The Ninja Gaiden 4 weapons provide you with a complete arsenal to cut down your enemies with, but it pays to know what they all are. During the plot of Ninja Gaiden 4 Yakumo seeks to break the seals on The Dark Dragon, in order to awaken the legendary beast and put it away for good. These seals are protected by powerful weapons, so not only does Yakumo break the seals, he gets a cool new weapon to play with each time.
Each weapon has its own unique upgrades to acquire and, thanks to Yakumo's Bloodraven form, each weapon is actually two weapons in one! Here's how you unlock each weapon in Ninja Gaiden 4.
If you're looking for more help, then here's what you need to know about Ninja Gaiden 4 on Game Pass.
Yakumo's Weapons
Takeminakata (Twin Blades / Tachi)
When you begin Ninja Gaiden 4, Yakumo starts out with the Takeminakata as his default weapon. In the default twin blades form these are a lightweight duo of katanas, which allow Yakumo to dive head first into that fast-paced combat you're accustomed to in Ninja Gaiden and are excellent all-rounder weapons.
In Bloodraven form, this turns into a tachi, which is a slower, heavier sword with incredible range and massive damage potential, perfect for keeping your distance before flying in with the twin blades to put the pressure on.
Yatousen (Rapier / Lance)
The first weapon you pick up during your journey is Yatousen, which is unlocked by completing Chapter 3: Phantom Pleasure Quarter. In the default form, Yatousen is a rapier that comes equipped with fast-hitting attacks, which is great for one on one combat but not so hot when it comes to groups.
In Bloodraven form, Yatousen turns into a lance equipped with a massive drill at the end, and aside from being the coolest weapon in the game, it does massive damage to enemies where holding down the attack button keeps the drill spinning. Although it shares a weakness to groups with its base form.
Magatsuhi (Staff / Hammer)
Magatsuhi is unlocked by defeating Kurobo in Chapter 7: Altar of the Mountain God. In its default form, Magatsuhi is a wide staff which sees Yakumo take on the ancient strategy of "spin to win". This is bar none the best weapon in the game when it comes to taking on groups of enemies, as its crowd control prowess is second-to-none.
The same can be said for its Bloodraven form, which turns it into a massive hammer. This weapon is slow, making it probably the worst choice for quick Bloodraven counter attacks, but it's heavy-hitting, has a massive range, and can turn a group of enemies into a pile of mulch in seconds.
Kage-Hiruko (Assassin's Tools / Mechanical Arms)
Kage-Hiruko is unlocked by completing Chapter 10: Bounding Spirits. This weapon in its base form is a literal bag of tricks, as Assassin's Tools give Yakumo throwing shuriken, bombs, and tonfa, claws, two large shuriken, machete, and a mace for close range attacks. This weapon excels at longer range, but it's no slouch up close either, as it's especially useful for taking flying enemies out of the sky.
In the Bloodraven form Yakumo has access to mechanical arms that amplify the power of these weapons, making the projectiles even larger and dealing out even more damage in the process. The Nocturnal Rain Bloodraven skill is especially useful when you're getting crowded, as it sends you to the sky and drops a ton of bombs.
Dark Dragon Blade
The Dark Dragon Blade is Yakumo's final weapon and is given to you after defeating Ryu Hayabusa in Chapter 19: Ebon Wings. This has effectively the same moveset as Ryu's Dragon Blade, with Bloodraven form being swapped out for Dark Gleam that amplifies all of your attacks into multi-hit barrages.
However, after you complete the game the Dark Dragon Blade vanishes from your moveset, leaving you without it in the new game plus. To unlock the Dark Dragon Blade permanently you need to defeat every Boss Trial in Trials mode, which will then allow you to use it anytime you want. It also doesn't matter what difficulty you do this with, so even if you beat the game on Hard, you can do these boss replays on the far easier Hero mode with all the assists turned on.
Ryu's Weapon
Dragon Sword
Unfortunately, despite his massive moveset in other entries, Ryu only has one weapon in Ninja Gaiden 4. Ryu has the Dragon Sword from the moment you start playing as him in Chapter 14: Unholy Descent. Instead of Bloodraven form, Ryu has Gleam that turns all of his attacks into multi-hit rapid slashes where he flies all over the place.
Ryu also has access to four Ninpo attacks, and these are long range magic techniques that are available from the get go. However, using this takes from the same meter as Gleam attacks, so pick carefully. You'll need to unlock Ryu in Ninja Gaiden 4 to use this weapon in other missions, however, so find out how to do that in our separate guide.
If you haven't picked up Ninja Gaiden 4 yet, then check out our Ninja Gaiden 4 review and find out why it's one of the highest-rated entries in the series.
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