Baba Nobuharu is an early-to-mid game boss in Nioh 3 that pivots away from environmental denial and into tempo control and punishment windows. Where Jakotsu-baba pressures positioning through poison, Baba Nobuharu tests a player’s understanding of spacing, burst restraint and ki discipline against a more aggressive, humanoid opponent.
This fight is less about surviving hazards and more about recognizing when not to attack.
Boss Overview
Baba Nobuharu is a fast, relentless opponent built around close-range pressure, chained attacks and deceptive recovery timing. His moveset is designed to bait retaliation, punishing players who treat brief pauses as safe openings. Unlike more monstrous Yokai encounters, Baba Nobuharu fights with intent and rhythm, making the encounter feel closer to a duel than a spectacle fight.
The arena itself offers minimal interference, placing full emphasis on mechanical execution. As the fight progresses, Baba Nobuharu becomes increasingly aggressive, shortening his downtime and forcing tighter decision-making.
Recommended Preparation
Ki management is the single most important factor in this encounter. Builds that emphasize ki recovery, ki damage or ki pulse efficiency perform far more reliably than high-risk burst setups.
Weapons with quick recovery animations are preferable, allowing players to disengage cleanly after short punish windows. Defensive stats are useful, but this fight rewards stamina discipline more than raw survivability.
Anti-Yokai tools and abilities can help, but over-reliance on Yokai skills often leads to mistimed commitments due to Baba Nobuharu’s fast retaliation.
Attack Patterns and Behavior
Baba Nobuharu’s core pressure comes from chained melee strikes and forward-moving attacks that close distance quickly. Many of his combos include slight delays or feints designed to provoke premature counterattacks.
Several attack strings end with what appears to be a recovery pause, only for Baba Nobuharu to immediately transition into a follow-up strike if the player commits too early. This false recovery is the defining threat of the encounter.
He also uses short lunges to punish passive spacing, discouraging players from hovering just outside melee range without committing to movement.
As his health drops, Baba Nobuharu increases the frequency of these chained attacks, reducing safe engagement windows and punishing stamina exhaustion more severely.
Optimal Damage Windows and Rotations
The safest damage windows occur after Baba Nobuharu completes a full attack chain, not after individual strikes. Players should wait for clear end-of-sequence cues before committing to offense.
A reliable rotation consists of one or two quick attacks followed by immediate disengagement. Attempting extended combos almost always results in being clipped by a sudden follow-up.
If Baba Nobuharu overextends with a lunge or misses a chained attack at maximum range, players can briefly reposition to his flank for a single punish before resetting.
Buffs and damage-enhancing abilities are best used after forcing a clear recovery state, not during neutral play. Using buffs too early often leads to wasted uptime due to forced evasion.
Ki Pressure and Yokai Opportunities
Baba Nobuharu’s ki can be pressured effectively, but only through disciplined, consistent damage. Attempting to force a ki break through heavy commitment is risky and often counterproductive.
When his ki is low, Baba Nobuharu becomes more vulnerable to stagger, but these moments are brief. Players should treat ki breaks as bonus opportunities rather than a primary objective.
Yokai abilities are most effective when used to punish missed lunges or overextensions, not as openers.
Timing Discipline and Duel Mentality
This fight is built to punish impatience. Baba Nobuharu’s design encourages players to slow their internal tempo and resist the urge to retaliate immediately after every dodge.
Reacting to impact rather than animation start is critical. Dodging too early often places players directly into follow-up strikes, while delayed reactions are generally safer.
Maintaining composure during extended pressure sequences is more valuable than landing extra hits.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The most common mistake in this encounter is mistaking false recovery pauses for safe openings. Baba Nobuharu frequently baits retaliation, punishing players who attack on instinct.
Another frequent error is exhausting ki during offense, leaving no stamina to respond to chained attacks. This fight heavily punishes ki mismanagement.
Finally, attempting to overpower Baba Nobuharu through aggression rather than control often results in repeated interruptions and failed trades.
Closing Notes on the Fight
Baba Nobuharu reinforces one of Nioh 3’s core lessons: not every pause is an opening. Players who respect full attack sequences, limit damage rotations and maintain ki discipline will find the fight far more manageable. The encounter prepares players for later humanoid bosses that rely on deception, tempo manipulation and sustained pressure rather than environmental hazards.