Nioh 3 is packed full of tough bosses that will push players to their limits. The action-RPG series is known for its unforgiving difficulty, and the latest entry is no exception. Minamoto no Yoritomo is the final boss of the game’s Heian time period, the climax of the ”Heian Befouled” main quest, and he demands skill, patience and the full attention of the player at all times if he is to be overcome.
Minamoto combines punishing melee attacks and wind magic to devastating effect, and is able to tear through a player’s health bar in seconds if they get caught in one of his combos.
If you’re struggling to overcome this challenging encounter, this guide will help you turn the tide in your favor. Read on to give yourself the best possible chance of success against Minamoto no Yoritomo.
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Finding Minamoto no Yoritomo
Before you can even get to Minamoto no Yoritomo, you must purify three barriers that are spread across the west, east and south of the Heian map. This is an arduous journey that will pit you against three tough bosses; Ibaraki Doji, Kajiwara Kagetoki, and the formidable Otoroshi. All three will serve as a great warm up for the fight with Yoritomo. Once all three barriers are purified, you are then able to enter Heian’s crucible zone in the Hajicho area, clearly labelled as a large red circle on your map.
Heian’s crucible is themed around ice and frost-based Yokai, and is arguably even tougher than the crucible areas found in the Warring States map. In better news though, it’s also slightly shorter than the other crucible areas. Minamoto no Yoritomo waits for you at to the top of the area. You’ll know you’ve reached his domain when you approach a large red set of double-doors (and the abundance of blue revenant NPC summons is another tell-tale sign!).
Minamoto no Yoritomo’s Moveset
Minamoto no Yoritomo’s giant wings allow him to regularly go airborne during the fight, a feat that lets him cover large amounts of space in a flash. Most of his physical attacks are infused with wind-elemental magic. Below is a grid that breaks down all of Minamoto no Yoritomo’s attacks and how best to combat them.
| Moves | Description |
| Gliding double slash | Minamoto no Yoritomo will rise in the air then glide towards you, slashing both blades before landing. Dodge clear of these or deflect if you prefer. |
| Dash and slash | Minamoto no Yoritomo will dash forwards slashing his sword, chaining this up to 3 times. Occasionally he will use this as his burst attack- which is actually pretty easy to burst counter, dealing huge ki damage. |
| Wind blades | Minamoto no Yoritomo will briefly levitate before firing wind projectiles in the form of blades at you, alternating between aiming left and right, up to 6 times. These can be parried if you’re confident enough, but dodging is the safer option. |
| Ground pound | Minamoto no Yoritomo will charge up, slamming his sword into the ground, which sends a wind-infused shockwave towards you. You’ll need to act fast to get out of the trajectory and avoid damage. This is sometimes chained after Wind blades. |
| Wind boomerang | Minamoto no Yoritomo will throw a wind boomerang towards you, which briefly decelerates before returning to him. |
| Wind slash combos | Minamoto no Yoritomo chains together melee attacks in a rising arc, each one followed by mini-wind boomerangs which cause additional damage. Moving out of arm’s length when this combo starts is the best option. |
| Gliding slash | Minamoto no Yoritomo briefly charges up before rising, and gliding down towards you with a single slash attack. This provides a great opportunity to do damage as he lingers on the ground for a few seconds after the attack. |
How to Beat Minamoto no Yoritomo
Personally, I found the Ninja style to be far more useful than Samurai for this fight. Minamoto no Yoritomo’s speed felt much more manageable with the Ninja’s agility, and his abundance of ranged, wind-based attacks were easier to dodge.
Minamoto no Yoritomo starts the fight fairly passively, taking his time to close the distance. You should immediately go on the offensive here, and if in Ninja style, constantly peppering him with ninjutsu throwing knives and magics is a great way to keep the damage up. When the boss gets agitated, he speeds up considerably, and will become much more aggressive. Its important to not get caught in one of his melee combos, as these can be devastating and even kill you outright if you aren’t at full health.
After enough damage is done Minamoto no Yoritomo will enter the spirit world, his attacks become a little quicker and hit harder. He likes to use his wind projectiles at this point. It’s best to keep your distance and dodge these, using your ninjutsu to remain on the offensive even from a distance. Remember that dodging at the right time triggers a perfect dodge (as long as you’ve unlocked it from Ninja skills), which helps to fill your ninjutsu much quicker. Having a constant stock of Ninjutsu helps to always maintain a damage output, even when you aren’t in range to melee attack.
Fire is also a great tool against Minamoto no Yoritomo. The damage quickly stacks, and you can burn him easily, which will massively increase the stress on his already-diminishing health bar. Stack Ninjutsu tools that focus on fire to give yourself an extra edge and help turn up the heat on the boss.
Minamoto no Yoritomo’s Dash and slash attack, where he lunges forward great distances and slashes at the player, also doubles as his burst attack. He chains this dash up to three times, and as far as boss burst attacks go, this is one of the easier ones to counter. Time the burst counter right and you will halt him in his tracks, dealing big damage to his ki meter and granting you valuable seconds to unload some powerful melee attacks on him. If you are playing as Ninja, burst countering will also instantly switch you to Samurai, which is the more powerful of the two forms- perfect for that quick hit of melee damage.
Rewards for Beating Minamoto no Yoritomo
After overcoming the boss, you will be rewarded with a variety of random loot, usually a combination of common, rare and exotic. You will also gain Ninja Locks, used to upgrade your Ninja style with more skills. Arguably the biggest reward, though, will be story progression to a brand new map to explore: The Antiquity era.
