How to beat Baba Nobuharu in Nioh 3

Defeating Baba Nobuharu in Nioh 3 is part of an early mission in your journey to become the shogun. Hidden inside a fortress, this boss fights with a large axe and water-based attacks. Because the fight takes place in a cramped space, he pressures you by leaving few places to hide from his attacks. To make matters worse, Baba Nobuharu has a special ability that will make you doubt every move he makes.

However, the battle against Baba Nobuharu is far from being the most complex fight in the game. To help you, we've prepared this guide on how to beat Baba Nobuharu in Nioh 3, covering his location, weaknesses, strengths, and full moveset.

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Baba Nobuharu location in Nioh 3

Baba Nobuharu is located inside the Futamata Castle in the northeast region, but don't worry about missing this boss fight, as you must face Baba Nobuharu to complete "The Battle of Futamata Castle" main quest.

Although you unlock "The Battle of Futamata Castle" quest right after finishing "The Hamamatsu Incident," it is recommended that you be at least level 39 before attempting the mission. For this reason, consider completing short side quests to level up before tackling The "Battle of Futamata Castle."

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Baba Nobuharu strengths and weaknesses

When fighting Baba Nobuharu, you should take advantage of wind and lightning attacks in case you have access to any. The boss's design or moveset is not really elementally-centered, giving almost no hints about his weaknesses, but since he uses two water-based attacks, you can assume from there that lightning is the way to go. While the boss takes more damage from lightning-based attacks, Baba Nobuharu is resistant to scorching, meaning that fire attacks are less effective.

Baba Nobuharu will chase you and stay in melee range to attack you for a large chunk of the battle. Kiting the boss and hitting him from afar using ninjutsu is a good strategy to exploit his shortcomings. Another weakness you can take advantage of is that most of his combos have long animations, giving you enough time to recognize and respond to them. He will also take a few seconds to recover after finishing certain combos, creating the perfect window for you to strike.

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Baba Nobuharu moveset

Baba Nobuharu's most dangerous move is his special ability, which creates an illusion that shows a copy of him performing an attack. In most cases (more on that later), his copy will launch an attack and, after a few seconds, the real Baba follows up executing the same move. If you don't know how to identify the illusion, Baba Nobuharu will trick you into using your defense moves at the wrong time, leaving you open to his real attacks. As far as we know, there isn't a way to cancel his ability, but you can prepare for it.

There are situations where the boss will use one of his attacks without a duplicate. However, whenever Baba Nobuharu is about to create an illusion, he will release steam from his left demonic arm. Since all his moves are quite slow, you have time to watch for the steam and then respond accordingly. Recognizing when he's using a duplicate is only part of the solution. You will still need to time your parry or dodge to avoid the real attack.

When it comes to his moveset, Baba Nobuharu uses relatively simple attack sequences, but each blow can be devastating. If you don't want to worry about memorizing every pattern, you need to keep in mind that he rarely performs single-hit attacks. More often than not, he follows one swing with one or two additional attacks, so keeping your distance from him is the general best strategy. Although we had decent gear at level 39, two to three hits were enough to kill us in ninja mode. We found out that level 42 was a comfortable spot, as his attacks were no longer as deadly.

In his normal mode, Baba Nobuharu performs a three-swing combo; a 360-degree slash attack; a charged grab attack; and a jump-into-vertical-strike combo. If you stay behind Baba, the boss will slap his tail and quickly turn — slicing anything in front of him with his axe. Baba Nobuharu also has two burst attacks — telegraphed by a red aura around the boss — which you should memorize to burst counter them.

When Baba Nobuharu changes to his Dark Realm mode, he adds two water-based attacks to his rotation. In one, he drags his axe along the ground and sends a wave of water toward you. His second water attack consists of a wide water slash that he fires in your direction. While Baba is in his Dark Realm mode, there is a chance that he doesn't perform the same action as his duplicate. After creating a copy of himself, he jumps to the opposite side of it and goes for a wide swing attack. It can be a bit confusing at first, but once you understand what is happening, it's possible to avoid his attack.

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Baba Nobuharu rewards

By defeating Baba Nobuharu, you will receive a large variety of rewards. For defeating the boss, you'll receive the "Baba Nobuharu Conqueror" title and complete "The Battle of Futamata Castle" quest, which rewards you with the Demon of Mino's Charm, a Samurai's Locks, a Leather Cestuses, a Genin's Splitstaff, and a Hand Cannon.

Need more help with Nioh 3? We have more top tips, a guide to the best weapons, an explainer on how to emote to charm Nurikabes and Mujinas, and more.