Restless Spirits is the 51st side mission in Nioh 2. This walkthrough will guide you through all areas of Restless Spirits
Side Quest.
Recommended Level: 104
Region: DREAM
Requirement: Unlock the Interim Speak with Shibata Katsuie IN THE INTERIM (see instructions below)
Reward: Urn Splitter Hatchets, Oni Shibata’s Waistguard, Oni Shibata’s Gauntlets, Oni Shibata’s Greaves
Unlock Requirement – Speak with Shibata Katsuie IN THE INTERIM
To unlock Shibata Katsuie in the Interim:
- First you must play sub mission The Shiftling’s Wise Judgement. At the start of that mission you can either recruit Hachisuka Koroku (guy that looks like Aquaman) or Shibata Katsuie (guy in thick armor with hatchets). For this requirement you must accept Shibata to your team. Then he follows you through the mission and you must fight Hachisuka Korku at the end (guy that looks like Aquaman). It’s important you finish the mission! If you were to recruit Hachisuka you’d have to defeat Shibata at the end, which you don’t want.
- Next play the mission Pervading Waters. If you completed Step 1 you will find Shibata Katsuie on a bridge fighting an Onyudo (big Yokai with long fire tongue). It’s between the 2nd and 3rd Shrine. Help him kill the Onyudo and talk to Shibata Katsuie afterward. Make him join your team and finish the rest of the mission. Beware, if you did not pick him in Step 1 to aid you in The Shiftling’s Wise Judgement, he will be upset with you and refuse to join you now!
- After Step 1 + 2, finish the story. After the story check for a gray icon in the bottom left corner of the world map to visit the Interim. In the interim Shibata Katsuie will now be there. Exhaust all dialogues with him.
- If Shibata isn’t there yet, exhaust the dialogues with everyone in the Interim and finish all their side quests too (talking to people in Interim unlocks some ‘hidden’ side quests). After all open side quests are completed visit the interim again to check for Shibata.
A bunch of Yokai and a rematch
First you will have to clear the bridge of Yokai. Watch out for the broken parts of the bridge where you can fall into death.
Once you cleared the bridge another Yokai gauntlet awaits you right after entering the castle grounds. Take care of the Yokai once again.
When you are done use the scaffolding and the ladder to head into the boss room.
Here you will have to kill 2 Yokai before the boss: Shibata Katsuie appears. Once he is defeated, the mission will succeed.
Shibata Katsuie Boss Fight
You have encountered him before in Ruin Draws Near main mission.
Shibata Katsuie is a Yokai monster boss with tusks like a boar and he uses fire element. He spends most of the fight charging at you, which you can’t outrun and must instead dodge out of the way a moment before he hits you.
Be sure you have found all Kodama in the region to start with extra Elixirs. Equip as many Rejuvenation Talisman as you can carry (Onmyo Magic Skill). It heals you over time and each Rejuvenation is like having an extra Elixir on you. Make sure you have light armor on below 30% equipment weight for faster Ki recovery and to be more agile (you need to move a lot in this fight).
Now for the fight itself: Remember that attacking from behind does double the damage, so let’s make use of that knowledge. I would recommend staying in mid-stance for this. Low-stance doesn’t do enough damage and high-stance can be a bit too slow. The spear works great here again. Its mid-stance 
attack has big Ki drain on enemies and is very agile. Once his Ki is depleted you can unload a few combos on him.
There are 3 moves after which you can safely attack (don’t attack after anything else):
- His grapple move (indicated by white fog) – dodge to the side just a moment before he hits you (after he has started jumping towards you). Then you can land 2-3 hits from behind. Do not try to outrun this, he’ll home in on you anyway. Dodging only!
- His charge – he will charge back and forth a number of times. Sometimes twice, sometimes 4 or more times (the amount is random). Don’t try to outrun this, he’ll home in on you and hit you. Instead, stand still and let him charge at you like a bull and dodge away in the last moment. Then he has no chance to correct course and will charge past you. Wait till he’s done charging back and forth, then land 2-3 hits from behind.
- His red aura (charged) multi-strike combo. This attack is absolutely devastating. Get good at Burst-countering it. If your timing is off just keep hitting
+ 
Burst Counter 3 times in a row. Odds are, one of the 3 will Burst-Counter him through sheer luck. Even if the timing is off, it can still block the incoming damage of his strikes. Try to use the first Burst Counter when he’s about to land his first strike on you. If you fail, repeat the Burst Counter a few more times to protect yourself from damage (if you don’t he will kill you). If the burst counter works you can land ~3 hits from the front. If you block or evade his charged attack, he will need a good 5 seconds to recover so get behind him and do a combo from behind.
Just focus on ‘exploiting’ these 3 moves. Really all you need is to learn those 3 & dodge everything else. The trouble is his move set is really random sometimes and he will add a strike to his combos which you can’t predict (e.g. after slashing down, he may or may not follow up with a slash up). It’s not worth the risk. So play it safe, dodge his attacks, attack from behind between the 3 above-mentioned moves.
This finishes Restless Spirits mission in Nioh 2.
For all other Mission Walkthroughs, check out our complete Nioh 2 Walkthrough.
Hartgroove says
I cannot find that interim icon: “gray icon in the bottom left corner of the world map.”. I’ve been there once and cannot return there now. Just unlocked the last region. ould you elaborate on what world map? What region?
PowerPyx says
On any region’s world map. Check again after you’ve beaten the story, it should show up permanently then.
Maki says
Followed every step carefully, he still does not show up at the interim.
Before having checked the website, here’s what I have done:
– Recruit Shibata first, defeated Aquaman.
– Right after out of curiosty, redid the mission and chose Aquaman this time, and defeated Shibata.
– Continued story, at Pervading Waters, Shibata appeared against Onyudo, defeated him and told him to join me, completed the mission.
– Finished every possible missions until interim unlocked, Shibata doesnt show up.
– Cleared every missions including Dojo, Twilight except the last 2 as there were still locked. Shibata still not showing.
– Tried to redo step 1 and 2, still not showing up at the interim…
HELP
PowerPyx says
Have you finished the story yet? Please retry after story, let me know if he showed up for you then.
If he’s still not there, exhaust the dialogues with everyone else in Interim first which will unlock some ‘hidden’ sub missions, do those too. After all other available sub missions are cleared he should be there. It may be some other incomplete sub mission blocking him from spawning.
Maki says
I’ve completed the story, Dream of the Strong unlocked, all regions are 100% completed (blue bars are bright full) except for that obvious locked mission. Exhausted every possible people dialogs at the interim.
Who’s still at the interim are:
Saito Dosan (bald dude)
Takenenaka Hanbei (Young looking man in pink)
Yokai Kappa
Dungmaster oustide the interim
The rest are gone from doing their missions and collected the yellow amrita once completed. From memories:
Aquaman
Azai Nagamasa (blue guy, during boss fight with 1-2 wings)
Saito Toshimitsu (Odashi dude in blue)
I know there’s actually another way to check whether I miss a mission by going through the Character Directory and check whether their profile is completed (when not it will show 3 red questions marks) and Shibata is the only one with question marks for the last part of his bio)
PowerPyx says
This is the full entry from Shibata Katsuie’s Character Directory:
Shibata Katsuie is chief retainer of the Oda clan, and has served the Oda ever since Nobunaga’s younger brother, Nobuyuki. Katsuie stood against Nobunaga as his enemy. Nobunaga later forgave Katsuie and appointed him as chief retainer, a most influential position.
Katsuie is very fond of Maeda Toshiie, in whom he sees his own values of valour and loyalty. On the other hand, he instinctively dislikes Tokichiro, who uses the power of yokai and the Spirit Stones to achieved his ends. While it is difficult for Katsuie to watch Tokichiro earn Nobunaga’s praise, he comes to feel differently about the protagonist upon watching the way the hold their own in battle.
With the events that transpire in Nonnoji, Tokichiro’s ambitions are laid bare, and Katsuie marries Oichi, Nobunaga’s younger sister. In the conflict that ensues between Katsuie and Tokichiro, Katsuie finds himself surrounded by the enemy in Kitanosho Castle. Backed into a corner with no alternative in sight, Katsuie uses the Spirit Stones to protect Oichi, transforming into a yokai. Unable to tell friend from Foe, Katsuie attacks the progatgonist who has come to help him, and is fatally wounded in combat. On the verge of death, he entrusts the protagonist with what is most important to him and apologises to Oichi before breathing his last.
Upon meeting the protagonist again in the Interim, Katsuie thanks them for stopping him when he was a yokai. The protagonist assists him in eleminating his own lingering spirit and those of his soldiers from the of the living, allowing Katsuie to finally rest in peace.
Maki says
Well I’ve found a workaround, by playing on someone else’s party who hasn’t unlocked the interim yet and by redoing the 1-2 steps.
Thanks.
PowerPyx says
Still weird he wasn’t there for you, but glad you found out a workaround. Thanks for sharing, hope this tip can help others too 🙂
Khamul says
I have same problem as Maki, did all the interim side quests no shibata
Lex says
Having the same issue with Katsiue not appearing in the interim. I originally picked the 3rd option in The Shiftling’s Wise Judgement, which is siding with neither of them, which lets you fight both at the end of the mission.
I re-did the mission, this time siding with him, and then re-did Pervading Waters to team up with him. He still doesn’t appear in The Interim.
It’s really frustrating as that mission is stopping me from advancing to the next difficulty, as it’s the only one I haven’t done to finish Way of the Strong.
Lex says
Figured it out. Had to re-do Pervading Waters on Dream of The Samurai instead of Dream of the Strong.