If you're like me and have never played Nioh before, Nioh 3 is quite the challenge. Combat is so much faster and more aggressive than something like Elden Ring, with so many abilities to juggle and buttons to press. Add to that enemies and bosses that don't mess around, putting your understanding of these tools to the test, and it can be a lot.
I struggled for quite some time trying to brute-force bosses like the Bloodedge Demon and Jakotsu-baba. That was until I did what I should have done ages ago: actually look at my skills, Omnyo box, and weapons.
My greatest discovery was the Supreme Parry and Enduring Destruction skills, which I used to kill Jakotsu-baba and clear the Hamamatsu Crucible on my next attempt pretty cleanly.
The Supreme Parry skill recovers 150 health after a successful Burst Break—the style-swapping counter to glowing red attacks. While you still need to get a hang of each enemy's Break attack timings, this slottable skill is perfect for keeping yourself alive in tough fights without eating through your elixirs. You can find this skill book in a red chest in a ruined building between the First Torii Gate shrine and Otemon Gate shrine in the Hamamatsu Castle Town Crucible, which you'll visit early in the main story.
The Enduring Destruction skill causes the target to take increased damage after a successful Burst Break. Slotting both of these skills in at the same time, you'll get healing and a damage boost for successfully countering Break attacks, and that's a strong boost for such a little investment. You can buy this skill book from the Sudama merchant near the entrance to the Hamamatsu Castle Crucible, where you met Ii Naotora. It'll cost you two Yokai Teardrops, which you get from fighting Kappa, the loot goblin enemies with glowing crystal shells on their backs.
Since Supreme Parry and Enduring Destruction are both common skills, their effects are shared between your Samurai and Ninja forms, so it doesn't matter what style you prefer. Plus, that way you're free to add even more skills exclusive to either form, like Samurai's Running Water skill to perform a Ki pulse after dodging.
