One common thing in almost every soulslike game is the introduction of blacksmiths who can upgrade a player's weapon or forge a new weapon using materials located throughout the world. Nioh 3 introduces the blacksmith fairly early on in the game, but players will still have to progress through the starting sections of the game. Upgrading weapons, on the other hand, is locked, and players will have to complete a prerequisite to unlock it.
The guide below offers a blacksmith guide for Nioh 3 that covers how to forge and upgrade weapons, as well as how to acquire the extract materials needed for these processes.
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How to Forge Weapons in Nioh 3
After completing the tutorial, players will be able to explore the first few regions of the map freely. Your main objective is to make your way to the west of Hamamatsu. Here you will find a Crucible dungeon with a challenging boss at the end. After defeating the boss and removing the Crucible effect from the area, you can head inside the castle for the next story segment. Here you will be teleported to the Temporal Rift, which acts as the main hub for this game.
Inside the Rift, you can find the Fox-masked Blacksmith. When you first talk to the NPC, you will be able to forge weapons. Forging weapons is pretty straightforward; all you need are materials, which can be acquired by dismantling armor and equipment you already have and are not useful to you.
How to Upgrade Weapons in Nioh 3
After you are done with the Temporal Rift segment, you can talk to the Blacksmith again, and she will tell you to check out the shrine at Lake Sanaru, which starts the myth, A Fierce Flame. To access Lake Sanaru, you will have to go down to Maisaka then take the road going north.
Once you reach Lake Sanaru, take the path left until you spot a Scampuss. As this Scampuss takes you 80% of the way to your objective, it is best that you pet it and follow wherever it goes.
Once it stops and you have pet it again, head further up to find the shrine and go inside. Here you will find Kagutschi's Magatama that you need to take back to the Blacksmith.
Talk to her to complete the Myth, and now Soul Match and Soul Extraction will unlock. Soul Match allows you to upgrade your weapon, while Extraction is used to dismantle gear you do not need to get the materials needed for the Soul Match. With that, you can start upgrading the weapon that you are using and want to stick with.
If you want to know our review for Nioh 3, then check out the guide here.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 85 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
- Released
- February 6, 2026
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
- Developer(s)
- Koei Tecmo
- Publisher(s)
- Koei Tecmo
