Onimusha: Way of the Sword Weapons, Oni Armaments & Souls

The katana: your one true weapon

Musashi carries a single katana with switchable one-handed and two-handed stances ⚠ single source. No second standing weapon — no great-sword, no permanent dual blades — has been shown in any official material or press build. That focus is deliberate: the whole combat system, from parries to Issen, is built around reading duels with one blade. Enhancing the sword raises three stats at once — regular attack power, Issen power and Oni Armament power — which makes it the one upgrade that scales everything else (confirmed in the release build by Maxroll’s beginner guide, after the same was seen in previews). It is done at the Spirit Mirror, under “Enhance Equipment/Abilities”, with Tamahagane; the 25 of those in the world are tracked on the collectibles page.

One alternate blade exists: the Bishamon Sword. No English guide names it, but the Japanese guide site AppMedia and a first-hand player post agree it is the reward for clearing the story on Carnage difficulty — the series’ famous ultimate weapon, equipped from the Spirit Mirror as a sword skin that, they say, also makes Issen easier to land ⚠ Japanese sources only; GameRant’s line that every katana is purely cosmetic conflicts with the effect they describe. That is a second-playthrough prize, so see the NG+ notes before you plan for it.

All six Oni Armaments (and the Bow), in the order you get them

The gauntlet’s spirit weapons are summons, not loadout items: activating one spends the Oni Power gauge (charged by blue souls) for a limited-time transformation of your offense. The full game settled the roster at six, plus the Oni Bow that PowerPyx counts as a seventh. Locations are PowerPyx’s; the chapter numbers are Maxroll’s 24-chapter index; the upgrade tracks are the three skills Maxroll lists per armament.

What each one is for, in the words of the guides that finished the game: the Two Celestials hit fast and generate yellow souls — the panic-heal option; the Wind-Whipper is GamesRadar’s “only choice when you’re surrounded by Genma”; the Earth-Shakers crush armor and shields with charged smashes, “perhaps the most useful of all” per IGN and the boss tool in every guide, with the caveat that charging leaves you open; the Firebird Flute is ranged and, per Maxroll, only comes alive with its Charged Shot skill; the Flashing Void charges from range and slows time, and its Break Issen skill auto-triggers Break Issen on vulnerable enemies; Still Water is the late-game pick GameRant switched to for its purple-soul generation. The Bow-versus-Wind-Whipper order above is Maxroll’s chapter numbering; PowerPyx lists the Bow first ⚠ minor ordering conflict between the two. The demo showcases the Two Celestials and, since its August 25 expansion, the Oni Bow.

Which armament to upgrade first — what the guides actually say

Nobody reputable publishes a literal upgrade order, so this is a ledger of stated opinions rather than a ranking of ours:

• IGN (Skills to Get First): first Special skill = Two Celestials: Combo Strength — “the first Oni weapon that you’ll get your hands on, and they’re useful throughout the entire game”; first Basic skill = Blazing State, because it raises the Blue Souls enemies drop, “letting you use your Oni Armaments more frequently.”
• Maxroll: “Grab the first upgrade” on the Wind-Whipper — it raises damage and duration together, the rest are optional; the Firebird Flute is “somewhat lackluster” until Charged Shot; the Flashing Void’s Break Issen upgrade is “a great way to farm Red Souls from regular enemies”; Earth-Shakers for armored bosses because they “shatter multiple segments at once.” Its early Basic picks: Reflex Combo, Blazing State, Absorb Souls While Attacking.
• GamesRadar ranks what to use, not what to upgrade: Wind-Whipper for crowds, Earth-Shakers for single bosses, Flashing Void for safety at range.
• PowerPyx, writing for completionists: “Hold off on spending Oni Stones until you can unlock Oni Vision: Treasures, Oni Vision: Treasures 2, and Oni Vision: Search Range.”
• AppMedia (Japanese) publishes the only outright ranking: Two Celestials first, for start-up invincibility and a guaranteed flinch; Earth-Shakers second; Wind-Whipper third.

The currency, and the one real disagreement. Armament and other Special skills cost Oni Stones plus Red Souls; Basic skills cost Power Stones; there are 54 of each in the world. GamesRadar says “only early improvements require these rare stones, and you’ll then only need to spend Red Souls to further level up”; PowerPyx prices every armament skill at two to three Oni Stones and states flatly that “you won’t get enough Oni Stones in one playthrough to fully upgrade the Gauntlet” ⚠ CONFLICT — we present both; the trophy-guide view is the one collectors report matching. The practical consequence either way: the sword enhancement above is the upgrade with no scarcity problem, and it lifts every armament.

Souls: the three-color economy

• Red souls — currency. Spent on gear upgrades and learning or leveling skills.
• Yellow souls — healing. Your mid-fight recovery, which is why Two Celestials doubles as a lifeline.
• Blue souls — Oni Power. Fuel for the six Armaments above, and Blazing State makes your attacks produce more of them.

Absorption is manual and positional: hold L2/LT and the gauntlet drinks. You can walk while absorbing — a modernization the developers call out — but you cannot guard, so the discipline is vacuuming between enemy strings, not during them.

The Oni Gauntlet: weapon, character, progression system

The gauntlet on Musashi’s left arm houses a talking spirit — the Oni Lady, who narrates and, per Game Informer, objects to being called “Gauntlet Lady” (more on her on the characters page). Mechanically it is the progression spine: absorbing souls unlocks Armaments and three Oni powers — Oni Strength (smash barriers and obstacles), Oni Agility (explosive jumps, wall traversal) and Oni Vision (reveal what human eyes can’t, highlight interactables). Story-wise the gauntlet is slowly corrupting its bearer, and Musashi wants it off his arm — the tension driving the plot.

Growth systems beyond the blade

From RPG Site’s preview build ⚠ single source, pre-release build: clothing upgrades raise HP and stamina (costing money plus gathered materials), gauntlet upgrades speed and widen soul absorption, and Oni Vision, Blazing State, the bow, assassination and stealth each have linear upgrade tracks. Charms sit on top as equippable passives: 15 to find in the world plus six bonus charms — the demo reward (Kubi Akari), early-purchase items (Lion Dog, White Monkey — see editions) and the Deluxe kits (Oni Lady, Little Dancer, Mentor) — with three slots once both Charm Capacity skills are bought. For armament play, Maxroll and Power Up Gaming both point at the Charm of Oni Power (gauge fill rate) paired with the Charm of Awakening, and at the Oni Strength Charm (Oni Armament power +6/9/12%), which comes from the Mystery “Some Unfinished Monkey Business”. All 21 charms, with effects by level and where each comes from, are on the charms page.

Oni Awakening: the transformation, now in the game

For weeks the honest answer here was “no transformation announced” — that changed at Gamescom, and the full game confirms it. Trailer 6 (August 25) showed Musashi “overpowering his enemies by releasing his inner Oni strength through Oni Awakening”; in the release build it is a timed state with its own upgrade, Awakening Duration, on Maxroll’s skill list, and its own charm pairing (Awakening plus Oni Power). It is distinct from the parry-built Blazing State buff. What is still thinly documented is what feeds it: GameRant credits Still Water’s “bonus purple soul generation” as the reason it used that armament late ⚠ single source on the purple-soul link. Treat any site listing precise Awakening numbers as guessing until a finished-playthrough guide publishes them.

There is no traditional armor-stat system announced — outfits and sword skins are explicitly cosmetic. Environmental violence rounds the kit out: flipped tables as improvised cover, carts shoved into enemies, and blade-lock clashes won by mashing.

Frequently Asked Questions