While a lot of the dialog round Nioh 2 focuses on the mechanical complexities of its fight system and the punishing brutality of its bosses, there’s additionally a whole lot of depth in it’s armor system for individuals who need it. By combining highly effective armor units, or god rolls on specific items, you’ll be able to create among the finest builds in Nioh 2 fairly simply.
One of probably the most agonizing choices in Nioh 2 although, is the place to spend your factors on levelling up stats. If you specialize, you are able to do some fairly cool issues along with your character’s stats.
However, not everybody desires to place the time into speccing out a damaged character for his or her eighth playthrough. So we’ll additionally discuss in regards to the fundamentals, and some of Nioh 2’s finest armor units in your first run.
Best Armor units and stats for the Nioh 2 early game
In Nioh 2, Armor is cut up into three weights – mild, medium, and heavy.
Heavy armor is ruled by Stamina and Strength. Medium armor requires Constitution and Strength. While mild armor wants Skill and Constitution.
Before you decide to spending stat factors, take into consideration the type of character you need to play. This will largely be dictated by the starting weapon you chose or, when you’ve determined you hate it and desire a completely different one, the weapon you just like the look of.
The stat degree up display screen tells you which ones weapons are affected by which stat, so let that information your determination.
Heavy armor works properly with axes, spears, or an odachi. Whereas mild armor works with nearly all the pieces as a result of a whole lot of weapons have talent harm scaling. Medium armor is the jack of all trades, however grasp of none. Consider medium armor on a primary run when you like the thought of a heavy weapon, however need to transfer a bit extra rapidly.
Don’t really feel sure by this although, if you wish to combine and match you solely have to put sufficient stat factors into – for instance – Strength and Stamina to fulfill the minimal necessities of carrying a specific heavy armor set to get probably the most out of it.
The common recommendation for the early to mid game of Nioh 2 is to not be too hooked up to any specific piece of armor. As you’re levelling up rapidly, you’ll discover higher and higher armor items on a regular basis.
Let’s face it, particularly when you’re utilizing mild armor, most enemies are going to chew and scratch by means of your well being bar no matter what you’re carrying. Quibbling over some extent of defence right here or there isn’t going to make a lot of a distinction.
Instead, eyeball the completely different Special Effects a chunk of armor offers you. The increased the rarity of an armor piece, the extra Special Effects it has. Of the primary rarities, Purple is the best, Blue is second, then Yellow, then White.
Look for Special Effects which synergize properly along with your playstyle and are going to be helpful in numerous conditions.
For instance, Poison resistance could be good in particular situations, however ineffective in others. If there’s a slight distinction in Defence, however the decrease piece has an excellent Special Effect like + Attack, Life, or Ki, or one thing like sprint/dodge Ki discount, think about using it over an analogous piece with weaker results.
However, by that very same token, don’t maintain onto outdated tools for the sake of a 1% bonus to your backstab harm. Keep your tools roughly in-line along with your character degree, however have a watch on Special Effects.
Best Armor units for the Nioh 2 mid game
Around the mid-point of Nioh 2, you’ll begin to discover particularly synergetic units of armor which give highly effective bonuses when used along side one another.
If you’ve been ploughing your Amrita into just one or two stats up ’til now, it’s value diversifying to make a few of them accessible.
For occasion, the Shrine Maiden’s set is a game changer. Requiring 6 Constitution and 6 Skill, it’s Servant of the Gods bonus makes it one in every of my favorite armor units round this level within the game. As properly as decreasing the harm taken from Yokai, it restores a few of your well being each single time you purify a Yokai puddle.
That’s a loopy highly effective skill in boss battles, and within the Other Realm particularly. I a lot favor it to the Pit Viper’s Vicissitudes of Life bonus, as a result of the Auto-Life Recovery could be very gradual.
Alternatively, look out for the same mild armor Sohaya Garb set, which restores your well being on melee kill, buffs your harm towards Yokai, and makes it actually exhausting for them to identify you. You want 9 Skill and 9 Constitution to put on it.
If you’re into medium armor, take a look at the Sohaya set with “Yokai Annihilator”, which has the identical buffs because the Garb however is medium armor. You want 9 Constitution and 9 Strength to put on this set.
Or when you’re into actually heavy armor check out the Yoriki line, which isn’t an official set however when worn collectively offers you a really robust probability of Life Regeneration once you kill an enemy for simply 7 Stamina and 6 Strength.
There’s additionally the Warrior of the East’s set (11 Stamina, 12 Strength) for heavy spear customers.
Other heavy choices at this level aren’t wonderful – aside from the Greater Good set bonus, Tranquil Foundations. This wants 12 Stamina and 12 Strength. A full set of this heavy armor offers you a 30% probability to achieve a bonus Elixir each time you’re taking a swig.
Genyu’s (9 Stamina, 10 Strength) and the Obsidian set (10 Stamina, 10 Strength) are additionally each respectable.
Best Armor units for Nioh 2’s later game
As you make it in the direction of the latter phases of Nioh 2’s marketing campaign you achieve entry to many extra armor units, however may also begin dabbling in mixing units collectively.
Including Accessories you will have 11 slots to fill. Most Bonuses could be achieved with 3-5 slots stuffed, so you can begin speccing out attention-grabbing characters with out compromising your major weapon.
For occasion, for some time I used to be mixing four items of the Golden Gourd set (15 Constitution, 16 Skill) with 5 items of Saika’s Yatagarsu (11 Constitution, 12 Skill). This gave me a complete of +9% to all my melee harm, a 10% discount to Dodge Ki consumption, and Life Drain on headshots.
It additionally gave me Auto-Life Recovery when my well being dropped low. Towards the tip of the game a whole lot of bosses begin to inflict standing harm like poison or burning. This means if I lived successful with a sliver of well being, I might retreat and heal fairly than die to the chip harm.
As you progress by means of the game you can begin to weave your favorite units collectively to create synergetic builds that fit your playstyle.
Not solely that, however you additionally begin to achieve entry to upgraded variations of earlier units, in addition to weapon boosting units.
If you will have 12 Constitution and 13 Skill you’ll be able to put on the Wandering Shrine Maiden’s set, which supplies higher defence than the unique however with the identical OP well being restore on Purification.
For Hatchet customers, there’s Oni Shibata’s heavy armor set which requires 14 Stamina and 15 Strength.
And whereas spears could be good for tanks, they get a robust set of sunshine armor in Mataza’s Master of Spears set (14 Constitution, 15 Skill).
For single and twin sword swingers, the Master Swordsman’s units (14 Constitution, 16 Skill) supply highly effective bonuses – significantly the heavy twin sword variant (14 Stamina, 16 Strength), which permits some enjoyable lively talent mixtures.
Look out in your favorite weapon’s set – just like the Kawanami Clan bonuses to Kusarigama expertise.
There are ones for Ninjutsu and Onmyo Magic too, like Flying Kato’s Master of Illusion set and the Genmei Onmyo Mage’s outfit, which will increase magic harm, energy, and provides a diminished defence impact to your magic hits.
Nioh 2 Best Builds
Before we begin, remember you can reset your skills at any time with a Book of Reincarnation from the Blacksmith.
Creating the perfect builds in Nioh 2 is about focus. The numbers I’ll throw out listed below are primarily based on the degrees you achieve by in regards to the center of a single playthrough. Once your character degree begins to get to 80+ you’ll be able to push them increased.
From the start of the game you want to nail your colors to the mast of a specific weapon and persist with it from there. Raise your stats for that major weapon’s scaling to about 40. For instance, if that’s a Katana, then pile that many stat factors into Heart.
Not solely does this provide you with nice harm with Katanas, however a large Ki pool to work with.
This works for any weapon, as an example with Spears you need 40 Constitution for instance.
Then you want to choose a secondary stat. This ought to be both your major weapon’s secondary scaling stat, or your alternative of Ninjutsu (Dexterity) or Onmyo (Magic).
Next, you want to add some stat factors to your alternative of Strength and Stamina for heavy armor, Constitution and Strength for medium armor, or Skill and Constitution for mild armor. This is so you’ll be able to put on any of the armor units you need in your construct.
Then to complete off, in case your different stats are at good spherical numbers, you’ll be able to add some factors to Heart and Courage for higher Ki Recovery.
Generally, that’s all you want to create construct in Nioh 2 – however there are loopy issues you are able to do when you make it extra sophisticated.
Now it’s time for the memes. I’ve embedded examples of the 2 methods your can min/max your construct: spam a ridiculous quantity of buffs, or specialize your entire tools to inflict a sure standing after which buff your harm towards characters inflicted with that standing.
One instance of a tanky construct is proven off by RPG Division within the following video:
At degree 82 his stats have been:
- Constitution: 40
- Heart: 16
- Courage: 11
- Stamina: 11
- Strength: 12
- Skill: 6
- Dexterity: 6
- Magic: 22
Then expertise clever, the primary ones from the Spear tree have been Tornado, Piercing Rain, Water Wheel, Relentless, and Merciless Barrage.
From the samurai tree you want Damage Boost: Constitution and Damage Boost: Magic.
From the Axe tree, you want The Adamantine.
Then for the magic buffs, you want Protection Talisman, Extraction Talisman, Weakness Talisman, Barrier Talisman, and Pure Heaven Cursed Earth.
The gist of builds like that is to tear by means of bosses insanely rapidly, spamming all of your buffs earlier than you drop into the world, then tank by means of their hits due to your magic and talent safety so you’ll be able to swing away with out mercy.
Alternatively you’ll be able to go the route of dealing loopy harm to enemies inflicted with a standing like the next construct proven off by FightinCowboy.
The aim of this construct is to mix highly effective Dual Swords with further harm towards paralysed enemies.
To pull it off you want a set of the Master Swordsman’s heavy armor, mixed with a few items of the Profligate Sinner bonus from the Malefactor’s set.
Then you need to choose up Sign of the Cross from Dual Swords, and Paralytic Groundfire from Ninja.
This arrange combines to deal huge harm, and exhibits how one can create standing heavy builds which physique even the hardest bosses. There are much more intricacies to the construct than that, so I’d recommend watching the video.
For more on Nioh 2, here’s our list of boss guides!
