Onimusha Way of the Sword Upgrade Guide: Best Items and Weapons to Upgrade First

Onimusha: Way of the Sword looks like the kind of game where you can simply dump every resource into your sword and call it a day. Honestly, that is exactly what I wanted to do when I first started playing. You get a handful of materials, find a Spirit Mirror, see that shiny upgrade option, and your gamer brain immediately screams: make the katana hit harder.

That approach works for a while.

Then the game reminds you that Onimusha is not a button-mashing action RPG.

The combat system is built around blocking, deflecting, parrying, positioning, soul absorption, and knowing when to attack instead of desperately rolling around the arena. A poorly upgraded Musashi can feel surprisingly fragile, especially once stronger Genma start throwing heavy attacks into the mix.

That is why your early resources matter so much.

In this Onimusha: Way of the Sword upgrade guide, I am breaking down the best items, weapons, and equipment to upgrade first, with a focus on making the opening hours smoother without wasting rare materials. If you want more damage, better survivability, stronger defense, and fewer frustrating boss attempts, this is the upgrade path I would personally follow.

The Best Upgrade Order in Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Here is the short version before we get into the details:

This isn’t a rigid rule where you have to ignore everything else. But if you’re wondering where your limited early materials should go, this order gives you the best overall return.

How the Upgrade Economy Works

Before spending anything, you need to understand the difference between Souls and physical upgrade materials.

Musashi’s Oni Gauntlet lets him absorb three major soul types:

• Red Souls – primarily used for unlocking combat abilities and weapon skills.
• Blue Souls – restore Oni Power and fuel elemental attacks and Oni Armaments.
• Yellow Souls – restore Musashi’s health during combat.

Then there are the physical materials used for equipment upgrades. Things such as iron, cloth, leather, and rarer Oni Stones are scattered around the game’s environments.

This is where the economy gets interesting.

Your Katana, Clothing, Oni Gauntlet, and other equipment don’t simply share one giant upgrade pool. Each part of Musashi’s arsenal has its own requirements. You might have enough materials to improve one piece of equipment while being completely broke when it comes to another.

And early on, those materials are not exactly raining from the sky.

You will find them while exploring Kyoto, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Nijo-jo Castle, and other areas, but wasting them on upgrades that don’t meaningfully improve your combat performance can come back to bite you.

Especially when a boss decides that your health bar looks a little too comfortable.

1. Upgrade the Oni Gauntlet First

If you take one recommendation from this entire guide, make it this one:

Do not automatically dump your first resources into the katana. Upgrade the Oni Gauntlet.

I know. It sounds less exciting.

Everyone wants the big sword number to go up. But the Oni Gauntlet provides something much more valuable during the early game: combat stability.

The defensive system in Way of the Sword is demanding. You have blocking, parrying, deflections, and evasive movement, and the game does not particularly care if you are used to solving every problem by dodge-rolling.

Heavy attacks are especially nasty.

A basic guard can be overwhelmed by powerful enemy strikes, leaving Musashi staggered at exactly the wrong moment. Against one weak Genma, that’s manageable. Against several enemies or a stronger opponent, getting trapped in a stagger animation can turn into a death sentence.

Increasing the Guard Stability of the Oni Gauntlet gives you more room for error.

And believe me, you want that room.

The other major benefit is Soul Absorption.

During a chaotic fight, standing in one place while trying to vacuum up Souls can feel like volunteering to get hit. A stronger Oni Gauntlet improves the range and speed of Soul Absorption, allowing Musashi to collect Red, Blue, and Yellow Souls without standing directly on top of them.

That means more resources, faster recovery, and less time exposed to enemy attacks.

For me, this is the best early-game upgrade because it improves both defense and resource management at the same time.

2. Expand the Hozuki Pouch

The second upgrade priority is less flashy, but arguably even more important for players still learning the combat system.

Upgrade your Hozuki Pouch whenever you can.

The pouch determines how many recovery items Musashi can carry, and that extra healing capacity becomes incredibly valuable once bosses stop giving you free chances to make mistakes.

And you will make mistakes.

You will miss a parry. You will read a heavy attack incorrectly. You will get greedy and squeeze in one extra sword swing before realizing that the boss has already started a counterattack.

That’s just Onimusha.

The problem isn’t necessarily taking one hit. The real problem is reaching the final phase of a boss with nothing left to heal yourself.

Increasing the Hozuki Pouch’s capacity gives you a much bigger safety net.

Depending on the available progression, you can improve its carrying capacity and healing effectiveness through Okuni and Spirit Mirror-related upgrades. These investments don’t look spectacular on a screenshot, but they can be the difference between finally finishing a boss and watching the same death animation for the eighth time.

If you’re still learning enemy patterns, healing capacity is never wasted.

3. Put Your Primary Katana Next

Now we get to the upgrade everyone wants.

The primary katana should be your third major investment.

Once your defensive stability and healing are in a comfortable place, increasing your basic weapon damage starts paying off heavily.

There is a simple reason for this: Musashi spends a ridiculous amount of time hitting things with his sword.

The stronger your standard attacks are, the faster you can eliminate basic Genma, punish openings, and finish enemies before they become a problem.

A stronger katana also helps when your Oni Power is depleted. You cannot rely on flashy elemental attacks forever, so having a powerful baseline weapon keeps Musashi dangerous even when the blue meter is empty.

Don’t Ignore Blade Heat

The katana’s importance becomes even clearer when you start working with Blade Heat.

Successful parries and deflections can build Musashi toward the Blazing State, where the weapon takes on its blue-flame appearance and becomes much more dangerous.

This is where skills such as Burning Blade become especially interesting.

The important thing is that the katana isn’t just about a bigger damage number. Your normal attacks, defensive timing, Blade Heat mechanics, and special abilities all feed into one another.

If you’re already getting comfortable with parries, a stronger katana makes those successful defensive plays much more rewarding.

And when everything clicks?

That’s the Onimusha combat loop at its best.

4. Upgrade Earthshakers for Stagger and Armor Break

Once you’ve established a solid foundation with the Gauntlet, Hozuki Pouch, and katana, start investing in your Oni Armaments.

The first one I would prioritize is Earthshakers.

This heavy Oni Armament is built around raw impact. Instead of relying on rapid sword strikes, Earthshakers delivers a brutal ground-based attack designed to disrupt enemies and cause serious Stagger damage.

That makes it incredibly useful against heavier Genma.

Taking Earthshakers to Level 2 already provides a noticeable improvement, but the real prize comes from pushing it toward its higher upgrade level.

At maximum investment, Earthshakers can unlock its Armor Break effect.

That becomes extremely useful against heavily protected enemies.

Some later enemies can carry shields or defensive equipment that makes conventional sword attacks feel like you’re trying to cut down a tree with a butter knife. Earthshakers gives you a way to break through that defense and create a proper opening.

And once the armor is gone?

That’s where Musashi can start looking absolutely ridiculous with powerful counterattacks and Issen opportunities.

If you like aggressive combat, Earthshakers is one of the upgrades that can make Musashi feel significantly stronger almost overnight.

5. Keep Clothing Upgraded, But Don’t Obsess Over It

Clothing is effectively Musashi’s armor progression.

Upgrading it increases your overall Health and Stamina, which is obviously useful.

I just wouldn’t make it your first priority.

There is a big difference between having a larger health bar and actually avoiding damage. Way of the Sword rewards players who learn its defensive rhythm, so improving Guard Stability and mastering deflections generally gives you more practical value than simply trying to turn Musashi into a walking tank.

That said, don’t completely ignore clothing.

As you move into harder areas, enemies hit harder and mistakes become more expensive. Keeping your clothing reasonably upgraded ensures your health and stamina don’t fall too far behind the game’s difficulty curve.

The best approach is simple:

Upgrade clothing naturally as you acquire the required materials.

Don’t spend an hour farming basic materials just to squeeze another small increase out of your armor during the opening chapters.

6. Pick Up Oni Bow Power 1 for Ranged Utility

The final recommendation is Oni Bow Power 1.

This isn’t nearly as important as the first five upgrades, but it is a nice quality-of-life improvement, particularly if you enjoy using ranged attacks to control the battlefield.

The standard bow can feel weak against tougher or armored targets. That’s not necessarily a problem because the bow isn’t supposed to replace Musashi’s sword, but increasing its power gives ranged attacks a much more useful role.

You can use it to:

• Pick off annoying ranged enemies.
• Damage targets before entering melee.
• Reduce enemy numbers in a crowded encounter.
• Pressure enemies positioned on higher ground.
• Create a safer opening before committing to close combat.

Think of it as a utility investment rather than your main damage build.

If you have extra resources and your core upgrades are already in good shape, Oni Bow Power 1 is worth grabbing.

What Should You Upgrade First for Bosses?

If you’re preparing specifically for a difficult boss, I would slightly change the way I think about the priority list.

Against encounters such as Shuten Doji or difficult Genma opponents, survivability and defensive consistency become more valuable than squeezing out another small chunk of weapon damage.

My preferred setup would be:

Oni Gauntlet → Hozuki Pouch → Katana → Earthshakers → Clothing

The logic is pretty straightforward.

The Gauntlet helps you survive heavy attacks and collect Souls more safely. The Pouch gives you additional chances to recover from mistakes. The Katana increases your consistent damage. Earthshakers helps create openings against tougher enemies, while Clothing gives you another layer of survivability.

This is much more reliable than going all-in on attack power and hoping the boss dies before you do.

Spoiler: it usually doesn’t.

Common Upgrade Mistakes to Avoid

There are a few traps that are easy to fall into during your first playthrough.

Upgrading Only the Katana

The katana is important, but making it your entire build leaves you vulnerable to the game’s defensive demands.

Damage doesn’t matter much if you’re constantly getting staggered.

Ignoring the Hozuki Pouch

New players often assume healing upgrades are boring compared with weapons.

Then a boss reaches its final phase and they have zero recovery items.

Don’t be that player.

Spending Rare Materials Too Early

If a material looks unusually difficult to find, don’t immediately throw it into the first available upgrade.

Explore first. Check your other equipment. Think about what actually improves your build.

Treating Dodge as Your Only Defense

This is probably the biggest combat mistake.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword wants you to engage with its defensive mechanics. Learn the timing of blocks, parries, and deflections instead of trying to dodge every single attack.

Once you start consistently deflecting attacks, the combat becomes much more aggressive and satisfying.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword Talisman Guide – All Defense, Might & Upgrade Locations

My Recommended First-Playthrough Upgrade Path

If you don’t want to overthink your build, follow this progression:

1. Oni Gauntlet — improve Guard Stability and Soul Absorption.
2. Hozuki Pouch — increase recovery capacity as soon as the required materials become available.
3. Primary Katana — raise your standard melee damage and improve combat efficiency.
4. Earthshakers — push toward the stronger upgrades and Armor Break potential.
5. Clothing — keep Health and Stamina scaling with the game’s difficulty.
6. Oni Bow Power 1 — pick it up when you want stronger ranged utility.

You don’t have to follow this order with absolute perfection. If you are struggling with a particular boss, temporarily shifting resources toward survivability is completely reasonable.

The important thing is understanding why you’re upgrading something.

Final Verdict: Build Musashi for Consistency, Not Just Damage

The best Onimusha: Way of the Sword upgrade build isn’t necessarily the one with the biggest attack number.

This game is built around a much more satisfying idea: making Musashi increasingly efficient at everything he already does well.

A stronger Oni Gauntlet lets you stand your ground. A larger Hozuki Pouch gives you more chances to recover. A better katana turns successful parries and openings into serious damage. Earthshakers gives you a brutal answer to armored enemies, while clothing quietly keeps your health and stamina relevant as the difficulty climbs.

And that’s why I wouldn’t recommend blindly upgrading whatever looks strongest in the menu.

Build around the combat system.

Learn the timing. Absorb Souls aggressively. Use your Oni Armaments when they actually create an advantage. Don’t panic when an enemy starts pressuring you. And don’t be afraid to spend a healing item when it saves you from losing five minutes of progress.

Once the defensive mechanics finally click, Onimusha: Way of the Sword starts feeling less like a game you’re surviving and more like a fight you’re controlling.

That is when Musashi becomes seriously dangerous.

And honestly, that’s the version of Musashi you want walking through Kyoto.

Onimusha: Way Of The Sword – Pro Tips For Mastering Combat