Best Style & Weapon Skills to Unlock First in Nioh 3

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Nioh 3 offers a lot of different skills to customize your character, which is great, but it can be confusing for new players. These skills greatly impact your combat abilities, but simply unlocking them isn’t enough – you also need to learn how to use them effectively. This guide will highlight the best Samurai and Ninja skills in Nioh 3 and provide tips on how to integrate them into your gameplay.

Best Samurai Skills to Get First in Nioh 3

Skill Description
Deflect Block an incoming attack at the perfect time to Deflect it, negating its damage while recovering your Ninjutsu and Arts gauges.
Flux 1 & 2 Changing to another Stance after a Ki Pulse greatly increases the amount of Ki recovered.
Frost Moon Skills The three Frost Moon skills allow you to follow-up with a free hit after using Flux to recover Ki. Do this by inputting the Stance swap button again after swapping Stances.
High/Low Stance Switch to High/Low Stance. Your moveset and dodge behavior changes depending on what Stance you’re in.

Okay, so if you’re playing Nioh 3 and want to fight like a true samurai, you need to learn how to deflect attacks and use those awesome Frost Moon skills. They let you basically trade hits with enemies without running out of stamina or getting wrecked! Switching between stances is super powerful and lets you pull off crazy combos, but honestly, if you’re just starting out, I’d focus on getting really good with the Mid Stance of whatever weapon you like first. Trust me, it’ll make everything else way easier.

Okay, so I learned that I can use my Frost Moon attack even while I’m already in a Stance, which is cool. But, just a heads-up, it won’t build up my Flux, so I won’t get that extra Ki back. Basically, it’s a useful move in a pinch, but not ideal if I’m trying to power up quickly.

Recommended Early Samurai Weapon Skills

Weapon Skills Notes
Sword Kick Night Rain Kick is great for damaging enemy Ki, while Night Rain is great for dealing damage to Ki-drained enemies.
Dual Swords Mortal Flow God of Wind 2 Use Mortal Flow to close gaps and God of Wind 2 to punish. Use Spirit Guardian skills or Flux to cancel recovery animations.
Odachi Twin Moons Sunset Breeze: Heaven Sunset Breeze: Heaven lets you transition from Mid/Low Stance to High Stance mid-combo, giving you smooth access to Twin Moons.
Axes/Hammers Victory Rush Titanic Strength Use Victory Rush to recover Ki while damaging enemies, and Titanic Strength to finish your combos.
Switchglaive Kibosh Kicker Switch Stance: Blade/Edge/Retribution Kibosh Kicker is great for depleting enemy Ki. The Switch Stance skills are highly technical, but they play an important part in Switchglaive gameplay, so it’s best to get used to them early.
Spear Spear Bash Spear Flourish Both Spear Bash and Spear Flourish are great for adding extra damage to your combos.
Cestuses Stomp Spinning Kicks Rushing Gale Stomp to increase your damage, then combo Spinning Kicks into Rushing Gale for strong damage.

As a fan, I’d say it’s really worth learning those basic combos for each weapon – they’re a great starting point. The best way to get good is to actually use them in fights, so you can get comfortable and see how they feel. It makes a huge difference!

In Nioh 3, you can freely change your character’s build. If you’d like a private space to practice, head to a Shrine, choose Battle Scroll, and then select the Training Ground.

Best Ninja Skills to Get First in Nioh 3

Skill Description
Evade Dodge at the perfect time to restore Ki and both Arts and Ninjutsu Gauges.
Cicada Shell Use right before an enemy hits you to teleport behind them.
Flame Breath Spit out a jet of flame.
Gunpowder Bomb Throw an explosive bomb.
Groundfire Lay down an explosive trap.

The Ninja Style skill tree is different from the Samurai Style’s. Instead of a focused progression, it offers a variety of tools. While Samurai skills heavily define how that style is played, most Ninja skills are useful only in specific situations (Evade being a notable exception). Here’s why we chose the skills listed above:

  • Evade enables perfect dodging, improving your Ki and Ninjutsu management if you can time your dodges correctly.
  • Cicada Shell lets you cancel out of combos and dodge incoming attacks.
  • Flame Breath gives you an easy way to make enemies burn. It’s also great for dealing with the slime-like water yokai and other water-weak enemies.
  • Gunpowder Bomb is for dealing area damage; great for groups of targets.
  • Groundfire is an alternate option for Gunpowder Bomb that deals more damage.

Ninjutsu can also be used while in the air, and doing so lets you use them faster.

Recommended Early Ninja Weapon Skills

Weapon Skills Notes
Ninja Swords Shadow Cyclone Kurama Sword Dance Use Shadow Cyclone to position yourself behind an enemy, then follow up with Kurama Sword Dance for damage.
Dual Ninja Swords Cloudsplitter Spinning Drill Use Cloud Splitter to go mid-air, use a Ninjutsu like Groundfire, then finish with Spinning Drill.
Kusarigama Deadly Mark Crimson Flurry Start with a Light Attack into Deadly Mark, then use Crimson Flurry. Finish with a Spirit Guardian skill or Crimson Flurry 2.
Tonfa Impenetrability Dragon Slayer Storm of Strikes Parry and counter with Impenetrability and Dragon Slayer. Use Storm of Strikes to close gaps and deal damage.
Hatchets Scaling Waterfall Plummet Scaling Waterfall enables aerial combos, and Plummet ends them.
Splitstaves Serpent Sweep Darting Cloud Falcon Strike Darting Cloud and Falcon Strike are great for positioning yourself behind enemies. Use Serpent Sweep to deal tons of damage when behind targets.
Talons Flying Fist Spinning Kicks Flying Fist disengages you from enemies, while Spinning Kick gets you closer to them.

As you play, you’ll find equipment with special weapon skills called Crucible Arts. These skills are built right into the weapons themselves, so be sure to check them out and see if you can incorporate them into your fighting style.

The Ninja Style focuses on maximizing your energy and attacking with unwavering force. The idea is to quickly strike a powerful blow and then immediately withdraw.

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2026-02-08 17:36