Nioh 2 |OT| Dark Soul Cores -- out now on PC, remaster available on PS5

cubistic · Oct 15, 2020

Man at this rate I don't think I'll even need to Defile in DLC 3. The rate of rarity inheritables (and stars in general) on ethereals is through the roof. And I'm just casually running through WotW without a farming set. I've upgraded 5 of my divines to ethereal and haven't even finished the first zone. The quality of life in this DLC is just phenomenal. The grind in Nioh 1 was just gacha-level nonsense.

Kalentan · Oct 15, 2020

Mesharey said:
If the difficulties are 4 then they added 1.

ClearMetal said:
Are the official, translated patch notes out already? I've only seen the Japanese ones that seem to have been run though Google Translate.

My guess would be that this DLC unlocks Dream of the Demon as well if you haven't bought DLC1.

I'm thinking the google translate is what is confusing me. I thought they put out the english notes. Odd that they haven't.

Beautifulmemory · Oct 15, 2020

Jaded Photographer said:
Yeah I just played it safe since I was getting tired of being stuck on him. Every other time I tried to exploit an opening he just ended up wailing on me. I'm using a splitstaff, not sure if I even have dragon dance, I'm usually just in mid or low stance, high stance is just too slow dodging wise for me.

All good. You did fantastic.

dragon dance is a skill in high stance only. Doesn't work on every bosses, but he is one of them since some of his animation lasts a while (like him drinking and then standing still)

my Noobish way of playing splitstaff on exclusively high stance is this. When there is an opening and it's safe, dragon dance (I also tempered to increase its ki damage). with humans this is when I grapple them. With yokais the moment they are stagger I whip DD out.

Otherwise, it's just hold square then follow up with triangle. There are other moves but none does as much physical or ki damage.

edit: I forgot to mention, using Feral yokai form makes dodging almost invincible. That's how you cancel out of any high stance attack

SmokedSalmon · Oct 16, 2020

Just beat the last main mission. Loved what I played and the new weapon is fantastic.

Jaded Photographer · Oct 16, 2020

Beautifulmemory said:
All good. You did fantastic.

dragon dance is a skill in high stance only. Doesn't work on every bosses, but he is one of them since some of his animation lasts a while (like him drinking and then standing still)

my Noobish way of playing splitstaff on exclusively high stance is this. When there is an opening and it's safe, dragon dance (I also tempered to increase its ki damage). with humans this is when I grapple them. With yokais the moment they are stagger I whip DD out.

Otherwise, it's just hold square then follow up with triangle. There are other moves but none does as much physical or ki damage.

edit: I forgot to mention, using Feral yokai form makes dodging almost invincible. That's how you cancel out of any high stance attack

I have been using Phantom lately. I don't mind it, but I did not like how I couldn't burst counter certain attacks from Deidara Bochi or whatever the fuck it's name was with it. I don't really know how to break this damn game. I don't even know if I'm playing well or just brute forcing it. Like the min maxing or whatever with this shit just feels too time consuming.

Beautifulmemory · Oct 16, 2020

Jaded Photographer said:
I have been using Phantom lately. I don't mind it, but I did not like how I couldn't burst counter certain attacks from Deidara Bochi or whatever the fuck it's name was with it. I don't really know how to break this damn game. I don't even know if I'm playing well or just brute forcing it. Like the min maxing or whatever with this shit just feels too time consuming.

some say breaking the game is fun. Others will say it ruins the game. I for one love it.

to be honest, it's all about learning how to maximize damage through your builds and what kind of of effects you have on your weapons and accessories and soul cores.

there are different ways to do so, that's what makes the game fun, but in a sense it's comes down to this

choose a main weapon, and level up the stat that scales with it (that would be magic and courage for splitstaff). Maximize it, this would be level 99 on both before this new dlc dropped

the effect on your weapon should be tempered to where you have an Attack bonus (magic) on it, increase melee ki damage, life drain on attack or active skill so you gain life back, etc.max this weapon.

pick also a weapon that best suits your build. Since I do dragon dance and that's an active skill, I use the martial artist splitstaff because its main stats is reduce ki usage for active skill by almost 10%

pick an armor + grace set that even increae your damage. Even armor should be have at least attack inherited to them. Then you temper stuff elemental damage or active skill damage. Again depends on your build

If You use a magic build then you want to have onmyou power (sorry can't spell) and untouched magic on your armor

do the same with your accessories, increae tour magic and elemental power, have an increased Damage when an element is applied (fire, water, electricity, purity) and on them you can also add increase build up for poison or paralysis and damage for it. So, yes, in theory you can maximize your damage by doing both elemental and poison. I find it easier to just stick with one

That's the basic and there's much more. YouTube videos really help to get into the nuance of it. You don't need good builds to enjoy the game, but you really unlock your power when you do so

KernelC · Oct 16, 2020

every day I open this thread, silently watching, waiting. For the announcement of the goty edition

PurpleRainz · Oct 16, 2020

I finally beat the last boss of the DLC my cheeks were clinched so tight I had to use a crowbar to get the couch cushion off afterwards. Overall this one is way better than Tengu way fucking harder too. I worked on the boss for 4 hours before I finally beat it I also ran a bunch of random levels and got grouped with a NIoh god for a couple the dude carried us so hard he was one shotting everything.

This DLC also taught me that different bosses require different load outs this DLC really tested my knowledge of the game I loved it and can't wait for DLC 3.

Jaded Photographer · Oct 16, 2020

Beautifulmemory said:
some say breaking the game is fun. Others will say it ruins the game. I for one love it.

to be honest, it's all about learning how to maximize damage through your builds and what kind of of effects you have on your weapons and accessories and soul cores.

there are different ways to do so, that's what makes the game fun, but in a sense it's comes down to this

choose a main weapon, and level up the stat that scales with it (that would be magic and courage for splitstaff). Maximize it, this would be level 99 on both before this new dlc dropped

the effect on your weapon should be tempered to where you have an Attack bonus (magic) on it, increase melee ki damage, life drain on attack or active skill so you gain life back, etc.max this weapon.

pick also a weapon that best suits your build. Since I do dragon dance and that's an active skill, I use the martial artist splitstaff because its main stats is reduce ki usage for active skill by almost 10%

pick an armor + grace set that even increae your damage. Even armor should be have at least attack inherited to them. Then you temper stuff elemental damage or active skill damage. Again depends on your build

If You use a magic build then you want to have onmyou power (sorry can't spell) and untouched magic on your armor

do the same with your accessories, increae tour magic and elemental power, have an increased Damage when an element is applied (fire, water, electricity, purity) and on them you can also add increase build up for poison or paralysis and damage for it. So, yes, in theory you can maximize your damage by doing both elemental and poison. I find it easier to just stick with one

That's the basic and there's much more. YouTube videos really help to get into the nuance of it. You don't need good builds to enjoy the game, but you really unlock your power when you do so

Wait I'm supposed to be leveling courage? I think I leveled it twice or something. I'm finding that I like the Wandering Shrine Maiden set because it heals me a good amount when I ki pulse on those demon puddles. I need to be tempering more. i think with how I'm supposed to be just exchanging stuff through NG I just stopped though I'm starting to feel that I do have preferences for certain weapons. I'm liking the things that have either imbue poison or purity on them, granted this kind of varies based on the enemy I'm fighting.

Beautifulmemory · Oct 16, 2020

Jaded Photographer said:
Wait I'm supposed to be leveling courage? I think I leveled it twice or something. I'm finding that I like the Wandering Shrine Maiden set because it heals me a good amount when I ki pulse on those demon puddles. I need to be tempering more. i think with how I'm supposed to be just exchanging stuff through NG I just stopped though I'm starting to feel that I do have preferences for certain weapons. I'm liking the things that have either imbue poison or purity on them, granted this kind of varies based on the enemy I'm fighting.

I didn't want to tell you too much so you can discover it yourself. But here it goes! Lol

splitstaff scale with both magic and courage. So to do more damage, yes,you need to level up and max both. How you know is that when you level them up the attack for the weapon goes up too.

For the sets, there are other ways to do this too. But I do 5 pieces of Spirit of Seimei because it reduced enemy defense whenever you use magic on them AND it gives you untouched magic (some people just go for 4 pieces)

for reference about sets bonuses see here

The Spirit of Seimei | Nioh 2 Wiki

The Spirit of Seimei is a Set Bonus in Nioh 2. The Spirit of Seimei effect, pieces, set bonuses, location, builds and tips for Nioh 2

nioh2.wiki.fextralife.com

Now, there are also grace bonuses, which is essentially another set. For magic, you go with Inari. Why? Because it buffs your elemental damage. So whenever you imbue your weapon with an element (this is why you don't need the shots you have been using), your attack goes up even more

depending on the difficulty you are playing on, you might not even see graces. But you will see them and higher gear and skill variation if you play on higher difficulties (dream of demon and above, the newest dlc)

Oh and forgot to talk about demon scroll? If you find a decent one it will even further your attack. I have been using one where my ki damage is increased and my ki usage is reduced, so this is perfect for me since I'm going for ki damage with my attack

This is just one example. Builds are arguably the best part about this game. You can mix and match and some people get crazy stuff going on

Jaded Photographer · Oct 16, 2020

Beautifulmemory said:
I didn't want to tell you too much so you can discover it yourself. But here it goes! Lol

splitstaff scale with both magic and courage. So to do more damage, yes,you need to level up and max both. How you know is that when you level them up the attack for the weapon goes up too.

For the sets, there are other ways to do this too. But I do 5 pieces of Spirit of Seimei because it reduced enemy defense whenever you use magic on them AND it gives you untouched magic (some people just go for 4 pieces)

for reference about sets bonuses see here

The Spirit of Seimei | Nioh 2 Wiki

The Spirit of Seimei is a Set Bonus in Nioh 2. The Spirit of Seimei effect, pieces, set bonuses, location, builds and tips for Nioh 2

nioh2.wiki.fextralife.com

Now, there are also grace bonuses, which is essentially another set. For magic, you go with Inari. Why? Because it buffs your elemental damage. So whenever you imbue your weapon with an element (this is why you don't need the shots you have been using), your attack goes up even more

depending on the difficulty you are playing on, you might not even see graces. But you will see them and higher gear and skill variation if you play on higher difficulties (dream of demon and above, the newest dlc)

Oh and forgot to talk about demon scroll? If you find a decent one it will even further your attack. I have been using one where my ki damage is increased and my ki usage is reduced, so this is perfect for me since I'm going for ki damage with my attack

This is just one example. Builds are arguably the best part about this game. You can mix and match and some people get crazy stuff going on

What the fuck is a grace bonus? How do I find that and a demon scroll? I only really respecced a bit and included the water shot for that specific boss. Most of the other times I'm just using the elemental imbue stuff, though I don't mind water shot for distance damage to be honest. Was actually toying around with it in this fight and had some fun:

Also the game never stated that splitstaff scaled with Courage, it reads off the weapons it's effective with and it doesn't say courage. This is why I always complain that the game does a poor job of explaining itself.

caliph95 · Oct 16, 2020

Jaded Photographer said:
What the fuck is a grace bonus? How do I find that and a demon scroll? I only really respecced a bit and included the water shot for that specific boss. Most of the other times I'm just using the elemental imbue stuff, though I don't mind water shot for distance damage to be honest. Was actually toying around with it in this fight and had some fun:

Also the game never stated that splitstaff scaled with Courage, it reads off the weapons it's effective with and it doesn't say courage. This is why I always complain that the game does a poor job of explaining itself.

the game when you're picking stats to upgrade tells which stats scales with which weapons

Jaded Photographer · Oct 16, 2020

caliph95 said:
the game when you're picking stats to upgrade tells which stats scales with which weapons

Courage don't say shit about Splitstaff. Magic according to this thing is splitstaff and switch glaive, which is why I recently just dropped spear and switched to the switch glaive.

ClearMetal · Oct 16, 2020

Jaded Photographer said:
Also the game never stated that splitstaff scaled with Courage, it reads off the weapons it's effective with and it doesn't say courage. This is why I always complain that the game does a poor job of explaining itself.

It did... in a way. At the bottom of the weapon info screen there are a bunch of icons, three of which have B+, C+ and D+ listed behind them. Those are the attributes the weapon scales of, and how well they scale.

The game's problem was that it didn't tell you what each icon was unless you tapped "Help" and inspected each individual icon. Luckily the latests patch seems to have fixed that.

Jaded Photographer · Oct 16, 2020

ClearMetal said:
It did... in a way. At the bottom of the weapon info screen there are a bunch of icons, three of which have B+, C+ and D+ listed behind them. Those are the attributes the weapon scales of, and how well they scale.

The game's problem was that it didn't tell you what each icon was unless you tapped "Help" and inspected each individual icon. Luckily the latests patch seems to have fixed that.

I have never even seen those during what I think my 30 hours with this game. I use help to even help figure out what some of these item effects are. Are those icons in like one of the L2 displays?

ClearMetal · Oct 16, 2020

Jaded Photographer said:
I have never even seen those during what I think my 30 hours with this game. I use help to even help figure out what some of these item effects are. Are those icons in like one of the L2 displays?

They're in the main stats screen, below the passives. Here's how it used to look before the patch:

The "Attack Bonus" ones are the attributes it scales off. In these tonfas' case it would be Constitution (D+), Dexterity (D) and Courage (A).

Like I said, it's actually improved after the patch. It now says, for example, "[icon] Attack Bonus (Constitution) D+".

Jaded Photographer · Oct 16, 2020

ClearMetal said:
They're in the main stats screen, below the passives. Here's how it used to look before the patch:

The "Attack Bonus" ones are the attributes it scales off. In these tonfas' case it would be Constitution (D+), Dexterity (D) and Courage (A).

Like I said, it's actually improved after the patch. It now says, for example, "[icon] Attack Bonus (Constitution) D+".

This game is headache inducing, but thanks for the clarification. I guess this is what I get for not memorizing the stat symbols.

Beautifulmemory · Oct 16, 2020

yeah the game can definitely be headache inducing, it's also what makes it fun, so much to learn and to tinker with :) and like mentioned, the game doesn't really explain some of its feature. I will save you a headache and mention one:

elemental attack termpering on your armor. Supposedly people found out that the increase in your elemental attack only happens with your imbue a weapon, not with shots or if you have a weapon that has an element already on it.

Put it differently, you only get increased elemental attack when you use a talisman to imbue. Nowhere in the game it says this, but apparently that's true

NediarPT88 · Oct 16, 2020

Jaded Photographer said:
This game is headache inducing, but thanks for the clarification. I guess this is what I get for not memorizing the stat symbols.

You don't really need to memorize anything, just press the options button and it'll tell you everything you need to know about all those symbols/stats.

Jaded Photographer · Oct 16, 2020

Beautifulmemory said:
yeah the game can definitely be headache inducing, it's also what makes it fun, so much to learn and to tinker with :) and like mentioned, the game doesn't really explain some of its feature. I will save you a headache and mention one:

elemental attack termpering on your armor. Supposedly people found out that the increase in your elemental attack only happens with your imbue a weapon, not with shots or if you have a weapon that has an element already on it.

Put it differently, you only get increased elemental attack when you use a talisman to imbue. Nowhere in the game it says this, but apparently that's true

Jesus christ. So basically I should probably get a poison or purity and then just buff it?

Joe2187 · Oct 16, 2020

How does stone of penance system work? I've been playing for a while with it on, and the stones level never increases in the slightest?>

Beautifulmemory · Oct 16, 2020

Jaded Photographer said:
Jesus christ. So basically I should probably get a poison or purity and then just buff it?

Not necessarily. Just depending on what you want to use. If you like water you can do that too, and just make sure if possible to get 1) increased saturation (water effects build faster on enemies) and increased damage vs saturation (when water effects are applied)

you can do this with fire, electricity, purity, corruption, poison, paralysis. I find it easier to just go with purity. Corruption sucks. But a beautiful thing about this game is you can play it different way.

To add another layer to it, there's an effect called confusion, you know it when you see enemies having like a dark, black purplishish aura around them and they have a Taoist symbol next to them or their health bar. It doesn't last very long because it significantly Incapicitates the enemies. But when you get it you do increased damage. You can achieve this effect by applying two elements on the enemy at the same time (hence "confusion")

example: I use purity so that's generally applied on the enemy whenever I fight. I then apply another element (doesn't matter what) via my soul core skills or elemental shots. bam .

I mention this not to confuse you more, but to show another dimension of the combat and the game :)

Sanox · Oct 16, 2020

Fists/claws are pretty cool

ClearMetal · Oct 16, 2020

Cleared all the main missions of DLC2.

Seimei and Yorimitsu sealing Shuten Doji and Nine Tailed Fox was a nice touch, because I distinctly remembered the two bodies when Tokichiro breaks the seals, 600 years later. I rewatched the cinematic and sure enough, it's them.

The next DLC... Will we go back even further in time to challenge Otakemaru before he became a demon?

SmokedSalmon · Oct 16, 2020

Just finished the rest of the side missions. I love my new abilities.

I'm going to grind for armor sets now.

ClearMetal · Oct 16, 2020

Ren Hayabusa is here to confirm that, yes, human bosses are still shit in Nioh 2.

SmokedSalmon · Oct 16, 2020

Boy, Ren is really holding on tightly to his last two skill drops. I've beaten him 37 times now. Got some cool gear though.

Beautifulmemory · Oct 17, 2020

I finished the dlc on the demon level, thought I would do so before going on to higher difficulties

this dlc is really good. The levels are well designed but fair. The fights are more varied and interesting. The boss designs are just COOL, the new spirit guardians have potential.

this dlc is the opposite of the last one: it spiced up the formula and added more depth to the game. From what I have seen regarding ethereal gears, this game just got super exciting again. And at this point Otakmaru isn't that big of a villain anymore lol

Mechaplum · Oct 17, 2020

Liked the fists a lot more than the staff. Maybe I just love fast close in weapons.

caliph95 · Oct 17, 2020

I had to start from the beginning for an annoying reason and I'm blazing through the beginning so far

It's amazing what happens when even though my level is low i know where everything is and I've already beaten these enemies a hundred times and know the broken strategies so I'm just ultra instinct

At least it means I've actually gotten better in this game

caliph95 · Oct 17, 2020

Enemies can't handle low stance fist lol
The mooks in the game and even revenants can get stunlock to death with it

PurpleRainz · Oct 17, 2020

I got a god roll fist A+ damage scales with STR does almost 1800 damage at plus 170+8.

Aniki · Oct 17, 2020

Toshimitsu is so fun to fight. I hope there are other human bosses like him later in the game.

Qurupeke · Oct 17, 2020

Really loved the final boss of the DLC. Very creepy design, felt somewhat challenging and was a real surprise. Still going through the side missions as of now, but damn, a lot of creepy new enemies in general.

PlanetSmasher · Oct 17, 2020

the plunging attack on the fist weapons is amazing

stupid-ass belly flop

caliph95 · Oct 17, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
the plunging attack on the fist weapons is amazing

stupid-ass belly flop

I want to do that on a wrestling ring arena in Nioh 2 while Mumyo scream he/she/they going for it

PlanetSmasher · Oct 17, 2020

caliph95 said:
I want to do that on a wrestling ring arena in Nioh 2 while Mumyo scream he/she/they going for it

The first time I did it I literally reacted completely organically by just going "OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH". I had no idea it was coming.

PurpleRainz · Oct 17, 2020

Can you upgrade a divine to Etheral? Because if you can I might never replace this fist weapon lol.

ClearMetal · Oct 17, 2020

They added tonfas with inate purity enchantment to the game.

PlanetSmasher · Oct 17, 2020

ClearMetal said:
They added tonfas with inate purity enchantment to the game.

Haven't there been purity tonfa the whole time? I was sure I've had some for ages.

ClearMetal · Oct 17, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Haven't there been purity tonfa the whole time? I was sure I've had some for ages.

Nope. Tonfa were in fact the only weapon class that didn't, I assume because of their already high Ki damage.

Edit: you could get the effect from tempering or from a very lucky random roll. I never felt the former was worth it because it's such a money sink and pure RNG anyway.

Joe2187 · Oct 17, 2020

Nobody got a rundown on the penence stone stuff?

I dont understand why the meter never increases or it's not even doing anything

xianren · Oct 17, 2020

KernelC said:
every day I open this thread, silently watching, waiting. For the announcement of the goty edition

Same here. I bought the physical GOTY edition of the first game with all dlc on disc when it released. Strangely it was only availably in Asia....

Theswweet · Oct 17, 2020

I could've sworn I had Purity tonfas when I played earlier... I'll have to double-check.

Kalentan · Oct 17, 2020

My friend runs Tonfas, any suggestions for an armor set?

SlasherMcGirk · Oct 17, 2020

Joe2187 said:
Nobody got a rundown on the penence stone stuff?

I dont understand why the meter never increases or it's not even doing anything

Basically to increase the meter which ever difficulty you selected on your stone just collect divine weapons and items to increase the bar. Once it's full go back the the shrine and up the level by 1 and refill it back up. Note when you get to level 3 and up your character gets shredded liked glass.

Does having multiple dodge invulnerability extended stack?

SlasherMcGirk · Oct 17, 2020

Wow completely breaks the game. This is worse than pre patch ninjitsu damage scaling in Nioh 1. I'm not gonna play this way but could be useful for grinding or cheesing.

Aniki · Oct 17, 2020

I finally beat Toshimitsu and holy shit what a fight. This was the first boss where i found there wasn't much room for error and i really had to watch my Ki. Which meant i really had to give some thought in how i engaged him. Best boss fight so far that even rivals some of my fav Nioh 1 bosses.

NediarPT88 · Oct 17, 2020

So I noticed that the Switchglaive mystic art has a longer duration now.

I'm wondering if this changed with the recent patch or if it was something else I missed.

I always felt like the time window to connect each attack was on the short side so this was a really nice surprise.

Bulebule · Oct 17, 2020

SlasherMcGirk said:
Wow completely breaks the game. This is worse than pre patch ninjitsu damage scaling in Nioh 1. I'm not gonna play this way but could be useful for grinding or cheesing.

That's so gonna get nerfed. Especially when you are even immune to grab attacks as long as your buff is up and keep just spamming the yokai attack.

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