Best guardian spirit

[AmitD]

Can someone tell me what is the best guardian spirit in the game?

Thanks.

[Leon]

kato

[Muca94]

That highly depends on your playstyle and is not as easy to answer as you would like.

[J Jonoh Jamson]

Daiba-washi, best at cheesing human bosses.

[Deostades]

There's no "always right" answer.

That said, Kato has the most versatile overall passives - Ki Recovery, CCD, etc.. paired with quick LW recovery time easily makes him tippy-top tier.

Kara-jishi has great passives for aggressive playstyle.

Daiba-washi is usually my second, after Kato, for having the cheesiest and most useful anti-human GS summon in the game. It's not terrible as a farming GS either, even if it's a pale shadow to the spider on that front.

Bisha, the centipede is pretty good for Pierce Damage builds against block-spammers, and the GS summon isn't bad.

Ninetails, paired with a Kotaimatsu spear is just plain mean. Enemies end up Burnt, Blinded, and Weakened Defensively for some nasty followup hits.

Enko's not bad. His GS summon is worse than Daiba-washi against humans, but not by all that terribly much, and he has much more useful passives besides.

The Peacock is great for buffing, and the grab-bag elements can be fun if not always useful.

Most of the others have their uses, and I don't think there's a "useless" option. 98% of builds will find a good use in Kato, so when in doubt, choose fire doggo.

[AmitD]

Thanks mate

Originally posted by Deostades:

There's no "always right" answer.

That said, Kato has the most versatile overall passives - Ki Recovery, CCD, etc.. paired with quick LW recovery time easily makes him tippy-top tier.

Kara-jishi has great passives for aggressive playstyle.

Daiba-washi is usually my second, after Kato, for having the cheesiest and most useful anti-human GS summon in the game. It's not terrible as a farming GS either, even if it's a pale shadow to the spider on that front.

Bisha, the centipede is pretty good for Pierce Damage builds against block-spammers, and the GS summon isn't bad.

Ninetails, paired with a Kotaimatsu spear is just plain mean. Enemies end up Burnt, Blinded, and Weakened Defensively for some nasty followup hits.

Enko's not bad. His GS summon is worse than Daiba-washi against humans, but not by all that terribly much, and he has much more useful passives besides.

The Peacock is great for buffing, and the grab-bag elements can be fun if not always useful.

Most of the others have their uses, and I don't think there's a "useless" option. 98% of builds will find a good use in Kato, so when in doubt, choose fire doggo.

[Terotrous]

I'm kind of annoyed at how good Kato is. I'm getting all these cool spirit animals and I want to use them but Kato is just way too good.

[Deostades]

Originally posted by Terotrous:

I'm kind of annoyed at how good Kato is. I'm getting all these cool spirit animals and I want to use them but Kato is just way too good.

I hear ya. Sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and tell yourself "y'know, I don't _need_ the best possible setup. I need the one that I think will be fun."

[Gorwe]

Depends. Even amongst the three starter Guardians, it wildly depends based on a build, on experience of player etc etc. So, I'll do it just for the base 3:

NEW PLAYERS:

1. Izonade
2. Falcon
3. Kato

EXPERIENCED PLAYERS:

1. Kato
2. Izonade
3. Falcon

Reasoning:

New: Izonade protects you in more way than one. Firstly, it allows you to preemptively see even hidden enemies and that's a BIG BOON for a first playthrough. Secondly, it gives both HP and HP on kill. This is a big boon for new players. Ring of Evil Eye...that's certainly not a bad effect to have(even though it's weaker imo in Nioh than it is in Souls ; regardless of amount). Falcon(Daibo-something) makes dodging much more easier and showers you in good stuff. Again, rather good for a new player, but nowhere near Izo level. Kato's dmg buffs are very welcome, but new players need to get to grips with other stuff first.

Experienced: Kato's buffs in this segment just can't be overlooked. He has a very damaging LW, a HUGE buff to damage and...barely any other Guardian can compare with him due to that. Izonade is still a welcome addition, but far below Kato imo. Mostly for the Evil Eye (and +HP I guess) effect. Izo's LW isn't terribly impressive for an experienced user imo. Falcon just doesn't bring anything noteworthy for an experienced player except the quite spammable, if short lived LW(even then...Kato?).

///

As you can see, it all greatly depends. The Bull is one of the best combinations for Tonfa(gee, what Blocking power you have!) etc etc.

edit: I'd agree that it's a good choice to pick a doge of some sorts. While Ninetails and (paired) Raiken are nice, the best choice is the fiery doggo(Kato).

[J Jonoh Jamson]

Originally posted by Terotrous:

I'm kind of annoyed at how good Kato is. I'm getting all these cool spirit animals and I want to use them but Kato is just way too good.

I use all of them, moving onto a new guardian spirit as soon as I get enough points into spirit for all their abilities. Never had that problem with Kato. I do go back to Kato once in a while, but I've gone back to Daiba-washi more times for cheesing human bosses.

Currently trying out Bisha centipede and Blue Dragon, the Blue Dragon which I got through Daiba-washi cheesing.

[Gorwe]

Originally posted by Foxmikage:

Originally posted by Terotrous:

I'm kind of annoyed at how good Kato is. I'm getting all these cool spirit animals and I want to use them but Kato is just way too good.

I use all of them, moving onto a new guardian spirit as soon as I get enough points into spirit for all their abilities. Never had that problem with Kato. I do go back to Kato once in a while, but I've gone back to Daiba-washi more times for cheesing human bosses.

Currently trying out Bisha centipede and Blue Dragon, the Blue Dragon which I got through Daiba-washi cheesing.

How do you cheese via Daiba?

[J Jonoh Jamson]

Get a bunch of Guardian Spirit Talisman/Moment Talismen (they're the same spiriting summoning thing except one is Onmyo skill and the other is an item). Pop one of those in range and Daiba-washi whirlwind will fly human enemies up into the air, they will fall hit the ground lying down, run up and stab. Basically rinse and repeat of that til they're beaten.

Some might be too fast, but works on most human bosses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elU6wxCk0WY

[Gorwe]

Originally posted by Foxmikage:

Get a bunch of Guardian Spirit Talisman/Moment Talismen (they're the same spiriting summoning thing except one is Onmyo skill and the other is an item). Pop one of those in range and Daiba-washi whirlwind will fly human enemies up into the air, they will fall hit the ground lying down, run up and stab. Basically rinse and repeat of that til they're beaten.

Some might be too fast, but works on most human bosses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elU6wxCk0WY

Thank you. So, those Talismans are something like when Tanichiba uses his Raiken?

If so, any list of these attacks?