Nioh 2 is a hard game. The enemies are brutal, and the bosses require next-level precision to conquer. If you’re struggling through the game and need some serious tips and tricks to lessen the challenge, we’ve got a handful of amazing strategies that can really help you overcome the odds. Whether it’s creating a powerful healing combo, slowing down bosses to give you more time to attack, or getting through tricky missions, these pro-tips are legit.
For example, weapons with the Lightning Element are very good for dealing with standard enemies — the element itself only adds a small amount of damage to your attacks, but if you build up the charge enough, enemies will get extremely slowed. The same goes for bosses. You can also equip powerful spells that Slow or Weaken bosses, temporarily making them easier to hit or take more damage.
And then there’s Ninjitsu, which can help you skip almost any part of a mission. If you’re struggling to break through a Dark Realm or defeat an enemy and just want to make progress, you can use a pair of skills to make yourself totally invisible. Check out all our tips in the list below.
More Nioh 2 guides:
12 Tips To Help You Get Started Slaying Yokai | Beginner’s Guide | How To Farm Proficiency & Earn Skill Points Faster | How To Beat Every Boss | Ch. 1: Mezuki, Enera & Yatsu-no-Kami | Ch. 2: Imagawa Yoshimoto, Kamaitachi & Saito Yoshitatsu | Ch. 3: Tatarimokke, Magare Naotaka & Azai Nagamasa | Ch. 4: Gyuki, Kasha & Ryomen Sukuna | Ch. 5: Shibata Katsuie, Tokichiro & Daidara Bocchi
#1: Equip the Gaki Core and Toyotomi Gear to heal yourself with attacks. The Gaki Core drains Amrita from enemy Yokai, and Toyotomi Gear has a special buff that heals you when you collect Amrita. Equip items that give you Amrita buffs, and you can heal yourself up to 50%.
In the Shiftling Skill Tree, you can unlock upgraded healing while in the Dark Realm. Great for boss fights.
#2: Equip Weakness and Sloth Talismans to make boss fights way easier. Like the first game, many bosses are immune to poison effects — but they’re all effected by Weakness and Sloth. Sloth slows down their movement, and Weakness lowers their defense stat drastically.
#3: You can skip almost every enemy in the game and unlock shortcuts / shrines easier by combining Ninjitsu Scrolls. Use Sneak Thief and Tiger Running together to become invisible. If you need to pass certain enemies, just walk very slowly around them.
#4: To clear out a Dark Realm, you need to kill the boss / source object. Destroying them will permanently clear the Dark Realm, so use anything you have available to defeat the boss. Use Arrows / Rifle shots to kill or damage the boss, then use Yokai Shift to finish them off.
#5: The Ninjitsu Skill Tree is where you’ll find sneak attacks. Unlock the Sneak Attack ninjitsu to unleash a powerful surprise attack when you’re behind an enemy — if you equip items that give bonus damage to Grapple, then you can instakill.
#6: Burst Counter is extremely useful, and certain Shiftling Skills can make it even more powerful — Special Finesse: Refresh (Lvl. 3) returns 80% of your Ki after a successful Burst Counter. Special Finesse: Focus increases damage by 50% after a successful Burst Counter. It doesn’t matter what Yokai Form you’re using either.
#7: Shock is the most useful elemental damage type. When Tempering weapons and items at the Blacksmith, try to aim for Shock and +Shock buffs. Shock will drastically lower an enemy’s movement speed once enough of the effect has built up.
#8: Finally, you can now reset your skills at any time at the Dojo. Just press [Triangle] to purchase a Respec for gold. You’ll probably be overflowing with goal, so the cost is trivial.
