Way of the Strong - Go Completionist or rush towards Demon?

[Goilveig]

Right now I've done the base game on Way of the Samurai (have not done the Samurai DLC yet) and have done the first region of Way of the Strong.

To what extent is it going to be necessary / beneficial to being a completionist in terms of side missions - and on killing everything in those missions? I've done one or two side missions that I find boring on a rush to the boss style with catwalking / suppa.

I'm sure to lose out on some drops and XP by skipping a lot of things, is that going to be a wall later on, or will beginning Way of the Demon be a huge jump up in gear and XP like Strong was compared to Samurai, rendering it somewhat moot?

I guess the samurai / ninja / onmyo hair is something I'd miss if I didn't complete all content, which would put me at a skill point disadvantage.

[WhiteLezard]

In my opinion you should finish the DLC first so you can experience the entirety of the game's content. Then, finish enough Way of the Strong story missions to unlock The Queen's Eyes. If you're good enough to beat The Queen's Eyes then go to Demon. If not, then continue through Strong until you're powerful enough to kick WOTS's Hundred Eyes' ugly face.

Have on mind how Way of the Demon drops loot that goes beyond LV 150 / +5 Divine.

[Deostades]

Take the pace you enjoy. Don't be afraid to call on Visitors - we all are looking for matches to join!

Way of the Demon equipment drops are an order of magnitude better than Way of the Strong. (this is true of all difficulty jumps)

Keep in mind that your first run at the new difficulty IS going to kick your ass. It kicked all of our asses, and it's a big part of why we love Nioh.

[Adran010]

What the above two peeps have said :)
I think I did the ng DLC about where you are up to, then i rushed to WotD. but now I'm going to have to take it slow as WotD is significantly harder than WotS!! :)
hell yeah summon us visitors! :)

[Zamus]

Originally posted by Goilveig:

I guess the samurai / ninja / onmyo hair is something I'd miss if I didn't complete all content, which would put me at a skill point disadvantage.

Pretty much this, do a full careful run on NG picking up and looting everything, after this you can safely ignore anything you wish to skip.

[Witcher]

Imo, DLC Samurai was more difficult than Strong in first 3 regions.

I completed all except 1 mission in Samurai before starting 2nd region in Strong and now finding Demon in Tokai quite difficult having not completed all Strong missions - tried to complete some of the sub-mission like Meeting on the Other Shore, Master Ninja, etc. but can't.

Suppose it doesn't help when I recently re-spec'ed my character to Kusarigama/Spear build from primarily dual swords.

[Tiasmoon]

The hairs as reward from missions can be obtained at any time, even when your in higher difficulties.

Going through each difficulty level a time can get you burned out before reaching Way of the Nioh. I would advise rushing through to atleast Way of the Demon or Way of the Wise..possibly even Way of the Nioh. You would need to upgrade your weapons to 200~250 at some point, tho.

Higher difficulties make the bosses and regular enemies different in ways other then stats boost (they gain abilities, become more aggressive, use different combos) so its well worth playing them.


As mentioned by Zamus, if you already did a completionist run the first time on Way of the Samurai, then you wont miss out on anything if you rush through higher difficulties.

[Goilveig]

Thanks for all the input!

I did a bit of Strong until I had a decently good starter set of divine armor and a ton of divine fragments from revenant farming (and as a plus side I learned to parry most weapons pretty solidly, although low stance / swift attack kusa suuuuucks to parry without sloth). Also plenty of ochoko cups now for when I need some help :)

I also farmed until I got a yasakani magatama so I can get a few free 2-piece bonuses and still maintain a main set bonus.

Now I'm going back to wrap up the DLC + the post-game missions on Samurai. Some of those double boss fights wrecked me up, although I did get the Muneshige / Tadakatsu duo.