In thisNioh 2 Guidewe’ll be covering Guardian Spirits & Soul Cores, and everything you could possibly want to know about them. How do they work? Which are the best ones? How do I make them stronger? Which Guardian Spirits do I use with which Soul Cores? All this will be answered in this Guardian Spirits & Soul Core Guide.
Nioh 2 Guide: Guardian Spirits & Soul Cores
While Guardian Spirits are not new toNioh 2, the manner in which they are handled is. No longer do you upgrade them to higher and higher levels, but now instead you slotSoul Coresinto them. This provides you with passive benefits as well as the option to use new powerful Yokai Abilities. Living Weapon has also been replaced with something called Yokai Shift, which allows you to change into a demon form for a limited time, granting new moves and abilities. Before we get into all that, however, first let’s discuss the types of Guardian Spirits.
Guardian Spirit Types: Brute, Feral and Phantom
There are 3 types of Guardian Spirits in Nioh 2 and those are Brute, Feral and Phantom. Every singleGuardian Spiritfalls into one of these categories, and determine not only yourYokai Shiftappearance and moveset, but also your Burst Counter. Each Guardian Spirit also has an element associated with it represented by its color. Red is Fire, Blue is Water and Yellow is Lightning. Guardian Spirits can be any of the 3 types (Brute, Feral, Phantom), regardless of their associated element.
Anima is the resource used to for Burst Counters and Yokai Abilities, and is gained via attacking and killing enemies, and each Guardian Spirit type gives you a bonus to Anima gain in a different way. While you will always gain Anima by attacking, Brutes give you extra Anima when you Block, Feral Guardians give you extra Anima when you attack multiple times in a row without being hit, and Phantoms give you extra Anima when you strike with a Ranged Weapon. These bonuses add further distinction to the way each Guardian Spirit type plays, defensively, offensively or ranged.Note that there are other ways to gain Anima, such as Soul Core Special Effects, as well as using a Scampuss which gives you Anima over time as it follows you around.
Guardian Spirits: Special Effects
Guardian Spiritsalso have Special Effects when they are equipped that apply immediately, and some that have requirements that you must meet to gain the bonus. These locked bonuses are always a combination of two Stats, and they may or may not match the Stat Points you have spent, which are largely determined by theWeapontype you are using. This means some Guardian Spirits are better for certain Weapon types than others, and plays a role in whether or not you would use that Guardian Spirit.
Once you get to a certain point in the game you will be able to slot a secondary Guardian Spirit that will provide one passive bonus that is indicated by the distinct icon next to it. Some times this is a locked bonus that you must meet the requirements for with Stats, and if you don’t you will not gain the effect when it is slotted as your Secondary. You can swap between your Primary and Secondary Guardian Spirits when in combat by pressing R1 + L2, in order to use different Yokai Abilities and gain different bonuses.
Guardian Spirits: Yokai Shift
Each of the three types ofGuardian Spiritshas a differentYokai Shiftthat not only looks different, but also plays differently, and is performed by pressing Triangle + Circle when your Amrita Guage is full and shining. You gain Amrita from defeating enemies, and you can increase this amount via items and equipment. It doesn’t matter which Guardian type you have, you’ll need to get your Amrita Gauge to 100 to be able to Shift.
Brute Guardians do melee attacks that hit harder and more slowly than the Feral type. Feral Guardian Spirits move extremely quickly, hitting fast and often for less damage than the brute, but with more speed and style. The Phantom Guardian Spirits attack from modest range, allowing them to stay out of melee, preventing them from being hit.
No matter which Guardian Spirit type you use, you’ll be able to summon your Guardian Spirit once in this form by pressing these same two buttons again (Triangle + Circle), and each Guardian Spirit will have a different effect that is unique to that Spirit. You cannot spam this at will, however, since using your Guardian Spirit will hasten your return to human form, as will Blocking, Dodging, Attacking and being hit by attacks. And this is in addition to the gauge draining on its own anyway, so you won’t be in this form for long.
Guardian Spirits: Burst Counter
Burst Counters are also new to Nioh 2, and allow the player to interrupt some Burst Attacks (the ones that glow reddish orange) that enemies and Bosses do by pressing R2+O at the correct time. This costs a certain amount ofAnima, which is located below your Ki, and each Guardian Spirit type handles these a bit differently.
Brute Guardian Spirits swing forward with a quick melee that interrupts any Burst Attack they come into contact with, but has short range. Feral Guardian Spirits dodge forwards, sideways or backward granting i-frames but only interrupt the attack if they are struck by it (they take no damage when this happens). They have longer range than the Brute and Phantom Guardian Spirits but, timing is crucial and not every Burst Attack is a direct attack so they won’t be able to interrupt all of them. Phantoms, similar to Feral Guardian Spirits, gain i-frames when using the Burst Counter, but do not dodge or move in any direction. This makes them effective at tanking damage, but they are the most difficult of the 3 to use to interrupt Burst Attacks since they must be point blank range, and must also be struck by the attack in order to interrupt it.
While the different Burst Counter alone is probably not enough to determine which type you will use through out the game, it is not uncommon to favor a type for your playstyle and attempt to find Guardian Spirits within that type that have the best benefits for you.
Soul Core Types: Brute, Feral and Phantom
Soul Coresare new to Nioh 2 and can drop from every enemy in the game, even humans. These can then be slotted into your Guardian Spirit to a maximum of 3, eventually, to give you passive bonuses and Yokai Abilities. Each Soul Core also has a type: Brute, Feral or Phantom and when matched with a Guardian Spirit of the same type can become much more effective. But for now, let’s discuss the basics of Soul Cores, which are their Attack and Defense values.
Soul Core Attack & Defense and What It Means
Each and every Soul Core in Nioh 2, with the exception ofMortal Soul Cores, has an Attack and Defense number. These values are represented by theSwordandArmoricons beneath the name, and these are added directly to the Status Sheet of your character. That is to say that they are just flat increases to your Attack and Defense, and means that the higher numbers the more benefit you will see in combat both offensively and defensively. However, this is before you take into the account the multiplier from your Guardian Spirit.
Each Guardian Spirit has an Attack and Defense multiplier that it multiplies against the Attack and Defense value of each Soul Core you have slotted into it. Some Guardian Spirits favor Attack, some Defense, and some are quite balanced. So these are things you’ll have to factor in when choosing a Guardian Spirit, but they do not swing so widely that you should base your decision of which Guardian Spirit entirely on this aspect.
Phantom Guardian Spirits are usually Defensive, Feral Guardian Spirits are usually Balanced, and Brute Guardian Spirits are usually Offensive. There are exceptions of course, but that is generally the case, and is something to think about when choosing your Guardian Spirit type.Soul Coreson the other hand don’t generally follow this same principal, and can vary from one core to the next regardless of type.
Soul Core Special Effects
EachSoul Corewill come with 4 or 5 Special Effects, 2 of which will always be the same regardless of the level of the Soul Core. The other two are randomized and sometimes you will get a Soul Core with a 5th bonus that is inheritable, meaning that you’re able to add that bonus to another Soul Core of the same type if you happen to like its other 2 bonuses better, or it’s a higher level, etc. To do this you simply go to Soul Fusion and place the Soul Core you want the inheritable effect to end up on first, and then add the one you want to remove the effect from.
Regardless of which Guardian Spirit type that you use, the Special Effects will not be impacted in anyway, but you can enhance these via Soul Fusion. This allows you to combine 2 of the same Soul Core to very slightly increase the Rank of the original Soul Core, and you can do this several times until you reach max rank. You probably won’t do this a whole lot early on, as you will be gaining higher and higher levelSoul Coresvery often, you’ll likely replace them very quickly. But you can improve these Effects via Soul Fusion, which also happens to increase the Attack and Defense of the Soul Core as well.
Soul Core Yokai Abilities
Each Soul Core that drops grants you a Yokai Ability when slotted, that can be used when you gain enoughAnima, with each Yokai Ability varying in cost dependent upon its strength. Which Yokai Ability you want to slot will depend highly on what Guardian Spirit type you have, what the Special Effects are, and how much Attunement it costs. Each Soul Core has anAttunement Costto slot it, and each Guardian Spirit has a Maximum Attunement, meaning you cannot slot any Soul Cores you want into any Guardian Spirit. This is because some are more powerful, and prevents you from just slotting the most powerful ones there are no matter what.
Yokai Ability Damageis not affected by the color of the Soul Core, except in a few cases, and if you are using a Yokai Ability that is a different type than the Guardian Spirit you have equipped then you will deal the same damage you normally would. However, some Guardian Spirits reward you with extra damage for using Yokai Abilities that match their Type. For example, Hyobishin increases Brute Yokai Ability damage by 18% and Nekomata increases Feral Ability damage by 20%. These bonuses, despite their descriptions, apply even if you are not Shifted.
Red Soul Coresare Brute, blue are Feral and purple are Phantom. you’re able to, however, use Soul Fusion with a Mortal Soul Core to change the type of a Soul Core from Brute to Feral for instance. This would allow you to receive these passive bonuses with specific Guardian Spirits, and still use the Yokai Abilities you want. These drop from Human enemies, so you’ll want to be on the look out for them, and hang onto them until you need them.
Soul Cores that are higher level do slightly more damage with their Yokai Abilities, but it doesn’t impact the Special Effects of the Soul Core in anyway. A level 29 Soul Core will have the same benefits of a level 98 Soul Core, it will just have a slightly less powerful version of the Yokai Ability. This means you don’t need to change them out that often, and won’t lose out on much damage, unless you are using a Soul Core with a different Guardian Spirit type than its alignment.
When to Sacrifice Soul Cores
So you’ve got a millionSoul Coresand you don’t know what to do with them all? There are a couple of ways you’re able to rid yourself of them to free up some valuable inventory space. The first is via Resting Rites. This allows you to destroy those 25Gaki Soul Coresyou have in exchange for progress towards moreShiftling Skillpoints, as well asGakicrafting materials that may be needed toForgeweapons and armor. This is the same for other Soul Cores as well, and you want to destroy only the ones you don’t need, and make sure to Soul Fusion the ones you are using first, before destroying the excess Soul Cores.
You can also use Soul Cores when Soul Matching Yokai Weapons to reduce the cost significantly. This gets quite expensive later on in the game, and this is a great way to save you Gold if you are low or just don’t want to blow it all on oneSoul Match. This only applies toYokai Weaponsthough and cannot be used for other weapons and armor.
Stay tuned for moreNioh 2 Guides, includingBuildsand Weapon Guides, and be sure to check out our Review for our thoughts on the game. If you need further help, head over to theNioh 2 Wiki, and don’t be afraid to add information that might help others out!
