NIOH – BUILDS- Moonlight Swordsman – Odachi

CHARACTER BUILDS

So we go through Sword & Dual Sword in my two previous posts:

NIOH – BUILDS – THE CROSS SWORDSMAN – DUAL SWORDS

NIOH – BUILDS – RAINING RONIN – SWORD

That’s the Holy Trinity for everyone, some have also succeeded in creating Tri-Sword build from the above. Today, we will add another “sword” style to this combination, the Odachi, new weapon added in Dragon of the North DLC.

This build focus on your ability to take over your opponent in an aggressive way. So if you like tanking mobs, this is the build for you.

ODACHI – GRUESOME

It’s been a while since the last time we see Odachi in video games, this is thanks to For Honor, for bringing back the popularity of this weapon. In reality, due to its size and weight, Odachi is not used very often, but in video games, this weapon is the best for showing the bad-ass aspect! 🙂

Nioh_20170715032706

PEW!

CHARACTER STATS

 

After Axe, Odachi is the second weapon to scale off STRENGTH and of course, this is your main focus. BODY  is also needed as you will need HP to endure enemies’ attacks. However, as HP is increased for all stats (but BODY scale the highest) you can temporarily “neglect” it (in higher difficulty, this stat is very important though), but enough amount to wear armour is needed.

Nioh_20170706064915

STRENGHT is the main Odachi stat

STAMINA is also a stat that you will need to focus as later you will normally using Heavy Armor set (Tanetashi for example) However, with WEIGHT REDUCTION, STAMINA can be around 44 – 46 (my current build) to get B Agility.

Nioh-Muscular

Bro, Do you even lift!

Finally, you will also need enough amount of Ki to swinging that heavy piece of iron, which mean you will either need to master the Ki-pulse technique, having some affixes help Ki reduction, or (the best) using Odachi along with Sword.

With that said, Odachi require some more stats to master, so it’s easier to use as secondary weapon when you have maxed some of the core stat like HEART (increase your Ki a lot)

That’s does not mean you can’t use Odachi on your 1st play-through though, just a suggestion 🙂

EQUIPMENT

EARLY GAME – WAY OF THE SAMURAI

(The first part is from the previous post)

At the beginning  – Way of Samurai (level 1 -80), you will encounter Nioh first two sets (Equipment that will enable special affixes when equipping together) – Warrior of the West and Red Demon Armor – mostly through Revenants (Red Graves resemble previous players deaths, usually carry their armor set and weapon) throughout the mission

These two sets are the very basic set due to its damage increment (10% for wearing 4 pieces of armour or equipment) and for 5 pieces the damage increase furthermore (~28%) when enemies are inflicted with Fire (Red Demon Armor) or Lighting (Warrior of the West)

WOTW

Warrior of The West increase 10% damage when equipping 4 pieces

RD

The Red Demon Set is similar to Warrior of the West, however, support the Fire Element, with 5 pieces, the damage is increased by 27.5% if Enemies are Scorched

These two sets are also categorized as Light Armor, if you don’t have much STAMINA, the Agility Stats of the character will often stay at B – a very safe bet for you to not cost too much Ki when dodge and attack.

Nioh_EWD

Agility C when character weight get over 70%

MID AND ENDGAME – WAY OF THE STRONG AND ABOVE

With the tendency of tanking the enemy, your focus should be armour that helps increase toughness and reduce the damage received. Again, Tanetashi is one of the choices, Armour of The Exceptional is also good but as it’s a Spear set, some of the affixes are not used to full potential.

With update 1.14 – 1.16 A new set has been added – General of Kigetsu, which provide Damage Reduction, Attack Increase base on bad status aliment. This combine with Hermit Talisman & Carnage Talisman is one of the best armour for Odachi

Tanetashi Bonus

With Tanetashi, we also have EQUIPMENT WEIGHT BONUS A, which is perfectly synced with the Heavy Armors

Finally, you can also mix the sets for some damage increasement. This depends on your play-styles, some may prefer Warrior of the West with Tanetashi, other used their previous Kingo set for Sword.

Nioh_20170720164011

Kingo set có thể dùng như set bỗ trợ

Some set that has Odachi as a weapon:

  • He who never retreat (The affixes are quite strange with making it’s hard to use)
  • General of Kigetsu (Added on second DLC Defiant Honor) – A very well-rounded set that sync with Odachi

WEAPON AFFIXES

At the beginning (First Play-through) you don’t need to focus much on the affixes, simply pick up the stronger weapons on your journey and use it, as to modify affixes and change them require lot of upgrades and materials – which is more suitable for end game (Way of the Strong/Demon/Wise)

Just as mentioned in NIOH – THÔNG SỐ TRANG BỊ – PHẦN 1 – WEAPONS, there are many affixes that help increase the damage of the weapons, however, there are some core affixes that every weapon should have.

  • CLOSE COMBAT DAMAGE 10% – 20%/ SKILL DAMAGE 15 – 20%
  • FAMILIARITY DAMAGE BONUS A
  • KILLING STRIKE DAMAGE 18 – 25%
  • SKILL DAMAGE (Moonlit Snow) 17 – 25%
  • CHANGE TO ATTACK (STRENGTH) A+

In Odachi, you can also use:

  • CLOSE COMBAT KI DAMAGE 17 – 25%

Initially, the Ki damage from Odachi is one of the best in-game, but with this, the process is even easier, imagine facing a Human opponent where they can be exhausted in just one or two skill.

In 1.14 update, a new affix for Odachi come up 

  • MOONLIT SNOW X3 (ATTACK DAMAGE X2) 

This increase the damage of last Moonlit Snow hit (the 4th hit) by double, but does require some setup as you also need to land the first 3 hits. With some practice, this can be used as an alternative to the above affixes.

CHANGE TO ATTACK (STRENGTH) is ideal when you using Sword build from the beginning – as your first max stat is STRENGTH, however, if you are using Sword as a secondary weapon, and your first max stat is not STRENGTH, this should be the one that you are already maxed (HEART, STAMINA, SKILL…), this is the most efficient damage increasement affixes and very hard to roll as well, however with Temper, this process is a little easier.

SKILL DAMAGE & CLOSE COMBAT DAMAGE (CCD) These two affixes are not stacked, which mean you can only choose one over another, at first glance CCD seem better as it increases overall damage, however, it’s hard to roll the best stat (20%) so you can use SKILL DAMAGE as an alternative

SKILL DAMAGE (MOONLIT SNOW) – This affix only appears when you Forge Weapon or from loot drop, which means you can’t reforge it using Black Smith. One of the ways to get this is to obtain the SMITHING TEXT for the Odachi of your liking.

Some good Odachi’s you should prefer:

  • Sekishu Kazushada (From the General of Kigetsu set)
  • Monohoshizao – dropped from Mysterious Samurai (Ganryu sub-mission in Defiant Honor)
  • Bloodstained Cleaver – Occasionally dropped from Namahage (New yokai appear in Dragon of the North, on Way of the Wise difficulty)
Nioh_20170725021828

My Odachi on Way of the Demon, as my first weapon is Dual Sword, CTA Skill is used

We still have one more slot for an affix, this depends on your liking, if you want some “spark” here and there, elemental affixes is a good choice (FIRE, LIGHTING, WATER….) you can also choose Damage 50% which help increase damage of a specific element – this is the best when you are using Talisman as the main source of element damage. Finally, WEAKEN TORSO is also a good affix as it reduces the defence of the Chest Armor, in general, more damage for you!

ARMOR AFFIXES

Just like in NIOH – THÔNG SỐ TRANG BỊ – PHẦN 2 – ARMOR & ACCESSORIES Armor in Nioh also have some very good affixes (DAMAGE REDUCTION is a base affix that exist in all armour, however, higher in heavier armour)

  • TOUGHNESS
  • DEFENSE
  • BONUS FOR ABSORBING ARMITA (INCREASE ATTACK) (Helm only)
  • ATTACK
  • RECEIVED ELEMENTAL ATTACK DAMAGE 20 – 25%

For Armor in this build, as we are using heavy armour setwe will need this stat:

  • WEIGHT REDUCTION 15 – 17%

This help reduces the weight of the armour and allows you to achieve B Agility when using heavy armour. With Temper, this is easier to get now.

Tanetashi

WEIGHT REDUCTION 14%

ACCESSORIES AFFIXES AND RANGED WEAPONS AFFIXES

As we are using heavy armour, you will need to have this affix:

  • EQUIPMENT WEIGHT DAMAGE BONUS A

This help increase damage base on the weight of the character (~15% for over 30.1 Weight)

For Ranged Weapon, as the affix of the Ranged Weapon can be enabled if it’s used on a primary slot, We can simply choose a weapon with AGILITY DAMAGE BONUS A and leave it there. At B Agility, this should be around 8% in Damage increment, not bad for something that we never used much!

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For Accessories, you will need a Yasakani Magatama (enable mixing the Sets) and any accessories to your liking as long as they have this:

  • YOKAI CLOSE COMBAT DAMAGE 10 – 15%

A little limit there, but given your enemies in this game are mostly Yokai, this should be enough 🙂

SKILLS

A big let down from Odachi skill tree is the maze-like description. The purpose was to create a weapon which enables linking between stances and open up chances for some good combo.

Example: You hit Square in Mid Stance and then follow up with Triangle, William will finish with a Heavy attack in High Stance and changing stance in the process.

However, when it comes to execution, the description is overly complex and require some serious mapping to make sure things work, and sometimes it’s not even useful! (if you think otherwise, please comment your play-style 🙂 )

Nioh_20170715030137

There are around 6 skills like this, enable switching stances during normal attacks, but mostly useless – IMO

With that said, the below list is the skills you need to focus – these are almost considered must have for Odachi user.

  • Flux – All moves – This helps your regenerate Ki when changing Stance using R1 at the correct time, master this skill is crucial to every builds.
  • Crashing Wave – Using your hilt and body to break enemy guard, one of the best skill to use on Human opponents.
Nioh_20170725021209

Kiaiiii!

  • Charging Bull – This causes massive Ki damage to enemies if their Ki bar is depleted, using your sword to knock down the enemy. One of the most bad-ass looking skills in Nioh
Nioh_20170718061014

Nếu đối thủ hết Ki, dùng kiếm đè người!

  • Moonlit Snow – Gathering strength and slash three times, if charged the last slash will hit two times. The bread and butter of Odachi skills
Nioh_20170715030748

Taking a closer look, the slashes represent the seasons during the year (Snow, Leaves, and lastly Spring Blossom)

  • Passage to the Afterlife – Increase Grapple damage (Mostly used on human enemy)
Odachi Grapple

Đi đu quay sư phụ êiiiii

  • Sword of Severance – Increase damage on Human Opponent by 12%
  • Mystic Art – Subtle Blade – Increase Ki damage on attacking Human Opponent

In Nioh, the passive skills from other trees can also be applied without using the weapon, so it’s worth to upgrade if those skills are suit your need. Some useful skills below:

Shadow Strike

Increase damage from behind – Kusarigama

Amour Piercer

Increase Final Blow Damage Kusarigama – Max 12%

Nioh_20170715023813

200 HP in Axe Skills

GUARDIAN SPIRIT

Once again, another build using skill, so we will make friend with the spirit that helps increase Skill Damage. Kato is one of our first choices

Another Spirit is Kara-Jishi, help increase your damage (as a buff) after each skill you performed on the enemy, this spirit also supports Lighting Element, if you like Lighting, this is your best choice.

INCREASE ATTACK (SKILL) does not show the exact number, but many people reported that this is around 40% increase, an impressive affix, during my play through, damage from Kara-Jishi is higher than Kato in most cases especially when using Lighting.

kato & kara

Kato increase Skill Damage 21% along with Close Combat Attack 14%, while Kara-jishi increase damage every time you use a Skill

Kara-jishi

Kara-Jishi – The Lighting Lion

NINJUTSU AND ONMYO MAGIC

In Ninjutsu & Onmyo Magic, you will need some basic skills. With Ninjutsu, you can use Quick Change Scroll – one more chance of death. There are also many other traps, bomb that you may like, however, this requires some ninjutsu points and a will more suitable if you have high DEXTERITY

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As for Onmyo Magic, you will need some basic stuff – Weakness Talisman, Carnage Talisman & Steel Talisman

After 1.14 patch, we have a new talisman – Leeching Talisman – increase damage base on HP loss, however, reduce HP during the duration. This can be a substitute for Carnage as it’s higher – around 55% 

The Paralytic Groundfire is also added in 1.14 for Ninjutsu Skills, which enable awesome skills for Human Opponents

When playing, the order of buff should follow this:

Quick Change Scroll >> Carnage Talisman/ Leeching Talisman >> Steel Talisman >> Weakness Talisman

Nioh usables

Quick Change SCroll, Weakness Talisman và Carnage Talisman

You can also upgrade the skills in Ninjutsu & Onmyo magic to allow carry more ninjutsu items as well as the Mystic Arts that help cancel the buff animation

SAY NO TO SLOTH! 🙂

Nioh Ninjutsu Skill

Enlightenment – Allow you to cancel animation when performing Ninjutsu

Nio Magic

Awakening – Allow you to cancel animation when performing Onmyo Magic

PLAY STYLE

At first, Odachi is not very popular, due to its speed and looks, but later, many find out that there’s a lot of awesome traits that makes Odachi a killer weapon!

Normal damage is higher and wider reach

Before Odachi, Axe is a weapon which has high damage normal attack, however, have some downside in speed, Odachi appear as an alternative for balance out the speed and power.

Ridiculous Ki damage

Crashing Wave – R1 + Square is one of the best skill in the game for Human Opponent, just around two hits will make the enemy exhaust and vulnerable. You can either follow up by Knock them down and final blow or just simply grapple them. A quick demonstration of this skill is the Marobashi mission where I use this to finish off the Masters in around 2 minutes.

But does not mean it lacks Skill Damage

As mentioned above, Moonlit Snow is the source of skill damage for Odachi, for Yokai, this is the killer move, in below video, a full hit can take up 50% HP (Way of the Demon level 365) This also come with good Poise which means you cannot be stagger when executing this skill.

But this requires a good damage reduction on your side or at least a large HP pool to endure the hit or you will die before execute the full move.


The above is my Odachi build – I do gather some information from another source – Reddit, Youtube… however I haven’t seen any official guide for “pure” Odachi build, I believe this is due to the lack of supporting set, but with 1.16 update, a lot has been added to Odachi, you now have a lot of choices for this weapon.

But this does not stop the bad-asses of this weapon, we will use it again for another build – The Living Weapon!

NIOH – BUILDS – The Man with the Guardian Spirits – Living Weapon


Comments
  1. NIOH – BUILDS – THE MAN WITH THE GUARDIAN SPIRIT – LIVING WEAPON – ETHUGAMER

    […] In my previous post, we have looked at Odachi, a weapon with devastating power in both Ki damage and raw attack. NIOH – BUILDS- MOONLIGHT SWORDSMAN – ODACHI […]

  2. Suisugetsu

    I disagree with the reviewer. On my frist playthrough when the game came out and there was no ODACHI or TONFA I played with katana…. and man it was hard. It lacked range and damage. Also in the beginning I didnt have many skills unlocked so I sucked. However I picked up DLC’s recently and started new game with ONLY ODACHI and tonfa as my second. ODACHI quickly became my favorite weapon and I would recommend it to beginners. It has good reach and damage, Skills only make it better. One thing to notice is that your KI will deplete fast hence if you fight againts tanky revenants its best to switch to Tonfa to block and drain enemy then switch to Odachi for final blows. I never had it easier. ODACHI is the best.

    1. ethugamer

      Glad to hear that! Yeah i noted it should be 2nd weapon is because of the Ki cost as well, it does require some Ki management skill before going frontal on enemy, I didn’t try to second down any weapon as each has it’s own strenght and weakness, maybe i will use another tone on my next posts, thx for ur comment!

  3. Zai

    Man thanks for this guide I just got the PC version and I was debating to switch from Odachi/Twin Swords back to Katana and something else but this guide gives me some hope now lol. Is the Odachi better paired with the Katana over Dual Swords? In terms of stats I haven’t been focusing much into Str/Dex but more on Body/Magic/Dex atm

    1. ethugamer

      Well, it’s depend on your secondary focus-stat bro! It’s better pair with Katana is because you need a decent amount of Ki to swing the Odachi, and Heart is the stat that help increase Ki, so it’s look like a no brainer. But this only applied from 1-300 level, when points are kind of limit. From 300+ onward I would say it’s your choice, as we have the Change to Attack () affix that helps character use entirely different stat scale weapon (like using Odachi while your highest stat is HEART with Change to Attack Heart)

  4. Zai

    Alright I think I might respec to Odachi/Katana then it feels like Dual Sword should be paired with something else lol So far I have to say it seems like Nioh was really balanced around the Katana considering there are so many weapons and sets for it. I do however love to abuse Charging Bull on almost everything 😀

  5. Aurron

    Nice guide dude, I juste have a question, which clan you recomend ? TODO looks good, but many people tells it was nerf so it isn’t interesting anymore …

    1. ethugamer

      Thanks Aurron! Hmm actually I haven’t play Nioh for a while, but yeah TODO did get some nerf, but clan only add in around 10 – 15% to the overall build imo. You can choose one base on your play style though, there are many clans provide Skill Damage, Health boost & Defence. Honda Clan (Damage Halved (Full Life): 40% Skill Damage: +7%) is a good choice for many players, give you some skill damage while reduce damage of the first hit – may save you in some boss 1 hit swing 🙂
      If you do a round check, you may see that Clan is the last things ppls consider after finishing on the core setup, so again, choose one that suit you, or at least sound cool 🙂

      1. Aurron

        Thanks for your answer, I think i’ll still go for the TODO clan^^ one last question :p
        Is it for you the best all rounded build ?

  6. tian ma

    VERY Clean guide, i’ve going through so many reddit and youtube posts about Odachi build, this is by far the cleanest!
    A quick though, how do one increase Poise? i know in dark souls you can do that with heavy swords, do Nioh actually have Poise mechanics?

    1. ethugamer

      Thanks for your kind comment! To be honest, this build is pretty basic for starter as I wrote it back when Way of the Demon is still a thing. Anyway, for your question, yeah Nioh does have Poise, but represent under the Toughness stat – which give you hyper-amor when attacking, to notice the difference, you will need to increase this above 200 which mean need some more armor – heavy ones to be exact. Nioh builds are more on the damage side so we don’t see tank build most often, but yeah, toughness is your “poise” here.

  7. jaitsupatrol

    I’m a little bit confused as to why you keep bringing up Skill. Its completely possible i’m missing something, I only came back to this game recently, however afaik Odachi don’t scale with skill by default. Would not maxing out Heart and Strength be the best bet for an Odachi, while only pushing Skill to 12 or so for access to most equipment?

    1. ethugamer

      Hmm, which part I mentioned Skill is a stat to focus, bro? I stated “STRENGHT is the main Odachi stat” in the Character Stats section. You may misunderstand on the Skill Damage stat which gives increment to your Skills like Moonlit Snow…

      1. jaitsupatrol

        OH! Yes I definitely misunderstood that then, confusing skill the stat with skill the abilities. And I think the original stats picture near the top might’ve thrown me for a loop as well

    2. ethugamer

      And yes, you are absolutely right, Strenght should be maxed first prior to anything else for your 1st playthrough, but well like I said, there maybe some confusion with Skill Damage

  8. E3 2018 – Playstation Recap – What to expect for our library? – EthuGamer

    […] NIOH – BUILDS- Moonlight Swordsman – Odachi […]

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