Nioh 2 Yokai Shift Forms - How to Change and Use

Yokai Shift Forms in Nioh 2 are a new game mechanic that allows you to transform into a Yokai due to your dual Shiftling nature. Changing into your Yokai Shift Form boosts your stats and damage, depending on the specific Form you chose. Since this is a new mechanic, players have been asking questions about it, like how to use your Yokai Shift Form, how to change it, how many different forms there are, and so on. Well, in out Nioh 2 Yokai Shift Forms – How to Change and Use guide, we’re gonna answer those questions.

How to Use Yokai Shift Forms in Nioh 2?

To use your Yokai Shift forms in Nioh 2, you press Triangle and Circle at the same time when your Amrita Gauge is full. That’s the circle to the left of your Health, Stamina, and Anima bar. When you’re in your Yokai form, you do more damage, especially when you’re in the Dark Realm. Moreover, if you get hit, you won’t lose health; instead, your Yokai Shift timer will decrease. Once the timer runs out, you return to your normal form.

The Yokai Shift form is especially useful against bosses and other powerful enemies when you’re in the Dark Realm, as we’ve already mentioned. Moreover, while in the Dark Realm, enemies will leave pools behind them. They purify automatically when you walk over them in Yokai form. When that happens, you can absorb them by holding Triangle to boost your weapon attacks, or hold R1 and R2 to prolong of your Yokai Shift.

How Many Nioh 2 Yokai Shift Forms Are There?

There are three different Yokai Shift Forms in Nioh 2 at the start: Feral, Phantom, and Brute. Which form you’ll get in the beginning depends on which Guardian Spirit you choose. Ame-no-Mitori (the bird) is Feral, Makami (the wolf) is Brute and Kagewani (the shark) is Phantom. The different forms don’t have particular weaknesses, it’s more about their special abilities. So, which one you want depends on your play style. So, let’s break them down.

Brute is, as you might guess from the name, focused most on strength. This is for people that prefer to deal massive melee damage while sacrificing speed. It basically boosts the strength of all your attacks, makes you more immune to certain types of damage, lets you deflect attacks, and so on. You get the idea.

Feral, on the other hand, is all about the speed. It does not boost your damage as much as Brute, nor does it make you as resilient, but it allows you to be much more agile and combo a bunch of quick attacks instead of dealing just one, massive blow. One of the Feral abilities, for example, lets you dodge and quick-attack at the same time, which you can use as a combo starter.

Phantom is for those of you that like zoning your enemies. This Yokai form focuses on using arrows, magic projectiles and that kind of stuff very efficiently. Like, say, the Blood Moon – Yin ability. This ability lets you teleport next to an enemy when you hit them with a projectile.

How to Change your Yokai Shift Form?

To change your Yokai Shift Form, you have to change your Guardian Spirit. To do that, go to a Shrine (it can also be the Shrine at the Starting Point). Cycle through the options until you find the Change Guardian Spirit. Select it, and you’ll get a list of available Guardian Spirits. In the lower right corner, you can see which type of Guardian Spirit they are, aka Feral, Phantom, or Brute. Select the Guardian that has the Yokai Shift Form type you want, and you’re ready to go.

You unlock new Guardian Spirits as you progress through the game. For example, the first Brute spirit you’ll come across unlocks after the third mission. So, if you’re regretting your choice of Spirit and corresponding Yokai Shift Form, you’ll have to tough it out until you get another, different one.

Nioh 2 doesn't pull any punches, so you might get stuck before you've even begun playing. We've written a guide to help you choose your starting weapon and guardian spirit, and another that shows how to reset skills if you invest in the wrong ones. Once you've dug in, you'll probably want to know how to unlock onmyo magic & ninja proficiency skills, or how to change and use Yokai Shift forms. Getting more skill points is always a priority, which is why we've written about locks of hair locations. If you're hunting rare soul cores, you'll probably want to know about the Mujina locations - finding them is tricky.