I’ll walk you through how to defeat Hiruko in Nioh 3. This is your second encounter with this boss, and it’s much more challenging than the first. It’s no coincidence that this is the game’s final battle. If you’re looking for a guide on how to tackle this boss for the first time, check out our other guide on how to defeat Hiruko by following the link.

Preparing for the battle against Hiruko

First, I’ll briefly show you my build for this fight. I’m using the Head of the Iga Ninja set for all 7 pieces. The weapon doesn’t matter at all, because I don’t use it in combat at all. What matters to me are the stats that increase damage from Ninja Tools.

Stat points are allocated with a focus on skill and magic. It’s also important that no single piece of your equipment accounts for more than 30% of your total weight.

In the Yang slot, I have the Magatsu Warrior, though you can choose any other unit with decent damage. In the Yin slot, I use the Demon of Envy, Demon of Obsession, and Explosive Shot abilities, as well as Wind and Lightning shots.

As for passive skills, either Awakening or Volitional Onmyo Magic will be useful. I choose the latter to have more mobility when casting spells. Thrown Blade Counter and Ninjutsu Cultivation are also important. Choose the rest according to your preference.

In the Ninja Tools section, it’s all very simple: Fire Shuriken, Thundering Calamity, and Kunai. It’s impossible to imagine playing in Ninja mode without having mastered the Evade skill. That’s the key to success.

Consequently, in the Clan Protect section, the Hattori clan is important to me, as it adds nearly 9 percent damage to my Ninja Tools.

Fire phase Hiruko boss fight

At the start of the battle, I shoot my bow a few times, simply because I don’t want to use up all my other attack items. When Hiruko approaches, I start moving, dodge, and retreat to a safe distance.

At the start of the fight, I try to set the boss on fire with the Demon of Envy ability so that he takes additional damage. In this case, it didn’t go very well because I missed the fire ring and took damage from it. Usually, I dodge to the side to avoid this attack.

When the boss fires his fireballs, I cast Explosive Shot and dodge to the side. From there on, you can just keep throwing your Ninja Tools at Hiruko, while constantly dodging his attacks and keeping your distance.

Freezing phase Hiruko boss fight

This will get you to the point where the boss switches to ice attacks.

When Hiruko jumps at you with his arms crossed, you need to dodge, and then dodge again. Dodge twice in quick succession. That way, in most cases, you’ll avoid his nasty ice-strip attack.

Your actions will repeat from here on out. You’ll constantly dodge and, in between, throw fire shurikens and kunai. When the boss is at medium range, use Thundering Calamity. It’s important to time this right use this ability after the boss has finished its attack sequence. And never use it when the boss starts attacking.

You need to watch for when Hiruko starts throwing ice kunai at you; just dodge to the side once, and you’ll likely pull off a perfect dodge. When the boss attacks with ice spikes from above, you need to dodge to the side two or three times to successfully avoid the damage. Overall, in this fight, you’ll be dodging more than you’ll be attacking. In my opinion, this tactic is safer, since the boss’s close-range attacks are very nasty.

Bloody phase Hiruko boss fight

Next up is the phase where the boss enters its dark phase and unleashes red waterfalls from above. In our first encounter, we managed to dodge them perfectly. That won’t work in this fight. Of course, I try not to get hit by these waterfalls, but they don’t deal much damage, so if you need to move away from the boss, it’s better to step under this waterfall than to stay near Hiruko.

The boss adds throwing blood-red diagonal crosses to his arsenal. They’re easy to spot; I usually just step to the side you don’t even need to dodge here. When the boss jumps up, run as far away as possible. There will be a lot of damage at the landing point, and the boss will also launch tornadoes in different directions. Watch how they move and step aside in time to avoid taking damage. Don’t forget that your main focus should be on the boss and its actions.

At this stage, I cast Magatsu Warrior whenever possible and generally try to use up all the spells in the magic tab so I can move on to the next tab. I’ll need it in the next stage, so I want to make the most of my fire magic here. During the light phase of this stage, you’ll see the same attacks as before. A little later, the boss adds attacks with spikes that grow out of the ground. If you always stay at a distance, this attack will never hit you.

Keep a close eye on the boss’s movements. He frequently jumps toward you with his weapons crossed. You need to anticipate this attack and dodge in time. Here, you should also perform at least two dodges to avoid the boss’s next attack and, if possible, move further away. At this stage, you need to use all of Demon of Envy’s abilities, if you still have any left. Between dodges, actively use your Ninja Tools.

Here’s an important point: the next phase of the battle begins when Hiruko has about 40% health remaining. You must not reach this point having used up all your Ninja Tools, so use them sparingly. The next phase is more dynamic and dangerous. Therefore, if necessary, it’s better to simply circle around the boss without taking damage, wait for the perfect dodge, but position yourself so that you enter the final phase with a full arsenal of Ninja Tools.

The only exception is the Thundering Calamity ability. In the final stage, there are very few opportunities to use it, and since you’ll be dodging a lot, it will have time to recharge. So you can make the most of this ability. As for kunai and fire shuriken, try to make sure you always have at least half of these throwing weapons on hand. You’ll need them very much later on.

Electrical phase Hiruko boss fight

Here’s the final stage at last. This is the electric stage, and it’s the most challenging and very fast-paced. Use the Demon of Obsession ability right from the start of this phase. It creates a tornado that sweeps across the arena and deals a lot of damage to the enemy. I had planned to use the Wind and Lightning Magic Shots here only if Ninja Tools weren’t available. But I had to dodge so often that Ninja Tools kept regenerating.

The boss’s most dangerous attack is when he flies into the air and throws blue bolts at you. After that, he instantly jumps toward you. You need to dodge in time. Also, keep a very close eye on the boss in the arena. He starts moving a lot and very quickly. He constantly jumps toward you and throws electric charges. You need to constantly dodge them. Of course, this will be easier if you always keep your distance.

When the boss enters the dark phase at this stage, he’ll unleash another dangerous attack. He’ll leap into the air and hurl blue electric bolts at you. After that, he’ll quickly jump toward you, and an electric charge will follow his entire path. Dodge the blue charges to the side, then immediately dodge backward, and don’t get behind the boss along his trajectory to avoid this attack.

Always try to keep your distance, and you’ll avoid many of the enemy’s attacks. Sometimes it will leap forward a short distance but won’t quite reach you if you’re far enough away. Pay attention when the boss creates a lot of electric traps in the arena. At that point, you need to completely forget about attacking and focus solely on dodging. At the last moment, he’ll jump up and move to where you are. You’ll see an increased number of electric charges falling from the sky in that spot. Keep moving, dodge, and don’t stay in one place that way, you’ll avoid this attack.

All these attacks will repeat one after another. If you learn to spot them and react in time, you’ll easily be able to hold your own in this fight and periodically deal damage to your opponent. It’s important to understand that this won’t be an easy fight; it requires maximum attention, concentration, and a little bit of luck. But you can’t rely solely on luck; you have to control the events unfolding during the battle. When I’ve exhausted all my Ninja Tools, I decide to use my ultimate ability.

I see that the boss doesn’t have much health left, so now is the perfect time to do it. I jump and perform a heavy attack. I repeat this simple combo several times, dealing damage to the enemy and partially restoring my Ninja Tools. It’s important to step back in time when your ultimate ability gauge runs out.

At the very last moment, I almost lost control of the fight and ended up losing. It was really scary. Luckily, I managed to dodge the attack and win the fight. Just keep in mind that you need to practice a little, and you’ll defeat this boss and beat this difficult game too.