**Generic-aah Build for all Weapons:** - Get all stats to at least 15 - Add additional points to unlock your guardian spirit passive effects - Get enough STM and STR to meet desired agility ratings (70% or less, or 30% or less are the two breakpoints to go for) - Get DEX to 30. Get the feathers and quick change scrolls on left side of the tree. feathers apply elemental debuffs consistently if youre exploiting enemy vulnerabilities. they also have a big damage multiplier when used vs out-of-ki enemies - Get 30 MAG for purity talisman, extraction talisman and archyokai talisman - Get Tengen Kujaku guardian spirit from the Nobunaga duel side mission in region 3. Tengen gives buffs when you absorb floating amrita based on the stance you are in. Low stance buff gives ki recovery speed, the mid stance reduces damage taken by 20%, and the high stance buff gives 15% more attack. You can have all 3 buffs active if you swap stances frequently. - Equip kasha core and ippon datara core, and then whatever else you want as a third core. Kasha does huge damage and applies the fire debuff, and ippon staggers everything (even bosses) and deals huge ki damage. kasha soul core also gives additional utility in the passive movement speed buff when absorbing amrita (which we are building around) and also a ton of healing via the life drain (yokai ability hit) effect. in the dark realm your anima generation is increased so you should use yokai abilities more often. kasha core comes from a boss, if you don't have it yet just keep progressing and you'll get it eventually. - Join toyotomi clan. It gives healing when you absorb floating amrita orbs. Extraction talisman from onmyo tree makes all hits vs enemies release amrita orbs for you to absorb, acting like a 'gain life on hit' effect - Buff your weapon with purity talisman. Purity debuff makes enemies take 50% more ki damage and prevents them from gaining beneficial buffs. you can temper 'extended elemental weapon' on your accessories to extend the talisman duration if you want - Once the purity debuff is applied, use feathers (or kasha) to apply a second elemental debuff by using the appropriate type to exploit the enemy's elemental vulnerabilities. When at least 2 elemental debuffs are applied to any enemy then a third debuff called "confusion" is automatically applied. It makes enemies take 50% more damage - Enemies that are out of ki will stagger from all hits, and confusing them as you deplete their ki is the ideal way to exploit this huge damage window. the general gameplay cycle should be to focus on using your weapons high ki damage attacks first to break ki, then shift into using the damage focused attacks to exploit the enemy-out-of-ki damage window. - the ninjutsu feathers recommended previously deal high elemental damage and apply status very rapidly (which is why we want to use it; to help trigger and maintain 'confusion'). if you are investing into dex you can scale these feathers into huge damage nukes as they gain a big damage multiplier when used vs out-of-ki enemies. however, even with only 30 dex and no further investment into ninjutsu power, feathers will apply their elemental debuffs in one usage typically when using the appropriate elemental type vs a particular enemy (the higher tier versions tend to be better at elemental status application while the tier 1 feathers are better for damage as they have a much higher damage multiplier when used vs out-of-ki-enemies). this holds true all throughout the game, even into the absolute lowest floors of the Depths of the Underworld (which is nioh's super end-game content). - when using feathers you should also understand that the ability activates at the start of the animation (where the character turns their head fully to side and you see them blow on their hand). after this point you can cancel the animation in various ways to greatly speed up your jutsu usage. burst counter and soul cores are by far the easiest way to do this (though soul cores tend to cost much more anima than burst counter). its also possible to use a lingering ki pulse to cancel out of certain attacks from a particular weapon. [Here's a guide explaining this technique in detail](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFH1AHQiCUo)