Onimusha Way of the Sword – All Basic & Special Skills Guide (Well-Rounded Trophy)

Onimusha Way of the Sword Basic and Special Skills are the two upgrade trees that define how Musashi fights, explores, and survives. Learning and fully upgrading every skill in both trees earns you the Well-Rounded Silver trophy. Getting through either tree alone earns the intermediate Winding Way of the Sword Bronze trophy. Skills are upgraded at the Spirit Mirror under the “Enhance Equipment/Abilities” option, and they cost a mix of Power Stones, Oni Stones, and Red Souls. This guide covers every skill in both trees, what it costs, when it unlocks, and which ones you should prioritize. If you are still working on acquiring the upgrade materials needed, check our Power Stones locations guide and townspeople rescue guide for tips on farming Red Souls efficiently.

Table of Contents

TL;DR – Quick Summary

Skills are upgraded at any Spirit Mirror via “Enhance Equipment/Abilities.”
There are two trees: Basic Skills and Special Skills.
Upgrade costs use three currencies: Power Stones, Oni Stones, and Red Souls.
Many skills are locked behind Oni Portals – complete portals to unlock later-tier upgrades.
You need 53 Power Stones and 54 Oni Stones to buy everything.
You cannot get enough Oni Stones in a single playthrough – skills carry into NG+ and materials respawn.
Winding Way of the Sword (Bronze) – max out either tree (Basic or Special).
Well-Rounded (Silver) – max out both trees completely.
First thing to buy: Oni Vision: Treasures from Special Skills – it makes finding all other materials far easier.
Hold Oni Stones until you unlock Oni Vision: Treasures, Oni Vision: Treasures 2, and Oni Vision: Search Range.

Onimusha Way of the Sword–All Basic Special Skills

How the Skill System Works

The skill system in Onimusha Way of the Sword is split into two separate tabs at the Spirit Mirror: Basic Skills and Special Skills. Basic Skills cover Musashi’s core combat abilities – Issen, deflection, stealth, the Oni Bow, sprinting, and soul absorption. Special Skills cover his Oni Gauntlet powers, movement abilities, Oni Vision upgrades, and every Oni Armament he collects.

Most skills have multiple tiers. You unlock the base skill first, then unlock upgraded versions as you progress through the game and complete Oni Portals. Each Oni Portal you clear opens up a new tier of upgrades across both trees. There are at least three Oni Portal unlock gates, labelled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Oni Portal, and later-tier upgrades stay locked until you complete the relevant portal.

Costs come in three forms. Some upgrades cost Power Stones (flat resource items). Some cost Red Souls (the standard in-game currency earned by killing enemies). Some cost Oni Stones (rarer resource items used for Special Skills and Gauntlet upgrades). You need all three to fully complete both trees.

Upgrade Materials You Need

To unlock every skill in both trees you need a total of 53 Power Stones and 54 Oni Stones, plus a significant amount of Red Souls spread across both trees.

You can find all 53 Power Stones in a single playthrough. Oni Stones are the problem – there are 54 in the game but you will not collect enough to fully upgrade the Gauntlet section of Special Skills in one run. The good news is that skills and progress carry over into New Game+, and the Oni Stones you did not collect in the first playthrough respawn and can be collected again on your second run. You do not need to redo anything already unlocked.

Red Souls come from killing enemies throughout the whole game. There is no shortage of them if you fight everything you encounter. Check our soul farming guide if you need to top up fast.

Basic Skills – Full List and Costs

Issen Skills

The Issen tree covers Musashi’s signature counter-strike mechanic and the Chain Issen follow-up system. These unlock early and are core to combat from the very start.

Reflex Combo – Unlocks during “The Oni’s Apprentice.” Cost: 2 Power Stones.
- Reflex Combo Power 1 – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 4,500 Red Souls.
- Ultimate Reflex Combo – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
- Reflex Combo Power 2 – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.
Chain Issen – Unlocks during “The Oni’s Apprentice.” Cost: 2 Power Stones.
- Issen Power 1 – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 4,500 Red Souls.
- Chain Issen: Chain Length 1 – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
- Chain Issen: Chain Length 2 – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
- Issen Power 2 – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.

Break Issen Combo Skills

This tree covers Deflect (the parry system) and the Blazing State – the buff that activates when you successfully parry and makes enemies drop more souls.

Deflect – Unlocks during “The Oni’s Apprentice.” Cost: 2 Power Stones (story-triggered).
- Deflection Power 1 – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 4,500 Red Souls.
- Deadly Deflection – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
- Break Issen: Red Soul Yield – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
- Deflection Power 2 – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.
Blazing State – Unlocks during “The Oni’s Apprentice.” Cost: 2 Power Stones.
- Blazing State: Range – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
- Blazing State: Duration – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.

Oni Bow Skills

The Oni Bow is your ranged tool for hitting distant targets, triggering mechanisms, and solving environmental puzzles. These upgrades improve its power and charged-shot capability.

Oni Bow Power 1 – Unlocks during “The Oni’s Apprentice.” Cost: 3,500 Red Souls.
- Oni Bow: Ultimate Charged Attack – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Power Stones.
- Oni Bow: Charge Time – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
- Oni Bow: Arrow Duration – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
- Oni Bow Power 2 – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.

Assassination / Stealth Skills

Stealth lets you approach enemies undetected from behind for an assassination. Petrify is a Gauntlet ability that freezes enemies briefly, which is useful for crowd control and setting up kills.

Stealth – Unlocks during “The Oni’s Apprentice.” Cost: 3,500 Red Souls.
- Stealth: Assassination Boost – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 4,500 Red Souls.
- Stealth While Running – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
Petrify – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Power Stones.
- Petrify: Number of Targets – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
- Petrify Stronger Enemies – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.

Movement and Utility Skills

These cover sprinting, environmental interactions, soul absorption while attacking, and Charm capacity – all quality-of-life upgrades that improve how well Musashi functions moment to moment.

Flat-Out Sprint – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Power Stones.
Environmental Object Power 1 – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 4,500 Red Souls.
- Items: Effect Duration – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
- Item: Number Found – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
- Environmental Object Power 2 – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.
- Items: Quick Use – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
Absorb Souls While Attacking – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Power Stones.
- Soul Absorption: Yield 1 – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
- Soul Absorption Bonus Boost – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.
- Soul Absorption: Yield 2 – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.
Charm Capacity 1 – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Power Stones.
- Charm Capacity 2 – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Power Stones.

Special Skills – Full List and Costs

Oni Vision Skills

These are the most important Special Skills to unlock first. Oni Vision: Treasures highlights nearby items and chests every time you scan with Oni Vision. Combined with Treasures 2 and Search Range, these three upgrades together make the entire collectibles hunt dramatically faster. Every time you scan (hold L2/LT, press R2/RT), everything nearby glows. Do not spend Oni Stones on anything else until you have all three.

Oni Vision: Destructibles – Cost: 3,500 Red Souls. Reveals destructible objects nearby.
Oni Vision: Treasures – Cost: 2 Oni Stones. Highlights nearby items and chests. Buy this first.
- Oni Vision: Treasures 2 – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Oni Stones. Extends what Treasures highlights.
- Oni Vision: Search Range – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls. Increases the scan radius.

Oni Strength Skills

Oni Strength: Destroy unlocks after you defeat Rasho-gan during the main story. It lets Musashi break through Malice barriers and other obstacles using his Oni Gauntlet. The upgrades improve what he can interact with and how quickly.

Oni Strength: Destroy – Unlocked automatically after defeating Rasho-gan.
- Handle Bigger Objects – Cost: 3,500 Red Souls.
- Handle Even Bigger Objects – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 4,500 Red Souls.
  - Oni Strength: Destruction Speed – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Oni Stones.
  - Oni Strength: Slice – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.
  - Oni Strength: Slice – Charge Time – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.
  - Oni Strength: Chop – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.
  - Oni Strength: Chop – Charge Time – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.

Oni Agility Skills

Oni Agility: Wall Run unlocks during “The Roots of All Evil” mission and lets Musashi run across certain vertical surfaces. The follow-up upgrades add range to Issen and introduce the Reflex Combo: Range extension.

Oni Agility: Wall Run – Unlocks during “The Roots of All Evil.”
- Oni Agility: Fall Recovery – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.
- Issen: Range – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Oni Stones.
- Reflex Combo: Range – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.

Oni Awakening Skills

Oni Awakening is the powered-up state Musashi can enter that boosts damage and performance. These upgrades extend how long it lasts and improve the Onimusha Onslaught finishing move.

Oni Awakening: Duration – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.
Onimusha Onslaught: Power – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 8,500 Red Souls.

Oni Armament Skills

Each Oni Armament you collect gets its own skill branch in Special Skills. These only appear once you have found the armament in the world – check our Oni Armaments locations guide to make sure you have found them all. For more on what each armament does in combat, see our Oni Armaments and Oni Power abilities guide.

The Two Celestials (unlocks when found)

Two Celestials: Combo Strength – Cost: 2 Oni Stones.
Two Celestials: Power – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 4,500 Red Souls.
Two Celestials: Combo Strength+ – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.

Wind-Whipper (unlocks when found)

Wind-Whipper: Power/Duration – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Oni Stones.
Wind-Whipper: Power – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
Wind-Whipper: Range – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.

Earth-Shakers (unlocks when found)

Earth-Shakers: Charge Level – After 1st Oni Portal. Cost: 2 Oni Stones.
Earth-Shakers: Power – After 2nd Oni Portal. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
Earth-Shakers: Charge Time – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.

Firebird Flute (unlocks when found)

Firebird Flute: Charged Shot – Available immediately when you get the armament. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.
Firebird Flute: Power – Available immediately when you get the armament. Cost: 5,500 Red Souls.
Firebird Flute: Projectiles – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.

The Flashing Void (unlocks when found)

Flashing Void: Break Issen – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.
Flashing Void: Power – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.
Flashing Void: Break Issen Combo – After 3rd Oni Portal. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.

Still Water (unlocks when found)

Still Water: Golden Wave Gauge – Available immediately when you get the armament. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.
Still Water: Golden Wave Power – Available immediately when you get the armament. Cost: 6,500 Red Souls.
Still Water: Duration – Available immediately when you get the armament. Cost: 3 Oni Stones.

Trophies – What You Are Working Toward

The Winding Way of the Sword (Bronze) – Learn and upgrade all Basic Skills OR all Special Skills. Max out either one tree to completion.
Well-Rounded (Silver) – Learn and upgrade all Basic Skills AND all Special Skills. Both trees must be fully maxed. Needs 53 Power Stones, 54 Oni Stones, and a large amount of Red Souls across both runs.

The Winding Way of the Sword trophy pops as soon as one tree is complete. Well-Rounded only unlocks when both are fully done. Since you cannot get enough Oni Stones to max the Gauntlet and Armament sections of Special Skills in one playthrough, Well-Rounded effectively requires the second run. Plan for it as part of your Carnage difficulty NG+ playthrough rather than treating it as a first-run objective. Our full Platinum trophy roadmap covers the best order to tackle everything.

Which Skills to Buy First

Priority 1 – Oni Vision: Treasures (Special Skills)

This should be your very first Oni Stone purchase the moment the skill menu opens. It costs just 2 Oni Stones and immediately makes every subsequent hour of exploration more efficient. Every Oni Vision scan glows nearby chests, materials, and items. Follow it up with Oni Vision: Treasures 2 and Oni Vision: Search Range as soon as you can. These three together are worth more than any combat upgrade at this stage of the game.

Priority 2 – Charm Capacity 1 (Basic Skills)

Charms are your passive stat boosts and you start with a limited number of slots. Unlocking Charm Capacity 1 with 2 Power Stones gives you an extra slot immediately, letting you run more buffs at once. Given how many Charms you collect from Chance Encounters and Mysteries, the extra slot pays for itself quickly. Check our Charms guide and best builds to optimize which ones to equip.

Priority 3 – Absorb Souls While Attacking (Basic Skills)

This removes the need to pause after each kill to absorb souls manually. Souls flow into the gauntlet automatically as you fight, which keeps combat fluid and speeds up your Red Soul income considerably. It costs just 2 Power Stones and has an immediate quality-of-life impact from the first fight after you buy it.

Priority 4 – Reflex Combo and Chain Issen (Basic Skills)

Both unlock early and deepen your Issen toolkit significantly. Reflex Combo lets you chain a powerful follow-up after a successful Issen counter, and Chain Issen extends the counter into multiple consecutive cuts. Both are combat essentials that also feed into the Stop Motion trophy (50 Reflex Combos). The more you practise the Issen system, the more combat opens up – see our Issen, parry and deflect guide for in-depth technique tips.

Priority 5 – Flat-Out Sprint (Basic Skills)

Only costs 2 Power Stones and available from the 1st Oni Portal. Musashi’s movement speed while sprinting is noticeably improved, which matters a lot for reaching townspeople rescue events in time and traversing Kyoto quickly between objectives. A small cost with a constant payoff across the entire game.

Tips for Completing Both Skill Trees

Do Not Panic-Spend Oni Stones Early

Oni Stones are the scarce resource. You will not have enough to buy everything in a single run. If you spend them randomly on Armament upgrades early, you can end up short for the Oni Vision upgrades that make everything else easier. Oni Vision: Treasures, Treasures 2, and Search Range come first. Everything else comes after.

Complete Oni Portals to Unlock Higher Tiers

Many of the most powerful upgrades are locked behind the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Oni Portal completions. You cannot buy Deflection Power 2 or Oni Awakening: Duration without clearing the relevant portals first. Make sure you are completing portals as they appear in the world rather than ignoring them.

Get All Oni Armaments First

The Armament skills only appear in the Special Skills menu after you find each weapon in the world. If you are missing skills from the tree, it may be because you have not found all 7 Oni Armaments yet. Find them all before your final push to max out Special Skills. See our Oni Armaments locations guide for every spot.

Skills Carry Into New Game+

Every skill you have unlocked and every upgrade you have purchased persists when you start New Game+. You pick up exactly where you left off on the skill trees. This means your Carnage run starts with all your first-playthrough progress intact and you only need to collect the remaining Oni Stones to finish the last few upgrades. There is no need to re-purchase anything.

Red Souls Are Never the Problem

Most Red Soul costs are between 3,500 and 8,500 per upgrade. If you fight every enemy encounter rather than running past them and make regular use of the Blazing State soul bonus, you will rarely be short. If you ever need a top-up, our soul farming guide covers the fastest spots.

Related Guides

Onimusha Way of the Sword is available on PC via Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox. For more on the game, visit the official Onimusha Way of the Sword site.