You fight Sam (for this trophy) during File R-06. As a matter of fact, all you do during this mission is fight Sam
.
This places something to your advantage over the other boss fights - if you botch up royally (which is really hard to on this one actually) then you can just replay the mission. No harm, no foul.
I will say, however, that making a backup save is just a good habit to practice, especially if you are going for Stormbringer.
Now, onto this fight...
WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DEFEAT SAM DAMAGE FREE:
1. Complete comprehension of the parry system
2. Patience
3. Timing
Seriously - that is it. You may have to restart a few times only to get his movements down, but after several trial runs you will know what a majority of his attacks look like, and will learn to parry them worry free. Trust me - I sucked at parrying/blocking with this game, however after awhile it becomes second nature. And if I can do it, ANYONE can do it.
/motivational speech
WHAT WILL MAKE DEFEATING SAM WITHOUT TAKING DAMAGE EVEN EASIER (but not necessary):
1. A maxed Muramasa blade
2. A maxed Pincer Blades
3. Infinite Wig B (for Unlimited Ripper Mode)
4. Custom Body Red
My method does incorporate the "unnecessary" items above, and if you want to seriously cakewalk this fight I HIGHLY suggest at least maxing out the Pincer blades. This weapon will be your bread and butter throughout this fight.
STAGE 1 - Sam 100% to 60% health: Who here likes taking shortcuts? I certainly have nothing against them, ESPECIALLY when they get me someplace much faster than normal. For example, I can get Sam from 100% health down to 60.5% in under ten seconds. Want to know how?
In order to do it, you will need the maxed Pincers and Wig B. It is worth it though, so you might as well get those two items beforehand.
When the fight begins, immediately activate Ripper Mode (L3+R3) and charge your Pincers. Wait a second for them to shine a nice shade of red, then charge them at Sam - he will go down to 85%. At the end of the swing, hold triangle again, and charge it once more. Release when it lights up to do an awesome whirlwind-esque slash bringing Sam to his knees and taking 40% of his health down in practically no time at all.
9 times out of 10 he will take the hits and fall back, however once in a while he will start on the offensive (attack you at the jump
). If that happens, simply select restart and try again.
While he is kneeling down, I typically launched him into the air (FORWARD + FORWARD + SQUARE), jumped up and slashed away at him easily taking his health to ~57%. If you are unfamiliar with that move, you will most likely master it here, AND it is something that will come in very useful on your Very Hard and Revengeance runs.
STAGE 2 - Sam 60% to 40% health: At this point, Sam is annoying, but somewhat predictable. The game has him coming at you full force wanting you to parry, and knock his sword out of his hand. I would advise against that, and I will describe why below, but for now I will explain what you want to do.
Instead of knocking his sword away, wait until the blade mode prompt goes away, and then try launching him some more. Once in awhile you can get him back in the air to juggle for a decent bit of his life. However, be prepared at all times to parry. 90% of the time he will hit you with the standard, 1-slash move the game wants you to parry. In that 10% he will hit you with 1 of a few combination attacks. Each one of his attacks is initiated by him differently, and attack at different intervals, so it can get really messy trying to parry them all. Do your best, and try to get him up in the air as often as you can. It also helps to stay a bit away from him - I found he does the same standard attack more often if I am not in his face.
So, if this is so unpredictable, why would you want him to keep his sword? Because him without a sword is even worse.
Seriously, Sam with just his fisty cuffs is:
1. Faster
2. More likely to counter
3. Will negate certain moves completely AND deal you damage (Ninja Run + Triangle
)
The way he attacks is straight forward enough when he lacks his blade, but he is so much harder to hit it makes getting to 40% a frickin struggle.
So, to wrap this stage up, you want him to keep his sword, and you want to try and juggle him in the air as much as possible.
STAGE 3 - Sam 40% to ~7% health: You will know when you hit this stage as Sam's attacks shift into either
1. Backing up and doing 3 charge attacks one right after another
2. Leaping into the air and coming down on your face
3. Hurling boulders at you (to cut up in blade mode)
4. His very cool "Quick Draw" move (identical to Raiden's)
5. His standard combination moves
Fun times, right! No worries - believe it or not, you are most likely close to the 1:30 mark on this fight.
Anyway, I am assuming you still have those wonderful Pincers at the ready, because you will be using them again.
The move you want him to do is #1 - this will require you be vigilant, and parry accordingly. After his third charge he will taunt you, JUST like in the beginning of the fight! Charge up your Pincers, and hit him hard. You will take a nice chunk of his life. Generally you won't need to move from where you are standing either - just charge and release.
Now, unfortunately, you probably won't be able to charge up for a second attack before he goes on the offensive. Parry what you can, and try to stay mid distance away - this will provoke him into doing move #1 again. Then it is a simple matter of rinsing and repeating until the final QTE is initiated (somewhere below 10%).
If you want an easy S Rank for this battle, then become a savant at juggling AND have Wig B. After your initial attack (the one that will take him down to 60% ) launch him and jump up. However, instead of slashing him with the standard attack, initiate blade mode - you can get a 75 hit combo easily. Then just beat the fight in under 3 minutes, without taking damage, and VIOLA! S Rank for the battle AND the mission.
Questions, corrections and neg vote justifications below.