Early into Nioh 3, it becomes obvious that there are many Martial Arts and Ninjutsu skills to spend your Samurai and Ninja Points on, but some are more essential to learn first than others.
Still, the many skill trees in the ‘Acquire Martial Arts/Ninjutsu’ menu make it very easy for new players to be overwhelmed with the large number of options. While you’re still working out your specific build in Nioh 3, this best-of guide will take you through the five essential skills you need to spend your points on.
Groundfire
Even if you prefer using Samurai Style compared to Ninja Style in Nioh 3, the Ninja Tool Arts are fantastic skills to have in your arsenal since you can set traps or throw projectiles at a distance for guaranteed hits without risking damage — and Groundfire is fantastic with the right timing.
Especially when facing large bosses, using your total stock of four is excellent for peppering in damage, as they’ll almost always step on what are essentially landmines.
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Caltrops
Just like with the other Ninja Tools in Nioh 3, Caltrops are great for adding extra damage without having to get up close, but are also great for facing regular enemies and bosses in different ways.
When fighting against standard multiple Yokai, Caltrop’s effect to slow down foes as well as deal damage makes this great for crowd control.
In scenarios where you’re taking on a speedy boss, though, Caltrops can give you the extra speed advantage you need to get an extra hit in, get some distance more easily, and use the extra seconds to heal up or take a buffing item.
Cicada Shell
In a game like Nioh 3, where one big unintended hit from an enemy can wreck a boss fight attempt for you, Cicada is the Physical Art among the Ninja Style Skills that can give you that essential bit of added survivability.
When active, what would normally be a successful enemy hit will become an auto-dodge (turning you into a smokescreen) and place you behind the enemy immediately.
This means if you fail trying to time a dodge, block, or parry, you get an extra layer of defense that also puts you in a key position to deliver a few extra hits from behind as well. In the most chaotic boss fights where you could be down to a sliver of health with no Elixers, this skill has saved us more than once.
High Stance
The various stances are at the core of the Samurai Style’s gameplay in Nioh 3, but High Stance should be your first go-to if you want to make your build more of a damage dealer.
Compared to the Mid Stance you start with for a more balanced ratio of attack and defense, High Stance boosts your overall offensive power and grants you a larger number of attacks before you run out of Ki.
Granted, this makes you a bit more of a glass cannon, as you’re more open to enemy strikes if you mess up your timings; however, if you master the game’s key mechanics in understanding foes’ attack patterns for parries, dodging, burst breaks, and blocking, High Stance is by far the ideal stance to use if you want to deal as much damage as possible.
Deflect
Being the parry skill among Nioh 3’s Martial Arts, learning and mastering Deflect becomes more essential the further you get into the game.
Timing for just before you get hit by an enemy move, this not only deflects the attack as the name suggests, but also restores your Ki and increases your Ninjutsu and Arts Gauges, too.
Especially in boss battles where getting struck by big attacks or running out of Ki can wreck your momentum, your playthrough will get much tougher without Deflect in your Nioh 3 toolset. Although this does mean you need to master the various movesets of bosses and tough enemies to get the timings right, the added advantage you’ll get overall is so worth it.
Focusing Skills On One Weapon For Each Style
This is more open-ended, depending on your preferred Nioh 3 build and playstyle — but overall, it’s also important to invest points into Samurai- and Ninja-specific weapons, but only on one weapon for each style at first, rather than spreading them out over multiple weapons.
That’s because, as each weapon has its own skill tree, you can make one incredibly powerful if you invest more Samurai or Ninja points into a favorite instead of putting them into several weapons of choice at a time.
For instance, the Axe has the Mad Spinner II skill, which makes the base axe-swinging Mad Spinner skill far more powerful by spinning faster.
As another great example, Victory Rush makes your axe-swinging combat more efficient by letting you perform a Ki Pulse as you ram into an enemy.
It’s nice to have a variety of weapon options for certain types of enemies later on. In the opening hours, though, your Nioh 3 build will be much more capable in the early game if you acquire the skills for one weapon per style to start, as you’ll be able to perform more powerful moves and feats in combat from the get-go.
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