Nioh 3 Secret Bosses – All Hidden Boss Locations

How to Unlock

To encounter Goki, the Demon of Pride, you must first complete all 12 Challenge missions in the Warring States era, which appear after finishing the main story. Once all 12 challenges show a gold completion marker on the mission select screen, travel to the Eternal Rift and descend to Depth 10 or below. At the end of any Depth 10+ floor, you will find a crimson shrine glowing with red flame instead of the standard blue. Interact with the crimson shrine and select 'Confront Your Pride' from the menu. This teleports you to Goki's arena — a crumbling throne room suspended over a void. The crimson shrine only appears once per Rift run, so if you die to Goki, you must descend to Depth 10 again to retry.

Fight Overview

Goki is a towering armored demon wielding a massive kanabo war club. The fight has two distinct phases. In Phase 1, Goki attacks with slow but devastating overhead swings and ground pounds that create shockwaves spanning two-thirds of the arena. His attacks are heavily telegraphed but deal catastrophic damage — a single overhead swing can kill a player with under 5,000 HP. He also periodically summons mirror images of himself that perform one attack before vanishing. In Phase 2 (triggered at 40% HP), Goki shatters his own armor and enters a berserk state, gaining a new moveset of rapid claw combos and a grab attack that ignores block. His speed roughly doubles, and he gains hyper-armor on most attacks. The transition is signaled by a red burst that damages anyone standing close.

Strategy Tips

• •Stay at mid-range during Phase 1 and punish the recovery after his overhead swings — he is locked in place for roughly 2 seconds after each slam, giving you time for a full combo
• •Destroy the mirror images immediately — they only have 1 HP but their attacks inflict the Blinded debuff, which obscures your screen for 5 seconds and can be lethal during the Phase 2 transition
• •Equip the Otoroshi Soul Core (Yin) for Barrier Talisman charges — the 20% damage reduction is essential for surviving his berserk claw combos in Phase 2
• •In Phase 2, dodge into his claw swipes rather than away from them — his forward momentum carries him past you, creating a safe window to strike from behind
• •Bring at least 3 Anti-Demon Arrows (crafted at the Blacksmith) — each arrow removes one stack of his Pride Aura buff, which otherwise increases his damage by 15% per stack up to 3 stacks

How to Unlock

Jashin requires a more cryptic unlock path than Goki. First, collect all 5 Jade Magatama beads — one drops from each of the five Heian-era main mission bosses on Dream of the Strong difficulty or higher. With all 5 beads in your inventory, travel to the Moonlit Lake side mission in the Heian era. Instead of proceeding toward the mission objective, take the hidden path behind the waterfall at the north end of the lake. The path leads to a flooded underground shrine. Place the 5 Jade Magatama on the altar at the center of the shrine, and Jashin will materialize from the water. This is a one-time unlock — once triggered, Jashin's mission appears as a repeatable twilight mission on the map called 'The Envious Depths.'

Fight Overview

Jashin is a serpentine water demon that fights in a partially submerged arena. The water level rises and falls throughout the battle, fundamentally changing how you move and dodge. When the water is low (ankle-deep), you have full mobility but Jashin gains access to long-range water jet attacks that track your position. When the water is high (waist-deep), your dodge distance is halved and Ki recovery drops by 30%, but Jashin surfaces more often, exposing vulnerable spots on its neck. The fight has three phases: Phase 1 (100-60% HP) focuses on ranged water attacks, Phase 2 (60-25% HP) introduces coiling grab attacks and poison breath, and Phase 3 (below 25% HP) floods the arena to chest height while Jashin goes into a frenzy of rapid tail sweeps and diving lunges. Jashin also copies one of your equipped weapon skills every 30 seconds and uses it against you — the copied skill appears with a green glow.

Strategy Tips

• •Equip Lightning-based weapons or talismans — Jashin takes 40% increased damage from Lightning and becomes briefly paralyzed after accumulating enough Lightning status buildup
• •During high-water phases, position yourself on the raised stone platforms at the arena edges — these keep you at ankle depth while Jashin is forced to expose itself to attack you
• •Watch for the green glow on Jashin's attacks — these are your own copied skills and they can be blocked normally, unlike its native water attacks which are partially unblockable
• •Bring Antidote Pills and Poison-resistance accessories — Phase 2 poison breath applies Poison in a single hit and the damage over time is severe enough to kill in 8 seconds without treatment
• •Target the glowing weak points on Jashin's neck when it surfaces during high-water phases — hitting these deals triple damage and interrupts its attack chain

How to Unlock

Onnen is the most difficult Nioh 3 secret boss to both unlock and defeat. The requirements are cumulative: you must have already defeated both Goki and Jashin, completed the main story on Dream of the Demon difficulty, and collected all 50 Cursed Relics scattered across every region in the game (tracked in the Inventory under Key Items). Once all conditions are met, replay the final story mission 'The Sengoku's End' on Twilight difficulty. After defeating the final story boss, instead of the mission ending, a red portal appears behind the boss arena. Enter the portal to reach the Shattered Reliquary — a fractured dimension where time and space are distorted. Onnen awaits at the center of the realm. Like Jashin, this becomes a repeatable twilight mission called 'Obsession Unbound' after the first encounter.

Fight Overview

Onnen is widely considered the hardest boss in Nioh 3. It takes the form of a shifting mass of spectral energy that constantly changes between three combat forms: a dual-wielding swordsman (fast, aggressive combos), a giant armored warrior (slow, devastating area attacks), and a floating wraith (ranged magical barrages). Onnen switches forms every 20-30 seconds with no warning, and the transition itself deals damage in a radius around it. The arena features four Reliquary Pillars that Onnen periodically charges with cursed energy — if all four pillars are fully charged, Onnen unleashes an instant-death attack that wipes the entire arena. Players must destroy at least one pillar during each charge cycle to prevent this. The fight has no traditional phases based on HP — instead, Onnen cycles through its three forms with increasing aggression as its health drops. Below 20% HP, it begins switching forms every 10 seconds, creating a chaotic final stretch where adaptability is everything.

Strategy Tips

• •Prioritize destroying Reliquary Pillars whenever Onnen begins channeling (indicated by purple beams connecting it to the pillars) — you have approximately 15 seconds to break at least one pillar before the instant-death attack triggers
• •Against the swordsman form, maintain Low Stance for maximum dodge speed — its dual-sword combos are 6-8 hits long and will catch you if your dodge frames are insufficient
• •Against the armored warrior form, switch to High Stance and focus on Ki damage — this form has a large Ki bar but is vulnerable to stagger once it breaks, giving you a long punish window
• •Against the wraith form, close distance immediately — its ranged magical attacks are nearly undodgeable at range but it has almost no melee defense, making point-blank aggression the safest approach
• •Equip the Purification Talisman (Onmyo Magic tree) — Onnen's form transitions deal Corruption damage, and Purification reduces Corruption buildup by 80%, preventing the devastating Corrupted debuff that halves your max HP