Nioh 3 Update and First DLC Keian Jigokuhen Launch Today
The DLC's story directly continues the main game's theme of the protagonist as shogun, and the accompanying update significantly raises the attribute damage cap from 65,535 to 999,999, a change that will reshape endgame build strategies.
Key Facts
- Koei Tecmo Games released an update for Nioh 3 on August 18 to coincide with the first DLC, Keian Jigokuhen.
- The first DLC, Keian Jigokuhen, is scheduled for release on August 19, 2026.
- The DLC adds new weapon types Hoko Tate and Shinobi Hoko Tate, which feature an offense-defense combat style.
- The update raises the attribute damage cap from 65,535 to 999,999.
- The update adds a camera distance setting that can be set to a negative value for a closer battle angle.
Reporting from 5 sources: 4Gamer.net, Denfaminicogamer, Automaton, Inside, and 1 more.
Koei Tecmo Games announced on August 18 that it will release an update today to coincide with the first DLC, Keian Jigokuhen, for the dark Sengoku action RPG Nioh 3. The DLC, scheduled for release on August 19, depicts a new scenario set in a future Edo, specifically the year 1651 during the Keian era, after the protagonist Tokugawa Takechiyo has become shogun. This era is marked by the Keian Incident, commonly known as the Yui Shosetsu Rebellion. The story features cooperation with the one-eyed swordsman Yagyu Jubei and the España (Spain) envoy Rodrigo, who is modeled on a real person who visited Japan in the early Edo period. Players will pursue a suspicious Spanish woman collecting the shining stone Amrita. The DLC adds new weapon types, Hoko Tate and Shinobi Hoko Tate, which offer an offense-defense style of combat, as well as a new element called Hyakkyo Hyakkai Emaki, an auto-generated challenge mission system that creates hundreds of millions of battle variations. The update also brings major buffs to almost all existing weapons for both Samurai and Ninja styles, and adds convenient features such as sending multiple items to the storehouse at once and a camera distance setting that allows for a closer, more immersive battle angle.
- Producer Gohei Shibata and directors Masaki Fujita and Jun Takahashi said in an email interview with 4Gamer.net that the DLC was adjusted after the main game's release. The "Nioh Monogatari Henroku" collection element was added in response to players wanting more character and background detail, and challenge content difficulty was raised higher than originally planned.
- The open field "Edo-Keian" is comparable in scale to the main game's "Heian" field, and includes locations such as Kanda and Ueno, a massive aqueduct, layered underground waterways, and a volcanic zone. The field is set north of Edo Castle's Hirakawa Gate.
- Yagyu Jubei is a fellow disciple of Takechiyo under his father Yagyu Munenori, and leads his subordinate "Yagyu-shu" to Edo. He is mostly an ally but has scenes where he crosses blades with the protagonist.
- The España envoy Rodrigo is modeled on a real provisional governor of the Philippines who met William Adams and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Fujita said the España faction is not unified, with both allies and enemies among them, and that DLC 2 will continue the story.
- The new yokai "Akaname" clings to walls and ceilings to ambush from unexpected angles, while "Hitotsume-nyudo" is a wind and rain deity depicted as a dragon, a form the series has not used before.
- The "Hyakkyo Hyakkai Emaki" is a rework of the prior "Hyakki Yagyo Emaki." Its missions are auto-generated with random special rules, and rare "Divine" class scrolls carry random "Grace" set bonuses. A "Kyokui Ryoritsu" effect can activate multiple "Kyokui" skills at once.
- New ninjutsu includes the Hayabusa-style technique usable in midair, and Takasugi Shinsuke's "short barrel" firearm. A new onmyo spell temporarily stops consuming arrows and thrown weapons, a first for the series.
- The guardian spirit "Toragozen" gives the Ninja style its first counter-capable guardian spirit technique.
- The third playthrough "Journey of Enlightenment" adds a "Ichinan" buff to some enemies that greatly strengthens them. The buff can be temporarily nullified by large counter moves, weak point destruction, or grapples, and enemies carrying it drop loot more easily.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 5 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- 4Gamer.net 「仁王3」のDLC第1弾「慶安地獄変」，本日配信。フィールド「江戸・慶安」や武器種「鉾盾」「忍鉾盾」など多数の新要素を実装
- Denfaminicogamer 『仁王3』DLC「慶安地獄変」は史実を絡めつつ過去作との繋がりも。因縁の「エスパーニャ」使節や隻眼の剣豪・柳生十兵衛と協力しつつ、輝く石「アムリタ」を集めるエスパーニャの女を追うことに
- Automaton 戦国死にゲー『仁王3』大型DLC第一弾にあわせアプデを本日配信。既存武器軒並み上方修正の大盤振る舞い、大迫力近接カメラなど便利機能も多数追加
- Inside ダーク戦国死にゲー『仁王3』DLC第1弾「慶安地獄変」配信！さらなるハクスラやりこみと、柳生十兵衛など登場の新たな物語
- Game Spark ダーク戦国死にゲー『仁王3』DLC第1弾「慶安地獄変」配信！さらなるハクスラやりこみと、柳生十兵衛など登場の新たな物語