mushroom (Herb of Spiritual Life on W), which will restore a small amount of your Ki. Stay in the water, but this time go to the far right. You'll be attacked by a few enemies on the way. Follow the water until it ends as a waterfall. To the left of this area is a wooden platform with a chest. Inside is a Life of the Gods item. Use nine of these to permanently increase your health. Go back to where you originally came from, up the stairs. Cross the bridge here. There are enemies on the other side, including two clawed ninjas. Follow the path down the stairs. Two ninjas will attack you here. Hurry down the stairs to avoid the ninja shooting fire arrows at you from above. If you have enough Ki, however, you can use The Art of the Inferno near him to get rid of him. Run and jump off the tree before the bridge the archer is standing on to reach the bridge. You can kill him and take Crystal Skull #2. Continue along the path and take care of the approaching ninja. After you've dealt with them, go down the ladder on the right to find a chest with Blue Essence inside. Continue down this lower path. Three regular ninjas and a clawed ninja will appear behind you. Kill them and continue until you see another chest at the end of the walkway. This chest contains another Life of the Gods. Go back the way you came and up the ladder. Continue forward and jump at the horizontal pole to swing across the gap. After doing so, you'll see three enemies running at you from ahead. Continue forward and use the two poles to swing across the gap. Ahead of you is a statue to heal and save at. Climb the ladder on the right. At the top, turn right to find a chest which contains a Devil Way Mushroom. Turn around and continue across the walkway. Examine the dead body for The Flying Swallow Technique. To use this technique, jump forward and press Y to damage any enemies in front of you. This technique requires you to have the Dragon Sword equipped. Continue along the walkway until you come to a large balcony area. There are a ton of enemies here. If you're low on health, I recommend using your Inferno Ninpo here. Otherwise try out The Flying Swallow Technique. When all the enemies are dead, a large door in the center of the area opens. There is a save/heal statue on the right and a chest on the left. The chest contains Red Essence. Approach the statue in the center and take the Lunar Staff. Leave this room and head right and down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs is another body. Examine him to find The Ultimate Technique. To use this, hold Y for a bit to charge, and then release. As the on screen help suggests, your enemies will indeed suffer. Cross the bridge ahead. Try out your Ultimate Technique on one of the several ninja on the bridge. Be careful, as you are vulnerable while charging the technique. Look to your left at the end of the bridge. There is another body here. Examine him to find Notebook: Obliteration Technique. This is about a ninja who couldn't bring himself to use the Obliteration Technique. Continue through the small garden area and into the building. At the door lies another dead ninja. Examine him to receive The Technique of Ultimate Guidance. This will help you chain together more Ultimate Attacks by making your enemies drop more Essence. Hold Y to use nearby Essence to charge your Ultimate Technique faster. On the right side of this room is a small rectangle shape in the wall. Attack this and enter through the small hole in the wall. Inside is a chest and some pots to break. Inside the chest is Grains of Spiritual Life. It will restore a moderate amount of health. Leave through the other door of the building. Outside there are a few ninjas to deal with. Try out your new technique here, if needed. After you take care of the enemies, a gate will open, allowing you to enter into the building. Inside is a chest with Yellow Essence. Attack the wall to the left of the chest to break it down and head right. Once outside, two enemies attack you. You can access the shop after the enemies are dead. Examine the statue in the middle of the garden area to go to the shop. You may buy items and upgrade your weapons here. When you're finished shopping, jump down the hole on the right side of the shop statue. At the bottom several bats will attack you, but they shouldn't be a problem. Exit through the door, and jump on the smaller platform slightly above the one you're on now. There's another dead ninja here, carrying Notebook: Shadowless Footsteps. This one is about a ninja who can't seem to grasp the Shadowless Footsteps Technique. Continue along the platforms. Eventually two ninjas will sadly attempt to stop you. You should see a higher platform with a moving wall next to it. Before going up there, continue down to the lower area and open the chest which contains an Herb of Spiritual Life. Go back to the area with the moving wall. When the wall is close, wall run across it to reach the higher platform. Continue along this platform. At the end you'll come face to face with another chest which contains Blue Essence. Head back along the platform until you come to a broken section. Walk off of the platform here. You will see a dead ninja on the ground at the bottom. Examine him to find Notebook: Furious Wind. This ninja wishes to master the Furious Wind Technique. There is nothing to the left, so head right. Several ninja will attack you, including a couple of clawed ninjas. Eventually you will get a cut scene. Kill the three clawed ninja in this room, then use the heal/save statue if you wish. Open the doors and go down the hallway. Several ninja will be here. Try to use the Obliteration Technique to quickly get rid of them. Continue down the hallway. Take the stairs down first to find a chest at the bottom. It has a Devil Way Mushroom inside. Take the stairs up this time. There are about ten ninja to deal with at the top, including a few clawed ninjas. Go up the stairs again. There is a chest at the top. It contains a Cracked Card Key. Go back down the stairs to the previous floor then go down the hallway to the right. Use the card key on the door to the left then open it. Inside is a dead ninja with Notebook: Flying Bird. Climb the ladder in this room and continue forward. When you get to a dead end, use the Flying Bird Technique to wall jump to a room at the top. Kill the enemies up here. To the left is a chest and a shop statue. The chest contains Grains of Spiritual Life. When you're done, go down the right side of the balcony area. You should see a save/heal statue next to a set of stairs. Head up the stairs, where several clawed ninja await you. Open the doors for a cut scene. Boss: Shadow Ninja Ratsetsu He will hurt you badly if you aren't careful. Use the Art of Inferno if you can, and use your Ultimate Technique when you get the chance, as this will damage him severely. Regular X combos with the Lunar Staff will quickly deteriorate his health. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: The Castle of the Dragon (C2COD) 2 Skulls The shadow of the Black Spider Clan reaches Hayabusa Village. They hunt for the Demon Statue, the key to resurrecting the Archfiend. Only Joe Hayabusa, his body still mending from his last battle, stands between them. Genshin, leader of the Black Spider Clan, faces his longtime rival in a fateful duel. As the Castle of the Dragon burns, the otherworldly Elizebet smiles coldly. The seal binding the Demon Statue is broken. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Go forward after the scene until you come to a dead ninja. Examine him to find Notebook: Flying Swallow. Three ninja will attack you upon entering the graveyard. After you've turned them into a bloody mess, you may examine the light colored gravestone of Ryu's childhood friend. Continue through the graveyard. Two ninja will approach you at the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, there will be several more ninja to fight off. Use the shop statue at the bottom of the stairs if you wish. Open the door on the left of the statue. On the bridge, several ninja will attack you. After they're dead, open the chest on the other side of the bridge. It contains a Life of the Gods. You can't go through this door yet, so head back towards the shop. Go down the path to the right of the shop statue and around the corner to find another dead ninja. Examine him to find Notebook: Reverse Wind. Head around the next corner to kill a few clawed ninja and a ninja shooting fire arrows. The arrow shooting ninja will usually stop shooting arrows and attack you with his sword when you get close. Continue forward to find another dead ninja with an Herb of Spiritual Life. Go down the short set of stairs and enter the water. You can run across the water by pressing A repeatedly. Hold A to dive under the water. Dive under the water and pick up Crystal Skull #3. There is a ninja shooting fire arrows at you, so try to avoid them for now. Continue forward, dodging the arrows, until you get to the platform he's standing on to kill him. Go up the stairs here and follow the path upwards. There is a heal/save statue in the next area, as well as a dead ninja. Examine the ninja to learn The Counter Attack Technique. To do this, press X or Y while blocking. Go up the stairs and around the walkway. Two clawed ninja will run at you and you will see ninjas shooting fire arrows from behind them. Go back around the corner so you can kill the clawed ninja without being shot by the arrows. Once they're taken care of, head towards the archers. If you jump around while running towards them, you can easily avoid the arrows. They'll pull out their swords when you get close to them. Kill them however you wish and continue on. You should now be in an outside area. Kill the enemies here, then enter the building on your right. There are two chests in here, but you'll have to fight off several ninja before opening them. The chest on the right contains Grains of Spiritual Life and the chest in the back of the room has Blue Essence inside. If you turn around from the chest in the back, you'll see a little closet area with a red floor and a red curtain on the wall. Take the Falcon's Talons weapon from here. Leave the building and descend the short set of stairs to the ground. Examine the dead ninja here to find Notebook: Ultimate Guidance. (Note: Be sure to pick up the Rod of Trials mentioned in the section below. You can NOT get this item again. It is required to do the Tests of Valor.) After stepping on the ground, several ninja will appear. This includes ninja shooting fire arrows and clawed ninja. After you get rid of the initial wave, one ninja at a time will come down the stairs. Keep killing them until you get a short scene informing you that a candle has been lit. At this point, the ninja will stop coming. Jump over the short fence in front of the candle and take the Rod of Trials from the alter. Head up the stairs that the ninjas were coming down earlier. There are two ninjas on the stairs now. Try to avoid the fire arrows being shot at you as you continue up the path. Perform a Flying Bird Technique when you are in-between the two watch towers. There is a chest at the top of one of them. It contains Blue Essence. Jump off the tower, and head up the path with the fires alongside it. Kill the enemies along this path. You'll come to another set of watch towers. Perform the Flying Bird to get to the top of them so you can finally get rid of the archers. There is one archer on each tower. Continue up the stairs. At the top, four clawed ninja await their deaths. There is a heal/save statue and a shop up the stairs in the area at the top. Enter the small cave to the left of the save statue. Two clawed ninja attempt to sneak up on you from behind midway through the cave. At the end, perform the Flying Bird to get to an area above the cave, where a few more enemies await, including a fire archer. Head up the stairs here. Turn left at the top to see another dead ninja. Examine him to find Notebook: Counter Attack. Go up the wooden walkway. At the first turn, a couple ninjas will land in front of you. Kill them and the fire archers near them. Kill the three clawed ninja that appear at the end of the walkway. There is Blue Essence in the chest to the left of the doorway. Go up the stairs and run through the next area to avoid being hit by arrows. Turn left immediately before heading up the curved set of stairs. There is a dead end area here which contains a chest. Inside is a bunch of Red Essence. Head up the stairs. At the top, you'll be attacked by fire archers, clawed ninjas, and a new enemy adorned in purple. After taking care of them, examine the dead ninja in front of the large door which is on fire. He has Notebook: Ultimate Technique. Walk up the boards against the wall and jump to the rooftop. Once on the roof, two clawed ninjas and a floating purple ninja will attack you. Jump down the fiery hole into a building. You will immediately be attacked by three fire archer ninjas. Take care of them and use the heal/save statue on the left if necessary. Take the Fiend's Bane Bow from the dragon head on the wall, to the left of the stairs. Ascend the stairs to see a short scene. Equip your new bow and shoot an arrow in the very center of the glowing switch on the other side of the gate. There are more arrows to your right if you end up needing them. Press B to shoot an arrow or hold it down to charge. You can use the left stick to aim your shot and hold the Right Trigger down to zoom in. The gate will open and stairs will form in the next room when you are successful. Go up the stairs and jump to the bottom of the room and get ready for a boss fight. Boss: Shadow Ninja Ratsetsu - Second Time This time around, Ratsetsu will be joined by clawed ninja. Use the Flying Swallow to take them out quickly. Try to avoid being grabbed by him if possible. Use the Art of Inferno to deal heavy damage to him. Again, use the X combos with the Lunar Staff to take out half of his health in seconds. Once he's dead, open the gate in the room. Go right down the narrow hallway. At the end is a chest filled with Red Essence. Now head down the left hallway. Two clawed ninjas will descend the stairs. After killing them, go behind the stairs to find a dead ninja with Grains of Spiritual Life. Head up the stairs and through the hall at the top. As you get near the back wall, ninjas will break through it. Take care of them, as well as the fire archer behind them. There are more arrows in this room and a heal/save statue. An enemy will fall from above as you approach the save statue. Go up the stairs in this room. At the top is a dead ninja holding The Technique of Unrivaled Soaring. This allows you to jump from one wall to another while wall running by pressing A. Attack the wall on the right to break it down and walk onto the balcony. There are a total of three fire archers on the balconies next to yours. Charge your bow up and shoot arrows at them to kill them. Use your new technique to run across the two walls to get to the balcony on the left. Kill the enemies in this room and pick up the Vermilion Jewel from the alter area. Break the wall across from the alter to get to a storage area. Examine the dead ninja here for a Devil Way Mushroom. There is a trap door behind the body. If you stand on it for a second you will fall in front of the save statue in the room below. Ignore the trap door and continue to the next room. Crystal Skull #4 is on a shelf. Continue forward, killing the enemies on the other side of the breakable wall in front of you. Head towards the blue orb on the altar. This is the Ultramarine Jewel. Pick this up. With both jewels in hand, wall run back towards the center balcony you originally came from and place the jewels in the two pedestals. Shoot an arrow at the giant orb next to the dragon statue. This will lower a platform. Use it to enter the dragon's mouth. Inside the dragon, turn left to find a chest containing Yellow Essence. To the right is a heal/save statue and a large hole in the wall. Exit through the hole in the wall. There are three purple ninjas on the roof. Take care of them, then head left on the roof, then upwards to another hole in the wall. Enter this room. Go to the right after entering this room. Two clawed ninjas will attack. You'll come to a small hole in the floor with a ladder. Climb down this ladder. One side has a heal/save statue and the other a shop. Climb back up the ladder when you're done and continue across the balcony. You should run into a chest containing a Lives of the Thousand Gods item. Two ninjas will come down the stairs. Kill them, the head up the stairs yourself. A few more ninjas await you at the top. To the left is a narrow hallway alongside the stairs with a dead ninja at the end. Examine him to get a Life of the Gods item. Go down the other side of the hallway and open the door for a cut scene. Boss Fight: Genshin Genshin wields claws and uses them to unleash fast, powerful attacks on Ryu. His combos will kill you quickly if you're not careful. Try to stay on the offense to prevent him from attacking. Unfortunately, your Inferno Ninpo won't damage him and charging an Ultimate Technique may prove to be deadly. Remember that scrolling through your items will pause the game, so don't be afraid to use your healing items. Just dash to avoid his attacks and stay on the offense and eventually you'll defeat him. I preffered using the Falcon's Talons on him. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: Thunderclap of Catastrophe (C3TOC) 2 Skulls The graceful Alexei, one of the Four Greater Fiends, appears in the skies over New York, raining lightning upon the streets of the proud city. Ryu Hayabusa arrives in Manhattan in search of Elizebet, who escaped from Hayabusa Village with the Demon Statue. The Fiends have already begun transforming New York into a Fiend Realm. Ryu's battle begins as the thunder and laughter of the Greater Fiend echo throughout the city. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Go to the left after the scene to find a metal chest. It contains an Herb of Spiritual Life. Kill the bats that are flying around you in just a few attacks. There is also a shop on the right side in front of the Fortune Theatre. As you head forward down the street, several dogs will attack you. Some are unarmed, but others carry knives in their mouths and others have armor on their backs. Use your Flying Swallow Technique to easily kill them. Turn right at the intersection; there is a chest behind the taxi containing Red Essence. Turn around and go straight (left at the intersection from starting position.) Enter the doorway at the end near the burning taxi. Examine the body near the entrance to obtain a new Ninpo: The Art of the Wind Blades. When you get to the first turn in this building, a few ninjas will appear, including a fire archer behind them. Turn right when you get to the stairs to open a chest at the dead end containing Blue Essence. Return to the stairs an ascend them. After going up a flight or two, fire archers will start shooting arrows at you. Get off the stairs and take care of them. Behind them are a few clawed ninjas and two purple ninjas. If you notice the purple ninjas casting a spell, attack them immediately. It will cause a geyser like thing to appear under Ryu and damage him. Return to the stairs and go to the top to find Crystal Skull #5. Go back to where you just fought the ninjas and continue down the path. There is a heal/save statue at the end. To the left of this are two opposing walls. Use your Flying Bird Technique to reach the top. There will be a few purple ninjas to kill here. After killing them, giant bat like creatures will attack you from the skies. They'll shoot fireballs at you constantly. You can use your Shurikens to kill them, but they take much longer to kill the bats than the bow does. If one of them gets close to you, you can easily kill it with your sword, but they'll stay away from you for the most part and attack from afar. The dead ninja, directly across from the walls you used to reach this area, has more arrows on him (literally) if you need them. Climb down the first ladder on the edge of the building. Wall run to the ledge next to you to open a chest containing Red Essence. Climb back up the ladder and jump down where you see a second one this time. The ladder is broken so you can't climb it. Rid the world of a few more ninjas at the bottom, then open the chest to the left containing a bunch of Blue Essence. Go back towards the broken ladder and wall jump to reach the top. Climb up the first ladder you used to get back on the roof. Jump up under the thick black rope that leads to another building. Use this to get to the adjacent building. Upon landing on the other side, a few ninja will appear and attack, including a couple fire archers. Kill them and continue on. There is a save/heal statue in a corner of the lower section. There isn't anything on the higher area, so turn left when you get to the statue. Open the chest straight ahead for an Herb of Spiritual Life before jumping off the roof through the broken railing. Ninjas will come at you from all directions once you drop down, but there aren't many of them. Behind and to the left of the New York City Police Department is a chest with Blue Essence inside. From the front of the police station, go right down a blocked off street. You'll see a dead ninja here. Examine him to find The Four Greater Fiends, Part 1. Now continue past the police station, where several dogs will attack you. Eventually you'll come to a large area, where you'll see a cut scene. This new bat humanoid enemy is actually easy as long as you don't let them grab you. And remember that just because they're huge doesn't mean you can't use the Obliteration Technique on them once they're missing a limb. You'll have to kill three of them here. Once they're dead, jump down the massive hole in the road. There is a save/heal statue straight ahead. Two more bat humanoids and a few large actual bats will attack you as you continue forward. Turn right and take the Jewel of the Demon Seal from the dead ninja. You can use this item to permanently increase the level of one of your Ninpo spells. Climb the ladder next to him and wall jump to get to the chest across from you, which contains Red Essence. Continue along this ledge until you come to a ladder on the left and climb down. Open the chest for Blue Essence, then climb down the next ladder. A few medium sized bats will attack you at the bottom. Continue through the tunnel and jump down into the water. Swim to the ledge and into the room and take Notebook: Unrivaled Soaring from the dead ninja. Climb up the stairs. They are broken you must wall run to the next section of stairs. At the top of the stairs is a chest containing Yellow Essence. Go through the tunnel and drop down. You're where you were before jumping into the water. Run across the wall here and jump off when you are near the horizontal pole. Swing on the pole and jump to the wall then run across the wall to land on the other side of the gap. Bats will attack you here. If you fell into the water, remember that you can still attack them while in the water. More bats will attack as you approach the next ledge. Don't bother jumping into the water here. It will just bring you back to the room with the broken stairs. A simple wall run will get you across this gap. Continue down the hallway, then jump down into the large circular room. Two bat humanoids will attack you inside. To the left is a dead ninja with arrows. Head through the tunnels. Several medium sized bats and one bat humanoid will attack you at the intersection. Go left after killing them to find a dead ninja. Examine him to find The Technique of the Invisible Path. This technique will let you jump off a wall while running on it and onto an opposing wall. It's similar to the Flying Bird. Use this technique now to run along the walls in front of you. There are three walls to run across, leading to Crystal Skull #6. Jump into the water from here. Behind the pillar is a chest under the water with a Life of the Gods. Leave this area by swimming to the ledge of the stairs, then use your Flying Bird Technique to ascend the walls. Head straight down the path until you come to a save/heal statue. Use the Flying Bird to jump up the walls next to it. Bats will attack you at the top. There is nothing of note in the area below, so wall run to the next section of ledge. Jump up to grab the pole above you. When you are across from the chest, swing on the pole to jump to the ledge with the chest. It has Yellow Essence. Jump back onto the pole from here and keep going across it until you're above the next ledge. Drop down here. Wall run across the two walls to get to the next ledge. A few ninja will attack you here, kill them, and then take care of the archer on the broken stairs. On the broken stairs, wall run across the two walls to get to a ledge at the top of the room. There is a shop statue on this ledge. Open the door and take out the ninja in this room... and don't do anything 'clever' like jumping into the giant fan blades. Climb the ladder to get to the ledge on the opposite side where the fire archer was. Pick up the Incendiary Shuriken from the dead ninja here. Use your new Shurikens to ruin the giant fans by throwing them at the blue part of the fans in the center. Go through the fan on the right (in relation to where you entered the room.) Kill any ninjas in the area, then climb up the ladder on the right and wall run across to the archers to kill them. Throw an incendiary shuriken at the fan, the jump across to the chest behind it (on an upper ledge) containing Yellow Essence. There's nothing left in this area, so go through the other fan and down the hill, killing the ninjas along the way. Climb the ladder on the left, then go left at the top. Jump to the ledge opposite of you, and throw an Incendiary Shuriken at the fan. Wall run towards the horizontal pole and jump to it. Swing on this to get into the gap on the left side of the fan. Emerge from the water and kill the bats hovering above you. Dive back down into the water and enter the large underwater tunnel. Come back to the surface on the other side of the tunnel, and kill the hovering bats. Two clawed ninjas will attack you when you get on the land. There is a save/health statue here and a dead ninja with arrows. Wall jump up the colorful shaft next to the dead ninja. At the top, kill the two archers above you with your bow and arrows. Wall run on the right side across two walls to a chest with Red Essence inside. From this ledge, wall run on the left side onto the ledge across from you. Two clawed ninjas will attack you. After dealing with them, continue down the tunnel. Three more ninjas will attack you further down the tunnel. Drop down when you reach the end of the tunnel. Several bat humanoids will attack you here. Just try to move around a lot to avoid their long ranged attacks. Continue through this cave area and jump up the steps at the end. Shoot the archers across from you with charged arrows before examining the dead ninja next to you. He has Notebook: Invisible Path. Wall jump across the walls to get to the area where the archers were standing. Use the shop on the other side if needed. Head along this path, and kill the ninjas that attack on the way. Continue across the narrow bridge towards the save/heal statue. Look on your left to see a large, blue, glowing thing on the ground. Run across the wall to get to this. Press the Right Bumper while standing on this and choose to begin the Test of Valor. Test of Valor You are in a closed off area with tons of enemies around you. To pass the test, you must kill all of them. Luckily, the enemies will still drop Blue Essence, as you'll be fighting about a hundred enemies. You can use your healing items if you need them, as well. You'll be fighting all the types of ninja you've come across so far. Once you've killed them all, a chest will appear, containing Lives of a Thousand Gods. Step back on the portal when you're done to return to the level. Run back across the wall towards the save/heal statue and enter the large opening next to it. Jump down to the tracks below and kill the clawed and archer ninjas. Head towards the colorful, broken down train. Wall run across the train next to it to get inside. Proceed through the train and exit through the open door on the right. After jumping down, you'll be attacked by several bat humanoids. Continue down the tracks until you see a short scene. Boss Fight: Train Demon Do not approach this boss when it is upright unless you wish to badly injure yourself. Attack it when it's upside down from below it. It will shoot out mini versions of itself. Try to avoid them as they'll blow up on contact with you. You can avoid damage completely by casting a Ninpo and aim it at the Train Demon's face to do some extra damage. Charge and shoot arrows at its face while it's upright for maximum damage. Occasionally he will shoot out a giant blue face. AVOID THIS AT ALL COSTS. It will probably kill you instantly. After about half of its health is gone, it will occasionally charge at you, ramming you against the wall. When he's down to about an eight of his health, he will fall to the ground. Use this opportunity to run up on him and finish him off with an Obliteration Technique by standing near its head. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: A Captive Goddess (C4ACG) 3 Skulls Alexei has transformed the Statue of Liberty into his own twisted base of operations. It is the source of the supernatural forces that twine through the city streets. As if laughing at the concept of "liberty," peals of thunder roar. harbingers of the threat facing civilization. The Statue must be reclaimed or humanity will suffer. After making his way to Liberty Island, Ryu's steely gaze now falls upon the Greater Fiend Alexei. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Kill the approaching bats after the scene. There is a shop on the right in case you need to restock on healing items. Continue down the tracks, fighting more bats along the way, then eventually three ninjas. Jump down the hole behind them and kill the ninjas at the bottom. Continue along the tracks, killing several ninja along the way. Go past the rubble on the left side of the tracks. When the rubble ends, go left to find a chest containing Red Essence. Eventually, you'll come to a station area. A few bat humanoids will attack you here. After dealing with them, jump up to the platform on the left and climb the stairs marked 'Exit.' There is a heal/save on the stairway. Kill the ninjas at the top of the stairs, making the purple ninjas a priority. Push your way through the turnstile on the left to find a chest containing an Herb of Spiritual Life. Kick open the door on the far side of the room to find a chest containing another Herb of Spiritual Life. Push through the turnstile next to the stairs and examine the dead ninja for arrows. Pass up the stairs for now, and continue to the end of the hallway to find a chest with Yellow Essence inside. A few ninjas will attack you on the way back to the stair area. Go up the stairs and throw an Incendiary Shuriken at the gate while you're standing right in front of it. You'll be attacked be two ninjas on your way up the stairs that follow to the outside. Several dogs will attack you on the surface. Kill them using the Flying Swallow Technique or any aerial attacks to avoid unessacary damage. Go right along the water. Two purple ninjas will appear. Go along the right side of the Coin Laundry building. A couple ninjas will attack you on the way through the alley. Directly behind the building, in a dead end is a dead ninja with an Herb of Spiritual Life. Continue around the building and look above at the corner to see Crystal Skull #7 above. Run along the white brick wall, then the wall the ledge with the skull is located on to get to it. Go right at the end of the alley where you will see a heal/save statue and a ladder next to it. Ignore this for now and instead head down the path behind you. You will be attacked by three clawed ninjas on the way. At the dead end you will see three barrels. There is actually a chest containing Red Essence behind them. Stand near the barrels to open it. Head back towards the ladder and climb it. There is a dead ninja with a Jewel of the Demon seal on this broken road. Go through the broken section of railing at the end and examine the dead ninja here for Incendiary Shurikens. Several bat humanoids and three giant bats will attack you as you continue forward. Throw an Incendiary Shuriken at the bats to kill them. Follow the curved broken road to the end to find a chest with Grains of Spiritual Life inside. Jump across the gap from the broken section of wall to get the Crystal Skull #8 on the other side. You can drop down here if you wish. There is a shop and a chest containing a Life of the Gods. You'll be attacked by a couple bat humanoids on the way back to where you dropped down from. Wall jump here to get to the top. Walk down the bridge and kill the bat humanoids that attack you on the way. At the end, you'll find a dead ninja with arrows and a ladder going up. Go up the ladder. There is a heal/save statue at the top. Head left at the statue. Throw Incendiary Shurikens at the giant bats that appear. Open the chest at the end for Grains of Spiritual Life. Head back towards the statue and continue past it until a few more giant bats attack you. Continue forward after dealing with them, to the dead end. You will see a cut scene upon approaching it. Boss Fight: Goliath Fiend Stay close to this boss or he will start throwing rocks at you. He attacks pretty slow, giving you time to use your Ultimate Technique. Just do this over and over again, while avoiding his attacks to quickly defeat him. If this doesn't work for you, simply get under his legs with the Lunar Staff, using its Y combos. When he's down to a little bit of health, he'll kneel down. Position yourself in front of his head and press Y to perform an OT. After the scene, kill the bat humanoids and the giant bats. Go through the doorway. There is a dead ninja with arrows here. Kill the ninjas in the hallway and in the large room after it. Break the glass in front of the heal/save statue to use it. You can take the Dragon's Claw and Tiger's Fang through the broken glass in the exhibit to the left of a large statue you can examine. To the left of the weapon, you can restock your Incendiary Shurikens. Break open the glass in front of the display across from the blue portal to find The Vigoor Mythology. Break open the glass to the right of the Vigoor Mythology book. You should see the orignal Xbox Prototype. Examine this for infinite health refills. (Thanks to Broklynite for informing me about this.) Step on the blue portal to begin the second Test of Valor. Test of Valor Two This time it's all bat humanoids. They rarely seem to drop blue orbs, so try to conserve your health. The Obliteration Technique will be your best friend here. Use your Wind Ninpo if you're low on health and surrounded. When everything is dead, a chest will appear with a Talisman of Rebirth inside. Step back on the blue portal when you're done. Head into the hallway to leave this area. It's across from the blue portal. A few ninjas will attack you here, and a few more when you reach the bigger room. Go up the stairs and perform a wall run to the right to land on a section of the balcony with a dead ninja lying on it. He has a Devil Way Mushroom. Wall run back to the stair area, this time going around the balcony the other way. Perform a wall run to get to the large window across from the stairs. A single bat humanoid will break the window and attack you. Jump down to the area below and kill the bat humanoids there. There is a chest near the stairs on the right side with an Herb of Spiritual Life inside. You can't go up these stairs, so head for the stairs on the left and go up. Kill the bat humanoids and use Incendiary Shurikens at the giant bats. Go up the stairs when it's clear. There are bat humanoids and a giant bat here as well. Go up the next set of stairs. Go around the left side of the building, where giant bats and bat humanoids will attack you. Go in the open door on this side of the building. A few ninjas will attack you. There is a chest in the alcove across from the door you entered through. It has a Lives of the Thousand Gods. Use the heal/save statue at the top of the stairs if you need it. From the save statue, wall run along the two walls and try to land on the first beam. Walk along this beam to the right, then drop down on a beam below with Crystal Skull #9 on it. Now go to the center of room and perform the Flying Bird in the shaft. Clawed ninja will attack you at the top. Jump onto the beams as you climb up the stairs. There is a chest on the furthest beam containing an Herb of Spiritual Life. Continue up the stairs to an enemy free room. Before going up the stairs, go to the small balcony outside. Kill the several giant bats outside, then open the chest containing a Life of the Gods item. Go up the stairs. There is a shop on this floor if you need it. There is a dead ninja at the bottom of the spiral staircase with a Devil Way Mushroom. Head up the spiral stairs when you're done. When you can't go any further up the stairs, turn left to see a broken section in the railing. Perform the Flying Bird on the section of wall across from this to get to the top, where you will be attacked by ninjas. There is a dead ninja with The Four Greater Fiends, Part 2 behind the stairs. Go up the spiral stairs. Eventually you'll get a cut scene. Boss Fight: Alexei, Master of Lightning Alexei will grab you every chance he gets, and if you're far from him, he will shoot lightning at you. Don't bother shooting arrows. The Fire Ninpo will damage him, as well as normal attacks. Every once in awhile he will create a tornado around himself and come at you. Try to avoid this by dashing. Spam Y with the Dragon's Claw and Tiger's Fang to rapidly decrease his health. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5: The Aqua Capital (C5TAC) 3 Skulls Elizebet's whereabouts remain unknown, but her twisted plans continue to unfold as she unleashes the fearsome power of the Demon Statue. Wherever she goes, its power awakens one of the Four Greater Fiends from his long slumber. The roar of Greater Fiend Volf, Ruler of Storms, echoes throughout a beautiful city of canals, transforming a Gothic castle into an evil fortress. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- After the scenes, move forward by land. Several ninja will appear, including purple ninjas. Continue forward. There is a shop down the wooden ramp. After you're done shopping, head up the stairs to encounter your first werewolves. They are fairly strong and will grab you. Their normal attacks can push you back pretty far. I like using a level 3 Wind Ninpo on them to cut off their arms... and, well, because it just looks awesome. Use the Obliteration Technique on them when they're missing a limb. The werewolves may through the body parts of dead werewolves at you as well. Ignore the bridge/stairs for now and run along the short, brick wall and down a short flight of stairs. Examine the dead ninja at the bottom for the Kusari- gama weapon. Go down the stairs and cross the water to the wooden walkway across from you. Walk to the right along this and around the corner. At the end of the walkway is a chest with Red Essence. Run across the water from here to the gondola across from your position. Giant sea-horse looking enemies will attack you in the water. Their blades are very damaging and their combos are fast. They will follow you to the land, allowing you to fight them easier. When you make it to the gondola, pick up Crystal Skull #10 from the seat. Head back towards the big bridge you passed before. Cross the bride. When you get to a market area, more werewolves will attack. Take them out and continue. You can break the crates and barrels here for some Yellow Essence. There is a save/heal statue and a door at the end of the short tunnel. Enter through the door. Werewolves will attack you upon exiting through the door. After killing them, grab Crystal Skull #11 from the table to the right of the door you came from. Cross the small bridge and kill the werewolves on the other side. You can use a Level 3 Wind Ninpo on them, followed by the Obliteration Technique to make quick work of them. Turn right, then right again to find an area to perform the Flying Bird in-between brick walls. Two ninjas will attack you up here. Pick up the Talisman of Rebirth from the dead ninja. Jump down and head straight, down a few steps to see a chest on the left containing an Herb of Spiritual Life. Cross back over the small bridge and head straight to a wide, brick road. Cross the next bridge before heading up the brick road. There is a dead ninja in the dead end area here with a Spirit of the Devils. This item will permanently increase your Ki. Head up the wide, brick road into the pillared area. Three seahorse enemies will attack you here. Approach the fountain and jump in the water. A chest at the bottom contains the Gatling Spear Gun to use underwater. Enter the underwater tunnel next to the chest. Continue through the water and kill the octopus looking enemies with your new spear gun. They will explode if you touch them. Continue on and three centipede enemies will attack. To the right you will see a bunch of octopus enemies. They will respawn. You can farm as much Yellow Essence here as you want. Swim under them, as close to the ground as you can get, to pass them and find Crystal Skull #12 under the water. Return past the octopuses and continue through the water. Eventually you will come to a gondola on the right, in front of an open door. Climb onto the gondola to get inside. Inside you will see a save/heal statue. Head up the stairs and go through the door. Kill the bat humanoids here. There is a shop on the right. There is another door you can go through near the shop. Enter it and open the chest inside. This contains the Bridge Gate Key. Press the Right Bumper near the lamp on the desk to find Hinomaru's Notebook. Head left out of the door and open the large gate. Kill the werewolves that attack on the bridge and continue on. The dead ninja on the left inside the building has arrows. As you walk through this hallway, two werewolves will attack you. Grab the chest at the end of the hallway, containing Red Essence, then exit through the right. Use your arrows to shoot the two glowing switches across the water to lower a bridge. Jump onto the crates next to you and grab the horizontal pole on the left side of the bridge. Go across the pole and drop down when you get to the platform. Open the chest to get Life of the Gods. Jump down into the water from here. Several centipedes will attack you. Make sure to keep an eye on your health. Head towards the waterwheels. The octopuses in this area will respawn. Swim under them and go to the left to reach a wooden platform. Jump and grab one of the poles on the water wheel. Hang on this until you see a wooden platform higher up. Swing and jump onto the platform. Wall run onto the turning wheel to get inside the building. Jump onto the slowly turning, circular pole and stay on this until you are above the platform with the chest. Drop down and open it for Lives of the Thousand Gods. Drop to the ground and exit through the door. Three werewolves will attack you on the steps. Continue through the door way with the save/heal statue next to it. Several centipedes will attack upon your entrance, but luckily they aren't so formidable on land. Use your Wind Ninpo and Obliteration Technique on them. You will see a short cut scene after killing them all. Enter through the new doorway. Centipedes and bat humanoids will attack you inside. There is a shop in the wine cellar on the left and a chest containing Grains of Spiritual Life in the cellar on the right. Head down the center stairs. A couple centipedes and bat humanoids will attack you on the way. Keep going right at the bottom of the stairs and kill the attacking centipede and bat humanoid. The gate is locked at the moment, so turn the corner and head up the stairs, killing the bat humanoids and centipedes along the way. Open the chest in the wine cellar for the Copper Key. Use the key to open the locked gate, then take The Art of the Flame Phoenix Ninpo from the dead ninja. Leave the room and turn right down the center hallway, killing the bat humanoids and centipedes on the way. Open the chest at the top of the stair to get an Herb of Spiritual Life. Jump at one of the walls on the side, then press Y while in midair, above the cracked well to break it open and fall through. Save at the heal/save statue before starting the third Test of Valor. When you're ready, step on the blue portal in the center of the large room. Test of Valor Three You're up against giant bats and werewolves. The best strategy I found was to basically run in a big circle, and cast the Level 3 Wind Ninpo to cut off the werewolves arms and occasionally kill bats. After casting the Ninpo, run around and cut off the werewolves arms. The bats are totally annoying in this part, but it's best to take care of the werewolves first. Use your bow and arrows to shoot down the bats. A dead ninja is in this area. You can replenish your arrows there. Upon winning, a chest will appear. It has a Jewel of the Demon Seal inside. Now that the Test of Valor is taken care of, continue forward, passing the save point. Several centipedes will attack as you continue through the tunnel. If you get low on health and used all your healing items during the Test of Valor, use your Wind Ninpo to make things easier on you. The Lunar Staff works great here. The big circular room you come to may seem like a dead end at first, but there's actually a small hole underwater in the very center. Open the chest near the hole before swimming through; it contains an Herb of Spiritual Life. Swim through and prepare to be confused and you reach the surface. These ghost fish will actually attack you at certain points. If you're having trouble in this area, you can swim around until the fish attack you. They'll attack when you're near chests, as if guarding them, so use that to find the chests if you need to. Swim through the water, slashing at the fish. There is a chest with an Herb of Spiritual Life to the right of where you entered on top of a large, circular pillar under the water. Emerge from the water here and get on the above ground steps. Run along these until you get to stairs that go slightly higher than the ones you're on. The fish will attack you as you approach. There is a chest at the top of these stairs with Yellow Essence inside. Go left off of the stairs, hugging the rock wall. When you run into a bunch of pillars, go under water. The fish will attack you here. After you kill them, open the chest underwater, near the wall for Life of the Gods. Enter the circle of pillars to the left of the Life of the Gods chest. The fish will attack you here. Open the chest at the center of the pillars for a Devil Way Mushroom. There is another chest near the center of the room on a fallen pillar (In the huge rectangle of pillars.) It has the Skull Key inside of it. You will get a cut scene after opening it, so save this for last. Boss Fight: Water Dragon The Water Dragon has several attacks. He will shoot crystal like things at you and if you're in the water, he likes to grab you. There will be ghost fish in the water. Use them for health if you need to. I got in the water right away and started slashing wildly at his neck/stomach with the Lunar Staff. You can also get on his back and attack him. Slash at his face whenever you get the chance to deal massive damage. I was able to kill him only getting hit once this way. At some point during the fight, he'll stretch his neck all the way up. While in front of his neck, press Y to perform an Obliteration Technique for extra Karma. The Lunar Staff is best here, again. I have received several emails about an alternate way to kill the dragon: charging and shooting arrows at it from the piece of land. The only way he can attack you is with his when he does his blow attack, which won't really effect your health as much. Be sure to have at least 25 arrows available. Thanks to Qpawnlady for the tip. In my experience, however, the arrows took awhile to kill him and the blow attack starting to take a toll on my health. In any case, try to take out at least a third of his health this way. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 6: The Lycanthropes' Castle (C6TLC) 3 Skulls The canals running through this city lead to a giant castle, a once-beautiful architectural legacy now transformed into the lair of the Greater Fiend Volf. Volf's iron fist reigns over an army of werewolves. He is a Berserker, as bloodthirsty as a beast, and his never-ending hunger for battle has led him to prepare a fitting arena for a duel to the death with the world's most powerful Ninja. ------------------------------------------------------------------- A cut scene will show two pillars close together with a slab of rock in- between them. Find these pillars and perform a Flying Bird. At the top go up the slanted roof on the left, then down on the other side. Turn around here to see a small ledge leading to Crystal Skull #13. Cross back over the ledge and continue left over the slanted roof. Look to the left to see a small hole with a chest containing Essence inside. Jump out of the hole and continue along the slanted roof and then jump off it to area with the Shop statue and a few ghost fish. Jump across the series of pillars, being careful not to let the fish knock you down into the water. Turn left when you reach the small rooftop and jump across the pillars to the narrow path along the rock wall, leading to a chest with an Herb of Spiritual Life on the left side. A couple ghost fish will attack you as you approach it. Head the other way along the narrow ledge and wall run to cross the gap. Centipedes will attack you on this wider ledge. Once they're dead, open the chest in a corner on the left containing Red Essence. Jump off the protruding slab of rock to a pillar, and then to a circular ledge. Fish will attack you here, just try not to fall off. Continue along the circular ledge until you see another series of pillars. Jump across the first two, then on a pillar on the left side to a ledge with a chest containing a Devil Way Mushroom. Jump back across to the 'main' set of pillars, then onto the walkway. Enter the doorway at the end of the walkway. You should see a save/heal statue. Head into the cave where two centipedes will attack you. Two more groups of centipedes will attack as you continue through the cave. Look to the right near where the second group of centipedes attacked to see a dead ninja carrying a Jewel of the Demon Seal. Open the door at the end of the cave and enter. This wasn't what I was expecting.. but okay.. If you stay on the ground here for awhile, a bunch of scorpion skeletons will attack you. Keep running around this room for awhile and eventually you'll see a cut scene. Boss Fight: Giant Skeleton This guy will kill you in just a few hits. Your wind and fire Ninpos will damage him, but only a little. You can land a few attacks when you're under him, but if you stay there too long he'll start kicking you. Sometimes he'll grab you and bash you into the wall or hold you and drop a skull on your head, but this isn't as damaging as his kicks. If you're far away, he will kick bones at you. This is very damaging so try to avoid getting too far away. You can avoid most of his attacks simply by running and jumping around.. and even running along the wall. After damaging him a bit, he'll sit on the ground for a second. Attack him now at this time. When he gets up, continue to run and slash at his legs until you damage him enough and he sits down again. If you're still having trouble, try using your Ultimate Technique when you get a chance and just release it if you see he's about to attack. After the scene, jump between the two walls across from the door. Go along the narrow path and wall run to get across the gap. Centipedes will attack you when the path widens. There is also a chest here with Red Essence inside. Continue up the winding ledge and wall run to cross another gap. A few centipedes will attack on the other side. Enter the doorway into a cave area where a few scorpion skeletons will attack you. Soon you'll come to a wide area where centipedes will attack. There is a chest on the left containing an Herb of Spiritual Life. Continue through the cave and kill the scorpion skeletons you run into. When you come to the large gap, jump towards the ledge and press Y while you jump to perform the Flying Swallow to cross the gap. Scorpion skeletons will greet you on the other side. Wall run to get across the next gap and kill the scorpion skeletons here, as well. Continue through the cave, fighting off more scorpion skeletons. When you come to the brick walls, wall jump to the wall directly across from you to reach the top. Outside, slice the rope of the guillotine to drop the blade, revealing Crystal Skull #14 where the head would be. Use the save/heal statue and go up the stairs. There is a shop up here and a ladder to take you to the balcony of the tower. The chest on the balcony contains Grains of Spiritual Life. You will see a cut scene as you walk back down the stairs. After the scene, two werewolves will attack you. Enter the door near the save statue and fight off the two werewolves that attack on the narrow stairs. Open the door at the bottom of the stairs and kill the werewolves inside. Head up the stairs and kill the centipedes on the way. There is a dead ninja with arrows between two cannons. Kill a second group of centipedes and continue up the stairs. When you get to a large, level area, centipedes and giant bats will attack. Go all the way to the right, across the water to find a portal which will take you to the Test of Valor Four. (You can go back to the previous save statue and shop if you need to.) Test of Valor Four This test is excessively easy compared to the last one. It's just medium sized bats and centipedes. There aren't many centipedes and the bats hardly do anything, so it should feel more like a regular encounter. To make it even easier, use the Level 3 Wind Ninpo then the Obliteration Technique on the centipedes. You're rewarded with Lives of the Thousand Gods. Step back on the portal to return to the castle. Go up the stairs and follow run along the balcony to the left to find a chest containing Red Essence. Turn around and go along the other side of the balcony. You'll be attacked by centipedes and then werewolves along the way. Use the save/heal statue if you need to, then climb the ladder. Examine the dead ninja behind the cannon for arrows if you need them, then perform a Flying Bird between the walls to the left of the dead ninja. Shoot arrows at the bats at the top until they stop spawning. Go up the stairs and continue forward, killing the four werewolves that attack. Continue forward until you get a short cut scene. Swing across the poles you saw in the cut scene. Swing straight into the large, stained glass window of the church from the last pole. Several centipedes will attack you inside. Open the chest to get the Bronze Key. Leave through the door and examine the dead ninja in the courtyard for Inukoma's Notebook. Use the key to enter the steaming door. Jump down the hole and kill the two werewolves in the kitchen. Continue into the storage area. There is a chest behind three barrels. There is a Life of the Gods item inside. Enter the door and use the heal/save statue on the right if you need to. Otherwise, go through the door on the left. A bunch of werewolves will attack you upon enter the castle's entrance hall. Enter the door on the same side of the room as the one you entered through, into a dining room full of werewolves. After killing them, enter through the door. (Note: There are several doors but only one you can open.) Kill the werewolves in the hall, then go through the door at the end. Take out the centipedes in the next room, then examine the blue, glowing object on the ground to get the Cast Iron Key. Exit through the door to find yourself back in the entrance hall. Go up the center stairs then the left stairs. At the end of the balcony is a chest with an Herb of Spiritual Life inside. Turn around and go up the right staircase this time. Use the key on the door and enter. Head up the stairs and use the save/heal statue on the way. Further up the stairs, you'll face a new kind of ninja, who throw Incendiary Shurikens. Go through the door when they're dead. Kill the incendiary ninjas in the library. Attack the bookcases, making the books fall off. This will reveal Crystal Skull #15. There is a dead ninja on the floor with The Four Greater Fiends, Part 3. Wall jump up the chimney and kill the centipedes at the top. Enter the door and kill the incendiary shuriken ninja inside. Wall jump up a second fire place after the ninjas are dead. Outside, use the save/heal statue if you need to, then swing across the horizontal flag poles. If you're going for maximum enemy kills, drop down below the flag poles to kill two werewolves. Ignore the stairs for now and continue along the balcony and swing across the balcony with the flag poles to the other side. There is a shop and two chests here. The chests contain an Herb of Spiritual Life and Grains of Spiritual Life. Return to the staircase you passed earlier and enter the door at the top. Upon examination the door will be locked. Werewolves will approach behind you. Kill them all and you will see a shining blue light on the ground. Pick it up to get the Golden Key. Use it on the locked door. After the cut scene, use your level 3 Wind Ninpo on the werewolves and follow up with the Obliteration Technique to make quick work of them. Examine the throne when they're dead to reveal a trap door. Jump down the trap door. Kill the four centipedes that attack, then open the chest on the left for an Herb of Spiritual Life. Continue through the sewer area. There will be a save statue on the right. Open the door at the end of the tunnel. Head down the stairs to the right, killing the centipedes along the way. There is a dead ninja with arrows on the draw bridge. Kill the giant bats here to reopen the door on the other side. Walk through the hall and enter the door at the end for a cut scene. Boss Fight: Volf, Ruler of Storms Volf carries a large scythe that he will use to quickly deteriorate your health if you don't block effectively. As long as you block or dodge his attacks and continue to land combos on him, he should fall fairly quick. You'll obtain the Eclipse Scythe after the scene. Ryu will be automatically be equipped with this, so if you're going for a single weapon achievement change your weapon now. Kill the angry werewolves until you get a cut scene. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 7: The Flying Fortress Daedalus (C7FFD) 2 Skulls The fanged fortress of the wolf-beast toppled, Ryu and Sonia leave his twisted arena behind, taking to the skies in search of Elizebet. Ever northward, she is carried on wings of darkness, borne through the skies by the flying fortress Daedalus. She must be stopped, but the army of Genshin, sworn enemy of the Hayabusa clan, stands between Ryu and his quarry. --------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll be shot by turrets upon starting this level. Charge and arrow and shoot it at each turret to blow them up. After destroying all six of them, open the chest on the right containing arrows. Mobile turrets will attack you know. Ryu can deflect most of the bullets by blocking. Move away from the mobile turrets after destroying them because they will explode. Continue forward after destroying the mobile turrets. There is a shop on the left side of the room. Open the doors and a security system will lock them behind you and dispatch technical ninjas to try to get rid of you. Luckily, they are told not to use explosives. They do, however, carry guns. Go around the right side to find a chest with Red Essence in a dead end. More tactical ninjas are on the left side of the large 'square,' as well as a save statue and a door to exit the area from. Kill the tactical ninjas inside, then continue forward. A chest on the left contains an Herb of Spiritual Life and the chest on the right has a bit of red essence. Exit through the door next to the chest. Kill the technical ninjas in the hallway and continue forward. Run all the way around the walkway to a dead end to find a chest with Life of the Gods inside. Enter the doors you passed on the way to the chest. Kill the two mobile turrets inside, then press the switch. The platform you're on will lower. You'll face a large mech at the bottom. He'll take a lot of hits to kill, so use the Ultimate Technique on him. He will make a giant explosion upon death, so keep away from him at that time. Enter the door and kill the tactical ninjas inside. Pick up Crystal Skull #16 from the floor, to the left of the command station. Use the save/heal statue if you need it. Attack the command station to destroy it. Back track to the previous room. Kill the tactical ninjas and another mech and continue through the door. Kill the tactical ninjas and then open the chest located next to the railing for Life of the Gods. Exit through the door and into a hallway. Kill the two tactical ninjas. If you walk into the lasers they will shock and damage Ryu, as well as set off an alarm, bringing more tactical ninjas into the room. Go through the door on the right. Kill the ninjas on this bridge area and continue forward, through the next door. Kill the three tactical ninjas inside. There are two chests on the left. They have arrows and Red Essence inside. Destroy all the command consoles and shoot arrows at the glass cylinders in the room. Return over the bridge and kill the ninja carrying a rocket launcher on the other side. Enter the door previously blocked by lasers. Kill the tactical ninjas and rocket ninjas inside, obviously making the rocket ninjas the first priority. There is a shop and a save/heal statue inside the door on the left. Continue down the hallway to kill more rocket and tactical ninjas, then enter the door on the left. There is a dead ninja on one of the beds with Yogenta's Notebook. Exit onto the elevator and kill the tactical ninja at the top. You can attack the command center on the right for some Yellow Essence. Climb up the ladder when you're done. The two chests in this room contain Lives of the Thousand Gods and an Herb of Spiritual Life. Go through the door and kill the tactical ninjas and two rocket ninjas inside. The door on the right contains a chest with The Art of the Piercing Void inside and the other has a blue portal to take you to Test of Valor #5. Test of Valor Five You'll be fighting tactical ninjas, rocket ninjas, and mechs. The mechs are the main problem, so focus on them first. I used the Level 3 Wind Ninpo on almost every mech, then used the Obliteration Technique. Don't do this if you're low on health, though, as you rarely will be able to get away from the explosions when the mech is destroyed. Don't be surprised if you go through every item in your inventory. It may be a good idea to equip a Talisman of Rebirth if you don't mind sparing it. The ninjas will be a lot easier to kill when the mechs stop coming, and it will seem like a piece of cake to finish them off without the annoying mechs. You'll be rewarded with two chests this time. The chest on the left has a Jewel of the Demon Seal. The chest on the right has a little surprise inside - ghost fish. Don't even open it if you're low on health; if they kill you you'll have to complete this trial again. I'm sure the developers got a kick out of adding that. Return to the blue portal when you're finished Hit the switch to open a door in the floor. Jump down. There are two chests and two dead ninjas on the ground. The chests contain arrows and Grains of Spiritual life. The dead ninja on the right has the Tonfa weapon and the one on the left has Incendiary Shurikens. Enter the door and kill the rocket and tactical ninjas inside. Crystal Skull #17 is to the right of the door you entered from in front of some rubble. Exit through the door at the end of the hallway and kill the three mobile turrets outside. Stock up on items at the shop if you need to. Hit the switch and ride the platform down. Kill the three mobile turrets at the bottom. Enter the door, pull out your bow, and shoot fully charged arrows at the four turrets on the ceiling. Jump down and climb up the ladder and enter the door on the other side. There is a save point and another door inside. Save and go through the next door. Examine the dead ninja on the right for a Devil Way Mushroom. Kill the rocket and tactical ninja down the hallway and continue through the door and kill the ninja in the next room. Cross over the bridge for a cut scene. Go through the door. The chest on the left contains an Herb of Spiritual Life. Kill the ninjas in this room exit through the door for another cut scene. Cross the bridge after the scene and kill the ninjas in the next room. Enter a long hallway through the door and kill the rocket and tactical ninjas inside. There is a chest to the left of the next door with a little bit of Blue Essence inside. Go through the door to find a shop and another door. Enter through the next door. Use your bow to destroy three turrets on the ceiling. Jump down and climb the ladder across from you to find a heal/save statue and a door. Enter the door for a scene. Boss Fight: Genshin, the Second Time Genshin is joined by Incendiary Shuriken ninjas this time, but your strategy will be the same as the first time you fought him. Just be aggressive, but dodge his combos when he starts them. You will still take damage if you block instead of dodge. Aeriel attacks do not work well on him. Boss Fight: Fiery Armadillo His attacks are easy to avoid. He'll shoot a bunch of fire balls out, breathe fire, and roll up into a ball and jump and roll around. They can be avoided by just running out of the way. Throw Incendiary Shurikens or charged arrows at his face for maximum damage. When he gets low on health he will completely light on fire and constantly shoot fireballs out. Throw another Incendiary Shuriken at him and he will fall to the ground. Finish him off, then hold down the Left Trigger to block. He will teleport next to you, explode, then kill you if you don't. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 8: Submit, or Die! (C8SOD) 4 Skulls Several hundred kilometers north of the snowy crash-site of the Daedalus, Greater Fiend Zedonius has awakened to threaten a once-great military state. The malevolent Ruler of Flame issues an ultimatum handed down from the Infernal Priest Dagra Dai to the people of the world: Accept the yoke of the almighty Archfiend, or die. And so Earth's baptism by fire begins. The taunts of the Greater Fiend of Flame fill Ryu's mind. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Moving forward, there is a shop and a chest to the left with arrows inside. Two enemies will run behind a blockade ahead. They carry rocket launcher that shoot multiple rockets at once. There is a possibility that they will end up killing themselves on accident (this happens if you can get close to them and jump around a little bit.), but if they don't, shoot a fully charged arrow at their heads from behind the cover of the other blockade. Two more rocket launchers will run behind the blockade after you kill the first two. Around the corner, there are a total of four rocket launchers. Head back to the corner you just turned, and shoot your arrows at them from there; they will not shoot rockets at you from this location. Continue forward. When you come to the burning helicopter, three mechs will come after you. If you have The Art of the Piercing Void upgraded to at least level two, a well place shot will tear a mech in half. If you see them hovering in the air, move out of the way to avoid being crushed. You can also try using the Ultimate Technique to rid yourself of them, if you get the chance. There are two more rocket launchers ahead. There aren't really any good places you can use for cover, either. Just try to shoot an arrow at their heads while the rockets are in the air, before they hit you. (Note: There seems to be a glitch of sorts at this part. If you walk back to the chest with arrows near the start of the level, the rocket launchers may be gone when you come back. You can try this if you're having a lot of trouble.) Move forward after they have been dealt with. Around the corner, open the chest with Red Essence. Four more rocket launchers are behind a blockade ahead. If you stand behind the light post (located behind the broken tank) the rocket launchers will not fire at you, and you are given a great view of their heads. Go up the stairs and through the tunnel, using the save/heal statue on the way. Dogs will approach you outside. They somehow have the ability to throw Incendiary Shurikens at you. Take them out and open the chest to the left of the tunnel. It has an Herb of Spiritual Life inside. Enter the building when you're done. There are tactical ninjas and rocket launchers inside. After taking out the tactical ninjas, perform a wall jump on either side of the door you entered from to get to the level above, where the rocket launchers are located. You can either shoot arrows at them or run up on them and kill them, running on the wall on the way to avoid getting hit. Ninpos can work well too, as you can't be hurt during them. Either way, two more rocket launchers appear on another 'bridge' after you kill the first two. I found nothing of note inside the building, except for a shop in the room on the first floor. Exit the building through the doorway opposite of the one you entered from. Did you notice those small circular objects on the ground in the short cut scene? Those are mines, don't step on them. Walk through the middle of the rows of mines. Do not walk into the snow after the initial set of mines right away. There are actually mines under the snow? See the set of footprints? Lightly push your analog sick and walk along the footprints to avoid the mines. Once across the mines, you will immediately be greeted with a rocket to the face. There is a chest here containing arrows if you need them. Several rocket ninjas will be shooting rockets at you from the windows of a building ahead. They will respawn for awhile, so you'll end up having to kill around 20 of them or so. I wouldn't recommend continuing until you kill them all. All I can say is to be patient and shoot arrows at their heads. Standing near the left wall will help block the rockets being shot at you from the left windows. Continue forward and keep an eye out for mines on the land. Follow the footprints to cross patches of snow (or jump over the snow completely using the Flying Swallow Technique.) There is a dead ninja with a Devil Way Mushroom and Crystal Skull #18 is at the end of this road, to the left. There are mines surrounding the Crystal Skull and I do not believe there is a way to get around them, so prepare to take some damage. Shoot an arrow at the turrets around the corner before taking these items. Follow the footprints through the snow ahead. Jump on top of the platform the turret on the right was on. There is a dead ninja here with a Devil Way Mushroom. Enter the large gate and use the save/heal statue as you probably need it. Enter the door and kill the Incendiary Shuriken Ninjas. Use the Level 3 Wind Ninpo for an easy win. Enter the door on the right and head up the stairs. They are broken, so wall run to the next section of stairs. Continue to wall run across the gaps in the broken stairs and enter the doorway at the top. Jump and grab the circular pole and move to the left. Swing off when you pass the large column and examine the dead ninja for a Life of the Gods item. Jump back on the pole, going left, and swing off at the next opening. Go up the stairs and across the short balcony. Go down the stairs on the left and examine the dead ninja for the Bell Key. Return across the balcony and use the key to open the door. Make sure to walk down the stairs instead of just jumping. Crystal Skull #19 is located in one of the alcoves, next to a candle. Exit through the doorway. Open the golden doors in the next room and jump down the hole. Make your way forward, killing the bats along the way. Eventually you will enter a large train station. There is a chest containing Red Essence at the end. When you approach the train some Incendiary Shuriken ninjas will attack. Kill them then enter the train from the door nearest to the back of the train. The first room in the train contains Crystal Skull #20. Enter the door on the left side of this room for a short scene. Examine the body on the bed for the Dignitary's ID Card. Leave this room and enter the other room on the train to find a chest containing Grains of Spiritual Life. Exit the train and head up the stairs. Enter the door at the top. Use the save/heal statue, and enter the door at the top of the center stairs. Boss Fight: Goliath Fiend, Second Time Your Fire Ninpo will do massive damage to him. You can also charge an Ultimate Technique to take a good chunk of his health. Otherwise, slash at his legs and dodge his attacks. At some point during the fight, two mechs and a couple rocket ninjas will join him. You can use a level 3 Wind Ninpo followed by the Obliteration Technique to take the mechs out fast, however you will likely be damaged when they blow up. When the boss is almost dead you can press Y for a cool finishing move. After the scene, head through the hole in the wall, then fall through the hole in the floor. You can take the large book on the ground. It is The Rule of the King of Darkness. Continue down the hallway, killing the three Incendiary Shuriken Ninjas. There is a dead ninja inside the last cell on the right with Incendiary Shurikens. Head down the stairs. There is a dead ninja in the third cell with Life of the Gods. Continue to the end of the hall and open the last gate at the dead end. Charge and throw an Incendiary Shuriken at the crack in the wall then jump down to the room below. Kill the centipedes then look for the chest on the floor, across from where you entered. It has Red Essence inside. Head to the stairs, killing the ghost fish along the way. Wall jump at the end of the tunnel to reach a cell above. Throw and charged Incendiary Shuriken or a charged arrow at the crack to break it open and enter through. There is a chest on the left with an Herb of Spiritual Life inside. There is a heal/save statue down the stairs, next to another set of stairs. Open the large door in the center to find a blue portal with a chest next to it with arrows. Step on the portal to begin the Test of Valor. Test of Valor 6 This test is against mobile turrets and rocket launchers. The mobile turrets are slow, so take on the rocket launchers first. I advise using the Flying Swallow on them. When all the rocket launchers are gone, start taking out the mobile turrets. There are a lot of them and they will slowly wear your health down. Run and jump around in a large circle and perform Flying Swallows on them over and over again. Two chests will appear after winning. Ghost fish are in the one on the left and a Jewel of the Demon Seal in the right chest. Step back on the blue portal when you're done. Go up the set of stairs next to the save statue and kill the Incendiary Shuriken ninjas on the balcony. Move forward to find a shop and a ladder. You should be in a large room with several moving gears. Jump up the first three gears. Incendiary Shuriken ninjas will attack you at this point. From the flat gear you're on, jump to the vertical turning gear next to it. This gear is moving so immediately jump to the horizontal pole above to avoid being crushed between the two gears below. Swing across the series of poles to land on a horizontal gear. Jump to the horizontal gear next to it, then onto the vertical gear. Incendiary Shuriken ninjas will attack here. Jump back to the horizontal gear and kill the ninjas that don't get crushed in the two gears. Jump across the two vertical gears and then onto the horizontal gear. There should be a large, spinning wheel with horizontal poles in front of you. Jump and grab one of the poles and swing off onto the horizontal gear on the other side. (There is a platform under the wheel, so don't worry if you miss.) Crystal Skull #21 is on this gear. Jump onto the ramp from here. Examine the dead ninja for Izo's Notebook. Look next to the dead ninja to find Koshimaru's Notebook (1). Jump on the vertical gear on the other side of the platform, then onto the horizontal one next to it. Grab there circular pole from here. Swing off onto the vertical gear ahead and immediately jump to the horizontal gear on it's right. Open the chest here for Grains of Spiritual Life. Jump up the series of horizontal gears and eventually across two vertical gears and onto a platform with a save/heal statue. Head up the ramp and into the center of the large platform for a scene. Boss Fight: Zedonius, Ruler of Flame Try to stay close to him to avoid getting pummeled by flame. You can kill him pretty quickly simply by landing combos and dodging his attacks. He'll grab you a lot, but this move isn't as damaging as his regular attacks. He also likes to hover in the air and throw fireballs, just dodge when he does this. If all else fails, spam the Flying Swallow (he will dodge this a lot, but you should still be able to get a few good hits on him this way) or Ultimate Techniques. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 9: Heart of Darkness (C9HOD) 4 Skulls Elizebet's trail leads to an ominous realm in South America. This unholy land conceals the final component to resurrecting the Archfiend. Ryu Hayabusa penetrates its dark mangroves that teem with the heavily-armed forces of the Black Spider Ninja Clan on a path to the lair of the Archfiend. Ryu journeys through a jungle far from civilization, a mysterious place where the secrets of the ancients dwell. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Move through the trees until reaching a large swamp area, killing the attacking tactical and rocket ninjas on the way. Shoot an arrow at the rocket ninja from across the swamp. Take a look at the water before jumping in; you will see octopuses under the water. You can use your Gatling Spear Gun to kill them. They will respwan for awhile, however. There is a shop next to the building but nothing else, so continue through the water. There will be more octopuses ahead. You can either kill them or just avoid them. Eventually you'll come to another shack with two rocket ninjas. Inside the building is a save/heal statue and a dead ninja with arrows. From the back of the porch, approach the water and prepare to be annoyed. Several rocket launchers will appear and they respawn for awhile. You have to kill all of them. You probably will only be able to shoot an arrow at one or two of them, so you'll have to run around on the water and throw incendiary bolts and/or attempt to run up on them. Either way, keep moving to avoid the hundreds of rockets. If you run low on health you can move away from them, to the area you started in and the game will consider you to be far enough away to refill your health bar, even though the rockets can still reach you. Just when you think it's finally over and all the rocket launchers are dead, hovering mechs will attack you on the water. Did I mention that also fire rockets? They aren't as hard as the rocket launchers. You can cast Ninpo from the water to help take care of the hovering mechs. They explode when they die, so stay away. You will see a short cut scene when everything is dead. Now to expolore the area... There is a chest containing an Herb of Spiritual Life and Crystal Skull #22 on the walkway with the search light post across from your entrance area. Follow the assortment of shacks from here. The next one has three chests with arrows, Blue Essence, and a Devil Way Mushroom. There is another chest up the stairs from here with a Life of the Gods inside. Go to the right after coming back down the stairs and jump up to the floor of another shack with a chest filled with Red Essence. Perform a wall run here to reach the next shack. There is a dead ninja and a chest; each have an Herb of Spiritual Life. Move through this shack and jump down to the second searchlight post. Kick open the gate behind it to find a chest the Jade Mask inside. Head back towards the water and what do you know... there are more hovering mechs. Take them out with ninpo or regular attacks. Enter the area next to the second search light and place the Jade Mask on the god circle on the wall. Enter the now open gate and swim a short distance to land. There is a chest to the left containing Blue Essence. Tread through the water, if you like, but there are only a few octopuses and a large tree at the end. Instead, swing across the tree branches in front of you to cross over the water and reach a path ahead. Kill the tactical ninjas along the path. When you reach the end, shoot charged arrows at the two rocket ninjas across the water. Jump up and grab the rope above you. Pay close attention to the surrounding area as you move across the rope; there is a short series of branches you can swing to from the rope, to reach Crystal Skull #23 and a shop. Continue along the rop when you're finished. Head up the path and kill the tactical ninjas that attack. There is a small sidepath to the left, just before the save/heal statue. Follow it to find a chest containing Red Essence. Go down the path next to the save/heal statue. A bunch of spiked bugs will attack you here. Spam the Flying Swallow on them. Perform an Ultimate Technique on the large, cracked boulder to break it. Fall down the hole after you've busted your way through. Run through the cave, killing the bats and spiked bugs as you go. Eventually there will be a small side room on the right. I am not going to mention these side rooms as there is one almost every two feet, and I didn't find anything of real intrest in any of them. Much further down the cave you will hear a rumbling sound and see a boss health bar pop up on your screen. Enter a nearby side room when you hear the rumbling to avoid getting rolled over right away. Boss Fight: Cave Worm This is probably the easiest boss in the game. Stand in the tunnel after the worm passes and charge an Ultimate Technique. Release it when the worm gets close to you. You can tell which way he is coming from by how loud his 'sound' is. Watch down the side with the loud sound for the worm. Slash him as much as you can after releasing the technique and use the Flying Swallow to get close to him if you are too far. Rinse and repeat this until he's dead. To make it even easier, most of the side rooms have eggs inside. You can break these and kill the spiked bugs for Essence. Follow through the rest of the tunnel and jump down the hole. If you are walking for a long time you are going the wrong way. Use the save/heal statue at the bottom. Enter the water before you. Crystal Skull #24 is on the outskirts of the swamp. Several worms will attack you from the water, often emerging under you. Flying Swallow works wonders on them. Proceed up the path. You'll find a dead ninja on the way. Take the Vigoorian Flail from him. Continue down the path until you reach a large lake. There are large, red, fish like enemies in the lake. Jump in the water and kill them with the spear gun. There is a chest at the bottom of the lake on the small pillar ruin. You'll find Grains of Spiritual Life inside. Get on the land next to the building with the large skull. There is a dead ninja with a Devil Way Mushroom and a chest containing a Jewel of the Demon Seal. Climb onto the ruined bridge. There is a shop, save/heal statue, and a blue portal here. Step on the portal when you're ready to begin the Test of Valor. Test of Valor 7 Yes, they are serious: just skeleton scorpions and spiked bugs. You should be able to clear them out within a minute or two, without using any items or Ninpo. Two chests will appear: a Talisman of Rebirth on the left and, what do you know, ghost fish on the right. Step back on the portal when you're finished. Examine the decorative wall next to the shop. Kill the chainsaw weilding fiends in the area. Use Obliteration on them when they're missing a limb. They're fairly easy enemies. After dealing with them, kill the red fish that reappear in the previous lake. Open the wall once everything is dead. Proceed left out the door to find a chest with Yellow Essence. Jump into the water and swim through the long tunnel. Climb onto the land and follow the path along the stream until you get a cut scene. Jump into the lake to find Crystal Skull #25 on the left wall, next to a dead ninja. Kill the chainsaw aliens that attack and continue forward. Kill the two chainsaw aliens along the stone path. There is a dead ninja with arrows in the stone circle ahead. Step in the center of the circle for a scene. Boss Fight: Gold Dragons X2 The dragons will shoot lasers and fireballs. Both are easily avoidable by simply running away from them, but very damaging if they do hit you. You can fire arrows at them, though you probably won't be able to charge them while both dragons are still around. If you have a level 3 Fire Ninpo, use it when the two dragons are near you to deal massive damage to both dragons. When only one dragon is left, fire charged arrows until it dies as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 10: The Temple of Sacrifice (C0TOS) 2 Skulls A great waterfall parts before Elizebet as if in fear of the Demon Statue held high above her head in a rain of blood. Behind it lies the gaping entrance to a massive cavern. The stench of blood reeks from its sculpted interior Upon this altar, Infernal Priest Dagra Dai will breathe life into the Demon Statue once again. Ryu Hayabusa closes in on his quarry. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Use the shop on the left if you need to, then head up the path. Two blood centipedes will attack a little further up. They are like the regular centipedes, only noticeably stronger. Continue up the path, killing three more blood centipedes. Wall run across the gap and continue up the path, killing several blood centipedes on the way. Look to your right to find a chest containing an Herb of Spiritual Life, then take the path going downwards near it. There is another chest at the bottom, to the right, with a Devil Way Mushroom inside. Go to the left of this area to find another chest with a Life of the Gods inside. Head back to the upper area and wall run across two walls to reach the other side. Blood centipedes and bat humanoids will attack you here. There is also a dead towards the right with Denji's Notebook. Use the heal/save statue further up the path and proceed forward. There are two bipedal tarantulas that will attack on the narrow, cliff path. They are strong, take a lot of hits, and will often block the Flying Swallow. Use the Flying Swallow anyway. It will kill them eventually and keep you from taking too much damage. Examine the dead ninja further up for a Devil Way Mushroom, then a second dead ninja further up with Grains of Spiritual Life. Enter the large, slime filled room after the save point. A worm and several bugs will appear. Kill the worm first with the Flying Swallow and then take care of the spiked bugs. The dead ninja on the rock to the right has Incendiary Shurikens. Examine the pillar ahead to lower it, then perform a wall jump. Wall run across the two opposing walls to a ledge on the other side. Turn around from here and wall run across the left wall to reach a platform with Crystal Skull #26 on it. Jump to the floor from here and kill the spiked bugs at the bottom. Open the chest for Blue Essence. Wall jump back up to where you entered the area, then run across the two opposing walls again. This time, head forward down the path. Kill the worms with the Flying Swallow ahead and continue on. Examine the pillar to open the way ahead. Jump down the hole and the end and use the save/heal statue. There are several giant bats ahead. Shoot charged arrows at them while they're shooting fireballs. If you stand far back in the cave most of the fireballs will miss. Look towards your left on the way down the stairs. You should see Crystal Skull #27; grab it when you reach the bottom, then open the chest on the right of the stairs for an Herb of Spiritual Life. Kill the blood centipedes in the next area. There is a large, circular switch on the ground. Jump into the air and press Y while in mid air to press the switch in. A skeleton cage will lower along with several blood centipedes inside. Kill them then examine the dead ninja for a Jewel of the Demon Seal. Follow the path to find a dead ninja with arrows, then continue on. Jump down to the area below and kill the chainsaw aliens at the bottom. Continue forward when they're dead. Kill the giant bats that attack on the cliff area and continue until you reach a shop. Kill the bat humanoids and cross the bridge. Kill the chainsaw aliens on the other side. Use the save/heal statue and step on the blue portal when you're ready to begin a Test of Valor. Test of Valor 8 This one is ghost fish and blood centipedes. It's actually pretty easy. Don't be surprised if you don't even need any items. The fish will end up dying pretty quickly. You can use the wind Ninpo around groups of blood centipedes, followed by the obliteration technique to take them out fast. Three chests will appear. The one on the left had ghost fishes, the right has Blue Essence and the chest in the back has Yellow Essence. Step back on the portal. Jump and press Y in midair on the large switch on the ground ahead. This will lower a second cage along with two blood centipedes and a dead ninja with Grains of Spiritual Life. Continue forward, jumping down to the ground below. Follow the path to find a chest containing an Herb of Spiritual Life, and continue on. There is a dead ninja with arrows right before the giant bats attack ahead. Take them out with arrows and move forward. Kill the blood centipedes and open the chest to the right of the walkway with pillars. An Herb of Spiritual Life is inside. You will see a cut scene a little further ahead. Go to your left to see a dead ninja and another large, circular switch. The dead ninja has an Herb of Spiritual Life. A Gold Dragon will be released from the cage after hitting the switch. Boss Fight: Gold Dragon It's by itself, so just shoot charged arrows or use your Fire Ninpo until it dies. Open the chest that appeared in the center area for the Bone Relief. Place the Bone Relief in the glowing, green square in front of the door, and the door will open. Enter the door. At least 100 ninjas will come rushing down the stairs at you. This part is notorious for serious slow down. The ninjas should be no problem after what you have been facing, especially considering the Wind Ninpo will take several of them out at once. There is a chest to the right of the doorway at the top of the stairs. You'll find Red Essence inside. Enter the doorway, examine the white wall to lower it, then drop down. Use the shop if you need to and the heal/save statue. Open the door to be attacked by bat humanoids and a super bat humanoid. Just chop off their arms and OT away. Head down the long ramp. There is a chest to the left and right at the end, containing Red and Blue Essence. The Prayer of the Necromantale is located on the right side of the stairs. Head up the stairs and examine the door for a cut scene. Boss Fight: Elizebet, Ruler of Blood She likes to spam a move similar to your Flying Swallow, so spam that back at her and combine it with Y combos for a cheap, but easy win. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 11: A Tempered Gravestone (C1ATG) 3 Skulls Ryu returns to Hayabusa Village, resting in the shadow of sacred Mount Fuji. It is his final stop before heading to unholy ground, to the source of the supernatural forces threatening the world. Dragon Sword in hand, Ryu's body courses with unfathomable power. Atop the mountain from which this evil pours forth, Genshin awaits, intent on claiming the life of the last of the Dragon Lineage. The inevitable confrontation between Ryu and Genshin approaches. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ You now have the True Dragon Sword. This replaces the original Dragon Sword. Head down the stairs and follow the path, killing regular ninjas, archers, and Incendiary Shuriken ninjas along the way. Eventually you'll come to a shop. Head down the stairs and use the save/heal point after killing the ninjas in the area. At the end of the cave to the left of the save statue is a dead ninja with arrows. Continue down the path to the right of the save statue, killing several ninjas along the way. Several ninjas will attack in the courtyard area. A few Incendiary Shuriken ninjas will attack in the building on the left. Head down the walkway to the right of this and kill the archers at the end. There is a save/heal statue in the next area as well as a dead ninja with arrows. Head down the stairs and open the door. Kill the Incendiary Shuriken ninjas, then cross the bridge. Open the door and kill several dogs and a few fire archers. Head up the stairs and pick up the Jizo Statue Head on them. Examine the light colored gravestone shown in the short cut scene to find Kureha's Room Key. Back track to the large courtyard. You know, the one with that door you could never get into, with the two poles with snakes wrapped around them? Use the key on that door. There are three chests inside: the one on the left has a Spirit of the Devils, the one on the right has Yellow Essence, and the center chest has the Windmill Shuriken. Cross back over the bridge. Two bipedal tarantulas will attack along with Incendiary Shuriken ninjas. Kick open the door on the left once they're dead. Use the shop if you need to and open the chest on the right for Red Essence. Climb the ladder and examine the dead ninja for the History of the Castle of the Dragon. Jump out the window when you're done. Kill the ninja at the bottom, then open a chest to the left for Red Essence. Head to the right from where you jumped out the widow. At the end of the row of houses, turn right. There is a dead ninja here with an Herb of Spiritual Life. Behind the house is Crystal Skull #28 behind a wheel. Return to the main road and place the Jizo Statue Head on the statue missing its head, to the left of the doorway. A chest will appear at the house up the hill, behind you. Open it to receive Blue Essence. Enter the doorway and kill the Incendiary Shuriken ninjas, then use the heal/save statue. Cross the bridge, killing the attacking mage and Incendiary Shuriken ninjas along the way. Jump into the water further up the path and swim through the tunnel. Climb onto the land and kill the attacking ninjas. Break open the doors of the small, wooden structure on the right and take Crystal Skull #29 inside. Continue up the path and take out the Incendiary Shuriken and archer ninjas ahead. Follow the path, killing several more ninjas along the way. Climb into the cave tunnel and use the save/heal statue at its entrance. Enter the cave to find a chest on the right containing an Herb of Spiritual Life and a portal to the final Test of Valor in the back. Test of Valor 9 This last test consists of dogs and Incendiary Shuriken ninjas. If you ever end up being unable to move because of the constant explosions and attacking dogs, use a Ninpo to kill most of the enemies surrounding you (assuming you've been leveling your Ninpos up.) Use the Flying Swallow a lot to avoid Incendiary Shurikens from hitting you, and you should be fine. Three chests appear: ghost fish in the left and right chests, and Lives of the Thousand Gods in the center chest. I advise holding onto the Lives of the Thousand Gods for later bosses or trouble areas. Leave the cave and jump up the ledges next to the previous save statue. Follow the wooden walkway inside a building. A dead ninja holds Hachijuro's Notebook. Jump down into the hole. Kill the ninjas at the bottom and head through the hallway, killing two Incendiary Shuriken ninjas. Examine the dead ninja at the end of the hallway for a Devil Way Mushroom. Kill the ninjas in the next two rooms. There is a dead ninja in the second room holding on to Grains of Spiritual Life. Follow through the hallway and down the stairs. There is a dead ninja with arrows at the bottom. Kill the attacking ninjas here. Jump down the hole on left and kill the ninjas at the bottom. Examine the dead ninja for Life of the Gods. Jump down the ledges to find a small cave area on the left. Pick up Crystal Skull #30 inside. Climb your way back to the top and grab the rope to reach a cliff on the other side. Use the save/heal statue and follow the path. Kill the ninjas that attack and later the fire archers. Keep killing the ninjas in the next area until you see a scene. You'll acquire Murasama's Omusubi after the scene, which will fully restore your health. Use the heal/save statue and head up the path. Kill the ninjas along the way until you reach a shop. To the right is a dead end. There is a dead ninja there with Grains of Spiritual Life. Take the left path. Several dogs will attack in the next area. Follow the path when the dogs stop coming. There is a dead ninja in the center of the path with Koshimaru's Notebook (2). Follow the path, killing ninjas on the way. Several ninjas and Incendiary Shuriken ninjas will attack in the large area ahead. Going right from where you entered the area, there is a chest containing an Herb of Spiritual Life and a dead ninja with a Life of the Gods. There are two more dead ninjas in this area, each carrying a Devil Way Mushroom. One is in the center and the other is to the left of the path ahead. Proceed up the path until you see a cut scene. Boss Fight: Genshin, Third Encounter Genshin is the same as always. Keep up your attack while dodging his attacks. Really, I don't know why he still thinks he's a match for Ryu. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 12: Quickening Devastation (C12QD) Deep within Mount Fuji lies a hellish, tainted world, where the demented Infernal Priest Dagra Dai invokes dark ceremonies and incantations to resurrect the Archfiend. Every heartbeat of the fetal overlord rumbles like an omen of death for the human race. Ryu enters the Underworld, where no human has ever set foot before. He does not yet realize that he is in the land of the dead, home to those who have shuffled off this mortal coil. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is a shop at the very beginning of the level. Head up the path and kill the bat humanoids and super bat humanoids on the way. Run past the lava area to avoid getting hit by fireballs. There is a dead ninja by the path ahead with a Devil Way Mushroom. Head up the path and use the save/heal statue on the way. Walk to the center of the next large area for a cut scene. Boss Fight: Fiery Armadillo X2 Remember that Incendiary Shurikens to the face equals massive damage. Attacking their faces while they're shooting out fire balls will damage them even more, so try it if you get the chance. It can be hard to keep track of things during this fight with the constant fireballs and screen shaking. Try to focus on killing just one of them first, to make killing the second one easier. Pay attention to their health bars as these two will blow up when they die, just like the first one you fought. Move away from the dead one and hold the block button to avoid dying in the explosion. If you are low on healing items you can still return to the shop at the beginning of the level as there isn't another shop for awhile. Follow the path forward; it is to the right from where you entered. Soon you will see another cut scene. After the scene, look to the left to find a chest with an Herb of Spiritual Life inside. Kill the bat humanoids further up. Look to the left at the stream of lava. There is a chest with Grains of Spiritual Life inside. Jump to it to land on the small rocks surrounding it to avoid taking damage from the lava. There is also a dead ninja up the lava stream and to the right with a Devil Way Mushroom. Continue down the path, sliding down the rock ahead. Wolves will attack in this lower area. Flying Swallow them to death. Cross the bridge and kill the super bat humanoids on the other side. There is a chest on the right side of this area containing Red Essence. Use the save/heal statue ahead and continue on. More super bat humanoids and some red dragons will attack you past the save statue. As you might have guessed, they spew flames and fire balls at you. As with most things it's easiest to kill them with the Flying Swallow. Follow the path then jump down to the lava area below. Use the Flying Swallow to help you to the rocks on the right. There is a dead ninja here with a Devil Way Mushroom. Flame fish will attack you here - they are just like the ghost fish. Kill them then jump to the center rock area for a cut scene. Boss Fight: Zedonius, Second Encounter Zedonius isn't your main opponent here, it's the lava. You will quickly take damage if you fall in. He will hover in the air and shoot fireballs. Keep dodging them to get him to come down. Just attack him while he's on the rock, away from the edge so you don't get 'pushed' in the lava. You can use the Flying Swallow to help create an opening for combos. Examine the purple object on the ground for the Heart of Malevolent Flame. Jump to the rock area on the left to find a dead ninja with Grains of Spiritual Life. Return to the rock area you fought Zedonius on. Do not proceed to the cave door yet. There are octopuses in front of it and if you die you must fight Zedonius again. Shoot arrows in that direction until they are gone. It will take a long time for them to stop respawning, so if you're impatient you can cross between respawns. There is a dead ninja with arrows on this rock area for when you need to restock. Use the save/heal statue in the cave and move forward to find a chest on the left containing an Herb of Spiritual Life. Use the shop in the foggy area if needed and continue ahead. Several spider robots will attack further up. They shoot lightning and can damage you a lot very quickly. They also explode upon death, so keep your distance when they're dying. Continue through the woods, killing the remaining spider robots. Near the exit there is a chest in front of a tree on the left. An Herb of Spiritual Life can be found inside. Exit the woods from here. Enter the large area of sand ahead for a cut scene. Boss Fight: Volf, Second Encounter Volf is joined by centaur enemies. The best way I found to finish this fight was to use the Flying Swallow on anything that I could combined with the Fire Ninpo near Volf (and preferably with centaurs nearby.) You should be able to kill him like this easily and without taking a whole lot of damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 13: The Underworld Abyss (C3TUA) It is said that those who walk the frozen abyss of the Underworld are doomed, forbidden to ever again see the light of the living. In pursuit of the Archfiend, Ryu encounters a beautiful prisoner -- or is it merely a phantasm created by the Fiends? Evil claws reach for Sonia; she has followed Ryu here. To return to the world of the living, Ryu must break through the barrier between illusion and reality. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Examine the purple object for the Heart of Bestial Storm and move forward. There is a shop on the left, before the stairs. Ascend the stairs for a scene. Kill the spider robots in the next two rooms and move forward for a cut scene. Enter the door and kill the chainsaw aliens in the first room and super bat humanoids and gold dragons in the next. There is a dead ninja in this room with an Herb of Spiritual Life. Centaurs will attack in the next room. I recommend using the level 3 Fire Ninpo on them. Move down the path on the right and open the door. Kill the scorpion skeletons inside. The chest in front of door has Red Essence inside. Use the save/heal statue further in the cave. The chest on its left has Grains of Spiritual Life inside while the chest on the right has some ghost fish inside. Return to the previous room. Fight off the mages and assassin ninja. Use the wind or fire Ninpo if you have trouble. Head down the left path now. The large sacks contain bipedal tarantulas. Attack them if you wish to fight it. The smaller sacks have assortments of ninjas inside. You have to attack most of the sacks to continue forward. There is a dead ninja up the left path with a Devil Way Mushroom. Go to the right path to move forward. There is another dead ninja at the next right with an Herb of Spiritual Life. Fall through the hole you come to. Kill the ninjas and the bipedal tarantula in this area and move forward, falling down into the next hole. Kill the ninjas and two bipedal tarantulas in the sacks until you come to a path to the left and a save point ahead. Use the save point and examine the dead ninja here for arrows, then take the left path. Use your arrows on the giant bats in this room. There is a chest to the left with Red Essence inside and another chest further up, along the wall, with an Herb of Spiritual Life inside. Further along the ring is a dead ninja with an Herb of Spiritual Life. Jump down the large hole in the center of the ring. Boss Fight: Alexei, Second Time I thought he was actually easier this time. Just perform Y combos on him. When he's taken a lot of damage he'll go into a berserk mode. He'll do a lot of spinning during this time. Just finish him off quickly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 14: Poisoned Blood (C14PB) To save Sonia, Ryu fought his way through a sea of blood filled with vengeful spirits, reanimated by the evil of the Underworld. Now he confronts the Queen of the Greater Fiends in a final battle to the death. Dagra Dai's evil incantations are complete; the resurrection of the Archfiend is at hand. The Dragon Ninja walks the blade separating life and death. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can kill Sonia at the beginning of this level with an arrow if you wish, however it will be game over if you do. Examine the purple item for the Heart of Azure Lightning. Head down the path, through the door. Examine the dead ninja for a Devil Way Mushroom. Kill the attacking robot spiders and continue down the path. The fire Ninpo works great here. Enter the next door to find a shop. Kill the centaurs in the next area. Again, a level three fire Ninpo works wonders on them. There are also two dead ninjas along this path. One has arrows and the other a Devil Way Mushroom. Enter the door to find a save/heal statue. There are red fish in the blood pool. They won't appear until you swim a little bit into the water. Swim down as far as you can go, near a wall. They don't attack as often when you are low. Use your Gatling Spear gun on them and slash them if they get close. To the left of the door is a chest with Red Essence and to the right is a dead ninja with an Herb of Spiritual Life. Enter the door and proceed through the room for a cut scene. Boss Fight: Genshin, Fourth Time Again, he's pretty much the same as he's been the last 10 times, except with a lot of jumping and dashing this time. Try to counter his combos with Y attacks, if you can't dodge his attack. Your Dragon's Claw and Tiger's Fang will be upgraded to the Blade of the Archfiend after the fight. Boss Fight: Elizebet, Second Time You will be auto-equipped with the Blade of the Archfiend, so if you're going for a weapon achievement, be sure to change it before dealing any damage. Aside from a few new moves, she's the same. If you see her casting a spell, creating spider web like strings of blood, attack her to stop it. You can use your Fire Ninpo to deal an okay amount of damage on her. Rely on regular attacks to kill her. You can use the Flying Swallow, but it will miss a lot as she moves around quickly and uses a similar move often. Pick up the purple object to get the Heart of Crimson Blood. Enter the portal ahead. There is a chest containing an Herb of Spiritual Life here, as well as a shop and save/heal statue. Use this opportunity to stock up on healing items. Move forward, through the door when you're finished. Kill the bat humanoids and super bat humanoids as you make your way through the tunnel. Enter the door at the end for a scene. Boss Fight: The Infernal Priest, Dagra Dai He will spawn bat humanoids right off the bat, but you can pretty much ignore them, as you have a much more damaging enemy to focus on. If he's shooting out purple lightning, keep moving around to avoid it. He can also teleport around. Attack him when he lands on the ground. Spam Y combos on him. The fire Ninpo will do a little damage to him at level three. Swim across the water to the land to find a chest with Red Essence. Head up the vines until you see a cut scene. Boss Fight: Archfiend The dead ninja with arrows in the area should tell you what to do here. Charge and shoot an arrow at his head. If it hits, the orb in his stomach will glow. Shoot a charged arrow at the orb to do decent damage to him. He will spit out blood, which damages you a lot, after doing this. You can use the gravity Ninpo on the orb when it is glowing to avoid the damage from the blood. Just don't let him smack you or hit you with lasers. He will occasionally move upwards. Wall jump your way up to him when he does this, and continue shooting arrows. Congratulations, you beat the game... err... wait.. Boss Fight: Archfiend, Second Form This boss can be hard to figure out at first. When he is clinging to the ledge, he will pound on the ground and shoot a laser beam. He is the most dangerous in this position and I wouldn't recommend attacking him here, especially if you don't have many healing items. He will grab you quickly here if you're near him. You can't do anything to him while he's flying. Just focus on avoiding the fireballs and lightning. You must be in the air to avoid taking damage from the lightning. When he lands on the ground, attempting to charge you, he will usually walk into the wall for several seconds. Attack his ankles now; the only damage you can take at this time is from his tail and being under is feet as he's stepping, both cause minimal damage. When he starts to get low on health, perform the Flying Swallow or Y combos on his claws, while clinging. He will grab you after a few attacks, though, so whatever you decide to do, be quick about it. ------------------ Unlockables (ES4U) ------------------ Game Options: Classic Film Filter - Beat the game once on any difficulty. You can turn this on or off from the Main Menu Options under Screen. Music Test - Beat the game once on any difficulty. You can use this from the Main Menu Options under Audio. New Game Plus - Beat the game on any difficulty setting. Load your finished game and you will have the option of starting New Game Plus. You keep everything except key items. Difficulty Settings: Path of the Mentor - Beat the game on Warrior difficulty. Path of the Master Ninja - Beat the game on Mentor difficulty. Costume Variations: Dark Blood - Beat the game on Acolyte difficulty. -------------------------- Frequently Asked Questions -------------------------- Q. I didn't get the same item in a chest/Test of Valor. You made a mistake. A. Different items will be in chests depending on a few things. If you are a maxed out on a certain item it is likely that you will just get Essence. Different difficulties give different items as well. Q. What is the best weapon to use? A. The Dragon Sword is more than enough for normal enemies, especially ninjas. The Lunar Staff, however is great on larger enemies, such as the purple bat humanoids. Q. Should I use my Lives of the Thousand Gods items? A. Save these (as well as your 9th Life of the Gods item) for tough boss fights. They will fully heal you and can be a life saver in the final chapter. Q. You can buy Life of the Gods, etc. at the shop. You didn't put that in your guide. A. You can only buy these items at the shop if you missed them during a previous level. None of these items will be at the shop if you follow this guide. Q. I can't beat [insert boss name here] and your FAQ isn't helping. A. I'm currently working on revising the boss strategies to be more Mentor and up friendly. For now you can: experiment with weapons, use the invincibility frame you get while casting Ninpo or using the spirit run (press X and A at the same time) to your advantage, and try attacking different places, the enemies head in particular. It may take you 20 continues, but eventually you'll get it, so keep trying.