Nioh 3 Tempering & Reforging Guide

Tempering is the most important gear optimization tool in Nioh 3. It allows you to replace any single affix on a piece of equipment with one chosen from a curated list. Unlike Reforging, you see exactly which attributes are available before committing. The trade-off is cost: Tempering requires Umbracite, a resource that is harder to farm than Spirit Iron Chunks.

Each Tempering attempt presents a selection pool. The number of options depends on the quality of Umbracite you spend. Regular Umbracite shows 3 choices, Quality Umbracite shows 6, Fabled Umbracite shows 8, and Divine Umbracite (available only in NG+ and above) shows 10 choices per slot. The attribute you select always rolls at its maximum possible bonus value -- there is no magnitude randomness in Tempering.

Tempering costs increase based on equipment rarity and level. A single Temper on Divine gear at level 200+ costs approximately 3 Fabled Umbracite per attempt. If the attribute you want does not appear in the selection pool, you must spend another Umbracite to refresh the list. This can burn through your reserves quickly if you are chasing a specific rare affix like Active Skill Damage or Melee vs Zero-Ki Enemy.

Best Stats to Temper by Weapon Type

The optimal Tempering targets depend on your weapon category and build archetype. Below are the highest-priority affixes for each weapon class. Always temper these first before worrying about secondary stats.

Umbracite Sources

Umbracite is the currency of Tempering and your primary bottleneck in gear optimization. Each tier of Umbracite comes from different sources, and knowing where to farm each type saves hours of wasted effort.

• --Regular Umbracite: Drops from all Twilight Missions and as random rewards from co-op sessions. The most common tier. You will have hundreds of these by mid-game.
• --Quality Umbracite: Guaranteed reward from completing Twilight Missions on higher difficulty. Also drops from some NG+ side missions. A reliable supply for anyone doing daily Twilight Missions.
• --Fabled Umbracite: Rare drop from Twilight Missions and a guaranteed reward from completing Random Encounters in co-op. This is the tier you will use most in endgame optimization.
• --Divine Umbracite: Only available in NG+ (Dream of the Strong) and above. Drops from Twilight Missions and high-level Random Encounters. Required for the best selection pool when tempering Divine gear.

Reforging rerolls one or more attribute slots on equipment using Spirit Iron Chunks. Results are completely random. You cannot choose which affixes appear. Each reroll costs 2 Spirit Iron Chunks per slot, making it significantly cheaper than Tempering per attempt. The randomness is Reforging's weakness and its strength: it is cheap enough to spam, but unpredictable enough that chasing a specific affix can cost more in the long run than simply Tempering.

There is one statistical advantage to Reforging: when you reroll 3 or more attribute slots simultaneously, the system has a small chance to produce bonus values slightly higher than the standard maximum. This means bulk Reforging can occasionally produce better rolls than Tempering for some attributes. In practice, this bonus is small (roughly 2-5% above Tempering values) and inconsistent, so it matters mainly for min-maxers pushing for absolute maximum damage in Dream of the Nioh.

Random vs Targeted: When to Use Each

The decision between Reforging and Tempering is not about which is better in isolation. It is about resource efficiency at each stage of gear optimization.

• --Use Reforging when a piece of gear has 3 or more bad affixes. The cost per attempt is low and bulk rerolling gives you the small bonus value chance. Spam Reforging until at least 2 of your desired affixes land naturally.
• --Switch to Tempering when only 1-2 slots remain unoptimized. Tempering's precision is worth the Umbracite cost when you are close to a finished piece. Never waste Fabled Umbracite rerolling a slot that could land through cheap Reforging.
• --Never Reforge a single slot unless you are completely out of Umbracite. Single-slot Reforging has no statistical advantage over Tempering and the results are random. You are better off farming Twilight Missions for Umbracite than burning Spirit Iron Chunks one slot at a time.

Soul Matching is the core upgrade system at the Blacksmith. It raises your equipment's base level and +value using Soul Ores and Gold. These two upgrade tracks are separate and serve different purposes.

Stat Inheritance

When you Soul Match two pieces of equipment, certain affixes can transfer from the material (sacrificed) piece to the base (kept) piece. This is called inheritance. An affix eligible for inheritance is marked with a small arrow icon in the equipment menu. Only one inherited affix can exist on a piece of gear at a time. If the base piece already has an inherited affix, the new one replaces it.

Inheritance is how you get otherwise unobtainable affix combinations. For example, you can inherit a ranged damage bonus onto a melee weapon by Soul Matching with a bow that has the inheritable version of that stat. This opens up powerful hybrid builds that would be impossible through Tempering alone.

Remodeling changes the stat scaling distribution on your weapon. Every weapon in Nioh 3 scales with three reference stats that contribute to its total attack power. The total scaling weight across all three stats remains constant regardless of which distribution you choose. Remodeling simply shifts the weight between those stats to match your character's actual stat allocation.

Remodeling is only available on weapons at +1 or higher. The system presents several distribution options -- for example, a Sword might offer Constitution A / Heart B / Strength D, or Constitution B / Heart A / Strength C. The correct choice is always the distribution that places the highest scaling letter on your character's highest-leveled stat.

Best Remodel Paths by Build Type

• --Always Reforge before Tempering. Spam cheap Reforges to get 2-3 affixes close to ideal, then Temper the remaining 1-2 slots with precision. This saves significant Umbracite over Tempering every slot from scratch.
• --Lock your gear before bulk operations. One accidental Disassemble All can destroy hours of optimization work. Lock every piece of equipment you are actively upgrading. This takes two seconds and prevents catastrophic mistakes.
• --Farm Twilight Missions daily for Umbracite. Twilight Missions rotate every 24 hours and guarantee Umbracite rewards. Even running them on lower difficulty gives Regular and Quality Umbracite. Make this part of your daily routine.
• --Soul Match same-type gear for cost discounts. Matching a sword with another sword costs 50% less Gold and Soul Ores than matching with a different weapon type. Matching same-name items gives an even larger discount. Always look for same-type fodder before Soul Matching.
• --Do not waste Azure Ores on temporary gear. Azure Ores come exclusively from Soul Extracting +value equipment. They are the rarest crafting resource in the game. Only invest them in gear with the correct set bonus and at least 2-3 ideal affixes already in place.
• --Remodel after finalizing stats, not before. Your weapon's Remodel should match your character's stat allocation. If you Remodel first and then respec your stats, the Remodel becomes suboptimal and you waste resources doing it again.