Lone Shadow Longswordsman (孤影衆 太刀足, Lone Shadow Tachi Leg) is a Mini-Boss that can be found during the second visit to Ashina Castle in the well of Ashina Reservoir, where Wolf was first seen in the prologue.
As the Eight Prayer Necklace states, the Lone Shadows are the seventeen sons of Matsuna Oribe and the most trusted agents of the Interior Ministry.
Behaviours and Tactics[]
Spinning Kick Combo: throws three counter-clockwise kicks, followed by a clockwise kick, which ends with a Perilous Thrust Kick.
- Perilous Leg Sweep: leaps forward and delivers a spinning kick, then performs a leg sweep, turning around.
- Perilous Thrust Kick: throws a thrusting kick attack.
- Chasing Slice: dashes forward, slashing his sword twice.
- Descending Slash: hops up then comes down with a slash, kicking up dust, then rolling away to recover.
- Kick: kicks forward.
- Pirouette Kick: turns around in a kick, then follows up with two slashes.
- Recover: jumps backwards and during the charge becomes engulfed in a bright aura, that will restore his Posture significantly. Being interrupted at any point before the end of this move will prevent any Posture regeneration.
- Shuriken: throws a shuriken at the target if Wolf is far away.
- Whirlwind Kick: hops into the air, executing a spinning kick, follows by another.
Despite him not being vulnerable to a stealth deathblow, a plunge deathblow can be performed on this miniboss by dropping from the spot where Emma threw the Ornamental Letter.
Firecrackers can stun this mini-boss for a short while, creating a valuable opening to heal safely. The Flame Vent will damage his Vitality greatly and can prevent his Posture from regenerating through Burn.
After hitting him twice, it's best to be prepared to deflect his counteroffensive.
It's possible to only deflect the first attack of the Spinning Kick Combo and than dodge the right, waiting to counter the final Thrust Kick, which can also be interrupted by attacking immediately. Despite the speed of his kicks, consecutive deflections are the proper way to parry this combo.
If attacked early, it's possible to stun him out of all his Perilous combos.
There's enough time to punish him at the end of every of his combos, as he never chains two together.
When his Posture Bar is nearly full, he'll dash backward and attempt to peform his Recover ability to restore his Posture, so it's important to always be ready to interrupt him by either catching up to him or by using Shurikens.
Loot[] | |||
| +215 Skill Experience |  96
| ||
 |
Prayer Bead |  |
Scrap Magnetite x2 |
 |
Heavy Coin Purse (subsequent playthroughs) |
||
| Dialogue | ||
|---|---|---|
| Talking to himself | ...he said I'd find a cowardly wolf here. No sign of him though... A broken and incompetent shinobi living in disgrace. I hoped to see such a man for myself, but seems I'm out of luck. And if he truly cannot die, I'm sure I'll run into him at some point... | |
| Noticing Wolf | Oh... you... Are you the wolf... he spoke of? You don't look all that cowardly... That matters not. They say you're immortal... let's see if that's true. | |
Notes[]
- Immune to Poison.
Trivia[]
- While this boss fight is reachable from the Abandoned Dungeon even after the final invasion of Ashina Castle and Outskirts by the Central Forces, the top of the well will be sealed and therefore it won't be possible to start off the fight with a plunge deathblow anymore.
- His japanese name compares the power of his leg attacks to that of Tachi swings. A Tachi (太刀) was a common samurai sword during the feudal Japan era.
