Summary
- Unlock access to the Temporal Rift hub and the Fox-masked Blacksmith by completing the Hamamatsu Incident quest and defeating Jakotsu-baba.
- Retrieve Kagutsuchi’s Magatama to finish Myth quest “A Fierce Flame” to unlock Soul Match and Soul Extraction features.
- Obtain soul cores by using Soul Extraction instead of selling equipment to upgrade your favorite weapons and armor.
With the Nioh 3 Blacksmith feature, you can forge, upgrade, and customize your weapons and armor throughout your adventure. Although a core component of the game, many spend several hours exploring without gaining access to this NPC. So, here’s a walkthrough to unlock the Fox-masked Blacksmith and her services in Nioh 3!
Unlocking the Blacksmith: Complete Hamamatsu Incident
Before accessing the blacksmith, make sure you completed the tutorial sections first. Afterwards, navigate through the starting areas including the first few regions in the map before making your way to Hamamatsu. Upon arriving in the region, you’ll encounter your first Crucible dungeon with a boss fight against Jakotsu-baba.
After defeating this boss and removing the Crucible effect, you can enter the castle for the next story segment. This victory should grant you access to the Temporal Rift, or Nioh 3’s central hub. Inside, you’ll find the Fox-masked Blacksmith that resides in the building to the south of the Temporal Rift.
During your first conversation, she will grant you access to basic Blacksmith services like forging weapons, armor, and tools from scratch. You can also remodel your existing equipment and disassemble any unwanted items in exchange of crafting materials.
How Basic Blacksmith Services Work
After unlocking, the blacksmith should offer you several fundamental services that are crucial for your survival. By forging weapons, you can create new equipment with the materials you collected throughout your adventures. Also, the process is simple and only requires materials you can obtain by dismantling armor and equipment no longer used.
Hence, disassembling your equipment through Blacksmith provides more value over selling items to Sudama merchants. While the selling generates coins, disassembling will provide you with crafting materials to strengthen your character. Also, the remodeling feature will let you adjust existing equipment properties to match your preferred playstyle.
Unlocking Soul Match and Soul Extraction
Upon your first visit with the Fox-masked Blacksmith, the “Soul Extraction” and “Soul Match” options are greyed out. You need to engage in dialogue with the blacksmith and initiate her myth quest called “A Fierce Flame” to unlock these features. With the quest, you have to go to Lake Sanaru in the Wanning States period and follow these steps:
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- Travel down to Maisaka and take the road heading north.
- Once you arrive at Lake Sanaru, take the left path until you face a Scampuss.
- Pet this friendly creature and follow its path.
- After the Scampuss stops, continue up the path to find the shrine.
- Then, you’ll discover Kagutsuchi’s Magatama inside it.
- Go back to the Fox-masked Blacksmith with this item and talk with her to complete the quest.
Maximizing Soul Match and Soul Extraction
With these advanced features offered by the blacksmith, you can further strengthen up your character. If you want to dispose of unwanted equipment, you can use the Soul Extraction to get soul cores instead of crafting materials. It comes in three varieties such as the azure, yellow, and viridian.
Meanwhile, the Soul Match lets you raise the level or plus-value of any weapon or armor piece you own. This feature is excellent for maintaining your favorite equipment’s relevance as you progress through harder content.
Conclusion
Don’t forget to unlock Blacksmith in Nioh 3 as you go through your adventure. It is available upon arriving in the western region of Hamamatsu inside the Temporal Rift. Continue to unlock its advanced features by completing Fox-masked blacksmith’s quest.
Writer’s Recommendations
Hi there, it’s Stal! If you loved that article, make sure to check out these other articles I’ve written just for you. See you there!
