Best Nioh 3 Builds for Every Playstyle

Nioh 3’s dual-style system means you’re not just picking a weapon. You’re building two interconnected combat identities that share stats, swap mid-fight, and scale into completely different endgame monsters. Finding the best Nioh 3 builds for your playstyle is the difference between breezing through Dream of the Strong and getting flattened by every boss in the second region.

I’ve spent the last few weeks pulling apart every build worth running, cross-referencing community tier lists, and testing what actually holds up past the first playthrough. If you’re still getting your bearings with the combat system, check out our Nioh 3 combat guide first. Otherwise, here are the eight builds that matter right now, ranked by tier and organized by playstyle.

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How Builds Work in Nioh 3

Every character in Nioh 3 runs two combat styles simultaneously: Samurai and Ninja. You switch between them with R2, and both styles share the same stat pool. This is the single biggest change from Nioh 2, and it means your build isn’t just one weapon anymore. It’s a pair of weapons with overlapping stat synergies.

There are seven stats, and each weapon uses three of them as Reference Stats. Here’s the part most guides explain poorly: the game auto-assigns your highest Reference Stat as your Major damage scaler, your second-highest as Moderate, and your third as Minor. There are no fixed S/B/C grades. This means you literally cannot brick a build. Pump the wrong stat? It still contributes. Respec is also free after the prologue, so experiment without fear.

Stat	What It Does	Primary Weapons
Constitution	HP	Spear, Axe, Tonfa, Kusarigama
Heart	Ki + Ki recovery	Sword, Dual Swords, Cestus, Talons
Stamina	HP + equip weight	Odachi, Axe, Hatchets, Talons
Skill	Ninjutsu power	Switchglaive, Ninja Sword, Tonfa, Kusarigama
Strength	Ki damage from arts	Sword, Dual Swords, Odachi, Axe
Intellect	Buff/debuff duration	Sword, Switchglaive, Ninja Sword, Splitstaff
Magic	Onmyo power	Dual Swords, Odachi, Switchglaive, Kusarigama

Soft caps hit around 20-30 for the first threshold and 60-80 for the second. The first 10 points in any stat give massive value, so the standard early-game strategy is: Constitution to 15-20, your primary weapon stat to 20-30, then Heart to 15-20 for Ki. Don’t spread thin across all seven stats until mid-game. If you’re brand new to the series, our Nioh 3 beginner guide covers the fundamentals before you worry about optimizing builds.

Best Nioh 3 Builds: Samurai

Lightning Sword (S-Tier, Easy)

This is the build I recommend to everyone starting out, and it stays S-tier through the entire first playthrough. The core loop is simple: block or deflect incoming attacks, then spam Heaven Flash. That’s it. Heaven Flash staggers most enemies, deals solid Ki damage, and has a Lightning variant that adds elemental pressure on top.

Component	Details
Weapon	Sohaya Tsurugi (Sword)
Stats	Heart (primary), Strength, Stamina to B agility (30-70% encumbrance)
Armor	Herald of Peace set (5 pieces, Defense scales with Heart)
Guardian Spirits	Kongojishi (Samurai), Kurama Tengu (Ninja)
Soul Cores	Gaki Chief (Yang), Yoki or Hino-enma (Yin)
Core Skills	Heaven Flash, Heaven Flash: Lightning, Iai Quickdraw III, Night Rain

Use High Stance for Heaven Flash and Morning Moon against big targets, Low Stance for faster Heaven Flash against quick enemies, and Mid Stance for Iai Quickdraw when you spot an opening. The Herald of Peace set is the real enabler here. At 4 pieces, your Defense scales with Heart (the stat you’re already pumping), and at 5 pieces you get Guardian Spirit bonuses for both styles.

The main weakness is rapid successive attacks. If an enemy chains three fast swings, your block will drain Ki quickly. For those fights, swap to your Ninja weapon and dodge instead of blocking. That flexibility is the whole point of the dual-style system.

Odachi Tank (A-Tier, Medium)

If you want to hit things very hard and not care about getting hit back, this is your build. The Odachi has the highest per-hit damage of any Samurai weapon and excellent crowd control through its wide sweeping attacks. You’ll stagger most regular enemies in one or two swings.

Component	Details
Weapon	Odachi
Stats	Stamina 33, Strength 11, Heart 10, Constitution 10, Intellect 11
Armor	Crimson General set (6 pieces, Toughness + Ki damage resistance)
Guardian Spirits	Kusanagi or Atlas Bear (Grapple +20%)
Soul Cores	Flexible (match your secondary element)
Core Skills	Ground Sweeper, Moonlit Snow Charge, Groundquake Lightning, Swirling Snow

The Crimson General set gives you the Toughness to absorb hits mid-swing without getting interrupted. Ground Sweeper clears groups, Moonlit Snow Charge closes distance, and Groundquake Lightning adds elemental damage for status buildup. The trade-off is speed. Odachi attacks are slow, Ki consumption is high, and you need heavy armor to make the tank fantasy work. Keep Stamina at 33 minimum for comfortable B agility.

⚡ Quick tip: Atlas Bear as your primary Guardian Spirit gives +20% Grapple Damage. Since the Odachi’s main combo naturally breaks enemy Ki and opens grapple opportunities, this pairing is stronger than it looks on paper.

Water Spear (A-Tier, Easy)

The safest build in the game. Spear’s long reach means you’re hitting enemies before they can hit you, and Constitution as your primary scaling stat double-dips into weapon damage and max HP. You’re naturally tanky just by building for damage.

Component	Details
Weapon	Spear
Stats	Constitution (primary), Heart, Skill
Armor	Tatenashi (defensive) or mixed set
Guardian Spirits	Guhin (Yang), Mizuchi (Water +15%) for elemental synergy
Core Skills	Spear Bash, Windmill Wind, Fatal Thrust

Pair Mizuchi as your secondary spirit for Water Damage +15%, then stack Water element on your spear. The Saturation debuff (applied when Water buildup maxes out) reduces enemy defense and slows their Ki recovery. It’s not the flashiest build, but it’s consistent and forgiving. You’ll rarely die because you’re always at range with a massive HP pool.

The spear also happens to share two Reference Stats with the Tonfa (Constitution and Skill), making Spear + Tonfa the best cross-style weapon pairing in the game. More on that in the weapon pairing section below.

Flowing Flame Dual Swords (A-Tier, Medium)

If you like the idea of attacking so aggressively that the game can’t interrupt you, Flowing Flame is your build. The Heirloom armor set reduces damage taken by up to 13% while you’re attacking, and the Oppressive Strength passive prevents stagger during strong attacks. You’re a berserker who tanks through offense.

Component	Details
Weapon	Soshu Dual Tachi (Ki damage on strong attacks)
Stats	Heart (primary), Constitution 15+, Stamina 15-25, Magic
Armor	Heirloom set (5 pieces, -13% damage taken while attacking)
Guardian Spirits	Guhin (Samurai), Kongojishi (Ninja)
Core Skills	Water Sword (hold strong attack), Oppressive Strength, Unshakable

Your main attack is Water Sword: hold the strong attack button for rapid slices that build elemental status and drain enemy Ki. Combine that with the Heirloom damage reduction and Unshakable (-10% damage while attacking) and you’re functionally a tank who happens to deal excellent DPS. The downside is heavy encumbrance (C agility) which limits your dodge, so you have to commit to the aggressive playstyle. If you stop attacking, you lose your defensive bonuses.

Best Ninja Builds

Ninjutsu Kusarigama (S-Tier, Hard)

The highest damage ceiling in the game, but it demands execution. The Kusarigama gives you both melee range and mid-range chain attacks, while Ninjutsu tools let you bombard bosses from safety. When played well, nothing kills faster.

Component	Details
Weapon	Kusarigama
Stats	Skill 31+, Heart 20, Constitution 9-15
Armor	Iga Jonin set (5 pieces, Ninjutsu Damage + Dodge Ki reduction)
Guardian Spirit	Nekomata (Ninjutsu Power +10%)
Soul Cores	Jakotsu-baba (Yang), Yoki (Yin)
Core Skills	Crimson Flurry, Whirlwind Kick, Deadly Mark, Gunpowder Bomb, Pinwheel Shuriken

The Iga Jonin set reduces Dodge Ki consumption, which is your primary defensive tool. You’re not blocking with this build. You’re weaving in and out, throwing Gunpowder Bombs during openings, then closing with Crimson Flurry for burst damage. The learning curve is steep because one mistake in light armor means death, but the reward is a build that melts bosses faster than anything else in the game.

Stack Water or Lightning element for Saturation/Electrified status effects. Both debuffs cripple enemy Ki recovery, which opens more grapple windows and extends your damage uptime.

Naked Ninja Talons (Unique Tier, Very Hard)

This one is for the masochists. Zero armor. Heart pumped to 99. The fastest weapon in the game combined with maximum mobility because you weigh nothing. It’s a glass cannon that shatters if anything looks at you wrong, but the damage output when you’re chaining Spinning Kicks into Whirling Tiger is absurd.

Component	Details
Weapon	Talons (NO ARMOR)
Stats	Heart 99, Intellect 43, Skill 20, everything else minimal
Armor	None. Zero pieces equipped.
Guardian Spirit	Nekomata (Ninjutsu Ki Damage + Ki Recovery)
Core Skills	Spinning Kicks, Whirling Tiger, Impact Punch, Uncanny Flame, Fire Shuriken

I’m including this build because it exists in the community meta and it’s genuinely fun once you learn the dodge timings. But let me be clear: this is an endgame flex build for players who already know every boss attack pattern. Don’t run this on your first playthrough. You will not have a good time.

Best Hybrid and Endgame Builds

Hybrid builds combine both styles actively, switching mid-combat to exploit openings. They’re the strongest archetype in Nioh 3 when played correctly, but they require solid knowledge of both Samurai and Ninja mechanics.

Onmyo Switchglaive (S-Tier, Medium)

The Switchglaive is the most versatile weapon in the game because Magic (its primary Reference Stat) does triple duty: it scales your weapon damage, increases your Onmyo spell power, and expands your spell capacity. Every point in Magic makes you better at everything this build does.

Component	Details
Weapon	Switchglaive + Dual Swords (secondary)
Stats	Magic (primary), Intellect, Skill, Constitution 15+
Armor	Mixed early, Grace of Tsukuyomi at Dream of the Wise
Guardian Spirit	Genbu (Magic +10, Water/Phantom)
Core Skills	Switch Stance variants, Kibosh Kicker, Infinite Retribution II
Onmyo Magic	Fire/Lightning/Water Familiars, Barrier Talisman, Extraction Talisman

Early and mid-game, this build rotates through elemental Familiars to apply status effects while the Switchglaive handles the melee work. The Switchglaive’s stance-morphing gives you range (High), speed (Low), and balanced (Mid) options all on one weapon. Once you reach Dream of the Wise difficulty and unlock Grace of Tsukuyomi, this build transforms into the Endgame Confusion build below.

Endgame Confusion Build (S-Tier, Hard)

This is the strongest build in the game at level 150+. The core mechanic is the Confusion status: when you apply two different elements to an enemy simultaneously, they enter Confusion, which massively increases the damage they take and cripples their Ki recovery. Nothing in NG+ resists it.

Component	Details
Weapon	Switchglaive (primary) + Dual Swords (secondary)
Stats	Magic 60, Dexterity 30, Courage 30, Constitution 20, Heart 15
Armor	Grace of Tsukuyomi (regenerates spells on Yokai kills)
Guardian Spirit	Genbu (primary)
Core Loop	Fire Familiar → Lightning Familiar → Confusion → burst damage → repeat
Required Skills	Quick-Change Scroll (mandatory), Pleiades Talisman, Extraction Talisman

The Tsukuyomi set bonus regenerates your Onmyo spell uses when you kill enemies with Yokai abilities, creating a self-sustaining spell economy. You never run out of Familiars. The Confusion loop itself is straightforward once set up: cast Fire Familiar, cast Lightning Familiar, watch the enemy melt.

⚠️ Important: Quick-Change Scroll is not optional on this build. Most endgame boss attacks deal 80-100% of your HP in a single hit. Quick-Change saves you from death once per cast. Run it or plan to see a lot of loading screens.

This build requires Dream of the Wise difficulty (minimum) because Grace sets only drop there and beyond. If you’re still in Dream of the Samurai or Dream of the Strong, run the Onmyo Switchglaive build above and transition into this when the gear becomes available.

Best Weapon Pairings

Since every build runs a Samurai and Ninja weapon together, your weapon pairing matters as much as your individual weapon choice. The key is stat overlap: weapons that share Reference Stats let you get more damage out of fewer stat points.

Pairing	Shared Stats	Playstyle
Spear + Tonfa	Constitution, Skill	Best all-around. Spear for range, Tonfa for Ki shredding. Constitution boosts HP too.
Katana + Kusarigama	Heart (partial)	Classic combo. Sword handles bosses, Kusarigama clears mobs at range.
Odachi + Splitstaff	Strength, Magic	Heavy/fast contrast. Odachi for punish windows, Splitstaff for sustained multi-hit.
Switchglaive + Hatchets	Skill, Intellect	Stationary burst + high mobility. Good for hit-and-run patterns.
Dual Swords + Kusarigama	Magic (partial)	Pure speed. Maximizes attack frequency and status buildup.

Spear + Tonfa is the standout pairing. Two out of three Reference Stats overlap, which means almost every stat point you invest improves both weapons. Constitution scaling on both means your “damage stat” is also your “HP stat.” It’s efficient, it’s effective, and it covers both range (Spear) and Ki damage (Tonfa, which has the highest Ki damage of any Ninja weapon).

One more thing worth knowing: the Remodel system unlocks mid-campaign and lets you change a weapon’s scaling stats. This opens up pairings that wouldn’t normally share stats. If you have a specific weapon combo you love but the stats don’t overlap, Remodel can fix that.

Common Build Mistakes

After reading through dozens of community threads and build discussions, these are the mistakes I see most often:

• Spreading stats across all seven early. Focus on 2-3 stats until level 50. Diversify after that.
• Ignoring soft caps. After 30, returns drop sharply. Once your primary hits 30, start investing in secondary stats instead of pushing to 60.
• Never switching styles. Even if you prefer Samurai, Ninja tools like Kunai and Cicada Shell are useful for every build. Use both styles.
• Skipping Ki Pulse. The most important combat mechanic in the game. Practice it immediately. Every build needs it.
• Wearing heavy armor without enough Stamina. If you’re at C or D agility, your dodge i-frames are gutted. Stay at B agility (30-70% encumbrance) unless you’re specifically running a tank build.
• Not completing armor set bonuses. A full 5-piece set is significantly stronger than five random high-level pieces. Prioritize set completion over raw stats.
• Hoarding gear. There’s a 2,000 item limit. Dismantle everything that’s 30+ levels below your current gear.
• Skipping Quick-Change Scroll in endgame. Most endgame boss attacks are near-fatal. This skill saves your life. Literally.

And the most important one: don’t fear experimentation. Respec is free. The Reference Stat system means you can’t permanently ruin a build. If something isn’t working, reset and try a different approach. That’s built into the game’s design.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

Nioh 3’s build system is deep but forgiving. The Reference Stat auto-scaling and free respec mean you can always course-correct, so don’t overthink your first build. Start with Lightning Sword if you want something reliable, Ninjutsu Kusarigama if you want a challenge, or Water Spear if you want to play it safe. As you push into NG+ and beyond, the Onmyo Switchglaive transitions naturally into the Endgame Confusion build, which is the undisputed king of late-game content. Whatever you pick, learn Ki Pulse, use both styles, and don’t be afraid to respec when something isn’t clicking.