This guide is based on direct stat testing in the Nioh 3 demo and confirmed again in the full release up to level 94+, where stats can be capped at 99. Minor balance changes may happen in future DLC, but the scaling behavior, breakpoints, and relative value of stats are extremely unlikely to change, as they follow the same internal logic used in Nioh 1 and Nioh 2.
When this guide says “+50 points in a stat,” it means investing 50 total stat points, for example going from 5 → 55.
Important HP clarification
Every character gains 10 HP per level regardless of stats.
All HP values listed below are only the bonus HP granted by the stat itself, not the universal level-based HP.
What +50 Points in Each Stat Actually Gives You
At level 50, after respeccing and reallocating points:
- +50 Constitution
- +534 HP
- +50 Heart
- +287 Max Ki
- +11.1 Ki Recovery
- +50 Stamina
- +163 HP
- +52 Defence (Samurai only)
- +21.4 Equipment Weight
- +9.9 Ninja Weight
- +50 Strength
- +6.5 Ki Damage
- +50 Skill
- +422 Arts Power
- +422 Ninjutsu Power
- +50 Intellect
- +44.6 Ki Recovery
- +22.8% Effect Duration
- +50 Magic
- +422 Onmyo Power
Even before context, it is obvious that these stats are not remotely equal in value per point.
What Maxing a Stat to 99 Actually Gives You
At level 94+, with stats capped at 99:
- 99 Constitution
- +842 HP
- 99 Heart
- +390 Max Ki
- +13.5 Ki Recovery
- 99 Stamina
- +271 HP
- +91 Defence (Samurai only)
- +26.3 Equipment Weight
- +11.1 Ninja Weight
- 99 Strength
- +10 Ki Damage
- 99 Skill
- +590 Arts Power
- +590 Ninjutsu Power
- 99 Intellect
- +53.9 Ki Recovery
- +35.3% Effect Duration
- 99 Magic
- +590 Onmyo Power
What the final 44 points (55 → 99) actually give
- Constitution: +308 HP
- Heart: +103 Ki, +2.4 Ki Recovery
- Stamina: +108 HP, +39 Defence, +4.9 Weight
- Strength: +3.5 Ki Damage
- Skill: +168 Arts Power, +168 Ninjutsu Power
- Intellect: +9.3 Ki Recovery, +12.5% Duration
- Magic: +168 Onmyo Power
This makes it very clear which stats are front-loaded and which are not.
Constitution
Constitution provides only HP, but it does so reliably.
HP per point drops sharply early and then stabilizes.
| Points | HP Gained |
|---|---|
| 10 | 180 |
| 20 | 120 |
| 30 | 94 |
| 40 | 70 |
| 50 | 70 |
Early points give roughly 30 HP per point, but by level ~28 this drops to 7 HP per point and stays there.
Practical impact
Going from ~1380 HP to ~1914 HP is a 38.7% increase in survivability, which is significant in a game where many attacks hit for 40–60% of your health bar.
Constitution never stops working, but its efficiency is highest early. As total HP increases from level gains, each additional Constitution point becomes less impactful relative to total health.
Heart
Heart affects Max Ki and Ki Recovery, but the Ki pool is where the real value lies.
Ki scaling is heavily front-loaded and non-linear.
| Points | Ki Gained |
|---|---|
| 10 | 135 |
| 20 | 54 |
| 30 | 38 |
| 40 | 33 |
| 50 | 27 |
From base values:
- Max Ki increases roughly 30.9% (960 → 1247)
- Ki Recovery increases only ~3.77%
Practical impact
The first 10 points in Heart are among the best early investments in the entire game. Beyond ~20–30 points, returns fall off sharply unless your build explicitly dumps Ki nonstop.
Stamina
Stamina is a utility stat, not a damage stat.
Effects:
- HP (all)
- Defence (Samurai only)
- Equipment Weight
- Ninja Weight
Each scales independently and unevenly.
| Points | HP | Defence | Weight | Ninja Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 80 | 17 | 8.2 | 3.2 |
| 20 | 35 | 9 | 5.2 | 2.5 |
| 30 | 28 | 8 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| 40 | 20 | 9 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| 50 | 20 | 9 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
Practical impact
Stamina exists primarily to:
- Stay under 70% equip load
- Enable heavy armor
- Support weapons that scale from it
Beyond required thresholds, returns are poor unless Stamina is also your weapon’s scaling stat.
Strength
Strength only affects Ki Damage.
- Base Ki Damage: 100.0
- +50 Strength → 106.5
- +99 Strength → 110.0
This is a 6.5% increase for 50 points.
Practical impact
Strength is extremely inefficient unless:
- Both weapons scale primarily from it
- You are fully committed to Ki-break gameplay
The fact it starts at 100 strongly suggests this is a percentage modifier, not flat scaling, meaning it never ramps up meaningfully.
Skill
Skill affects:
- Arts Power
- Ninjutsu Power
- Weapon attack if the weapon scales from Skill
Arts Power reality
Arts Power increases damage only while Arts Proficiency is active. Even with strong execution, uptime usually affects 20–40% of total damage, not 100%.
Weapon attack stats typically give 2–4 raw damage per point, while Arts Power contributes roughly 1 damage per point during uptime only.
Skill becomes strong when:
- It is also your weapon’s main scaling stat
- You maintain high Arts Proficiency uptime
This allows double scaling: weapon attack + Arts multiplier.
Ninjutsu Power scaling example (Shuriken test)
| Skill | Damage | Power | Damage Gain | Damage per Power |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 182 | 136 | +23 | 4.8 |
| 20 | 198 | 225 | +16 | 5.6 |
| 30 | 208 | 304 | +10 | 7.9 |
| 40 | 216 | 374 | +8 | 8.75 |
| 50 | 222 | 438 | +6 | 10.7 |
As Skill increases:
- Damage per level decreases
- Damage per point of Power increases
This creates strong synergy with external Ninjutsu Power sources later.
Intellect
Intellect affects:
- Ki Recovery
- Buff / debuff duration
| Points | Ki Recovery | Duration % |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 17.8 | 6.6 |
| 20 | 10.6 | 4.9 |
| 30 | 7.7 | 4.1 |
| 40 | 5.3 | 3.7 |
| 50 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
Practical impact
Returns diminish quickly. Early investment is strong, especially because:
- Ninja lacks Flux-based Ki recovery
- Intellect now boosts Kekkai duration, not Magic
Beyond ~15–20 points, efficiency drops sharply.
Magic
Magic affects:
- Onmyo spell damage
- Elemental buildup
- Onmyo slots (via soul cores)
Slot breakpoints at:
5, 7, 10, 15, 25, 40 Magic
Magic does not increase buff duration anymore.
Practical impact
Onmyo charges are limited and not endlessly refillable via melee, unlike Ninjutsu. This makes Magic inefficient unless spells are a core damage source, especially in boss fights.
For non-casters, Magic is usually taken only to unlock slots.
Weapon Scaling Freedom
Weapons now:
- Scale from three stats
- Highest stat becomes primary scaling
- Second highest becomes secondary
- +1 weapons can be remodelled to scale from any stat
This enables:
- Magic-scaled melee hybrids
- Skill-stacked Arts + Ninjutsu builds
- High-Constitution Ninja builds
- Heart-dump Ki spam builds
Weapon Block Values and Toughness Interaction
Block efficiency scales far more from toughness than weapon block value.
At 260 Toughness (A-tier):
- Axe (30 block): 191 Ki lost
- Spear (45 block): 172 Ki lost
At 0 Toughness:
- Axe: 457 Ki lost
- Spear: 374 Ki lost
This confirms the Nioh 2 toughness formula still exists.
Toughness thresholds
- B-tier: 130
- A-tier: 260
- AA-tier likely at 390 later
Samurai Block Values
- Katana: 38
- Dual Katana: 40
- Spear: 45
- Axe / Hammer: 30
- Odachi: 42
- Switchglaive: 40
- Fists: 33
Ninja Block Values
- Kusarigama: 21
- Tonfa: 33
- Hatchets: 23
- Splitstaff: 38
- Katana: 25
- Dual Katana: 37
- Claws: 34
Wooden Dual Katana have the highest block value at 50.
Bonus: Easy, Low-Execution Axe/Hammer Samurai Build
Axe/Hammer scales from Stamina, which also:
- Increases defence
- Enables heavy armor
- Boosts toughness
High toughness allows you to:
- Trade hits
- Ignore low weapon block
- Win Ki exchanges consistently
With Recoup and Victory Rush, Axe/Hammer gains:
- A free, powerful Ki-pulse-triggered attack
- Can now activate after blocking
- Deals strong Ki damage back
High toughness makes failed timing survivable. One downside is that perfect deflects consume no Ki, which prevents Ki pulse and denies Victory Rush activation.
This build is:
- Extremely forgiving
- Resistant to execution errors
- Effective with minimal precision
Recoup appears after clearing the Crucible mission, located in the cave east of Hamamatsu under the Spirit Vein, previously blocked by lava.