Nioh 3 mods and cheats are only beginning to surface now that the action-RPG is finally out, but here we’ll be collecting the best and most reliable we have found so far. Plus, pay attention to our key beginner tips if you’re not using crutches.
Best Nioh 3 Mods
The community is only getting started when it comes to Nioh 3 mods that don’t serve as cheats, but even if there isn’t official mod support from Koei Tecmo, chances are we’ll be seeing a rather decent number of substantial modifications soon… as long as you’re willing to stick to offline play. For now, these have been useful:
- Nioh 3 Preem Reshade by ItsTrippi - A visual mod which boosts vibrance and blacks while also sharpening the image externally.
- No-HUD-No-Effects by Gametism - Exactly what it says: A quick toggle option to clear the image for perfect screenshots.
- Nioh 3 - Save Backup Utility by ArchitectGG - An external save backup tool with several auto-backup, dating, and even recovery options.
- Nioh3 Reflection by kirito780 - If you think the game’s intended “red look” in many areas is a bit too much for your eyes, this mods severely alters the lighting.
Nioh 3 Cheats
Nioh 3 doesn’t have built-in or unlockable cheats, but that doesn’t mean the players who want a far more peaceful journey through its many eras can’t get help. At the time of writing, a handful of different trainers have been released, but we have only been convinced by this one:
- Nioh 3 Trainer by Rhark - This needs to be used with the CheatEvolution app. Originally made for the demo’s executable, but since there are no discernible differences beyond the amount of content, this should keep working fine. Expect updates too.
As always, use external cheat tools and trainers only if you’re an experienced user and make sure to do backups of your saves if you’re going to tinker with the game.
Nioh 3 Beginner Tips
Master both fighting styles
Nioh 3 makes sure from the get-go players are acquainted with both the Samurai and Ninja fighting styles, which can be swapped on the go. This isn’t just a choice between different flavours. Each of them serves a very distinct purpose. What works against an enemy won’t make a dent on others. Sorry, but you’ll have to learn how to use both and maximize their unique skills and effects.
For example, the Ki Pulse while using the Samurai style not only allows you to recover stamina after attacks; it can also dispel debuff zones created by certain enemies. As a Ninja, you can manoeuvre more quickly around larger enemies and bosses, and the style’s ranged tools can chip down the HP bar of huge enemies when you’re hurt and/or they’re near death.
More importantly, Burst Break is the only way to counter red glowing attacks which are devastating and often hard to just dodge. When it comes to bosses, this move is key to making a serious dent on their HP, and it involves swapping styles at the right moment. There are several more unique elements to each, but the point is clear by now: Even if you favour one of the two while dealing with smaller foes, you’ll need to master both of them to beat the game.
The open-field structure is your ally
One of Nioh 3’s biggest changes and additions is the structure of its levels, which land closer to the open world seen in Elden Ring without being too vast. Each era/map has just enough in it to support the character’s progression past the optimal point to clear the main path, which means actively ignoring content that’s optional is a good way to kneecap yourself ahead of the game’s most demanding battles.
In most cases, you can just go back the way you came and fast-travel to zones which aren’t fully explored, cleared, and looted, but our general recommendation is that you don’t go and rush ahead without first seeing most of what each era has to offer even if you’re not a completionist. In fact, many of the game’s coolest encounters and surprises come from the side activities and hidden caves and such. As an extra, you’ll also level up most of the game’s several progression layers in no time.
Farming co-op items is easy, so feel free to summon partners as much as you want
Whereas other souls-like games, especially FromSoftware’s, offset the impact of having co-op allies by making the objects needed to summon them scarce (on top of boosting enemies’ HP), Nioh 3’s approach to co-op multiplayer is quite generous and can even extend beyond limited areas, boss battles, and certain missions.
To summon allies you’ll need Ochoko Cups, which you can get through normal play (they often show up in loot drops), by helping other players yourself after becoming the summoned guest, or by defeating red ghosts of fallen players (which are usually easy to deal with). Depending on the summoned players or ghosts’ levels, you’ll need to spend more or less Ochoko Cups. In any case, they’re easy to come by, so summon as many partners as you want unless you’re going 100% solo in your run.
Spend some time reconfiguring the controls to your liking
Nioh 3 handles well and is borderline an excellent “character action game” at times, but as usual with Koei Tecmo games, the default control layout can be a bit awkward. You can just adapt to how the developers decided to set the controller and keyboard layouts the first time you boot the game up, but we recommend at least exploring the alternative presets it has.
For example, using the face buttons for attacks in the year of our Lord 2026 feels weird to me unless we’re talking about a button-mashy beat ‘em up of old. After so many souls-likes that went with the bumpers and triggers for attacks, it’s the kind of decision that instantly threw me off. Thankfully, there’s a preset which changes that whole aspect of the scheme, so give it a go.
Additionally, there are several gameplay/control options that change the behaviour of certain buttons and actions. While the developers were smart not to activate them by default in order to let players have more control over every single thing, they can also streamline looting, selling, and other things you’ll be doing very often, so once you’re familiar with the game, make sure to take a good look at them to make the adventure more fluid.
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