Nioh 3 Weapon Tier List & How to Unlock Everything
Some people will tell you that "every weapon is viable" in Nioh 3, but those people are usually lying to you while they struggle to kill a basic skeleton.
There are 14 weapon types in this game, split evenly between Samurai and Ninja styles. While you can beat the game with any of them, some require a PhD in geometry to use effectively, while others just delete enemies from existence with one button. I prefer the latter.
If you want to know what the current meta looks like, how to stop being limited to just one weapon per style, and where to farm the red "Crucible" gear, you are in the right place.
First: Unlocking the Second Weapon Slot
Before we talk about which weapons to use, we need to fix the fact that the game arbitrarily limits you to one weapon per style at the start. It is annoying, but fixing it is a priority.
You cannot just buy a slot. You have to earn it.
Progress to the Eternal Rift: This is the hub world you unlock after the tutorial.
Find the Masters: Locate Yagyu Munenori (Samurai Master) and Hattori Hanzo (Ninja Master) on the map.
Clear the "Novice" Missions: Complete "Way of the Warrior: Novice" and "Way of the Ninja: Novice."
Wait for the Heian Period: You cannot get the slot until you reach the second time period, Heian.
Beat the "Adept" Missions: Once in Heian, go back to the Rift. The "Adept" missions will unlock (Recommended Level ~56). Beat Munenori and Hanzo in a duel.
Once you humble your teachers, the second slot unlocks. Now you can equip two Samurai weapons and two Ninja weapons, swapping them on the fly with R1 + Down.
The Nioh 3 Weapon Tier List
I have tested everything so you don't have to waste materials upgrading garbage. Keep in mind this is based on efficiency, damage output, and how much effort you need to put in to get results.
How to Farm "Crucible" Weapons Early
You might have seen weapons with a little Red Skull Icon in the menu. These are Crucible Weapons.
They are stronger than normal loot and are required to unlock specific high-level skills in your weapon tree. The game tells you they are rare drops from inside Crucibles (the challenge arenas).
But I found a way to farm them easily in the early game without sweating through a gauntlet.
Load the Mission: Go to your Battle Scrolls and select "Crucible Manifested". This is an early mission.
Rush to the Checkpoint: Ignore everything until you reach the second Bodhisattva Statue (the checkpoint shrine). It is right past a Clan Estate area.
The Target: Just past the statue, there is a lone Ippon-Datara (the one-legged hopping hammer Yokai).
The Loop: Kill the Ippon-Datara. He has a high drop rate for Crucible weapons.
Respawn: Immediately run back to the statue and pray. The enemy respawns. Kill him again.
Do this for 20 minutes and you will have an inventory full of Red Skull weapons.
Soul Matching & Remodeling: Making Gear Better
Once you have your shiny S-Tier Crucible weapon, don't throw it away just because you leveled up and found a stick with higher base damage.
Go to the Blacksmith and use Soul Matching. You feed a high-level junk weapon into your good weapon. This raises the level of your good weapon to match the junk one. This is how you keep your favorite gear relevant from level 10 to level 100.
Later, you unlock Remodeling. This lets you change the scaling stats of a weapon. So if you love the Switchglaive but you leveled Strength instead of Magic, you can Remodel it to scale with Strength. It costs gold and materials, but it saves your build.
