While the meat of Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess comes in the meticulous planning of its many Tower Defence-esque levels, many of them will have a dedicated boss battle as a 💜follow-up stage. These are more focused than the larger levels and come with some unique mechanics of their own.

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The very first of these you will come across is Gakinyudo, which is essentially an oversized version of cannon fodder Gaki you fought hordes of during the first mission. Thi𓆉s one is a whole lot more threatening than its smaller relatives, so a little bit of prep goes a long way to ensuring your success and Yoshiro's survival.
Recommended Soh And Villager Set-Up For Gakinyudo
Seeing as this is the very first boss battle you encounter, and the second mission in the game entire, there's not much in terms of planning you can do though it is essential to wrap your head around the basic mechanics of the game at this point.
Before starting, make sure to equip the Tsuba Guard, Suzaku's Flame, that Yoshi🤡ro ൲gave you when visiting her tent at the base.
Once you start the mission, Yoshiro will stand ahead of you with a chest. This will contain 200 Crystals, which are used to change the Roles of the Villagers. Make sure to pick this up before heading any further.
At the moment, the only Role available to you is the Woodcutter, so make sure to change all of your Villagers into this Role. The 200 Crystals from the chest will be exactly enough for this. After that, p💛roceed through the gate behind Yoshiro.
The battle does not begin as soon as you enter the arena, but once you pass the purple miasma splitting﷽ the s🌱tage. Use this time to get acquainted with the arena.
How To Defeat Gakinyudo
Gakinyudo is not exceptionally challenging, though they do still pack quite a punch. They are slow and well-telegraphed, though even a single hit is liable to take almoꦆst half of your health. Keep this in mind when battling them.
Soh's Moveset
The most essential part of battling Gakinyudo is first knowing Soh's own movese🔥t🍷. We'll break it down quickly below:
- Regular Attacks: with your sword, giving graceful attacks that let you easily reposition Soh. This has a four-hit combo string.
- Dance Attacks: that can be weaved into each hit of your combo. They are much more powerful than regular attacks.
- Dodging: which offers invulnerability for the entire length of the animation.
- Guarding: which can safeguard against all but unblockable attacks. You can see Soh's Guard Gauge by the yellow wavy bar beside their name tag.
Unblockable attacks will cause a symbol to appear above the enemy's head, so you'll know when t🐼hey're plꦇanning an exceptionally powerful attack.
Gakinyudo's attacks can deplete the Guard Gauge pretty quickly so dodging is your best bet here, 🌱though guarding in ꦦa pinch could still save your life.
Your Villagers also get unique actions during boss battles in the 'Attack' and 'Defense' Orders. These will call them away from their respective locations to either focus all their attacks on the boss with the former or closely guard Yoshiro against damage with the la🌼tter. Keep this in mind to effectively manage Gakinyudo and their summons.
Gakinyudo's Moveset
Gakinyudo is relatively simple in what they can do, performing slow but powerful swipes for the most part, though there are som𒉰e surprising attacks to♐rn in at times. We've broken down their entire moveset in the tale below.
Attack |
Attack Description |
---|---|
Debris Kick |
Gakinyudo will kick the ground, flinging debris ahead of themselves. |
Slam And Swipe |
Gakinyudo will quickly slam the ground with a hand before swiping in an arc to one side. |
Arm Swipe |
Gakinyudo will bring their arm up and swipe, dragging debris and flinging it with the swipe. |
Summoning Roar |
Gakinyudo will pause, roaring and summoning multiple smaller Gaki from the Torii Gate. |
Overhead Slam |
Gakinyudo will join the hands together and slam them down in front, potentially swiping up to two times afterwards. This attack is unblockable. |
And that's it. It's a relatively small pool of moves with long wind-ups, though they can hit pretty hard. The extra enemies they summon can also prove a 🧔nuisance if you don't keep them in check.
The flow of the fight is simple - When it's just Gakinyudo, order the Villagers to attack. When they summon enemies, order the Villagers to defend Yoshiro while you keep attacking the boss. There's no phase changes or major changes. Don't forget about your Tsuba Guard, Suzaku's Flame either, as this can drain the boss's Resist Gauge quite quickly, leaving them open to extra attacks.
The Resist Gauge is the yellow bar underneath the boss's health. When depleted, they are stunned for a brief while, allowing yoꦺu to attack them freely.
And with that, Gakinyudo is defeated, you will have unlocked the Archer Role, and gotten a grip on the🔯 core mechanics of Kunitsu-Gami, Path of the Goddess. Congrats, and good luck with the 💛rest of your adventure!

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