Credit: Team Ninja
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Nioh 3's First DLC Brings New Stage and Weapons This August
July 29, 2026·4 min read
Nioh 3 is getting a big first expansion that adds much more than a few new missions. Hell Rising launches on August 19 with a ruined version of Edo, new enemies, two weapon styles, stronger gear, and an endgame mode aimed at players who have already pushed the base game as far as it can go.
The DLC arrives on PS5 and PC as the first half of the Season Pass, with Bloody Insurrection planned to follow later. Team Ninja has not announced a separate price yet, but the new story and harder systems make this feel closer to a full chapter than a small extra built around one boss.
Takechiyo is pulled into Edo in 1651 after meeting an unknown yokai in his dreams. The future version of the shogun is dead, the peace he created has collapsed, and the Crucible has taken over the city. Yagyu Jubei and the Spanish envoy Rodrigo join a new fight involving Spirit Stones and enemies who hate the shogunate.
Edo gives the expansion a setting that feels different without leaving the historical fantasy behind. The castle town has become a ruined battlefield filled with yokai, human rebels, and foreign alchemists. Team Ninja can use the wider spaces introduced in Nioh 3 while still building narrow routes, hidden threats, and sudden fights around every corner.
The story also places Yagyu Jubei in a more dangerous role than a normal ally. He appears among the powerful enemies standing in Takechiyo's way, while new bosses and yokai promise equipment and Soul Cores for players willing to take them down. The first trailer keeps the biggest encounters hidden, which leaves the DLC with useful surprises for launch.
The hoko and shield give the samurai style a mix of short-range pressure and stronger defence. Players can attack with the spear while guarding, then throw the shield to interrupt enemies or create space. That should suit anyone who wants to stay close without relying only on perfect dodges or heavy armour.
The ninja version uses the same basic idea but is designed around a faster style. Nioh 3 already asks players to switch between samurai and ninja combat, so the value will come from how differently each version handles movement, defence, and follow-up attacks. One weapon set could support two very different builds instead of repeating the same moves.
New Guardian Spirits, Martial Arts, Ninjutsu, Onmyo Magic, Graces, and skills will also carry into older missions. Those additions give finished characters more to test across the full game, not only inside Edo. Players returning with complete builds should have enough new tools to rethink their equipment rather than chasing higher numbers alone.
Players who have completed Shogun's Journey can unlock Enlightened One's Journey, a new difficulty above the current endgame. It raises level and equipment limits, adds stronger Soul Cores, and allows higher upgrade values through Soul Matching. The mode is clearly built for characters that already tear through the toughest base-game missions.
Hundred Demon Realms Picture Scrolls add repeatable battles with different enemies, stages, and special rules. Winning turns each scroll into equipment, while later clears can add stronger effects. The system works in solo and multiplayer, giving groups a reason to keep changing builds instead of farming one familiar mission for the same rewards.
The new Edo chapter gives players somewhere fresh to explore, while the weapons and endgame systems make the rest of Nioh 3 worth revisiting. Finishing Shogun's Journey before August 19 will be the best preparation for everything waiting beyond the story.
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Our protagonist and appointed shogun, Takechiyo, journeys through time and is led to Edo in the future by an unknown yokai he met in his dreams. There, following the death of the future Takechiyo, the era of peace has ended, and Edo has been retaken by the Crucible. With the coop
Released
August 19, 2026
Developer
Team NINJA
Publisher
Koei Tecmo
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