Why do enemies do so much damage?

[middle]

I'm relatively at the start of the game -- just picked my weapons and stuff, and enemies are hitting me for half of my HP each. When I am fighting a group of enemies, I can die in a split second because 1 landed a hit on me, thereby staggering me, and another mob hits me right after, so I die.

This is textbook inflated difficulty; the enemies are damage sponges, and I die in two hits. I hope the game isn't like this throughout, because then it will be a very lame experience...

[Witcher]

You are expected to learn all enemies' moves, dodge/evade (or guard/block) and hit them no more than twice at an opportune time - rinse and repeat.

Some tips:

- humans can be knocked down for high damage attack skill;
- yokai drops when you hit their horns;
- get Catwalking and Suppa skills asap to go stealth except some yokai later in the game are immune to these.

[Zirkumflex]

in the early stages of the game you can also one shot or almost one shot enemies with a bow. just make sure to really hit the head (if they wear helmets the first arrow only will shoot of the helmet). That said it makes the first 1-3 missions a bit more easy

[(ง︡'-'︠)ง Hor Hay J]

Wait till you get to the boss lol

[Cinnamon Toast King]

blocking is king in this game early on so abuse it

[Tiasmoon]

Originally posted by Tether:

I'm relatively at the start of the game -- just picked my weapons and stuff, and enemies are hitting me for half of my HP each. When I am fighting a group of enemies, I can die in a split second because 1 landed a hit on me, thereby staggering me, and another mob hits me right after, so I die.

This is textbook inflated difficulty; the enemies are damage sponges, and I die in two hits. I hope the game isn't like this throughout, because then it will be a very lame experience...

When you phrase it like that it does sound like inflated difficulty, however that's looking at it the wrong way.

In this game you are ment to not get hit directly by attacks. Both dodge and guard completely block all physical damage. Use them!

As for enemies being damage sponses, I've just started a new game (after months and months of not playing at all). Some enemies definately feel like damage sponses...

..untill I remember there are 3 stances, 2 kinds of basic attacks and several different weapons. If an enemy feels like it has too much hp, use higher stances. Mid stance deals more damage then low. High stance does more damage then mid.

Strong attack deals a lot more damage then a quick attack.

Weapons like the Odachi or Axe deal a lot more damage then a Tonfa or Dual Swords. (but are slower in return)

[puzzlefox]

Grab odachi > unlock imperative strike > one-shot everything.

[sg1darkcalling]

Once you get heavy armor and level up enough and put skill points in good areas.... most enemies will barely scratch you with the exception of bosses. You will outscale them.. at lesat for awhile.. until you go to the next area and they outscale you all over agian. Grind somre more and you become tanky again.

At one point I could just randomly strike hoards of enemies until defeated not even trying to dodge or block. Fun times. I could one shot most enemies, and kill most bosses within 15-20 seconds as well :) At least until I got to the DLC.

[sg1darkcalling]

Odachi is really good... for a heavy damage tank build. You only strike a few times, but everything dies. I would get the Moon ability. Just spam that ability and everything dies. You could take out 1/4th a bosses life with it easy at one point. Though I had good gear wtih stats and bonuses that worked well with it.

[sg1darkcalling]

If you want high skill, very fun, and technical... high DPS... get the dual swords build...it actaully has higher over all DPS.... but is very difficult to learn and you have to actually dodge and block enemies because you will die in a few hits.

You can even get a ranged/gun build eventaully and just kill everything including bosses with ease, just as long as you don't run out of ammo in a map, then you are basically screwed.

[sg1darkcalling]

Early on Axxe is really good.. not as good as odachi with its limited range, but it is the best weapon in the game for breaking through human players guard and dealing heavy stamina damage. It helped me overcome many human bosses early on that I struggled with otherwise. Just by grappling them and breaking their guard and stamina. It's pretty OP against humans if you know how to use it.

Also level up your magic.. and get Sloth.... and the game becomes easy mode including bosses until the DLC. It was esay mode for me without it, with it was over kill. Find good builds online... get good gear.

Just wait till you are at the bosses and they 1-2 shot you. You make one mistake and it is game over, and have to fight them 10-20 times in a row to figure out their patterns and beat them. Even then their patterns change each fight, they will react to how you fight.

[Witcher]

I started with dual swords and found them easier to learn than the katana but their DPS becomes relatively less in NG+ especially after WotStr.

Many use the Dragon Ninja build in the Abyss but I never managed to master the art of evasion or dodging despite it's the only sword that glows.

[popCorn & coffee]

Originally posted by Tether:

I'm relatively at the start of the game -- just picked my weapons and stuff, and enemies are hitting me for half of my HP each. When I am fighting a group of enemies, I can die in a split second because 1 landed a hit on me, thereby staggering me, and another mob hits me right after, so I die.

This is textbook inflated difficulty; the enemies are damage sponges, and I die in two hits. I hope the game isn't like this throughout, because then it will be a very lame experience...

Try not to face more than one enemy at the same time. You can use surikens (or rocks in the first missions) to lure enemies one at a time if theres a group.

[Deostades]

Some early quality of life tips:

Nioh is a HARD game. It's meant to be HARD.

It's also VERY rewarding. I haven't had this much fun with a video game in years!

What others have said here is great! Take on enemies one at a time, when you have to choose been dodging or hitting, dodge. Your greatest asset is that you are faster than 90% of enemies.

Don't be afraid to run away - this is not a power fantasy game. Well, it is, but it's the kind where you have to become insanely good before you start one-shotting everything or perfect dodge a dozen times in a row.

Don't be afraid of dying. There's no permanent loss of experience, enemies don't stop respawning (like they do in Dark Souls).

Pay attention to those glowing red graves. Not only do they tend to give you better loot than most other random drops for the entire base difficulty, they also tend to mark places where players have died a lot. So if you're coming up on a room and see 5-6 graves, it'd probably be a good idea to get ready for a tough fight.

Bosses in this game are all unique, and each will require a unique approach. When you master the game, you can start cross-strategizing, but until then, be ready for each boss to be at least as hard as the last.

Learn some magic and some ninjutsu. Both are amazing supplementary tools, and the magic Elemental Bolts do decent damage for the early game. Shuriken never stop being handy, and the support skills like Suppa Scrolls or Weakness Talismans are the key to not pulling your hair out at times.

And lastly, have fun! Nioh is a game that's all about learning new tricks, and I take my hat off to Team Ninja for making a combat system that's just different enough from everything that came before it that I feel like a proper noob again ^_^

[Witcher]

That's quite a good quick start guide you wrote there Deo ;)

[Stompy Boots]

Originally posted by Deostades:

Don't be afraid of dying. There's no permanent loss of experience, enemies don't stop respawning (like they do in Dark Souls).

Only in Dark Souls 2. Otherwise, solid advice.