Nioh: Enhance Crafting With Forge Upgrades | Magatama Locations

Improve the crafting experience with special Magatama — basically good luck charms — that are hidden all over the historically-inspired world of Nioh. There are only a handful of these things you can give to the blacksmith, and each one improves your forge. While Nioh might use a Diablo-esque loot system, most of your best items are going to come out of the forge.

Not only can you upgrade what you’ve got, you can also use the heritage system to swap all those fancy stat boosts onto another weapon of your choosing. Got an old crummy sword with some awesome elemental upgrades? Slap those stats onto your fresh new sword for an instant boost in usability.

Some skill bonuses aren’t as obviously useful, even if they’re still totally worthwhile; certain buffs increase the amount of amrita dropped by enemies, effectively meaning you can farm for levels faster than before. There’s way more than that! We’re just saying, spending some time at the blacksmith is a good idea, and upgrading the blacksmith makes everything easier.

Enhance Crafting With Forge Upgrades | Magatama Locations

After completing the first mission, you’ll quickly gain access to the Blacksmith shop. Here, you can enhance or craft armor and weapons.

There are some limitations though, and if you want to improve the forge for better results, you’ll want to track down all the hidden Magatamas.

With only a handful available to find in the many, many missions of Nioh, they can be extremely tricky to track down if you’re missing one.

Magatama #1: To earn the first Magatama, complete “The Magatama of Fire” sub-mission in the Chugoku Region. Available after completing “The Silver Mine Writhes” main mission.
Magatama #2: The second Magatama is located in “The Malefactors” sub-mission in the Kinki Region. This mission is available after completing the “Spider Nest Castle” main mission.
- From the Shrine near the estate (where the main mission gate key is located) head toward the exterior cliffs and go down. There’s a single-room structure on the right. The Magatama is in the chest.
Magatama #3: Located in “A Fiercer Flame” sub-mission in the Tokai Region. It unlocks after you complete “The Iga Escape” main mission. Drops from the “boss” of the area as a mission reward.
Magatama #4: Located in “The Ghosts of Sawayama” sub-mission.
- Starting from the first shrine, go through the hallway straight ahead and turn right to enter a spiral staircase. Go down the steps and exit through the second door on the left. Take the stairs down, drop into the cave-like room with the praying figures, up past another set of praying people, and finally into the spider-infested caves.
- From the spider-caves, take the right path up and into the jail cells. Run to the far end of the jail block (past the patrolling purple-amrita Yokai) and into the corner to find a chest containing the upgrade.
Magatama #5: The last Magatama is found in “The Silent Crow” sub-mission.
- Climb up to the second floor and drop down from the balcony with the missing railing. On the wooden beams, go to the back-right room and walk on top of the shelves to find a treasure chest in the corner. That’s where you’ll find the final Magatama.