Sword Axe | nioh Wiki

Sword/Axe Build -

Difficulty would be intermediate level as you can't go full attack mode.

This build involves patiently waiting and striking at key moments like in Demon/Dark Souls and Bloodborne. After the enemies finish their attack string quickly strike them a couple times and back off to regenerate Ki and prevent being wrecked by their attack after they recover. Some enemies recover quickly. When choosing your weapon pick Sword (Primary) and Axe (Secondary). For Guardian Spirit I chose Kato but you can select Isonade.

In This build the focus is mainly on Heart and Strength for core stats. If you use Sloth which I use you will need a minimum of 10 Magic (not sure if 20 will make much of a difference but gave a range as I will be fine tuning this as I mess around more with this build. Body is a useful stat due to more HP and Resistances if remembered correctly (allows for some flexibility on this build).

Base Stats when entering the main portion of the game 

The goal to reach for endgame is in the table below. How you get to the end point is up to you. I balanced my stats to get the mark I wanted which was to get Heart and Strength to 12 or 13 then slowly boost the other stats to 10. Went back and started to boost my core stats from there and leveling the other stats I want every 5 levels. This is up to you on approach but the main focus is the end goal. Keep Heart and Strength balanced and vary the other stats. If you are targeting a specific set piece or item then adjust the points slightly to be able to equip said items.

At level 200 you will have 198 points. The breakdown for these points will look something as follows.

 The reason for 15 Dexterity is for the "Way of the Ninja: Veteran" quest. If you don't care about this quest you can leave the stats for this as base value. Skill stat being set to 15 points is for the bonus to Ki Pulse. If you don't care about the extra Ki Pulse bonus then you can ignore this part as well.

For Sword you will focus mainly on mid/low stances as this weapon's primary role. If you fill up all these skills and have points left over you can place them in high stance skills.

Primary Sword Skills

1. Grapple
2. Kick
3. Flux 2
4. Flash Attack
5. Sword Ki
6. Relentless 3
7. Ki Pulse: Man
8. Living Water: Man
9. Water Shadow 2
10. Tempest
11. Backwave 2
12. Ki Pulse: Earth
13. Heaven Flash
14. Swift Step
15. Living Water: Earth
16. Sword of Salvation
17. Quadrisect
18. Leaf Glide
19. Haze 2

For Axe you will be mainly focusing on using the High stance for maximum damage as Sword Mid and Low stances are superior in speed. Damage from Axe far outweighs the sword so we are choosing Axe for High stance. The reason is that when going to High stance timing and patience is key. Here are the skills to focus on. After this it is up to you but I will be selecting some skills from other stances that add to status effects. After acquiring these you can use extra points on skills you feel useful to your play style.

Primary Axe Skills

1. Grapple
2. The Adamantine
3. Battle Focus (not for skill usage but a Prerequisite)
4. Fortitude 3 (Needs Battle Focus)
5. Purify Yokai Realm
6. Flux 2
7. Flash Attack
8. Mad Spinner 2
9. Rumbling Earth 2
10. Lumber Chop
11. Titanic Strength
12. Ki Pulse: Heaven
13. Heaven and Earth
14. Kintaro Kata: 3
15. Living Water: Heaven

For Onmyo Magic you are only going after one key skill and leaving the rest alone unless you choose to grab more.

Onmyo Magic

1. Devigorate Talisman: 1 (may need to increase for Sloth)
2. Lifeseal Talisman: 1 (may need to increase for Sloth)
3. Talisman: Sloth 3
4. Amplification
5. Awakening

Can't remember off-hand the skill requirement tier for the previous two skills needed for Sloth 3.

Will get a list of preferred gear to use with this build.

Feel free to comment and ask questions regarding this build below.