It is done. Level 1 all melee 100% dlc. All done using a 150 unupgraded, slightly reforged Orochi sword.
I am going to spoiler tag dlc images but I don't think it works for those on mobile so scroll down real fast if you haven't played the dlc yet.
As with the base game level 1, the hardest things were not the bosses but the gauntlet type sub missions just like how the 1.06 update sub missions were the hardest level 1.
Base game done level 1 a couple of months ago too:
The first boss of the dlc is, hands down, the best one of the dlc. I know some people may think that he just randomly flails his centipede arms around and forces a hit and run playstyle but it doesn't. Stick close to his left (sword hand) side and learn that you can low stance twirl dodge through all his attacks. His 4 hit combo where he starts with the downward sword stab for instance just requires 2 low stance dodges to his left where then he will continue the 3rd and 4th attacks in the string which hit in front and to his right. This gives you a massive opening to do a high stance strong attack followed by ki-pulsed iai but don't charge it. Aim the high stance attack at his horn as it does does bonus health and ki damage to him. His other weakpoint are the horns on his centipede arm FYI. Just like with all yokai, focus on ki damage. when you ki break him, you can do 4 (yes count it) fully charged iai strikes and when you go through him you do bonus damage from behind damage. When he transitions into LW phase, his guardian spirit centipede attack can be blocked for minimal damage but it's not good if you're going for crusher title. Stay sticking to his left but be wary of his 6 hit flurry string. He telegraphs this by curling up for a second and putting his sword on his centipede arm. The first hit is on the right so simply run past him when does this and dash in to punish. You can sheath cancel the dash attack into a high stance strong attack for better damage and punish him with the sweet iai chain when he run out of ki. Don't be afriad of him if you think he's going to attack, just release it early and stun lock him. I like to release the first iai early as he tends to like flip to his right side when first running of ki which puts too far for the iai chain.
Date masamune while looking really aggressive can be backwaved very easily in his first phase where you can punish with a double iai. When he transitions into wind LW (most humans act like yokai in LW in that their ki does not regen) stay at a distance to bait his charge attack, which can be easily dodged with a low stance twirl and punished with a high stance strong attack. He'll just armor through a kick but you can try it. Watch out for his jumping aoe guardian attack. Run and make some distance but hit him with a low stance running attack while he recovers from it. Chase and punish when he runs out of ki with iai into killing strike. In the water LW phases all his attacks can be i-framed through with low stance twirl. Learn the timing of his 4 laser wave string (the last one is slightly delayed so hold the last dodge back a little. Stay out of 3 water puddles that act as area of denial attack. again punish him when he's out of ki. Rinse and repeat. Should be able to do this in 4 phases at level 1. Rather easy to crusher once you learn his strings. Stay outta the water.
Maria is an interesting human boss that you have to treat differently to most humans, in that when she's in LW form she regens her ki and armors through attacks like others in LW. you have to play aggressively and chase her with low stance dash attack into ki pulse iai (don't charge), if you attack her more than twice both in LW and out of it she'll grab and slap you for an instakill, so don't. When she does her wave attack (you can block it if too far) run behind her and i-frame through the wave, kick her behind for some ki damage and chase again. Play as aggresively as her and force to her attack and not regen ki. Punish with the iai strikes when she runs out of ki. I actually really like the boss.
The double bosses have been my favourite ones since the base game as they often are quite easy solo but when put together they cover each others weaknesses. The standard for the base game was putting a fast and aggressive boss with a slower one. Hands of dragon, on the other hand, has two rather slow enemies that actually makes it quite hard to separate them for a parry. My strat was focusing on Katakura (you can immediately backwave him when he drops down) until he hits 50% where he will use the adamantine skill which gives him infinite poise but also slows him. Then you can easily separate Shigezane from him. He can be easily parried into iai chain but be wary of Katakura and his area of denial attacks. He starts off only being able to have one AoD on the field but by his adamantine phase he will be able to have 3 and max 5 when near dead. Be ware of the caltrops. Just kill yourself if you step on them early. When Shigezane hits 75% he will always transition into LW, he can backwaved out of it (strange considering how most other LW forms work). You can block his guardian spirit attack for minimal damage. You can also block Katakura's firebombs for no damage and ~20 ki damage. Very fun fight. Break the boxes!!!!
The sub missions are very difficult level 1 but I found them enjoyable, they act as puzzles in that you have to learn spawn points and spawn timers and act accordingly. There are also spawn triggers (killing certain enemies will spawn other certain enemies and combination) so you have to keep that in mind too.
The hardest one, for me personally, was Disturbances in the North. Here are the phases and tips for each phase:
- Phase 1: two small paralysis kappa and one small firebomb dweller. When you kill one small kappa, a big paralysis kappa will spawn in the water. When you kill the small dweller, a big dweller will spawn. Pull the two small kappa to the back away from the firebomb throwing dweller and damage them evenly, then kill them both quickly before their dad comes running after you. Ki break and killing strike it. Then easily deal with the dwellers. You can do it the opposite way if it suits you though.
- Phase 2: a blue crystal amrita fiend and a dual sword namahage with one water oni-bi and one (sometimes two) lightning oni-bi. Use either a water talisman or water oni bi to over charge and kill the amrita fiend instantly. break the namahages horn and triple iai chain to kill him instantly. It can be hard sometimes to break his horn with single sword. You can bait an attack where he stabs the ground and chases after you. When he stops you can low stance dash attack to break horns. Be careful as he can hit and kill you instantly when he pulls his swords out of the ground.
- Phase 3: two rokurokubi (snake head men) will spawn but, more importantly, a biwa boku boku (revenant spawning biwa monk) will spawn shortly after in that little trench to the right hand side. You NEED to kill him almost instantly while dodging shots from the snake men. DO NOT let him summon a revenant. When he is dead, try to pull one of snake men down into the trench and bring him near death but do not kill him. This is because killing one of the snake men will start the final phase. Pull the other snake man separately and kill him. Then quickly kill the weakened one before the final pahase starts proper.
- Phase 4: During the last phase against the revenant, a matchlock skeleton will spawn in the back left hand corner when he reaches 66% health. A cannon skeleton will spawn in the front left hand corner when he reaches 33%. Kill them and backwave him to death. The hard part is getting to that last phase. Learn the spawns and how killing certain enemies will spawn other enemies.
Gilded Deception sub mission:
This is all revenant fighting. Backwave/parry them and use the doors in the middle to separate them.
Phase 1: Dual sword revenant and single sword/archer revenant. Try to kill the single sword dude first as he shoots arrows very fast and messes with your parries. He has less health than the other. But what I did was weaken the dual sword guy, in anticipation for the next phase, then quickly kill the single sword guy. Phase 2 will start when one is dead.
Phase 2: Odachi revenant. Very easy on his own. No tips. If you've gotten here yourself, you'll know how to deal with him.
Bovine demon sub mission:
This mission is all about learning spawn points.
Phase 1: Raven tengu inside the shrine and one eyed imp outside. Kill the tengu inside before the one eyed imp comes in to say hello. Phase 2 will start when both are dead.
Phase 2: An axe yoki and dual sword namahage will spawn. The axe yoki will spawn in the left hand entrance to the shrine and the other in right side. stand in front of the left side and break his horn into double iai. You probably wont kill him but run as the namahage will come to break up the party. Acouple of dash attacks will finish off the yoki though. Deal with dual sword namahage in the same way as in disturbances of the north.
Phase 3: a blue cannon ninja yoki and greatsword namahage will spawn. The yoki will spawn in the left hand back (near where you first spawn in) and the namahage to the right side. Quickly break the yoki horn and iai chain for an instant kill. The ninja yoki have no health. Then deal with the greatsword namahage on its own.
Become thy enemy sub mission:
Hey, its your old pal onyroki and he's brought friends!!
-Phase 1: matchlock skeleton in the left window of the building on the hill. You can actually preemptively kill him, by going into the building beforehand, if worried about ammo. Snow Onyudo (Big tongue monster) will spawn when moving down the hill. I tend break the explosive barrels before starting as the gun skeletons can shoot them randomly. Phase 2 - the boss battle - will start when the onyudo is dead.
-Phase 2: The onryoki is bit annoying in that you will have to kite him to the down area and then run up to kill the cannon skeleton and shoot the other skeleton in the building. Once you learn where they spawn, wasn't too hard though. A matchlock skeleton will spawn in the right window when onryoki spawns. At 50% of onryoki's health, a cannon skeleton - up on the hill - and a matchlock skeleton - in the left window - will spawn. At 33% a greatsword namahage will spawn down the hill. Try to ki break onyroki at the top of hill near 33%, so you can get a lot of damage in before his friend tries gets in on the action.
The other sub-missions are simple affairs like go find a kodama and stuff.
Bonus images:
Both way of the strong and way of the demon is more than doable on level 1 but I won't do it naked. Will probably build a yagyu/genius strategist set as that's kinda the only things you can equip at level 1. Increased parry and timely guard bonuses will be nice too. For anyoneinterested in doing similar challenge, first go and get all the crusher titles on your main character in a difficulty appropriate for your level. Level 150 do it on WotS. Level 200 do it on WotSt. Level 300 WotD. Stop using LW as a crutch and, of course, don't go in with a one shot build cos you won't learn anything from that. Practice parrying, sheath cancelling and iai chasing in marobashi and do the Kensei title (best title in the game) to prepare you for a level 1 run. Also, swift step>heaven flash. Gonna take an extended break from Nioh now but its been great to come back. Will probably do WotSt and WotD level 1 in a couple of months just before the second and third dlc respectively.
TLDR:
Backwave the world!!!
But for now, peace out and take care NiohGAF.
