Zipangu: The Gaijin's Travel Guide

Zipangu: The Gaijin's Travel Guide

This handy guide is the key to making the most of your adventures in the land of Nippon. This will assume you've played and understood the tutorial and are generally not stupid. The Help window (accessed by pressing Options on all menus) as well as reading the descriptions and stats on weapons and checking Amrita Memories can answer a lot of simpler questions, so it is good to pay attention to that and check it first. Also watch this shit the guy's got some moves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXDi0AdgXOQ

Contents:
The Map Screen and Online Play(I)
Equipment and Skills (II)
The Art of Battle (III)

The Map Screen and Online Play(I)

Here's where the journey begins and is as good a place as any to start. However there's not much to explain here.
At here you can access the Storehouse for storing items and equipment. You can take out extra elixirs you have in there here too so you can start off with 10 when first going into a mission.
Pressing Triangle allows you to set a secret word for connecting online with specific people. Be warned that you have to set or remove this before going into a mission if you want a specific visitor, or to reopen it to anyone. Secret words can't be changed mid mission, something to add for the survey I think. You can select a specific mission and press Square before going into it to search for a host, and use L2/R2 to go straight to the currently available Twilight missions. Twilight missions are unlocked after Deep in the Shadows and change daily, there is one for Isle of Demons, Of Withered Grass and Yokai and Deep in the Shadows.

At the Starting Point you can access the Shrine, Blacksmith, Dojo and Torii Gate.

For making offerings at the shrine, you can press the Touchpad to select items under a specific rarity or all of them on the page. New to the Beta, you can just press R2 to select everything on the page. To make it even easier, the last page has everything on it, just remember to Lock the things you want to keep with Square.
The more Kodama you guide back to the shrine, the more elixirs you will start with by default, and changing your Kodama blessing on the map screen is free, while there's a small gold fee mid mission.

At the Blacksmith, Soul Matching allows you to increase a weapon's level by consuming a higher level weapon as a material, and if the material weapon is at max Familiarity and has an effect that can be inherited (shown by the icon), it will pass on that effect or overwrite the existing effect on the base weapon with that icon. Only one effect can be gained and kept this way, and you generally can't have two effects of the same category (ones that affect the same kind of thing, like Break and High Attack Break). An exception may be locked effects on special weapons.
Re-forging allows you to change an effect on a weapon to another. Which one you get is random, and both locked and inheritable effects cannot be re-forged. You cannot get multiples of a same category in this way either and they seem to be more likely to change to another of the same category.

Torii Gate works as a more sophisticated matchmaking area for playing online.
Yokai Realm with a Companion is a different kind of mode where you pick a mission in a kind of lobby, and then work to clear it with another player. There are no shrines available, but if your nakama dies, you can revive him by getting to his grave and hitting Circle, or they can self-revive by holding Circle. The blue bar on screen decreases each time someone dies, and keeps decreasing as long as they are dead. If it gets empty it's game over, but reviving your partner makes it decrease much less. Self-reviving in turn costs more of the bar, but can potentially cost less depending on whether or not you can be revived by your partner in time. Also if both of you die, it's game over.
Random encounters lets you become a visitor and search for any open mission, or pick a specific one. Nobody knows what becoming a wanderer will entail but no matter what it'll be cool as hell. To summon people yourself, you enter a mission, then use an Ochoko Cup at a shrine. You get more of these by summoning and fighting revenants.

Equipment and Skills (II)

In the Beta, there are 7 types of melee weapons spread over 4 classes with their own skill trees, 3 classes of ranged weapon and two skill trees for Ninjutsu and Onmyoji. For melee weapons, Katanas and tachis come under one, then there are spears and cross spears, axes and hammers, and dual katanas. Ranged weapons have some skills that affect their damage and ammo capacity under the Ninja skill tree. Different types within classes are wielded the same but scale better with different stats, and these can be seen at the bottom when looking at the weapon, as an example tachis scale a little better with Skill. Under the picture of the weapon will be an icon, this shows what type it is.
There are also three general weight classes for armour, light, mid and heavy. Equipping these will in most cases correspond to you having a certain class of agility. Just like with weapons, there is an icon that shows which weight class the armour belongs to. One triangle thing is light, three is heavy. Under 30% weight is A agility, giving the lowest Ki costs on dodging and attacking, the furthest distance on dodging and the fastest Ki recovery speed, but the weakest guard and naturally you take much more damage. Under 70% is B agility, the middle ground as far as defense and Ki costs go. Higher than that but below 100% is C agility, which gives a very powerful guard and your attacks all gain armour, stopping you from being knocked out of them. Which one you use is based on player preference, and all of them are effective.
Equipping weapons and fighting through missions will build your weapon's Familiarity, which will strengthen it's attack power and status effects as it increases. There are four potential levels of Familiarity, and the rarer the weapon, the more familiar you can become with it. Weapons with more Familiarity also give more Amrita when offered. It builds faster when using the weapon, but you only need it equipped for it to raise.

Wielding weapons of each class builds up a level of experience called Proficiency. Using them for long enough will grant you extra Samurai skill points, but it takes longer for each point you get for using that class of weapon. Check your Status to see how much Proficiency you've accumulated with each weapon class.
Despite them being under different weapons, a lot of skills will affect you regardless of what you're using. Mostly those that relate to your stats in some way with yellow/white scrolls are shared, but there are some others that are shared. Dual Katanas for example are able to use Tempest, though in the Beta it looks unfinished.

Speaking of, TO DO TEMPEST PRESS GUARD AFTER YOU BREAK THEIR GUARD. IT SAYS "USES YOUR GUARD" SO PRESS L1.
Haze when successful has a faster attack and animation which leaves the enemy out of commission for longer, while Water Shadow puts you behind the enemy for a full combo and has a stronger followup. Both are useful in different situations, although in the Beta they decided to make Haze's followup empty your opponent's Ki for some reason so you can get a ton of damage from that anyway. Water Shadow can still do more overall damage depending on their Ki but it was still a very unnecessary buff. Hint hint survey feedback. Also as a good rule on what you can and can't parry, think about whether it would be humanly possible or if it looks like it could be reversed. In most cases you can trust your eye, but feel free to experiment, you won't lose much for getting hit and you might discover something really cool. Like being able to parry Hino-enma's flying charge.
Doing Heaven Flash requires you to press Forward+X before your attack animation has ended. Think of it like a cancel. Flying Monkey is the same way.
If you don't understand Mind's Eye, just watch the movie.
After learning and using Spear Stance Change, Flux and Double Flux are still possible. Wait until after the attack ends to change stance a second time.
The timing for Twirl is later in the animation than the katana parries. The parry happens about when the spear is at the bottom of it's spin.
The Adamantine is actually really damn effective.
When using Roar, even if blocking something would break your guard, you won't be staggered. You will be left with no Ki however so back off afterwards.
Cloud Crush's grab will connect if the enemy has low Ki, otherwise it's still a useful combo ender.
For those seeking true backstabs, check the Ninja skill tree.
Some skills share inputs. If you learn two that do, use Skill Customization to change your equipped skills. You can change them per stance, so set them up the way you'd prefer.

The Art of Battle (III)

At a glance, the stances are fairly easy to understand and their specialties are clear, but each of them have special abilities unique to them. High stance has the Dodge Pulse. As you would expect from the name, simply dodging while in high stance will act as a Ki Pulse. This can be very effective for making a big attack, evading retaliation, and getting right back in there. Mid stance is unique in that while guarding and moving, your Ki will continue to slowly recover. Last is the low stance's Combo Pulse. After learning a Square > Triangle skill, using it will act as a Ki Pulse. With timing you can dish out a string of attacks, then recover some Ki to continue the assault. At least in theory, but honestly I feel your attacks are too fast and end too quickly to properly make use of it. An interesting thing to know, in the Alpha it was low stance that had Dodge Pulse and high stance that had Combo Pulse, which worked very well with it. Personally I'd just give high stance both since low stance doesn't really need either, but that's just me telling you what I want you to put in the survey (bring back durability, alpha ki and lock on mechanics were better).
Another unique aspect of each stance is how they handle dodging. In high stance, your dodge will be a long roll, while in mid stance it will be a dash, with the roll coming after if you dodge again. Low stance's dodge is always dashes, and the katana and spear classes have a special spin as a side dodge. Dodging when your weapon is sheathed is the same as the mid stance dodge. Ki costs on blocking are the same between stances however.

Now we're on the subject, lets talk Ki. Specifically, your opponent's Ki. Humans have Ki pretty much exactly the same way you do, so everything that works on you works on them with staggering and attacking. Yokai however are a different story. Since they're big nasty monsters, they often cannot be stunned by regular attacks. However, they're out of their element in the human world and have trouble recovering their Ki, unless they stand within the pools of Yokai energy left by their attacks. The ones you learned about in the tutorial. If you manage to reduce their Ki, they will lose their strength and be able to be stunned by your attacks like any human, so when that happens it's time to launch a fully folded offensive.
Connected to that subject, yokai generally have weakspots. An Oni's horns, or a One Eyed One's one eye on the One Eyed One, for example. Hitting these enough will cause the yokai to become staggered, and some types of yokai will even have their Ki gauge emptied.

There are many ways to inflict elemental damage in Nioh, and each element comes with it's own status ailment. With some testing you can find out the effects, but worry not for I did it already.
Fire - Damage over time
Water - Defence debuff
Wind - Break and Parry debuff
Thunder - Speed debuff
Earth - Ki cost debuff

From elements to the big elemental damage dealer. Which Guardian Spirit is best for you depends on your personal playstyle and what you specifically want out of it. They all come with different stats both for you and for their Living Weapon. Kato is generally offensive and for the risk taker, with buffs to your Ki and damage and a Living Weapon that recharges the most while in it and getting the strongest low health boost compared to the rest. Isonade favors survival in a give as good as you get kind of way, combining damage and enemy spotting with life recovery, and the longest lasting Living Weapon time and action wise, though it takes the longest to fill up. Daiba-Washi allows more evasive hit and run or mobile tactics with extra luck for equipment and excessive Living Weapon spam even compared to the others. It's designed for going in and out of Living Weapon rapidly so it goes as fast as it comes. Raiken's Living Weapon is somewhat balanced in all factors, filling very quickly but being hard to sustain, and it's buffs helps with leveling and exploration. And last but not least, Fuse-Ushi is all about defensive play and staying safe, with a Living Weapon that's sturdy and long lasting but taking a while to unleash.

I suppose I'll round things off with some battle tips. Always keep every stance of your weapon in mind. Each weapon has it's strengths and weaknesses, but also enough options to deal with all situations, it's up to you to use them. Also, remember to make use of your mobility, sprinting is a very effective move to close distance or evade. Don't be afraid to guard, it's often strong enough to keep you safe, but note that you can dodge at any point during guarding an attack, so don't block more than you need to. Your ranged weapons, jutsus and items are invaluable as well, make them count, especially by aiming for the head. And above all else, don't give up. The game is harsh but fair (even in it's nerfed post Alpha state), and perseverance will pave the way to victory. Within every Conqueror is the spirit of Ken-sama, so fight on in his name. Gomenasai.