Nioh 3 is much wider than a straight mission list makes it look. The campaign moves through several eras, opens large regional maps between story objectives, and quietly ties some of its hardest late-game fights to side missions, collectibles, and cleanup systems. If you only follow the golden marker, you can still reach the ending, but you will arrive under-leveled, short on shortcuts, and probably facing a rougher version of the Bakumatsu finale than you need to.
This walkthrough is built as a practical route through the whole game: the 34 main missions, the moments where exploration matters, the side missions that change late fights, and the cleanup categories to track if you want all achievements. It avoids room-by-room copying of other walkthroughs and focuses on decisions that actually save time or prevent pain.
Spoiler warning: this guide lists all main mission names, mandatory bosses, late-game regions, final mission structure, and achievement cleanup goals. Boss names and final-era mission names are unavoidable in a useful walkthrough.
Best Route Through Nioh 3
The safest first playthrough is a story-led route with regular regional cleanup. Nioh 3 has one hard first-run difficulty, recommended mission levels, and many optional rewards that make the main path smoother. Side content is not just padding: Myths, enemy bases, Lesser Crucibles, shrines, hot springs, Kodama, Chijiko, and Scampusses all feed your level, tools, survivability, or achievement cleanup.
- Follow the story until each era opens. Do not try to fully clear an era before the game has introduced its core movement, shrine, Crucible, and Battle Scroll systems.
- In every new region, activate shrines and Bodhisattva Statues first. They create your safety net, reduce repeated travel, and make collectible cleanup far less annoying later.
- Clear nearby enemy bases and Lesser Crucibles while you are already in the area. These are strong sources of Amrita, loot, exploration progress, and achievement work.
- Use side missions to keep your level near the suggested range. Mainline rushing is possible, but bosses punish low Life, weak gear, and poor Ki management.
- Keep gear load under control. A build that dodges, blocks, and recovers Ki cleanly is usually better than chasing one higher-defense piece that breaks your movement rhythm.
- Learn Burst Break early. Many dangerous bosses are designed around punishing red-aura attacks. If you dodge every Burst Attack instead of interrupting some of them, fights last longer and become harder.
- Before Final Hope, complete Peerless Katana and Solitary Blade. This is the most important side-mission warning in the game. Doing them first separates Okita Soji from the Tokugawa Yoshinobu fight instead of forcing a brutal back-to-back sequence.
- Delay full 100% cleanup until late Bakumatsu or after the ending route is stable. You can collect plenty as you go, but the cleanest completion pass happens after more regions, Guardian Spirits, traversal options, and Battle Scrolls are available.
Main Mission Order
Nioh 3 has 34 main missions spread across Edo, Warring States, Heian, Antiquity, Bakumatsu, and the Final Battle of Edo. The table below is the backbone of the walkthrough. Use it as your campaign checklist, then read the era notes below for the practical cleanup points.
| # | Main Mission | Era | Mandatory Boss / Main Threat | Route Advice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ceremony | Edo, 1622 CE | None | Pick weapons by feel. You are learning Samurai basics, not locking your whole build forever. |
| 2 | The Fall of Edo Castle | Edo, 1622 CE | Tokugawa Kunimatsu | Practice Ki Pulse, Yokai Realm purification, Style Shift, and Burst Break before the game opens up. |
| 3 | The Battle of Hitokoto Slope | Warring States, 1572 CE | None | Scout camps from the edges and start using ranged tools before you commit to melee. |
| 4 | Escape From Hitokoto Slope | Warring States, 1572 CE | Yamagata Masakage | Yamagata teaches patience: bait slow swings, punish from the side, and keep enough Ki to block mistakes. |
| 5 | The Hamamatsu Incident | Warring States, 1572 CE | None | Use this stretch to unlock early shrines, loot, and the first reliable Amrita farming loop. |
| 6 | Crucible Manifested | Warring States, 1572 CE | Jakotsu-baba | After this, pay attention to the Guiding Mirror, Crucible systems, and region cleanup icons. |
| 7 | The Battle of Futamata Castle | Warring States, 1572 CE | Anayama Nobutada | Do not sprint past shortcuts. Castle-style routes are easier when every door and ladder is opened. |
| 8 | Mirage Fortress | Warring States, 1572 CE | Baba Nobuharu | Expect heavier human pressure. Keep a bow, gun, or hand cannon ready for priority targets. |
| 9 | The Battle of Mikatagahara | Warring States, 1572 CE | None | This is a good pause for Hamamatsu, Maisaka, Iinoya, and Futamata area cleanup. |
| 10 | A Fiery Invasion | Warring States, 1572 CE | Yamagata Masakage, Takeda Shingen | Bring anti-yokai tools and practice Guardian Spirit timing. This is a real escalation point. |
| 11 | The Battle of Saigagake | Warring States, 1572 CE | None | Before the region climax, finish any nearby easy Myths, bases, and hot springs you have marked. |
| 12 | Tiger’s Cause | Warring States, 1572 CE | Takeda Shingen | End-of-region fight. Upgrade your main weapon, refresh soul cores, and use lightning/fire resistance if your setup has it. |
| 13 | The Age of Clans Begins | Heian, 1190 CE | None | New era, new map rhythm. Prioritize shrines, safe routes, and early enemy-base cleanup again. |
| 14 | Sacred Mountain Defiled | Heian, 1190 CE | Great Tengu | Respect vertical attacks and delayed windups. This is a good test of dodging after, not before, the tell. |
| 15 | Heian Befouled | Heian, 1190 CE | None | The Abandoned Shrine route becomes a strong Amrita loop. Use it if the next boss outpaces your level. |
| 16 | Black Feather Sanctuary | Heian, 1190 CE | Otoroshi | There is an achievement tied to driving out crows before Otoroshi. Bring ranged ammo and move carefully. |
| 17 | The Oni of Rajomon | Heian, 1190 CE | Ibaraki Doji | Keep a clean mid-range. Ibaraki punishes greedy close-range strings and panic healing. |
| 18 | Subterfuge at the Abandoned Shrine | Heian, 1190 CE | Kajiwara Kagetoki | Clear the shrine complex methodically and unlock shortcuts before you push to the boss. |
| 19 | A Cause Too Great | Heian, 1190 CE | None | Use this breather to catch up on Heian Myths and collectible categories. |
| 20 | Frozen City, Blazing Tree | Heian, 1190 CE | Minamoto no Yoritomo | End-of-era boss. Do not enter with half-upgraded gear or untested jutsu shortcuts. |
| 21 | Calamity’s Seed | Antiquity, 247 CE | None | Antiquity is shorter, but do not ignore hot springs and Crucible Wraiths just because the main route is compact. |
| 22 | The Spirit Tree Village | Antiquity, 247 CE | Kusanagi | Story achievement progress is tied here. Prepare for a distinct boss rhythm instead of relying on Warring States habits. |
| 23 | Ill Omen | Antiquity, 247 CE | None | Check your map before moving on. Antiquity has fewer missions, so missed icons are easy to overlook. |
| 24 | Dark Roots | Antiquity, 247 CE | Hiruko | Use the hot spring with Himiko if you are tracking the Distant Memories achievement chain. |
| 25 | To the Beginning | Return to Edo, 1622 CE | None | This is a story bridge back to Edo. Recheck gear, Guardian Spirits, and soul cores before the Bakumatsu map opens. |
| 26 | Light of Hope | Return to Edo, 1622 CE | Gozuki, Tokugawa Kunimatsu | Expect heavier yokai pressure. Save healing for real damage windows instead of topping off after every scratch. |
| 27 | A New Era | Bakumatsu, 1864 CE | None | Bakumatsu unlocks major late-game cleanup. Start planning Myths, masters, and hidden bosses now. |
| 28 | The Sweet Sound of Strings | Bakumatsu, 1864 CE | Takasugi Shinsaku | Keep ranged pressure and status options ready. Human bosses can punish slow healing harder than yokai do. |
| 29 | Those Left Behind | Bakumatsu, 1864 CE | Enenra | After this mission, do not rush straight into Final Hope. The level jump and side-mission consequences matter. |
| 30 | Accursed Temple | Bakumatsu, 1864 CE | Nuribotoke | Watch for heavy yokai and temple shortcuts. This is also a good time to stock ammo and jutsu for late bosses. |
| 31 | Final Hope | Bakumatsu, 1864 CE | None | Complete Peerless Katana and Solitary Blade first. Then enter the Imperial Palace route fully prepared. |
| 32 | Scion of the Gods | Bakumatsu, 1864 CE | Okita Soji, Tokugawa Yoshinobu | If Okita was handled through Solitary Blade, Yoshinobu becomes a far cleaner single focus. |
| 33 | What Makes a Shogun | Final Battle of Edo, 1622 CE | None | Final story push. Make a manual save before committing if you still care about route cleanup notes. |
| 34 | A Sinister End | Final Battle of Edo, 1622 CE | Death Veil, Hiruko | Shoot Murakumo’s lightning bird whenever it appears if you are chasing Pain, Pain, Go Away. |
Era Walkthrough Notes
Edo Prologue
The opening teaches more than it first seems. Ceremony lets you try the basic Samurai weapons, while The Fall of Edo Castle introduces Yokai Realms, Ki Pulse, Style Shift, Ninja weapons, and Burst Break. Treat this section as your control laboratory. If Burst Break feels unreliable here, spend time practicing before the game starts throwing faster bosses at you.
When you escape Edo, do not worry about perfect loot. Your real priority is learning how to survive with both styles. Samurai Style is stronger for direct pressure and Yokai Realm cleanup. Ninja Style gives mobility, back attacks, Mist, and ranged Ninjutsu options. Good players swap because the fight asks for it, not because one style is always correct.
Warring States
Warring States is the largest early route. You will move from Hitokoto Slope into river, road, castle, lake, hill, temple, and battlefield zones such as Tenryu River, Tokaido, Hamamatsu, Maisaka, Lake Sanaru, Lake Hamana, Iinoya, Futamata Road, Futamata, and Mikatagahara. The main story will carry you through the major battlefields, but the region also introduces the cleanup rhythm you should keep for the rest of the game: shrine, shortcut, Crucible, base, Myth, collectible sweep, then boss.
The first big farming option appears around The Hamamatsu Incident. If you are under the recommended level for a boss, repeat short Crucible or shrine loops, offer spare loot for Amrita, and upgrade the gear you actually use. Do not spread upgrades across every weapon type just because Nioh 3 drops constant loot.
By Tiger’s Cause, you should have a working answer for four things: a safe ranged option, one reliable yokai soul core, a Guardian Spirit skill you understand, and a plan for enemy Ki. Takeda Shingen is less about raw aggression and more about staying composed through empowered attacks.
Heian
Heian changes the texture of exploration. Mount Kurama, Kamo Village, Funaokayama, Sagano, Nishiichi, Awawa no Tsuji, Hachijo, Rokuhara, and the Palace Grounds contain dense side routes, shrine shortcuts, and collectible branches. If you feel lost, stop chasing every icon and first secure the nearest shrine or Bodhisattva Statue.
There are two especially useful Heian habits. First, use the Abandoned Shrine route as a leveling loop if you are behind. Second, in Black Feather Sanctuary, slow down and remove the crows before Otoroshi if you are tracking the Ruckus in the Sanctuary achievement. It is easy to turn a cleanup trophy into a replay just by rushing toward the boss fog.
Before Frozen City, Blazing Tree, clear enough Myths and bases to keep your level honest. Minamoto no Yoritomo sits at the end of a long era and expects more from your build than early Warring States bosses did.
Antiquity
Antiquity is shorter, centered around Yamatai and the Spirit Tree Shrine, but it still matters for completion. The main missions are Calamity’s Seed, The Spirit Tree Village, Ill Omen, and Dark Roots. Do not mentally label it as a short story detour and skip its hot springs, Crucible Wraiths, and collectible markers.
Dark Roots has a specific cleanup note: if you want Distant Memories, bathe with Himiko there, then later replay Apparition of Ryotan Temple and use its hot spring to trigger the memory follow-up. Because this link spans different content, it is exactly the kind of achievement step players forget.
Return to Edo and Bakumatsu
To the Beginning and Light of Hope bring the story back to Edo before Bakumatsu opens. Once A New Era starts, the game is no longer only asking whether you can beat the next boss. It is asking whether your build, exploration progress, and side-mission routing are ready for the ending.
Bakumatsu includes Shimabara, Shichijo, Shijo, Sanjo, Gion, Kiyomizu, Shirakawa, Mibu, Nijo Castle, and Kyoto Imperial Palace. This is the best time to take cleanup seriously. You have enough tools to move efficiently, and several late achievements depend on Myths, masters, hidden bosses, and specific mission actions.
The major warning is before Final Hope. Complete Peerless Katana, then use the Mibu Temple key to complete Solitary Blade and defeat Okita Soji separately. If you skip that route, Final Hope can force Okita and Yoshinobu into a much nastier back-to-back sequence. This is optional, but it is the rare optional step that meaningfully changes the late-game difficulty curve.
Final Battle of Edo
What Makes a Shogun and A Sinister End close the campaign. A Sinister End is not just a single boss hallway: it uses waves, Crucible Spikes, Murakumo lightning pressure, returning yokai, Death Veil phases, and the final Hiruko fight. Enter with upgraded gear, full consumables, a familiar soul-core layout, and enough ranged ammo to handle achievement-related hazards.
For Pain, Pain, Go Away, the important rule is simple: shoot the lightning bird whenever Murakumo appears so it retreats. If the achievement does not trigger, replaying through Battle Scroll cleanup is safer than assuming you can fix it after the credits without repeating the relevant sequence.
Side Missions You Should Not Ignore
Nioh 3 calls many side quests Myths. Some are just excellent sources of Amrita, gear, story context, and map completion. A few are more important because they change a fight, unlock a system, or sit inside achievement chains.
| Side Mission / Chain | When to Care | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Peerless Katana | Bakumatsu, before Final Hope | Gives access to the Mibu Temple route needed for Solitary Blade. |
| Solitary Blade | Immediately after Peerless Katana | Lets you deal with Okita Soji before the Yoshinobu sequence, reducing the Final Hope difficulty spike. |
| A Fierce Flame | Warring States cleanup | Community achievement references tie Soul Match access to this Myth chain, making it useful for equipment cleanup. |
| Memories in the Blade | After reaching Heian and progressing the blacksmith thread | Needed for the Senji Toyo achievement; track the hidden swords instead of leaving it for a blind final sweep. |
| Yokai Horde Picture Scroll and Seeking Rare Yokai | Heian into Bakumatsu | These are listed as hidden or prerequisite-linked Myths in completion references and matter for Answering to the People. |
| Putrid Paradise | Heian / Eternal Rift cleanup | Feeds the Dung Ball Roller chain. Save Dung Balls instead of selling or ignoring them. |
| Veteran training with Yagyu Munenori and Hattori Hanzo | After reaching Bakumatsu | Needed for Nothing Left to Learn and a good way to prove your build before final bosses. |
Boss Prep That Works All Game
Nioh 3 bosses are varied, but the preparation loop stays consistent. Before a major boss, check your level, equipment weight, weapon familiarity, soul cores, shortcut status, ranged ammo, jutsu stock, and resistance tools. The boss itself is only half the problem; the run to the boss, the enemies near the final shrine, and the lack of a clean retreat often cause more deaths than the boss moveset.
- Against human bosses: protect your Ki, punish whiffs, use ranged tools to remove arena adds before the fight if possible, and avoid healing in obvious neutral distance.
- Against large yokai: fight the camera as much as the boss. Stay at a range where you can see the tell, not buried inside the model unless your weapon is designed for it.
- Against Crucible bosses: assume there will be empowered states, arena hazards, or wave pressure. Enter with a full restock and a known escape route.
- When Burst Attacks appear: learn which ones you can safely Burst Break. Interrupting ten of them is also an achievement requirement, so practice is never wasted.
- When a boss has an elemental weakness: use weapon imbuement, Ninjutsu, Onmyo, or soul cores to apply status, but do not force a spell build if your melee timing is the real issue.
Two fights deserve extra planning. Yoshinobu in Scion of the Gods is far cleaner if Okita Soji was handled through Solitary Blade first. Hiruko in A Sinister End comes after a long final route with Death Veil pressure, waves, Crucible Spikes, and returning threats, so the smart move is to treat the entire mission as the final boss, not just the last health bar.
Collectibles and 100% Cleanup
The public Steam achievement page confirms 51 achievements. Official achievement names cover story progress, combat mechanics, co-op or NPC allies, equipment crafting, Myths, hidden bosses, and world completion. Community cleanup references add useful counts for the biggest collectible categories; those counts are treated here as practical checklist data rather than official database fields.
| Cleanup Goal | Tracked Count / Requirement | Achievement Link | Best Time to Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Myths | All side quests, including hidden chains | Answering to the People | Late Bakumatsu, after hidden chains are available |
| Shrines and Bodhisattva Statues | 156 named activations in community completion references | Devotee | Along the way, then final region sweep |
| Enemy Bases | 26 bases | Total Control | As soon as you can clear each region safely |
| Lesser Crucibles | 23 purifications | Lesser Crucible Eradicator | During regional cleanup, before final farming |
| Masters | 13 master encounters | A God Among Men | After your build is stable and late regions are open |
| Chijiko | 43 pets | Eagle-Eyed | Mark them per region; do not leave all for the end |
| Hot Springs | 26 baths | Spa Lover | Use every one immediately when found |
| Kodama | 92 guided home | Kodama Leader | Best done with region maps open and shortcuts unlocked |
| Six Jizo | 20 prayers | Visiting the Six Jizo | Pair with Kodama and hot spring sweeps |
| Scampusses | 16 pets | Scampuss Enthusiast | Track from the start; furballs also feed Eternal Rift cleanup |
The smartest cleanup method is regional, not category-by-category. Finish Warring States icons together, then Heian, then Antiquity, then Bakumatsu, then Final Battle of Edo. If you chase all Kodama first, then all hot springs, then all bases, you will repeat travel and forget which shortcuts were already opened.
Achievement Roadmap
For achievement planning, split the list into six buckets:
- Story progress: Wanderer in Time, Guiding Mirror, The Old Tiger Departs, Unbreakable Cause, The Queen’s Eyes Open, What Must Be Done, Delusion Destroyed, and As Shogun are tied to main progression.
- Level and build progress: Budding Talent and Grizzled Veteran are natural if you explore and do Myths instead of rushing only main missions.
- Combat mechanics: Crucible Arts Adopter, Arts Proficiency, Ninjutsu, Burst Break, Guardian Spirit’s Aid, Yokai Manipulator, Soul Core Owner, and Unimpeded reward actually using the systems instead of ignoring them.
- World completion: Explorer, Devotee, Total Control, Lesser Crucible Eradicator, A God Among Men, Eagle-Eyed, Spa Lover, Kodama Leader, Visiting the Six Jizo, and Scampuss Enthusiast are your big map-checklist achievements.
- Crafting and allies: Armor’s Real Value, Latest Masterpiece, Match Made in Heaven, Remodeler, and Teamwork are easy to postpone, but they are painless if you handle them as soon as each system unlocks.
- Specific Myths and hidden bosses: Answering to the People, Senji Toyo, Ruckus in the Sanctuary, Pain, Pain, Go Away, Distant Memories, Like-Minded Friends, Dung Ball Roller, Nothing Left to Learn, and the three Kunimatsu hidden-boss achievements are where most cleanup planning lives.
The final achievement, You Are Nioh, is the all-achievements reward. The main risk is not difficulty alone; it is forgetting a mission-specific action, leaving hidden Myths untriggered, or saving all exploration cleanup for one exhausting sweep.
Common Mistakes
- Rushing main missions while under the suggested level. Nioh 3 can be beaten this way by strong players, but the average first run becomes much harder than it needs to be.
- Ignoring loot offerings. Spare gear can become Amrita through shrine offerings, so your inventory is not just clutter.
- Skipping hot springs. They count toward completion and can also stabilize difficult routes.
- Not saving before late-game commitment points. Battle Scrolls help with replay and cleanup, but a good manual save before Final Hope and the final route still saves frustration.
- Leaving Okita Soji for Final Hope. Do Peerless Katana and Solitary Blade first unless you actively want the harder version of that sequence.
- Forgetting specific achievement actions. Crows in Black Feather Sanctuary, Himiko’s hot spring chain, Murakumo’s lightning bird, Dung Balls, and hidden bosses are all easy to miss if you play on autopilot.
Sources and Credits
Official metadata and images are from Nioh 3 on Steam and the official Team Ninja site listed by Steam. Mission order, side-mission warnings, boss context, and completion cleanup were cross-checked against readable community walkthrough and achievement references. Game8 pages returned limited empty responses during capture and were not used for article facts.