7 Best Character Builds In Nioh 2 (2024)

Say you love a good Soulslike, and you've heard great things about Team Ninja's Nioh 2. Say that you've booted up the game, quickly realized that its difficulty and depth are no joke, and you've gotten slaughtered more than a few times. What's a gamer to do? You could give up... just kidding, you would never do that.

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Fortunately, though Nioh 2 is definitely a hardcore experience full of overlapping systems, you can still come out on top - you just need to learn to take advantage of all of your options. The game provides a surprising level of flexibility in its gear and stat systems, which allows you to create a character that suits your play style. Here are just a few of the best builds for the different weapon types in the game.

7 Dual Swords - Agile Water Swordsman

For a solid early-game build, try using dual swords as your weapon and focusing on your Skill, Heart, and Dexterity stats. This build lends itself to an agile, defensive play style - you'll jump in quickly to attack enemies, then dodge away to avoid their blows.

Raising your Heart stat will allow you to expand your Ki energy, which governs your actions. With more Ki, you can attack and dodge more consistently. This build gets its name from the Water Sword skill, which when equipped allows you to attack enemies multiple times in quick succession - perfect for this speed-focused build.

6 Kusarigama - Endgame Hero

On the other hand, if you're looking for a powerful build to tackle Nioh 2's wealth of endgame content, you can use the kusarigama as your weapon and focus on your Dexterity, Magic, and Stamina stats. This build offers flexibility in terms of equipping different buffs and weapon abilities, and allows you to balance both up-close melee prowess and powerful ranged attacks.

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One particular thing to focus on in this build is reducing your projectile damage through equipping skills and specific weapon sets; this will allow you to keep your distance from enemies without opening yourself up their ranged attacks.

5 Switchglaive - Omnyo Mage

For players who want to focus on buffs and debuffs in order to outfox their foes, the Omnyo Mage build with the switchglaive weapon is a good option. You'll really want to focus on your Magic stat for this build, which will allow you access to the full suite of offensive and defensive magic.

In addition, you'll want to equip the Omnyo Mage armor set, as well as any accessory that focuses on Omnyo magic. Finally, you'll need to equip as many elemental damage boosts as possible in order to get the full effect out of the build.

4 Spear - OP Tank

This is a build that will allow you to tank tons of damage. Equip the spear as your main weapon, and as your main stats invest in Constitution - which will boost your damage output, as spears' efficacy is directly tied to this stat, Magic, and Heart.

You'll also want to equip the Tornado skill, which sends out a shockwave and then allows you to follow up with some quick attacks for extra damage. Finally, you'll want to add life increases and elemental resistances onto your armor, which will help you to power through any damage you receive.

3 Dual Swords - Master Swordsman

If you're looking for a dual sword build to carry you through the endgame, this is a great option. It gets its name from the Master Swordsman heavy armor set, which is challenging to get in both New Game and New Game+ but which provides a great deal of stat boosts. You'll want to equip this set, and you'll also want to use skills that allow you to recover more quickly and withstand more damage over time.

Finally, you'll need to equip skills on your accessories that allow you to deal more damage to enemies who are inflicted with paralysis - this gives you an extra option in dealing with foes.

2 Fists - Dragon Ninja

Menu description of the Falcon Claws in Nioh 2

Of course, rather than focusing on buffs or status effects, sometimes you just want a build that will output ridiculous amounts of damage. In that case, a build just using your fists is the way to go. This particular build requires that you invest heavily in the Strength stat, and equip the Hayabusha armor set, which will boost your life and attack power.

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You'll also need to equip the Limitless skill, which allows you to use all of your Ki energy to score one huge, powerful attack. This can output thousands on thousands of damage, so this is the build to use if you like seeing big numbers.

1 Bow & Katana - Agile Archery

Finally, if you're looking for a more defensive build, this bow-and-katana combination will be right up your alley. You'll want to invest in your Heart, Skill, and Constitution stats - Heart and Skill will build up your strength for the weapons, while Constitution will allow you to wear light armor, which will help you to dodge enemies quickly.

Next, equip the Haccho Nenbutsu katana for its bonuses, particularly its ability to reduce Ki energy consumption for melee attacks. Finally, you'll need bonuses that will boost your speed with the bow - this build asks you to switch between melee and projectile attacks, so you'll need to be able to move fast when drawing your ranged weapon.

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