The best Skills to equip to help you get started in Nioh 3.
To really make the most of your build and blitz through bosses in Nioh 3, you’ll want to make good use of Skills. These Skills – which are learnt from Secret Skills Texts scattered across the map – can be applied to provide you with passive effects and abilities that can make all the difference when it comes to facing bosses or tackling new areas.
To help you with getting started, we’ve gone ahead and listed some of the best Skills in Nioh 3 that can be found within the first region of the game, Warring States.
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Best Skills in Nioh 3
First things first, to look at what Skills you have unlocked and equip or unequip them in Nioh 3, you’ll want to visit the ‘Skill Management’ menu at a Shrine.
Here, you’ll be able to see Skills unlocked for the Samurai stance, the Ninja stance, and Common Skills (which apply to both stances). You’ll also notice that you have a point value for each of these; the Skills you equip for each stance cannot surpass this point value.
That said, you can increase this point value by finding Warrior’s Texts, Samurai’s Texts, and Ninja’s Texts around the map. Similarly, to unlock new Skills, you’ll need to seek out and collect Secret Skills Texts, which are often found in chests or rewarded to you following fights.
If you’re looking for help tracking down new Skills, take a look at our list of all Secret Skills Text locations.
Best Common Skills
Here are some of the best Common Skills to seek out and use during Nioh 3’s early game. These Skills apply to both Ninja and Samurai stances.
- Lingering Spirit — Recover 30% of Amrita left behind when you die.
- Attack Mastery II — Increases Attack by 12.
- Enduring Destruction — Inflicts increased damage taken on an enemy after a successful Burst Break.
- Vital Spirit — Increases Amrita gained when defeating an enemy by 4%.
- Weight Bearer — Increases the maximum weight of equipment you can carry.
Of the above five Common Skills, Enduring Destruction is my favourite. The ability to Burst Break is something you want to do as often as you can during Nioh 3’s toughest fights, as this allows you to deal a chunk of damage to the enemy. Then being able to pair that with the ability to inflict additional damage to an enemy following it? Even better, and this is something you can pull off multiple times during a boss fight.
Both Attack Mastery Skills – Attack Mastery I providing +5 Attack, while Attack Mastery II later provides +12 Attack – are also something I have had equipped often, as I quite like being able to dish out as much damage as humanly possible during a fight. These Skills certainly help with that.
Best Samurai Skills
Here are some of the best Samurai Skills to seek out and use during Nioh 3’s early game:
- Indomitable Spirit — When your Life drops to 30% or lower, your Ki recovery speed increases by 25%.
- Running Water — Enables you to perform a Ki Pulse after dodging
- Unshakable — Reduces damage taken while attacking by 10%.
- Oppressive Strength — Prevents you from being staggered during Strong Attacks and Martial Arts while Arts Proficiency is active.
- Resolute Arts — Reduces damage taken while Arts Proficiency is active by 15%.
- Defense Mastery II — Increases Defense by 14.
Of the above Samurai Skills, I’ve found myself to be a particularly big fan of both Indomitable Spirit and Running Water. Running Water lets you Ki Pulse after dodging (with Ki Pulse restoring your Ki quickly), and as someone who is dodging a lot – often out of panic – this regularly comes in clutch, so you should consider it if you’re also dodging left, right, and centre.
Similarly, Indomitable Spirit increases your Ki recovery speed by 25% whenever your Life is below 30%. Now, ideally you won’t ever let your Life drop before 30%, but sometimes, it happens, and being able to recover Ki quickly so you can get out of the way of the enemy’s next attack is often necessary. That’s where the boost to Ki recovery speed comes in!
Best Ninja Skills
Here are some of the best Ninja Skills to seek out and use during Nioh 3’s early game:
- Supreme Shift — When using Style Shift to switch to Ninja Style, successfully performing a Burst Break will cause you to maneuver behind the enemy.
- Dodging — Reduces Ki consumed when dodging by 10%.
- Snakebite Technique — Increases the amount of damage over time you inflict on enemies by 16%.
- Armor Piercer — Increases damage dealt by final blow and grapple by 10%
- Backstab Life Siphon — Restores Life when you deal damage to an enemy from behind.
Of the above Ninja Skills, I’m a big fan of Supreme Shift (when it works out for me, which isn’t always). After successfully Burst Breaking, this Skill maneuvers you behind the enemy, giving you ample opportunity to land plenty of hits from behind and do a good portion of damage. Pair this with Backstab Life Siphon, which restores your Life slightly while attacking an enemy from behind, and you’ve got something good going on: Burst Break, then attack from behind – dealing a chunk of damage – while restoring any missing Life you have!
I’m also a big fan of Snakebite Technique, which increases your damage over time to enemies by 16%. This is particularly good if the Ninjutsu Tools or Onmyo Magic you’re using are able to inflict Elemental Damage such as Fire and Lightning; any build-up of these status elements on an enemy will deal some damage over time, and that damage over time is then increased by 16% thanks to this Skill. Opportunities for extra damage everywhere!
Good luck experimenting with Skills in Nioh 3. For more on the gargantuan RPG, take a look at our list of all bosses, where to find all Hot Springs, and how to charm the wall yokai, Nurikabe.
