Nioh 2 The Viper’s Sanctum Walkthrough

The Viper’s Sanctum is the 3rd main story mission in Nioh 2. This walkthrough will guide you through all areas of The Viper’s Sanctum Main Quest.

The Viper’s Sanctum is unlocked when you complete The Beast Born of Smoke and Flames.

Recommended Level: 15
Region: Awakening
Requirement: Complete The Beast Born of Smoke and Flames
Reward: Shrine Maiden’s Gown, Shrine Maiden’s Hakama, Tanegashima Matchlock, Roaring Gun Ammunition x4, 5600 Gold, 2080 Amrita

Shrine 1

At the start of the mission you have 3 paths you can take, left up the stairs, around the wood structure in the middle, or down to the right. First head down the right path and grab the item behind the one human enemy, then climb up the ladder and grab that item.  You can then actually proceed around the wood structure in the middle to continue farther. There will be one enemy hiding just around the corner on the right, then one more walking around just in front. Behind where the enemy was hiding on the right you can break some boxes, behind which you will find Kodama #1 for this mission. Head up around the hill and you’ll find your first instance of a Ninja enemy, who is lying on the ground near the body. There will be another wandering spear guy in the same location, then two more enemies standing around further right by the NPC Benevelant Grave.

From there you should take the ladder on the side of the building to get inside. This whole building will be a Darkness Realm until you take out the Yoki on the lower floor. Watch as there are two Gaki on the second floor and 3 below, but once all enemies are dead there are two chests in the area you can open. When you are finished there head back outside and continue up the hill. There will be a hatchet enemy sitting on the ground by the pile of bodies. After he is dead before going inside this next building, go around the corner to find Kodama #2.

Now head inside the Darkness Realm building. Straight forward around a corner will be a Gaki eating a body with an item on it. Around to the left will be another standing behind some wooden barriers, facing another door which is actually where you go to proceed. Inside the door on the right be an Aberrant Soldier Yokai, which if you didn’t play the side mission Dark Omens yet this will be the first time you encounter one. They are somewhat similar to Yoki with their sword attacks, but their left arm can be used as a cannon or shield to block your attacks. Their Burst Attack is a large area explosion around them with not a huge range. Once you’ve killed this enemy the Darkness Realm will be dispelled and you can continue. In the room the Soldier came out of there are a few bodies you can search, one will have Ninja Locks and another a Summoner’s Candle. After grabbing those you can continue through the building, where there will be another Aberrant Soldier in the next room, though much weaker than the first with the Darkness Realm gone. After he’s dead you can continue out of the building and down the hill to the Shrine.

Shrine 2

From Shrine 2 you can either go to the left or the right. To the right is a dead end as it’s the shortcut door back to the Shrine, so start out going to the left.  Just ahead there will be another Aberrant Soldier, and a Gaki out on the large red archway. If you go out there to get the item off the body (Righteous Jasper x3) a second Gaki will climb up and attack you too, so be careful not to fall off. There is another item you can drop down to off the opposite end, but I would suggest not doing that yet. Continue around the cave through the green lit area. In front of you in the round area you will find the first instance of a Nure-Onna enemy. These snake enemies will swing at you and attack you with their tail or hair, spit needles or poison at you, and can wind up and wrap you in a grab. If they start doing the Burst Attack windup and are pulling their head back, they will then project a purple beam directly in front of them that will paralyze you for a short period of time. After it is dead go over to the part of the cave leading left, where you will find a hatchet enemy sitting on the ground beside a small chest.

When you’re done there on the top wall of this room you should see a lighter section of the wall, which is actually a Nurikabe. Deal with it to get past it, then proceed to loot the two bodies in here to get a weapon, accessory, and Onmyo Mage’s Locks. Don’t drop down there, better to turn around and proceed out the other direction of the circular room to continue on. On the first tunnel to the left you should see a body at the end with an item, but don’t run to that too quick. Look at the ceiling and you will see a Nure-Onna hanging there. Shoot it in the head to damage it and make it fall down, then kill it and grab the item.

Continuing on the main path, the first left leads back to the tunnel with the ledge you grabbed the items from earlier. Watch for an immediate second left turn on the path to the right, as this small room has Kodama #3 hiding behind a couple of breakable rocks in a green lit spot. Further down the path there will be a Gaki by a body, and an Enki patrolling back and forth you should deal with.  To the right of this Gaki there will be an Aberrant Soldier hiding behind some crates. You can try to take out all these enemies separately by triggering them one at a time or shooting them with arrows.

Just past where the Enki was walking watch for a spot on the left with roots. Beside them there is a slightly hidden entrance, leading to this missions Hot Spring.

Continue down the path going down the hill. Watch for the Gaki eating a body on the ground, as when you alert it a second one climbs up from the side to attack you at the same time. Just ahead at the split in the path head up to the left first, continually hugging the left wall. In the first side tunnel you will find two human enemies looking at a body, then just past them will be a hatchet enemy wandering around. Just past him you will be back around at the shortcut door leading back to Shrine 2.

Back where the hatchet enemy was, if you look off the ledge towards the lower area there is a ledge you can drop down to with an item on it. Drop down there instead of going to the path split. You can then proceed forward and trigger the Yokai Fog, spawning in a Nure-Onna. You can first head over to the left beside where the ladder you need to drop down is and break the boxes to find a Scampuss. If you then proceed along the bridge you should see some more boxes, and if you break those by dashing through them you can find a Sudama that you can drop a spirit stone for.

Moving around this area there will be two Gaki and an Aberrant Soldier by the first set of broken bridges. Around all of these are going to be pools of Poison water that you have to traverse through. Sprint across on the left side of the bridge to the other, then notice the blue glowing snake statue. Watch for a second Aberrant Soldier right beside it, then if you destroy this statue and it will actually drain the pool of poison from the nearby area.

Shoot the third Aberrant Soldier on the bridge so isn’t taking shots at you, then go over and attack the poison blob in the lower area. These blobs will spit poison at you, along with shooting weapons out of their bodies or trying to slam you. Once it’s dead there is an NPC Benevolent Grave you can activate, but what you should do next is head over to the left by the side of the broken bridge to pick up Kodama #4.

Now head back to where the snake statue was and look to the right where you should see a tunnel. Head into this tunnel, and watch for a large Gaki wandering in front. Kill it then you can either head left or right. Heading left leads you to a Yokai Fog, which spawns in a Yoki. Trigger it and lead it back out of the tunnel for an easier time dealing with it. Head to where it spawned from and on the left will be two Gaki and on the right another snake statue for you to destroy. Head back and go right on the path this time, and you’ll come to a pool of water with a Nure-Onna in it to deal with. Just before that room, there is a side tunnel with another Scampuss.  Once you’ve dealt with the Nure head back out to the main poison pool room.

Past where the first snake statue was continue toward the next set of broken bridges. In the lower areas in this main room there will be another Nure-Onna, then just past it another of the poison blob enemies. On the wall to the right of them will be another tunnel opening. You can see one Nure-Onna inside facing away from you, but there will also be a second directly above you on the ceiling, so shoot that one down first before dealing with the other. When they are both dealt with you can head into each of the 3 side tunnels in here, with the one on the right containing Kodama #5 at the end, hiding just behind a body.

Back in the main room, go down the side where the second blob enemy is. Kill it, then look just behind it to find Kodama #6, the final one for this mission.

Continue over the main bridge and you still have a few paths you can take. Going to the right under the arches leads up to the boss door, so don’t go there yet. First go across the bridge in the middle of the area, taking out the Enki that is patrolling around. Drop off the bridge after before going into the Darkness Realm and you can kill another Gaki and another Poison Blob hiding in the lower area. If you go towards the left there will be a Yokai Fog area which spawns a hammer-wielding Ippon-Datara. When it’s dealt with head over just beside where it spawned from and kick down the ladder so you can get back up here from that direction just in case.

Shrine 3

The final shrine of the level, this one is just inside the Darkness Realm. To start out, trigger the Yoki that is in front to the left and pull him back out of the Darkness Realm area. This makes him easier to deal with and you won’t have the Aberrant Soldier above him shooting at you at the same time. When it’s dead I would suggest either taking some shots at the Aberrant to kill it, or trigger the Nure-Onna in the pool and drag it out of the Darkness Realm like you did the Yoki.

Once they’re dealt with you can move in again, and the only enemies left should be a Gaki and a Poison Blob off to the right, which you can deal with one at a time. Before dealing with the Blob you can run across the left side of the poison water and destroy the snake statue, which is also what will clear the Darkness Realm in this area. Over on the far side of the room from the statute will be another Sudama you can give something to, and you can also open the locked chest that was behind where the Yoki was standing.  For the final items in this area, head back over along the path where the Yokai Fog was earlier, and at the end on the right will be a Nurikabe you can interact with to get up onto the platform the Aberrant Soldier was on. After you have got everything here make sure to interact with the Shrine to make it your respawn point, then you can now proceed to the boss room.  Be aware there is one final Nure-Onna in the room before the door, which you can run past or kill if you want. There is also one final Scampuss off to the right of the building the door to the boss is going into.

Yatsu-no-Kami Boss Fight

Yatsu-no-Kami is a slow snake boss with a predictable move set. The main attacks you can easily exploit are: 1) when he slows his two snake arms into the ground to make them spawn through the ground, it leaves him completely defenseless for a long combo; 2) his red charged attack when he slithers forward, run sideways so he misses and do a combo as he slithers past you. When he slithers back the other way repeat the same.

You can also try to exploit his throwing moves, by moving in a 45° angle sideways towards him, he will miss you and be defenseless for a short moment, but beware he may follow up with some grapple or melee move right after, so this is more risky.

When his Ki is depleted he’ll drop his two snake arms and they will attack you too. Obviously, fighting only 1 instead of 3 enemies is easier. So your priority should be to destroy his two snake arms before his Ki is depleted, then it’s easy pickings as it’s only the boss on his own. Just attack his snake arms from the side and they will fall off. If one of them is still intact when he goes into Yokai Realm mode, focus on the small snake first before attacking the boss. His moves remain the same throughout all phases of the fight, so just repeat the above.

Only use one attack: Spear High-Stance with Spearfall Skill unlocked (requires spear proficiency) – this move has long reach and a big hitbox to easily hit the snake arms. With other weapons and may be hard to hit the snake arms due to limited reach, but if you are using another weapon stick to high-stance heavy attacks for maximum damage per hit.

 

This finishes The Viper’s Sanctum main mission in Nioh 2. Now the mission The Hidden Monsters of Okehazama becomes available.

For all other Mission Walkthroughs, check out our complete Nioh 2 Walkthrough.