Unlocking the Parry Mechanic in Nioh 3: A Quick Guide

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Unlocking the parry in Nioh 3 will significantly enhance your offensive and defensive gameplay. Unlike in Sekiro, the parry in Nioh 3 is strictly defensive; it doesn’t damage enemy Ki (stamina), so it won’t lead to a stagger or a Grapple attack. However, it does provide Ki regeneration and Arts ability energy, allowing for a more aggressive playstyle. Plus, it’s more efficient than regular blocking in terms of Ki cost.

To unlock this Samurai skill, you can actually do it right away—it can even be the first skill you acquire. Here’s how to get the parry ability in Nioh 3.

First, you need to unlock the “Deflect” skill from the Samurai tree. This becomes available after you complete the prologue/tutorial, defeat Yamagata Masakage, and enter the open world Warring States period map with Honda Tadakatsu.

Once you arrive, head up the hill to the top where the title sequence plays, then make your way down the path towards the Prospect Hill shrine. Keep an eye out on the right side of the path for a corpse you can loot, which will give you one Samurai’s Lock needed to purchase the skill.

To unlock Deflect, simply:

Now you can parry attacks by pressing the guard button (F on keyboard or left bumper on controller) just before an enemy hits you, similar to Sekiro. Keep in mind that you can’t deflect glowing red Break Attacks—those require you to Burst Break by pressing R on keyboard or RT on controller.

Successfully deflecting an attack grants you Ki regeneration and a significant amount of Arts ability energy. However, unlike Sekiro, it doesn’t damage enemy Ki, so you can’t rely on it to stagger bosses for a Grapple attack. Instead, it serves as a defensive tool that becomes more Ki-efficient with practice, allowing you to use Arts more frequently than if you were just attacking to regain energy.