Nioh 3 Patch Notes – All Updates

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Martial Art Deflect timing for Dual Swords — the parry window was shorter than intended after v1.03.03 changes, now restored to correct frame data
• Fixed Martial Art Deflect timing for Cestuses — same issue as Dual Swords, parry window timing now matches design intent
• Fixed Soul Core enhancement progression not saving correctly — players who enhanced Soul Cores past +5 would see progress reset after reloading save data
• Fixed an issue where Soul Core enhancement level could display incorrectly in the equipment menu after Soul Matching

Impact on Builds

This patch is a direct buff to Dual Swords and Cestuses users who rely on Deflect-based playstyles. The v1.03.03 patch inadvertently shortened the parry window for these weapons, making Deflect builds significantly harder to execute. If you shelved your Dual Swords or Cestuses build after the last patch, it's time to pick them back up — parry timing is now correct and consistent with other weapons.

New Features

• Cross-Style equipment appearance — set equipment from different Styles in Equipment Appearance
• Free Acolyte summon added in Escape from Hitokoto Slope (no Ochoko Cups required)
• Reduced wait time for Change Your Appearance menu in Eternal Rift
• Soul Cores now sorted by level when same type or rarity
• Set Bonus added to Special Effect item filters
• Ki Pulse and Stance Change prioritized over Interact commands

Crest Protection Balance Changes

• [Buff] Sanada — Ki Consumption (Jump) increased
• [Buff] Otani — Decreased Elemental Damage Taken increased
• [Buff] Kato — Damage Taken (Critical) increased
• [Buff] Fukushima — Bare-Handed Attack Damage increased
• [Buff] Akechi — Bullseye Bonus increased
• [Buff] Nanbu — Melee Damage (Unscathed) and Life Drain (Bullseye) increased
• [Buff] Amago — Damage Taken in Midair increased
• [Buff] Kajiwara — Untouched Summoning Seals increased
• [Buff] Matsudaira — Glory Obtained increased
• [Buff] Nabeshima — Projectile Ki Damage increased
• [Buff] Tokugawa — Protection from Death (Non-Critical) increased
• [Buff] Shinsengumi — A Warrior's Honor increased
• [Nerf] Kato — Damage Taken (While Attacking) decreased
• [Nerf] Shibata — Melee Damage decreased
• [Nerf] Matsudaira — High Attack Damage decreased
• [Nerf] Shinsengumi — melee damage bonus component reduced

Guardian Spirit & Soul Core Changes

• [Spirit] Kongojishi — Life and Guard Ki Consumption (Critical) increased, Damage Taken (While Attacking) decreased
• [Nerf] Gozuki, Sentry, Onryoki Soul Cores — Damage Taken (While Attacking) decreased
• [Buff] Gozuki, Sentry Soul Cores — Strong Attack Damage increased
• [Buff] Onryoki Soul Core — Spirit Force Bonus (Damage Taken) increased
• [Buff] Flying Bolt Soul Core — Increased Damage Taken on Enemy (Ranged Weapon Hit) increased
• [Buff] Frost Moon Damage set bonus effects increased
• [Buff] Matchless Resentment — Status Ailment Duration (Confusion) restored

Weapon-Specific Fixes

• Cestuses (Martial Art Unbroken) — fixed Ki stat carryover, attack counting during Living Artifact, extended effect period after full Ki Pulse
• Spear (Martial Arts Spear Flourish & Rainbow Ruse) — resolved unintended Flux triggering, fixed Twisting Spear (Fire) description
• Multi-weapon controller fixes (Types B, E, F) — Burst Break usable while dodging with Sword, Switchglaive, Cestuses, Ninja Sword; stance change no longer triggers unintended Martial Arts

Bug Fixes (Highlights)

• Fixed crash when loading certain save data and when opening map for Bakumatsu (Shogun's Journey)
• Multiple mission progression fixes: Subterfuge at the Abandoned Shrine, Frozen City Blazing Tree, Triple Triumph, Takeda's Four Heavenly Kings, and more
• Flux triggering corrected during stance changes post-Guard
• Soul Matching/Enhancing Soul Cores enhancement limit reset fixed
• Grave recovery enabled in previously blocked missions
• Increased Glory rewards for lower-ranking Clan Battle players
• Enhanced Glory acquisition through Expeditions, visitor summons, Bloody Graves, and Benevolent Graves
• [Steam] Save data corruption hardening, Steam Overlay compatibility fixes, mouse control improvements across multiple menus

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where players could receive very high-level equipment when forging at the Blacksmith — adjusted forging level cap and lowered levels of already-obtained bugged equipment
• Addressed game crashing issues across multiple scenarios
• Addressed various audio-related bugs

Improvements

• General stability fixes for both PS5 and PC
• Gameplay performance improvements

Bug Fixes

• Fixed inability to obtain valuables dropped by "Green Shadow's Blade" in the 1572 CE Warring States field — items now properly retrievable upon loading save data
• Corrected a linking issue with the Martial Art "Unbroken" when used with Cestuses — backward movement and Strong Attack input connections now work properly
• Fixed elbow and knee angles in Samurai Style appearing differently than shown during Character Creation
• Resolved character creation data being overwritten when changing names via Save/Load Settings
• Adjusted inflated "Recommended Level" for certain post-game Challenge missions
• Partially resolved matching difficulties for Expeditions (multiplayer)
• Fixed rare game data corruption occurring when ending gameplay at Shrines
• Partially corrected purple light radiating from water surfaces (graphics)
• Other minor fixes

Balance Changes — Nerfs

• [Nerf] Living Artifact (Living Weapon) mode — elemental damage from Martial Arts while active reduced across the board
• [Nerf] Hard cap introduced on consecutive Martial Art usage in Living Artifact mode — prevents infinite loop exploits
• [Nerf] Shin Crusher II — damage and Ki impact reduced
• [Nerf] Certain Strong Attacks that were too effective in Living Weapon mode — damage output reduced

Balance Changes — Buffs

• [Buff] Radiant Moon — damage increased
• [Buff] Roar Power — damage increased
• [Buff] Hatchets — multiple Martial Arts received power increases, reinforcing mid-range playstyle
• [Buff] Kusarigama — core skills buffed, strengthening its role as a flexible control-oriented weapon
• [Buff] Additional Martial Arts buffs across Swords, Dual Swords, Axes, Tonfa, and Splitstaves — improved damage scaling and Ki efficiency

Bug Fixes

• Multiplayer session stability improvements
• Character creation and input handling fixes
• Photo mode bug fixes
• Enemy behavior corrections
• [PC] Keyboard and mouse control fixes on Steam

Impact on Builds

Changes

• Ki Recovery buffs across multiple weapon types
• Skill linking fixes and stability improvements
• General bug fixes for the demo build