English 
Hello, warriors! Onimusha: Way of the Sword brings intense samurai combat, exploration, and supernatural challenges, where choosing the right skills from the Skill Tree is important for your progression. Whether you are improving combat, exploring new areas, or spending resources wisely, unlocking the best skills from the Skill Tree early can give you a strong advantage. That’s why you need better guidance for choosing the right skill upgrades to progress more effectively.
In this Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree guide, we brought you everything from how the Skill Tree works and how to unlock more skills to the best skills to unlock early for better progression. We also share useful tips for spending resources wisely. And if you find it hard to sit in front of your PC all day, you can easily switch to OSLink. It lets you play Onimusha: Way of the Sword remotely on your mobile, so you can continue your explorations to unlock more skills wherever you go.
How Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree Progression Works
Having a good understanding of the Skill Tree from your Onimusha: Way of the Sword beginner stages makes it easier to overcome boss encounters and other challenging content.
You can access the Skill Tree through the Spirit Mirror by selecting the Enhance Equipment/Abilities menu. The Skill Tree is divided into two main categories: Basic Skills and Special Skills.
- Basic Skills: These skills focus on improving Musashi's core combat skills like attacks, parry, dodge, and Issen mechanics.
- Special Skills: These improve Musashi's supernatural Oni powers like Oni Vision, Oni Strength, and Oni Agility.
Both categories branch into different paths by unlocking nodes. Each node is connected to a specific skill or ability. To unlock these nodes and progress through the Skill Tree, you need different upgrade materials:
- Power Stones: Used to unlock and upgrade Basic Skills.
- Oni Stones: Used for powerful Oni-related upgrades and Special Skills.
- Red Souls: Collected from defeated enemies and used for various skill upgrades in both trees.
Your progression is not completely available from the beginning. Many skills and stronger upgrades become available after reaching certain story milestones or passing through Oni Portals. This means you should regularly return to the Skill Tree to check for new skills and upgrades as you progress through the story.
How to Unlock More Skills in Onimusha: Way of the Sword
The Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree unlocks gradually as you progress through the story and discover Oni Portals. Some Basic Skills become available early, while higher-tier skills require specific missions and Dark Masses in the Oni Realm.
Here is how to unlock the higher-tier Skills from our Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree guide:
Tiers 1–2: Early Skills
- Complete “The Oni’s Apprentice.”
- Speak with Shizuka at the Spirit Mirror after the early Kyoto activities.
- This unlocks the main Skill Tree, introduces Deflect, and opens the Practice Grounds.
Tier 3
- Complete “A Strength in Refuge.”
- Visit the marked Oni Sanctuary/Portal in Eastern Kyoto.
- Enter the Oni Realm, solve the block puzzles, and absorb the Dark Mass.
Tiers 4–5
- Complete “The Roots of All Evil.”
- Enter the new Oni Realm area.
- Use Oni Agility to cross the river and continue through the crawl spaces and rooftops.
- Defeat the enemies and absorb the Dark Mass to unlock these tiers.
Tier 6 and Higher
- Complete “Okuni’s Kabuki Dance.”
- Enter the new Oni Realm area through the temple complex.
- Complete the combat, puzzles, crawl spaces, and parkour sections to reach the Dark Mass.
After reaching each milestone, return to the Spirit Mirror and check the Skill Tree for newly unlocked skills. You can then spend your Power Stones, Oni Stones, and Red Souls on upgrades.
Note: Special Skills all called the Oni Skills work differently. You must first unlock the base Oni Skill or obtain its related Oni Armament before its upgrade nodes become available.
Pre-set Keymaps for Easy Play
Basic Skills
The Basic Skills section of the Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree improves Musashi’s main combat and gameplay abilities, including attacks, parries, consumables, dodges, and Issen mechanics. To unlock these skills, you need Power Stones and Red Souls and must also complete specific missions before you can access higher-tier upgrades.
Below are some of the key Basic Skills and their effects that you can unlock as you progress through the Skill Tree:
| Basic Skill | Effect |
| Issen (base) | Perform a powerful counterattack just before an enemy hits you. |
| Reflex Combo | Fill the gauge with perfect Reflex Dodges to perform a powerful multi-hit attack. |
| Chain Issen | Allows a successful Issen to chain into additional nearby enemies. |
| Break Issen Combo (base) | Finishes enemies with broken stamina and deals heavy damage to bosses. |
| Deflect | Timed block that deals stamina damage and can reflect projectiles. |
| Blazing State | Fill the gauge with successful parries to increase attack power and Blue Soul drops. |
| Oni Bow | Gives you unlimited magical arrows for ranged attacks and weak points. |
| Stealth | Allows you to enable Stealth movement and perform assassinations. |
| Petrify | Petrifies weaker enemies, allowing an instant kill. |
| Flat-Out Sprint | Increases sprinting speed for faster traversal. |
| Environmental Object Power | Increases the power of environmental objects. |
| Absorb Souls While Attacking | Lets you absorb souls without stopping attacks |
| Charm Capacity | Allows equipping more Charms at once. |
Special Skills
Special Skills within the Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree are also known as the Oni Skills, which enhance Oni Powers like Oni Vision, Strength, Agility, and Awakening, and provide dedicated upgrades for each of the Oni Armaments. You need Oni Stones and Red Souls to unlock these skills and further upgrades.
The table below shows the key Oni Skills and their effects:
| Special Skill / Oni Skill | Effects |
| Oni Vision (base) | Reveals hidden elements in the environment. |
| Oni Strength (base) | Lets Musashi destroy Malice barriers and interact with larger environmental objects. |
| Oni Agility (base) | Provides Wall Run and improves movement recovery |
| Oni Awakening (base) | Transforms Musashi into Oni form, making Issen easier and preventing health or stamina damage while active |
| Handle Bigger Objects | Lets you pick up and throw larger objects |
| The Two Celestials (Armament) | Twin blades that generate Yellow Souls and deal good damage. Further upgrades improve power and strength. |
| Wind-Whipper (Armament) | Creates a vortex that damages nearby Genma and can ignite them near flames. Further upgrades, improves power, duration and Vortex range. |
| Earth-Shakers (Armament) | Heavy clubs that break armor and deal high stamina damage. Further upgrades improve stamina damage and power and reduce charge time. |
| Firebird Flute (Armament) | Fires flaming orbs that can ignite enemies. Further upgrades, improves attacks, power and group damage. |
| The Flashing Void (Armament) | Performs a powerful charge attack that deals high damage. Further upgrades improve Issen, power, and multi-hit attacks. |
| Still Water (Armament) | Increases sword damage and generates Purple Souls. Further upgrades, add more levels to Golden Wave, improve Golden Wave power, and extend duration. |
Best Skills to Unlock First
Choosing the right skills early can make combat easier and help you save resources. So, prioritize the best skills in Onimusha: Way of the Sword that improve survival, damage, and resource collection first.
Below are the Onimusha: Way of the Sword skill recommendations that you should unlock early:
Best Basic Skills to Unlock First
- Deflect - Deals heavy stamina damage and can reflect projectiles, making it a useful defensive skill for early gameplay.
- Blazing State - Builds up through successful parries and gives you a strong damage boost.
- Reflex Combo - A powerful offensive skill that is useful against bosses. It turns well-timed dodges into a powerful attack.
- Absorb Souls While Attacking - A major quality-of-life upgrade for maintaining pressure and collecting resources during fights and boss battles.
- Chain Issen - This is a great tool against groups. It allows a successful Issen to hit nearby enemies and improves your damage against groups.
- Charm Capacity - Lets you equip an extra Charm, giving you another useful bonus.
Best Oni Skills to Unlock First
- Oni Vision: Treasures - Helps you find chests, materials, and other hidden items more easily.
- Oni Vision: Destructibles - Reveals breakable objects and enemy weak points.
- Handle Even Bigger Objects - Allows you to use even larger objects, such as pillars and explosive barrels, to deal heavy damage.
- Oni Agility: Wall Run - More important for mobility and exploration.
- Oni Awakening: Duration - Helps extend the powerful Oni Awakening state.
- Armament Power Upgrades - Improve the Oni Armaments you use most, making your gameplay more enjoyable.
More Tips for Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree
You can use the following tips to get the most out of the Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree and gain an advantage in combat and exploration.
- Focus on survival skills first - Use your early upgrade resources to improve soul absorption, health, stamina, and Blazing State before focusing only on damage.
- Spend Red Souls wisely - The Red Soul resources are limited in early game, so finish important upgrades in one area before moving to another skill path.
- Focus on your favorite Armaments - Upgrade the 2–3 Oni Armaments that you use most instead of spending resources on every weapon.
- Practice your skills - Use the Practice Grounds to learn new skills and improve your timing.
Conclusion
With this Onimusha: Way of the Sword Skill Tree guide, you can understand how Basic and Special Skills work, unlock new abilities, and prioritize the best upgrades for combat and exploration. Spend your resources wisely and focus on skills that match your playstyle to become stronger and progress through the game. For an easier and comfortable experience, you can use OSLink to remotely play the Onimusha: Way of the Sword directly on your mobile and continue your adventure even when you are away from your PC setup.
Download 
