Ninja Gaiden 4 Guide – 15 Tips and Tricks You Need to Know

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After a long wait, Ninja Gaiden 4 is here, and it’s predictably difficult. The new character, Yakumo, has a lot of powerful moves, so let’s look at the best ones. We’ll also cover which combat skills to unlock first, how useful side quests are beyond just earning in-game currency, and why you should bother collecting Tallies.

We’ll cover everything you need to know, including how to survive, become a skilled fighter, and ultimately become a master.

Spin (and Sweep) to Win

You’ll quickly gain enough weapon experience to learn many new skills, but two particularly useful ones for Takeminakata are Rising Stance: Spin and Vaulting Stance: Sweep. Rising Stance: Spin lets Yakumo jump onto her blade and perform a wide spinning attack, which is excellent for pushing back groups of enemies and protecting yourself. Vaulting Stance: Sweep is a strong follow-up attack, but be aware of a small delay before the strike – enemies might be able to attack you during the vault.

Berserker Barrage

As you fight and take damage, a Berserk meter fills up. When full, you can activate it and hold down attack buttons while in Bloodraven Form to perform Bloodbath Kills, instantly defeating enemies. Combining this with the Rising Stance: Spin attack is effective against groups, particularly tougher enemies. Before the meter empties, press L3 and R3 again to unleash Bloodbath Slaughter, a powerful finishing move that also instantly kills all nearby enemies.

Frugal Spender

At the beginning of the game, you won’t have many Ninja Coins, so it’s best to save them. Instead of buying items, focus on exploring – you’ll find plenty of chests containing healing supplies and temporary attack/defense boosts. Plus, there are frequent checkpoints, meaning you’re never too far from a full recovery, so consider that before using a health potion.

Easy Weapon Switching Opportunities

Changing weapons in the middle of a combo can be tricky, particularly when deciding how to smoothly link different moves. If you’re struggling with this during combos, try switching weapons while performing powerful attacks like obliterations or Ultimates. These attacks offer a brief period of invulnerability, giving you time to plan your next move and switch weapons effectively.

Ultimate Power

Don’t hesitate to use your Ultimate attacks often! The brief invulnerability they provide is incredibly helpful for dodging damage from groups of enemies – even tricky things like poison – and can make boss fights much easier, plus they deal a lot of damage. To charge your Ultimate quickly without being interrupted, unlock the ‘Ultimate Guidance’ skill. This speeds up charging when you absorb a Blood Essence orb, and it gets even faster with large orbs. Also, get ‘Final Charge’ for more powerful attacks and ‘Landing Ultimate Technique’ to boost charge speed as soon as you land.

Block Party

Look, I’m not gonna lie, getting perfect parries takes practice. So, until I am a parry master, I mostly just block. But I’ve found a cool way to learn! I try to memorize what enemies and bosses do – their attack patterns. I’ll block everything, and then right before their last hit lands, I try to parry. Even if I mess up and take a little damage, I keep blocking so I don’t get combo’d. If I do manage to pull off a parry this way, it opens up a chance for a Fatal Flash – basically a powerful attack that drops a special orb. I grab that orb to charge up my Ultimate Attack, which is awesome!

Illusive Steps

Perfect dodging is really useful, particularly when combined with specific combat abilities. The Mirage Warframe, and especially the Bloodraven version, are essential for this, as Bloodraven deals extra damage and can knock enemies upwards. Just be sure to consider what weapon you’re using while dodging.

Other Useful Techniques

While moves like Izuna Drop and Flying Swallow are reliable, don’t hesitate to use a throw to eliminate tough enemies by tossing them off cliffs. The Guillotine Throw is perfect for this where there are drops nearby. It’s also useful in tighter spaces to disrupt enemies by throwing them into each other, and you can even use it to knock flying opponents out of the sky.

Yatousen benefits greatly from the skills Eagle Dive and Propulsion Impact, alongside Takeminakata. For Magatsuhi, both Tremorous Pummel and Sunset Breaker are effective, though landing the follow-up spin with Sunset Breaker can be tricky. Kage-Hiruko works best with Tamahami for quick movement through enemies, Nocturnal Flash for deploying bombs, and Nocturnal Rain for launching enemies with explosive force.

Danger Sense

Keep an eye on the movement indicators on your heads-up display. They’ll warn you about enemies, even if you can’t see them. This helps you estimate how far away dangers are before a fight, but it’s especially helpful for confirming an area is truly clear even after you’ve dealt with all visible enemies.

Ninja Mercenary

It’s a good idea to accept requests as soon as they appear. Prioritize those that give you Phantasmal Fragments, as these are needed to permanently increase your health. Other requests offer accessories that can give you special advantages, but only if you have enough space to equip them. You can always check the rewards for each request before accepting it, or by looking at the Missions tab.

Tyran’s Tactics

Okay, so Tyran, my Raven Clan trainer, is the go-to guy for learning new fighting moves. But it’s not just that! As I get further in the game, he unlocks upgrades to the Art of Defense. These are seriously helpful – one lets me block more attacks in a row, and the other gives me extra slots for equipping accessories. Both make a huge difference when I’m tackling tougher enemies!

Wave-Based Challenge Missions

Eventually, you’ll find a gate surrounded by blue flames – it’s a tough challenge, so be prepared! Before you go in, you can choose to lower your health, and the more you lower it, the more weapon experience and Ninja Coins you’ll earn. But be warned: if you quit or leave once you’ve entered, you won’t be able to try it again in that chapter.

Easy Access

Once you finish the story, you can choose any of the side missions without replaying the whole chapter. You do need to find each mission first to make it available in the menu. And even if you don’t succeed on your first try, you’ll still unlock it for later, letting you try again at a higher difficulty with improved skills.

Tallying Up

Once you’ve completed the story, you can replay chapters and earn Tallies. These Tallies unlock extra missions, letting you collect more Ninja Coins and useful items like the Incense of Rebirth, which brings you back to life if you die. They’re a great way to earn extra currency when replaying the campaign with characters like Ryu Hayabusa, and your progress with them isn’t tied to any specific chapter.

Non-Berserk Bloodbath Kills

Okay, so when you’re at the shop using Chapter Select, you can find some seriously cool stuff. I recently snagged the Ashen Pipe, and it’s a game changer! It basically gives every weapon a chance to trigger a Bloodbath with its special attack – which is awesome. The downside is it slows down building your Berserk meter, but honestly, it’s worth it. It’s super helpful when I replay levels on harder difficulties, and it’s a must-have for the post-game Trials where you can really customize your build. It does cost a ton of Ninja Coins – like, 85,000! – but I think it’s worth saving up for.

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2025-10-21 13:49