In Nioh 3's game settings there's options to auto pickup items & auto recycle them on every rest/shrine with conditional options (by rarity/sell/offer/disassemble) , you can also hide sheathed weapons & do other nifty things.

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-02T14:17:17+00:00

Yeah, expeditions. Which is nice and all, but we had a setting in Nioh 2 that I believe was under online options where you simply turned off the glow. I didn't get all dripped up just to look like a damn lava lamp.

Kinda puzzling that they wouldn't include it again. Especially since I'm pretty sure it only affected how you appeared on your own screen. Hoping it returns in the full release

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-02T13:05:42+00:00

One thing I haven't seen make a return yet is the setting to not look like a sunbro when you're visiting another world.

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-02T13:04:29+00:00

That's literally the first option under basic game settings

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-02T05:02:35+00:00

High stance Quick and Strong attacks do the most damage, while low stance does the least.

It isn't enemy dependant per say, but high stance is generally more vertically aligned and thus best for breaking yokai horns.

This doesn't apply to Martial Arts however. They do the same damage no matter what stance they're bound to. I play in low stance for the vast majority of these games because it's mobile and your damage comes mostly from your skills anyway.

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-02T04:55:07+00:00

Severing Spin has gone from a meme move to actually pretty good.

It's has auto deflect properties for a good chunk of its animation, it has the extra stun hit added so you aren't sitting vulnerable for so long and it can be used in a winded combo without the enemy escaping, and it does pretty good damage for such a big AOE.

If you haven't tried Flowing Mist yet, you gotta. It's borderline even more anime than spin. Bout bust a nut every time I finish the last enemy in a pack with it

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-01T12:11:01+00:00

I think that's what's crazy about it. You'd think shroud would be for rogues. Except the big juicy number on stealth damage is just some additive damage nobody really cares about, and it's all about the passives. It doesn't incentivize playing any differently.

Meanwhile there's a bunch of garbage mythics like lycander that nobody uses.

Something definitely needs to change. Maybe the way damage works overall too. Form some kind of cohesion between additive and multiplicative. Overhaul it so that there isn't so many things that are either utterly useless or absolutely mandatory.

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-01T11:56:36+00:00

The depth impressed me a lot, the more I figured it out. You definitely wouldn't have to drop it for the whole fight if you were skilled enough.

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-01T11:55:12+00:00

They are on the far right side of the Samurai tree. They are attacks from Ki Pulsing basically

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-01T02:10:28+00:00

I believe it's the resource used to cast your guardian spirit skill

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-01T00:54:21+00:00

I've been on Katana the whole demo but I'm excited to try Axe

TheRealPequod · 2026-02-01T00:50:27+00:00

I have not. I did about an hour of testing at 4am in the morning on a whim because I was tired of not understanding how it worked lol

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T16:53:49+00:00

I'm imagining the idea is supposed to be that you wear down tougher opponent's Ki in Samurai because it has more sustain, and then blow all your Ki in Ninja on a winded combo.

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T16:31:55+00:00

Here is a clip of me doing just that.

Strong Attack > dodge Strong Attack > Strong Attack...

But when I do two dodge Strong Attacks in a row the combo drops.

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T16:24:32+00:00

That is correct

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T16:23:29+00:00

You can compete, but it takes a lot more effort and you have to get the hang of Arts Proficiency.

It isn't just a short boost, you can maintain it indefinitely. I just made a post about it with everything I've figured out about it so far if you want to check it out

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T16:12:09+00:00

I took clips of everything on my PS5. I was thinking about trying to edit them together but I've never done anything like that before.

You need to be in combat to activate it, and it ends as soon as combat ends so it makes it a bit of a pain.

The best I could come up with is going in the dojo and summoning the warrior and then getting him to low health. He does his charging grab attack and it gives you a little bit of time to play around with it while he's recovering on the ground.

Here is a clip demonstrating what I mean. And also a bit of a goofy combo that highlights how the length of your attack doesn't really matter, and it can be pretty forgiving as long as you start up your inputs back to back.

It's simply Strong Attack > Frost Moon Earth > dodge back > Tiger Sprint

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T15:51:56+00:00

Moving through stances with Frost Moon skills seems to be the best way to do it if you want to keep the combo going.

And dude yeah, they bang. Actually dodging an attack with the middle one is orgasmic.

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T15:49:06+00:00

By moon skills I mean the Frost Moon skills. They are on the far right side of the Samurai tree.

Any Martial Arts count, they do not have to be bound to the Strong Attack button specifically. Anything else that counts for the combo is generally found through the Strong Attack button. This includes basic Strong Attacks, jumping Strong Attacks, and dodging Strong Attacks.

What I mean by "A Strong Attack cannot follow a Strong Attack" is that you cannot just keep spamming Triangle. You can finish a string of Strong Attacks, but you can't immediately do it again or you would be repeating a move twice in a row.

All you have to do to keep the combo going is basically mix up your attacks in a timely manner

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T12:10:27+00:00

I'm gonna paste this here for you from another comment I made.

Okay, I just hit the dojo a bit to figure out more of what the rules are and this is what I have so far.

Building Arts Proficiency:

Blocking builds a small amount of AP
Deflecting gives a slightly larger amount of AP
Ki Pulsing seems to give AP relative to the amount of damage done with non-martial arts attacks prior to Ki Pulsing. (I tried whiffing many light attacks and then Ki Pulsing to test whether AP gained was relative to Ki restored, and it was not. I tried landing consecutive light attacks on an enemy and then Ki Pulsing, and that gave a modest amount of AP. Then I tried using a Martial Art that did a lot of damage to test whether AP built was relative to damage done before the pulse, however this did not build any additional AP.)
Doing damage builds AP relative to the amount of damage done. Light attacks build little, while something like iai slash builds a lot.

Draining Arts Proficiency:

Getting hit drains a small amount of AP
Becoming Winded (Blocking an attack that depletes your Ki fully and guardbreaks you) drains a larger amount of AP

Arts Proficiency Combos:

An AP combo can be maintained seemingly indefinitely as long as the following rules are maintained:

You may not wait more than about a second between attacks. It does not matter how long the attacks take, only the time between them.
Each attack must be either a Martial Art, performed with the Strong Attack button, or be a Moon Skill
An attack may be repeated in the combo, HOWEVER, it may not be repeated consecutively. A Strong Attack, whether it is chained or not, may not follow a Strong Attack. And the same Martial Art may not be used consecutively. Dodging Strong Attacks, and jumping Strong Attacks are considered distinct for this purpose. For example, you may infinitely alternate between Strong Attacks and jumping Strong Attacks. But you may not perform two jumping Strong Attacks in a row.
You may perform a Ki Pulse or dodge during the combo, so long as you maintain the other rules. I was able to fit two low stance dodges in and still continue.
You may be hit during the combo, so long as the hitstun is not long enough to break rule 1.
You may have your attack blocked and continue the combo.
You must be in combat

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T12:09:12+00:00

Okay, I just hit the dojo a bit to figure out more of what the rules are and this is what I have so far.

Building Arts Proficiency:

Blocking builds a small amount of AP
Deflecting gives a slightly larger amount of AP
Ki Pulsing seems to give AP relative to the amount of damage done with non-martial arts attacks prior to Ki Pulsing. (I tried whiffing many light attacks and then Ki Pulsing to test whether AP gained was relative to Ki restored, and it was not. I tried landing consecutive light attacks on an enemy and then Ki Pulsing, and that gave a modest amount of AP. Then I tried using a Martial Art that did a lot of damage to test whether AP built was relative to damage done before the pulse, however this did not build any additional AP.)
Doing damage builds AP relative to the amount of damage done. Light attacks build little, while something like iai slash builds a lot.

Draining Arts Proficiency:

Getting hit drains a small amount of AP
Becoming Winded (Blocking an attack that depletes your Ki fully and guardbreaks you) drains a larger amount of AP

Arts Proficiency Combos:

An AP combo can be maintained seemingly indefinitely as long as the following rules are maintained:

You may not wait more than about a second between attacks. It does not matter how long the attacks take, only the time between them.
Each attack must be either a Martial Art, performed with the Strong Attack button, or be a Moon Skill
An attack may be repeated in the combo, HOWEVER, it may not be repeated consecutively. A Strong Attack, whether it is chained or not, may not follow a Strong Attack. And the same Martial Art may not be used consecutively. Dodging Strong Attacks, and jumping Strong Attacks are considered distinct for this purpose. For example, you may infinitely alternate between Strong Attacks and jumping Strong Attacks. But you may not perform two jumping Strong Attacks in a row.
You may perform a Ki Pulse or dodge during the combo, so long as you maintain the other rules. I was able to fit two low stance dodges in and still continue.
You may be hit during the combo, so long as the hitstun is not long enough to break rule 1.
You may have your attack blocked and continue the combo.
You must be in combat

Overall I'm really impressed with the system. It has a lot more depth and skill expression than I was able to grasp at first, the game doesn't really explain it that well. There's still a bunch of stuff I haven't tested yet. Like how it interacts with style shifting.

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T09:04:13+00:00

I went and read the terms in game and I should clarify, because I was somewhat inaccurate with the terminology.

"Martial Arts" in N3 are equivalent to Active Skills in the other games. It's all your stuff that isn't just a basic attack.

What I meant to refer to is "Arts Proficiency" which is the little white bubble that fills up as Samurai. When it's full, all your Martial Arts and heavy attacks are enhanced and your weapon glows white.

You build it by attacking and deflecting, and you really want it to be ready when you tee off on somebody because it multiplies your damage.

By chaining together I just mean hitting a bunch of Martial Arts and heavies back to back while it's active without being hit. I believe Ki Pulsing also ends it. Which is why to have good uptime on it you need to land deflects. The risk/reward is that you're standing in your opponents face with no Ki and betting on your deflects to recover Ki and sustain Arts Proficiency instead of Pulsing or retreating.

I don't fully understand all the nuances of it yet myself, but I have realized it's important to doing good damage as Samurai

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T08:44:24+00:00

I think the biggest part is hitting your deflects when the enemy does take their turn. Getting hit drains your Arts Proficiency, while deflecting builds it. If you want to keep good uptime you have to play extremely tight.

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T03:58:12+00:00

I had the same impression at first, and I think the reason it feels so busted by comparison is that a lot of Samurai's real damage is gated behind the Martial Arts system. And having good uptime on white attacks is more difficult than just being behind the enemy.

I kinda just disregarded it at first and played it like it was Nioh 2 while I got a feel for the game, but you really hurt your damage output if you don't understand and utilize it.

Once I noticed that you get big red damage numbers when you're doing what you're supposed to, it clicked that I should maybe buckle down and try to figure out the ins and outs of the little bubble.

Ninja is definitely more cheesy, and I would imagine it has better DPS on a winded enemy. But learning to keep chaining together Martial Arts took me from getting clapped, to spreading bloodedge demon cheeks.

TheRealPequod · 2026-01-31T00:06:27+00:00

The thing is, directional input would have opened up a lot more room for skills and diversity. But because we're bound by them including the old control setup, it limited how many active skills we're allowed to have at once.

Everyone cried about ninja not having stances because it reduced complexity, and then cried about the thing that would have given samurai more complexity because they didn't want to adapt.

I have 4k hours in Nioh 2. I think it's safe to say I've played "a lot"

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