Odachi Axe Samurai Infinite Crit Guide for Nioh 3
This guide teaches a practical, early game samurai build for Nioh 3 that combines the reach and flow of the Odachi with the raw burst of the Axe to create a repeatable, high-damage loop commonly called infinite crit. You’ll learn the exact attribute priorities, the gear traits to hunt for, the martial arts and skills to snapshot, and the combat rhythm that turns heavy swings into a near-constant stream of critical hits that heal you and keep you in the fight. The approach is beginner-friendly but scales into mid-game content: it’s designed to make the first 10–30 hours of play feel powerful, efficient, and fun while remaining flexible enough to adapt as you find better gear.
Why this build works and the core systems it exploits
At its core the build leverages three interacting systems: crit stacking, snapshotting, and lifesteal. Crit stacking means collecting multiple sources of critical chance and critical damage from weapons, accessories, guardian spirits, and passive nodes so that your effective crit rate becomes extremely high. Snapshotting is the technique of activating a martial art or temporary buff and immediately using a heavy or channeling skill so that the skill inherits the buffed state; this is how you convert short windows of boosted crit into big, reliable damage. Lifesteal converts those frequent criticals into steady healing, turning aggressive trades into sustainable offense. The Odachi gives you reach and multi-target control, while the Axe provides single-target finishing power; together they let you open with sweeping pressure and finish with concentrated burst during crit windows.
Attribute priorities and why they matter
Invest your early attribute points to maximize damage and sustain without sacrificing mobility. The recommended priority is:
Stamina — primary scaling for Odachi and heavy weapons; increases damage and lets you wear heavier armor without crippling mobility.
Strength — increases raw weapon damage for Odachi and Axe.
Intellect — improves Ki recovery and supports talisman duration if you use Onmyo tools; useful for sustaining long fights and snapshot windows.
Constitution — invest only when you need more HP for specific boss fights or to meet armor requirements.
Magic — minimal unless you plan to hybridize with Onmyo or use magic-based soul cores.
Why Stamina first? Many Odachi and heavy weapon skills scale strongly with Stamina; it boosts both damage and the ability to equip heavier armor. Strength follows because it directly increases weapon damage. Intellect is a quality-of-life stat that speeds Ki recovery and lengthens talisman effects, which helps with chaining and snapshotting.
Weapons and gear progression strategy
Early game gear choices should prioritize special effects and scaling over raw numbers. You want weapons and accessories that support crit stacking, reduce Ki cost, or grant lifesteal.
Weapons: Seek Odachi and Axe with affixes that add crit chance, crit damage, reduced Ki consumption for heavy attacks, or increased heavy attack damage. An Odachi with a fixed effect that reduces Ki cost for heavy attacks is ideal because it lets you commit to long swings and snapshot more often. An Axe with high base damage and a crit chance affix is perfect for finishing staggered enemies.
Armor: Look for pieces that grant Ki recovery speed, stagger resistance, or reduced Ki consumption. Armor that increases critical damage or critical chance is rare but extremely valuable.
Accessories: These are the most flexible slots. Prioritize crit chance, crit damage, lifesteal on crit, and skill cooldown reduction. An accessory that heals you on critical hits becomes the linchpin of sustain.
Guardian spirit: Choose a guardian spirit that either boosts critical chance/damage or grants healing on critical hits. Some spirits also provide defensive windows that let you commit to heavy swings without being interrupted.
Soul cores and Onmyo tools: Equip soul cores that boost critical damage, add lifesteal, or grant temporary buffs to heavy attacks. Onmyo talismans that provide short invulnerability frames or buff crit chance are useful for creating safe snapshot windows.
Martial arts, skills, and snapshotting explained
This build relies heavily on martial arts that buff critical chance or grant temporary damage multipliers. The goal is to activate a martial art and immediately use a high-damage skill that benefits from the buff — that’s snapshotting.
Core skill types to prioritize
Crit buff martial art: Any martial art that temporarily increases crit chance or crit damage is top priority. Level it early.
Channeling heavy skill: A skill with a wind-up or channel is ideal for snapshotting because it will often inherit the buff if used immediately after activation. Odachi heavy skills with wide arcs and multi-hit follow-ups are perfect.
Lifesteal augment skill: If available, a skill that converts a portion of damage to health on crit is invaluable.
Stagger mitigation skill: A passive or active skill that reduces stagger or grants temporary stagger immunity lets you commit to long Odachi swings without being interrupted.
How to snapshot in practice
Activate the martial art buff with a quick input.
Immediately press the heavy skill button for a channeling attack.
The skill executes while the buff is active and often inherits the buffed crit chance/damage.
Use a short combo or dodge while the skill cooldown runs, then repeat.
Skill point allocation
Early game: Max the crit buff martial art and the channeling heavy skill.
Mid game: Invest in passives that reduce Ki consumption and increase Ki recovery speed.
Late early-game: Add points to lifesteal and stagger mitigation passives.
Playstyle and combat rhythm
This build is aggressive but calculated. You trade Ki and positioning for sustained high damage and health recovery. The rhythm is simple to learn and powerful in execution:
Engage: Use Odachi sweeps to control space and apply pressure. Keep enemies at the edge of the Odachi arc to hit multiple targets or land follow-up hits.
Buff and snapshot: When you see an opening, activate your crit martial art and immediately channel a heavy skill to snapshot the buff. This should produce a high-damage crit that heals you.
Sustain: Rely on lifesteal from crits to recover. If you need to top off, use a short Axe combo or a quick talisman.
Reset: Dodge or step back while the heavy skill cooldown runs, then reapply the buff and repeat.
Boss windows: Bait an attack, parry or deflect if possible, then commit to a snapshot window. Use stagger mitigation to avoid being interrupted mid-swing.
Micro tactics that change fights
Ki pulsing after heavy swings reduces recovery time and lets you chain more attacks. Mastering Ki pulse timing is essential.
Positioning: Odachi reach is your friend. Angle swings to clip multiple enemies or to hit weak points on bosses.
Weapon switching: Swap to Axe for single-target burst when a boss is staggered; the Axe’s raw damage can finish a staggered foe quickly and still benefit from crit stacking.
Environment: Use hazards and ledges to secure kills that trigger heal-on-kill effects, extending your lifesteal uptime.
Early game progression roadmap (levels 1–30)
Levels 1–5: Learn the basics. Equip any Odachi with decent reach and an Axe with high base damage. Unlock the crit martial art and the channeling heavy skill. Levels 6–15: Hunt for weapon affixes that add crit chance and lifesteal. Invest heavily in Stamina and Strength. Begin snapshotting in simple encounters. Levels 16–30: Refine gear: farm accessories with lifesteal on crit and armor with Ki recovery. Max the martial art crit buff and the heavy channeling skill. Start experimenting with guardian spirits and soul cores that boost crit. Reroll affixes as needed.
Farming, rerolling, and upgrade priorities
Focus your farming on the following targets in order of importance: weapon affixes that add crit chance and crit damage, accessories that grant lifesteal on crit, and armor that improves Ki recovery and stagger resistance. Use the game’s reforging or reroll systems to target these affixes. Prioritize upgrading a single Odachi and a single Axe to high level rather than spreading resources across many weapons; this concentrates your scaling and makes crit stacking more effective.
Guardian spirits and soul core choices
Choose guardian spirits and soul cores that complement crit and sustain. A guardian spirit that increases crit chance or grants healing on critical hits is ideal. Soul cores that boost critical damage, reduce skill cooldowns, or add lifesteal are excellent. If you prefer a defensive option, pick a spirit that reduces stagger or grants a temporary shield during certain triggers; this makes snapshotting safer.
Ki management and defensive considerations
Heavy weapons consume Ki quickly. Ki management is the difference between a build that feels unstoppable and one that stalls out. Invest in Ki recovery passives, practice Ki pulsing after heavy swings, and use short combos to refill Ki when possible. For defensive play, learn to parry and deflect to create safe windows for snapshotting. If you’re being staggered mid-swing, add stagger mitigation passives and practice timing your Ki pulses and dodges.
Advanced tactics and optimizations
Dual-wield snapshot combos: In high-skill play, briefly switching to a fast weapon to snapshot multiple buffs in quick succession can multiply damage output.
Cooldown juggling: Track skill cooldowns and use short combos or talismans to fill downtime between heavy skill uses.
Enemy-specific loadouts: For enemies that punish long wind-ups, use shorter snapshot windows or rely on Axe burst combos instead of Odachi channels.
Accessory swapping mid-mission: If you expect a boss with mechanics that punish crits, swap to defensive accessories for that fight and revert afterward.
When to respec and how to pivot
Respec when you acquire a major weapon that changes your scaling needs or when you want to pivot to a different playstyle (e.g., Onmyo hybrid). Early game respecs are cheap and expected. If you find a late-game Odachi with different scaling, shift points into the stat that weapon favors and adjust your gear priorities accordingly.
Minimal essential checklist (no more than three short lists)
Must-have affixes: crit chance; crit damage; lifesteal on crit; reduced Ki consumption.
Top skills: crit buff martial art; Odachi heavy channel; Axe burst skill; Ki pulse passive.
Early guardian spirit picks: crit boost spirit; lifesteal spirit.
Troubleshooting common problems
If your crits feel inconsistent, verify accessory affixes, weapon crit chance, and passive nodes that affect crit. If lifesteal isn’t keeping you alive, confirm that your accessories or soul cores actually trigger on critical hits and that your crit rate is high enough to make lifesteal meaningful. If you’re being staggered mid-swing, invest in stagger mitigation passives and practice timing your Ki pulses and dodges to create safer windows.
Play examples and sample rotations
Standard open-field rotation: Odachi sweep to control space → activate crit martial art → immediately channel Odachi heavy skill to snapshot → Ki pulse and dodge to reset → repeat. Single-target boss rotation: Bait boss attack → parry/deflect to create opening → activate crit buff → switch to Axe and execute burst combo to capitalize on crit window → use talisman or guardian spirit active to heal if needed → reset. Multi-target rotation: Angle Odachi swings to clip multiple enemies → activate crit buff → channel multi-hit Odachi skill to snapshot across targets → secure kills to trigger heal-on-kill accessories → reposition.
Build variations to consider
Pure Odachi infinite crit: Max Stamina and Odachi scaling, use Odachi-only skills, and focus on multi-target control. Best for open areas and groups.
Odachi/Axe hybrid (recommended): Use Odachi for pressure and Axe for burst. This is the most flexible and the one this guide centers on.
Onmyo hybrid: Add Onmyo talismans and invest in Magic if you want more utility and defensive tools. This reduces raw crit throughput but increases survivability.
Final notes on playstyle and mindset
This build rewards practice and timing. The mechanical pillars are Ki management, snapshot timing, and gear optimization. Early on, focus on learning the rhythm: buff, snapshot, heal, reset. As you refine your gear and affixes, the loop becomes smoother and more forgiving. The goal is not to be invincible but to create a playstyle that feels aggressive, rewarding, and resilient — a samurai who controls the battlefield with long, decisive strikes and converts every successful hit into momentum.
FAQ
Q: What exactly is infinite crit and is it truly infinite? A: Infinite crit is shorthand for a loop that produces near-constant critical hits through stacking crit chance, snapshotting crit buffs into high-damage skills, and using lifesteal to sustain. It’s not literally infinite, but with the right gear and timing you can maintain a very high crit rate for extended periods.
Q: Do I need both Odachi and Axe equipped at all times? A: No. You can focus on Odachi only, but the hybrid approach gives you flexibility: Odachi for reach and control, Axe for single-target burst. Swap as the situation demands.
Q: What if I can’t find lifesteal accessories early? A: Prioritize crit chance and crit damage first. Lifesteal becomes meaningful once your crit rate is high. In the meantime, use healing items and guardian spirit abilities to stay alive.
Q: How important is Ki management for this build? A: Extremely. Heavy weapons consume Ki quickly. Learn Ki pulsing and invest in Ki recovery passives to keep your offense sustainable.
Q: Can I use this build in co-op? A: Yes. The build scales well in co-op because you can rely on teammates to create openings for snapshot windows. Coordinate to avoid overlapping burst windows that leave you vulnerable.
Q: When should I respec attributes? A: Respec when you acquire a major weapon that changes your scaling needs or when you want to pivot to a different playstyle. Early game respecs are cheap and expected.
Q: Which guardian spirit is best? A: Choose one that complements your playstyle: crit boost or lifesteal spirits are ideal. If you need defense, pick a spirit that reduces stagger or grants temporary invulnerability during certain triggers.
Q: Is snapshotting risky? A: It can be if you mistime it. Practice on smaller enemies to learn the timing before attempting snapshot windows on bosses.
Q: How do I handle enemies that interrupt my channel? A: Use stagger mitigation passives, time your Ki pulses, and bait attacks to create safe windows. If an enemy is particularly interruptive, switch to shorter combos or Axe burst attacks.
Q: What’s the best way to farm the right affixes? A: Focus on repeatable missions with high drop rates for weapon types you need. Use any in-game reroll or reforging systems to target crit chance, crit damage, and lifesteal.
Stay Connected with Haplo Gaming Chef
Haplo Gaming Chef blends gaming guides with casual cooking streams for a truly unique viewer experience. Whether you’re here for clean, no-nonsense walkthroughs or just want to chill with some cozy cooking content between game sessions, this is the place for you. From full game unlock guides to live recipe prep and casual chats, Haplo Gaming Chef delivers content that’s both informative and enjoyable.
You Can Follow Along On Every Major Platform:
YouTube, Twitch, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter/X, Threads, Bluesky, Pinterest, Flipboard, Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Medium, Blogger, and even on Google Business.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment