u/EternalFlareUltra

I've done some other no damage runs on this boss before back in base NG so decided to do him on Stone of Penance + 5 with Level Sync on and no magic used. He's one of the harder bosses to do no damage runs on as he has a ton of moves, combo transitions and very particular openings you have to get used to.

Some notable Martial Arts used in this run other than the classic Stance Switch moves:

Side Swipe

• This move causes a guaranteed trip/knockdown on human enemies/bosses if two other conditions are true:
  • They must be in a neutral state or in recovery after another move, they can't be doing another action as u/HumorSuper3074 pointed out
  • You haven't used this move recently. In particular it refreshes the knockdown property every 15 seconds or so. Special thanks to u/Clams_y_for_ll_out for discovering this is the case and posting about it.
• Since this move causes a decently long knockdown after the correct conditions, you can do all kinds of combos and follow-ups. In this run I opted to do charged Thin Air as part of the punish, something you don't normally see a lot of.

Empty Retribution

• Big damage dealer for Switch Glaive. It's a high commitment move but even on Kunimatsu, if you know the right openings where he'll get staggered for a bit after some moves, you can do it safely. I like to end the combo with Stance Switch - Low as it's a fast ender and refreshes the Wildfire stacks.

Lightning Blade

• As always, got a lot of mileage out of this counter as it can be done during combo strings. Kunimatsu doesn't always give you big combo enders/openings after his has fast moves so it's nice to use this and get some guaranteed damage regardless.

Wildfire Flux

• I only got to use this once. But on human enemies/bosses it's a guaranteed stagger regardless of what move they are doing or what state they are in. It costs you your 5 Wildfire stacks but it's big damage and kind of flashy. It can also knockdown humans and often does although it didn't do that here. Not sure exactly what causes it to sometimes fully knockdown humans and other times they only get staggered.

I have always been somewhat intrigued by this series. I love deep action combat games and hear a lot of good things about this one. My partner suggested we try it for the wacky story (we're loving the sheer insanity of it so far).

As for the gameplay I can't find a lot of info on the intricacies of the combat system. Are there any recommended guides for ins and outs of the combat, advanced tech etc? Or any videos that show off some of its combat potential?

Ninja mode has a lot more depth than people realize. Finding opportunities to do backstabs safely and really focusing on aiming/repositioning can be a lot of fun and very rewarding to learn. And Ninja Swords mystic art rewards you even more greatly for key positioning and backstabs.

Notable Martial Arts/Ninjutsu used here:

KickSlash - A good damage dealer for Ninja Sword. You can either do the full combo by pressing the attack button twice or end it early even without special cancels. Ideal for when you are near the enemies back for massive damage.

Kurma Sword Dance - Another option great for damage. I used the base version instead of the Wind version as it deals more damage, and Obsession is pretty resistant to Wind.

Shadow Cyclone - This move has a slow startup but puts you right behind the enemy. Since Ninja mode heavily rewards backstabs, moves like these are ideal to have and finding the right openings to do it safely is very rewarding. In this run for instance, I did it after Obsession's red arm slams since he's quite open after (leads to better punishes than just burst countering them).

Swallow Slash - You do a very quick attack while moving back. Ideal for getting some quick damage in during small openings and then backing off.

Falling Moon - Standard aerial martial art, many weapons have a similar move. Ideal for horn breaks especially when a boss lowers their head as I showcased in this run.

Leaf Glide - You can use this move to dodge to the side. This as well as mist lets you quickly reposition while dealing damage and can even help you get behind foes. And it's a fast move in general so ideal for tacking on some extra damage in the right moments.

Cicada Shell - Another method to get behind foes quickly. One advantage of this is you can do this while your low on Ki and get behind them and recover some Ki at around the same time. And it's basically a parry with a really fast startup so you can do it in situations where Shadow Cyclone would be too slow.

Shadowstitch - Pauses any enemy for a brief moment. So, it's an ideal move when you are already behind them or close to it to extend the punish window in those situations.

I defeated Tomoe on Stone of Penance + 5 with a single long combo chain. A couple of things to note here:

• To keep Tomoe locked down, can't give her room to breathe or she will start attacking. With Switch Glaive, I found Frost Moon: Humanity, Cyclone and Switch Stance: Blade to be amazing gap closers which you can do on reaction as she moves/jumps back. Once I was next to her and/or had her cornered, moves like Empty Retribution, Side Swipe and Frost Moon - Heaven dealt higher damage.
• TMTM cancels were important here. I opted to use them after Frost Moon attacks. Not only can you act quicker afterwords, but you actually regain a bit of Ki as you are doing them since you're technically in neutral for a split second before the next action. So those combined with the Frost Moons gave me just enough Ki to keep the combo going. Special thanks to u/greener1234556 for bringing this to my attention.
• Since Ki regeneration is key, I opted to use 7-piece Benz, 1 piece Founder of the Shogunate and beefed up my Ki and Ki recovery stats. There are many other ways to beef up your Ki stats or reduce the amount of Ki spent but this is a pretty decent universal way to do it.
• As always, I opted to use no items/magic in this run (outside of having a summoning seal for TMTM cancels). By stacking attack buffs, you can do this sort of thing much faster. But I wanted to show some Arts Proficiency chaining potential and that you can just keep it going forever in certain situations and/or if you know how to extend it. Even on Stone of Penance + 5 and without frequent Ki breaks.

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I normally prefer having dances with regular major bosses with plenty of interaction and learning their movesets inside and out. As a result, I typically avoid fighting masters/mini-bosses. But just being able to focus mostly on execution and keeping one combo going was a nice change of pace. There's just so many ways enjoy Nioh 3's combat.

This is quite an interesting matchup to try to do a no damage run on.

• It's one of the best matchups to utilize jumps in the game. This is because a well-timed jump can get over several of Envy's tricky attacks including her retreating flame throwers, her spinning flame attack (she starts doing this once in the dark realm) and her grab. Switch Glaive's jumping Martial Art (Stallion Strike) also moves you forward and delays your landing so it was especially effective here.
• In her final phase (1/3rd roughly HP left) she starts summoning eruptions all over the map. However, surprisingly they don't seem to have much of a hitbox. You can kind of just step over them and not take damage. But they do cloud the screen making it harder to see what she's doing.
• A unique attack she gets in her final phase is this charge up fire aerial explosion move (see 1:53). The startup of the move (the initial fire around her) is extremely fast. If you're hugging her body prior, you're likely not going to be able to react to it and will just get hit. So, I actually had to adjust my spacing and stay back slightly after combos so I wouldn't be caught by the initial fire.

Finally got around to doing a spear run after messing around with the weapon the last few days. One unique aspect of this weapon is it has deceptively great range especially with Stability equipped.

Notable moves used in this run

Triple Threat - Arguably the best Martial Art Spear has. You can do up to 3 hits, regain Ki while doing the last two, the first hit is quite fast, and the last one is big damage. One top of all of this, the move has incredibly good range for how strong it is. TMTM cancelling the first two hits if you don't have time for the last one can be quite effective too (in this run I used running high strong a lot for this purpose)

Running High Strong - One of the fastest moves Spear has and there's a shortcut to do running attacks quickly (double crouch while holding forward). Because this move comes out fast and recovers extremely quickly while dealing decent damage, it's ideal for TMTM cancels and extending combos just a bit further.

Piercing Rain - This Martial Arts deals big damage as well as good Ki damage. So, it's ideal for big openings. It also has really good range although I didn't get to show off that aspect of it in this run.

Twisting Spear - A Martial Art you can charge up and then release to propel forward. It gains you significant distance and can even be used to avoid attacks. In this run I showed off an interesting opening using it. When Demon of Pride goes for his grab, he'll always do a homing projectile at your shortly afterwards. With the right timing you can charge up this move, avoid the attack while releasing it and still hit him safely.

Spear Bash - Very quick Martial Art so ideal for small openings and you can quickly transition into other moves after if you have time.

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Special thanks to u/greener1234556 for bringing to my attention just how good running high strong is with Spear.

Quite an interesting and fun matchup to practice, although I wish there was a repeat to repeat him without having to get to the end of the gauntlet first. Hopefully something they can improve in further updates.

Some notable usage of martial arts/abilities in this run:

• I utilized a lot of Stone Mallet and Victory Rush to keep up the offense when you to chase him across the screen. In other action games this often makes bosses boring to fight but Nioh gives you a ton of options to keep the pressure going.
• Retreating Axe surprising has a pretty high hitbox. You can see I did it multiple times while he went in the air and it still got him.
• His combos are slower than most bosses so you can simply Soul Devourer through a lot of them in multiple succession. Also, it seems to be an excellent option to break his horns during certain attacks which means it also is a move that can hit a lot higher than the animation suggestions.
• He's one of the bosses that does a guaranteed red move after a certain sequence (the green air projectile blast while in the dark realm) so you can do an early Guardian Spirit Summon cancel for some juicier punishes as I showed here.

Starting to get more comfortable with various Axe moves and using TMTM cancels frequently (though still have a long way to go).

Stone of Penance + 5 is an insane game changer for every weapon but even more so Axe since you can't break KI easily. So, you are encouraged to experiment with more of its toolkit.

Some people might think Axe is boring/OP in Nioh 3 but play it on the higher difficulty settings and it's a really fun, balanced and versatile weapon.

People have been mentioning Axe being pretty OP this time around since Nioh 3 came out and for good reason. It does insane amounts of Ki damage normally. However, on Stone of Penance + 5 difficulty, it's actually much more balanced and forces you to get better with the weapon.

Even using some of its best Ki damaging moves, as you can see, it takes a while to break Ki, and it feels a lot more earned. I was actually disappointed when I tried Axe prior to the update as stuff was going down too easily. But it's so much more fun to use now with SOP since this causes bosses to have both way more HP and Ki.

Notable Martial Arts Used in this run

Rage -> Buffs you damage in exchange for moves taking more Ki. If you can manage your Ki decently, it's certainly worth using.

Heaven and Earth -> Does good regular damage + Ki damage in medium sized openings.

Rumbling Earth -> Another great move for dealing massive Ki damage. Can be held down and does more damage/Ki the more you hold it, but even at about mid-charge it does a nice chunk of damage.

Soul Devourer -> New move in Nioh 3. This is one of the best parries/counters in the game. This is because it has a ton of active frames and is not super hard to time. You can even use this to go through multiple quick attacks at times, and it even heals you. I did this into TMTM cancels -> Rumbling Earth a few times.

Victory Rush -> Another new move in Nioh 3. A really quick and fluid gap closer. Ideal for when enemies jump back.

Tornado Edge -> One of the best damage dealers in the game. It's a slow, large commitment move so it's ideal for large openings or when Ki is broken. You can use it in other openings too if you're willing to cancel out of it (via Style Shift Flow or TMTM cancels) but there's arguably better options if all the hits especially the last hit do not land.

This one is probably my hardest no damage run yet. Hiruko has several phases and moves and with SOP+5 and limited gear, you're going to have deal with each phase fully instead of bypassing any of it.

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Since I often get asked about the build and martial arts:

Build:

No wearing armor for the Unarmored Death boost. That + a few other passive skills like Counteroffensive Deflect and Versatility were used.

Martial Arts Used:

Lightning Blade - One of the best counters in the game. I use it a lot to get past combo starters especially the first two hits. Or during attacks with a lot of active frames in general (since the counter itself is so active).

Empty Retribution - Used for large openings when the boss is still for a bit. Ideal after they are finished long combos/big moves.

Stance Switch Skills - I like using all 3 to build up Switch Glaive stacks quickly (you get a damage boos with 5 stacks active). The low stance one I also like as a combo ender as it propels you forward so if the boss happens to move back, it keeps you in their face.

Cyclone - Another really quick gap closer for when bosses reel back or jump back.

Frost Moon Low - The quickest combo ender SG has without doing special cancels where you regain Ki during the sequence.

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You can do a lot more than what's shown here. Nioh 3's skill ceiling is insanely high. But it took a lot of mental energy just to pull this run off playing somewhat basic. With more practice and experience, I hope to show off really cool things like extending Arts Proficiency chains while avoiding attacks and all kinds of fancier combos/extensions.

I know the popular sentiment is that Nioh 2 is the better game and one of the best action games ever. Initially when the game first came out, I would have agreed Nioh 2 is significantly better than 3. However, as the updates rollout and I explore the combat more, Nioh 3 is quickly becoming one of my favorite action games as well.

There are more combat options and variety than arguably ever in the series with Nioh 3. Nioh 3 introduces, Arts Proficiency, universal Samurai deflect, Ninja mode, equipping 4 weapons at once, more transitions into various martial arts, new martial arts etc. It has also kept some advanced tech from Nioh 2 including evasion cancels and item cancels. Then there's new advanced tech such as TMTM cancels which it seems TN is not going to patch out. So, when it comes to pure combat depth, technical options and skill ceiling, Nioh 3 has arguably already surpassed Nioh 2 or at least matched it.

More recently, Stone of Penance levels are a game changer that alleviates a lot of the "too easy" complaints (although I'd argue the bosses were always challenging without OP builds). Even regular enemies/levels are pretty challenging now with SOP+5 which was one of the biggest complaints about Nioh 3. I highly advise everyone looking for a challenge to check it out. The new battle scroll missions are also fun and varied. All this before DLC is even out.

I know everyone is not a fan of the open field concept, but I think it was done pretty well. There's a decent amount of exploration and things to discover that are actually rewarding since they result in new, interesting and varied passive skills and martial arts. And there's not a ton of padding, so it never feels tedious to explore the map. And even if you dislike it, it's mostly optional beyond getting to the main missions the first time. In NG+ you can literally just bypass all of it and teleport straight to the main missions.

That's not to say Nioh 2 doesn't have big things over Nioh 3 as well. It has the missing Samurai weapons with stances, Yokai abilities, more side/short boss missions etc. And it's certainly valid to prefer the purely mission-based structure. And of course, the end game grind/Underworld is fantastic but that is almost certainly coming for Nioh 3 as well.

I think in general people should consider all the options Nioh 3 has added instead of only thinking about what is missing. That's why I love both games. They are fantastic action games with some of the deepest gameplay around while being distinct enough from each other making both worth playing.

I've heard a lot of people say Nioh 3's Kusarigama is far less in depth/interesting than the one in Nioh 2. I've used it a bit in Nioh 3 but want to check it out in Nioh 2 eventually. So I was curious what the exact differences are.

I understand you can equip a lot less moves in Ninja mode compared to Samurai/Nioh 2. But beyond this, are there a bunch of interesting moves/playstyles it had in Nioh 2 that are missing in Nioh 3?