From the minute you unlock the Martial Arts/Ninjutsu skill trees in Nioh 3, the ‘Way of the Warrior: Novice’ skills that are an unlock requirement for the Samurai’s three ‘Frost Moon’ skills, are a mystery you can’t solve right away.
That’s because when you’re finally allowed to explore, starting with the Warring States region, this particular quest needs you to reach a certain point in the story, followed by approaching certain points to unlock the quest, and then beating it. This walkthrough guide for Nioh 3’s ‘The Way of the Warrior: Novice’ will tell you all you need to know about how to unlock and complete this side mission.
How To Unlock The Way Of The Warrior: Novice
For Nioh 3 players who want to unlock the ‘Frost Moon’ skills, the ‘Way of the Warrior: Novice’ side mission can only be accessed after you’ve cleansed the Hamamatsu Town Crucible during the campaign story mission, ‘The Hamamatsu Incident’.
This means you have to clear the Crucible by winning the boss fight against Jakotsu-baba.
If you’re a skilled enough soulslike player who doesn’t need to explore the world and level up to beat tough boss fights, this should only take you roughly between two and four hours of playtime.
However, if you need to reach the mission’s recommended level of 14 first, this can take you any amount of time between five and ten hours — depending on how much of a completionist you are.
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Return To The Eternal Rift
Then, during the tail-end of The Hamamatsu Incident, where Ii Naotora gives you the Guiding Mirror, you’ll be able to start Fast Traveling to the Eternal Rift from Nioh 3’s prologue.
From this point, talk to Yagyu Munenori, standing in front of the building at the top left of the Eternal Rift, and to the right of the nearby Shrine; finally, ‘The Way of the Warrior: Novice’ will be added to your list of available missions in the Battle Scroll menu at any Shrine.
The Way of the Warrior: Novice Walkthrough
Completing the ‘Way of the Warrior: Novice’ side mission in Nioh 3 is thankfully a lot simpler than unlocking it. To start the mission, you need to go to a Shrine and find it in the Battle Scroll menu.
As part of your continued training, Yagyu Munenori wants to have you defeat three training partners in combat.
These are thankfully standard human enemies, and at this point in the game, you should be far more than capable enough to defeat these three with ease — even if you’re below the mission-recommended level of 16.
For completing The Way of the Warrior: Novice in Nioh 3, you’ll get a Samurai’s Locks, Training Robe, Smithing Text: Training Robe, and Training Hakama as your rewards; most importantly, though, you’ll finally be able to learn the three Frost Moon skills in the Samurai Style Martial Arts tree — Frost Moon: Humanity, Frost Moon: Heaven, and Frost Moon: Earth.
These three skills can each let you perform an attack without performing a Ki Pulse without consuming Ki and/or prevent you from being staggered when being attacked as you’re performing an attack of your own.
These are very handy skills to have for the game’s later bosses, and are well worth unlocking right away.
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