Nioh 3 is Staff Ninja’s new open-world-ish Soulslike. All issues thought-about, it’s pretty great. The motion is top-notch. You may play a large chunk of the beginning of the sport without spending a dime through the demo, which features a prologue boss combat towards Yamagata Masakage. He may kill you a bunch. You may find yourself considering Nioh 3 isn’t for you. However that might be a dumb motive to lose out on experiencing an excellent online game.
Loads of gamers could have no bother with this prologue combat in anyway, however I’ve already come throughout loads of latest Nioh inductees who’ve struggled. Listed below are some ideas for skating previous Yamagata Masakage.
Grind some ranges
If you happen to’re getting your ass kicked, go combat a bunch of men till you could have sufficient Amrita to get to degree six or seven. Put factors into stats like Structure and Power. You’ll additionally get higher armor drops this fashion. There’s a Yokai proper behind you on the final shrine earlier than the Yamagata Masakage combat. Kill that factor a bunch to get some higher gear.
Summon an ally
That is additionally the place the sport teaches you the way to summon NPC allies on the little blue swimming pools of sunshine. You spend Ochoko cups to “call” AI-controlled Acolytes that can assist you. Doing so goes a good distance towards making the Yamagata Masakage combat a stroll within the park.
Memorize the assault sample and keep out of hurt’s manner
Nioh 3 is a Soulslike which implies it’s essential know when to look at, when to attend, and when to be aggressive. Yamagata Masakage solely has a handful of various assault patterns and animations and it is best to have the ability to block all of them with out getting shocked and nonetheless have time to create area and get better your stamina earlier than the subsequent barrage. In Ninja stance, it’s further simple to play preserve away.
Grasp the Burst Counter
If you happen to’re having bother with this combat, the very best factor to do is to not fear about chipping away at Yamagata Masakage’s well being all through all the combat. As an alternative, preserve blocking and sustaining distance till he makes use of his particular assault that flashes a pink glowing aura round him proper earlier than it lands. Hit the appropriate set off to stance-shift proper at that second to parry it. That’s referred to as a Burst Counter.
When profitable, you’ll be able to transition into attacking to shortly stun him. Get a three-hit combo in after which again off till the subsequent time he glows pink earlier than his assault. You may principally block and Burst Counter all the combat so long as you handle your stamina meter fastidiously.
Let your Acolyte do all of the work
Whereas Yamagata Masakage is targeted on assault you and also you’re absorbing all his assaults by blocking, your AI-controlled Acolyte must be tearing into him from behind. Simple mode! Simply preserve aggro-ing him whereas your buddy does all the work.
Save your Dwelling Artifact to complete the combat
Filling up your Amrita Gauge all through the combat will allow you to press Y + B/triangle + circle to provoke a robust transformation wherein you summon your outfitted Guardian Spirit and might unload on the enemy till the brief cooldown expires. You solely need to get Yamagata Masakage right down to lower than a 3rd of his life earlier than the battle ends and he’ll flee. Simply be careful for his assault change-up within the second half of the battle, the place his pink glow animation provides some further delays earlier than it hits.
With these strats, hopefully you’ll have the ability to make brief work of Yamagata Masakage and expertise the primary a part of Nioh 3 which begins to open up exploration. From there you are able to do numerous stuff earlier than taking up the sport’s first actual main boss: Jakotsu-baba. That combat is the sport’s first actual talent test, however you’ll have extra instruments in your arsenal by the point you get to it.
