Struggling to beat Yamagata Masakage at the end of Nioh 3’s tutorial? The first boss before Nioh 3’s open world becomes available is Yamagata Masakage, a mighty red armour-clad samurai with a huge blade ready to skewer you right through your middle.
Yamagata Masakage serves as a wall of sorts to mark the end of Nioh 3’s first hour, ensuring that you have the skills required before progressing further into the game’s large map. With only a few abilities at your disposal, it’s entirely possible that beating this human bulwark may take a good many tries – especially if this is your first Nioh game, let alone your first Soulslike!
In this guide, we’ll explain how to beat Yamagata Masakage at the end of Nioh 3’s tutorial, presenting some pointers to keep in mind as you cut this Crimson Army bastard down to size. Don’t give up…stronger enemies await you!
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How to beat Yamagata Masakage
Defeating Yamagata takes practice and refinement of Nioh 3’s early skills, including attacking an enemy from behind, Ki management, and using Burst Break. Keep the following tips in mind as you fight:
Note: This guide is focused on helping new players beat Yamagata Masakage the first time around. You’ll face this devious general later in the campaign, though by that time you’ll have many more tactics at your disposal. If you’re interested in more info on the second fight with Yamagata, check out its entry in our comprehensive list of all bosses and boss locations in Nioh 3!
Summon an Acolyte for help
The road outside Yamagata’s boss arena has a Benevolent Grave where you can summon an Acolyte to your assistance. Doing so requires Ochoko Cups, but thankfully there are a number of Bloody Graves nearby where you can battle Revenants and farm Ochoko Cups for the summoning process. (If you’re unclear on how to do this, take a peek at our guide on how to get Ochoko Cups for Acolytes.
Obviously, you can fight Yamagata solo if you want, but if you’re having trouble, there’s no shame in bringing an Acolyte into the fray to hold aggro. Even with an Acolyte’s help, the fight is no walk in the park.
Attack when Yamagata’s Ki is gone
Ki management is a big factor in Nioh 3, especially when you’re playing as a Samurai, which is all about using Ki Pulses to refresh your energy. But enemies also have their own Ki bars, and they’re vulnerable when their Ki is empty. Yamagata falls into this pattern – dodge or block enough of his attacks or deliver a fast flurry of strikes (which is easier as a Ninja) and his Ki will soon go to nothing.
Reflect on your failures and grovel in the dirt, Yamagata Masakage. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Koei Tecmo
Your targeting circle on him will turn red when this occurs, and you can press Y to deliver a devastating attack that will knock off a nice chunk of his health bar. If you’ve done this correctly, he’ll remark “I failed…”
Backstab as much as possible
As a general rule, attacking from an enemy’s rear will deliver more damage in Nioh 3. So if you can, try to manoeuvre yourself behind Yamagata for a backstab – or even better, a series of backstabs.
The Ninja will have an easier time of this, since Yamagata’s a big and slow guy. Practice using the Ninja’s Mist ability to dart behind Yamagata for an attack, or if you’re feeling brave, you can also double jump over him. Attacking in mid-air also works decently as long as you don’t get swatted out of the sky like a fly.
Use Burst Break
At this point in Nioh 3, you won’t be able to truly Deflect (AKA parry) the majority of Yamagata’s blows yet, which is troublesome. You can use Burst Break, however, which requires you to press the Right Trigger to switch from Samurai to Ninja (or vice versa) when Yamagata’s about to hit you with a glowing red energy attack.
A successful Burst Break is a quasi-parry that will disrupt Yamagata’s poise and leave him open to several strikes, hopefully depleting his Ki meter in the process. Burst Breaks will also raise your Amrita Gauge (the circle at the bottom of the screen showing your currently-equipped Guardian Spirit), which leads to the next point…
Use Living Artifact
If you play your cards right with constant attacks and Burst Breaks, your Amrita Gauge is guaranteed to fill up. Once it’s full, you’ll be told to press Y + B to activate Living Artifact, which is a powered-up special form dependent on whatever Guardian Spirit you’re currently using.
Heck yeah; Living Artifact is where it’s at! | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Koei Tecmo
As a Living Artifact, you have a short amount of time to attack like crazy (monitor the yellow bar that replaces your health meter) before you revert to normal. If you manage to get Yamagata’s health down to about a third before activating Living Artifact, the extra damage that this form causes should be enough to wreck the remainder of his HP without much trouble.
Congrats, that’s a wrap on how to finish the tutorial and defeat Yamagata Masakage in Nioh 3. He’s just the first step on a long journey, however, and you just might have to face him again before too long! But for now, it’s a good idea to master the fundamentals of Nioh 3. For more intel on doing so, check out our guides on what to do with the Dirty Key (an early in-game item), how to use Hot Springs, and how to get past Spirit Veins. Good luck.