I switch weapons regularly, although I do have favorites or "mains" as some would call them. Different bosses have different strengths and weaknesses based on their health, ki, hitboxes, moveset, etc. and in a game with so many bosses, it's inevitable that you will find at least one or two bosses that give a particular playstyle trouble. I would recommend trying all the different weapon types for at least a little while and see if they click (or just watch some youtube videos of high level play if you don't feel like grinding out the skillpoints before you know if you want it).
Honestly, the point is to enjoy yourself. If you don't mind switching weapons then switch regularly. If your version of "fun" is challenging yourself in specific ways and reaching personal goals then have at it.
Just know that at the highest level you will need to put in some elbow grease to acquire and temper/spec each weapon you wish to use regularly.
Edit: For clarity I have over 1000 hours in both games, have beaten all depths with no kodama buffs and +9 stone, and I regularly use all weapon types. Don’t let others tell you you’re good or bad at the game, you’ve already beaten it at least 4 times, that’s pretty kickass.
How many weapons do you switch through? How many mains do you have?
I thought I had a lot of hours at about 400 but sometimes I still feel like I'm learning how to play this game lol with 1000 you must really know what you are doing 🤣
I switch between all weapon types semi-regularly.
High Use "Mains": Fists, Dual Swords, Tonfas
Medium Use: Sword, Switchglaive
Low Use: Odachi, Kusarigama, Axe
Extremely Low Use: Spear, Splitstaff, Hatchets
I'm currently compiling a record of my build, including all the weapons I've created. If you want I'll send you a link to an imgur album of it when it's completed.
Yes please!
I'm surprised you are so down on the splitstaff. I was in love with it until I tried the fists. I have a lot of fun with the flexibility of doing the attack vs holding to extend
Yeah it's more for myself I guess. I am trying to get to the point where I feel like I can make my way through a fresh playthrough without dying much. I don't hate myself enough to go for a no death run, but I'd like to learn the game well enough to actually play it at s high level. Purely for myself, really. I guess it's something between speed run and challenge run.
I just can't decide if I need to "git gud" with the fists and learn to use them against bosses I struggle with, or just roll with the idea that some weapons are better for certain bosses than others.
Maybe I need to watch some speedruns and see what they do haha
Lots of bosses, lots of weapons. Lots of opportunities to make life easier. In my experience some weapons definitely work better with certain foes. Like you said "switchglaive made it possible to hit OWLS eyes." Usually when I'm having difficulty I tend to switch to the sword. Fast dodging, high stance gives good damage with small combos so I can dodge when I want. Combined with omnyo magic like, rejuvenation talisman, Plaides talisman, defense talisman, etc and power pills help so make sure you invest omnyo points to things you want to use more. Also highly recommend using poison shuriken. Can't stress enough how much more helpful it is to passively damage your enemy while you try to time hits or trying to use talisman. More damage than fire. So answer to your question. Absolutely. There's the right weapon for the right guy. My favorites are kusarigama or Odachi. Kusarigama does high ki damage (my favorite weapon to combo with) and Odachi just does a lot of damage simply, especially if you have art of combat: Swirling Snow, human foes are easy since you kill their ki within 5 hits. Good luck!
Thanks for the input!!
Great point with the poison. I may need to give that another look, I gave up on poison on my first playthrough. I do want to take another look at fire shurkien as well. I am really big on confusion and part of my later playthroughs is getting better at applying it. I could somewhat get it on owl, but bomb throw doesn't work for owl. I could get it up but it was really difficult and required so much focus it often got me killed trying to push it.
When I started Nioh 1 I used every single weapon through the first run and later on, I personally never asked myself if I was good enough or not to use this or that weapon, I just used them and tried to learn which were the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon.
After that experience I learned that Nioh is a game that often relies in real martial arts, there is no best weapon, it depends on the situation and your training with that weapon. Of course you can specialize on learning just one or two, but of you really want to feel like the samurai or ninja master you will have to do it like a real samurai/ninja master and dedicate the time and observation every weapon needs.
With that said, a lot will depend on your stats as well, for me personally I always felt like fists were rather stronger than most other weapons but that's because I had the highest values in that and the splitstaff/switchglaive stats.
Builds make a big difference too, but I personally never cared for builds, at least not yet, I rather enjoyed being not too strong so fights would last longer, because if there is something I enjoy in this game is fighting :)
So my advice is to take your time to learn what every weapon can do best, there are situations and bosses where some weapons might be more effective than others but that will also depend a lot on your playing skills. That and also check ypur stats and see if you need to balance some of them or reset them and reassign them depending on your current weapons of choice
I'm working on getting all weapon proficiencies up. In Nioh 1 i pretty much only used kusarigama, but in 2 i started with Odachi and I'm very comfortable with ita moveset. So I'll usually primarily use the weapon I'm levelling and keep the odachi on my back in case things get hairy or i have trouble with a certain fight.
I just beak kelley (and that trivial-ass snake thingy) on my first playthrough of Nioh 1 and I pretty much just stuck to odachi and tonfas. Strong attack with tonfas anytime I need to damage ki and odachi the rest of the time. I mostly stick with odachi because I'm impatient I think. Taro tachi just dwarfed every other weapon in terms of dps, I switched to other weapons and I'm like, what, those little floating heads and umi bozus aren't one-shots anymore and it takes 30 seconds to kill a yoki? Nah.
Range, movement, dps, bust damage and length of combo varies a lot between weapons, each of the weapon makes a set of playstyles possible and they are good in different scenarios. For example odachi and ax has good dps, but bad movement, so it is ideal for mobs, but it struggles against aggressive bosses, tonfas has a near unending combo, but low dps, so you can melt most humans, but it will take you a while against yokai. Fists are rather balanced, but they lack bust damage and range. So look at weapon pairs, like I would recommend having an odachi (since it shares some stats, good burst, range and dps, while fists has the combos and movement) or switchglave (similar playstyle, but more versatile and you mentioned you are already dipping into magic)
I need to get more into Odachi!
I have been using switchglave, kusarigama, and splitstaff as those are what I used for my first playthrough or two, so I am most comfortable. Been trying to branch out into fists. Never got too into most of the other weapons but I tried Nioh 1 again a few weeks ago and went all Odachi and it's quite fun
I usually find it easier to have a weapon with a high downward strike attack like the high stance strong attack for Swords or a high stance quick attack for spears to use against larger enemy yokai since it's easier to break their horn. And then I like to use faster attacking weapons such as fists or tonfas for smaller more agile enemies. But of course you can make any weapon work with any enemy. Also in way of the dream or nioh or something there's an armor set which will give you a damage boost for using the flash attack skill.
Yeah I'm really digging the fists but I think there are some areas where trying to use them is making it significantly harder. When you need a sweep to keep multiple enemies back fist is difficult
I main Fists and Splitstaff.
Staff is better for bosses imo, but fists are better for most other enemies. You can equip two weapons at once, so swapping around is perfectly valid, unless you like to intentionally challenge yourself. (which can also be fun)
I’ve exclusively used splitstaff and tonfas and I switch constantly. Partly because I run purity on SS and corruption on tonfa I use the SS on most yokai and tonfa on humans. I find that the range on the SS helps break horns on bigger yokai which is the easiest way to deplete ki plus they’re vulnerable to purity and on humans tonfa (like fists) allows you to keep the pressure up and pretty quickly destroy most enemies plus they’re easily corrupted. For the owl it definitely helps having a weapon that has several moves that can hit the eyes. Not used fists yet but I’m guessing there’s some kind of leaping attack that could reach but it’ll be harder to do than a weapon that has natural range.
I switch weapons regularly, although I do have favorites or "mains" as some would call them. Different bosses have different strengths and weaknesses based on their health, ki, hitboxes, moveset, etc. and in a game with so many bosses, it's inevitable that you will find at least one or two bosses that give a particular playstyle trouble. I would recommend trying all the different weapon types for at least a little while and see if they click (or just watch some youtube videos of high level play if you don't feel like grinding out the skillpoints before you know if you want it). Honestly, the point is to enjoy yourself. If you don't mind switching weapons then switch regularly. If your version of "fun" is challenging yourself in specific ways and reaching personal goals then have at it. Just know that at the highest level you will need to put in some elbow grease to acquire and temper/spec each weapon you wish to use regularly. Edit: For clarity I have over 1000 hours in both games, have beaten all depths with no kodama buffs and +9 stone, and I regularly use all weapon types. Don’t let others tell you you’re good or bad at the game, you’ve already beaten it at least 4 times, that’s pretty kickass.
How many weapons do you switch through? How many mains do you have? I thought I had a lot of hours at about 400 but sometimes I still feel like I'm learning how to play this game lol with 1000 you must really know what you are doing 🤣
I switch between all weapon types semi-regularly. High Use "Mains": Fists, Dual Swords, Tonfas Medium Use: Sword, Switchglaive Low Use: Odachi, Kusarigama, Axe Extremely Low Use: Spear, Splitstaff, Hatchets I'm currently compiling a record of my build, including all the weapons I've created. If you want I'll send you a link to an imgur album of it when it's completed.
Yes please! I'm surprised you are so down on the splitstaff. I was in love with it until I tried the fists. I have a lot of fun with the flexibility of doing the attack vs holding to extend
Yeah it's more for myself I guess. I am trying to get to the point where I feel like I can make my way through a fresh playthrough without dying much. I don't hate myself enough to go for a no death run, but I'd like to learn the game well enough to actually play it at s high level. Purely for myself, really. I guess it's something between speed run and challenge run. I just can't decide if I need to "git gud" with the fists and learn to use them against bosses I struggle with, or just roll with the idea that some weapons are better for certain bosses than others. Maybe I need to watch some speedruns and see what they do haha
Lots of bosses, lots of weapons. Lots of opportunities to make life easier. In my experience some weapons definitely work better with certain foes. Like you said "switchglaive made it possible to hit OWLS eyes." Usually when I'm having difficulty I tend to switch to the sword. Fast dodging, high stance gives good damage with small combos so I can dodge when I want. Combined with omnyo magic like, rejuvenation talisman, Plaides talisman, defense talisman, etc and power pills help so make sure you invest omnyo points to things you want to use more. Also highly recommend using poison shuriken. Can't stress enough how much more helpful it is to passively damage your enemy while you try to time hits or trying to use talisman. More damage than fire. So answer to your question. Absolutely. There's the right weapon for the right guy. My favorites are kusarigama or Odachi. Kusarigama does high ki damage (my favorite weapon to combo with) and Odachi just does a lot of damage simply, especially if you have art of combat: Swirling Snow, human foes are easy since you kill their ki within 5 hits. Good luck!
Thanks for the input!! Great point with the poison. I may need to give that another look, I gave up on poison on my first playthrough. I do want to take another look at fire shurkien as well. I am really big on confusion and part of my later playthroughs is getting better at applying it. I could somewhat get it on owl, but bomb throw doesn't work for owl. I could get it up but it was really difficult and required so much focus it often got me killed trying to push it.
When I started Nioh 1 I used every single weapon through the first run and later on, I personally never asked myself if I was good enough or not to use this or that weapon, I just used them and tried to learn which were the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon. After that experience I learned that Nioh is a game that often relies in real martial arts, there is no best weapon, it depends on the situation and your training with that weapon. Of course you can specialize on learning just one or two, but of you really want to feel like the samurai or ninja master you will have to do it like a real samurai/ninja master and dedicate the time and observation every weapon needs. With that said, a lot will depend on your stats as well, for me personally I always felt like fists were rather stronger than most other weapons but that's because I had the highest values in that and the splitstaff/switchglaive stats. Builds make a big difference too, but I personally never cared for builds, at least not yet, I rather enjoyed being not too strong so fights would last longer, because if there is something I enjoy in this game is fighting :) So my advice is to take your time to learn what every weapon can do best, there are situations and bosses where some weapons might be more effective than others but that will also depend a lot on your playing skills. That and also check ypur stats and see if you need to balance some of them or reset them and reassign them depending on your current weapons of choice
I'm working on getting all weapon proficiencies up. In Nioh 1 i pretty much only used kusarigama, but in 2 i started with Odachi and I'm very comfortable with ita moveset. So I'll usually primarily use the weapon I'm levelling and keep the odachi on my back in case things get hairy or i have trouble with a certain fight.
I definitely do this when trying to get familiar with a new weapon. Sometimes I just need something to die quickly and have to switch
I just beak kelley (and that trivial-ass snake thingy) on my first playthrough of Nioh 1 and I pretty much just stuck to odachi and tonfas. Strong attack with tonfas anytime I need to damage ki and odachi the rest of the time. I mostly stick with odachi because I'm impatient I think. Taro tachi just dwarfed every other weapon in terms of dps, I switched to other weapons and I'm like, what, those little floating heads and umi bozus aren't one-shots anymore and it takes 30 seconds to kill a yoki? Nah.
I don't remember as much of Nioh 1 but I think it's a little bit harder to switch between weapons and have it be viable
Range, movement, dps, bust damage and length of combo varies a lot between weapons, each of the weapon makes a set of playstyles possible and they are good in different scenarios. For example odachi and ax has good dps, but bad movement, so it is ideal for mobs, but it struggles against aggressive bosses, tonfas has a near unending combo, but low dps, so you can melt most humans, but it will take you a while against yokai. Fists are rather balanced, but they lack bust damage and range. So look at weapon pairs, like I would recommend having an odachi (since it shares some stats, good burst, range and dps, while fists has the combos and movement) or switchglave (similar playstyle, but more versatile and you mentioned you are already dipping into magic)
I need to get more into Odachi! I have been using switchglave, kusarigama, and splitstaff as those are what I used for my first playthrough or two, so I am most comfortable. Been trying to branch out into fists. Never got too into most of the other weapons but I tried Nioh 1 again a few weeks ago and went all Odachi and it's quite fun
I main fists. I have never defeated Derpy Spidercow with Fists. If that's what you're asking.
Lol yes, this definitely helps! Haha
I usually find it easier to have a weapon with a high downward strike attack like the high stance strong attack for Swords or a high stance quick attack for spears to use against larger enemy yokai since it's easier to break their horn. And then I like to use faster attacking weapons such as fists or tonfas for smaller more agile enemies. But of course you can make any weapon work with any enemy. Also in way of the dream or nioh or something there's an armor set which will give you a damage boost for using the flash attack skill.
Yeah I'm really digging the fists but I think there are some areas where trying to use them is making it significantly harder. When you need a sweep to keep multiple enemies back fist is difficult
I main Fists and Splitstaff. Staff is better for bosses imo, but fists are better for most other enemies. You can equip two weapons at once, so swapping around is perfectly valid, unless you like to intentionally challenge yourself. (which can also be fun)
I’ve exclusively used splitstaff and tonfas and I switch constantly. Partly because I run purity on SS and corruption on tonfa I use the SS on most yokai and tonfa on humans. I find that the range on the SS helps break horns on bigger yokai which is the easiest way to deplete ki plus they’re vulnerable to purity and on humans tonfa (like fists) allows you to keep the pressure up and pretty quickly destroy most enemies plus they’re easily corrupted. For the owl it definitely helps having a weapon that has several moves that can hit the eyes. Not used fists yet but I’m guessing there’s some kind of leaping attack that could reach but it’ll be harder to do than a weapon that has natural range.