Nioh 3 Full Walkthrough: Story Missions and Bosses

This Nioh 3 full walkthrough breaks down every main story mission in order, from the opening clash in Hamamatsu to the final confrontation with the Shadow of the Sun. You will find each mission's objectives, the boss strategies that actually work, and the hidden Kodama and loot locations that push you toward 100% completion. Because Nioh 3 blends historical fiction with yokai-infused combat, knowing what awaits in each region saves you from repeated deaths and wasted elixirs.

The game follows Tokugawa Takechiyo, the young shogun-in-training, as he hunts down the source of the Spirit Stones corrupting the land. According to the official Nioh 3 story overview, the narrative spans multiple regions of feudal Japan, each with its own set of main missions, side quests called Myths, and formidable enemies. This guide prioritizes the critical path first, then circles back for the optional content that unlocks endgame gear and the true ending.

Main Story Mission Order and Region Progression

Kusanagi Fire Weakness and Ninjutsu Rotation (Tōtōmi Province)

Kusanagi's fire vulnerability makes the Shrapnel Bomb + Uncanny Flame combo the highest-DPS opener in the early game. Allocate at least 30 points into Skill before this fight to scale Ninjutsu damage past 1,200 per bomb hit. The rotation: dodge forward-left to flank, land three quick attacks to build Ninjutsu gauge, back off, then throw both bombs while casting your summoning seals. You unlock two summoning slots from story progress by this point, so assign both to fire-element spirits for a 40% elemental damage bonus during the burst window.

Attack Mastery Scrolls in the Hamamatsu Area

Attack Mastery I sits in a large chest on the ground floor of the two-story house directly east of the Hamamatsu Post shrine. Attack Mastery II is near the Great Ginkgo Approach Shrine in the Linoya area, tucked behind a destructible wooden fence. Both scrolls grant a permanent 5% attack bonus when equipped in the accessory slot—stacking them yields 10.25% total damage. The Linoya scroll requires defeating the Formidable Enemy "Wandering Ronin" guarding the fence, who has 2,400 HP and resists thrust attacks, so bring a slashing weapon or Ninjutsu.

The Nioh 3 main story walkthrough follows a strict region-by-region structure, and each region gates the next behind a mandatory boss kill. You cannot skip ahead to later areas, so understanding the pacing helps you plan your leveling and gear upgrades. The game opens in the Tōtōmi Province, where you learn the basics against Shunobon—corpses of farmers transformed into yokai by Spirit Stones, as described in the official lore. These early enemies teach you the Ki Pulse timing and Stance switching that carry you through the entire campaign.

Here is the complete mission order for the critical path:

Each region also contains Myths, which are optional side quests that reward rare materials and unlock new Guardian Spirits. While the Nioh 3 mission walkthrough above covers the mandatory path, you should clear every Myth before attempting the region's final boss. Community reports consistently show that players who rush the critical path arrive at boss fights underleveled by five to eight levels, which dramatically increases the difficulty curve.

The Region Progression system ties your character level to mission completion rather than raw experience. Each main mission awards a flat level-up bonus on first clear, so completing optional content is the only way to outpace the recommended level curve. If you find yourself struggling, revisit earlier regions and clear any remaining Myths before pushing forward. For a detailed breakdown of how missions unlock and what each one requires, check the Nioh 3 mission unlock guide.

Early Game Boss Strategies (Tōtōmi Province)

The first two bosses in Tōtōmi Province serve as your combat tutorial, but they still punish careless play. Onryoki of the East is a massive yokai with two ball-and-chain weapons that he swings in wide arcs. The key is to stay close and circle behind him, because his turning speed is slow. When he slams both chains down, the ground shockwave has a short range, so a single backstep avoids it entirely. Use High Stance for damage windows after his three-hit combo ends, then switch to Mid Stance to manage your Ki while repositioning.

Yatsu-no-Kami, the snake boss, is where most new players hit their first wall. He burrows underground and emerges beneath you, so listen for the audio cue and sprint sideways when the ground rumbles. His Poison Breath attack covers a wide cone, but you can interrupt it by hitting his head with a thrown weapon. The fight has two phases: in phase two, he summons two smaller snakes that buff his attack speed. Kill them immediately with Shrapnel Bombs or Uncanny Flame scrolls, because leaving them alive turns the fight into an unwinnable DPS race.

For the Honda Tadakatsu fight in Suruga, you face a human opponent who uses the Spear with devastating reach. His charge attack is telegraphed by a long wind-up, and a well-timed parry staggers him for a critical hit. Community testing shows that equipping the Water-element weapon and applying the saturation status effect reduces his Ki recovery speed, which lets you break his guard more often. The Nioh 3 masters list has the full breakdown of every human boss and their unique drop tables if you want to farm specific gear.

Mid Game Mission Walkthrough: Suruga and Kai Regions

The Suruga region introduces the Underworld mechanic, where certain missions have a secondary layer accessed through glowing cracks in the environment. These optional paths contain Kodama and Locks of Hair that permanently increase your elixir capacity and skill points. The Nioh 3 full walkthrough for The Sunken Shrine requires you to drain the water in three separate chambers by activating pressure plates. The order matters: the plates reset if you activate them out of sequence, and the correct order is indicated by the color of the lanterns above each plate—red, blue, then green.

Lady Osakabe is a massive spider yokai that hangs from the ceiling and attacks with web projectiles. She spawns smaller spider adds that buff her poison damage, so prioritize them with Shuriken throws while they are still climbing down. Her weak point is the glowing sac on her abdomen, which is only exposed after she performs her Web Slam attack. When she drops to the floor, sprint behind her and unleash your Living Weapon for maximum damage.

The Kai region shifts the difficulty significantly. The Fire Caverns mission has a lava floor that damages you over time, so equip the Fireproof Amulet from the blacksmith before entering. The mission requires you to extinguish three flame pillars using Water-element attacks, and each pillar is guarded by a Wheelmonk enemy that rolls into you with fire damage. The boss, Kusanagi, is a sword-wielding yokai that the PowerPyx community guide identifies as highly vulnerable to Ninjutsu damage. Their testing shows that throwing Shrapnel Bombs and Uncanny Flame scrolls while maintaining distance is the safest strategy, especially if you invest at least 30 points into Skill to boost Ninjutsu power.

Late Game Boss Fights and Final Mission

Shunobon Yokai Behavior and Soul Steal Mechanic

Shunobon, farmer corpses transformed via Spirit Stones, target nobles and steal clothing or money out of resentment. Their puff-face attack triggers when you approach within melee range, stealing your soul and leaving you staggered for 2.5 seconds. In the Suwa region sidequest "The Young Man's Fortune," three Shunobon spawn disguised as merchants near the western Nagano shrine—use a ranged weapon to aggro them from 15 meters away, bypassing the soul-steal animation entirely. Their low HP pool (roughly 800) makes them one-shot fodder for any +4 weapon.

Grace of Fukurokuju Set Bonus and Endgame Stat Allocation

The Grace of Fukurokuju set rewards a 15% life recovery on Amrita absorption at five pieces, making it the strongest sustain option for late-game expeditions. Pair it with the Attack Mastery scrolls for a combined 25% damage increase. For stat allocation, prioritize Skill to 99 first—it scales both Ninjutsu damage and the grace's life recovery proc rate. The set's seven-piece bonus grants a 20% damage reduction while at full health, which synergizes with the "Untouched Amrita" stat on accessories to maintain near-permanent uptime on the recovery effect.

The Shinano region contains the hardest mandatory fights in the Nioh 3 main story walkthrough. Shuten Doji, the oni lord, has a massive health pool and a Drunk State mechanic where he becomes more aggressive as the fight progresses. His attacks apply the Saturated status effect, which increases your Ki consumption, so bring Antidote and Ki Recovery items. The strategy is to bait his overhead slam, dodge forward-left to get behind him, and land two to three hits before backing off. This pattern repeats throughout phase one, but phase two adds a Fire Breath attack that covers half the arena—use the pillars in the room to break line of sight.

Daidara Bocchi is a giant yokai that requires you to climb his body to reach his weak points. The fight is more of a platforming challenge than a traditional duel, but the Grapple Points on his arms and shoulders are marked by glowing white crystals. You need to destroy three Core Crystals on his back while avoiding his Sweep Attacks, which knock you off if you are not in Low Stance for the reduced stagger. Once all three cores are destroyed, he collapses and you can deal critical damage to his head.

The final boss, The Shadow of the Sun, is a humanoid yokai that combines every mechanic you have learned. He has three phases, and each phase changes his weapon and attack patterns. Phase one uses a Katana with fast slashes; phase two switches to a Spear with wide sweeps; phase three dual-wields Dual Swords and gains a Shadow Clone that mimics his attacks. The key is to manage both targets in phase three—the clone has only 20% of the boss's health, so focus it down quickly with Living Weapon before returning to the main body.

For players tracking every optional fight, the game features 101 bosses in total according to the Rock Paper Shotgun boss list, which includes Masters (human opponents) and Formidable Enemies that appear in Myths and exploration. The Nioh 3 100% walkthrough requires defeating all of them, because several endgame sets drop exclusively from these optional encounters.

100% Completion Checklist and Secret Locations

Achieving 100% completion in Nioh 3 goes beyond finishing the main story. You need to clear every Myth, find all Kodama in each region, collect every Locks of Hair, and defeat all optional bosses. The Region Completion Tracker in the menu shows your progress per region, which helps you identify what you are missing. Here is the full checklist:

• Clear all main story missions (8 total)

• Complete every Myth side quest (23 total)

• Find all 35 Kodama across the four regions

• Collect all 12 Locks of Hair

• Defeat all 101 bosses (including Masters and Formidable Enemies)

• Max out all weapon proficiency levels

• Unlock all Guardian Spirits

• Complete the Underworld optional dungeon

• Reach character level 100

The Underworld is a post-game dungeon with 30 floors of escalating difficulty. Each floor has a random boss from the main campaign, and clearing all 30 unlocks the True Ending cutscene. According to player reports, the recommended level for the Underworld is 80+, and you should have a fully upgraded Divine-tier weapon before attempting it. The rewards include Ethereal gear, which has higher base stats and unique set bonuses that cannot be found anywhere else.

The Kodama locations are the most time-consuming part of the Nioh 3 100% walkthrough. Each region has a specific number of Kodama, and finding them all in a region unlocks a Kodama Blessing that increases your elixir drop rate. The Nioh 3 side missions list covers the optional quests in detail, including which ones reward Kodama Sense items that make hidden spirits appear on your minimap.

Endgame Gear Progression and Build Recommendations

Once you complete the main campaign, the New Game+ cycle begins, which the game calls Dream of the Demon. This mode increases enemy health and damage by roughly 40%, but it also drops Divine gear with higher level caps. The Nioh 3 full walkthrough for endgame focuses on three build archetypes that community testing has validated:

The Grace of Fukurokuju build, detailed in the Fextralife build guide, focuses on maximizing Ninjutsu damage through the Skill stat and set bonuses that increase thrown weapon damage by 15% per piece. The build requires Attack Mastery I and Attack Mastery II skills, which are found in specific locations: Attack Mastery I is in a large chest on the ground floor of a two-story house in the Hamamatsu Post, while Attack Mastery II is near the Great Ginkgo Approach Shrine in the Linoya area.

For the Living Weapon Tank build, you stack Stamina and equip gear that increases Living Weapon duration. The Grace of Okuninushi set provides a 20% damage reduction while in Living Weapon form, which lets you facetank most boss attacks. This build is slower but far more forgiving, making it ideal for players who want to clear the Underworld without constant deaths.

The Critical Health Glass Cannon build is for experienced players who know boss patterns intimately. It requires dropping below 30% health to activate damage bonuses, which means one mistake kills you. The payoff is the highest DPS in the game, capable of melting bosses in under 30 seconds when optimized. If you are planning multiple playthroughs, the Nioh 3 DLC mission order guide explains how the post-launch content fits into the progression curve.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to complete the Nioh 3 main story?

The main story takes roughly 25 to 30 hours if you focus only on the critical path. A full completion run that includes all Myths, Kodama, and optional bosses typically takes 60 to 80 hours, depending on your skill level and how often you die to the harder encounters.

What is the best weapon for a first playthrough?

The Kusarigama is the most forgiving weapon for beginners because it offers both ranged and melee options. The High Stance heavy attack has excellent reach and stagger, while the Low Stance dodge attack lets you punish enemy whiffs safely. Upgrade it consistently and you can carry it through the entire campaign.

Do I need to complete side missions to finish the game?

No, side missions are optional for the main story, but they are required for 100% completion. More importantly, skipping them leaves you underleveled for the region bosses. Clearing all Myths in a region before its final boss keeps you at the recommended level curve and provides valuable gear upgrades.

How do I unlock New Game Plus in Nioh 3?

New Game Plus, called Dream of the Demon, unlocks immediately after you defeat The Shadow of the Sun and watch the credits. You keep all your gear, levels, and unlocked skills, but enemies scale up significantly. Divine gear drops become common, and you can forge Ethereal equipment at the blacksmith.

Are there any missable items in the Nioh 3 full walkthrough?

Yes—several Kodama and Locks of Hair are missable in the Suruga and Kai Underworld side paths, which lock after their parent missions end. Use Kodama Sense before clearing each region, and revisit the Great Ginkgo Approach Shrine for Attack Mastery II before the final mission locks the map.