Byakue — Way of the Sword Boss Guide (Fights 1-2)

This is the boss guide for Byakue in Onimusha: Way of the Sword — fights 1 and 2 of 18, the opening pair of the boss list.

The fights at a glance

The core rule

The trick to this fight is simple: dodge when he is not swinging his axe, and deflect when he is. Once you have the timing nailed, you can counter every one of his attacks with Issen — with two exceptions:

• The shoulder charge
• The sprint charge

Both close distance fast and are dodge-only. Everything else is an Issen opportunity.

• The talisman-hair lash — his blue attack. He lashes out with his talisman hair; dodge right before the hair makes contact, per the game’s prompt.
• Rinse and repeat until he is down.

Byakue (Enhanced, fight 2)

The rematch plays out much like the standard Byakue — same strategy almost across the board, bar one wrinkle. Once his health drops below 50%, he wreathes his axe in Malice:

• The Malice ground slam — dodge it by jumping right before impact.
• The Malice pools — he spews pools of Malice; steer well clear to avoid bleeding health.

Everything else about the fight remains unchanged.

Where this sits on the road

Byakue opens the roster; Dohatsu-ten follows at 3-4 and the Nue duo at 5. On the Platinum push both fights return in Boss Rematch — part of the Glutton for Punishment sweep on the trophy roadmap.