Which Skills To Get First In Onimusha Way Of The Sword

Published Sep 16, 2026, 7:42 AM EDT Alex is a gamer at heart. He started his journey on the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) and has been playing games since. While he enjoys difficult games like Dark Souls, he also likes to cuddle up with a cozy game, too. Alex loves completing games 100 percent and getting all the achievements so it's only natural that he enjoys flex-... uhhh... SHARING that gaming knowledge with the world. Alex has a Master's degree in English but his love for games has made him into a writer he is today. He's written for websites like Destructoid, TheEscapist, ProGameGuides, and DotEsports before starting his career here at TheGamer. Just like in many action games, Onimusha: Way Of The Sword has its own set of skills to unlock. The game has Basic and Special Skills, and while you'll likely end up unlocking them all at some point, you do have a bit of freedom to pick which skills to unlock first. Truth be told, you can't really go wrong no matter what you pick, because it really depends on your play-style. With that said, we sat down and made a list of the skills we thought were the most useful during our playthrough. Oni Vision: Treasures Before you can even get many of these skills, you'll need some Oni Stones and Power Stones to unlock them, and most of them you'll get from chests. So, it only makes sense that one of your first skills should let you find chests faster and even have them marked on your map. Whenever you activate Oni Vision, big and small chests in the vicinity will be highlighted. Big important chests will stay on your map even if you leave the area. We recommend you also get the upgraded version of this one as soon as possible, just so you can have a wider range whenever you scan for treasure. Deflection Power This one is arguable, because it can vary according to your playstyle. Some players will prefer dodging, some will block, others are so good, they can Issen every single attack. As for us, we found that deflecting works best, because it's very similar to parrying and absolutely drains the enemies' stamina bar. If you're having trouble doing Issen, like we did, but are perfectly capable of doing parries, then consider giving deflection a chance. It's what got us through most boss battles, including the final one, and we wouldn't trade it for anything. Reflex Combo Sometimes, you can't really deflect some attacks, and all you can do is dodge them. This is exactly why Reflex Combo is so convenient. Each time you do a perfect dodge, the Reflex Combo bar will fill. Once it gets filled, you get a free hit, which is so satisfying and never gets old. Not only does it work on weak Genma enemies, but also on bosses, including the final boss. So, since you're going to be dodging a lot, you might as well get something out of it. Blazing State This one you won't even notice until you suddenly start doing more damage. After you parry a few attacks, your sword will start glowing blue, signaling that you've entered the Blazing State. While in this state, you'll do more damage and generate more blue souls. It really comes in handy during fights, especially boss fights. If you upgrade it, the Blazing State will also fill with deflects, sword locks and even Charm Capacity Charms are really useful for a number of reasons. You can do more damage, stay longer in your Oni state, improve your healing and many other useful things. By default, you can only have one Charm equipped, so it makes sense that you'd want to get a skill that lets you equip more than one charm. You can get two of these skills and carry a total of three charms. Your Favorite Armament Special Skill We didn't want to put a specific armament here, because, yet again, it entirely depends on your play-style. For us, we always go to Earth-Shakers because we like how it destroys the enemy's stamina. For you, it could be any other one. What we are trying to say is: Pick your favorite Armament and upgrade its skills so it performs better. Oni Awakening: Duration Trust us, you're going to want this, especially for the final boss. Once you unlock the Oni Awakening ability, you'll notice that it doesn't last long. Well, after you get the Oni Awakening: Duration... it still won't be enough... but you'll be able to stay in your Oni form longer. It really comes in handy in a pinch if you need just that one last swing before the boss goes down. Absorb Souls While Attacking This one is just pure convenience. Normally, when you kill a bunch of enemies, you need to stand still, use your Gauntlet and wait for the souls to get absorbed. With this skill, you can do it while attacking another enemy, which is just straight-up multitasking done right. One of the most annoying things in Onimusha: Way Of The Sword, is when you fight multiple enemies and, after killing one, another one might drain the released souls before you do. Well, not anymore with this skill! Oni Bow: Charge Time Another very convenient one. If you find yourself not using your Bow because charging your shots takes forever, then you need this skill. It makes firing arrows a breeze, and if you upgrade it even more, you might even be able to headshot a small party of enemies as they come after you. Very convenient and very worthwhile.