The Tonfa is a blunt, short-range weapon in Nioh 3 that excels at dealing heavy Ki damage through swift multi-hit attacks. This Ninja build leverages the Tonfa's fast combos and elemental scaling to stagger enemies quickly, particularly human opponents, while maintaining high mobility through the Ninja style's evasion tools.
Quick answer: Prioritize Constitution, Strength, and Skill for Tonfa scaling. Balance Skill and Magic to maximize Ninjutsu and elemental damage. Use Water or Lightning elements to inflict Saturation or Electrified status effects, and equip Nekomata as your Guardian Spirit for Ki recovery bonuses.
Tonfa Strengths and Weaknesses
The Tonfa delivers the highest Ki damage among Ninja weapons. Its rapid strikes chain smoothly into extended combos, and each attack costs minimal Ki. This makes it effective for breaking enemy stamina and creating openings for critical hits.
The weapon's primary limitation is its extremely short range. You must stay close to enemies to land hits, which increases your exposure to counterattacks. Mistimed combos leave you vulnerable, so mastering dodge timing and combo flow is essential.
Best Stats for Tonfa Ninja Build
The Tonfa scales with Constitution, Strength, and Skill. Leveling Constitution increases both your health pool and weapon damage, while Skill boosts Ninjutsu effectiveness alongside Tonfa scaling.
Distribute Ninja points between Skill and Magic. The Tonfa's multi-hit nature builds elemental status effects rapidly, and Magic governs Onmyo Talismans that apply elemental damage. If you prefer Ninjutsu-based elemental attacks, use Uncanny Flame, Uncanny Bubble, or Uncanny Bolt, though Onmyo Talismans offer more flexibility.
Keep Stamina high enough to wear medium armor without exceeding the equipment load threshold. Avoid investing heavily in stats that don't directly support Tonfa damage or survivability.
Special Effects for Weapons
Look for Life Recovery (Amrita Absorption) or Increase Damage Dealt (Amrita Absorption) on your Tonfa. These effects trigger reliably when paired with Extraction Talismans from the Gaki Chief Soul Core.
The White Bone Spirit Tonfa has an inherent Imbue Water effect, which stacks Saturation quickly due to the Tonfa's attack speed. If you don't have this weapon, use Water Familiar Talismans or Uncanny Bubble Ninjutsu instead. Alternatively, build Lightning attacks to inflict Electrified, which slows enemy movement.
Ki Recovery Speed and Ki Damage vs. Saturated/Electrified Enemy are strong secondary effects. Melee Damage vs. Winded Enemy increases your damage output once you break an enemy's Ki.
Special Effects for Armor
Equip armor with Defense Bonus (Constitution/Skill/Strength) to scale your defenses with your primary stats. Melee Attack Ki Consumption reduces the stamina cost of your combos, letting you extend chains without running out of Ki.
Auto Life Recovery (Evade) provides passive healing when you dodge attacks. Decrease Damage Taken (Amrita Absorption) and Life Recovery (Amrita Absorption) synergize with Extraction Talismans for sustained survivability.
Any piece from the Heir's Shinobi armor set includes Dodge Ki Consumption, which is valuable for maintaining evasion uptime. This light armor set is available early in the game.
Special Effects for Accessories
Water Accumulation (Enemy) or Electric Accumulation (Enemy) accelerates status effect buildup. Faster Movement (Amrita Absorption) is rare but highly effective for repositioning during combat.
Fans provide Ki Recovery Speed as a fixed effect. Spirit Force Bonus (Saturation/Electrified Enemy) and Living Artifact Duration are useful secondary stats.
Tonfa Skills and Martial Arts
Spend Ninja Points on the Tonfa skill tree and Ninja Style tree. Tonfa skills focus on chained combos that break enemy Ki rapidly.
Essential Tonfa skills:
- Demon Dance: Shortens the dodge range of Mist but extends invulnerability frames. This lets you dodge safely while staying close to enemies to continue combos.
- Heavenly Chain: A fast follow-up to quick or strong attacks that extends your combo window.
- Sweeping Kick: Another combo extender that chains smoothly from basic attacks.
- Storm of Strikes: A rapid multi-hit attack that deals heavy Ki damage.
- Mountain Breaker: A forward dash attack that covers distance while dealing area damage.
- Pulverize: Requires Demon Dance as a prerequisite. Adds a powerful finisher to your combo chains.
- Wasp Sting: Requires Flying Chariot. A quick strike that resets your positioning.
Apocalypse is a high-cost skill (3 Ninja Points) that requires Sweeping Kick, Impenetrability, and completion of The Way of the Ninja: Veteran mission. It delivers a devastating combo finisher but is optional for early builds.
Ninja Style Skills and Ninjutsu
Evade and Cicada Shell are your primary defensive tools. Evade provides a longer dodge with more invulnerability frames, while Cicada Shell creates a decoy that absorbs one hit.
Kunai is a basic ranged Ninjutsu that requires Shuriken as a prerequisite. Use it to poke enemies from a distance or finish low-health targets.
Uncanny Bolt (requires Uncanny Flame) applies Lightning damage. Pair this with Uncanny Bubble for Water damage if you want to inflict both Electrified and Saturated status effects. Switch elements based on enemy weaknesses.
Mid-Air Dodge extends your evasion options when airborne.
Secret Skills
Evil-Dispelling Evade is the most important Ninja Style Secret Skill. When combined with the Evade Ninjutsu, it functions like the Samurai Style's Ki Pulse, letting you recover stamina while dodging.
Awakening speeds up Onmyo Magic casting, which is valuable since many Ninja weapons scale with Magic. Panacea Curefast increases elixir healing by 15%, and Lingering Spirit recovers 30% of Amrita from your grave when you die. Both are Common Secret Skills that apply to both Samurai and Ninja Styles.
Tachi Arts increases melee attack by 8.4% against enemies at full health. Armor Piercer boosts Final Blow and Grapple damage by 10%. These combat-focused skills are found in the Warring States period but can be replaced based on your weapon or playstyle.
Guardian Spirit and Soul Cores
Equip Nekomata as your Guardian Spirit. It provides Ninjutsu Ki Damage +7.3%, Ki Recovery Speed +6.2%, and Quick Attack Break +10.6%. Destroy 12 Crucible spikes to unlock Melee Attack Ki Consumption, and 13 spikes to unlock Final Blow/Grapple Damage.
If you prioritize Water damage, use Kusanagi instead. It buffs Water-based attacks directly.
Yang position Soul Core: Jakotsu-baba provides Water Damage +4.4% and Auto-Grave Recovery +17.0%. It grants the Water Familiar Talisman, which applies Water damage to your attacks. Later in the game, replace this with Yasha Soul Core for Martial Arts Ki Consumption +4.0% and Life Drain (Water Damage) B-.
Yin position Soul Core: Gaki Chief provides Extraction Talismans, which steal Amrita from enemies on hit. This triggers all Amrita Absorption special effects reliably. Yoki Soul Core is an alternative that grants Power Talismans, which increase your attack before combat. Unlock additional Yin slots by leveling Magic.
Prestige Points and Titles
Spend Prestige Points in the Ninja category on Dodge Ki Consumption and Melee Attack Ki Consumption. In Tactics, prioritize Ki Recovery Speed and Onmyo Magic Power. In Subjugation, take Amrita Earned and Damage Taken (Ki Depleted). In Exploration, invest in Medicine Efficacy. In Crucible, boost Amrita Earned (Crucible).
Earn Prestige Points by completing milestones and challenges that unlock Titles. Check the Main Menu under Titles > Title List to see available objectives. You can reset and redistribute Prestige Points within the same category at any time.
Equipment and Familiarity
Use equipment that matches your current level. Underleveled weapons provide reduced attack bonuses, and underleveled armor offers less defense.
Prioritize Purple (Exotic) rarity items. These provide better and rarer special effects than lower-rarity gear. Exotic weapons often roll more favorable combinations of special effects.
Raise your Tonfa to full Familiarity by using it consistently. Weapons at maximum Familiarity gain a significant damage bonus.
