'||\ ||` ||\\ || '' '' || \\ || || `||''|, || '''|. || \\|| || || || || .|''|| .|| \||. .||. .|| ||. || `|..||. || `..|' .|'''''| ||` || . '' || || |''|| '''|. || .|''|| .|''|, `||''|, || || .|''|| || || || ||..|| || || `|....|' `|..||. .||. `|..||. `|... .|| ||. '||'''|, '||` '|| || || || || ||;;;; || '''|. .|'', || //` || || || .|''|| || ||<< .||...|' .||. `|..||. `|..' .|| \\. NGB Fiend-Challenge FAQ By XBassXUmbraX (Alxgoody@aol.com) 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)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 Alxgoody@aol.com. 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