Quick Links
Like most roguelikes,Warriors: Abyssis a game that relies heavily on focused builds and character proficiency to overcome its challenging hurdles, which range from rooms filled with hundreds of enemies to well-designed boss encounters that force you to learn its attack patterns and how to properly punish them for substantial damage.
This brings us to Onigashira, the first boss encounter you will encounter in the Blazing Waste region. Despite being the game’s first boss, it holds no punches and teaches you the general systems and mechanics at play during boss encounters, forcing you to lock in and learn how to take it down!
Onigashira Overview
Being thefirst boss encounterofWarriors: Abyss,you can expect theOnigashirato havemany highly telegraphed attacksthat give youjust enough time to see and reactwhile also giving youplenty of time to punishthem when applicable, teaching you the general ebb and flow of boss encounters.
Still,they won’t pull any puncheseither, as theydeal tremendously high damageon contact, makingeach move crucial to Evade, or you risk ending the runon the spot. Withtwo phases,there will bemany things to constantly be on the lookout for,especially during the second phase of the encounter.
Additionally,since Warriors: Abyss is heavily dependent on Heroes and the builds will vary depending on which one you pick out of the hundred available,wewon’t be outlining a ‘best build’for this encounter, aswhichever build is best for your selected Hero will be the best for this encounter,as that will be the one that draws out their strengths and allows them to shine!
How To Defeat Onigashira
Onigashirais an interesting encounter in Warriors: Abyss, as it isjust challenging enough to end most players’ first handful of attemptsbutbecomes trivial just as fastthe moment you get its attack patterns down and get a firm grasp on how you should build your favorite Heroes.
Nonetheless, thistwo-phase encounter can trip many players up,especially if you’re a newcomer to the roguelike genre. But fear not; you canlearn how to evade every single move of the Onigashira below, as well as how to properly damage and punish it,allowing you to put it in the dirt and move on to the second region!
Onigashira: Violent Punch
One of themost common attacksof the Onigashira is itsViolent Punch.It delivers adevastating strike onto the ground in frontof itself, causing aripple effect of large craters to explode in a straight lineforward, covering a considerable distance,telegraphed by two columns of large, purple circles.
The moment yousee the Onigashira cock its arm back and strike the ground, run to the left or rightof it to avoid the craters andmake your way toward the Onigashira,which should beglowing yellow.We will get to the significance of that later, but this means you canpunish it with a Charged Attack!
Onigashira: Violent Swipe
Since you will beclose to the Onigashira,itsfollowing actionwill likely be itsViolent Swipe,having itswiftly swing its extended arm in a wide arc,creatingmore exploding cratersalong the way. This movecan be tough to avoid,so be on your toes for it whenever you’re up next to it.
Essentially,as soon as you see the circles appearbeside the Onigashira,Evade away from itand begin creating space,as youcannot punish this attack,making itnot worth the risk of staying close to the boss,especially since you want it to do other actions so you can adequately punish it!
Onigashira: Giant Slam
Occasionally, you will see alarge, purple AoE surround the Onigashira,giving you the clue tocreate some space.Standjust outside of the circleand wait for it toperform a devastating slam on the ground with both of its hands,violently shaking the ground beneath it with itsGiant Slam.
After it smashes the ground, Evade toward itand through the small shock wave, andpunish it with another Charged Attackas it isglowing yellow.From here, you canland a few more attacks, but we suggest creating space shortly afterso it doesn’t start spamming more Violent Swipes!
Onigashira: Giant Charge And Leap
Arelatively rare movefor the Onigashira is itsGiant Charge and Leap combo,having itsend a long, purple runway across the groundin front of itself beforerushing forward with a devastating shoulder chargethat isalways capped off with a Giant Leapthat covers awide AoEaround itself upon landing.
When yousee the purple runway, move to the left or rightof it, and thenbegin running in the same direction as Onigashira.As soon as yousee the large AoE circleappear,get just outside of it,and thenevade toward and punish the Onigashira after in landswith aCharged Attackwhen it’sglowing yellow!
Onigashira: Giant Leap
Next up is thestandard Giant Leap,which isfar more common than the Giant Charge and Leap comboand is a biteasier to avoid,so we prefer it this way.Before leapinghigh into the air, you willsee the Onigashira bend its knees,placing awide AoE circlearound itself.
Run just outside of the circleas you did before,wait for the Onigashira to crash into the ground,and swiftlyEvade toward it and unleash a Charged Attack while it’s glowing yellowfor a proper punish!
Onigashira: Violent Slam
Itsfinal attackis itsViolent Slam,having itunleash a powerful and devastating blow to the groundin front of itas it fallsforward, summoning several craters around itself, creating a circle.Youcan punishit here, butit will be hard,andwe prefer to just act like this attack didn’t exist, as it rarely comes up,and it is very hard to punish in time.
Still, if youwant to try and punish it,themoment you see the circle of craters surround it,find a gap, Evade through it, and land a Charged Attackon the glowing Onigashira. Thepunish window is very tight for this attack,which is why we typically don’t even bother going for it!
Hero: Punish Windows
Now that we have outlined all of the Onigashira’s attacks, it’stime to elaborate a bit more on the Charge Attack punishes.As we mentioned above,after the Onigashira performs some of its attacks, it will briefly glow yellow,which allows you topunish it with a Charge Attack.
ACharge Attackis how you willend your Attack Strings,which will mainly look something likeX, X, Y, Y, Y(Xbox Controller). Youdon’t need to use Summoning Skills to get the punishment;just the Charge Attack will suffice.
Landing a Charge Attack on the Onigashira while it’s glowingwilltemporarily stun it.It will alsogenerate orbs of lightthat willfill up your Musou Gauge and Assemble Gauge,which is crucial for boss encounters. Furthermore, when it’s briefly stunned, you canget a few decent attacks in afterward,allowing you tochip away at its Stagger Metereven more!
Hero: Staggering The Onigashira
With the Charge Attack strategy covered, it’s time to cover itsStagger Meter,which is thelong white bar located directly underneath its health bar.Whittling the Stagger Meter down the entire way willcause the Onigashira to become staggered,allowing you togo all out on it and deal actual damageto it.
This is alsowhy we prefer punishing all of its attacks with a Charged Attack,as youshould have full Musou and Assemble Gauges,allowing you to deal substantial damage to it while it’s temporarily Staggered. To do this,activate Assemble (RT/R2),thenperform one or two Summoning Skillsfor massive damage, andcap it off with a Musou Attack (B/Circle)for aunique attackthat deals massive damage!
If you do not have six Allied Heroes in your Formation, skip doing the two Summoning Skills and go directly into your Musou Attack after activating Assemble!
Onigashira: Phase Two - Minions
After laying a beating on the Onigashira, it willregain its Stagger Meter back and will let out a loud roar, summoning hoards of monstersinto the arena to begin thesecond phase.Thesemonsters must be targeted first and swiftly dealt with,or you will have a very bad time. However,keep in mind that the Onigashira will still be roaming around the arena and will be doing the same attacksas the first phase.
Justkeep an eye out for the Onigashira, create distance when it gets close, and eliminate all the monstersbefore even thinking about turning your attention back to the boss. Itmight take a bit of time, but it is well worth it, as they can cause some serious issuesif they’re left unmanaged!
Hero: Phase Two - Refocus The Onigashira
Dealing with all the monsters will allow you torefocus your attention on the Onigashira,which will now behandled exactly like the first phase.It will have thesame moves, with all of them being punishable the exact same way.Wait for it to attack, land a Charged Attack when it is glowing yellow, rinse, and repeat!
Hero: Phase Two - Staggering The Onigashira
Staggering the Onigashira a second timeshould allow you todefeat itif youreplenished your Musou and Assemble Gaugesagain, allowing you togo all out on it one last time.Youmay need to perform a few Summoning Skills afterwardto put the final nail in its coffin, butit will be as good as deadif you landed two all-out attacks on it!
Hero: Phase Two - Defeating The Onigashira
However, if youdon’t manage to defeat it in time,theOnigashira will essentially repeat phase two again,summoning hoards of monsters in once more.Nothing changeshere, sohandle it the same exact wayyou did earlier byfocusing the monsters first, then the Onigashira, allowing you to finally defeat itthe third time around!
