Lantern Plant Fruit is a Usable Item in Nioh 3 that restores Spirit Force when consumed. Spirit Force fuels your Yokai abilities, so keeping a few of these on hand before a tough boss encounter can give you an immediate edge without needing to land attacks first. The item shares a lineage with its Nioh 2 counterpart, where it restored Anima — Spirit Force is the Nioh 3 equivalent of that mechanic.
Quick answer: Use a Lantern Plant Fruit from your Item Box to instantly gain Spirit Force. You can carry up to 5 per mission and buy them from specific Sudama NPCs for gold.
Lantern Plant Fruit Effect and Carry Limits
Each Lantern Plant Fruit provides a flat boost to your Spirit Force meter. Unlike passive Spirit Force generation from attacking enemies, consuming the fruit gives you an immediate chunk of the resource, letting you fire off Yokai abilities or Burst Counters right away. In Nioh 2, the fruit granted exactly 5 Anima per use, and the Red Spider Lily granted 10. Nioh 3 follows a similar split between the two items, with the Lantern Plant Fruit offering the smaller but more common refill.
You can hold a maximum of 5 Lantern Plant Fruit in your Item Box at any time, and that's the pool you draw from during missions. Your Storehouse can stockpile up to 9,999, but those reserves aren't accessible mid-mission. Before heading into a difficult fight, transfer fruit from the Storehouse to your Item Box manually.
Where to Get Lantern Plant Fruit in Nioh 3
There are three main ways to acquire Lantern Plant Fruit. The most reliable method is purchasing them directly from Sudama merchants scattered around the world map.
- Sudama near Maisaka Junction Shrine — sells Lantern Plant Fruit for 1,000 gold. This Sudama is located across from the shrine itself.
- Sudama west of Stone Buddha Path Shrine — sells the fruit for 900 gold, making it the cheaper option if you're in the area.
- Enemy drops — killed enemies throughout various missions have a chance to drop the item as loot.
Additionally, Merchants who accept Yokai Teardrops stock Lantern Plant Fruit in their Exchange menu. Yokai Teardrops are a rare currency obtained from defeating Kappa enemies and bathing in Hot Springs, so this route is less efficient for bulk farming but useful if you've accumulated spare Teardrops.
Lantern Plant Fruit vs. Red Spider Lily
Both items serve the same basic purpose — restoring Spirit Force — but the Red Spider Lily is the more powerful of the two. In Nioh 2, the Lantern Plant Fruit restored 5 Anima while the Red Spider Lily restored 10. Nioh 3 maintains this hierarchy. The tradeoff is availability: Lantern Plant Fruit is easier to find and cheaper to buy, while Red Spider Lilies are rarer drops and mission rewards.
For boss preparation, carrying a full stack of both items gives you the largest possible reserve of on-demand Spirit Force. Pop the Red Spider Lily first for the bigger refill, then use Lantern Plant Fruit to top off between ability uses.
Lore and In-Game Description
The in-game text describes the Lantern Plant Fruit as the fruit of a perennial nightshade family plant. In Japanese tradition, lantern plants (known as hōzuki) are used as decorations during the Obon festival, a summer celebration honoring ancestral spirits. The bright red, papery husks of the fruit resemble miniature lanterns, and they're believed to guide the souls of the departed back to the world of the living. This cultural connection to spirits ties neatly into the item's mechanical role of restoring Spirit Force.
Lantern Plant Fruit won't carry you through an entire mission on its own — the 5-unit carry cap makes sure of that. But as a pre-fight buffer or a mid-combat emergency refill, it's one of the most straightforward consumables in Nioh 3. Stock up at the Sudama near Stone Buddha Path Shrine for the best price, keep your Item Box topped off, and you'll always have Spirit Force ready when you need it most.
