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Nioh 3

How to Change Stance

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★ Release Time and Countdown
★ Multiplayer and Co-op Features
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★ Character Creation Codes

Stances influence your character's moveset in Nioh 3. Learn how to change stances and how to unlock them, along with its effects here!

List of Contents

How to Change Stance

Stance Change Button Inputs

Low Stance Mid Stance High Stance
PS4 - R1 Button + PS4 - X Button
PS5
PS4 - R1 Button + PS4 - Square Button
PS5
PS4 - R1 Button + PS4 - Triangle Button
PS5
XBOX - Right Bumper + XBOX - A Button
PC (Controller)
XBOX - Right Bumper + XBOX - X Button
PC (Controller)
XBOX - Right Bumper + XBOX - Y Button
PC (Controller)
Shift + Mouse Scroll Down
PC (Keyboard)
Shift + Left Click
PC (Keyboard)
Shift + Mouse Scroll Up
PC (Keyboard)

Displayed above are the button inputs for changing your stance. Take note that you must unlock additional stances first in order to change stances in the game.

How to Unlock Stances

Find Samurai's Locks

Samurai

You can first unlock an additional stance during The Hamamatsu Incident. You'll find a Samurai's Lock near the first Shrine that you'll encounter during the mission. This will grant you a Samurai skill point, allowing you to unlock either low or high stance should you choose to.

Samurai's Locks can be found in chests or be obtained by finding and petting a Chijiko.

Spend Samurai Skill Points in the Samurai Tree

1
Acquire Martial Arts
Open up the main menu and choose Acquire Martial Arts/Ninjutsu.
2
Samurai Skills
Navigate to the Samurai Skill Tree.
3
High and Low Stance
The High Stance is the first learnable skill on top of the Samurai icon, while the Low Stance is the first learnable skill on the bottom of the Samurai icon.

The skill to acquire additional stances can be found in the Samurai Skill Tree. Simply allot a skill point into the stance that you want to learn.

What Are Stances?

Modifies Your Character's Moveset

Stance Effect
High Stance High offensive power with powerful attacks.
Mid Stance Serves as the middle ground by providing the balance between offense and defense.
Low Stance A highly evasive stance that does not consume much Ki.

Stances modify your character's moveset by making certain skills exclusive to a certain stance. This means that some skills are only usable when in low stance, while some are only available when in high stance.

While this may seem limiting, the option to change your stance is available anytime and is a part of the gameplay loop. This makes you extremely versatile when the stances are applied to the proper situation.

Exclusive to the Samurai Style

All three stances are only available while using Samurai Style.

Nioh 3 Related Guides

Nioh 3 - Tips and Tricks Partial Banner

Beginner's Guide to Nioh 3: Tips and Tricks

Beginner's Guides
List of Controls Character Creation Guide
How to Change Stance Best and Recommended Settings
How to Emote Can You Respec?
What Are Spirit Veins? How Long is the Nioh 3 Demo?

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