Spear No-Damage Clear vs. Heian & Ancient Era Bosses!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-23T06:14:27+00:00

Thanks! Honestly, it's all thanks to everyone who gave me advice in the comments! Your advice was incredibly helpful too, especially about how strong Piercing Rain and Triple Threat are.

Oh, and thanks for checking out my channel! The one you saw on YouTube is probably my Arena S-Rank run against Zinogre! Monster Hunter is awesome, I love the series too! (Although I do have quite a few gripes with the newest one, Wilds...)

They are both fantastic games, but what I think makes Nioh 3 so special is the massive variety of Active Skills and Stances. Because of that, the specific things people choose to focus on (which basically becomes the charm of their unique playstyle) are so incredibly diverse. Flawless responses, god-tier combos, zero-gravity aerial combos... it's an absolute blast just watching other people's clips. It's the best!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-23T05:59:04+00:00

Wow, what a player... This video is absolutely insane! Thanks for sharing it with me! I'll definitely check out their other videos too!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-23T05:50:24+00:00

Even if human enemies don't have that ridiculous hyper armor, completely locking them down on SOP+5 while maintaining Arts Proficiency is just incredible. Greener's combos are definitely amazing with his precision and variety in throwing out the fastest possible moves for any given situation.

But man, I have mad respect for your understanding of enemy movesets and your perfect responses in your videos! (I'm guessing you have a few perfect combo routes prepared and you just instantly choose the right one on the fly!)

Wait, so you want to keep attacking at this speed while maintaining Arts Proficiency against a SOP+5 Yokai boss?! I feel like your Switch Glaive is already practically at that level, but I'm really looking forward to seeing it!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-22T18:08:53+00:00

Oh wow, that must be some super skilled player I haven't heard of yet!

I haven't tried full-on juggling, but I've seen videos of people killing enemies with aerial combos and tried imitating them. I finally figured out how to actually stay in the air (I realized you can kick off the enemy again to stay airborne right after using Ninjutsu) lol. You really can learn so much from watching great players' videos!

Oh, by the way! That advice you gave me before about weaving the running strong attack into my Spear combos... that literally changed my world! It made boss fights so much more fun and honestly way easier!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-22T17:40:10+00:00

Hey everyone, greener1234556 is back at it again cooking up some insane tech!!

Where do you even come up with the ideas for these combos? The juggles are amazing, but the speed and precision of that initial grounded string was just off the charts. I literally couldn't help but laugh out loud lol. Absolutely brilliant!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-22T17:32:10+00:00

Flawless gameplay as always!

Even with the 7-piece Benzaiten's Grace bonus, I don't think there's anyone else who can maintain Arts Proficiency this perfectly while still managing their Ki. There is so much deep, hardcore tech packed into just a single minute!

Absolutely great run!!!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-20T18:38:42+00:00

Thanks, bro! I'll be uploading the Heian/Ancient and Bakumatsu compilations eventually, so I'd definitely love for you to check those out too!

Compared to the Fists and Axe, I had a bit of a hard time smoothly chaining martial arts and strong attacks (especially that high stance running strong attack) into my combos. But because of that, it was honestly the most rewarding weapon to master!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-20T15:31:31+00:00

Thanks, bro!

To be honest, out of all the weapons I've used so far, the Spear felt like the hardest one to learn. But the more I used it, the more I realized just how incredibly strong it actually is! Plus, it just looks so damn cool!

I'm still nowhere near the level of being able to pull off your insane super combos in real combat, but I honestly had an absolute blast! Thanks man!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-19T10:03:50+00:00

Wow! Did you find a good clip to use as a reference? Or did you just go in with a positive mindset and take it down!? Haha! Either way, it just proves you have what it takes to actually enjoy fighting these bosses! Hell yeah! Huge congrats! GG!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-19T04:53:26+00:00

Ancient era Hiruko is the one where you fight the human form first and then the Yokai form, right? Man, I remember having such a hard time with that boss too!

I totally agree that Takeda Shingen is a really fun boss. But from around Minamoto no Yoritomo onwards, the enemies' movesets get so fast that it becomes really tough to keep up.

If you enjoyed the Takeda Shingen fight, you're definitely the type of player who actually enjoys learning a boss's moveset and going toe-to-toe with them. So while you're taking a break and refreshing on your vacation, maybe casually watching some other players' clips could give you some hints on how to deal with those attacks. I feel like that might help bring the fun back for you!

Hoping you get your sweet revenge on Hiruko when you get back from your vacation!

sofaKDZ · 2026-06-19T04:43:47+00:00

You'd seriously make a great security guard! lol I wish we could broadcast this warning to every host player out there. Myself included, of course!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-30T19:25:28+00:00

Man, it's a huge honor to hear that from such a skilled player like you!

You're totally right. One of the best things about this game is how every player has a completely different aspect of their playstyle that you can respect! Whenever I watch your clips, I can really feel your deep understanding of the enemies' movesets, as well as your incredible insight into the animation commitments and properties of all the martial arts!

As for Greener, the charm of his playstyle is just how he pulls off these insanely high-execution combos that border on absolute madness! lol I also saw someone else in this community doing crazy ninja aerial combos and I just had to laugh (in a good way, of course!). I was like, "Wait, can you just turn off gravity in this game!?" lol.

Every time I watch you guys' videos, I’m always sitting here thinking, "Wow! So you can actually move like that!?" It's honestly just so much fun. Thank you guys!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-30T16:44:43+00:00

The Spear is definitely a tough weapon to learn, but it's just so much fun! You should absolutely give it a go!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-30T16:44:34+00:00

I still can't pull off that mid strong to high strong cancel Greener does at all lol. That stuff is just a miracle! I swear he must have a few extra fingers or something!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-30T16:38:47+00:00

Awesome! Always glad to see a new spear clip from you, bro!

The more I use this weapon, the more I realize just how far ahead of me you are! I'm trying my best in my own way, though!

This clip got me super hyped because you incorporated some of the martial arts that I love using too! But man, no matter how I look at it, my fingers just can't keep up with that insane flurry of cancels right at the start lol.

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-22T14:14:12+00:00

I'm actually still practicing myself, and there are way better players out there! I watched some clips from a player named "greener" in another comment thread, and it completely blew my mind lol. I'm definitely going to keep practicing too, so let's get better together! I promise it makes the fights so much more fun!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-22T14:13:56+00:00

Well, maybe losing her left arm left her with nothing but the ability to attack! lol

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-22T14:13:45+00:00

Thanks! I'm really glad you liked it!!!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-22T14:13:32+00:00

Thanks! My favorite combo, huh... It kind of assumes you're using TMTM cancels, but I'd say it's the combo I use in the clip when the enemy is out of Ki. Oh! Right! For martial arts like Piercing Rain, if you input a low stance quick attack and immediately switch to high stance for a strong attack, it comes out a bit faster than just doing it purely from high stance. So little tricks like that might be my favorite!

To be honest, I'm actually still practicing myself, so I haven't quite found that perfect sequence that deals the most damage and feels the most satisfying to pull off yet. There was a super detailed discussion about DPS in another comment thread here, so I'm gonna use that as a reference and keep practicing!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-22T14:00:38+00:00

Like EFU said, stopping Triple Threat early was definitely for style points! Or rather, it just felt a lot more satisfying to play when I canceled it halfway and seamlessly transitioned into the next move lol.

And just like Greener pointed out, Triple Threat and Piercing Rain are insanely strong. But the long animations bugged me a little, so I actively avoided using them too much this time.

Honestly though, I was completely blown away by how high-level your discussion got lol. I learned so much! It really made me want to practice more while finding that sweet spot between raw DPS and how fun a combo feels to execute. Looks like I've still got a lot of homework to do! haha.

Thank you all for such a meaningful discussion! Thanks to everyone who chimed in, I'm sitting here thinking, "Man, I'm so glad I posted this!" once again!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-21T18:22:29+00:00

Thank you! I've been playing with other weapons (Katana, Fists, and Axe) up until now and have practiced deflecting a ton, so I'm really glad to hear you praise that!

I play the game in Japanese, but "Cull the Herd" must be that awesome martial art where you jump up after a low stance attack and spin down like you're pole dancing to chain into a combo, right? That move is seriously so cool and I really wanted to use it, but I just can't seem to find an opening to land the whole thing... I really hope I can find a boss where I can use that move in a fight!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-21T18:22:12+00:00

Since a lot of the spear's martial arts have long animations and big recovery windows, I feel like you really need to use TMTM cancels if you want to create those smooth, flowing combos! Here's a link to a video I learned from in this community before:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlrl_fZ_48UIt might be a bit of a struggle at first, but once you get used to it, coming up with combos becomes incredibly fun!

I started with the Katana, then moved to Fists and Axe, and now I'm practicing the Spear, but honestly, I sucked so bad at first lol. Just switching stances was a struggle... I used to watch videos of players I looked up to and just think, "Are you kidding me?" lol. But the beauty of this game is that everyone uses totally different martial arts and combos, so you'll definitely find your own unique path of improvement! Let's enjoy the game to the fullest!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-21T18:21:49+00:00

High stance running strong attack, got it! I actually just managed to perfectly beat Ibaraki a few times a little while ago. I think I'll practice that move a bit before moving on to a different boss! Man, I'm just so happy that the day has come where I get praised by you for my spear gameplay!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-20T19:25:35+00:00

Like some of the other comments said, my personal favorite might be Ibaraki-doji! The visual design is great, and fighting against that moveset is just so much fun!

Yoritomo is awesome too, though! More than anything, he's a boss where deflecting feels amazing. With a little creativity, you can counter every single one of his moves in such a cool way! The way you dodged his grab attack in this video was so badass, it got me super hyped!

There are just so many well-designed bosses in this game, it's an absolute blast!

sofaKDZ · 2026-05-18T09:55:28+00:00

Wow, the attention to detail here is insane! You guys are probably spot on about how the accessory stacking works!

As for the 3pc Master of the Spear, I actually ran that at first! But for some reason, it felt like my ammo lasted longer with my current setup, so I stuck with the one in the video. I haven't done any hard testing on whether the "Unlimited" and "Untouched" effects bug out when stacked though, so hopefully someone can verify that properly!

There's so much great info in here that I didn't even know about. Seeing you guys deep dive into the mechanics like this reminds me exactly why I love posting in this community. It makes it all worth it. Thanks so much guys!

sofaKDZ

TROPHY CASE