Perfectly paired with the new Ninja style in Nioh 3 , the best tonfa weapon build utilizes the shinobi’s speed and frequent attacks to deliver rapid, multiple strikes and easily wear down bosses. In a Ki-centric game like Nioh 3, the tonfa’s ability to deal high Ki damage with low Ki drain makes it a formidable force when properly equipped.
However, like any weapon, building a tonfa-centric build has its drawbacks that can work against you if you don’t consider ways to compensate. Luckily, this guide to the best tonfa build in Nioh 3 will tell you everything you need to know to master it.
Best Tonfa Build
Since the tonfa is a melee weapon, the best build in Nioh 3 should focus on getting close to the enemy to deal damage . The ideal build in this case is one that utilizes the Saturation effect , a watery status that causes the target to take increased physical damage.
Before we break down the key pieces of gear individually, the best tonfa build in Nioh 3 is as follows:
Main assembly characteristics:
- Key Stats: Constitution, Magic, Dexterity, Endurance, and Strength.
- Weapon (Tonfa): “White Bone Tonfa of the Spirit” (with the Water Infusion effect ).
- Armor Features: Maximum possible defense, effect of reducing Ki consumption when dodging .
- Accessory features: Maximum possible defense, effects such as Acceleration of Water status accumulation or Increased duration of effects .
- Guardian Spirit: Nekomata.
- Soul Cores:
- Position Yang – Yasya.
- Yin position – Jakotsu baba.
- Ninjutsu and Tonfa Skills: Cicada, Demon Dance, Evasion, Heavenly Chain, Kunai, Mountain Breaker, Pulverize, Storm of Blows, Wasp Sting.
- Skills: Awakening, Armor-Piercing, Dodge, Lingering Spirit, Panacea, Life Spirit.
Stats – Balance between Health and Mastery
Thanks to Nioh 3’s mechanics that link the damage of certain weapon types to specific stats, upgrading your Constitution , Strength , and Mastery directly increases the damage of your tonfa attacks through scaling . These stats also increase your health, maximum equipment weight, and ninjutsu power, respectively.
Additionally, Mastery and Magic combined increase health, Ninjutsu power, melee damage, and Onmyōdō power. This allows you to combine elemental damage from talismans and Onmyōdō with rapid tonfa strikes to quickly build up water damage and inflict the Drenched status .
The best weapon is the tonfa
The ideal weapon for this build is the White Bone Tonfa of the Spirit . It’s the only specific item in your base loadout you’ll need, as the Water Infusion effect is crucial for quickly applying Drench to your opponent.
To obtain the White Spirit Bone Tonfa , you can craft it at the Fox Masked Blacksmith in the Eternal Abyss by paying 10 each of Wood, Ingots, Leather Cord, and Varnish.
Features of the armor
Since a ninja build focused on close-quarters combat with a tonfa makes you quite fragile defensively, you should choose armor with the highest possible defense. It’s also important to get the “Ki Cost Reduction when Dodging” buff on it to increase your survivability.
This balance is necessary because dodging becomes a key way to avoid damage, as blocks and parries are less effective. Therefore, if you have to sacrifice a few points of defense for the Ki Cost Reduction when Dodging effect (which, as the name suggests, reduces the Ki cost of each dodge) , it’s worth it.
So if all four pieces of your equipped armor have this effect – each one will range from -1.0% to -2.
So, if all four pieces of your equipped armor have this effect—each ranging from -1.0% to -2.0% —you’ll be able to spend 4% to 8% of your Ki on each dodge . This can be a real lifesaver in particularly tense boss battles with fast-attacking bosses.
Features of accessories
As with armor, a good tonfa build in Nioh 3 should combine high defense for survivability with useful buffs.
When it comes to accessories, you should pay attention to the “Water Status Acceleration” and/or ” State Duration Increase” effects . The former will speed up the application of the Drenched status to an enemy, while the latter will increase its duration.
Guardian spirit
With bonuses to Ki damage from Ninjutsu, Ki recovery rate, fast attack penetration, and melee attack Ki cost reduction, Nekomata is ideal as a Guardian Spirit for a Tonfa build in Nioh 3 .
Soul cores
The best Soul Cores for your tonfa build in Nioh 3 to start with are Jakotsu Baba in Yin Stance. This will allow you to use additional Water Familiar Talismans to summon spheres that deal additional Water damage , accelerating the buildup of the Drenched status during your attacks.
Next, you should place Yasha’s Soul Core in the Yang position due to its Life Drain effect , which provides bonus water damage. An additional huge benefit is the increased Ki consumption effect for martial arts.
Until you get Yashu , Jakotsu Baba is also great for Yang stance due to its special effects, including bonus Water damage. For Yin stance, you can use other suitable Soul Cores, such as Yoki, which provide useful bonuses to Amrita gauge fill rate and Ki damage from strong attacks.
Ninjutsu and Tonfa Skills
To fully utilize the tonfa build’s potential, you need to use frequent, high-speed combos to drain your opponent’s Ki and timely dodges when needed. Therefore, you’ll need as many quick skills as possible , as well as key ninja tools to deal additional damage and boost your own defense.
Moves like Demon Dance and Heavenly Chain are essential for attack, but tools like Cicada are crucial for defense— it allows you to automatically dodge an enemy’s attack and instantly teleport behind them .
This is why Cicada is one of the best Ninjutsu and Martial Arts skills to learn as early as possible in the game.
Skills
To complete the best tonfa build in Nioh 3 , you’ll also need offensive skills like Armor Piercing , which will increase your damage. However, the most important skills here are those that provide additional flexibility and survivability .
Take Panacea , for example, one of the best early skills, which increases the effectiveness of your elixirs by 15%.
However, one of the most useful skills available later in Warring States is Dodge . Since it reduces the Ki cost of dodging by 10%, your tonfa build will become much more effective at dodging boss attacks to get in close —and, as a result, deadlier.
