Act 1

Pretty straightforward, trigger all tutorials so they won't bother you later.

Boss 1: Aobouzu/Blue Monk

Sword(s) used: Chizuru Muramasa

Hit him until he dies, interrupt his abilities by using Misty Slash. Once he jumps, Dash Attack him for some extra damage in mid-air. Rinse and repeat until he's dead.

Act 2

Walk all the way back to the barrier, there won't be any encounters before Musashi.

Sagami

Merchant(s): 9x Cabbage, Ninja Belt, Kitchen Secrets Vol. 1 Equipment: Hasebe Kunoshige (3) and Ninja Belt (A) Cooking: Cabbage Stew 1x

Save at shrine, hit up the merchant, equip your new items and use a Strength Buff right before you enter Musashi.

Musashi

Level to reach before boss: 4 Merchant(s): 6x Bronze Mirror Forge: Getsui Muramasa, Umitsubame Muramasa Equipment: Getsui (1), Umitsubame (2) Item(s): Smoke Bomb (Map 7 of Boss area) Cooking: Cabbage Stew 1x

Pick up Bronze Mirrors at the merchant atop the bridge, go back down and follow the path to the boss area. Pick up the Smoke Bomb on Map 7 of the Boss area, forge Getsui and Muramasa, equip them, and use another Strength Buff before entering the bossfight

Boss 2: Wanyudou

Sword(s) used: Getsui Muramasa

Do as much damage to him as you can to increase the chance of skipping unwanted ability cycles.

Act 3

Use a Bronze Mirror to return to the Sagami shrine.

Sagami

Cooking: Cabbage Stew 1x

Use a Strength Buff and head left, destroying the Orange Barrier to enter Izu.

Izu

Nothing to pick up or do in Izu other than fighting your way through random encounters.

Suruga

Level to reach before boss: 7 Forge: Hibari Equipment: Chizuru (1), Hibari (3) Item(s): Tengu Mask (Map 3) Cooking: Cabbage Stew 2x

Pick up the Tengu Mask on Map 3 in Suruga, refresh your Strength Buff once it has run out. Once you reach the Boss gate, forge Hibari, equip it and re-equip Chizuru and use another Strength Buff.

Boss 3: Yukinojyou

Start the fight off with a Charged Slash, then follow up with the usual combo. His sword should break the same instant he uses his first ability (Audio and Visual cue, it's really hard to miss, timing can be tricky at first). Once he prepares to use an ability, use Chizuru's ability, launching him into the air. Carefully combo him in mid-air into the direction you're facing for maximum air-time. You can get in two launchers while his sword is broken, before you need to charge slash him again. After this it's rinse and repeat until he's defeated.

Charge Slash -> Break Sword -> Chizuru ability once he prepares a move -> Juggle shenanigans

Act 4

Use a Bronze Mirror to return to the Sagami shrine.

Sagami

Equipment: Getsui (1), Kashagiri (3), Tengu Mask (A) Cooking: Cabbage Stew 1x

Head right and enter Musashi (Chance to buy additional Cabbage if you had to use extra because of a boss death, not necessary if deathless).

Musashi

Merchant(s): Smoke Bomb x?

Head back to the Merchant on the other side of the bridge and then head left to Kai.

Kai

Item(s): Hot Pot Cooking Vol.1 Cooking: Cabbage Stew 1x

Make your way through Kai, drop down on the collapsing log and pick up Hot Pot Cooking Vol.1. Refresh your Strength Buff once it has run out.

Shinano

Merchant(s): Pheasant 9x Cooking: Pheasant Stew 1x

Head through Shinano, but don't head up to Hida yet. Instead follow the path through the shrine and buy pheasants from the merchant after. Go back up and use a Encounter Buff once you're on the first Waterfall map, then head into Hida.

Hida

Item(s): Cabbage (Map 1) Cooking: Cabbage Stew 1x

On the first map of Hida, pick the extra cabbage. Save at the shrine and make your way to the boss area. Once you reach the boss gate, use another Strength Buff.

Boss 4: Ippondatara

This boss is basically scripted and the fight duration mostly depends on RNG. Fight off his foot and use Getsui's ability to stagger him, sometimes canceling his kick ability. Once you depleted his first lifebar, jump on his foot for phase 2. Don't attack Ippondatara in this phase, unless you are a few hits away from depleting his lifebar. Stand under his face and deflect the purple discs back into his face for damage, while avoiding his hand swinging at you. In phase 3, don't fully deplete his lifebar, just leave him with one or two hits remaining and wait for him to re-enter his god-form. Doing that let's you skip the second foot phase, because you only need to hit him once or twice before you can go back up and repeat phase 2. Repeat phase 2 the same way you did earlier, but this time you can start hitting him again at around 10% remaining on his lifebar, triggering the final pig-phase, in which you can kill him.

--- Work in Progress ---