Nioh 2: The ten hardest bosses and tips to beat them

Azai Nagamasa

In the first playthrough, he’s not too difficult of a foe. Those curse statuses with the speed buff really make him more of a nuisance than being difficult. His move set is easy to work around since his movements are very clear that he’s going on the offensive. The thing with later difficulties is that basically, everything will kill you in a few hits, kind of like the base game, but with bigger numbers.

He doesn’t have the largest health pool, but he does have a somewhat invulnerable phase when he covers his body with his blue wing. Whatever you do, do not attack him while he does so. Your attack will bounce back, leaving you slightly stunned for him to attack you. This is a boss whose space you have to respect, especially when he’s agile and can counter you on a whim.

I’ve run this boss on picture scroll missions countless times, and this is the one I see random players die on more than anyone. When Nagamasa turns the arena into a dark realm, he’ll grow a second wing. In this phase, he’ll be airborne a lot more and shoot energy projectiles as well as swoop down at a player like a hawk. Just wait until he is grounded and whiffs his attacks so you can get a few hits on his back. Unless you have the Faster Winded Recovery perk on your build, I would suggest not to block too much against him since he’s fast enough to follow up with something lethal.