Learn how to defeat Imagawa Tomeji in the Claws of Awaji DLC for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Whether you fight him one on one after defeating his captains, or taking him on in a 1 vs 11 fight, this guide will help you strategize for victory!
Table of contents
Dismantling One by One
After completing The Regalia and receiving the exposition from A Sour Defeat, you’re able to hunt down all 3 of Yukari’s taisho. One of these taisho is Imagawa Tomeji, the commander of her military.
You can meet with Konatsu as Naoe or Yasuke at any time when you start Dismantling a Garrison, but taking on Tomeji is dangerous. Refill on supplies around Konatsu before proceeding.
Tomeji is accompanied by 10 of his captains, so you could draw them out one by one with the quest Dismantling One by One. Killing them off this way will leave Tomeji alone.
However, there’s nothing stopping you outside of skill and courage from immediately challenging Tomeji with his captains present. It’s possible, but it will prove to be one of the most difficult and thrilling fights in the game if you commit to it.
This guide will provide strategies for fighting Tomeji solo or against a group as either Naoe or Yasuke. Konatsu subtly hints that this is a task better suited for Yasuke, which it is. Naoe had her counterpart fight with Nowaki, so using Yasuke for this fight is more thematically appropriate.
One thing to note is that Naoe will be limited to 3 rations and Yasuke to 5. It doesn’t matter if you increased your ration cap, it gets brought down to their base amounts for this fight.
Fighting Tomeji One on One
Tomeji is an exceptionally deadly warrior. He swings his kanabo with the ease one would swing a baseball bat. Many of his attacks are unstoppable which will require dodges or workarounds.
If you’re low on health, just dodge backwards if he’s swinging his kanabo while red without the parry sparkle. When you see this, he’s using an area damage ability that will deal immense damage from a great distance.
One combo to watch out for is when his kanabo shines blue. He’ll make 2 to 3 blue swings followed by one unstoppable red swing. Don’t drop your guard and thinking you can parry all of these without the appropriate countermeasures.
Should Tomeji grab you and knock you to the ground, you need to spam your Dodge button/key to get out of there before he smashes your head in.
This fight is trivial if Yasuke has the Protector’s Armor. Naoe can get the Hardened Katana mastery passive to use Counter Attacks on unstoppable attacks. Even with that passive, Yasuke is far more fragile than Yasuke and needs to be a lot more careful.
Fighting Tomeji One on Eleven
If you’re fighting Tomeji and his captains, then you’re in for a very rough fight if you go in unprepared. When the fight starts, only Honda Mosuke will fight. His odachi has incredible reach and will set you on fire, dealing damage over time.
Over time, two more captains will join. As more of their allies fall, more and more captains join in until you’re fighting all of them. Do your best to take out Honda Mosuke as soon as possible as he’ll be annoying.
Your next priority target is Tozawa Yataro, the heavily armored one with the kanabo. His health and armor bars will be gray, meaning he’s invulnerable to standard attacks. Circumvent this by making him vulnerable or using weapon abilities to damage him.
The most annoying captains are the ones with teppos. Focus them and take them down as soon as possible. This goes double for Ikoma Matagoro, the captain with the thick brass teppo that looks like a mini cannon.
Matagoro uses a lot of explosives and area attacks to hit you. This can stagger you during ability animations or circumvent defensive abilities such as Yasuke’s Impenetrable Defense ability.
When Matagoro is dead, your next target should be Kagae Koheji. He uses a naginata that leaves a poison gas cloud where it swings.
By this point, there should only be a handful of captains left. With all the dangerous and annoying ones out of the way, take your pick and take down the remaining captains one by one.
With one remaining captain left, Tomeji will join the fight. Defeat the last captain then Tomeji using the previously provided tips.
Recommended Yasuke Build
With the right gear and abilities, this fight is incredibly easy. For your weapon, only equip the Crimson’s Edge, and ONLY this weapon. The +24% damage from Bleed on afflicted enemies is a good secondary engraving for this.
Bleed is a great affliction for this fight as it’ll circumvent the captains’ armor. With the Crimson’s Edge unique ability, afflicting bleed on a target with two segments of health will execute them. The sooner you can kill a captain, the better.
If you purchase the Red Dragon Helmet from the Store or the Exchange, it’s be invaluable for this fight for the 33% health restoration on a Weakpoint Attack.
Combine this helmet with the Extravagant Kabukimono Headgear’s engraving, restoring health will be no issue as you’ll automatically perform a Weakpoint attack after a parry.
For armor, use the Protector’s Armor with the Health After Parry engraving from the Defense Master Clothing. This will let you parry all attacks while restoring 10% health on your next hit after a parry (43% total with the Red Dragon Helmet).
For your amulet, use the Kitsune’s Trickery amulet. Be sure to max out the Samurai tree to get the most use out of this. Slap on the Long Katana Specialization for increased stats since you’re only needing a Long Katana for this fight
Max out your Long Katana Tree and choose the abilities Power Dash and Payback. Power Dash will let you close in on ranged captains, while Payback acts as a quick way to stack afflictions and restore health.
For your Samurai ability, go with Impenetrable Defense. If you’re good with parrying, you won’t need it. It’s still good to use if you’re feeling overwhelmed at any moment.
Fighting as Yasuke
Rely on your parries for fighting the captains as you’re essentially invincible with this build (assuming you know how to parry). You’re constantly restoring health while chipping away at the captains with bleeds.
When Ikoma Matagoro (big teppo guy) attacks, use your Power Dash to reach him and don’t relent until he’s dead. You can also use your Power Dash to hit multiple targets grouped together while applying bleed.
Your goal with fighting the captains is to avoid using rations. When Tomeji fights when his captains are dead, it’s a cake walk so long as you parry his hits and avoid the area attacks.
Save your rations in case he hits you with an area attack. So long as you keep parrying, you’ll defeat Yukari’s champion and reap the rewards.
Recommended Naoe Build
For your weapons, you’ll want any Bleed or Poison Kusarigama and the Warrior’s Garden tanto. For engravings, use the Damage with Afflictions engraving on the kusarigama and Adrenaline with Backstab engraving on the tanto.
For headgear, use the Apprentice Assassin Hood with the Adrenaline on Affliction Buildup engraving. For light armor, use the Master Assassin Gear with the Assassinate with Attack engraving.
For your trinket, use the Soaring Tatsu with the Adrenaline Gain for Kusarigama Mastery engraving. With maxed out Kusarigama and Tanto trees, you’ll always deal some health damage to captains and get massive adrenaline gain.
Get all Assassinate Damage in the Assassin tree, max out the Shinobi tree for max health, and you can reset the Tools tree except for the Shuriken, Quick Throw, Global Passives, and Larger Tool Bag upgrades.
For kusarigama abilities, use Cyclone Blast and Feral Outburst. For tanto abilities, you’ll need Shadow Piercer and Hidden Hand.
Fighting as Naoe
This fight requires you to be a lot more methodical as more captains join the fight. When it starts out, use the Tanto to kill off the first captain. Use Shadow Piercer and Hidden Hand between parries and backstabs to take down a single target.
When fighting multiple captains, rely on your kusarigama’s afflictions to deal damage. Cyclone Blast is your best friend in this fight.
Since you’re using the Soaring Tatsu damage, you’ll wear down their health via armor piercing with a 3% chance to take out a segment with each hit.
The primary purpose of the kusarigama in this fight is to generate adrenaline so you can use the tanto’s Shadow Piercer and Hidden Hand abilities. Use these on priority targets with Shadow Piercer being your gap closer against teppo-wielding captains.
Whittle them down with the kusarigama then finish them off with the tanto abilities. Eventually, Tomeji will fight you and now it’s time to be exceptionally cautious.
Continue playing it safe by using the kusarigama to generate adrenaline, then popping Shadow Piercer and Hidden Hand whenever they’re available. Weave in and out, generating stacks and taking out chunks until he’s dead.
Rewards
Upon defeating Imagawa Tomeji, you’ll gain the following rewards:
- 3 Mastery Points
- 5,000 XP
- The Boneshaker Kanabo and Knockdown on Combo Ender Engraving
Boneshaker
Stats Boost
+ Weapon DPS
+ Posture DPS
+ Ability Damage
+ Vulnerable Damage
Engraving
Alternate Combo Ender knocks down large and armored enemies
If you fought Tomeji with all of this captains, you’ll also receive an additional 20,000 XP, 21 Mastery Points, and all of the Epic gear that the captains typically drop. If you left the remaining four captains alive, be sure to finish them off for more gold and gear!
