Reforging Tips & Tricks
Save Scumming
"Save scumming" is the act of saving the game on the map screen before reforging an item and uploading to either cloud storage or USB. If the reforge doesn't yeild the desired weapon special effects the save can be redownloaded to the state prior to reforge and reforge attempted again with no loss of smithing materials or money.
How to save scum
With a PS+ Account on Cloud Storage
NOTE: Under Application Saved Data Management Tool there is an option called "Auto Upload" this should be disable to avoid accidental overrides.
- On the Map Screen in game Press the Triangle Button to save.
- Press the Playstation Button and return to the consle home screen.
- In Settings go to 'Application Saved Data Management Tool' (This will close the game).
- Select the 'Saved Data in System Storage' icon
select 'Upload to Online Storage' to launch a list of your games. - Select Nioh from the list and upload the selected data.
- Reopen the game commence reforging.
- If you get you did NOT get the desired effect press the Playstation Button and return to the consle home screen.
- In Settings go to 'Application Saved Data Management Tool' (This will close the game).
- Select 'Saved Data in Online Storage' and then Select "Download to System Storage".
- Select Nioh and download the data.
- Reopenthe game and commence reforge.
- If the desired effect is not obtained return to step 8.
With a USB Storage Device
- On the Map Screen in game Press the Triangle Button to save.
- Press the Playstation Button and return to the consle home screen.
- In Settings go to 'Application Saved Data Management Tool' (This will close the game).
- Select the 'Saved Data in System Storage' icon
- Select 'Copy to USB Storage Device' to launch a list of your games.
- Select Nioh from the list and upload the data.
- Reopen the game commence reforging.
- If you get you did NOT get the desired effect press the Playstation Button and return to the consle home screen.
- In Settings go to 'Application Saved Data Management Tool' (This will close the game).
- Select 'Saved Data on USB Storage Device' and then Select "Download to System Storage"
- Select Nioh and download the data.
- Reopenthe game and commence reforge.
- If the desired effect is not obtained return to step 8.
Predetermined Reforges Trees
Whenever you reforge a weapon the values are predetermined. If you save scum and reforge the weapon in the exact same way you will receive the exact same values every time.
In the following I will introduce three terms I will use when talking about reforging. These terms are defined below.
1) Fingerprint (of the weapon or armor)
The fingerprint of each individual weapon or armor piece is determined by the entirety of the bonus values the weapon or armor piece comes with when first looting or smithing it. Since there are a lot of different possible bonuses and even more shades to one specific bonus a piece of equipment can have the probability of gaining another piece of equipment of the same type with the exact same rolls yet not being a replica is next to impossible.
2) Reforge Tree
Reforged values are predetermined. However, there is almost an infinity of possible predetermined paths you can choose to take. The entirety of all predetermined Reforge Paths is called Reforge Tree.
3) Reforge Path
Since all reforged values are predetermined I will name one set of predetermined values Reforge Path. When reforging the path is one of many you can choose which, in their entirety make the Reforge Tree of the specific piece of equipment. All of this Reforge Paths are also predetermined, you simply choose which path you will walk. To make things easier I will still talk about the paths as if you determined them, but keep in mind that in fact you only have the oar to move into one direction or the other. Which path you walk is determined by the amount and order of reforges you make, by the amount of bonuses (or stats) you choose to reforge, by the order in which you select the bonuses (if you reforge several) and by the kind and order of materials (Spirit Iron Chunks or Divine Fragments) you use. All of this suggests save scumming as preferred method, but killing revenants and receiving several copies of the same piece of equipment also works.
So, whenever you reforge the same slot on the same piece of equipment with the same materials in the same order of divine fragments and spirit iron chunks (alternatively only chunks or fragments) you will get the same stat bonuses with the exact same values every time.*
This means whenever you change one of the above criteria you are taking another path. I will follow up with a few examples.
To make things easier I will assume we have a weapon with 2 slots. We will start reforging the 1st slot. This first slot is Poison +9. We reforge, only using Spirit Iron Chunks. The order we receive forging that way is as follows after 5 reforges (I will simply call them 1st, 2nd, 3rd, ...):
Base: Poison+9
1st: Break (Weak Attack) +9,5%
2nd: CCAC +14,5%
3rd: Skill Ki Damage +6,9%
4th: Water +9
5th: Agility Damage Bonus A-
The reforge path we took for the first slot is:
2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk; resulting in an order of values that reads:
Break (Weak Attack) + 9,5% -> CCAC +14,5% -> Skill KI Damage + 6,9% -> Water +9 -> Agility Damage Bonus A-
If we forged the same path on a copy of that weapon or again on the same weapon after save scumming we would receive the exact same results.* This is only one path of many, with what I call a depth of 5 (5 reforges of the same stat away from the original).
If you want to take another path because you were not content with the rolls you got the esiest thing (by easiest I mean easiest to keep track of and imitate) is to change the kind of material you used at any point in the path. All reforges after that point of alternation in materials will result in different bonuses and values of these bonuses as before. From now on I will simply work with elemental bonuses to make things more clear.
In the next example we take a completely different path using 1 Divine Fragment at the start. Thus our path reads:
1x Divine Fragment -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk
Because we changed the material on the very first step of reforging we get a completly different result:
Fire +9 -> Water +12 -> Poison +10 -> Earth +8 -> CCAC +19,9%
If we used a Divine Fragment in a later part (depth) of the chain of reforges all reforged values before this point would stay the same, while all reforges after this point would be different. If we used the fragment at depth 3 it would read like this:
2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> Divine Fragment -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk -> 2x Spirit Iron Chunk
The resulting order would be the same at depth 1 and 2 and be different at depth 3, 4 and 5:
Break (Weak Attack) +9,5% -> CCAC +14,5% -> Water +16 -> Earth +9 -> CCD +15%
Of course there is an extremely low chance some values in different paths at the same depths might be exactly the same of the same bonus, but even so, they belong to completely different paths!
As becomes clear only doing this will already result in a huge amount of possible Reforge Paths you may take.
Yet, there are even more way to change paths. Paths are also changed if you:
2) reforge multiple bonuses at the same time
3) reforge another slot before going back to reforging the original slot
4) the order you select the slots when reforging multiple
I will give short examples for every of the aforementioned:
2) Very specific path which can be replicated 100% if you keep track of everything you did and every order of selection you made:
Example:
Reforging 5 bonuses, selected in a fix order and only using one kind of material; selection order be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
This, if noted without mistakes can be imitated 100% and will result in the exact same values of each bonus on every of the 5 reforges.
Reforge Paths here can be further changed by:
2.a) using a different material at any depths in the Path (descirbed in detail above already)
2.b) reforging more or less bonuses than before (cf. 3):
5 -> 5 -> 5 will result in a different path from 5 -> 4 -> 5 or 4 -> 5 -> 5 or 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> ....
The rules are identical to those of changing paths by using different kinds of materials. Whenever at some point (depth) into the Path you choose to reforge more or less bonuses, all reforges before this point will be the same, while all reforges after this point will be different (because they lay in a different path).
3) This is some kind of variation of 2.b) (thus cf. 2.b); it's building on the same principle, is basically the same method, still I decided to give it an own number because it is somewhat important:
Example:
Reforging only the 1st bonus (slot), using only one kind of material and reforging another slot once at any depths into the Reforge Path. This then is 100% repeatable.
I assume we want to roll a specific bonus on the first slot, not caring about any other slots.
Reforging
Slot 1 -> Slot 1 -> Slot 1 -> Slot 1
will result in a different path for Slot 1 than reforging
Slot 2 -> Slot 1 -> Slot 1 -> Slot 1 or Slot 1 -> Slot 2 -> Slot 1 -> Slot 1
Again the rules are identical to those of the methods mentioned above. Whenever at some point (depth) into the Path you choose to reforge another slot, all reforges of the original slot before this point will be the same, while all reforges after this point will be different.
Cave: Note that this also permantenly changes the available paths for Slot 2! If you save afterwards, you have no chance for to go back to the orignal Slot 2 Path unless you created several saves or own several copies of the item!
4) The order in which you select the specific slots (bonuses) for reforge when you are reforging multiple matters!
Example:
I assume we want to reforge a total of 4 slots at the same time.
Then selecting the bonuses in the order
1, 2, 3, 4
will result in a different path than selecting them in any other order like
2, 1, 3, 4 or 4, 1, 3, 2 ...
Especially here the math of faculties can easily be applied. When reforging 4 bonuses there are 4! possible orders in which the slots can be selected, thus for every single reforge 4! (=24) paths to go on with.
The rules, again, are identical to those of the other methods. Whenever at some point (depth) into the Path you choose to reforge the slots (bonuses) in a different order, all reforges before this point will be the same, while all reforges after this point will be different (because they lay in a different path).
In the end you can combine all 4 methods of changing the Reforge Path, thus exploring more and more Branches of the Reforge Tree. Whenever you use one of the methods you can still combine it with any or all of the other methods to furthe change the Reforge Path.
Whatever you do always remember to keep track of every single step you did if at a later point you want to replicate your smithing.
Why would you want to to that? The answer is quite simple:
Let's say you are going for a Poison +16 on Slot 1 of a certain weapon. This takes 488 reforges of Slot 1 only using Spirit Iron Chunks and not changing the path. Until you finally reforge the Poison +16 you also come across other desireable rolls like Fire +16, Water +16, Earth + 16, Final Blow Damage +19,9%. Whenever you come across any desireable value of a certain bonus you can replicate it any time on another copy of the item if you kept track of your Reforging Path.
Therefore I highly recommend taking special notes (written, or be it screenshots) whenever you come across such a value. Make sure to write down not only the amount of reforges (easily to take from the amount of Gold used) but also which materials you used and if you changed them at any point.
Also, as regards the materials, the whole math applies the other way around. You could only use Divine Fragments and then once use Spirit Iron Chunks. It will result in a different path as well (Divine Fragment -> Divine Fragment -> Divine Fragment ≠ Divine Fragment -> Spirit Iron Chunks -> Divine Fragment). The rules, as always, are the same.
In general this can be applied to any of all the methods in a similar manner. What is the benefit of all of this? If you keep track of especially good reforges, any other person can rebuild the Reforge Paths you used (walk after you, so to speak) if they own a copy of the same piece of equipment.
What I recommend is to always note (write down, ...) the Fingerprint of your piece of equipment, to then keep track of the Reforge Paths and to take special notes whenever you come across a decent roll (which at this point you might not need, but still the mere knowledge of it will be helpful later).
Terms introduced: Fingerprint, Reforge Tree, Reforge Path, Depth of a Reforge Path, Reforge Branch (sum of all reforges of a specific slot or method).
Useful abbreviations: DF for Divine Fragment; SIC for Spirit Iron Chunk
