Nioh 2’s rare Soul Cores are less grindy in the 1.08 update

The three Oni-bi Soul Cores will drop more often

Team Ninja is continuously refining Nioh 2. I’m done with the game for now – apart from the never-ending incremental loot grind and some of the ridiculous weapon-specific Title challenges, I’ve finished everything I set out to – but I know that when I come back for the DLC, it’ll be in a better place.

This week’s 1.08 update is worth shouting-out for its Soul Core changes. Many of these collectible yokai attacks have been tweaked to be more powerful than before, and the developers have also increased the drop rate for some of the more elusive Soul Cores like the Infernal Oni-bi, Maelstrom Oni-bi, and Thunderstorm Oni-bi (the red, blue, and yellow floating demon heads that spawn from lanterns).

Those particular Soul Cores were hard for me to track down. I had to go out of my way on a specific level (Abduction) with Shrine and gear boosts to increase my Soul Core drop rate, and it was still a grind. If you’re working toward the gotta-catch-’em-all Soul Searcher trophy, 1.08 should help a lot.

As a side-note, you can figure out which Soul Cores you’re missing for the trophy by going to the Shrine menu, Soul Fusion, Select a Soul Core, Selection Settings (by pressing the Square button), Filtering, and then clicking on the blank Item Name field box. You’ll see a historical list you can cross-reference.

On the flip side, my go-to Soul Core, Otakemaru, has been hit with an understandable nerf – it now does less damage to Gyuki, Lady Osakabe, Daidara Bocchi, and Shards. It’s still overpowered, so I’m fine.

A bunch of “ineffective” and “underpowered” Soul Cores like One-Eyed Oni, Abberant Soldier, and Tesso were given buffs for better damage, accuracy, and ease of use, among other tweaks. Team Ninja says these adjustments are meant to “achieve a more balanced and well-rounded experience.”

A number of weapon skills were adjusted, too. Here are the patch notes (via Gematsu):

Adjustment of Yokai Abilities

Adjustments focused mainly on abilities that felt underpowered and / or ineffective in order to achieve a more balanced and well-rounded experience for the player.

• Gyuki Soul Core – It is now easier to hit with this attack.
• Kasha Soul Core – Increased damage and reduced Anima consumption.
• Daidara Bocchi Soul Core – Can now hit directly across from where it appears.
• Shuten Doji Soul Core – Shortened the recovery and made it easier to hit with.
• Magatsu Warrior Soul Core – Shortened the recovery and increased the damage output.
• Toxic Slime Soul Core / Umi-bozu Soul Core – Shortened the recovery and increased the rate of attack.
• Gaki Soul Core – Improved the amount of Amrita produced with the bite attack.
• Yamanba Soul Core – Improved the startup speed and buffed the duration.
• Tesso Soul Core – Increased the number of hits.
• Karasu Tengu Soul Core – Shortened the recovery and increased the damage output.
• Mitsume Yazura Soul Core – Made it easier to hit with this attack.
• Rokurokubi Soul Core – Increased the number of hits.
• Aberrant Soldier Soul Core – Shortened the recovery.
• Kodama Soul Core – Increased the drop rate of elixir when the attack hits.
• Gozuki Soul Core – Adjusted the usage cost. Now causes the opponent yokai to flinch when hit.
• One-Eyed Oni Soul Core – Made it easier to hit with this attack. Adjusted Ki damage and Anima consumption.
• Yotsu-no-Kami Soul Core – Adjusted the number of times the attack ricochets off of terrain and Anima usage.
• Otakemaru Soul Core / Karakasa Umbrella Soul Core – Decreased damage to the following bosses and objects:
  • Gyuki
  • Lady Osakabe
  • Daidara Bocchi
  • Shard

Adjustments

• Increased the drop rate of several Soul Cores:
  • Umi-bozu
  • Toxic Slime
  • Infernal Oni-bi
  • Maelstrom Oni-bi
  • Thunderstorm Oni-bi
  • Karakasa Umbrella
  • Flying Bolt
• Adjusted the enemies in the training mission “Training Ground” to get stronger as the mission progresses.
• Adjusted tutorial missions “Basic Actions” and “Yokai Shift Control: Brute / Feral / Phantom” to always sync with the player’s level.
• Increased the damage of the katana skill “True and Through” at max charge.
• Adjusted spear skill “Rainbow Ruse” so that it can be customized.
• Increased the success window of Ki Pulse and damage output when the spear skill “Triple Threat” is successful.
• Adjusted the spear skill “Bracing Breeze” to make it easier to follow-up after a successful counter by shortening the recovery.
• Fixed an issue where the following skills could not be customized to give elemental effects: Axe Skill – “Bear’s Bane.”
• Fixed an issue where the following skills could not be customized to give elemental effects: Tonfa Skill – “Storm of Strikes,” “Sweeping Kick.”
• Improved the timing of when the samurai skill “Flux can be executed after tonfa Skills “Demon Dance Heaven / Man / Earth.”
• Attacks that can be triggered by the switchglaive Mystic Arts now hit sooner and their power has been increased.
• Shortened the usage time of techniques that give positive effects to the player (such as forbidden fire talisman) in Onmyo Magic Mystic Arts “Awakening.”
• Made adjustments so that Ninjutsu-related effects (such as Life Drain (Ninjutsu Hit)) will occur when using the “Gunpowder Bomb” and “Shrapnel Bomb.”
• Made an alteration so that there is a moment of transformation which maintains buffs and debuffs when the player transforms into their Yokai form via the special effect “Critical Yokai Shift (Dark Realm).”
• Fixed an issue with “Azai Nagamasa’”s behavior.
• Adjusted the line of sight when holding a ranged weapon to make it easier to see.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue in the active skills “Piercing Hurl” and “Dual Hurl” where the special effects “Skill Damage + %” were not being properly reflected once upgraded to (Shadow / Light).
• Fixed an issue where some hatchet attacks do not gain elemental buffs.
• Fixed an issue with the kusarigama skill “Serpent Strike.” When hitting certain enemies, it could not trigger Ki Pulse.
• Fixed an issue where the switchglaive skill “The Path of Three” was too easy to accidentally activate.
• Fixed an issue with the kusarigama skill “Water Drop” could not trigger a Ki Pulse.
• Fixed an issue where the follow up attack of the spear skill “Chidori” may go through the opponent.
• Fixed an issue where the following customized skills would not take effect:
  • Dual Swords Skill – Ultimate Sign of the Cross
  • Spear Skill – Flying Monkey II: After the first hit.
  • Kusarigama Skill – Water Drop, Second Wind
  • Switchglaive Skill – Infinite Retribution II.
• Adjusted the “Ki Pulse: Man” effect so that it no longer disappears when entering poisonous bogs or tainted waters.
• Fixed an issue in the shiftling skill “Refulgent Strike” that caused Amrita to be gained instead of the Amrita gauge.
• Fixed an issue where the special effects of “enemy’s damage over time” and “enemy’s received damage over time” existed separately and were not calculated together, so the two have been merged.
• Fixed an issue where in some cases Yokai abilities were mistakenly showing the effects for unarmed attack power as well.
• Fixed an issue where the attack power of Yokai abilities while unarmed were very low.
• Fixed an issue where the attack power of the Yokai abilities would not sync with the player’s level.
• Fixed an issue where Soul Core Kamaitachi would not reliably hit properly.
• Fixed an issue where some yokai would float up and become stuck after being hit by guardian spirit “Genbu.”
• Fixed a problem where the player could not Yokai Shift Grapple some yokai when they are downed by a Burst Counter.
• Fixed an issue in the “Soul Match” option of the “Blacksmith,” where if a transferable soul core was chosen as a material, a separate candidate could not be chosen for the finished item.
• Fixed an issue with the “Soul Match” option of the “Blacksmith” where if a ranged weapon was chosen as a base, a different weapon type would show up as a material.
• Fixed an issues where the damage dealt by a visitor was still visible even after setting it to “Hide” in the option “Damage Display – Others”.
• Fixed an issue where players could not buy “Transformations” in the “Tea Room” if their saved data had been deleted, even if all conditions were met.
• Various other minor fixes.