Combat in Nioh 3 involves more than just dodging and trading blows with the enemy. Players get access to a wide variety of Martial Arts abilities, and they greatly improve their combat prowess. These abilities serve different purposes; some are great as combo starters, while others are designed to be combo finishers. Others can reposition you or your target, or act as a means of parrying and countering incoming attacks. There are plenty of Martial Arts skills in Nioh 3, and if you're looking for the best ones, here are our recommendations.

how to get samurai locks and ninja lock in nioh 3
How To Get Samurai And Ninja Locks In Nioh 3

Players need to keep an eye out while exploring to get some locks that'll help unlock new skills in Nioh 3.

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What are Martial Arts in Nioh 3?

Nioh 3 Ninjutsu menu
Nioh 3 Martial Arts menu
Image via TheBestWarGames; Source: Koei Tecmo

Martial Arts refers to any unlockable ability that can be slotted in specific button inputs found in the Customize Martial Arts/Ninjutsu menu. The majority of these Martial Arts are unlocked via Style/weapon skill trees, while others come in the form of Crucible Arts, which are obtained by mastering Crucible weapons.

These abilities come in many different forms, and they are affected by various modifiers and effects like gear affixes, Samurai Style's Martial Arts Gauge, and certain passive skills.

For those who are curious, the Arts Proficiency increases the damage dealt with Martial Arts whenever they consume Samurai Style's Martial Arts Gauge.

Best Martial Arts in Nioh 3

Nioh 3 Kurama Sword Dance Description
Nioh 3 Kurama Sword Dance Description
Image via TheBestWarGames; Source: Koei Tocmo

Each Martial Arts move has its own purpose, and there's no objective best pick for any of the available weapon or style categories. If you're a new player, then you'll want to stick with the best skills to get in Nioh 3 first, and once you find a comfortable playstyle, try experimenting with the Martial Arts available to you.

If you're just looking for some weapon skills to try out, here's what we recommend:

Weapon

Martial Arts

Sword

Night Rain, Kick, Iai Quickdraw

Spear

Wild Spear, Spear Fluorish

Odachi

Thunderbolt, Twin Moons

Axes

Victory Rush

Dual Swords

God of Wind, Water Sword

Switchglaive

Cyclone, Stance Switch skills

Cestuses

Spinning Kicks, Rushing Gale

Ninja Sword

Shadow Cyclone

Dual Ninja Swords

Spinning Drill, Kurama Sword Dance

Kusarigama

Crimson Flurry

Tonfa

Impenetrability, Dragon Slayer, Storm of Strikes,

Hatchets

Wild Surge

Splitstaff

Shin Crusher, Radiant Moon

Talons

Whirling Tiger, Spinning Kicks

Some Martial Arts have overlapping button inputs with each other. In this case, you need to pick which ability you want to use by going to the Customize Martial Arts/Ninjutsu menu.

The vast majority of the weapon Martial Arts here are either for setting up combos, or finishing them. Some of the more technical weapons like the Switchglaive rely a lot on unique mechanics, such as stance switching, parrying, and so on. The best skills in the game are worthless if you don't know how to use them, so make sure to practice them in earnest.

Nioh 3 Tag Page Cover Art
Nioh 3
Action
RPG
Soulslike
Systems
PlayStation-1 PC-1
Released
February 6, 2026

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL

ESRB
Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases, Users Interact
Developer(s)
Koei Tecmo
Publisher(s)
Koei Tecmo
Multiplayer
Online Co-Op
Prequel(s)
Nioh, Nioh 2
Franchise
Nioh
Number of Players
1-3 players (online)
Steam Deck Compatibility
Unknown
PC Release Date
February 6, 2026
PS5 Release Date
February 6, 2026
Genre(s)
Action, RPG, Soulslike
Platform(s)
PlayStation 5, PC
OpenCritic Rating
Mighty