Nioh Combat Tips: How to Fight Like a True Samurai

Choose Your Starting Weapons Wisely

After the prologue/tutorial that sees you escaping the Tower of London, you’ll be able to choose your preferred equipment before jumping into the actual meat of Nioh. Part of this process is choosing your two preferred melee weapon types. You have five options that each focus on a specific stat:

• Sword – Heart
• Dual Swords – Skill
• Spear – Body
• Axe – Stamina
• Kusarigama – Dexterity

This process replaces the “class” option you see in most games, as the two you choose will determine your starting stats. While you’ll be able to find and utilize all five types in the game, these options will make it so the first few weapons you come across match your selection.

Each one has a different playstyle, so you will want the one that fits you most. If you’re not worried about defense and prefer maneuverability, go with the Dual Swords or Kusarigama. Want power in exchange for speed? Axe is your buddy. Also, make an effort to give yourself two different types. Powerful and quick. 

Make Use of that Guardian Spirit

The other portion of the choices you make before starting Nioh revolves around your Guardian Spirit. There are three at the beginning, and each one will govern your Living Weapon, adding temporary invulnerability, elemental damage, and a specific buff to your abilities. The three available at the start are:

• Kato: A wolf, and guardian spirit of the fire elemental. Strengthens the attacking power of those in its protection.
• Isonade: A shark, and guardian spirit of the water elemental. Amplifies the ability of those in its protection to sense enemies.
• Daiba-Washi: A hawk, and guardian spirit of the wind elemental. Increases the evasive abilities of those in its protection.

You may feel the urge to save these Living Weapons, and while you shouldn’t waste them on single enemies unless your back is against the wall, you shouldn’t use them only at bosses either. They actually don’t take very long to charge, and they can make certain crowded areas much more manageable. Find yourself in a tight space with five enemies? Pop your Living Weapon clear them out easily and you won’t have to worry about resetting the area with a shrine or using your Medicine. There’s nothing wrong with making life easier on yourself. 

Lock-On

It’s 100% possible to make it through combat in Nioh while keeping the camera free, but there’s also no real reason to make things more challenging for yourself like that. Locking on to an enemy (done by pressing R3) has its perks. For starters, you can see where they are at all times, allowing you to evade attacks and look for openings for your own offensive moves. Also, it maps your evasions to the enemy. If you dodge without locking on, you will often find yourself rolling right into an enemy attack which is not something you want to do in Nioh. You have enough trying to kill you, so you don’t need to help them out in any way.

Locking on and evading lets you actually outflank and even end up behind them on purpose. You can also switch between targets using the right stick, so you can keep focus on who’s closest, or target a ranged enemy to make the battlefield a little easier to navigate. 

Switch Weapons for Different Combat Scenarios

While it’s easy to come across a favorite weapon in Nioh (mine are the Dual Swords), it won’t help you if you don’t switch it up from time to time. The world you explore is solid, so your weapons can and will ricochet off of walls and other surfaces, leaving you open for attack. You can avoid this happening by matching your weapon to the area you’re fighting in.

In a narrow corridor? Go sword or lance and rely on lunge attacks to keep enemies at bay. Surrounded? Dual Swords are perfect for this situation thanks to their speed and spinning attacks. Armored foe who likes to block? Axes are made specifically to topple those imposing enemies.

There’s also the option of ranged weapons that can help sort out long distance aggressors.

Choose Your Targets Tactically

Nioh’s enemies come in all different shapes and sizes. There are fast ones, slow ones, big ones, small ones, ranged ones, up-in-your-face ones, the list goes on. Early on, there won’t be too much variety, making combat relatively simple. However, the game will eventually start mixing things up, forcing you to manage the battlefield tactically so you can clear everyone out and, you know, survive.

Ranged enemies should always be your first target. They’ll pick away at your health while you’re locked in combat and can be a nightmare, leaving you vulnerable, and sometimes stunned. After that, you’ll want to go for faster enemies. Heavily armored enemies tend to be slow, allowing you to pull the smaller ones away to be picked off. Once they’re down, you’ll be able to focus patiently on the big guys. They do massive damage, so it’s best not to have any distractions. 

Be Patient and Learn Enemy Patterns

Like most games in this vein, Nioh’s enemies all have patterns that you can learn and utilize to your advantage. For instance, ranged enemies will fire at you, but will be forced to switch weapons once you’re within a couple of paces, giving you an opening to attack. Smaller enemies tend to start off with a lunging attack when they first spot you, meaning you should always be prepared to sidestep.

Larger enemies rely mostly on wide attacks before going into overhead attacks. They are slow, but they don’t allow themselves to be outflanked easily. Read their movements, keep your distance, learn, then go in for the kill.

Ki is King in Combat

Everyone in a fight has Ki in Nioh. Whether that’s you, the small guy with a spear you’re facing, or the large monster with a battleaxe. Everyone has to manage this resource. Ki works like Stamina in Nioh. As you run, attack, block, and evade, the meter is depleted. Allow it to deplete all the way and you’ll be wide open for a powerful attack that can allow even the weaker enemies to easily kill you.

You can manage your own Ki by making use of the Ki Pulse ability. As you use attacks, you can refill a portion of the depleted bar by tapping R1 when you glow. This allows you to pull off long strings of attacks. It also keeps some juice in the tank so you can evade if need be.

You should also pay attention to the Ki of your enemies (it’s the blue bar just under their red health bar). They can also find themselves defenseless allowing you to pull off a critical attack. The best part is that this works on bosses just as well as standard enemies. Keep enemies on the defensive and their Ki will drop rapidly, allowing you to rip them from their mortal coil. 

There is No Shame in Dodging and Running

Pressing X will allow you to sidestep, roll, and even run (when held while moving). While some may say fleeing from combat will bring shame to you and your family, you can rest knowing that it kept you alive. Evading attacks is necessary against all enemies big or small. Running, however, is for those situations that you know you just can’t win. Whether it’s a narrow hall with powerful enemies, or you just happen to be low on health and need to make it to a shrine, it can save your life.

Do note that these both consume Ki, so you need to keep an eye on that bar. There is nothing worse than running because you’re too weak, only to find yourself stunned because you ran out of energy. It’s a bad way to die in Nioh.

For more tips, tricks, and information on Nioh, be sure to check out our ever-expanding wiki guide.