The Black Necklace is a very powerful item in Onimusha 2 that turns every basic attack into an automatic critical hit, in exchange for a portion of your health. This will allow you to kill almost any enemy in the game instantly and is an invaluable addition to your arsenal when playing through the game without buying upgrades for the No Help Needed trophy/achievement, and especially during your S rank playthrough for the Pro-nimusha trophy/achievement. It makes the final sections of the game extremely easy and allows you to farm many critical hits, which yields more souls (including yellow souls for health), thus greatly assisting in achieving an S rank. You also need to get this for the Treasure Trove trophy/achievement, as it’s inside the special puzzle box.
Step 1: How to make all 3 male companions appear at the Bar – First, we need all 3 male characters to appear at the bar. Ekei and Magoichi will appear after you return to the bar after trying to get access to the Gold Mine for the first time. Only Kotaro has the possibility of appearing at different times. On your first visit to Imasho, after Magoichi and Ekei appar in the bar, you can talk to the 2 men outside the black smith building, then go up to the 2nd floor of the bar for a cutscene, after this Kotaro will be here and available for trading. If you didn’t do this, on your 2nd visit to Imasho go to the 2nd floor of the bar, Kotaro will be here and you can talk to him. If you did neither of these interactions then Kotaro will automatically be on the 2nd floor of the bar, during your 3rd visit to Imasho, after returning from Gifu Castle with Oyu.
Step 2: Get 3 Fossilized Bones – To get the Black Necklace, you first need to acquire 3 Fossilized Bones from the 3 male companions: Ekei, Magoichi, and Kotaro, they have 1 each. You do this by gifting them items they like, but not their most favorite items. These are known as “B Rank items”. Each character has many possible items you can give them, but whether they give you a bone in return is completely random. It’s best to make a manual save and trade 1-2 items at a time, if you don’t get a bone then reload your save. This is so you don’t accidentally increase an unwanted character’s bond too high, if you are going for a specific ally on your current playthrough. Once you get a fossilized bone, make a manual save and then move on to the next character.
Below is a list of all possible B rank items you can trade to each character, whereby they may give you a bone in return. A lot of these items can be bought from the shop, found in chests around Imasho and in the Gold Mine, in trades or by interacting with NPCs around Imasho. It’s best to use items from the shop as they are the easiest to acquire. Make sure to get all 3 bones before leaving Imasho for the final time, trading opportunities are very limited after that!
List of B rank items to gift per character:
Ekei:
- Dumpling Cake
- Frog
- Gourd
- History Book #3
- Oolong Tea
- Pickled Vegetables
- Pocket Watch
- Silver Coins
- Sponge Cake
- Wasabi
Magoichi:
- Abacus
- Brown Chicken
- Calligraphy Kit
- Chick
- Chicken
- Chinese Fiddle
- Crown
- Egg
- Fork
- Frog
- Golden Egg
- Grilled Fish
- Hair Oil
- Mirror
- Naughty Novel
- Plant Encyclopedia
- Potassium Nitrate
- Raw Fish
- Recorder
- Rotten Fish
- Telescope
- The Analects
Kotaro:
- Black Pills
- Brown Chick
- Brown Egg
- Chicken
- Cloth
- Confetti
- Crown
- Crystal Ball
- Dice
- Fancy Paper
- Folding Fan
- Lemon
- Mirror
- Oolong Tea
- Persian Carpet
- Sponge Cake
Step 3: Find Black Necklace Location – The Black Necklace itself is located near the end of the game. After using the great powder tube and leaving Gifu Castle, you will be back in Onigashima. Head up the stairs and through the door. In the next room will be a set of doors to your left that look like 2 skeletal hands with some interlocking fingers missing. Use the Fossilized Bones on this door to reveal the puzzle box. To complete this box use the Top Arrows (Right Arrow), next use the Right Arrows (Bottom Arrow), next use the Bottom Arrows (Left Arrow), and finally the Left Arrows (Middle Arrow). This box has the Black Necklace inside.
For all other items in the game also check out Onimusha 2 Collectible Guide, Onimusha 2 Gifts, and Onimusha 2 Artworks.
