Nioh 2 Splitstaff Build Guide – The Warrior Monk Reincarnate

The Tengu Discipline is the first DLC content for Nioh 2 – featuring a new story arc with Yoshitshune – a historical figure that appears in various Samurai Warriors games.

Nioh 2 Yoshitsune
This is not the first time this guy appear in video game.

In this DLC, Nioh 2 also introduces Splitstaff – a new weapon that can change between two forms:

  • Staff – This is the default form, simply pressing Square/ Triangle will result in several quick and wide range combo
  • An Extended version Staff (Trigger by holding either Square or Triangle during attacks) – Extends the range of your Attacks to hit more, consume more Stamina in the process

Nioh 2 Splitstaff Guide


Splitstaff scale with Magic – Same scale with Switch Glaive. This makes Onmyo Magic build an easy switch to this new weapon. Although the main stat is Magic, Splitstaff requires some skill to master its combo and attacks.

It combines the fast attack speed of tonfa and the Target Combo of Spear. The Splitstaff is also good for applying abnormal statuses to the enemies thanks to it’s multi-hit on Extended mode.

Splitstaff Moves


The Splitstaff has two modes: Normal and Extended modes. As soon as you unlock your first skill point for the Splitstaff – The Fluid Form skill will let you access the Extended mode of the Staff.

This works by holding down the attack buttons (Square or Triangle) when performing a combo. Instead of the normal attack, both ends of the staff will be extended and enhance the reach of your attacks.

Splitstaff Tips


Despite the versatility of the Splitstaff moveset, some of the attacks are better off with the default mode.

I found the most useful attack is the Strong Attack in High Stance. In extended mode, this attack has further reach and good potential for the lure in the enemy.

Nioh 2 Splitstaff Build | Warrior Monk reincarnate


Similar to the previous DLC of Nioh. There new armor set that goes along with a new weapon. This time, Splitstaff armor set is the Benkei’s armor set.

Nioh 2 Splitstaff Build | Best Skills for Splitstaff

Dragon Dance I/II

This has the same mechanic as Water Sword of Dual Sword, with a better range and a bonus to Damage if you drain your stamina during this skill. The Attack bonus can be hard to trigger if the enemies constantly to attack you.

This skill can be used against big bosses that do not have good speed and mostly stay stationary.

Unruly Revolution

This spinning staff move can help you with those human enemies. A full combo can significantly reduce the Ki Bar.

Five Dragon Kata I/ II/ III

Splitstaff is created for elemental damage. This skill will increase your elemental damage by 8%.

Splitstaff Mystic Art


Both Law of Lethality (Increase damage on extended attacks) and Law of Largesse (Increase number of hits) can be switched depending on your liking, for a more general playstyle, Law of Lethality is often use.

Nioh 2 Splitstaff Build | Stat


As this is a DLC weapon – meaning it happens after the Story mode, we will all assume that you already maxed out one of the stats and currently looking for a new weapon.

If your main weapon was Switch Glaive, switching to Splitstaff requires almost to no change – as Splitstaff scale with Magic.

Depend on your choice of Armor, you can then pick another secondary stat on NG+ (Dream of the Strong – DoS) & NG++ (Dream of the Demon – DoD)

Updated for Nioh 2 PC: From Dream of the Wise, you can go past 99, and Magic is still the best stat to go for Splitstaff.

If you picked Benkei’s Armor, you will need around 60 Stamina to accumulate his full armor set. While this increases your equipment weight and stamina recovery rate, the Benkei’s Armor set provides a 15% Melee Damage at 7 pieces and has a pretty good Defense stat.

Below was my stat when I switched to Splitstaff (Previous weapon was Axe)

Nioh 2 Splitstaff Build | Armor Set

As Splitstaff scale with Magic, below armor sets can be a good pick to boost your elemental damage. You can also combine two different armor sets to get some initial bonuses.

Genmei Onmyo Mage Armor Set

There are two types of armor to pick when you choose the Splitstaff. You can combine Genmei Armor Set for a boost to your Onmyo Magic Power, along with some general Melee Armor Set. At 4 pieces, you also grant the ability to weaken enemies’s defense with Onmyo Magic skill, this can be a huge boost to those Shikigami.

Another Onmyo Armor Set is the Onmyo Austerity, the 3 pieces bonus is useless with Splitstaff, but it can provide a nice boost to damage at 5 pieces

In Dream of the Demon, you can also create armor with the “Grace bonus” – which provides a similar effect to armor set bonus but can appear on any weapons/ armor that you found or craft along the way. The downside is finding these equipment are poorly base on your luck, and can take you a lot of time to have the full set.

The best Grace Bonus for Splitstaff build is the Inari’s Grace. These bonuses have a strong focus on Onmyo Magic Power, which in turn enhance your gameplay with Splitstaff

Inari Grace Bonuses

You can combine both the normal boost to Onmyo Magic Power from those armor set and craft a full Inari set as well.

Split Staff Build | Benkei’s Armor Set

The main Armor set in the DLC that scale with Splitstaff is Benkei’s Armor, If you want to use this one, then Stamina is the must-have stat. The main reason is because Benkei’s Armor – much like the boss himself, is pretty heavy. Even with 99 Stamina, I still got a 72% on the Weight stat (C)

This armor set has a big boost to damage at 7 pieces and is good when you are from another weapon that are already focus on Stamina (Axe, Heavy Armor Builds…)

Despite the focus on Splitstaff, this armor set requires a huge investment on Stamina, to wear it at B level. Even with 99 Stamina, wearing this armor set still make

Benkei’s Armor set also had an Axe and a Switch Glaive, however, Benkei’s Axe does not count as one piece of the set, so you can still use them for the full experience of Benkei.

  • Axe – As you will invest in Stamina anyway, why not trying out one of the highest damage weapon in Nioh 2?
  • Switchglaive – If you are looking for an unique playstyle of both two new weapons, the Stone Bane can be a great weapon to clear through Nioh 2.

Nioh 2 Splitstaff Build – Weapons

Almost any Splitstaff that you like is good for this build. If you like the Benkei’s Armor set, then pick up the Benkei’s Splitstaff and you are good to go.

The best options on the weapon should be the below:

  • Attack Bonus (Your Desire stat A+) – This will increase the damage of the weapon.
  • Active Skill Damage – This increases your overall skill damage.

Nioh 2 Splitstaff Build – Onmyo Magic Tree


For Onmyo Magic, as you progress through the game and use Talisman, you can then unlock new points to spend on this tree. As Splitstaff will require you to max out Magic, don’t hesitate to try out all the combinations.

You can check out our previous guide on Onmyo Magic Build for Switchglaive

The typical setup for Switch Staff is one Shikigami of any type (Fire/Lighting/Water) and a Talisman of the other element. This is to trigger the Confused ailment on enemies – which will increase your damage toward them.

For example, you can pick Fire Talisman and Water Shikigami for bosses that are susceptible to all those two elements.

If you prefer a more general approach, then almost all Yokais are susceptible to Purification Talisman.

Finally, Sloth/ Weakness Talisman is a good addition to your Onmyo Magic Playstyle. These talismans can be used to give you a better advantage in fight.

Nioh 2 Splitstaff Build | Playstyle


Splitstaff playstyle is pretty similar to Switchglaive, as you will need to apply elemental statuses to the enemies before fighting. You can set up some Shikigami prior to the fights and wait for the statuses to kick in.

Applying double statuses will trigger the Confused ailments – which increase your damage for a short time.

For Human opponents, both Unruly Revolution and the Shin Crusher combo can be used to break their Ki. If you like, you can always use Shockstopper for a more technical knock down

Nioh 2 Builds Guide


Nioh 2 will have two more DLCs after Tengu’s Disciple. Before trying out two more new weapons, make sure to master all of the existing 14 weapons of Nioh!

Comments
  1. Anonymous

    Think you can finish this guide before posting it? Half the text isn’t even filled in, very obviously just some random template lol..

    1. ethugamer

      Thanks for the comment bro! It was due to a glitch when I did not save the final version! I have revised the content and removed any unrelevant part.
      It’s still is pretty introductory to Splitstaff, but hope it can help!

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