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Nioh 3
Best Hatchets Build
This is a guide to the best build for Hatchets in Nioh 3. See the best armor and accessories to use with the Hatchets, which Guardian Spirit and Soul Cores to equip, as well as which stats to level up.
List of Contents
Attention! |
The following builds are currently based on early-game content. We are working on improving them as information becomes available.
|
|---|
Hatchets Strengths and Weaknesses
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| ✔︎ Deals decent health and Ki damage mid-range.
✔︎ Can do fast long-range throws. ✔︎ Viable for hit-and-run strategy in combat. |
✖︎ Recovery on some skills are slow.
✖︎ Short melee range lacking in both health and Ki damage. |
The Hatchets function as both a short-range and long-range weapon similar to the Kusarigama. Its unique playstyle allows you to throw one (or both) hatchet at enemies. Just like any Ninja weapon, the Hatchet is capable of fast slashes. However, unlike the Tonfa or the Dual Ninja Swords, the Hatchets are severely lacking in short-range melee damage. This weapon shines more in mid-range, where it can deal decent Ki damage.
Best Stats for Hatchets
| Hatchets Scaling |
|---|
 Strength  Intellect  Magic |
| Character Stats |
 Constitution  Stamina |
The Hatchet scales with Strength, Intellect, and Magic. Having a scaling in Intellect means the effect duration of your buffs, and the enemies' debuffs, lasts longer. This can be paired with its Magic scaling, which affects Onmyo Magic. Additionally, a higher Magic stat means being able to benefit from the special effects of Guardian Spirits and Soul Cores.
If you feel that the stats where a weapon scales are not beneficial to your playstyle or build, you can use Remodel in the Blacksmith to change them. However, do note that this will cost materials and Gold, as such, it's not recommended to do until you get better equipment.
Best Special Effects for Hatchets
| Jump to Section! | |
|---|---|
| Weapon | Armor |
| Accessories | |
Best Special Effects for Weapons
| Common Special Effects | |
|---|---|
| ・Melee Ki Damage
・Life Drain (Quick Attack) ・Attack Bonus (Strength/Intellect/Magic) ・Ki Damage vs. Electrified Enemy ・Ki Recovery Speed ・Melee Damage vs. Winded Enemy ・Imbue Lightning |
|
| Fixed Special Effects | |
| ・Strong Attack Ki Damage
Weapons: Mountain Bandit Hatchets ・Martial Arts Ki Damage Weapons: Togakushi Ninja Hatchets |
|
You may use any equipment that has one or two of the special effects listed above.
For special effects, take those that increase damage or Ki to do more with the Hatchets. Life Drain (Quick Attack), Martial Arts Ki Damage, and Attack Bonus are effects you can look out for.
You can also add any elemental damage to your weapon. For the Hatchets, we recommend Imbue Lightning to stack up on the Electrified status. This ailment slows the enemy's movement, giving you more chance to attack or dodge.
Best Special Effects for Armor
| Common Special Effects | |
|---|---|
| ・Defense Bonus (Strength/Intellect/Magic)
・Quick/Strong Attack Ki Consumption ・Damage Taken ・Auto Life Recovery (Evade) ・Defense ・Toughness ・Ki Recovery Speed ・Martial Arts Ki Damage |
|
| Fixed Special Effects | |
| ・Dodge Ki Consumption
Armor: ・Ascetic armor piece ・Heir's Shinobi armor piece |
|
| Armor Sets | |
| Devout Practitioner Set
・Life +100 (2 pieces) ・Melee Damage +3.0% (3 pieces) ・Dodge Ki Consumption -25.0% (4 pieces) |
|
You may use any equipment that has one or two of the special effects listed above.
For the Armor, you can use special effects that increase Ki Recovery and lessens Ki Consumption for attacks as you will be using skills with wind-ups like Dual Hurl and Wild Surge. Auto Life Recovery (Evade) is good to have, but it might be a bit rare to find.
Consider using Heir's Shinobi for its innate Dodge Ki Consumption effect, or have at least 2-4 pieces of the Devout Practitioner armor to get its bonus set.
Best Special Effects for Accessories
| Common Special Effects | |
|---|---|
| ・Shock Accumulation (Enemy)
・Toughness ・Spirit Force Gauge ・Living Artifact Duration ・Imbue Lightning |
|
| Fixed Special Effects | |
| ・Life
Accessory: Omamori ・Ki Recovery Speed Accessory: Fan |
|
You may use any equipment that has one or two of the special effects listed above.
For Accessories, consider equipment that Imbues Lightning or Accumulates Shock to build up the Electrified status ailment. You can also get Living Artifact Duration and Spirit Force Gauge to be able to use those often. Otherwise, anything with Ki recovery speed is viable to have.
Best Ninjutsu and Martial Arts
| Jump to Section! | |
|---|---|
| Hatchets Skills | Ninja Style Skills |
| Crucible Arts | |
Where to Spend Skill Points?
Spend your points on the Hatchets and Ninja Style skill trees to learn new combos for the Hatchets, while also acquiring useful Ninjutsu and Martial Arts.
Hatchets Skills
| Skills | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Dual Hurl | Unlocked at the start |
| Dual Hurl Light Dual Hurl Shadow |
1 Ninja Point each.
Cannot equip both skill. Prerequisite: ・Dual Hurl |
| Greased Lightning | 1 Ninja Point
Prerequisite: ・Demon Undercut |
| Wild Surge | 1 Ninja Point
Prerequisite: ・Dual Hawks |
| Wild Surge II | 1 Ninja Point
Prerequisite: ・Dual Hawks ・Wild Surge |
| Biting Hail | 2 Ninja Points
Prerequisite: ・Chain Hurl ・Mountain Climber |
| Tile Shaker | 1 Ninja Point
Prerequisite: ・Dual Hurl Light ・Dual Hurl Shadow |
The attacks for Hatchets can be started with the Dual Hurl and Wild Surge. These two skills together allows you to throw the Hatchets at a target and then dash forward to get near the enemy. From there, you can continue slashing with quick attacks, Greased Lightning, or Demon Undercut.
Take note that using Dual Hurl requires holding down the strong attack button, so timing and spacing are necessary to avoid getting punished. You can get either Dual Hurl Light to shorten the wind-up of Dual Hurl, or you can take Dual Hurl Shadow to increase the throw distance. You cannot equip both upgrades at the same time.
Ninja Style Skills
| Skills | Requirements |
|---|---|
| Evade | 1 Ninja Point |
| Cicada Shell | 1 Ninja Point |
| Kunai | 1 Ninja Point
Prerequisite: ・Shuriken |
| Uncanny Bolt | 1 Ninja Point
Prerequisite: ・Uncanny Flame |
Use the Cicada Shell Ninjutsu to efficiently position yourself during combat, as spacing is a must when using the Hatchets. Evade should immediately be obtained as it's the only way for the Ninja Style to recover some Ki during a fight. Then, consider taking Uncanny Bolt to support the build-up of the Electrified status.
Crucible Arts
| All Ablaze | Increases Attack and movement speed in exchange for sacrificing Defense. Can only be used when your hatchets are sheathed. |
|---|
The All Ablaze skill powers up your Attack and movement speed in exchange for Defense. As this requires the Hatchets to be sheathed to trigger, it's best to use this before combat, or when you're at a safe spot during a fight. This skill will add more damage to the Hatchets in both short or long range.
Best Skills for Hatchets
Use Ninja Style and Common Secret Skills
| Secret Skill | Effects |
|---|---|
| Evil-Dispelling Evade | Dispels the Yokai Realm from an area where you have successfully Evaded. |
| Armor Piercer | Increases damage dealt by Final Blow and Grapple by 10.0%. |
| Tachi Arts | Increase melee attack by 8.4% against enemies with maximum Life. |
| Awakening | Allows to use Onmyo Magic faster. |
| Panacea Curefast | Increase Life restored by elixirs by 15.0% |
| Lingering Spirit | Recovers 30.0% of the Amrita left at your grave when you die. |
The Evil-Dispelling Evade is one of the most important Secret Skill for the Ninja Style. When combined with the Evade Ninjutsu, it has the same effects as the Samurai Style's Ki Pulse, so it is highly recommended to acquire both skills as soon as possible. Awakening is valuable too, as plenty of Ninja weapons scale with Magic, so using Onmyo and Talismans are often encouraged.
Other Secret Skills of note are Panacea Curefast and Lingering Spirit. As these are Common Secret Skills, they provide effects that apply to both Samurai and Ninja Styles.
For combat, Taichi Arts and Armor Piercer are easily found within the Warring States period, but these Secret Skills can be changed based on your weapon or playstyle.
Best Guardian Spirits for Hatchets
| Nekomata | ATK | DEF | Element |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
10 | 10 | Lightning |
| Quest | |||
| The Fall of Edo Castle | |||
| Special Effects | |||
|
・Ninjutsu Ki Damage +7.3%
・Ki Recovery Speed +6.2% ・Quick Attack Break +10.6 % ・Melee Attack Ki Consumption Requirements: Destroy 12 Spikes ・Final Blow/Grapple Damage Requirements: Destroy 13 Spikes |
|||
Nekomata's special effects will be useful when using the Hatchets as it increases your Ki Recovery speed and reduces Ki Consumption for melee attacks. Nekomata is also a Lightning Guardian Spirit, so his Spirit Force skill and Living Artifact form can help in adding Lightning damage to your combos and maintaining the build-up of status ailments.
To get the most out of Nekomata's special effects, destroy at least 12 Crucible Spikes around the world.
Best Soul Cores for Hatchets
Use Yamainu Soul Core for Yang
| Yamainu Soul Core | |
|---|---|
| Yang Position | Special Effects:
・Faster Movement (Amrita Absorption) ・Quick Attack Damage +3.0% Yokai Ability: ・Summoning Seal Yamainu x3 |
| Yin Position | Talisman:
・Strider Talisman x2 |
Yamainu's Soul Core can be placed in the Yang position to get benefits from its special effects. Quick Attack Damage will boost your light attacks and is helpful in increasing the Hatchet's mediocre short-range damage.
Use Mikoshi Nyudo Soul Core for Yin
| Mikoshi Nyudo Soul Core | |
|---|---|
| Yang Position | Special Effects:
・Melee Damage vs. Electrified Enemy +6.0% ・Melee Damage (Unscathed) +4.0% Yokai Ability: ・Summoning Seal: Mikoshi Nyudo x3 |
| Yin Position | Talisman:
・Lightning Shot Talisman x6 |
Equip Mikoshi Nyudo is in the Yin position, so you'll be able to use the Lightning Shot Talisman, which can be used to do more Lightning damage or help with the build-up of status ailments.
Use Yoki Soul Core for Yin
| Yoki Soul Core | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Yang Position | Special Effects:
・Spirit Force Bonus (Purification) +20 ・Defense +10 Yokai Ability: ・Summoning Seal: Yoki x4 |
| Yin Position | Talisman:
・Power Talisman x5 |
Use the Yoki Soul Core for the Yin position to get Power Talismans. As this magic item boosts your attack, it will help in making the Hatchets more reliable to do damage in both short or mid range.
Hatchets Tips and Tricks
Spend Your Prestige Points to Get Bonuses
Prestige Points can be used to obtain permanent bonuses (known as Prestige) to enhance a variety of stats from 9 different categories. For the Ninja Style, we suggest using your points on some of the following Prestige:
- Ninja: Dodge Ki Consumption, Melee Attack Ki Consumption
- Tactics: Ki Recovery Speed, Onmyo Magic Power
- Subjugation: Amrita Earned, Damage Taken (Ki Depleted)
- Exploration: Medicine Efficacy
- Crucible: Amrita Earned (Crucible)
Take note that the Prestige Points you've spent can be reset and redistributed to another bonus within the same category.
How to Get Prestige Points?
To get more Prestige Points for a category, fulfill a milestone or complete challenges to earn Titles. To see the available Titles you can unlock, open the Main Menu then go to Titles > Title List.
Use Equipment Suited to Your Level
To get the best bonuses, always use equipment that suits your current level. Using underleved items will give you less attack bonuses for weapons, and less defense bonuses for armor.
Use Purple Rarity If Possible
Items with Purple (Exotic) rarities provide better and rarer special effects. Additionally, you'll sometimes find better combinations of special effects from Exotic weapons.
Raise the Hatchets to Full Familiarity
Constantly using weapons will increase its Familiarity. Weapons with full Familiarity gets a significant bonus in damage.
Nioh 3 Related Guides
All Samurai Builds
| Samurai Weapons | ||
|---|---|---|
 Swords |
 Dual Swords |
 Spears |
 Axes |
 Odachi |
 Switchglaives |
 Cestesus |
||
All Ninja Builds
| Ninja Weapons | ||
|---|---|---|
 Ninja Swords |
 Dual Ninja Swords |
 Kusarigama |
 Tonfa |
 Hatchets |
 Splitstaff |
 Talons |
||
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Best Hatchets Build
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