Ninja Gaiden
True Dragon Sword/ Plasma Saber MK II Guide
Authored by VampireHorde



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INTRODUCTION

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Thanks for clicking on the FAQ. This guide will focus on using the True 
Dragon Sword and its cousin the Plasma Saber MK II.

What is the True Dragon Sword?
The legendary ultimate form of the Dragon Sword, achieved by fitting 
the Dragon\'s Eye into it. 
In Chapter 12, a kunai scroll will a have message to speak with 
Muramasa. When you visit him, he will tell of a Dragon\'s Eye that can 
be placed underneath the sword. After Ryu activates the portal in Twin 
Serpents Plaza in Chapter 13 he will be transported back to Hayabusa 
Village. Run up to the Graveyard and a cutscene will show Ryu placing 
the Dragon\'s Eye on the Dragon Sword. This in turn transforms the sword 
into the True Dragon Sword.

**The True Dragon Sword is NOT an unlockable item! (And neither is the 
Unlabored Flawlessness.) 

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THE ULTIMATE POWER OF THE TRUE DRAGON SWORD

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The True Dragon Sword has a purple glow and becomes very powerful when 
the Dragon\'s Eye is inserted. With it, FOUR new moves are unlocked and 
each move is VERY powerful in their own right:

CRIMSON SLASH: X, X, X
DRAGON TEAR: X, X, X, Y (TDS EXCLUSIVE)
TIGER ROAR: X, X, Y
FANG OF THE WOLF: X, X, Y, Y
BLADE OF THE DRAGON\'S TAIL: X, X, Y, Y, Y
FIEND\'S BANE KICK: X, X, RIGHT, X, X
EARLY WINTER RAIN: X, X, RIGHT, X, Y
BLADE OF NIRRTI: X, Y, X, X, X, X
IZUNA DROP: X, Y, X, X, X, Y
WINDMILL SLASH: RIGHT, X
BLADE OF THE UNDEFEATABLE: Y
HAZE STRAIGHT SLASH: HOLD Y
EXTINCTION STRAIGHT SLASH: HOLD Y W/ ONE ESSENCE
STORM OF THE HEAVENLY DRAGON: HOLD Y W/ MAX ESSENCE (TDS EXCLUSIVE)
AZURE DRAGON: RIGHT, Y
SCARLET DRAGON: RIGHT, HOLD Y
BLADE OF THE TWIN DRAGONS: RIGHT, HOLD Y, Y, Y (TDS EXCLUSIVE)
VIOLENT WIND: X WHILE RUNNING
VIOLENT GALE: X, X, WHILE RUNNING
THUNDERCLAP KICK: Y WHILE RUNNING
FLYING CRANE: ROTATE ANALOG STICK, Y
GLEAMING BLADE: ROTATE ANALOG STICK, HOLD Y
ROARING GLEAM: ROTATE ANALOG STICK, HOLD Y W/ ONE ESSENCE
TRUE DRAGON GLEAM: ROTATE ANALOG STICK, HOLD Y W/ MAX ESSENCE (TDS 
EXCLUSIVE)
GLEAMING CROSS: Y WHLE BLOCKING
FIEND\'S BANE KICK: X, X WHILE BLOCKING
FIEND SEALER: Y NEXT TO A DOWNED ENEMY

Two new ultimate moves are unlocked and is pretty impressive to pull 
off. The Storm of the Heavenly Dragon is sort of a better-looking rip-
off of Squall Leonhart\'s Lionheart attack from Final Fantasy VIII. 
The True Dragon Gleam is a little harder to pull off considering the 
situation. But when executed properly, Ryu ends up spinning in a 
frenzied circle so fast like a mini-hurricane. All enemies are 
decimated instantly with these two new moves. (Maybe with the exception 
of Very Hard difficulty.)


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TRUE DRAGON SWORD VERSUS BOSSES

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After obtaining the sword in Chapter 13, you immediately get to use it 
for the Alma fight in Chapter 13 (whether you like it or not).

CHAPTER 13: ALMA
Because of the sword\'s new power the Alma fight becomes increasingly 
easy (if you know what your doing). The key technique to reducing 
Alma\'s health dramatically is the Gleaming Blade attack. 

Have Ryu a long distance away to perform this move. When Alma is on the 
ground and begins running towards Ryu, immediately charge the Gleaming 
Blade and release when she comes within sweeping distance (TIME IT 
CORRECTLY!). If done correctly, you will have stripped away 25-30% of 
her health easily. If done incorrectly, you strip away 20% and you take 
damage (funny how that happens, can anyone explain to me why that 
happens?). If you can pull off this move 3-4 more times the fight is 
over in a minute!

CHAPTER 14: DOKU
Since Doku is airbound throughout the fight, he becomes a faster 
nemesis than in Chapter 11. BUT Doku can be defeated in 30 seconds 
EASILY!

The secret? The Blade of Nirrti attack is the secret. I\'ve seen 
numerous Ninja Gaiden players (beginners and intermediate mostly) try 
to spend the whole fight doing the Flying Swallow on him only to be 
grabbed and have the life sucked out of them.
Here\'s the technique: 
-Perform a Flying Swallow attack to make Doku block. (Making him block 
is the key!)
-Immediately roll away to avoid his swipe THEN immediately begin the 
Blade of Nirrti attack! Doing this will strip away 25% easily. Roll 
away then repeat the process again. (You can also try to lure him into 
doing his charge attack, but it\'s a little difficult to pull off.)
Just four more B.O.N. attacks and the fight will be over in 30 seconds. 
No health lost, no ninpo wasted. See how easy that was!

CHAPTER 15A: TENTACLE, ICE, AND SUPREME FIEND
The advantage for the Tentacle Fiend fight is that this is 1 of the 
only 2 boss fights where you can use the Storm of the Heavenly Dragon 
attack. Lop off those tentacles and use the ultimate!

For the Ice Fiend, use the Gleaming Blade every chance you get. This 
should reduce its health dramatically and make the fight shorter.

For the Supreme Fiend, kill all of its summonings and lure him to doing 
his cannonball attack. Roll away then do the Storm of the Heavenly 
Dragon attack when he\'s recovering.

CHAPTER 15B: EMPEROR FORM 1 ONLY
The TDS does not seem to be as powerful in this fight for some reason. 
Considering that you are moving the platform constantly and trying to 
pull off a combo, you have no choice but to do the Fiend\'s Bane Kick or 
Early Winter Rain. Has anyone pulled any combos on this boss other than 
these two attacks?

I don\'t suggest using the TDS on the Emperor\'s second form. Equip any 
ninpo and a bunch of projectiles and the Vigoorian Flail for this one.

CHAPTER 16: ???
Let\'s keep this boss\'s identity secret, yeah?  Anyway, an obvious 
technique can be used on this boss to beat him flawlessly. No damage to 
you, no ninpo wasted. E-mail me if you want this OBVIOUS technique. 
(You\'ll bang your head for not knowing this technique!)



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THE PLASMA SABER MK II

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The Plasma Saber is just a green saber with the Dragon Sword\'s attacks. 
There are NO new additional moves with this weapon! Don\'t believe what 
anyone says about it.

How do you obtain the Plasma Saber?
Beat Ninja Gaiden on Normal or Hard difficulty. Begin a new game by 
pressing the LEFT Trigger. You\'ll hear Ryu grunt and he\'ll start the 
game with football padding and a Plasma Saber.

What is the Plasma Saber MK II?
A upgraded version of the Plasma Saber, in which the plasma oscillator 
has been tuned to the maximum.
When Ryu inserts the Dragon\'s Eye underneath the saber, the sword 
begins to pulsate with electricity. This shows the power of the Plasma 
Saber MK II.

Like the True Dragon Sword, the PSMK II has the same exact attacks and 
combos as the TDS. BUT the one main difference is the sound effect. The 
PSMK II has a \"swooshing\" sound to it. Yeah, it\'s not that impressive 
to me either.


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TRUE DRAGON SWORD VERSUS THE UNLABORED FLAWLESSNESS

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In a battle for best weapon, the Unlabored Flawlessness is hands-down 
the more powerful of the two. Why? Let me explain.

The True Dragon Sword\'s ultimate attack only targets ONE enemy. 
Impressive as it looks it doesn\'t really help especially when doing 
Fiend Challenges.
It also DOESN\'T have the 5% health trick like the UF and the counter 
attack isn\'t so useful on multiple enemies.
IMO, the TDS (or PSMK II) is only best when fighting the last few 
bosses. 


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TRUE DRAGON SWORD VERSUS KITETSU

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Of these two weapons, the TDS is the winner. Even though the Kitetsu 
has a better-looking ultimate attack, it\'s power pales in comparison to 
the TDS. 

But since you don\'t obtain the TDS or PSMK II until Chapter 13, the 
best alternate weapon to use in Chapter 12 is the Kitetsu. Abuse its 
power as much as you can until you\'ve gotten the TDS.


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COUNTER ATTACK FLAWS

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The counter attack is good for use in any situation. The only problem 
with the counter attack of the Dragon Sword is its slow animation time 
after landing the attack.

Once Ryu counters an enemy while blocking he can still sustain damage 
during the attack or even after. This is VERY annoying especially when 
fighting multiple enemies. (The Black Ninjas are a good example.)

Bigger weapons like the Dabilahro, War Hammer, Unlabored Flawlessness, 
and Dark Dragon Blade have much faster counter animations and can be 
done back-to-back-to-back seamlessly WITHOUT damage.
I only suggest using the TDS counters only when Ryu isn\'t outnumbered 3 
to 1.

  
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GHOST FISH

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This has nothing to do with the TDS or PSMK II but did you know that 
you could defeat all the ghost fish in Chapter 14 and 15 seamlessly 
without damage using the Dragon Sword?

Many strategy guides suggest using the Vigoorian Flails. (It\'s the kiss 
of death if you ask me.)
The problem with using the Flails is its slow lag time between combos. 
You might pull off killing all the fish BUT can you do it flawlessly? I 
didn\'t think so either.

What is the secret technique to killing ghost fish? 
Just one attack: X, Y. 
This is the slash/uppercut slash part of the Izuna Drop or Blade of 
Nirrti. Press XY to do the move. Press X again just as Ryu is about to 
land on the ground to do a spin slash and then press Y to do another 
slash uppercut.  Repeat over until all the fish are decimated. (Also be 
sure to have the Armlet of Benediction equipped, each encounter garners 
over 6000 to 8000 essence per go.) 
Doing this makes Ryu attack continuously without fear of attack from 
the ghost fish. 

The key here is that there is no lag time between Ryu landing on the 
ground and doing the move again. This is MUCH more helpful in gathering 
essence than using the Flails. You can have 99,999 essence in 10 
minutes easily!


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Hey, I hope you learned more about the advantages and disadvantages of 
this weapon. Although I prefer using the UF on Fiend Challenges I 
wouldn\'t discount the power of the True Dragon Sword or the Plasma 
Saber MK II. E-mail me at [email protected] for any questions or 
inquiries about my FAQ or about the game.

**Big thanks to Shinobier at master-ninja.com for the ghost fish 
tactic. I\'ll never use the Flails on ghost fish ever again!

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This FAQ is only for use on GameFAQS. You may not copy, link, or 
publish this FAQ on your publication or website without my permission. 
If you want to use this FAQ then please e-mail me at the address above. 
I have no problems with anyone who asks. June 2004.