The Beast Born of Smoke and Flame - Nioh 2 Guide - IGN (2024)

Welcome to IGN's Walkthrough and Guide for Nioh 2. This area-based Walkthrough will cover all enemy encounters, including Enenra tips, items to pick up, secrets to find and more as you complete your journey.

This guide contains information on the Main Mission: The Beast Born of Smoke and Flame, the second Main Story region that you can explore in Nioh 2.

Walkthrough

After loading in head straight ahead and talk to Tokichiro, talking to him three times will net you a Small Spirit Stone. Spirit Stones, when used, grant Amrita to you. Continuing on ahead you’ll come to the first Shrine of the area. Level up and do whatever else you need before continuing forward including restocking on health items and arrows.

As you move on, head into the building on the right for a body, then go around to the back via the left side for another. Double back towards the center of the town, where two soldiers stand in wait. You can get their attention one at a time, or try to take them out simultaneously. The larger of the two standing up has about double the health pool so keep that in mind. Loot the body they stood by, then continue forward. Notice the door on the left-hand side, this will be a shortcut for you later.

Head right up the sloping path, where you can ambush a torch-wielding soldier for an easy kill. You can loot the body inside the building, but be wary that as you do, a soldier will notice you and drop down from the roof. The path to ambush him is just ahead on the right if you wish to do that alternatively, as there’s also an item on the roof to grab. Once you do so drop down and continue forward. On your left, you should see a ladder leading up to a guard post. From this position, you can snipe a few of your upcoming enemies. A soldier lies in wait on the roof to the left of the central path. Looking down the central path is another strong soldier you can gravely wound, and get the attention of with a well-placed shot, drawing him towards your position for a 1 on 1 fight. If you head behind the building the first soldier was on top of you can knock a rock into a well there to receive an item. In our case, it was a whetstone but your mileage may vary. Inside the building is a resting soldier and another item to grab.

As you came to the well, you may have noticed a central path leading upwards, as well as a side path behind the righthand row of buildings. Don’t head down the central path as archers wait to ambush you. Instead, take the right path upward, you’ll come to a soldier on the ground you can ambush in front of another small hut, and a second archer will come down the stairs, so take him out immediately after. Heading up the stairs, you’ll come to a hut with a loot chest in it, and no enemies! They’re all guarding that central path we avoided, so after looting the chest take a look out the opening of the building to see who’s all there.

There’s a wooden overhang that allows you to see a good bit of the village below. And to the left of this is a path leading to the roof of the first building, with a ladder you can kick down for easy access back to this point if you die, along with a body. Heading back to the overhang, you can take out the soldier on the house directly in front of you with an arrow to the head. There’s also an archer to your right down below you can take out as well. After taking out these two, fall down, where behind the building in front of the overhang, you’ll find a little Kodama waiting for you. Head counter-clockwise around the building, making sure to avoid the duo of patrolling guards. Get their attention one at a time and take them out. In the house on the right-hand side of the path from the overhang, you’ll find a small loot box, as well as a body round the back of this building.

Double back and head up the hill, the path will split with a dead end on the right with a body. Heading left, you’ll find a building on the right-hand side with a loot chest in it as well as a building on the left with another loot chest. Continuing down the path you’ll have the option to head right up the stairs, a path guarded by a sitting soldier, or continue down, which is patrolled as well. Take out the seated one first, then take out the patrol. On the left is a wooden bridge back over the left side row of buildings. Here, hidden behind a little sack is another Kodama you can snag.

Before heading up the path that was guarded by the seated soldier, head to where the second soldier was patrolling to open the shortcut you saw at the very beginning as you’re about to face a new miniboss. Heading up the path, you’ll see a small hut with some grey smoke in it. Around the left side of the hut is a body, snag that and then head on in, or you can double back to the Shrine and dump your Amrita first now that you have the shortcut open.

Fighting Your First Ippon-Datara

Either way when you’re ready you’ll be taking on a new Yokai type, the Ippon-Datara. This Yokai is a one-legged, one-eyed, hopping, slamming beast. He wields a large hammer and almost all of his attacks use it. In terms of short-range attacks, he has a 360 spin and slam, that he can follow up with two more additional slams, changing position according to where you are, though he stays in one place during the attack. He can also do a 360 spin while holding his hammer in his tail hand. His Burst Attack has him grab his hammer by the hand on his foot and do a front flip bringing it down on you. The timing on this for a Bust Counter isn’t too difficult, so punish him for this. If you don’t, this attack will leave a pool of Yokai Realm. It’s never a bad idea to use a Yokai Shift against a new big enemy. It gives you a little leeway to get hits in without worrying about taking damage. Also, don’t forget those Soul Core abilities!

After taking out the Ippon-Datara, open the door he was guarding to reveal a chest, along with a ladder down underground. Taking a second ladder down, you’ll find an NPC in front of a campfire who calls herself Toyo. She is a blacksmith, and talking to her will unlock the blacksmith from the map overworld screen.

Continue forward, and you’ll find a Gaki munching on a body. You may notice that the Gaki now has way more health than before, and you’ll need to take him out more strategically, waiting for his attacks before countering with your own. Continue through the cave where another Gaki will emerge from some boxes. After defeating him, check behind the boxes he crashed through to find a Kodama!

Heading up the stairs out of the cave, you’ll find a body to loot on the ground. Continue forward. In the water on the left-hand side of the bridge, there’s another body, and across the bridge, you’ll come to a new area with a new Shrine to boot. Use your chance to rest, restock and level up.

Both to the right and left of the shrine are shortcuts, but we won’t be reaching them for awhile. Turn right from the shrine and begin heading down the path. On the first building on the left, you’ll find a new enemy type. While not a Yokai, this dual ax-wielding enemy is a bit tricky. He can power up his axes to do extra damage, as well as throw them at you unexpectedly. The trick is to back up a bit and make him run at you, swinging at him as he does so before he has a chance to attack. Inside the house, you’ll find a lootable body.

Continuing down the path just past the house, you’ll find a Yokai Realm.

The First Yokai Realm

You’ll first run into a Gaki, as well as a Yoki who will jump down from above as you approach, take him on first. The good news is for the first couple of enemies, you can lure them out of the Yokai Realm and fight them on your own terms. If you’re lucky you can even get the Yoki to step into the fire next to the building you just fought the ax-wielder in. Though keep in mind, he still hits like a truck. All the same, tactics apply from the first time you fought him in the first mission.

Continuing forward, you’ll find two Gaki in a second small courtyard (there’s a third hiding behind the boxes on the left), and behind them, you may notice an Enki hanging out. That’s the enemy you’ll need to take out to end the Realm. Getting the attention of one Gaki gets them all locked on to you. Though leading them back out of the Yokai Realm, 1 or 2 may lose interest allowing you to take on the first 1 on 1. You can also hit the second Gaki from afar with an arrow while the third one is further away, getting another 1 on 1 battle. Before taking on the Enki, head to the right of the building to the right of where the Gaki were, hidden behind some boxes you’ll find a new enemy type lurking around, the Dweller. These guys can fight standing up or on all fours, and both are creepy, but they’re fairly slow and more of a basic enemy type. The only thing to really watch out for is their ability to grab you while on all fours.

Time to take on the Enki. Now would be a great time to use a Yokai Shift if you have it. If not, you can chip away at it, and leave the Yokai Realm to make it lose interest, and take it out slowly. All the same attacks from the first two Enki you took on still apply here, as well as an attack we hadn’t seen before, where he slams his spear into the ground repeatedly and angrily. Stay away from him while he throws his tantrum. He also gains another Burst Attack where he’ll belly flop onto you, as always try to punish Burst Attacks with Burst Counters.

After defeating the Enki and watching the Yokai Realm dissipate, head back to the house the Yoki jumped down from to find a now lootable chest, along with a second in the house the Enki was hanging out in. In the building next to where the dweller was, you’ll find a ladder down underground. Go ahead and take it. At a nearby pole with some boxes, you’ll find a Kodoma. Head through the tunnel, and you’ll find two more dwellers swinging away with their pickaxes. They’re weak enough to where you can probably ambush them both simultaneously and not worry too much.

Watch out as you round the corner, there’s a dweller on all fours hiding behind the torch waiting to ambush you. He’ll try to use his grab attack, and if he misses will be vulnerable to a Grapple. Head up the path, where you’ll find a large chest. Only, SURPRISE! No loot for you, at least not yet. The creature that ambushed you is a Mujina. A clever little blighter, he takes on the form of whoever opens the chest, and so you’re basically fighting yourself. Only you’re smarter than he is even if he may look like you. Use your Soul Core Abilities, and back up, waiting for him to come to you, and then strike as he’s running. If you get low on health, it may be worth using a Yokai Shift to take him out. After you kill the little bugger, he’ll drop quite a bit of loot. Grab it, then head up the ladder near the chest it emerged from.

At the top, you’ll find yourself overlooking the village you cleansed. Head left clockwise down the path, where you’ll run into a Gaki. Take him out and continue forward to the bridge where you’ll find a lootable body, and just past that on the left, a shortcut ladder you can kick down. Going back to the ladder you emerged from and continuing down the path, you’ll run into another dweller, only this one will throw firebombs at a range. Take him out and continue across the bridge to loot the body on the roof of the building that held the Enki. This area is now clear.

Drop down below and head across the large bridge, where you’ll be ambushed by two Dwellers who were playing dead. After you take them both out, continue down the path. Looking right, you’ll see a smoke wall up ahead, but you can also turn right and explore behind the buildings there. Do that first. You’ll find a Gaki hanging out back there next to a body, as well as a ladder underground in the second building on the right. Heading down and following the path, you’ll see a Gaki behind a loot chest. Don’t be so quick to run forward. Another Gaki is waiting behind the corner on the left side. Shoot the one directly ahead first to take them out a bit quicker, then loot the chest. To the left of the chest, continue following the underground path where you’ll find a strange little creature that looks a bit like a Kodama, but is purple and wears a tiny skull for a hat. This is a Sudama, and in exchange for dropping an item, he will repay you with several.

After talking to the Sudama, loot the body nearby and head up the ladder. This will put you on a path that allows you to traverse to the backside of the smoke wall. Follow the path and you’ll come to a single Gaki, then continuing along, a Dweller will arise on the roof of the first building. Be careful, as a Gaki on the further building will throw firebombs at you while you’re fighting, distracting you, risking your fall, and doing damage. Once you have one Dweller’s attention, back up to take him on a bit more safely. Then you can rush the Gaki and punish him for being a jerk. Loot the body nearby the Gaki. Then continue along the roof, where you can find another Gaki munching on a corpse. Ambush him and take him out. Loot the body, then drop to the backside of the building. Inside, you’ll find a friendly Scampuss to pet. As you come out the front, you can see the smoke wall is to your left. Should you wish to take it on now, know that it is an Ippon-Datara. Only this one wields a sword. If you choose to take him on now, we’ve got a brief section on the strategy below. The Shrine is just up ahead past a dual-ax soldier, so if you wish to grab that first, head down below this next section and then double back with full Elixirs and much less pressure.

The Second Ippon-Datara

To take on this Ippon-Datara, we tried to overwhelm him as quickly as possible with Soul Core attacks and then using Yokai Shift. This quickly dispatched him. However, if you are running low on Anima or don’t have Yokai Shift ready, note that some of this Ippon-Datara’s attacks are a bit different. He has a wicked three slash combo that you should dodge right on, as well as a fast slash and slam attack; dodge backward on this. Thankfully his Burst Attack is quite similar putting his sword in his tail hand and slamming in a forward flip, so wait for that red light and then counter it.

After taking him out, or if you chose to grab the Shrine shortcut and double back, head forward down the path. On the right will be a small house from which a dual-ax wielder will emerge. Similar to last time, make him run to you, then attack. Inside his building is a lootable body. Ahead the path splits. On the left is a lootable body and (hallelujah) a ladder leading back to the Shrine. Upgrade to your heart’s content, then head back up.

As you come back up the path, make a hard left u-turn and head down the other path. You’ll run into two Gaki here, with the second blocking a small Kodama you can lead back to the shrine. Double back, and you’ll find a courtyard to a burning building guarded by several soldiers. Get the attention of the large one first, bringing him out of the courtyard and taking him on. Then look to the building on the left, you’ll see an archer you can take out at a range, and lastly, you’ll be able to take out the spear soldier without much trouble.

Before heading in the burning building, head to the right of it. A second open area lies here with a dual ax wielder and an archer. Lure the ax wielder out then take out the archer how you see fit. In the back of this area, you’ll find a large chest and a Benevolent Grave.

Dousing the Fires

Time for things to heat up. Head on into the burning building! You’ll notice on your right-hand side is a Shrine locked in a room you can’t yet access. Keep this in mind for later. Grab the lootable body nearby as well as the one hiding behind the crates to the right. Then on the room to the left of the ladder, take out the two Gaki there and loot that body as well.

Now that you’ve explored this initial part of the ground floor, time to head up, go ahead and climb the nearby ladder. This room acts as a bit of a puzzle, with you having to push over large barrels of water on the various floors to put out the fires to progress further. At the top of the ladder, a Gaki will spot you and run towards you. Be careful not to fall into the center pit of fire. While the boss doors are directly ahead, you’ll need the Great Forge Key to open them. Plus, there’s quite a bit left to explore in this building despite the fact it appears quite small.

Kick down the first bucket of water on the right-hand side, extinguishing the fire below. Dropping down, there’s a small room with a smoke wall. If you head in here, be ready to fight another Yoki. We waited to do this until we had unlocked the Shrine and door, but it’s your call. Whether you take him out now or later, don’t forget to grab the chest within the room he was waiting.

After taking out the Yoki (or not) go on ahead and climb the ladder at the back of the room. This will put you on a floor that has an Enki as well as a Skeleton Archer. Take out the archer at a range, and this will aggro the Enki towards you. Hopefully, by now, you’ve got a decent grasp of the Enki’s move set and this fight shouldn’t give you fits. After defeating the Enki, kick the bucket down that was in the room he was guarding. As you head past this room, notice the ladder on your right-hand side that leads outside, we’ll be coming back to this in a moment. Take a left where you’ll find another ladder leading to the uppermost floor. At the top to the right, you’ll find a Yoki. Similarly to the Enki, hopefully this enemy is nothing new to you at this point. Take him on with confidence, and use your Soul Cores and/or Yokai Shift if necessary. It is a pretty tight space after all. After taking him down, oot the body he was guarding and double back heading left of the ladder. A wooden bridge will lead you to two Dwellers playing dead. After taking them both down, snag the body directly ahead and turn right.

Once in this position, you should see a few things, firstly, the smoke wall to your right, hold off on that for a moment. Secondly, an archer directly to the left of the smoke wall. Take him out with an arrow. Lastly, a ladder directly ahead of you, we’re going down this first.

At the bottom of the ladder, you’re going to find a super-sized Gaki. His attacks are very much the same, the rock throw, the jump towards you and slash, the paralyzing vomit. However, all of them do far more damage. One new attack is a Burst Attack that results in a right-handed uppercut. Be cautious and calculated, and you shouldn’t have too much trouble with this guy. Take out the archer positioned behind him afterward, and heading past the archer, make a quick left to find the Great Forge Key, and then past that you’ll find a ladder. Descending it will put you in the room with the Shrine. Head on down and open the door. From here, if you’re low on Elixirs, go ahead and rest up and level up, but otherwise, head back up the first ladder and make a hard right U-turn to follow a path that will drop you down to a body. Thankfully now that the door is open you can drop all the way down and then climb back all the way to the top floor and the smoke wall. Approaching it, you can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief, it’s just another Super Sized Gaki, and you just took out one of those! Back off the wooden bridge and fight him on more stable footing. After taking it out, cross the bridge and get the nearby loot chest, as well as push the last water bucket into the central fire pit, extinguishing it. Around the loot chest to the right is also a little Kodama to guide home.

Ok time to go outside again, remember the ladder you passed earlier near the Enki on the second floor? Head back there. At the bottom, you’ll find two Gaki. If you’re patient you can drop kill one of them that gets a little to close to the ladder. You may have noticed this at an earlier point, but this was the first time we experienced it, if two Gaki are both fighting and one gets toppled, the second will eat it, transforming into a Super Gaki, so always try to kill them rather than down them if there’s more than one in the vicinity. After killing the two Gaki head towards the rooftops near the courtyard. Take out the archer there (if you’ve not respawned he’s not there. Also kudos!). Nearby him on the rooftop, you’ll find another Kodama.

On this roof, you’ll also find a ladder leading down into the interior of the house. Inside will be a smoke wall that a Yoki will come out of as you approach. The space is tight, so if he decides to use his four swing charge, make sure to use your Burst Counter to avoid getting stun locked. Other than this point you should know this guy quite well at this point. After taking him out, grab the loot chest he was guarding and there’ll be another ladder within this house that will take you underground. Following the path, you’ll come to a body next to a gate that opens up to….. the other shortcut to the first shrine of the area.

Doubling back, the road you came from lies to the left. To the right is another path leading to a smoke wall that contains a Super Gaki. After defeating him, grab the chest behind him, and head back toward the burning building. There’s one last thing to take care of before taking on the boss. Remember the fire pit in the center of the room you extinguished? Let’s go see what’s down there.

The second you drop down, you’ll enter into a Yokai Realm area.

The Second Yokai Realm

Thankfully there’s only one enemy to handle down here, but it’s a doozy. Before looting anything, you’ll want to find and kill the Ippon-Datara tramping through the darkness. This one is like the first you encountered, wielding a hammer, and as such, the same rules apply. Though here, make sure you’re keeping a close eye on your Ki management, using Ki Pulse whenever possible. The quickest way to die is running out of it from getting to aggressive.

After taking out the Ippon-Datara, you should be able to see the basem*nt quite clearly. There are a few bodies to loot, along with a chest you can now access. Near the chest is a ladder. Climbing it will put you in a room just below the Enki on the second floor in the back left corner of the building. Open the chest here, along with the door, and now you’ve completely explored all this area has to offer. Head over to the shrine, dump your Amrita into Leveling up, and let’s go fight a boss.

As you approach the boss room, if you haven’t already, grab the body to the left-hand side at the top of the first ladder now that there’s no longer a fire there.

Enenra

Heading into the boss room, you’ll be treated to a short cutscene revealing the massive fire and smoke demon you’re about to take on. Enenra is all about closing distance on you. He can teleport to you at any time making getting away never an option.

You may notice the water barrels positioned above the pillars in the room. Getting Enenra to hit these pillars will dump water on him, interrupting whatever attack he’s currently doing, as well as doing some pretty massive Ki damage. Though these are probably best saved for his Yokai Realm phase to get him out of it as quickly as possible if you can save them til then.

Unlike normal enemies, you’ll need to be quite aggressive with a boss to get it’s Ki all the way down, though it is possible, allowing you to get a Grapple for a good chunk of damage.

Close Range Attacks

• Kick then a possible second kick. Enenra can kick out at you with his left foot two times in a row, though dodging or circling around him almost always avoids this. He can also use this as the end of a swing combo.
• Swinging several times Dodge backwards then to the side on the final hit, where you should be able to get a few solid hits in. We’ve seen variations of both two swings, or three swings that can be followed up with slamming down both arms
• Two hand slam that creates Yokai Realm pool. He uses this attack as a finisher on many of his attacks, make sure you’re using Ki Pulse whenever near one to remove the pool.
• Jumps up in the air and slams his feet down as he falls dealing AOE damage, only way to avoid this is to dodge through it.

Burst Attacks

• A Left hand swing, a burst of red light, followed by a right hand grab attack and ending with a Yokai Realm Pool. This one is really hard to time right for a Burst Counter. His other Burst Attack is much more predictable.
• A burst of red light, and then Enenra will transform into a large tornado that approaches you. Use Burst Counter at any time to interrupt him.

Ranged Attacks

• He can summon patterns of fire bombs on the floor both in a short vicinity all around him, as well as on a large cone ranging fairly far. Dodging to the sides or backwards out of the fire is often your best bet though sometimes, the bombs will miss or hit just based on bad luck.
• He can send three four or five smaller tornados barreling towards you. However, they’re fairly slow and you should be able to move around them. The tricky thing is making sure he doesn’t use the distraction to teleport to you for a cheap shot.

Grab Attacks

• See Burst Attack 1

Yokai Realm Transition

None of Enenra’s moves change in the Yokai Realm, what becomes extremely difficult is managing Ki with how fast he can move around the map. Ki Pulse really becomes your friend in this case, as well as Burst countering any time he uses the massive tornado that can easily kill you.

After finally defeating Enenra, pick up all your loot along with the Enenra Soul Core and you can finish the mission by interacting with the Go Forward Option in the center of the room.