Nioh is finally out and it’s good. Really good. But to cut it in Nioh’s harsh world, you need to have a one up to overcome the game’s brutal edge. MMORPG is here to help! Today we present you with our ultimate collection of tips from within the site and around the web to help you hit the ground running and recover from those inevitable deaths.
Let’s get a few of the most basic out of the way first.
Be Prepared to Die. A Lot.
Nioh is unabashedly difficult. The developers have clearly taken influence from the Dark Souls series but has notably ramped up difficulty in a number of areas. This isn’t a game you should expect to be good at right away. Prepare to die. Think of each death as a learning experience. Don’t give up. Even though you drop your experience when you die, pick yourself up and go take it back.
Don’t Rush - Anything
Because of the above, take it slow. Team Ninja likes to tempt you into rushing through doors only to slaughter you when you finally do. Enemies are often hidden just out of sight. Likewise, don’t get overeager. If you have an edge in a fight, keep doing what got you there in the first place. Getting too confident is a great way to make a mistake find yourself on a corpse run for your lost XP.
This tip also applies to the game as a whole. Nioh is a long RPG that will take you dozens of hours to complete. There’s no point in rushing through it all. Besides, skirting through a game like this is likely to leave your frustrated.
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Explore Everywhere
The maps in Nioh are huge and often spiral around, offering you multiple paths to get to an objective. Wreck crates, shatter pots, and remember to look up and down for hidden items and paths.
Shrines Save Your Game and Replenish Your Healing Items - and Enemies
If you’ve played Dark Souls, shrines are Nioh’s equivalent of bonfires. Return to them often to bank your experience, salvage your unwanted gear, and respawn the enemies of the world.
Okay, with the most basic out of the way, let’s get into some secondary and most advanced tips.
Here’s What Those Stats Do
I hate guessing at stats, so let’s make it easy:
- Body: influences health, resistances, and provides samurai points; linked to spears
- Heart: influences Ki, as well as health; linked to bows and swords
- Strength: influences damage, as well as carry weight and provides samurai points; linked to axes
- Stamina: influences equipment load and boosts health; linked to cannons
- Dexterity: influences ninjutsu skills and provides ninja points, as well as increases some weapons’ power; linked to Ninitsu
- Skill: influences weapon use, also provides samurai points and improves ninjutsu skills; linked to guns and dual katanas
- Spirit: increases the link with your guardian spirit and boosts Onmyo magic; linked to guardian spirits
- Magic: influences Onmyo skills; linked to Onmyo magic
Turn Unwanted Gear Into XP and Elixirs at Shrines
As you move through the game, you’ll unlock a blacksmith who can break your unwanted gear down and craft brand new items. Before then, you can “Offer” your gear at shrines to earn some bonus experience and the occasional elixir reward.
There is Lots of Loot, But Don’t Feel Pressured to Scrap What You Like
You’ll come across lots of loot upgrades in Nioh with stats that are semi-randomized (so don’t assume two same-named weapons are actually the same!). Feel free to upgrade but don’t feel pressured. Weapons will actually improve with use over time. You can also break down other gear you acquire to boost the stats of the item you’d like to keep. This also applies to weapon buffs.
Keep Your Equipment Load Under 70%
Anything over this amount will cause inhibit your ability to dodge and move at a reasonable speed.
Respec at the Forge
Don’t like how your character is turning out? Buy a Book of Reincarnation from Tome at the forge and you’re all set. Just be careful, this Tome costs 10,000 gold to start but goes up with each purchase.
That Thing in the Upper Right? It’s a Compass. Use It.
Sure, it might not be a minimap, but it will point your toward your objective and highlight shrines. Pay attention to it.
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Guardian Spirits are Deeper Than Normal Combat Pets
William is an animal lover, and as you adventure you’ll acquire new guardian spirits to stand by you in battle. These aren’t just any normal pets, however. As you battle together, you’ll a selection of passive ability bonuses and build up a special Living Weapon meter with every fallen enemy. When it’s full, you can trigger this mode giving you a number of powerful offensive buffs and a whole new skill set based on your pet. If you die, your guardian spirit stays with your corpse.
Pick Up All the Kodama Sprites
Rescuing these green tree spirits is important. Not only will it let you choose from a selection of increasingly powerful buffs, but they also increase your elixir capacity for each region. These bonuses are region-specific however, so keep an eye out every time you journey to a new zone. For help with this, try to keep a piece of jewelry with the “Kodama Sense” perk on it so they’ll show up on your compass.
Click through to page 2 for tips 13-24!
