Success in Nioh 2 isn’t just about wielding powerful gear or mastering flashy abilities—it’s about building a character that complements your playstyle while balancing offence and defence. Whether you’re new to the game or diving into New Game Plus, having a solid build can make all the difference. From early experimentation to endgame optimization, here are some of the best builds to help you thrive in the world of Nioh 2.
Nioh 2 Best Build For Beginners
It’s fair to say that early on in Nioh 2, builds don’t really matter a whole lot since your characters stats, gear and abilities are nowhere near mature enough. As such, it’s advisable that you spend a lot of time experimenting and testing out different weapons in order to find the play style that suits you the best. To help with this, you’ll need the Book of Reincarnation which allows you to reset your levels and skills. This item can be bought from the blacksmith once you have rescued Senji Toyo in the second main story mission titled ‘The Best Born of Smoke and Flames’.
While there is a lot to be said for discovering what play style suits you best early on, there are nonetheless a number of universal truths that once grasped will help a great deal in the early going. The first of these is that understanding enemy attack patterns is key as this will allow you to reduce the amount that you are hit, while simultaneously encouraging you to pursue a more aggressive, damage dealing playstyle. Equally, survivability is also crucial early on as well, so levelling up Heart and Body to 10 will provide you with a robust base to fall back on whilst you learn attacking fundamentals with your chosen weapon.
Finally, when it comes to weapons, it’s worth noting that different weapons scale with specific stats. For me personally, using Dual Swords early on proved to be effective, not least because it provided a greatly appreciated balance between high damage ranges and enhanced mobility. Again though, depending on your play style, your mileage may vary.
Nioh 2 Best Build – Dual Swords
Nioh 2’s best build is one that utilises Dual Swords since much of what makes it such a good weapon early on also translates well into the mid-game and endgame too. The beauty of Nioh 2 is that sheer amount of creative latitude that it permits the player to tinker and experiment with stats, skills and gear. So don’t worry if you don’t nail the requirements for this build exactly correctly, since you may very well discover some wrinkles and tweaks that work best for you.
The important thing to remember is that one of the best weapons in the game for this build, the Type 2 Odachi, scales your stats in largely a similar way. This means that the Heart and Stamina stats will start at C and evolve from there, enabling a wide variety of builds that use Dual Swords as a result. Principally, a Dual Swords build really excels once players begin to add in additional points in Constitution for Light Armor as they approach the endgame. The benefit of taking this approach is that it plays directly into the Dual Swords penchant for dealing extremely high amounts of damage while dodging. Additionally, as you soar past level 100 and beyond, it’s also worth piling in some points on the Magic stat too, as this will allow you to pair the weapon with a decent magical enhancement or talisman.
Nioh 2 Best Build – The Stats
As you hurtle towards the Nioh 2 endgame your stats (again your particular mileage may vary) while using a Dual Swords build should look something like this:
- Constitution 25
- Courage 10
- Dexterity 5
- Heart 30
- Magic 15
- Skill 99
- Stamina 5
- Strength 10
