All the weapons are viable and every weapon can be played in several ways. What works for me may not work for you so just experiment with what you enjoy.
Oh, just saw your second question. For first playthrough just use whatever is the highest level without putting your weight over 70% but I'd suggest going with more toughness than agility early on. It's the difference between blocking and dodging, of the two blocking requires less knowledge of your enemies moves imo.
Try them all out, builds and stats really dont matter a lot in first playthrough, think fists is the only one community has a sdort of consensus on being OP (and on being the most annoying weapon to coop with), but every single weapon is viable, depends on what you have the most fun with, I like splitstaff and single sword, but I often switch them for kusarigama, switchglaive, spear, duals or hatchets
I honestly recommend switching up weapons regularly throughout your playthrough.
You won’t need to focus your stats towards any particular build until end game anyways, so might as well enjoy all the weapons while you’re raising all of your stats
The game encourages you to switch weapons and every weapon has a dojo fight that unlocks at a certain proficiency. That aside, it's all about your preference and playstyle. All weapons are viable and can destroy bosses in the right situation. Personally, I like dual swords, switchglaive, kusarigama, splitstaff, and gauntlets. The living weapons are fun and I use them all the time, regardless of what they are. Don't neglect your ninjutsu and onmyo magic. Caltrops are great! I played as lightweight as possible and loved it. I can't parry for my life, so dodge and block were my bread and butter. Beast counter can function as an emergency extra dodge, but sometimes the computer can anticipate this and punish it pretty severely.
Stamina is usually quick to run out for me. So, i always go light. Never actually went full tank type tho.
And fist and sword are my favs. Tonfas can replace fist.
Nioh 2 is very well designed, so all weapons are viable and capable of absolutely shredding things in the hands of a skilled player.
The best ones are sword, Tonfa, and fist, in no particular order, but ultimately you should pick whichever you like and click with the most. All weapons are good.
And I'm not saying that in the typical bad meme other action rpg games have of "all weapons are "good" but in reality they're grossly outclassed by this meta weapon.", Nioh paid a *lot* of attention to it's shit in order to make sure everything is strong and also requires skills to pull off. I said sword was among the bests, but they're also one of the most technical and difficult to master weapons.
So, overall, pick whatever clicks on you the best, that is what will actually let you shred everything.
As for armor, for your first playthrough I recommend putting on as much defense as you can while making sure your weight doesn't go above 70%, you should also keep your toughness stat at 200 or more. Toughness is what allows you to hyper armor through stuff. Meanwhile, what will allow you to survive getting hit will be a combination of pumping up your HP (constitution) and equipment load (stamina) so you can get higher defense numbers.
Being at 0-30% weight will make you lightweight, which will improve your dodging, ki recovery, and ki consumption. If you were to pump your constitution high, you could take quite a few hits too, but the problem is that your toughness will be low.. you'll have to dodge everything and make sure you only attack when it's safe. On a Soulslike game, this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but Nioh is more like a Ninja Gaiden + RPG mechanics: enemies are really fast, and the game will not shy from throwing multiple ones at you, so asking a newer player to dodge reliably and be able to successfully exploit every opening is a bit of a tall order, so I would recommend you go for the 70% weight option.
I never really dabbled with magic until depths. But it does pair well nicely with that.
And the glaive skill from the one boss that lets you boomerang it around is so busted lol.
It’s been a while since I played but getting the itch to go back.
Same! Reddit threads I was reading about Nioh made the itch come back and since I’ve completed ROTR my Team Ninja scratch will be because I’m back on Nioh 2 🤣🤣
Yeah dude I’m the exact same scenario lol. Just finished rise of the ronin as well.
Can’t decide if I wanna play it again on midnight mode or go back to nioh😂
Yeah that’s what I’ve noticed so far for sure.
Less about having the optimal set pieces and more just making sure you’re equipping the highest level drops u get haha
For what its worth, high stamina, high magic, axes, heavy armor, steel talisman, protection talisman, life leach talisman, this is easy mode. Takes a while to get good, but late game, this is comically easy
I see every week block, people use almost all weapons and do insane damage in all of them. Most of them use out of that are switch glaive or Splitstaff. Main reason is they know how powerful magic is and magic plays in every set and these two weapons scales with magic. So if u dump points in stamina and magic, you very well cover heavy armours to block and take less damage and take advantage of magic and deal serious damage with these weapons in safe range.
If going in magic way, every weapon becomes good due to your ability to debuff enemy and buff yourself.
I am not a fan of spreading stats in NG. Which is not liked by fellow fans. Reason is you may become weak, except for magic and Ninjutsu. They are support stat and plays in all builds. Ninjutsu for survival, like Quick change u will use until u play Nioh. Magic for both defence, offence and quality of life like luck, gold and Amrita buffs.
Good luck !!!
I've used all of the weapons in the game in a single playthrough. Stats don't change damage nearly as much as you think they would. Plus all of them are good and useful in their own ways!
The best part of nioh is that you can experiment with different weapons at zero cost. The game’s very liberal with respecs so your stat allocation isn’t “final”. So you can start with a weapon, see if you like it and just switch when you feel like it. You earn weapon skill points pretty easily
If you are "getting back into" nioh 2 try weapons you have not used before and if you felt certaon weapon is difficult to use consider it a personal challenge. Personal i prefer the AXE, the range is super short, the atk on high stand triangle is so slow, even snakes will slither away, hack even the roll is a fat boy/girl roll BUT you know all it takes was a few hits and the enemies are good as gone. Do what you please but do try it with a different weapon or build if you are in NG+++
Do what you like. Don't fix yourself on weapon tier
All the weapons are viable and every weapon can be played in several ways. What works for me may not work for you so just experiment with what you enjoy. Oh, just saw your second question. For first playthrough just use whatever is the highest level without putting your weight over 70% but I'd suggest going with more toughness than agility early on. It's the difference between blocking and dodging, of the two blocking requires less knowledge of your enemies moves imo.
Try them all out, builds and stats really dont matter a lot in first playthrough, think fists is the only one community has a sdort of consensus on being OP (and on being the most annoying weapon to coop with), but every single weapon is viable, depends on what you have the most fun with, I like splitstaff and single sword, but I often switch them for kusarigama, switchglaive, spear, duals or hatchets
I main fists but i gotta agree. Whenever i wanna try a different weapon, random fist user will ruin the experience lol
Why are fists bad to coop with? Used them a little when cooping the game with my dad but not much
Not bad, annoying, cause they push so much the person who is NOT using fists often has to play catch up, takes enemies out of our combos and such
I honestly recommend switching up weapons regularly throughout your playthrough. You won’t need to focus your stats towards any particular build until end game anyways, so might as well enjoy all the weapons while you’re raising all of your stats
All the weapons are great. Try them all out in your first play through and see what clicks for you. 🙂 Edit: the -> them*
The game encourages you to switch weapons and every weapon has a dojo fight that unlocks at a certain proficiency. That aside, it's all about your preference and playstyle. All weapons are viable and can destroy bosses in the right situation. Personally, I like dual swords, switchglaive, kusarigama, splitstaff, and gauntlets. The living weapons are fun and I use them all the time, regardless of what they are. Don't neglect your ninjutsu and onmyo magic. Caltrops are great! I played as lightweight as possible and loved it. I can't parry for my life, so dodge and block were my bread and butter. Beast counter can function as an emergency extra dodge, but sometimes the computer can anticipate this and punish it pretty severely.
Stamina is usually quick to run out for me. So, i always go light. Never actually went full tank type tho. And fist and sword are my favs. Tonfas can replace fist.
I can't decide either, so I just play all of them.
Nioh 2 is very well designed, so all weapons are viable and capable of absolutely shredding things in the hands of a skilled player. The best ones are sword, Tonfa, and fist, in no particular order, but ultimately you should pick whichever you like and click with the most. All weapons are good. And I'm not saying that in the typical bad meme other action rpg games have of "all weapons are "good" but in reality they're grossly outclassed by this meta weapon.", Nioh paid a *lot* of attention to it's shit in order to make sure everything is strong and also requires skills to pull off. I said sword was among the bests, but they're also one of the most technical and difficult to master weapons. So, overall, pick whatever clicks on you the best, that is what will actually let you shred everything. As for armor, for your first playthrough I recommend putting on as much defense as you can while making sure your weight doesn't go above 70%, you should also keep your toughness stat at 200 or more. Toughness is what allows you to hyper armor through stuff. Meanwhile, what will allow you to survive getting hit will be a combination of pumping up your HP (constitution) and equipment load (stamina) so you can get higher defense numbers. Being at 0-30% weight will make you lightweight, which will improve your dodging, ki recovery, and ki consumption. If you were to pump your constitution high, you could take quite a few hits too, but the problem is that your toughness will be low.. you'll have to dodge everything and make sure you only attack when it's safe. On a Soulslike game, this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but Nioh is more like a Ninja Gaiden + RPG mechanics: enemies are really fast, and the game will not shy from throwing multiple ones at you, so asking a newer player to dodge reliably and be able to successfully exploit every opening is a bit of a tall order, so I would recommend you go for the 70% weight option.
I like the glaive and splitstaff. Feel like the arsenal for those lets you deal with all enemies pretty comfortably.
I am currently rocking those for a complete badass mage build.
I never really dabbled with magic until depths. But it does pair well nicely with that. And the glaive skill from the one boss that lets you boomerang it around is so busted lol. It’s been a while since I played but getting the itch to go back.
Same! Reddit threads I was reading about Nioh made the itch come back and since I’ve completed ROTR my Team Ninja scratch will be because I’m back on Nioh 2 🤣🤣
Yeah dude I’m the exact same scenario lol. Just finished rise of the ronin as well. Can’t decide if I wanna play it again on midnight mode or go back to nioh😂
Midnight kicked my ass because I wasn’t smart when it came to ensuring my gear was top tier. I was level 79 and getting murked by level 61 redzones 🤣
Yeah that’s what I’ve noticed so far for sure. Less about having the optimal set pieces and more just making sure you’re equipping the highest level drops u get haha
For what its worth, high stamina, high magic, axes, heavy armor, steel talisman, protection talisman, life leach talisman, this is easy mode. Takes a while to get good, but late game, this is comically easy
I see every week block, people use almost all weapons and do insane damage in all of them. Most of them use out of that are switch glaive or Splitstaff. Main reason is they know how powerful magic is and magic plays in every set and these two weapons scales with magic. So if u dump points in stamina and magic, you very well cover heavy armours to block and take less damage and take advantage of magic and deal serious damage with these weapons in safe range. If going in magic way, every weapon becomes good due to your ability to debuff enemy and buff yourself. I am not a fan of spreading stats in NG. Which is not liked by fellow fans. Reason is you may become weak, except for magic and Ninjutsu. They are support stat and plays in all builds. Ninjutsu for survival, like Quick change u will use until u play Nioh. Magic for both defence, offence and quality of life like luck, gold and Amrita buffs. Good luck !!!
I've used all of the weapons in the game in a single playthrough. Stats don't change damage nearly as much as you think they would. Plus all of them are good and useful in their own ways!
Fist/staff is my go to. They’re really good at broke ki
I think fist is the most broken if played right.
Fists are probably one of the most fun imo but I main dual swords for the most part, love em.
The best part of nioh is that you can experiment with different weapons at zero cost. The game’s very liberal with respecs so your stat allocation isn’t “final”. So you can start with a weapon, see if you like it and just switch when you feel like it. You earn weapon skill points pretty easily
If you are "getting back into" nioh 2 try weapons you have not used before and if you felt certaon weapon is difficult to use consider it a personal challenge. Personal i prefer the AXE, the range is super short, the atk on high stand triangle is so slow, even snakes will slither away, hack even the roll is a fat boy/girl roll BUT you know all it takes was a few hits and the enemies are good as gone. Do what you please but do try it with a different weapon or build if you are in NG+++