'||\ ||`
||\\ || '' ''
|| \\ || || `||''|, || '''|.
|| \\|| || || || || .|''||
|| \||. .||. .|| ||. || `|..||.
||
`..|'
|'''''| ||`
|| . '' ||
|| |''|| '''|. || .|''|| .|''|, `||''|,
|| || .|''|| || || || ||..|| || ||
`|....|' `|..||. .||. `|..||. `|... .|| ||.
'||'''|, '||` '||
|| || || ||
||;;;; || '''|. .|'', || //`
|| || || .|''|| || ||<<
||...|' .||. `|..||. `|..' .|| \\.
NGB Fiend-Challenge FAQ
By XBassXUmbraX (
[email protected])
Version 1.0 (April 8, 2006)
History
-------
v1.0-Began this guide (04/08/06)
Table of Contents
-----------------
I-What is a fiend challenge?
II-Weapons
A-Melee Weapons
B-Projectile Weapons
C-Armlets
D-Ninpo
E-Basic Combat Tips
III-Karma
IV-Fiend Challenge Strategies (Normal-Master Ninja)
A-Monastery Archive Challenge (Ch 6)
B-Ritual Room Challenge (Ch 7)
C-Pill Bugs Challenge (Ch 10)
D-Peristyle Passage Challenge (Ch 10)
E-Stadium Challenge (Ch 12)
F-Stairway to the Imperial Palace Challenge (Ch 12)
G-Cyclops Wasps Challenge (Ch 13)
H-Great Bridge Challenge (Ch 13)
V-Credits
VI-Contacting Me
VII-Copyright
I-What is a Fiend Challenge?
----------------------------
A fiend challenge is a special encounter in the game that faces you off
against a large amount of the game's enemies (60 on normal to 120 on master
ninja).The sheer number of enemies will test your endurance most of all, and
are typically fought with waves of three enemies at a time. This encounter
must be done at once, leave and you'll have to start over.
One other reason to even bother to attempt these difficult battles is because
of the prizes, usually ranging from a talisman of rebirth to a spirit of the
devils. All in all, every fiend-challenge is worth the effort, and this guide
will give you strategies on how to win each and every challenge on every
difficulty (all challenges on normal are the same on ninja dog but ninja dog
has only 40 enemies)
II-Weapons
----------
Before attempting a fiend challenge, it is important to know which weapons
are the best to use for a fiend challenge, and precisely on how to use them.
A-Melee Weapons
---------------
Dragon Sword/True Dragon Sword/Plasma Saber MKII:
This is the weapon Ryu starts with, and has three levels. You should have it
at level 2 before attempting before the very first fiend challenge.
Basically, it's an all around balanced katana that's most effective on medium
enemies. You should also have the izuna drop scroll at that point, as izuna
drop is the most effective move of the DS (XYXXXY) Blade of Nirriti is
another great alternative (XYXXXX). The UT(Ultimate Technique) is not worth
using. However, at level 3, it gains the gleaming blade (360+Hold Y) and it
too is a great move to use. On lower difficulties, Flying Swallow (X+A)Y and
Guillotine Throw (X+A)(X+A) are easy alternatives. The TDS and Plasma Saber
will not be useful in any challenges by the time you obtain them. Great to
use in conjunction with shuriken to increase air time.
Nunchaku:
These two sticks are not great weapons at all. It has a pretty good UT, but
it's very weak. You'll have the Vigoorian Flail by the time you begin your
first fiend challenge. If you are shooting for karma though, it is the best
weapon to achieve all 50 UTs (more to that later)
Vigoorian Flail:
They attack just like the nunchaku, only it's attacks are much stronger. They
easily decapitate enemies and also have an additional level. The UT is pretty
good as well, very useful on several occasions. The best attribute to the
flail is the large arsenal of kicks. Ripping Thunder (->YYY) with the armlet
of potency is one of the most powerful attacks in the game.
War Hammer:
It's a powerful weapon but it's ridiculously slow and has a lot of slack with
each hit. The combos are short, and the UT, though powerful, has a shorter
range than the other heavy weapons. You won't need this once you obtain
the...
Dabilahro:
It's about on-par with the war hammer in strength but it has a much longer
combo at level 3 (6 hits) XXXXXY. The flaming whirlwind (->Y) is a powerful
and very useful tactic on large enemies. It is also a little faster than the
war hammer. However, the real reason this weapon is great in fiend challenges
is the UT. It has a very long range and can kill several enemies at once.
Also has a powerful wall attack.
Wooden Sword/Unlabored Flawlessness:
Don't use the WS unless you are playing for hardcore challenge. But when you
upgrade the WS to level seven (it's expensive so be sure to save up by
chapter 10), it becomes the Unlabored Flawlessness. Make not mistake, this is
not the typical paddle you may see in an old fashioned elementary school for
spanking juvenile delinquents, no, this paddle is the best weapon in the
game. The Dark Dragon Blade is more powerful at default stage, but the real
magic to this weapon is when you approach 5% health, the kanji will glow, and
this already powerful weapon increases power five-fold. It can annihilate
bosses in seconds, and is great in all fiend challenges. Besides the
extremely powerful UT which has a great range I might add, the XYXXXX or
XYXXXY (Izuna Drop) and ->Y are all worth using. Still pretty slow though, so
I suggest sticking with the UT. In most fiend challenges, you don't need to
be at low health to crush all foes in your wake. Also has a powerful wall
attack.
Spear Gun:
IS this thing even useful on land?
..
Kitetsu:
Ah, this weapon certainly isn't as powerful as the TDS, nor does it have the
Gleaming Blade, it has a few unique things of its own that makes it worth
using. In NGB, you don't lose health using it, so use it to your heart's
content. Actually, it has everything else in common with the TDS, but also
has a superior default UT, much faster, and much more likely to hit. It has a
further range than the DS/TDS. The coolest thing about this weapon is the
Dead-Soul-Blind (->XXXXXXXXXXX) which is so easily abused on ogres it ain't
funny. What an alternative to healing!
Dark Dragon Blade:
You can't get this thing until chapter 15. So why is it worth using? Simple,
it's the fastest heavy weapon in the game and also the most powerful at
default. It's flaming whirlwind is nearly twice as strong as the Dabi's, and
like wise the UT (though has a limited range). It makes the great bridge
fiend challenge far easier, but I will talk about completing it worst case
scenario, as to do that challenge in chapter 15 is impractical on a karma
run.
Lunar:
This staff is kickass. It's very speedy (though not very strong until level
3) and all of it's combos are worth using. For fiend challenges, especially
the archive challenge, the UT is very effective as it has a superior range
and kills most enemies caught it it.
B-Projectile Weapons
--------------------
These weapons are activated by pressing the B button. They have little use in
a fiend challenge but are important to explain anyway.
Shuriken:
These standard throwing stars are very, very week. In conjunction with light
weapons though, they increase air time, always a good thing.
Incendiary Shuriken: Much more powerful than regular shuriken but slower,
some bosses are very weak to it, but it is impractical in a fiend challenge.
Windmill Shuriken: A powerful projectile that fires off like a boomerang and
decapitates enemies. Still not very practical for fiend challenges but pretty
good none the less.
Smoke Bombs:
Creates a small cloud of smoke and briefly distracts enemies. Very useful in
a karma run if used right. Use them and charge an UT somewhere, and with the
armlet of celerity, it makes UTs easier to charge. Impractical otherwise.
Bow/Strongbow:
You can fire these in zoom and are powerful! Unfortunately, they are too slow
for fiend challenges. Ditto the APFSDS cores and Explosive arrows.
C-Armlets
---------
Armlets are important because they amplify one of Ryu's attributes. Necessary
in all fiend challenges.
Armlet of the Sun:
It's the armlet you should be using if you are not using any other one. It
increases Ryu's offensive power by about 15%. It isn't very apparent, but
necessary.
Armlet of the Moon:
It increases Ryu's defense 15%. A good ninja relies more on agility than
sheer defense. Go figure.
Armlet of Potency:
This armlet significantly increases the power of kick and throw techniques.
Mainly best used with the flail to spam ->YYY against larger enemies.
Armlet of Celerity:
It decreases the amount of time it takes to charge an UT, by about a second
or two. This is pretty much the best armlet to use in a majority of fiend
challenges and karma runs.
Armlet of Benediction:
Increases the amount of yellow essence an enemy drops. Not advisable to use
for a fiend challenge unless low on essence.
Armlet of Fortune:
Increases essence absorption. Good in a pinch if you are out of ninpo for red
essence.
D-Ninpo
-------
Ninpo is a spell that Ryu learns when acquiring the necessary scroll. by
pressing Y+B, you take off one portion of your ki-gauge and unleash doom on
your enemies. Try to keep your ki bar full at the end of the chapter if you
are karma running. You are invincible when casting ninpo, like when
performing an UT.
The Art of Firewheels:
This ninpo does not last long, and its only purpose is to repel enemies. Not
so useful in fiend challenges.
The Art of Inferno:
The most powerful ninpo in terms of strength. You can tilt the control stick
to aim a fireball at a specific foe. It has splash damage so it can kill
multiple clustered enemies. If you need to attack multiple enemies though, I
suggest...
The Art of Inazuma:
This ninpo too is very powerful and either means instant death with a current
of thunder-bolts, or very near it, to most enemies. Ki is a precious thing so
don't rely on it too often.
The Art of Ice Storm:
I only found this useful against large enemies if you are close enough to
them. Otherwise, Inazuma is a better alternative.
E-Basic Combat Tips
-------------------
Here are a few minor combat tips:
1. Learn to dodge: Ryu fortunately has a higher health bar than your average
ninja. Most other ninjas rely on evasion. To be on par, I suggest you learn
the same. First of all, every enemy is different in terms of how to dodge
attacks, so practice each challenge and study each type of enemies' attack
patterns. Depending on the type of attack, you have the following options to
defend:
Block: Hold L. Just be aware every enemy has guard breaking attacks, so
movement is the preferable method to dodge.
Roll: Just press ->L. It's better to roll than to jump because it foes not
put you airborne and has a short recovery time.
Jump: Good for dodging certain ground attacks. It also get's you farther than
a roll
Roll-Jump: Can dodge very fast against projectiles. It also has a further
distance than a regular jump.
Roll-Cancel: The most important method of dodging in fiend challenges. If you
are blocking and your enemy does a guard breaking attack, you can immediately
roll back (or forward) and block, and roll-cancel again, until the combo is
finished. Also a good reminder is that you should generally hold L while
rolling.
2. Always use a light weapon if you plan on facing a medium sized enemy head
on. Larger weapons are powerful but too slow. If you want to use larger
weapons on a medium enemy, then chain UTs.
3. Learn how to use On-Landing: OL allows you to begin entering the button
combination for one technique while in the middle of another. This is
important for UT chaining. Generally, jump and hold Y before you hit the
ground and it shortens the time to pull an UT by a half-second. This is
crucial in a fiend-challenge.
4. Hold L when near essence: Unless you need the essence to spend, use fallen
essence for UTs/ETs. Holding L while near essence will mean you won't take it
and be able to save it for an OL-UT. You can tilt the control stick while
holding L to begin a roll jump if you need to be moving.
III-Karma
----------
Like every other encounter in the game, karma is a big factor for fiend
challenges. (remember, with the counter on, you can see how many enemies you
have killed so far.) First of all, the 1000 point kill bonus applies to
enemies, so that's 60K to 120K by default. Every challenge also has a time
limit, and that alone is worth 10K. It also increases your kill bonus by the
percent of amount of time remaining.
That is:
time bonus=10K
kill bonus=1000(Number of Kills)+ 1000(Number of Kills)(time
remaining)/(total time)
or simply:
kill bonus=1000(number of kills)[(time remaining/total time)+1)
But the most important thing about karma is UTs. Besides the basic 5K bonus
for each UT achieved within the time limit, ONLY 50 COUNT. That means you'll
get a maximum of 250K alone if you remember that simple rule.
UT bonus=5000(Number of UTs) and (Number of UTs)</=50
**Note: If you leave the area before you finish a challenge, you can no
longer get any more karma for beating the challenge.
Karma isn't everything, and this guide is was mainly written to give tips for
simply surviving each challenge. For more info on karma runs, refer to the
karma run FAQ.
IV-Fiend Challenge Strategies
-----------------------------
This is it. You now know (or already knew) the basic preliminary facts that
will help you understand each strategy for each challenge.
For your reference, there are 60 enemies in normal, 80 in hard, 100 in very
hard, and 120 on master ninja.
A-Monastery Archives Challenge
------------------------------
Location: Monastery Archives
Chapters: 6-7
Enemies/Time:
Normal: 35 lesser imps, 25 monk fiends (?)/370 seconds
Hard: 55 lesser bast fiends, 25 monk fiends/700 seconds
Very Hard: 66 greater bast fiends, 34 monk fiends/1400 seconds
Master Ninja: 40 red ninjas, 80 greater bast fiends/2800 seconds
Overall Difficulty Factor: 6 on normal, 9 on all other difficulties
Prize: Spirit of The Devils
Recommended Weapons: Dragon Sword LV2/Lunar LV2
Strategy:
Normal:
Ah, the first fiend challenge experience is perhaps the most difficult you'll
face at this difficulty. But no matter, all of the imps' attacks can be
blocked. If a monk casts a circle, roll out of the way. All of the monks'
attacks guard break, so take them down first with XYXXXX. Use Izuna Drop to
take care of the lesser imps. It isn't that tough once you get used to it.
Hard:
This challenge is much more difficult on hard than it was on normal. Instead
of having to deal with those weak lesser imps, we're dealing with those bast
fiends you probably don't have the hang of fighting yet. Anyway, izuna drop
is still a safe bet, but you need to know when exactly to hit the cats, which
is after blocking their swipes or after dodging the pounce attack. Wind Run
and wind path (X+A,A) leave an opportunity for you to hit them. Taking down
the monks is the same, except they now have a double circle and swing attack.
Also, beware the basts' flying swallow, they do it very often, so always be
moving, blocking/roll-canceling (since it guard-breaks) and only be in the
air if you are in the middle of an izuna drop.
Very Hard:
Even more intense than hard with now 100 enemies total, you're going to be
trying for a long time, so have a spare controller ready. Besides the fact
that the monks now have a faster, triple circle attack, you'll be constantly
moving, and they are now a big pain to hit because they constantly
teleport/counter teleport. But the real isssue is the greater-bast fiends,
they are way stronger than lesser bast and all of their attacks guard break,
including the swipe! The pounce is now very deadly and can really toll your
health. In general, the same strategy before works, use inferno if desperate,
and perhaps throw in a few Lunar UT's here and there.
(Note for Hard and VH: You can go up to the third floor and only the monks
can hit you up there, making the battle less laborious, though longer. You
can then proceed to drop down to the second floor and charge lunar UTs over
and over again.)
Master Ninja:
Yikes! 120 foes, and those monks are replaced by red ninjas! The above
strategy still applies, but those shurikens will really get on your nerves,
and even worse, leave you open to a greater bast pounce or double flying
swallow! All I can say is use the same strategies above, including the second
floor lunar UT chaining. It may take some luck and importantly, patience,
because these enemies are very agile and you will need to act fast. If you
beat this challenge, give yourself a pat on the back like I did, it is
probably the hardest challenge in the game, even with the lunar "cheat".
B-Ritual Room Challenge
-----------------------
Location: Ritual Room
Chapters: 7+
Enemies/Time:
Normal: 15 ghul archers, 45 ghuls/550 seconds
Hard: 19 ghul archers, 61 ghuls/600 seconds
Very Hard: 25 ghul archers, 75 ghuls/750 seconds
Master Ninja: 30 ghul archers, 90 ghuls/1100 seconds
Overall Difficulty Factor: 3
Prize: Lives of The Thousand Gods
Recommended Weapons: Vigoorian Flail/Nunchaku
Strategy: This challenge is much easier compared to the archive challenge in
the last chapter. What a relief! And best of all, as the game difficulty
increases, the challenge is mostly the same. What you should do is equip the
flail and charge an UT in the corner so the archer can't hit you, wait for a
ghul to approach since they are so slow, and let him have it, instant kill,
lots of essence, but consider taking it for saving up for the UF. As for the
archers, ->YYY if you can't UT them, just be careful because they shoot
accurately and fast. Make sure you release your UT's quickly or prepare to be
smooched by a zombie for tons of damage. Yucko! There weapons are also
powerful but slow. Overall an easy fight.
C-Pill Bugs Challenge
---------------------
Location: Elevator room below ancient aqueduct
Chapters: 10+
Enemies/Time:
Normal: 60 Pill Bugs/100 seconds
Hard: 80 Pill Bugs/180 seconds
Very Hard: 100 Pill Bugs/200 seconds
Master Ninja: 120 Pill Bugs/240 seconds
Overall Difficulty Factor: 5
Prize: Talisman of Rebirth
Recommended Weapons: Dabilahro/Unlabored Flawlessness
Strategy: These things are very ugly, and the time limits expect quick
extermination. They are bugs after all, weak defense but appear in large
numbers at a time, do not let this over-whelm you. Get out your Dabi or UF (I
use UF) and equip smoke bombs and the armlet of celerity. Set off a smoke
bomb and quickly run to the platform to charge an UT. Once the bugs close in,
let them have it, use the essence for another fast UT, and repeat. The only
things to worry here are their tackle attacks, they guard break, so roll
cancel if you will, and if you get caught in a tackle, it really hurts, so
quickly mash the buttons as you did with the ghuls a few chapters ago. Easy
essence, easy UT's.
D-Peristyle Passage Challenge
-----------------------------
Location: Elevator room below ancient aqueduct
Chapters: 10+
Enemies/Time:
Normal: 60 Imps/200 seconds
Hard: 80 Imps/360 seconds
Very Hard: 100 Shadow Imps/1000 seconds
Master Ninja: 120 Shadow Imps/1300 seconds
Overall Difficulty Factor: 6.5,
Prize: Lives of the Thousand Gods
Recommended Weapons: Dabilahro/Unlabored Flawlessness
Strategy: This is a marginally difficult challenge if you attempt to rely on
izuna drop. However, despite the fact these are now stronger pink imps, you
have the Dabilahro now. Equip that bad boy and t celerity armlet and run to
one end of the hall, and charge an UT. If it is ET stage, release it anyway
and you can kill multiple enemies. Repeat this using essence to charge UTs
and keep spamming the dabi UT until all enemies are defeated. UF wall attacks
and UTs are an alternative. In Very Hard and Master Ninja, you have to deal
with shadow imps, much more evasive than the pink imps, and of course their
attacks guard break, including their deadly slide attack. The strategy though
is still the same, again, you just need to be good at on-landing UT's. Not
much else to it, just make sure you hold L to repel the essence until you
reach the end of the hall to charge an UT.
E-Stadium Challenge
------------------
Location: Stadium of Zarkhan, coming back after completing the puzzle
Chapters: 12+
Enemies/Time:
Normal: 60 Gallas/400 seconds
Hard: 80 Ogres/2500 seconds
Very Hard: 50 Ogres, 50 Vigoorian Berserkers/2500 seconds
Master Ninja: 120 Vigoorian Berserkers/5000 seconds
Overall Difficulty Factor: 7.5 on Normal/Hard, 8.5 on VH/MN
Prize: Lives of the Thousand Gods (Normal) Spirit of The Devils
(Hard/MN),talisman of rebirth (VH)
Recommended Weapons: Dabilahro/Unlabored Flawlessness
Strategy:
Normal:
Here, you have to fight 60 of those nasty fire breathing galla monsters.
Luckily, you have the dabilahro to kill them quickly this time. Or use XYXXXX
with the UF, instant kill. Try going up the lower platform and keep spamming
dabi UT's, up there, only the fire will hurt you. Also, don't try to hit a
galla if you see it raise it's head back or you'll get bitten for damage.
They give lots of blue essence so this won't be that bad.
Hard:
This definitely going to take a bit more work to finish than 60 gallas. Just
take out your UF at 5% health, kill the first ogre with two ->Y's. Then
continually chain on-landing UTs and ->Y's to kill them. You can spam dabi
UTs on the upper platform too. But the least complicated way to kill them is
to go very close, roll-cancel (roll after a guard-breaking attack) into the
Ogre, and just keep using ->Y with the Dabi or UF. Just make sure you are
good at fighting Ogres toe-toe, or this will be very difficult.
Very Hard:
This is going to take a while, oh boy... 50 ogres AND berserkers, whom take
forever to kill. First of all, take out the first ogre that spawns. However,
the berserkers can be a big pain in the ass and will constantly be chasing
you, trying to get you to fight them. Go for the ogre first because
berserkers do not attack off-screen if one enemy is already on screen, what a
relief. Of course you better watch out for the camera, if a berserker manages
to walk into your view, tilt the camera quickly or face a fire ball to the
face. Once isolated, killing the ogres is the same as it was on Hard. Once
the arena is clear of ogres, time to attack the berserkers. Now you can
attack from the platform and spam dabi UT's like in the galla challenge, but
if you want to practice fighting them toe-toe(since you will have no choice
by the coming of ch. 13), then stick to roll canceling and answering back to
each of there strikes with a ->Y from the Dabi (The UF is ineffective unless
at 5% health). When a berserker loses half of its health (4-5 ->Y's), it will
raise its huge butcher knife like sword and turn red. Again, a reminder,
remember to keep one berserker on camera at a time. Right when it turns red
is a free opportunity to hit, but rush and you may get hurt. Now they have a
nasty lunge attack that's difficult to counter. Anyway, you can use (X+A,A)
but bigalski jokes that method is for old people like himself, who do not
have the reflexes of adolescents like myself. Anyway, once a berserker
finally goes down, it will ALWAYS drop blue essence, so you can UT it (or
heal if desperate). Once the next ogre spawns, repeat. This will be a long
tough battle, but so be it.
Master Ninja: 5000 seconds? That's more than an hour for you to complete the
challenge, and given the high health of berserkers, it is plausible.
Attacking the berserkers is the same as in VH, just 120 this time, and a
better prize. You won't have to worry about ogres cutting you off either, but
be patient and stay focused, if you are too senile to stay focused that long,
than sticking with the platform spamming is just fine. Camera control is a
must.
F-Stairway to the Imperial Palace Challenge
-------------------------------------------
Location: Stairway to the Imperial Palace, after the previous challenge
Chapters: 12+
Enemies/Time:
Normal: 40 imps, 20 lesser imps/250 seconds
Hard: 54 imps, 26 lesser imps/450 seconds
Very Hard: 50 imps, 50 shadow imps/450 seconds
Master Ninja: 60 imps, 60 shadow imps/650 seconds
Overall Difficulty Factor: 6
Prize: Lives of the Thousand Gods
Recommended Weapons: Dabilahro/Unlabored Flawlessness
Strategy: Sue me, I am lazy. But so is team ninja, because winning this
challenge requires the same strategy as the one in chapter 10's peristyle
passage, if not, easier since the inclusion of weaker imps. If you beat that
challenge, you'll beat this one. The environment gives more room to move
around as well.
G-Cyclops Wasps Challenge
-------------------------
Location: Magma Cavern, after defeating smaugan
Chapters: 13+
Enemies/Time:
Normal: 60 Cyclops Wasps/120 seconds
Hard: 80 Cyclops Wasps/175 seconds
Very Hard: 100 Cyclops Wasps/215 seconds
Master Ninja: 120 Cyclops Wasps/270 seconds
Overall Difficulty Factor: 3
Prize: Talisman of Rebirth
Recommended Weapons: Dabilahro/Unlabored Flawlessness
Strategy: This challenge isn't much of a challenge at all, but let's get to
the point. Cyclops wasps are probably the easiest enemies in the game next to
brown ninjas and bats. But anyway, these disgusto one-eyed wasp abominations
have one mere attack, they charge back and do a medium speed lunge with their
stinger. It does little damage and is blockable, but in groups, just watch
out to not get hit, you get stunned for a second. Now as to killing these
things, just get out your Unlabored Flawlessness and charge up an UT as soon
as you walk into the square little room. The small area of the room makes it
very easy to kill multiple wasps with a single UT, and just charge another,
wait for them to come close, and release. Inazuma is also good if you need
essence in a pinch.
H-Great Bridge Challenge
------------------------
Location: Portal in Great Bridge Square
Chapters: 13+
Enemies/Time:
Normal: 10 True Imps, 50 Imps/400 seconds
Hard: 44 Ogres, 66 Gallas/1000 seconds
Very Hard: 30 Black Spider Ninjas, 35 Red Ninjas, 35 Vigoorian
Berserkers/1700 seconds
Master Ninja: 40 True Imps, 40 Ogres, 40 Vigoorian Berserkers/3400 seconds
Overall Difficulty Factor: 7 on Normal, 8 on Hard, 8.5 on Very Hard, 9 on
Master Ninja
Prize: Talisman of Rebirth (Normal/Hard). Lives of The Thousand Gods (VH/MN)
Recommended Weapons: Dabilahro/Unlabored Flawlessness, Dark Dragon Blade
Strategy:
Normal:
The last challenge in the game really is a great one, although on normal, the
only difficult challenge is taking out the true imps, though insist on
calling them "laser-eyeball crab monsters". Whatever you call them, crabs are
some of the most difficult enemies in the game, but they are very weak to
inferno ninpo. In general, use either inferno ninpo with the armlet of
fortune or 5% UF to deal with the crabs. These monsters have three attacks,
the first is the most dangerous, they shoot a sweeping laser that resembles
paz-zuu's, it guard crushes, and it's very hard to avoid. Up close, they will
either to a somewhat slow but guard-breaking swipe, or grab you with their
pincers and smash you in the ground for big damage. But generally, you only
deal with one at a time, so make sure you are aiming the inferno at them.
Taking out the regular imps is about the same as it was in chapters 10 and
12. Not a great prize for this challenge though.
Hard:
Things are different here than on Normal. Now we deal with larger enemies,
Gallas and Ogres, you deal with them the same way as in the stadium, but
things can be difficult because those gallas are very annoying and love to
roll at you off screen. The platform trick is also absent so you need to do
your best to isolate your opponent. Try to take care of the ogres first the
same way you did in the stadium, and then the gallas are less annoying,
again, use the same methods in the stadium. If you still aren't good at
dealing with ogres now, maybe attack the gallas first. **
Very Hard:
This is quite different from your previous two attempts at this challenge,
First of all, we are dealing with ninjas first. And also, the fights go in
waves. First you need to kill all 30 black ninjas, then red ones will appear.
You should be good at dealing with these guys, just constantly roll cancel
and guard against the very annoying incendiary shuriken. Once you have
defeated enough ninjas, you have to deal with, are you read?... Berserkers!
That's right, this is why this challenge can be so difficult, the berserkers
still have tons of health and controlling the camera is harder this time with
the smaller space. Once again though, roll canceling and ->Y with the dabi is
the best way, it just gets complicated once they turn red since they are much
harder to hit. Also, remember to UT the next berserker since they always drop
blue essence. After a long fight, you'll get a decent prize for your efforts.
**
Master Ninja: Many people skip this challenge, but you read this FAQ so you
could complete it, no? Well this challenge sort of combines all aspects of
the last three on the lower difficulties together. That means this challenge
makes you deal with crab monsters, ogres, AND berserkers, all fought in waves
of 40! Kill the crabs with inferno, but this time you're against three at a
time. Try to conserve ninpo by hitting them when they are close together, as
it has splash damage. Equip the armlet of fortune for this wave as well. This
will take time and it might be hard to survive this part of the challenge if
you want to be ninpo efficient, especially those lasers. Try using the UF's
UT as well, it is an automatic kill if you are at 5% health. Next wave is
easier, you SHOULD be good with ogre slaying by now, so you can get past this
wave easily. Use Dead-Soul-Blind with the Kitetsu on them if you need to
heal. Once the ogres are all dead, the last and most difficult part of the
challenge is the berserker face-off. Now if you can do it on Very Hard, this
is no different, just stick with ->Y with the dabi, roll cancel, and keep one
on screen at a time, if one accidentally strays in screen, jump to the other
side of the arena and just repeat. Only difference is that you must fight 5
more, I remember dying once when I got to the last 5 berserkers once and got
careless and died, especially when they turn red. It's alright if you heal
here, this will be a long, arduous fight,**
**Note: Alternatively, using the Dark Dragon Blade and taking on the
challenge on Chapter 15 makes the challenge significantly easier. The DDB has
a more powerful ->Y and it's UT automatically turns a berserker red, It dies
to only three more ->Y's.
Congratulations, you have now beaten all the fiend challenges!
V-Credits
---------
I would like to thank the following in no particular order:
-Spartan of Yugiohetc.com, for encouraging me to buy this game.
-Bigalski, Weibull 760, and the rest of the community of Iberians ninja
gaiden and gamefaqs boards for helping me with the fiend challenges. Your
videos have also been a big help and had useful strategies.
-Yebyosh and Bigalski, for providing me the time limits and other stats for
each of the challenges, thanks for taking the time!
-All other writers of gamefaqs, whom have encouraged me to begin FAQ writing.
-And Team Ninja, for developing this great game.
VI-Contacting Me
----------------
Despite the help of the above people, I know certain things could have been
better, and perhaps others already have alternate strategies. So if you can
catch any content errors or have any other useful advice, email me at
[email protected]. Do not spam me, I have more than enough of that already.
VII-Copyright
-------------
This FAQ is property of Alex Goodman (XBassXUmbraX) and may only be used on
the following sites:
www.iberiansninjagaiden.com
www.gamefaqs.com
You may use this guide for your own leisure and you may print it out.
However, do not sell copies for your own profit. If you are not one of the
above sites, please contact me first to gain my permission to use this guide
on your site. Copyright 2006, Alex Goodman
