Ghost of Yotai: Complete Walkthrough & Boss Guide
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🗺️ Main Story Walkthrough
Tick off each step as you go — your progress saves locally, no account needed.
Ghost of Yotei opens in 1603 Hokkaido, seventeen years after Sekigahara. Atsu — a yojimbo sellsword and daughter of a slaughtered family — hunts down the first name on her list: Yukiharu, called the Snake, one of the six killers known as the Yotei Six. The Snake is fought as the opening boss, a brief but sharp duel that establishes the parry system and the unblockable dodge cue. Defeating him creates the legend of the onryo, a ghost-warrior whose reputation spreads fear ahead of her arrival. The prologue ends with Atsu crossing into the wilderness around Mount Yotei and learning that the remaining five are spread across Hokkaido s distinct regions.
The Ishikari Plain is a broad, snow-dusted grassland region and the first open area after the prologue. The Oni — Lord Hyozo — is a warlord who crushed a local rebellion led by the swordmaster Sensei Takahashi. Investigate Hyozo s stronghold by following leads through occupied villages, freeing captives to gather intelligence, and dismantling his patrol network. This region introduces Atsu s wolf companion, which can be commanded to distract enemies during stealth approaches or flank opponents in open combat. Complete Sensei Takahashi s questline before confronting Hyozo to unlock an advanced technique that improves your counter window against heavy enemies.
Teshio Ridge is a high-altitude frozen region where Dojun, the Kitsune, rules through fear. Almost everyone in the region is terrified of him, with one exception: the kusarigama master Enomoto, who serves as Atsu s primary guide and ally in this area. Follow Enomoto s leads to discover Dojun s network of informants and traps laid throughout the mountain passes. The Kitsune favors ambush and misdirection in combat, so expect a boss fight that breaks from the standard dueling framework. Teshio Ridge is also where Atsu gains access to Ghost tools that allow her to create false sounds and illusions — mastering these before the Kitsune confrontation is strongly recommended.
Between the major Yotei Six hunts, Ghost of Yotei functions as a wide open-world game set across Hokkaido s varied terrain. Atsu s combat system builds on Ghost of Tsushima s foundation: blockable attacks must be parried, red-flash attacks must be dodged, and disarming strikes — new in this game — can knock weapons from enemies hands. Dropped weapons can be picked up and thrown. Expand the onryo myth by liberating occupied settlements, completing villager requests, and leaving survivors who will spread stories of the ghost. A stronger myth rating unlocks additional Ghost tool upgrades at traveling merchants.
The Saito brothers — Ukichi (the Dragon) and Sakichi (the Spider) — are based on the Oshima Coast, a sea-cliffed region where firearms technology gives their forces an edge over traditional samurai. Both brothers are fond of arquebus-armed troops who can interrupt combos at range. Approach this region methodically: eliminate firearm-equipped soldiers before engaging commanders, use the wolf companion to draw archer attention, and exploit the coastal terrain to funnel enemies into confined choke points. The brothers are fought separately, though in the late stages they coordinate their forces, requiring quick transitions between stealth eliminations and open dueling.
Ghost of Yotei s non-linear structure allows you to hunt the Yotei Six in almost any order between the Snake and Lord Saito. While doing so, build a network of allies across the four main regions. Each allied NPC unlocks unique support during the final assault: healer characters restore health mid-battle, rebel fighters create diversions, and weapon masters teach advanced techniques. Spending time on these alliances before tackling Lord Saito makes the endgame substantially more manageable. Dynamic weather around Mount Yotei — snowstorms, rain, and aurora borealis — affects visibility and enemy patrol behavior; use storms for easier infiltration of fortified positions.
With all five subordinate members of the Yotei Six eliminated, Lord Nariaki Saito — the man who ordered the slaughter of Atsu s family sixteen years earlier — becomes the final target. Unlike the other five, Saito does not wear an animal mask; he presents himself as a legitimate lord. The approach to his stronghold is the game s most complex infiltration sequence, requiring all of Atsu s accumulated Ghost tools and combat techniques. The final duel is the culmination of every mechanic introduced throughout the game, and the ending resolves Atsu s long vendetta with a choice about who she has become.
⚔️ Boss Guides
Yukiharu (The Snake)
Attack Patterns
The Snake is the opening tutorial boss and dies before the prologue ends. He fights with standard katana strikes, a blockable two-hit combo, and a single red-flash overhead strike. His pacing is slow and deliberate, designed to teach the difference between blockable and unblockable attacks without overwhelming the player. He does not have multiple phases.
Strategy
Block his two-hit combo and dodge the red-flash overhead. Landing three or four counterstrikes after each parry is sufficient to end the fight quickly. The Snake exists to establish Atsu s competence as a warrior and the onryo myth, not to genuinely challenge the player. Focus on executing clean parries and dodges to get comfortable with the input timing before the significantly harder fights ahead.
Lord Hyozo (The Oni)
Attack Patterns
Lord Hyozo is a large, powerful warlord who fights with a naginata and heavy armor. His attacks include a two-handed overhead slam with a wide floor shockwave, a horizontal spinning sweep that covers his full melee range, and a red-flash charge that crosses the arena rapidly. He has high poise and resists light-hit stagger; only heavy parry counterstrikes create meaningful stagger buildup. In the later phase of the fight he gains additional armor that temporarily nullifies standard attacks.
Strategy
Command the wolf to flank Hyozo at the start of the fight — his aggression toward the wolf creates openings on his back that would otherwise require perfect parries to earn. Parry his overhead slam (the wind-up is long and readable) and respond with two to three heavy strikes. Dodge laterally through his spinning sweep rather than backward, as backward evasion often clips the trailing edge of the naginata. When his armor activates in the later phase, use the strongest disarming strike available to interrupt his attack rhythm, then land the charged counterattack that removes the armor buff. The Oni is the hardest early-game boss and recommended to tackle after clearing a few regional quests to raise your stats.
Dojun (The Kitsune)
Attack Patterns
The Kitsune fights unconventionally for the Yotei Six. Dojun begins the confrontation from stealth and uses illusion-like feints and positional tricks to confuse Atsu s sense of his location. He attacks with a kusarigama chain weapon that extends his effective melee range significantly, a thrown weighted end that roots Atsu briefly, and rapid dashes that reposition him before a follow-up slash. He also attempts to create distance and re-enter stealth mid-fight.
Strategy
Activate your noise-detection Ghost tool at the start of the fight to negate his attempts to hide — it marks his position through visual cues. When he throws the weighted chain end, dodge toward him rather than away to close the gap faster and deny the follow-up. His kusarigama attacks have reach but create wide recovery windows; parrying the chain throw specifically staggers him for nearly two seconds. Use the wolf companion aggressively throughout — Dojun s stealth tactics fail when the wolf tracks him by scent. After two successful stagger chains, he abandons the misdirection pattern and fights directly, which is when the most damage can be dealt.
Ukichi Saito (The Dragon)
Attack Patterns
The Dragon is the first of the Saito brothers and combines traditional swordsmanship with a holstered arquebus that he draws when Atsu is at mid-range. His sword attacks are precise and fast — a three-hit combo ending in a red-flash thrust, a sidestep-slash that tracks dodges poorly if you move toward him, and a bind-and-throw technique that requires a disarming strike to escape. His arquebus shot is telegraphed by him stepping back and drawing the weapon; the shot itself is a single powerful hit that will interrupt any combo.
Strategy
Stay inside his sword range at all times to prevent the arquebus draw — his firearm is unusable in close quarters. If he successfully steps back to draw, dodge sharply sideways the moment the barrel levels at Atsu. His three-hit combo ends with a red-flash thrust that leaves him fully exposed for two seconds; dodge through the thrust and land a disarming strike immediately to knock the sword from his hand, reducing his damage output for the next exchange. Wolf companion support is highly effective here, as the Dragon struggles to manage a flanking threat while maintaining his precise sword technique.
Sakichi Saito (The Spider)
Attack Patterns
The Spider sets caltrops and wire traps across the arena during the fight, creating denial zones that damage and slow Atsu. He fights with twin short swords using rapid six-hit combos, a spinning red-flash dive that covers significant ground, and a retreating stab that he uses to gain distance and plant a new trap. His individual strikes are weak but the combo speed makes blocking all six hits extremely difficult without precise parry timing on the first hit.
Strategy
Pressure him relentlessly — the Spider can only plant traps when Atsu gives him enough space to retreat and crouch. Parry the first hit of his six-hit combo, which interrupts the entire chain and staggers him, rather than trying to block all six. Send the wolf forward whenever he retreats; the wolf will often trigger caltrops safely or pressure him out of the trap-laying animation. Smoke bombs are highly effective when he has successfully filled the arena with traps, providing cover to reposition to a clear section of ground. His spinning red-flash dive is his highest-damage single attack; dodge toward his landing point to end up behind him for a free backstrike.
Lord Nariaki Saito (Final Boss)
Attack Patterns
Lord Saito fights as a composed, technically flawless swordsman who has no need for tricks or tools. He uses a long-reach katana with a six-pattern moveset: a slow-draw iai strike that is one of the fastest attacks in the game, a four-hit descending combo with alternating blockable and red-flash hits, a disarming grab that must be escaped with a timed button prompt, a charged power strike that leaves a visible wind effect before releasing, and in his final phase, a consecutive three-red-flash chain that he performs only after Atsu s health drops below half.
Strategy
The iai draw is the most dangerous attack — the tell is him lowering his sword hand to his hip; dodge the instant you see this motion. For his four-hit descending combo, parry hits one, three, and four (hits two and four are red-flash; one and three are blockable) for maximum stagger damage. The disarming grab must be escaped with a prompt — failing it costs substantial health and initiative. In the final phase, the three-red-flash chain must be dodged three times consecutively with no block input between; attempting to block between dodges will result in a hit. Use Ghost Stance during the phase transition into his final form to deal a burst of damage before he gains the chain red-flash attack. Wolf companion support remains useful for harassment but Saito is not significantly affected by wolf positioning — the fight rewards individual technique over companion tactics.