Nioh 2 Difficulty: Is There an Easy Mode in Nioh 2?

Nioh 2 is a game that draws a lot of parallels from its much more popular counterpart, Dark Souls. It’s within the same genre, being a soulslike action RPG that is as unforgiving as it is rewarding for defeating some of the hardest bosses imaginable. With that said, what is the difficulty like in Nioh 2? Is there an ‘easy’ mode so newcomers to the genre can get through it without rage quitting?

Nioh 2 Difficulty

Nioh 2, in short, is a tough game with no difficulty slider. When you start off the game, you will be on equal footing just as everyone else has and will be when playing. The main rules of soulslike games also apply here.

Dying a second time before retrieving your grave will result in lost experience points (or in the case of Nioh 2, Amrita). These lost experience points will only be that which hasn’t been spent to level up yet. You won’t lose already obtained levels.

Bosses will also have extremely high health pools and can typically kill you in one to four hits, not leaving much room for error. This means you have to telegraph attacks and learn when to counter and dodge. You’ll also have to know when you have an opening to attack.

While this game might sound like it’s not for the faint of heart, there are still ways you can mitigate its insane difficulty.

Is There an Easy Mode for Nioh 2?

There isn’t an easy mode per se when it comes to Nioh 2, but there are ways to make the game slightly easier. There are three ways to do so. One is through co-op, the next is to summon, and the final option is to grind and make builds.

Nioh 2 has a cooperative mode where you can team up with up to two additional players to take on a mission. This can be done via the Torii Gate, which is accessible from the Starting Point on the map. You can set your own mission parameters and set up a password if you want to create a private lobby.

Summons are what most solo players are going to use when it comes to toppling down the hardest bosses in the game. At each prayer shrine, players have the ability to summon visitors to their world. This then turns the mission into a temporary cooperative one. Just like Dark Souls, if the host dies, the visitor is kicked out.

The alternative way to summon a visitor is by interacting with the blue Benevolent Graves. This is like summoning, but your second player is AI-controlled. These graves are set down by other players who essentially laid out a copy of their build that can be summoned by other players in their own game instances. The AI is actually quite good at not dying, making this the optimal choice for soloing.

Finally, the last way to make the game easier is to farm for XP/Amrita. Each mission in Nioh 2 has a “Recommended level” that is a good indicator of how difficult it’ll be. To save you the dozens of deaths, try farming your level at or beyond that value. Your level will help you deal more damage and survive lethal attacks, but it’s also an opportunity to get better gear.

Nioh 2 is available now for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.