A new mechanic has been introduced in Nioh 2 to further alter the gameplay with new Skills. These Nioh 2 Yokai Skills are a plus point to you in the game as they utilize the power of the yokai you defeat. This guide will explain the Yokai Skills in detail.
Nioh 2 Yokai Skills
Every time you come across a yokai, you will realize that they have a skill but you can use one Skill at a time for now.
There is a new ethereal rarity item called Soul Cores that is randomly dropped by yokai, and it happens very frequently.
How to get Yokai Skills
In order to acquire these skills, you need to pick up this rarity item. You cannot use it right after you pick it up. You need to purify it at the shrine after which you can use it.
You can equip up to two possible Soul Cores to your Guardian Spirit.
If you do not have your guardian spirit when you are dying, you are going to lose all the cores that haven’t been purified from your inventory.
The passives that come with the Yokai cores amplify either the Yokai Abilities or the Yokai Shift forms. It also affects random bonus stuff like luck or drop rates.
Every Core has Two Perma Stats that are unique to the core type. Now you have 3 open slots for random substats, and also, they come with an additional flat atk/def stat bonus for your character.
The passives also have ranks, and the higher the rank the stronger the effect.
How to use Yokai Skills
In order to use the Yokai Skills, you need to have the Yokai force, also called Anima. Just below your stamina bar, there is another bar that represents Anima.
How to Gain Anima
To fill the bar you need to attack the enemies, and if you are in the Dark Realm, then the bar fills up even faster.
After that, all you need is Anima in order to use the skills. Till the time your Anima bar is there, you can use the skills as many times as you want to.
Yokai Skill List
Below are the Yokai Skills and the required Anima to activate them as well as the Core needed to obtain the Skill.
Fire Twister: 6
It is obtained from Enenra Soul Core. You become a fiery cyclone, dealing damage to enemies nearby.
Dark Digger: 3
It is obtained from Dweller Soul Core. From this yokai ability, you will be able to summon a dweller who has a pickaxe that deals damage to enemies when swung.
Fiendish Frenzy: 4
It is obtained from Yoki Soul Core. You will become a Yoki and grapple an enemy to the ground and slash them.
One-legged Fury: 5
It is obtained from Ippon-Datara Soul Core. From this Yokai Skill, you obtain Ippon’s hammer and slam to the ground dealing damage to nearby enemies.
Wormhole: 4
It is obtained from Waira Soul Core. Temporarily become an undetectable wormhole and deal massive damage to enemies.
Chomp: 2
It is obtained from Gaki Soul Core. Character summons a Gaki which will attach to an enemy and deal damage for the duration of its spawn.
Indestructible Shell: 3
It is obtained from Kappa Soul Core. Player receives a Kappa Shell, which protects him from damage for a short period.
Impaling Doom: 5
It is obtained from Yatsu-no-Kami Soul Core. Summon a Yatsu-no-Kami and deal damage to enemies.
Magatsu Muscle: 5
It is obtained from Magatsu Warrior Soul Core. In this Yokai ability, Player gets arms of a warrior with swords, deals a huge amount of damage to enemies in range.
Rain of Terror: 2
It is obtained from Karakasa Umbrella Soul Core. In this Yokai skill, Player becomes Karakasa Umbrella for a short period and will obtain its abilities as well.
Petrifying Gaze: 4
It is obtained from Nure-Onna Soul Core. The character will summon a Nure-Onna and inflict enemies damage and paralyze them for a short period as well.
Scampush: 4
It is obtained from Scampuss Soul Core. In this Yokai skill, the Player becomes a Scampuss for a short period. Roll around to deal damage to enemies.
Skeleton Bowman: 3
It is obtained from Skeleton Warrior Soul Core. In this ability, you will consume 4 anima and 6 attunements to spawn 2 skeleton bowmen to attack enemies.
Rising Winds: 7
It is obtained from Kamaitachi Soul Core. The character will spawn 2 Kamaitachi to attack the enemies.
Monkey Dance: 4
It is obtained from Enki Soul Core. In this Yokai skill, the Player becomes an Enki for a short period. Jump and throw spears at the enemies.
Corrupted Breath: 4
It is obtained from Mitsume Yazura Soul Core. The Player becomes a Mitsume Yazura for a short period. Fire elemental beams towards enemies.
Wall or Nothing: 2
It is obtained from Nurikabe Soul Core. The Player becomes a Nurikabe for a short period. Deal slam attacks to enemies.
Fiery Reinforcement: 4
It is obtained from Oni-bi Soul Core. Summon Oni-bi which will hurl towards enemies to damage them.
Go Nuts: 3
It is obtained from Kodama Soul Core. Summon Kodama which will throw rock at enemy to deal small damage but confuse them.
Tengu Tactics: 4
It is obtained from Karasu Soul Core. The Player becomes a Karasu Tengu for a short period.
Sharp Old Hag: 4
It is obtained from Yamanba Soul Core. The Player becomes a Yamanba for a short period. Get 50% melee damage multiplier for a short time.
Razing Edge: 8
It is obtained from Mezuki Soul Core. Obtain Mezuki’s arm and sword to sweep enemies from left to right, damaging all enemies that come in contact.
Vile Venom: 4
It is obtained from Toxic Slime Soul Core. Throws a projectile that poisons the enemy.
Fire Arm: 3
It is obtained from Aberrant Solider Soul Core. The Player gets Aberrant Soldier’s arm. Fire fist like cannons towards enemies.
Spinning Top: 4
It is obtained from One-Eyed Oni Soul Core. The Player becomes a One-eyed Oni for a short period. Spin around to damage enemies.
Whiplash: 4
It is obtained from Rokurokubi Soul Core. The Player becomes a Rokurokubi for a short period. Use the long neck to swing and hit enemies.
Spectral Swarm: 5
It is obtained from Tatarimokke Soul Core. The Player gets wings of Tatarimokke and attack using slow moving projectiles.
Whipper Snapper: 5
It is obtained from Namahage Soul Core. The Player becomes a Namahage for a short period and rapidly hit the enemy closest to them.
Where There’s Smoke: 4
It is obtained from Koroka Soul Core. Smoke from Koroka Spear and launch 4 homing fireballs towards the enemies.
Ubume’s Cry: 4
It is obtained from Ubume Soul Core. Player becomes Ubume for a short period. Release a shockwave that does high Ki damage and knockbacks enemies as well.
Brutal Charge: 6
It is obtained from Gozuki Soul Core. Player becomes a Gozuki for a short period. Rush towards enemies to deal high Ki and physical damage.
Offensive Odor: 3
It is obtained from Tesso Soul Core. This Yokai ability releases a cloud of gas that damages the enemies.
Ball of Hatred: 6
It is obtained from Onryoki Soul Core. Player becomes a Onryoki form for a short period. The ball and chain hit enemies and damage them.
Spitball: 3
It is obtained from Lesser Umi-bozu Soul Core. Throw a projectile that does water damage to enemies and saturation effect as well.
Lockjaw: 7
It is obtained from Gyuki Soul Core. Player calls Gyuki’s head and hit enemies from below the ground. Also poisons enemies.
Tangle Cotton: 4
It is obtained from Flying Bolt Core. Throws a cloth to slow down enemies.
Fire and Ice: 8
It is obtained from Ryomen Sukuna Soul Core. Player becomes a Ryome Sukuna for a short period. Spin with various weapons, dealing damage to enemies who come in contact.
Hellfire Wheel: 8
It is obtained from Kasha Soul Core. Player swings a whip towards enemies to scorch and damage them.
Fiery Reinforcement: 4
It is obtained from Thunderstorm Oni-bi Soul Core. Summon a Oni-Bi to damage enemies.
Slaphappy: 5
It is obtained from Onyudo Soul Core. Player becomes an Onyudo for a short period.
Mountain Sweeper: 6
It is obtained from Daidara Bocchi Soul Core. In this yokai ability, Player summons Daidara’s head to deal damage to enemies.
Wheel of Flames: 5
It is obtained from Wheelmonk Soul Core. Player becomes a Wheelmonk for a short period. Deal small but fast fire and physical damage to enemies.
Sanmyo Storm: 10
It is obtained from Otakemaru Soul Core. Elemetal swords rain down at desired location to deal damage to enemies.
Tentacle Storm: 7
It is obtained from Lady Osakabe Soul Core. Summon Lady Osakabe’s tentacles to deal damage in a wide area.
Fiery Draft: 5
It is obtained from Shuten Doji Soul Core. Damage enemies from a stream of fire.
Bloodbath: 9
It is obtained from Uminyodo Soul Core. Player becomes a Uminyudo for a short period.
Stalwart Shield: 7
It is obtained from Seto Taisho Soul Core. When this Yokai skill is used, Seto will appear along the Player and deal Ki damage through a shockwave attack.
Cutting Stream: 4
It is obtained from Bakegani Soul Core. Player becomes a Bakegani for a short period. Spray water from claws to damage enemies.
Hunter’s Harvest: 5
It is obtained from Kiryoki Soul Core. Player becomes a Kiryoki for a short period. Slash scythe towards enemies to damage them.
Fleshy Fury: 6
It is obtained from Nuppeppo Soul Core. Player becomes a Nuppeppo for a short period. Spin and damage enemies using the flailing arms.
Thundering Cry: 8
It is obtained from Nue Soul Core. Player becomes a Nue for a short period. Attack with lightning bolts to damage enemies.
Hard-Headed: 5
It is obtained from Konaki-Jiji Soul Core. Player becomes Konaki-Jiji for a short period. In stone form, you gain 66% damage reduction.
Delirious Assault: 8
It is obtained from Tate Eboshi Soul Core. Player becomes Tate Eboshi for a short period. Creates shockwaves from Scythe to deal damage to enemies.
Hell’s Harvest: 5
It is obtained from Underworld Soldier Soul Core. Player becomes Underworld Solider for a short period. Charge toward enemies to damage them.
Wind Blast: 6
It is obtained from Fuki Soul Core. Player becomes Fuki for a short period. Fire wind blast from cannon to deal moderate amount of damage.
Pinwheel: 4
It is obtained from Harinobo Soul Core. Transform into a ball of spikes and roll on the ground to damage enemies in contact.
Dark Detonation: 8
It is obtained from Itsumade Soul Core. Player becomes Itsumade for a short period. Do physical and Ki damage to enemies when your wings explode.
Metal Crusher: 7
It is obtained from Kinki Soul Core. Player becomes Kinki for a short period. Do an elbow drop attack to deal enemies in the radius.
Dance of the Tengu: 7
It is obtained from Ancient Nyotengu Soul Core. Create three Nyotengu clones to attack and damage enemies.
Out of Sight: 4
It is obtained from Ongyoki Soul Core. Turn into Ongyoki and become invisible for a short period. Enemies (except bosses) will no longer be aggressive and you can damage them easily.
Maelstrom: 5
It is obtained from Suiki Soul Core. Turn into a water tornado and hit enemies.
Sanmyo Storm: 10
It is obtained from Nightmare Bringer Soul Core. Summon a volley of swords that rain down to damage enemies.
