Which Nioh 2 builds are quite fun to play yet are viable in various parts of the game?

Nioh 2 is a heavy action-focused RPG that places heavy emphasis on using the right builds to progress further into the game. The best part about this is that the game has a very diverse variety of weapons, items, and combinations that you can use to make a build that’s not only viable but also fun to play.

When it comes to builds, as long as you’re using the right one, you can breeze through the game pretty easily until you reach the highest difficulty.

If you’re having difficulties making a character build, then here are the top 10 builds I would highly recommend:

10. Lucky Demon

The Lucky demon focuses on getting your item and equipment drop rates as high as possible to gain better and rarer loots.

Nioh 2 is a pretty grindy game, more so when you reach the endgame where Ethereal graces are the new chase items as Divine gears become obsolete. It’s for this reason why the Lucky Demon build is worth trying out. 

Specifically, it’s a build designed to have both Item Drop and Equipment Drop rates as high as possible so you can get tons of drops every time you defeat a boss. Not only that, but it also increases the rarity of the items you get. 

This means you’ll have higher chances of getting Ethereal items and lesser chances of getting trash loots.

Despite a build focused on improving your Luck and drop rates, it actually has pretty decent damage and survivability which allows you to tackle endgame difficulty up until Dream of the Nioh.

What Lucky Demon Excels In:

• Farm endgame items pretty quickly
• Increase the chances of getting Ethereal items
• Perfect for transitioning into Dream of the Nioh and Depths of the Underworld

Full Build Details:

Lucky Demon Build for Ethereal Farming

9. Dragon Ninja

If you want to play as a ninja, the Dragon Ninja build is perfect as it offers an excellent synergy of both melee and ninjutsu attacks.

The Dragon Ninja build is aptly named for the specific set that’s required to make this build: the Dragon Ninja set. If you’re a fan of sustaining long combos while destroying your target’s Ki at the same time, then this is definitely a fun build to try.

Perhaps the best part about this build is its ability to carry you to the endgame which, in this case, is the Depths of the Underworld. 

The core of this build revolves around the Dragon Ninja build alongside a few pieces of Marici’s grace, allowing you to benefit from increased Ninjutsu power, untouched Ninjutsu, and the Empowered Ninjutsu effect.

What Empowered Ninjutsu does is it provides you with a substantial melee damage multiplier every time you use a ninjutsu item. And since this build uses a lot of ninjutsu items to function, you can easily keep the multiplier up and running at all times.

It does fall a bit behind pure Ninjutsu builds, but it certainly makes up for it with its excellent synergy of melee attacks and ninjutsu.

What Dragon Ninja Excels In:

• Flawless combos with very long sustains
• A good mix between melee and ninjutsu
• The ability to tackle very endgame content

Full Build Details:

Dragon Ninja Build

8. The Snowman

Odachi builds are known to hit hard, and The Snowman takes it up a notch by adding more survivability into it.

If you’re an Odachi main, then you’ll definitely love the damage output and survivability that this build offers. It basically got its name from an Odachi skill called Moonlit Snow, which is the main skill you’ll be using while running this build.

If you’re willing, you can even beat the game using that skill alone. Of course, it can get boring quickly, but that’s the point of this build.

As a personal favorite, the Snowman build offers the best of both worlds as it allows you to tank hits that would otherwise kill you while dishing out some good damage in return. 

The build revolves around the use of the Seven Misfortunes, Eight Hardships set alongside 3 pieces of The Bold and the Boorish set to reduce damage taken as much as possible.

With this, you’re enjoying a damage reduction of up to 72.8% every time you’re inflicted with a negative status and while attacking in Mid stance. This doesn’t even include the Steel or Protection talisman as well as Tengen Kujaku’s mid-stance buff which you can apply to get even further damage mitigation!

Then, you can focus the rest on your damage which isn’t really that hard to get considering that Odachis generally hit like a damn truck.

What Snowman Excels In:

• Mitigate damage as high as possible during mid-stance attacks
• Great survivability and pretty decent damage output
• A perfect all-around build

Full Build Details:

The Snowman Odachi Build

7. Fuma Ninja

Not as viable in endgame as the rest, but the Fuma Ninja build might just make your first playthrough a very easy one.

Compared to the other builds on this list, this one is actually an early game build. However, first-time Nioh 2 players will definitely enjoy playing this as it can easily carry them throughout their first playthrough at Dream of the Samurai.

Not to mention, it’s quite flexible but is very easy to put together as well.

What I love about this build is that it easily melts bosses due to the absurd amounts of damage it can dish out while requiring very little investment. In fact, it might even ruin your first playthrough as it makes every boss fight a cakewalk.

The build revolves around the use of the Fuma Ninja gear which has the Shuriken & Kunai damage passive on each piece to greatly boost the damage of your throwing weapons. Pair it with the Storm Kunai and Shuriken Shooter while standing behind a boss, and it’s basically an easy victory.

What Fuma Ninja Excels In:

• Defeat early game bosses in seconds
• Very easy to put together with very minimal investment
• Quite flexible to upgrade in the later difficulties

Full Build Details:

6. Elemental Austerity

This build is designed for ultimate destruction, and the fact that you can spam it makes it an even more solid choice for a build.

Pure Onmyo magic builds are one of the best builds in Nioh 2 when it comes to damage output. Pair it with Otakemaru’s yokai ability, Sanmyo Storm, and you got yourself a recipe for destruction. This is exactly what this build is all about.

I tried running this build on Dream of the Nioh, and boy I can tell you this build absolutely destroys bosses! The main ingredients of the build are the Onmyo Austerity+ set, which is an Ethereal version of the Onmyo Austerity set, and the Grace of Tsukuyomi set.

These two sets provide massive bonuses to Onmyo builds, including untouched Onmyo magic, massive Onmyo magic damage bonuses, reduced enemy defense on Onmyo magic hit, and bonus Onmyo magic damage whenever you’re at full health.

The build works by spamming your Onmyo magic abilities on your target, then as your Anima gauge fills up, use the Sanmyo Storm ability. Since you’ll be having Genbu as your main guardian spirit, you can fill up your Anima gauge pretty quickly, thanks to its Anima bonus effect whenever you hit an enemy with Onmyo magic. 

It’s pretty much spamming your Onmyo magic and Sanmyo Storm at this point until you defeat your target.

What Elemental Austerity Excels In:

• Quickly melts bosses in seconds
• Almost a 100% uptime on Otakemaru’s yokai ability
• Stunlock bosses while bombarding them with heavy Onmyo magic

Full Build Details:

Pure Onmyo Magic Build

5. Mighty Monk

Great survivability, tough defenses, heavy-hitting attacks: all these and more are what the Mighty Monk build excels in.

Splitstaves are a pretty fun weapon to use, especially since they have a unique mechanic which allows you to extend your attacks by simply holding your attack button. What’s even funnier is the fact that you can quickly dispatch your enemies with the Mighty Monk build.

True to its name, the build uses the Mighty Monk set which is farmed from Benkei on The Tengu’s Disciple DLC. What makes this build a great boss killer is the fact that the set provides significant melee damage increases with 7 pieces worn. 

Though it might not sound that much on paper, the bonus is actually a huge increase when paired with the splitstaff’s Dragon Dance and Law of Lethality skills.

All you have to do is get behind a boss, then hold Dragon Dance until your Ki gets depleted. By the time your Ki is depleted, the boss’ health would have gone down to zero by then. That’s basically it.

What Mighty Monk Excels In:

• Shred bosses pretty quickly with Dragon Dance
• Quite tanky considering the set is made up of heavy armors
• Only requires a single active skill to kill enemies

Full Build Details:

Mighty Monk Splitstaff Build

4. Purity Izanagi

Purity Izanagi is designed for very endgame content, allowing you to push through various levels in the Depths of the Underworld.

The Purified status effect allows you to deal heavy Ki damage to your targets, with roughly a 50% more damage multiplier. This makes it pretty easy to sustain your combos without worrying about your target fighting back. 

This Purity Izanagi build takes that up a notch.

What makes this build absolutely devastating is the fact that the Izanagi’s Grace set provides a 30% increased melee damage against Purified enemies. Apart from that, it also increases the Purified status buildup which allows you to inflict the status on your target even faster.

Lastly, there’s the Cleansing Prayer effect unique to the grace set which increases your melee damage at 3 stacks by roughly 30%. You also get increased Ki recovery from the set on top of the additional Ki recovery bonus you get from 2 stacks of Cleansing Prayer. 

This in itself helps you sustain your combos even longer.

What Purity Izanagi Excels In:

• Inflict the Purified status on targets quickly
• Destroys enemy Ki within seconds
• The ability to sustain combos with its Ki recovery bonuses

Full Build Details:

Purity Izanagi Build

3. Paralyzing Blade

One-shot builds are few and far between, but this one definitely takes the cake as far as damage goes.

Paralysis builds are pretty much a niche build in Nioh 2 considering there’s only one set in the game that provides major bonuses to paralyzed enemies. Still, if you’re a fan of one-shotting bosses, then this is definitely the build for you.

The Paralyzing Blade build makes use of the Paralyzed status to deal an insane amount of damage on the target. To function, it requires 3 pieces of the Profligate Sinner set which provides a whopping 40% increased melee damage against paralyzed enemies. 

This, paired with 5 pieces of The Crossed Sickles set for 15% added backstab damage, means you can essentially oneshot paralyzed bosses as long as you position yourself properly.

To achieve this, you have to temper Melee Damage vs. Paralyzed enemies in your accessories to increase the bonus damage as much as possible. Then, use the Iai Quickdraw skill behind a paralyzed enemy to deal massive bonus. 

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to apply paralysis reliably on your target, be it through a paralysis shuriken, paralytic groundfire, or the hemlock broth buff on your weapon, so your options won’t be limited.

What Paralyzing Blade Excels In:

• One-shots paralyzed enemies
• Only requires two easy-to-farm sets to get started

Full Build Details:

Paralyzing Blade Build

2. Dynamite Punch

If you think barehanded builds in Nioh 2 are a meme, then wait until you get your hands in the Dynamite Punch build which basically destroys enemies in one punch.

Nioh 2’s builds revolve around the use of insanely strong weapons to even make it to the endgame. However, what if I tell you there’s actually a really OP build that doesn’t even need a weapon? 

Yes, that’s right. This Dynamite Punch build is just that. The concept is pretty simple: you defeat bosses with your bare fists alone. 

Although that might not sound crazy enough, this build actually has a unique interaction with a gesture called Straight Punch that deals a crazy amount of damage when used at the right time. 

It can be hard to pull off at times though, which is why applying paralysis on your target is essential if you want the hit to land.

The build isn’t really that hard to put together. All you need is the Hands of Death passives in the Samurai skill tree, the Talisman of the Fist, and some utilities like the paralysis ninjutsu items to make it easier to land a hit. 

As for your gear, you just have to focus on a set that provides bonuses to your melee damage.

What Dynamite Punch Excels In:

• Heavy damage with barehanded attacks
• Doesn’t require any weapon, which means less farming required
• Minimal investment with potential to oneshot

Full Build Details:

Dynamite Punch Build

1. Tengu Slayer

The ultimate ninjutsu build designed to annihilate your enemies with a barrage of ninjutsu skills and items.

If you think Onmyo magic builds are OP, then wait until you get your hands on a pure Ninjutsu build. The Tengu Slayer, which is exactly that, deals an insane amount of damage. So much that it feels as if you’re playing on the easiest difficulty when you’re actually in the Dream of the Nioh.

My favorite build so far, the Tengu Slayer relies heavily on 3 special Ninjutsu skills to deal heavy damage. These are Exorcist Blade, Umbral Bullet, and my personal favorite, Flame Dragon; all of which can be obtained by defeating Ren Hayabusa of the Ninja Gaiden series.

Also, the build relies on the Marici’s Grace, Flying Kato, and Benzaiten’s Grace sets to stack as many Ninjutsu Power bonuses as possible. Once you have all the pieces put together, you simply have to use Gozuki’s yokai ability to deplete your target’s Ki, then use the aforementioned skills to finish the fight.

Since the target has basically zero Ki at this point, you can also use either Hellfire, Thunderous Hell, or Eight Cold Hells for added burst damage. 

What Tengu Slayer Excels In:

• Depletes enemy Ki quickly
• The special ninja skills deal heavy damage
• Basically spammable, thanks to the untouched ninjutsu effect

Full Build Details:

Tengu Slayer Pure Ninjutsu Build

There are tons of other builds out there, but the ones I have included are not only fun to play but are also viable in certain parts of the game. I personally tested them as well, so I can attest to their overall effectiveness.

Let me know which one is your favorite.

You may also be interested in:

• Nioh 2 Best Builds That Are Fun To Play
• Nioh 2 Best Weapons (And How to Get Them)
• Nioh 2 Best Guardian Spirits
• Nioh 2 Best Soul Cores (And What's Great About Them)
• Nioh 2 Best Weapon Types - Which Should You Choose?