Nioh 3 is here, and even for series fans, there’s a lot to wrap your head around. In addition to the classic samurai-based style from previous games, you’re also going to be tangling with ninja maneuverers.
Cleverly, you can swap between them at any time, and they operate completely independently, complete with their own gear sets. Naturally, there’s a learning curve involved.
Best Samurai Build In Nioh 3
Lean Into Your Strengths
The Samurai represents the classic Nioh playstyle, which heavily involves blocking and parrying. If you’ve played a Nioh game before, you’ll be right at home. The third entry even starts you off as a Samurai for the tutorial section. If you ever need to swap to the other playstyle when in menus, press “R2.”
How To Play The Samurai
The Samurai’s most important aspect is the ability to dispel Yokai realm pools. Many enemies in the game have the ability to drop small clear/white pools on the ground, which hinder your recovery inside of them. To dispel them, you’ll need to attack, then press R1. Ninjas cannot dispel Yokai realms, which is important to note. Although you can play around them, you’ll want to keep this in mind if things get hairy, especially in confined spaces.
Beyond that, the Samurai has a great damage output and excels at close-range combat. You’ll want to practice parrying in a safe spot early in the game to get it down pat, as it’ll save your life during tough boss encounters.
Build Focus For The Samurai
Builds can be customized in several ways, but here are the most common menus to alter how your character plays:
- Customize/Acquire martial arts/ninjutsu on the pause menu
- The “skill management” menu at shrines
The former system lets you use skill points (which are earned throughout the game, typically while exploring the open world), while the latter allows players to implement passives.
When building the Samurai, we had a lot of success with the following abilities:
- Deflect (press L1 before getting attacked by anything but a Burst attack to deflect it – samurai style)
- Sword of Salvation (reduces Ki consumption when dodging with a sword equipped – sword style)
- Backwave (guard just before an incoming hit to repel the attack and knock the attacker off balance – sword style)
- Backwave II
This build is extremely capable, and lets you overpower many small to mid-sized enemies quickly, saving your potions for bigger foes. Make sure that you’re not injecting points into weapon types that you never use. When in doubt, place your points in the generic “Samurai” or “Ninja” sections of the skill acquisition tree. If you need to, you can respec for free with the L3 button.
As for skill management, although there are Samurai- and Ninja-exclusive skills, “Common Skills” apply globally. In our experience, using anything dealing with better healing (including the ability Panacea Curefast) is a great way to go if you’re not sure what to equip, skill-wise.
Best Ninja Build In Nioh 3
Use Your Ninja Tools Constantly
The Ninja playstyle is the biggest new mechanic of Nioh 3, and features agile, tool-based combat. It’s perfect for poking enemies, especially ones that are low on health but dish out tons of damage.
How To Play The Ninja
The Ninja excels at dodging better than the Samurai, as it rolls around the battlefield in a flash. It can also use ninjutsu weaponry, such as caltrops and fireballs.
For bosses that are particularly aggressive that you’re having issues parrying, you may want to swap to the Ninja to create some space while you pick up on their moveset from a distance.
Build Focus For The Ninja
Here is the build where we had the most success as a Ninja:
- Storm Kunai
- Shrapnel Bomb
- Cicada Shell
As you might have gleaned, tools are a huge part of what makes the Ninja so successful. They can be used without fear of having to manually restock them, as they recharge as part of the style’s inherent playstyle.
Uncanny Bolt (lightning), Breeze (wind), and Bubble (water) are also viable options, depending on the type of elemental damage you need. Remember to reset your skill points and try out new builds often if one isn’t working for you.
If you can wrap your head around playing these two styles in tandem, you’ll go far in Nioh 3. It takes a bit to get used to everything, but using both is your key to victory.
- Released
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February 6, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
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Koei Tecmo
- Publisher(s)
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Koei Tecmo
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op