Bosses, trials, tips thread

[VirtualNight]

I'm still often asked tips about this game, so I post here all those basic required knowledge to succeed in the whole 100% trophy list. This is only a very small summarize (I don't have motivation to make a detailed guide nor a good enough english) which points out quick strategies and common mistakes people tend to do in the trials, as well as some tips for some bosses, as those vids I used for my first step of training have been removed. I won't say what has already been said in the guide, such as how to deal with alchemists or base game trials deep strategies.

The following info are for good part NOT applicable to Razor Edge.

You must practice for your own first, do not expect that everything will work the first time you try it.

If I forgot something, made a mistake or didn't mention something that does actually need some explanation, say so.

 

Common abbreviations used on ng3:

• UT = ultimate technique
• MN/UN = master ninja / ultimate ninja trials
• S / T = square / triangle button. Due to 75 emoticons limit here, I used that abbreviation for a bit
• Elizabeth boss is commonly abbreviated to Liz
• FG = Fiend Genshin boss
• Zed = Zedonius boss
• ID = izuna drop

 

 

Common trials mistakes:

• unlike NGS2, attacking a boss together must be avoided, as doing so will completely glitch the boss who will then become unpredictable and unstunnable either for a while or until you or your partner dies. So, if your partner is fighting a boss, don't disturb them and don't get close too close either, same applies for the Reaper miniboss
• when you are luring the Reaper, don't remove its statue form. His laser may be annoying at times but is way better than face his body form
• DON'T use arrows on a Reaper your ally is fighting. That is extremely annoying for them and you can easily mess the whole fight
• the more ninpo you have before a wave ends, the more health you recover for the next wave, so don't waste your ninpo for example for 1 enemy. The health recovery through ninpo does not always apply after each wave and the higher difficulty, the less health you will recover
• instead of wasting an Ultimate technique (UT) when there are few enemies left, save it. When the last enemy dies, charge the UT so that you can release it during the next wave. Of course you have to be careful about the spot you are before charging (if for example a boss will spawn there) and in some waves, where there are only bosses, saving the UT is pointless

 

 

 

Some helpful tips:

• slide and jump is the fastest way of moving. I personally don't like to spam the slide button as I find it a bit unreliable
• slide with the sword has a gap between each slide, instead you can spam it with claws/scythe. In a scenario where you are not fighting, you may prefer these last 2 weapons for a better slide
• the claws are the easiest weapon to use, if you don't fight any boss. The trophy guide covers the most useful attacks so check that
• put your camera speed to max
• if an enemy becomes quite tough to approach, stun them with shurikens. If multiple enemies are annoying at once, you want to perform an izuna drop on one. This seems to calm a bit the whole group
• to instant charge the UT when you have it ready, jump and hold as you land, is way faster than charge it without jump

 

 

Horror co-op stories:

• enemies can teleport all of a sudden, this may also happen right when you are attacking them in air
• enemies may ignore your hits, this happens when your game does not recognise their position. You can try to perform a head bounce (jump on an enemy and press on top of their head) if it does not work despite you did it properly, the enemy is pretty much invincible for a few seconds until the issue fixes itself automatically
• the steel on bone against a shuriken soldier may fail for no reason
• revives might not work, so you will have to wait for some seconds before you can try again
• a wave may glitch and not spawn enemies, or a Reaper will go out of the map
• a lot of more horrible things can happen, so be ready for a lot of unsense situations which can screw your attempt

 

 

Some annoying enemies:

 

Shuriken soldier:

• there are various way to kill them, but the main issue is when there are more than one. What happens in this case, usually, is that one will try to attack you while the others throw shurikens. You want to slide toward the one throwing the shurikens (when you are at mid-close range) as he throws one to avoid it, then kill him with a head bounce followed by a flying swallow. Be aware that they can spam shurikens only for some time, then they eventually stop
• also, the head bounce into flying swallow does work only in the story as stated in the guide, but is applicable in the trials as well. The only thing that changes is that after the head bounce, you have to land, then perform a target jump and finish with the flying swallow. So, in short the whole attack is: "slide to avoid the shuriken - target jump - bounce head - land - target jump - flying swallow". Very similar strategy applies also against a 1v1, just avoid a shuriken or an attack from the enemy then he will be vulnerable
• the best time this enemy is vulnerable is when is running at you: he will then slide when close enough, avoid his slide with a slide as well and then kill him as you wish, just be aware that in few trials this enemy, right after a slide, will launch himself in air, so in that case you want to attack after such attack

 

Elite soldier:

• the armored terrorist is easily killable with a flying swallow, however you want to "fix" his position first. To do so, do a bounce head first and then, once you land, kill him with a flying swallow (if he blocks the first, quickly press again while still in air). This works the best with the claws, but don't try this next to a wall or if surrounded by more enemies as you may be unlucky and get hit. The strategy itself is not 100% solid, I'd say you have like 3% chance to get hit. In some cases the attack will whiff but you will usually have enough time to avoid an incoming attack from the enemy
• if his armor is bloody, he is vulnerable to an izuna drop
• the Running izuna drop with claws is also capable to quickly kill this enemy

 

Claws ninja:

• if you stop moving, he will eventually stop circling around you and try to approach you
• one way to kill him is to do a bounce head, land, then slide next to him (DON'T slide toward him as you will hit him and screw your attack) and finish with the slide izuna drop version
• another way is to kill him with the slide izuna version while he is approaching you. This is harder as you must be aware of both yours and his range attack

 

Van Gelfs:

• basically the big purple/dark green demons, unlike NGS2 they are quite horrible to fight and require some luck
• from NGS2 to NG3: they stay the same, the only thing you can't do anymore is, of course, dismember them
• when facing 2 or more, only 1 will try to attack you (if you have more than 1 attacking, stay back for a bit until only one is on you), while the other will either shoot some projectiles or watch you, and this is when that enemy is extremely vulnerable: you want to avoid the attack from the enemy following you, then you will have some free hits on the other "spectator" enemy (don't use attacks that send you in air). Of course you have to watch out as the spectator role may change all of a sudden to another Van Gelf
• when facing these enemies, some luck is required, as some weird scenarios can happen when in co-op

 

 

 

Some important notes for bosses.

These are only some specific info, if you are starting from scratch then you have to check each boss yourself and after enough practice read the following info.

Openings are those moments the boss is vulnerable, I will not list the tricky ones.

Pretty much all bosses can be practiced in Mentor trials, where you can have a 1v1 with them (minor changes are applied for some).

This section is almost only for DLCs, as the base game bosses are very simple and are already explained everywhere.
 

Spoiler

 

Genshin:

• will follow the closest target the moment he spawns and will stick to them
• however, he may change target all of a sudden
• in case you have to get his attention, it may happen that he starts a ninpo on your partner as you try to attack him. Since you are probably using the attack you will end airborne. You must keep yourself in air by using shurikens and, if necessary, to stay as much as possible in air. If you do this properly, you will never get hit by the ninpo which will be released before you land
• Dodge mech: the boss is programmed to avoid your attack when you deal enough damage to him. This is exactly why you are probably failing an izuna drop after you performed one on him, because after that attack, he will always avoid once the next. The workaround is very simple though, you just have to attack him with to force his dodge, so you can try an izuna drop at the next chance. Or, after the izuna drop, you will notice he is rolling on himself before he gets up, if you slide on him that will count as a dodge as well! all this mech will apply for each izuna drop. Be aware that once he becomes bloody he will dodge twice in a row after your every izuna drop. Lastly, even if you trigger his dodge, there is always a chance that your next attack is avoided for a unpredictable amount of times (very low if you follow the mech perfectly), so don't fall asleep and keep your attention up
• How to lure: stay still and block, he will usually walk on you and perform a flying swallow, after you block it slide to where the attack came from and repeat. You will keep this sort of loop for a bit until Genshin will try something else, in which case you will make a bit of distance from him
• Charge attack: how it works is that after the first charged attack, he will then do a second one or a combo attack. What you want to do, when you notice him starting the charge, is to make some distance, because if you are far enough there won't be another attack
• if he starts any combo, you can block the first hit (you can't block the first hit in case he uses the combo where he begins with a vertical air spin sword attack), then just go away. If you can read his 4 hits combo (where he spins at the 4th hit), it is fully blockable, otherwise if you try to go away but aren't fast enough, the spin will reach you
• Openings: after the last hit of a combo. After you block his flying swallow. After he launches the ninpo (unrecommended). After his first charge (highly unrecommended, requires some very good practice).
• from NGS2 to NG3: some changes about which attacks of the combos are blockable/guard breakable, also he can't be looped anymore

 

Fiend Genshin

• will follow the closest target the moment he spawns and will stick to them
• if you have to get his attention you must wait the right moment. Approach him and wait that he either throws his arrows or does a fire wave (you must avoid it with a slide toward it), then attack him shortly (with claws/sword , with scythe 360 )
• Dodge mech: just like the normal Genshin, the same mech still applies, although this time you will notice it way less due to the fight itself and his higher tendency to avoid attacks
• Behaviours: just like all bosses from ngs2, he can have a random behaviour when spawning. You can recognise that when he spams a specific attack during the fight. The worst behaviour is the dodger one (luckily is not common) where he will avoid A LOT of your attacks over and over, this may screw even a skilled player as the fight could go even for over 5 minutes
• How to lure: same as Genshin, but now you will have to avoid more different attacks. You can only practice that
• Combos: in short, you want to go away. Block the first hit (watch out, there is a rare attack composed by 2 quick hits, where the first will break the guard and the second will hit you, also you can't block the first hit of the combo where he starts with an air vertical spin attack), then either spam slide away from the boss or, after a slide, jump and do a flying swallow (of course, away from the boss). You should end far enough from his combo. Once the combo is over, you can resume the lure. Also, the 4 hits combo (with the spin as 4th attack), is entirely blockable.
• Arrows are blockable. Basically whenever the boss is airborne after a teleport, stay still and hold block. Anything he does after the air teleportation won't hurt you, the only exception is a rare case where he will perform a flying swallow, followed by another air teleportation and flying swallow.again. Is quite annoying and you probably won't have enough time to react to that
• Charged attack: this time the attack is composed only by 2 long charges (only 1 if you are far enough). After the boss does one, you have enough time to attack him, otherwise avoid the second charge first
• Openings: after you block his flying swallow (a bit risky, as when he lands he could try afterwards something else). After he ends a combo but be aware that after a combo, he always does a 1 hit attack, blockable; this mech does not apply for the 2 quick hits combo nor for 2 others, one of which ends with the izuna drop attempt and the other which will stop with a diagonal hit. After you avoid his charged attack. After blocking his arrows from sky. After he does his sword crash from sky, if you stay still/hold block the attack will whiff and you can attack. After his fire wave
• from NGS2 to NG3: you can't block anymore most of the combo attacks (so you also can't counter attack either, nor is recommended as it isn't really effective), therefore a fight where you dodge on his side will not work. His arrows are blockable. His fire wave can NOT be avoided with a jump

 

Doku (DLC):

• will follow the closest target in any moment
• How to lure: keep a mid distance, you have to worry about his sword launch which is quite fast and requires some practice before you can correctly read the boss animation and avoid the attack in time. The attack itself can break your guard and do some damage so you want to learn to avoid it
• Charge: when he charges, he will do it once, unless he ends next to you, in that case he will perform another one. A good way to deal with this is to slide away one time when you see him charging, then just run away (with run, I mean just hold your stick in a direction), now the boss should land next to you and perform a second charge which you can avoid and attack afterwards. If you are luring, just make a good distance from the first charge
• Combos: he has combo attacks for 1 hit, 2 hits (downwards then upwards swing), or a long 5 hits one. Learning them is pretty easy and are all easily avoidable
• Ground wave: this is a very rare attack, but that he will probably do if, when he spawns, he hasn't a target right next to him. He may also perform it anyway after spawning. Although is weird, this attack can't be avoided with a jump, you need to slide toward it as the purple wave approaches you. If you are very far though, you will not get any damage
• Openings: after his second charge. After his 2 or 5 hits attacks. After a ground wave. After his fire breath attack. After his grab attempt
• Attacks: sword , claws run to the boss and , scythe 360

 

 

Alma (DLC):

• will follow the closest target in any moment
• this boss has been well explained already, you can easily find all the info on internet, I will only point out a few extra things
• the best way to stun her, is to do a slide on left or right when you have to avoid her thrown pillar, now jump a few instants after you did the previous slide, throw shurikens in mid-air, then do an Onlanding 360 . In the whole process, Alma should crash right next to you, but due to your attack you won't get hit and can actually stun her. Does not always work, but usually it does and is way more consistent than the flying swallow strategy
• if for any reason Alma is on ground, you must try a flying swallow to have her in air again, despite is a bit risky thing to do
• you can stun Alma as she spawns, if you perform an On landing 360 where she has to spawn at the right time. Is not easy to do as you have to calculate the time quite well (basically you must know the time she will appear)
• How to lure: it is actually a horrible idea, is harder than kill her and so unrecommended. The way it would work is keep a mid distance (watch out that the other player is not closer to her than you) and then you will constantly slide jump along a side whenever some purple balls are incoming.

 

Marbus (DLC):

• will follow who has made the lobby (yes, seriously) and stick to them, although he may change target
• he is quite a pain to deal with, there is nothing you can block so you must learn the timing to dodge any attack he can do
• Projecticles: slide jump like mad (not toward him)
• Charges: slide toward the attack or, if you are far enough, you can go away from the trajectory
• max camera speed is mandatory to follow him
• when he does his spinning attack, how it works is that when there is a brief blink (the time for that to happen is always the same), he will crash on you, however, he is capable to interrupt the attack, wait in air for around 1 sec, then resume the crash which will turn out into a grab. This is a tricky attack to avoid, some people use the onlanding 360 with the scythe for the invincibility frame, but I prefer another way. You want to be close to him (not too much or you won't be able to see him well), the moment the blink comes you slide once and this should allow you to avoid the crash. If he does interrupt the attack, while you keep moving (I prefer to move, but you can stay still if you want) also keep in your mind the 1 sec (in this moment you don't need to watch Marbus anymore but don't go too far from him) then slide again. The reason why you want to be close is that it can be way harder to understand when to dodge if you are far from the boss
• Openings: after his spiral crash, but don't do too long attacks or you will be grabbed. After his hand crash but you can land a good attack in this case only with the scythe (for other weapons, you could land a few Square button attacks, you may be able to land a S,T,T attack
• From NGS2 to NG3: he can't spawn minions. Also, when he performs his hand crash, there is now a good chance that he won't follow up with a charge
• Attacks: sword (what happens is that the izuna drop will whiffs and you will do this other attack. However due to the connection with the other partner, this attack may fail as it won't bring you behind the boss as supposed; it can also fail if there is a wall nearby), claws run to the boss , scythe 360 x3-4 if you go behind him after his spiral (he can't grab you from there, all credits to Floriiss for this info), or x1 after the hand crash
• How to lure: well, just survive and keep moving, there is nothing special to add for this

 

 

Volf (DLC):

• will follow the closest target the moment he spawns and stick to them
• always stay very close to him, otherwise you will face his long range attacks
• Combos: he has 2 different combos that start with the scythe, you want to slide on the boss' side to avoid the first hit, now hold block because what happens next is important. If he keeps spinning after the first hit, the moment your guard breaks you want to slide toward the boss and attack. Instead, if he does not spin, then he will do 2 quick attacks (block the first, dodge the second so you end on his left side), now he will rotate his scythe a bit (if you are on his right, you can get hit by this) and then will crash (dodge it, then attack), but if you are too slow then this combo will have a brief extension with a 360 rotation. Another combo is with his punches, it is easy to avoid, just slide backwards, then come back to the boss with another slide, as he will interrupt the attack and become vulnerable, otherwise if you mess he will do a powerful punch followed by 3 hits attack with the scythe. Finally, he has a counter attack very similar to the punches combo mentioned before
• Grab: the timing to avoid it can be confusing, as you have to dodge with a slide toward the boss the moment his arms are going to close
• Walking...walking: occasionally Volf has this boring glitch where, instead of attack, will just walk on you. Interrupt this with either a 360 with scythe or with sword/claws
• How to lure: there should never be any situation where you will lure this boss. Eventually luring him means doing the same things you'd do if you fight him, so better just kill him at that point
• From NGS2 to NG3: he does not have the shock wave attack from far distance anymore, however he still has the scythe grab attack from mid range. Also he can't be looped
• Openings: check Combos. After a grab
• Attacks: sword , scythe

 

Zedonius (DLC):

• will follow the closest target the moment he spawns and stick to them
• you want to stay at mid range and then, when you have an opening, approach and attack him
• How to lure: stay mid range, he should keep using either fireballs (slide jump to any side to dodge) or lava eruption
• Crash: when performing a crash from the sky he will come slightly close to his target so you have to calculate that distance too. If you are far enough the attack can't reach you, otherwise you need to slide at the right time toward the flames
• Fireballs: on lower difficulties he will usually throw 2, and will almost always throw 4 on higher difficulties
• 4 arms...grab?: this attack has been moved into NG3 very badly, making it look quite stupid. What happens is that you will see the boss moving all 4 arms toward you, making it look like a grab, when it actually is not. That attack does nothing, you can wait in front of the boss and attack him when he ends it. However there are 2 trials where the attack does actually work as supposed, where a flame wave will come to your direction after the boss closes his arms and you have to slide in that moment to the boss to avoid the attack. This will happen in Master Ninja trial 15 (where the attack, however is completely glitched, therefore the fire wave will come from anywhere) and Ultimate Ninja 05
• Stun: although rare, the boss may get stunned, but, in an unpredictable moment, he may go out of this with an instant grab, so if you notice he is stunned (kneeling on ground), go away
• Combos: since you will stay at mid range, you don't really mind about his combos
• Openings: after lava eruption. After his crash. After either his hand grab or 4 arms "grab". After the laser (you can perform a bit of attacking during the laser, then your default combo after it ends)
• From NGS2 to NG3: he can't freely move anymore in air and his crash will not reach the player from a far distance. His crash can't be avoided anymore with a jump/target jump. Is less unlikely for him to get stunned. Your counter attacks will whiff or put you in a bad situation so they can't be used. His ground fire wave is fucked up (check 4 arms...grab?)
• Attacks: sword   then go back at mid range. Scythe then go back at mid range, however you can also try to use the if not next to a wall, what happens is that afterwards you can attack again with the same attack (unless the boss does a combo attack). If he uses fireballs, you can either slide like mad close to him or block the first fireball, dodge the second then jump and flying swallow to interrupt the attack (may not work due to connection)... is a risky combo, so there is a 3rd way which is a mix and safe. You want to use the first provided combo for a total of 5 times, then you will switch to the 2nd combo for your next attack, now since the boss took some damage he will automatically use the laser which will whiff; after your long attack and during the laser perform a 360 x2, then redo the long combo which should kill the boss. However, in rare cases, due to the connection the long attack won't bring you behind Zed when he is doing the laser. If this happens, then for that specific trial you can't use the long combo at all

 

 

Alexei (DLC):

• will follow the closest target the moment he spawns, but may change target all of a sudden. Also, he can go to attack the other player just for a brief moment then go back to the original target
• huge luck based, if you are unlucky you are screwed. You must stay at mid range until you have an opening, then fight with a strong pressure until you are interrupted, then wait at mid range again
• How to lure: can't be lured, must be fought
• Unstunnable: in NGS2 a hit could stun him allowing you a combo, but now this will not work anymore, basically he can attack in any moment, even if you are attacking him, which means that no matter how good you are, if he decides to go for an air dash while you are hitting him you may die
• Dash: you always want to dodge it, because it can be either a blockable dash OR a grab, and you can't predict which one it is. Don't confuse this with another type of dash that Alex does to just approach you (this one can't hit you allowing you an opening). There is also a 3rd dash which Alex does if he is in Air and wants to land.
• Air camper: if he goes in air, you are in serious danger. On NGS2 you could flying swallow him, but here this choice is not applicable due to the fact you can't jump high enough. You can either keep dodging his 2 lightnings until he finally lands, or try to hit him with a slide followed by although is extremely risky to do
• Stun: quite a contradiction to what said earlier, however he may get stunned where he will kneel on ground. You can attack him during this, but he will most probably go out of this with a hand crash, so watch out
• Lightning balls: this attack is a huge pain if Alex does it at close range. You can try to attack him or dodge like mad (the closer you are, the less chance you have to not get hit), ideally you hope that this attack won't come too often during a good run, but is a behaviour Alex may spawn with
• Hand crash: he will try to hit you with this attack which will generate a small lightning dome, it is a bit tricky to adodge but you can avoid it either by going away in time or sliding toward the boss as he crashes
• Combos: he has 2 combo. The most common you will see is a 5 hits one (starts off with the boss launching himself to you, similar to the dash approach), entirely blockable. The other starts off with 3 hits from close range, if the 3rd is blocked or hits you, the 4th will either be a grab or another hit; this is entirely blockable as well (except the grab of course)
• Quick grab: from close range he can do a 2 hands grab, which is very quick. It can be easily confused with the 4 hits combo, that's why, if you are waiting an opening, you must stay at mid range to avoid to face this attack
• Powered mode: when enough damage has been dealt, Alex will become more powerful (you will notice some lightning next to him for a brief moment), now he will be able to do a dash for 2 or 3 times in a row, and can easily start to spam that over and over. If you are unlucky and have to deal with this you want to be next to a wall, and slide toward it as Alex dashes on you, then you can either try to attack him after the 2nd dash (if you have fast reflexes and notice he isn't doing a 3rd dash) or slide again to avoid a potential 3rd, then start your attack
• White Knight: during the trial UN05, Alexei will be fought with Elizabeth, however if the other player tries to fight Elizabeth, Alex will become a white knight and change target to that player. So in short, unless you need to get Elizabeth's attention, don't try to attack her as long as Alex is alive
• Openings: after he does a dash approach. After his hand crash. After a dash. If you manage to avoid the 2 hands grab, attack afterwards. After the 5 hits combo or the 4 ones (if you dodge the 3rd hit)
• From NGS2 to NG3: all his combo attacks are blockable. His hand grab is way faster. His hand crash can't be avoided with a jump. Can't be stunned. When he switches mode, he won't do his animation anymore, he will become stronger instantly
• Attacks: sword   land and repeat over and over until the boss makes distance, during powered mode spam ; scythe (highly recommended weapon) land and repeat over and over until the boss makes distance, during powered mode spam 360

 

 

Elizabeth/Liz (DLC):

• will follow the closest target the moment she spawns but can change target occasionally
• avoid a close combat scenario, keep her at mid-long range
• Dash mech: while on ground, Liz can do a dash. Now, what happens next is crucial, because if the distance between her and the target is too far, she will perform more dashes until the distance is finally short enough. The problem with this is that while in co-op, good part of these dashes will go straight to the other player which can be catastrophic. So, what you want to do is to be sure that, if you are the target of her first dash, to either dodge or block it so that the distance from her is not too much. Usually this scenario happens if you keep yourself at mid long range and block the dash, so you end being closed enough for Liz to stop, then quickly make a mid long distance again. This all may sound confusing, but you must understand this mech or your partner will be attacked while busy with another boss
• Close combat range: you want to avoid a close combat scenario so you don't need to know what she can do; if you played on NGS2, her attacks are the same. One thing I point out however is that if you try to keep a mid long range but may end in being too close instead, then Liz has some particular dashes, which are either 2 or 3 quick dashes (occasionally in this case the 1st dash may be unblockable but is unpredictable) or 2 followed by a tail attack; she also has a quick kick dash, which is blockable but it will be followed shortly by another attack
• While in air: she can throw some blood projectiles which do pretty much no damage at all, If you are too close she can either crash or perform a 2 tail hits. Also she can raise her hadn, and 3 circles will appear one after another below you, you want to slide jump in a specific direction without change it, if you end to jump on a wall (which you want to avoid to do) then keep yourself airborn with shurikens and then as is your only hope at that point. Last thing to say is that if you hide yourself behind something and Liz is on ground, she will go in air, but you stay hidden while she is in air then she will teleport and instant attack you, so avoid to stay hidden in such case
• Behaviour: another special note about her possible behaviours. You may get a walker Liz, where she will walk for a lot. This can be extremely boring and take a lot of time to kill her, also she may have another behaviour where she keeps going in air and then just land on you
• From NGS2 to NG3: her blood projectiles are harmless. She is still loopable if you were capable to do so, although is not recommended to try that here. If she is air and tries a dash (which is rare), it will have a way less range so that you usually won't have to bother to dodge it. If after a dash you stay next to her, she won't do an attack immediately, but will perform a side dash first and only afterwards an attack.
• How to lure:  with the dash mech in mind, keep a mid distance and don't panic if you end next to a wall, stay focused to leave from that situation while waiting for Liz' dash
• Opening: when in mid air during projectiles. After a dash for the sword
• Attacks: sword (unrecommended) then shuriken , if stunned forward+ then back off. Scythe, during her blood projectiles in air, approach, slide then (if you do this too far, Liz will do a dash),   then as you land immediately slide jump away; there would be a way faster way but better be slow and safe

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trials quick strategies

The following are some quick common strategies used in co-op. I will cover only the MN and UN (DLCs, base game are explained in the trophy guide) with a very small explanation. You want to check some vids to see how to really do a trial. I won't bother to say obvious things.

Remember, the cardinal points are established from your spawning point, so North (in front of you), East (on your right), West (on your left), South (behind you).

 

The recommended weapons are given by keeping in mind that none of the players is skilled enough to entire carry the other. Someone capable to carry will use anything they want and if they give you different instructions then follow those. In case you are carried, your duty will always be to lure a boss which you can fight ONLY if you know how to and if that does not disturb the other player.

 

Also, the claws are better than the sword (i will assume the one using the claws is the weaker player), but if you really like the sword then feel free to use it, and don't forget that claws are horrible for most of the bosses, so the other player will usually deal with bosses by using the scythe

 

 

Spoiler

 

Master Ninja 06:

Recommended weapons - Claws, Scythe

• wave 1: shuriken soldiers, terrorists, RPG on the roofs. Nothing to report, the player not going for the boss can save the UT
• wave 2: Genshin x1 (north), claws ninja (first 3 on west, then east, and so on). One player has to lure the boss until all the other ninjas are killed. Afterwards, after enough damage the boss will disappear and Fiend Genshin will spawn alone in the east
• wave 3 Doku x3 (2 at time), archers on roofs. The 2 bosses will spawn approximately on east and west; after a Doku dies, the 3rd will spawn on west. Ideally the weaker/luring player wants to  lure the Doku on east

 

Master Ninja 07:

Recommended weapons - Claws x2

• wave 1: Van Gelfs. In part luck based wave, you can expect some failures here
• wave 2: Regent x2 (one at time), Shield soldiers. One player has to lure the boss until all the other enemies are dead
• wave 3: Spider Tank x2 (one at time), RPGs. The RPGs can't be instant killed with the arrow, so you want to approach them, stun with a shuriken, then finish off with a flying swallow. Only once they all are dead you can go for the boss

 

Master Ninja 08:

Recommended weapons - Claws, Scythe

• wave 1: mages, claws ninjas, sword ninjas. Don't waste health here
• wave 2: Fiend Genshin x1 (in the middle)
• wave 3: ghost soldiers, shuriken soldiers, terrorists. Again, don't waste health, also save the ninpo and UT
• wave 4: Marbus x2, Van Gelfs (2 at time), RPGs. This is a very messy wave, you want to start off with ninpo and UTs on the Van Gelfs, while the player who made the lobby has to wait for Marbus in the north and keep him there. Due to a lot of RNG involved along with the RPGs that can't be instant killed with the arrow, there isn't a safe way to deal with all this mess. Ideally the player without Marbus on them has to kill the RPGs and use the UT and ninpo on as many Van Gelfs as possible. If some Van Gelfs are on the player with Marbus and that player can't deal with all this alone, they have to be helped by quickly killing those Van Gelfs (using the arrow from a far distance may be a good choice, but you have to constantly dodge the RPGs). If someone is carrying you here, they could have some different instructions for you for this, so follow them

 

Master Ninja 09:

Recommended weapons: Claws x2

• wave 1: archers on roof, mages, claws and sword ninjas. Nothing to report
• wave 2: alchemists, shield soldiers. Nothing to report
• wave 3: RPGs, shuriken soldiers, terrorists. Nothing to report
• wave 4: archers, sword ninjas, Alma x2 (north, one at time). You have enough time to kill all the enemies before the boss spawns

 

Master Ninja 10:

Recommended weapons: Scythe x2

• wave 1: Mages, claws ninjas. Nothing to report
• wave 2: Ryu x2 (one in the north-west, the second will spawn with a brief delay in the east). I recommend to lure 1 Ryu and not fight both as the small place can screw the attacks
• wave 3: Genshin x2 (1 at time, first in the west, second in the east), Fiend Genshin x1 (north). For this one, the first Genshin has to be damages with 1 izuna drop (plus some extra damage for the Fiend Genshin to spawn. In case you are carried, the best thing to do is to wait for your partner to damage Genshin with 1 izuna drop and few extra damage (he could do it with an unfinished izuna drop, then a full izuna drop) and trigger the dodge mech, then you want to perform an izuna drop on the boss while you are in the south. Afterwards, lure the boss until Fiend Genshin dies
• wave 4: Doku x4. The thing starts off with 1 Doku, then another will spawn shortly after. After both Doku are dead, then one will spawn in the east and one in the west. Be careful where you are as you don't want to interfere with your partner

 

Master Ninja 11:

Recommended weapons: Scythe, Claws

• wave 1: RPGs, terrorists, shuriken soldiers, shield soldiers. The player with the claws MUST save the UT, it is very important for unnecessary headache in the next wave. So, when there are few eemies left, the claws player has to leave the rest to the partner and, after the last enemy is dead, prepare the UT
• wave 2: Brutes (x4 at time, in the north), Reaper (x3, one at time). Now, the Claws player need to release the UT when the brutes spawn and just kill them all with the UT while the scythe player tries to lure the repaer (if that is possible). After all brutes died, you can kill the reapers
• wave 3: Fiend Genshin (north), x4 alchemists (2 at time). The claws player will wait for the alchemist in the middle and keep them in south, while the other will deal with Fiend Genshin.
• wave 4: Zedonius x2 (middle-north east, middle-north west). Both players in the south, one in the west and one in the east. The claws player will lure a boss until the other is dead, but don't get too close

 

Master Ninja 12:

Recommended weapons: Claws, Scythe

• wave 1: brutes, reaper x3 (one at time). If possible the claws player should build an UT to kill all the brutes, otherwise try to keep the attention of some enemies.
• wave 2: alchemists, shield and shuriken soldiers. This wave is chaotic if you rush it, so take it easy.
• wave 3: Volf x3, Alexei, Regent. First, one Volf will spawn in the North, after he dies Alex will spawn in the middle. When killed, a new Volf will appear again in the north. Finally. The last part will have Volf in the south-west and the regent more or less in the middle-east. The regent should be kept in the north until Volf dies

 

Master Ninja 13:

Recommended weapons: Claws (can also use scythe), Scythe

• wave 1: mages, sword and claws ninjas. If using the claws/sword, you can save the UT
• wave 2: Volf (middle-north), Brutes (middle). The scythe player will keep and kill Volf in the north while the other either kills or lures the brutes, and the eventually have a 1v1 fight with them after Volf is dead
• wave 3: claws demons, Liz (middle). Nothing to report
• wave 4: Alexei x2 (middle, second in the north), Reaper x3 (one at time, first in the north, then south, then north). For this one, one player will deal with Alex in the south while the other will lure the reaper in the north. After Alex dies, kis killer must rush to the north to get Alexei's attention and bring him in the south

 

Master Ninja 14:

Recommended weapons: Scythe x2

• wave 1: archers, claws ninja, Genshin x1. Nothing to report
• wave 2: Spider Tank x2 (north, one at time), RPGs. Before you deal with the boss, wait some seconds and use the bow to kill the RPGs, once they are all dead kill the bosses
• wave 3: Zedonius x2 (one at time, middle-west), Elizabeth x2 (one at time, middle-east). 1v1 fights, but keep the bosses away from each other. If you are carried, lure Elizabeth away from the player (don't trigger the dash mech!)

 

Master Ninja 15:

You must learn the cardinal points position in this map first, so play an acolyte trial and learn the map perfetcly, as some deep strategies are required. Keep the retry only for the last wave

Recommended weapons: Claws, Scythe (scythe player should be the guest of the lobby)

• wave 1: Reapers, Claws demons, brutes. The claws player has to build an UT and save it. Now, after all the claws demons are dead, the scythe player will kill ONE reaper. Meanwhile the claws player will lure the other. After the reaper is dead, the claws player will have to kill the brutes spawning in the middle with the UT while the scythe player will try to keep the reapers on him and, most importantly, stay away from brutes. Remember that if a brute is on the scythe player, the UT from claws could fail, so watch out and be sure all 3 brutes are on the claws player. When only 1 brute is left, i recommend to leave it to the scythe player while the other keeps the 2 reapers on them, then have the scythe player kill 1 reaper at time. When there is one reaper left, the claws player must place themselves anywhere BUT in the south-east corner, and when the last reaper is dead, charge the UT
• wave 2: Volf (middle), Van Gelfs. Now, the scythe player has to stay in the middle until the boss appears, then slide jump right to the south-east corner, where they will fight Volf. After some seconds, Van Gelfs will spawn and the claws player can start to kill them. If a Van Gelf goes to the scythe player, which is unavoidable, some luck is required, but one thing for sure is that the scythe player has to be confident with Volf so they can kill him in a reasonable amount of time. If they are unlucky, they will be attacked by Van Gelfs too early, which means game over. Also the claws player must not die as long as Volf is alive
• wave 3: Liz x2 (one at time, first in the middle, second in the east), Fiend Genshin (west). Scythe player will have to kill the first Liz, then once she dies, they will go to the West for the upcoming Fiend Genshin while the claws player will go to the east for the upcoming second Liz
• wave 4: Alexei x2 (one at time, middle), brutes, Zedonius x2 (one at time, north-west, second in the middle-east). Ok, a bunch of info must be told here. You will need a good amount of luck. At the start, the claws player will be in the middle to get the attention of Alex and brutes, then they have to lure them all with slide spam/slide and jump along a circular path which must not be too large (or the brutes will go to the other player) and not too small (or Alex will easily hit), this circular path will be done in the West side of the map, without going too close to the scythe player. This last one, when the wave starts, will wait in the north-east corner for the first Zed to spawn (it takes around 30 seconds) and then kill him as fast as possible (if low health, use the safe strategy). Once dead, the scythe player will use some arrows on brutes to tell to the claws player than they MUST keep their luring but now on the other side of the map (east), while the scythe player will take the upcoming Zed in the west. Now, next step is that the scythe player has to wait for Alex to come at them and start to attack him to get his attention, then kill him, obviously this has to be done away from the claws player who will lure the brutes. After the second Alex is killed, take the brutes into a 1v1 fight or have the scythe player lure them and the other use the bow to charge the UT and finish all the brutes

 

Ok, some extra things must be said for the wave 4.

Is very unlikely that it will go as smoothly as told, this because Alex has that annoying tendency to change target, and is not a boss that can be exactly lured. So not only the claws player will need an Alex with a doable behaviour, but is also important that Alex does not change target. As already said, Alex tends to change target for an attack or two and then comes back to the original target, however it can also happen that he will change target definitely. If so happens (you can say that if he watches the player before he does an attack), the claws player must get their attention back with a short attack, but if all this comes out in a bad moment then you can't do much.

If the claws player can do the lure properly and the scythe player is fast to kill both Zeds, the trial should be doable within a couple of tries.

 

There is another way to deal with wave 4, although is not commonly used. If you really can't get past it with the previous strategy, the alternative way is with the claws player luring both brutes and Zed (if they are fast and know Zed well, they could occasionally add a bow shot to the brutes to eventually kill both of them and use the UT for the other brutes) in the north east while the other player will kill both Alexei keeping them in the west side. Is an unsed strategy because Zed, in this specific trial, has a glitched fire wave which can start from literally everywhere, making the whole fight a big RNG, so usually I don't recommend this way.

This trial, along with UN05, is the hardest of all.

 

 

Ultimate Ninja 04:

Recommended weapon: Claws x2 (the host will deal with Marbus)

• wave 1: brutes, demon claws, reapers x4 (2 at time). Kill all the claws demons first, trying to save an UT for the brutes. Then you can 1v1 the reapers, but be aware that they have more health in this trial
• wave 2: Regent x2 (north), RPGs x10. One player has to wait in the north and lure both the bosses for a bit while the other will wait in the south and kill all the incoming RPGs with the bow and afterwards keep 1 boss in the south
• wave 3: Doku x4 (2 at time): the first 2 bosses will appear in the north-east and nort-west, have 1 boss in the south and 1 in the north for a 1v1 fight. When 1 boss dies, another will spawn afterwards (the 3rd will appear in the middle-east and the 4th in the middle-west)
• wave 4: Doku x2 (one at time, north west then more or less in the middle east), Alma x2 (north, then south-west), Marbus (south). The wave starts with 1 Doku and 1 Alma, so split the fights into 1v1 keeping the Doku in the south (try to stay next to him as he spawns to avoid him doing the ground wave which could disturb the other player), a second Doku will spawn when the first is dead. After the second Doku and the first Alma are dead, the last Alma and Marbus will spawns. The host has to wait in the north as Marbus will always come for them while the other player will deal with Alma (if you have a ninpo, it can stun Alma)

 

Ultimate Ninja 05:

Recommended weapons: Scythe x2 (there are only bosses)

• wave 1: Ryu x3 Epigonos x2 (both 1 at time). The first 2 bosses will be in the north, is recommended that whoever kills the Epigonos does so in the south so that they can deal with the 2nd Epigonos spawning in the south-west and the other player, if killing Ryu, with the 2nd Ryu spawning in the north. The last Ryu will spawn in the south
• wave 2: Volf x2 (one at time, north), Genshin (middle). One player will deal with Volf in the north, the other will wait at mid range in the south and keep or kill Genshin there. After the 2nd Volf dies, enough damage to Genshin willl make him disappear and start wave 3
• wave 3: Fiend Genshin (middle), Zedonius x2 (north, one at time). 1 boss at time. During Zed, the player staying back should watch out for either the laser or the fire wave if they are shot in that direction
• wave 4: Alexei x2, Elizabeth x3, Reaper x3. This is where things will get hard. At the start, the player who will kill the first Alex has to stay in the south while the other player will stay right behind them. Once Alex approaches the target, the other player will go in the north and wait for Elizabeth to spawn in the north-east along with a reaper. The one luring Liz and the reaper must always be sure that they have Liz on them and DON'T trigger the mech dash. The luring will keep going until Alex is dead. How to lure Liz is very dependant from the situation, however a good thing is that you can hide behind a pillar to force Liz to go in air as is easier to lure her like that. After Alex dies, the other player will have to bring Liz in the south and keep luring her, while the other player will go for the reapers (there is a chance that Liz will change target at this point, if you are not carried then just switch the roles); it is crucial that the reapers are killed all now before the 2nd Liz otherwise you will trigger the last bosses' spawn. So, the 3 reapers must be killed in the north while Liz is lured in the south. Afterwards, kill the first 2 Liz, then the last Alex and Liz will spawn (respectively in the north-west and south)

 

You want to make it to wave 4 with some good health. A lot of RNG is involved due to Alexei who could either keep attacking/dodging the attacks or switch target all of a sudden. Expect several attempts for this trial.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by VirtualNight
additional info for Genshin's mech

[Elegy]

Thanks for putting together this information, VirtualNight.  It is actually pretty difficult to find all the information needed to be successful at these trials due to a lot of the videos being removed.  It is incredibly time consuming to learn how to be successful at these trials from scratch in 2020.  There is a ton of stuff to know to even get a carry successfully as well because unlike NGS2 there is no invincibility glitch to abuse.  Simply being capable of killing many of the bosses isn't good enough for the hardest MN/UN trials either... you need to be able to do it without taking a hit most of the time.  For some trials you also need to be efficient with your kill speed too because your partner is having to kite aggressive bosses like Fiend Genshin, Alex or Liz in a small room.  Without a carry from someone who has done these trials already, this is easily one of the hardest hack n slash games to 100%.

It also doesn't help that the 360 degree inputs for the scythe in trials mode are really strict in NG3 for whatever reason.  I have no problems inputting them in single player or in Razor's edge; however, they don't come out right sometimes for me in NG3 trials causing Ryu to do his standard triangle attack instead which is horribly slow.

Edited August 23, 2020 by Elegy

[mariman4ik]

Thanks to VirtualNight for the gaming session! Thank you that despite my mistakes and stupidity, you went all the way to the end with me! This platinum is 10 years long! The most difficult one on my list. And although I knocked out some of the Gaidens on my own, Ng3 stands apart. People who know how to play these are real maniacs! Maniacs in a good way. I'm wildly jealous that I can't do it like they do.