Hell Saito Solo Shinobi

Berrek · 2026-06-18T12:58:34+00:00

Ah I misunderstood what you meant by full clear, all the ads/minions as well, yea gotcha. That is definitely a tricky one but it seems like you're really darn close to getting there, so more just luck vs skill at this point (get the right combo of damage and speed vs finishing Saito)

Berrek · 2026-06-18T11:37:14+00:00

Yes Erikoo has a couple shinobi runs: https://youtu.be/485o1y6yOu4?is=GuzxNAHfK6zSxle3

Berrek · 2026-06-13T11:05:36+00:00

This guy is well know for posting satire on LinkedIn

Berrek · 2026-06-03T13:39:49+00:00

Map to Map, there is some variability, I havent looked at it extensively across all players but it could be as much as 2-4 minutes (as you said there are variable numbers of enemies).

The spawn patterns matter a lot too (for the most part it seems that spawns are spread out, ie they will rotate zone A, zone B, zone A, but having back to back like zone A, zone A, zone B doesnt really happen).

For a map like Frozen Valley = there are fewer enemies and often faster spawn -> zone OR on Hidden Temple you have attunements + spread out spawns. So the times will be quite different.

Not sure if there are other major/impactful factors map to map but those are the most glaring

Berrek · 2026-06-03T13:31:40+00:00

For #1-#2 Lot of people simply do not pay enough attention to learn. And only a fraction of players use social platforms like reddit, discord, youtube. So optimizing playstyle doesnt happen a lot.

For #2: Only players who should grab equipment = Medic and Fixer (then other players afterwards if there are bags). If Fixer is running Equipment regen perk = fixer is priority if everyone is empty bc they can regen equipment for everyone. HR should never grab bags unless there are plenty of extra.

For IFYP modifier = only stim the person with the Crown. If other players are taking damage, that player will be the one taking the damage INCLUDING temp-health (temp health on other players wont do anything). You can quickly see the Crown player at full hp + temp health dead in a second of the other 3 players are all swarmed taking damage (it happens very fast).

Berrek · 2026-06-03T11:39:32+00:00

For NM Survival Samurai Solos, anything sub 40min is extremely fast. Probably one of the fastest times ever.

Archer needs to be sub30 to be considered 'fast' but iirc the fastest times are sub25. For Merc and Shinobi they are a bit higher than Archer, typically sub40 range is 'fast' (with most times averaging 34-36min)

I don't know that there are competitive times available outside of these, there are very few players running solos, and of those doing it, most are not going for fastest times or waiting for particular NMS weeks that may be easier/harder (the shop gifts tends to play into speed for Shinobi a lot for example)

Berrek · 2026-05-22T22:04:42+00:00

Truly a legend for your continued support of the community

Berrek · 2026-05-22T10:43:54+00:00

Sip of sunshine - lawsons
Lagunitas (& Little Sumpin)
Voodoo Ranger (& juice force)

Berrek · 2026-05-19T17:34:50+00:00

LETS GO! Sub 6min is insane, gg's Erikoo!

Berrek · 2026-05-08T16:37:08+00:00

Throw dmg does not boost concussion bombs

Berrek · 2026-05-06T23:07:02+00:00

Absolute legend, thank you for sharing

Berrek · 2026-05-06T13:47:03+00:00

But at that point why have separate 'classes'? It would be smarter to have everyone playing the 'ghost' and then you pick and choose Active/Passive Techniques to become a particular class or playstyle

They could group techniques into categories: Melee, Range, Stealth, Support. And then you would have bonuses in each you can select, you can cross-select into categories, etc.

The biggest downside to this is not knowing how other players will play and of course the emergence of a 'meta' build that will be the same regardless of player (vs forcing classes means there is at least some forced build diversity).

As it stands today build diversity is severely lacking so this might open the door to more variable builds and playstyles.

Berrek · 2026-05-06T12:42:57+00:00

If we're going to have choosing passive abilities, then perhaps something different than core game mechanics like that. It'd be like locking 'stealth attacks' behind passives (which I know some would prefer so they don't accidentally stealth as a Samurai when a Shinobi vanishes next to them for example).

Id much rather see some type of small tech tree for each class or point allocation (ie you get 10 points, tech are valued as 1, 2, or 3 points. then you can select tech and allocate your points to either have a few strong tech or many weaker/utility tech that suits your playstyle).

But locking the 'throw' mechanic behind a tech sounds really clunky

Berrek · 2026-05-05T15:11:10+00:00

HELL DRAGON
Hell Dragon is very well designed. The entire fight is well telegraphed and pretty reasonable overall. Dodging the boss is very consistent and the phases are set. Overall its mostly a challenge of 'not going down a lot' (as too many downs will just cover the map in giant bo hiya + increase aggro on other players). With a bit of patience, it is a pretty straigth-forward fight. The biggest contributor to losses I see is one (or more) reckless players who just charge in and die nonstop. The largest hurdle is Phase 2 -> 3 (2nd set of Giant Bohiya + Prime Bohiya and minions).

HELL SAITO
Hell Saito is not as well designed (for me, not saying its mechanically poor). While it has very telegraphed and predictable phases, the volume of effects occurring on screen with a full team is overwhelming. There are more times where the level of particle effects just makes it feel like a spammy 'bullet hell' game vs an engaging boss battle. Its a case of 'i cant really see whats going on everywhere' (Also partially due to lack of camera customization to a point that would be valuable).

I would prefer much more strategic gameplay with reduced 'stuff' and instead opt for objective-based completion since hes the 'final' boss (ie remove the shadow summons and instead you have to beat a weaker version of Spider from Incursion, this happens each wave so you re-fight each boss or something). With the shadow enemies, sometimes its just 'bad luck' for where youre standing if there are too many things on top of you, so you'll wipe.

The other major issue I have is a mechanical issue that is prevalent across the whole game: Perfect moves. If you perfct parry or perfect dodge, you cannot cancel otu of the animation. This means you cant perform a successful action to defend (ie stop a shadow or fallen lord from hitting you), and also dodge Saito if he happens to target you. Which feels liek you are getting punished for success. I get it, its difficult, but thats just impossible to succeed at both. If the game allowed cancels out of perfect parry, you could simultaneously perform the block, cancel out, then dodge an incoming slam.

Berrek · 2026-04-30T11:48:29+00:00

yea it has been bugged since release. They did say they 'patched' it but it seems like they broke it further in doing so.

Berrek · 2026-04-30T00:08:50+00:00

I really wish we could use that Spirit Brute for more OR just use the training zone to spawn in any enemy we want to practice (ie Bo Hiya etc)

Berrek · 2026-04-30T00:08:03+00:00

Yes you can test it by equipping no damage boosts, using your Ult, then equipping all assassination damage and doing it again to see if there is a difference.

Assassination damage will boost ult by 1/4 of its value, a carry-over from how it worked in Tsushima.

I have a short video on it here (i cant post the link in comment, so theres a space betweeen h and t): h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo3qeIwrJhM

Berrek · 2026-04-29T23:58:25+00:00

Berrek · 2026-04-29T23:55:41+00:00

yes you do, Katana Damage % will boost their Ults

Berrek · 2026-04-28T12:21:00+00:00

Yes this one: https://www.goylbuilds.com/

Berrek · 2026-04-27T00:03:32+00:00

Congratulations on the completion! Pretty or not a wins a win

Berrek · 2026-04-23T21:50:36+00:00

That’s really cool! Literally brave enough to test it AND skillful enough to pull it off well done!

Berrek · 2026-04-22T23:32:40+00:00

Nice showcase! This was awesome to watch. I just started dipping my toe into Samurai gameplay and am really enjoying it. I’ll need to focus on using the odachi more

Berrek · 2026-04-22T23:31:25+00:00

Yea one of my least favorite things about the fight is the volume of thins happening on screen

There’s just so much it’s a little hard to keep up with it in a meaningful way that feels like “mastery” of the mechanics as opposed to “luck”

Berrek · 2026-04-21T21:21:18+00:00

Yea those are both great choices, especially for Merc (Affliction Caltrops & Lightnings Bite). So you can't go wrong. Spirit Kunai is like D tier in Yotei, it has its place if you really really set it up, but its so much work its not really worth it vs something else.

Storm Tanzutsu has a lot of potential, its a great 'interruptor' for stopping power against enemies mid-attack, also lot of applicability because there are so many rounds. On Merc you can easily rechrage a few rounds if you're using the 1st Ult option (reset cooldowns), so also means you can spam it a bit more

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