Your first major decision in Nioh 3 comes early: picking a form for Kusanagi, your starting guardian spirit. The game presents two options—Samurai or Ninja—but offers zero explanation about what this choice actually means for your playthrough. That leaves most players staring at the selection screen, wondering if they’re about to lock themselves into something they’ll regret later.
The good news? Neither choice ruins your build permanently. The bad news? You’re stuck with whichever form you pick for a significant chunk of the game before you can grab the alternative. Understanding what each form offers helps you make a confident choice that matches your playstyle from the start. Before making this decision, you might want to review our beginner tips and tricks to understand the combat systems better.
Nioh 3 Kusanagi Form Explained – What Changes
Choosing a form transforms Kusanagi into either a Samurai-exclusive or Ninja-exclusive guardian spirit. Each version comes with different elemental alignments, stat bonuses, and guardian spirit skills that directly impact how you fight.
Kusanagi (Samurai) becomes a fire element guardian spirit locked to Samurai Style builds. This version focuses on martial arts damage, ki pulse recovery, and aggressive melee combat enhancement.
Kusanagi (Ninja) transforms into a water element guardian spirit restricted to Ninja Style builds. This form emphasizes quick attacks, aerial combat, and mobility-based damage bonuses.
The restriction matters because you can only equip guardian spirits that match your active fighting style. If you’re running Samurai Style, you can’t use Ninja guardian spirits, and vice versa. However, you can switch between styles outside of combat, so this isn’t as limiting as it first appears. For guidance on optimizing your character build, check out our character creator codes guide.
Nioh 3 Which Kusanagi Form is Better
There’s no objectively superior choice here. The decision boils down to which combat approach feels more natural to you during the opening hours of the game.
If you gravitate toward heavy weapons, blocking, and stance-based combat with strong martial arts, grab Kusanagi (Samurai). The fire element pairs well with aggressive pressure, and the ki pulse recovery bonus helps maintain offensive momentum during extended fights.
If you prefer lighter weapons, evasion, and quick hit-and-run tactics with ninjutsu tools, Kusanagi (Ninja) fits better. The water element complements status effect builds, and the aerial attack bonuses reward positioning and vertical combat.
The immediate stat bonus also factors into this decision, though it’s minor. Kusanagi (Samurai) grants +1 Strength, boosting ki damage and melee weapon attack. Kusanagi (Ninja) provides +1 Skill, increasing martial arts and ninjutsu damage. One extra stat point won’t make or break your character, but it does give a slight edge to whichever stat you plan to invest heavily in. You can always level up faster to compensate for any early stat differences.
Nioh 3 Kusanagi (Ninja) Stats and Skills
Picking the Ninja form gives you these benefits at level 1:
Character Stat Bonus:
- Skill +1
Guardian Spirit Stats:
- Element: Water
- Aerial Attack Damage +8.4%
- Water Damage Reduction +13
- Ki Consumption (Jump) -10.8%
- Quick Attack Damage +5.7%
- Spirit Force Charge (Backstab) +11.0%
Guardian Spirit Skills:
- Turbulent Waters
- Heaven’s Drops
These bonuses scale up as Kusanagi levels alongside you throughout the game. The aerial attack damage stacks particularly well if you incorporate jump attacks into your combat rotation, and the reduced jump ki cost encourages vertical positioning during fights. The quick attack bonus favors dual swords, kusarigama, and other fast weapons over slower options.
Nioh 3 Kusanagi (Samurai) Stats and Skills
Choosing the Samurai form provides these benefits at level 1:
Character Stat Bonus:
- Strength +1
Guardian Spirit Stats:
- Element: Fire
- Martial Art Damage +6.3%
- Fire Damage Reduction +13
- Ki Pulse Recovery +10.8%
- Increased Arts Proficiency Damage +6.9%
- Spirit Force Charge (Martial Art) +11.0%
Guardian Spirit Skills:
- Nagi Blade
- Heaven’s Fire
The martial art damage bonus directly amplifies your weapon skills, making this form ideal if you plan to spam martial arts frequently. The ki pulse recovery boost is genuinely useful since perfect ki pulses are central to maintaining pressure in combat. Fire element works well for pure damage builds that don’t rely heavily on elemental status effects. To maximize your effectiveness, consider unlocking skills early to expand your martial arts options.
Nioh 3 Can You Get Both Kusanagi Forms
Yes, but not immediately. You can acquire the opposite Kusanagi form later in the main story during “The Spirit Tree Village” mission. However, this mission doesn’t unlock until the Antiquity period, which is fairly deep into the campaign. That means your initial choice determines your guardian spirit for roughly the first half of the game.
Guardian spirits aren’t unique to Kusanagi, though. Nioh 3 features dozens of other guardian spirits for both Samurai and Ninja styles scattered throughout the game. If you switch playstyles or want different bonuses, plenty of alternatives exist before you reach the mission that grants the second Kusanagi form. You can also enhance your build with Yokai Soul Cores for additional combat options.
Nioh 3 Can You Change Your Kusanagi Choice
Right after making your selection, you get one chance to reverse the decision. A floating spirit appears in the middle of the valley offering the “Select Again” option. This lets you swap between Samurai and Ninja forms if you immediately regret your pick.
Once you leave that area and confirm your choice, it becomes permanent until you reach The Spirit Tree Village mission much later. The game doesn’t warn you about this point of no return, so if you have any doubts, use that floating spirit to reconsider before moving forward. For more early game guidance, see our what to do first guide.
Nioh 3 Guardian Spirit Recommendations
If you’re genuinely torn between the two forms, consider these factors:
Pick Kusanagi (Samurai) if:
- You plan to main heavy weapons like odachi, axe, or spear
- You rely heavily on blocking and counter-attacking
- You want stronger martial art damage from the start
- Fire element fits your planned build better
Pick Kusanagi (Ninja) if:
- You prefer dual swords, kusarigama, or tonfa
- You focus on dodging over blocking
- You incorporate jump attacks into your combat style
- Water element synergizes with your status effect plans
Neither choice locks you out of content or makes the game significantly harder. Kusanagi serves as a solid starter guardian spirit regardless of form, and you’ll likely swap to specialized guardian spirits once you find ones that better match your evolved playstyle anyway. For additional customization, explore our transmog equipment guide.
Official Nioh 3 Resources
For the latest updates and official information about Nioh 3, visit these resources:
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use both Kusanagi forms on the same character?
Yes, but not at the same time. You unlock the second Kusanagi form during The Spirit Tree Village mission in the Antiquity period. Once you have both, you can switch between them by changing your combat style, but you can only equip the Samurai form while using Samurai Style and the Ninja form while using Ninja Style.
Does choosing Kusanagi Ninja mean I can’t use Samurai weapons?
No. The Kusanagi form only determines which guardian spirit you receive, not which weapons or armor you can equip. You can use any weapon regardless of your Kusanagi choice. The guardian spirit restriction only prevents you from equipping Ninja guardian spirits while in Samurai Style and vice versa.
Which Kusanagi form do most players choose?
There’s no dominant meta choice since both forms serve different builds equally well. The community is fairly split. Players who prefer aggressive stance-switching combat tend toward Samurai, while those who favor mobility and ninjutsu lean toward Ninja. Pick based on your preferred combat approach, not popularity.
Is the +1 stat bonus from Kusanagi worth worrying about?
Not really. One extra point in Strength or Skill makes a negligible difference in the long run since you’ll gain hundreds of stat points through normal leveling. The guardian spirit bonuses matter far more than the single stat point, so focus on which set of passive bonuses better complements your playstyle rather than stressing over that initial +1.
