Nioh 3 Multiplayer Guide – How To Play Co-Op With Friends, Crossplay, and More

Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja's  Nioh 3 is now available worldwide for PS5 and Steam. As with prior games, Nioh 3 supports co-op and multiplayer, but it offers more for those looking to play with friends or randoms compared to past entries. This Nioh 3 multiplayer guide will cover how to co-op with friends, the different multiplayer modes, and more. There will be no spoilers and the images used are from the first few hours only.

Nioh 3 co-op modes

Nioh 3 has three co-op or multiplayer modes. They are as follows: 

• Summon Visitor: This lets you seek help from others online during a mission. The players who join appear as Visitors. A Visitor here can be any player who has completed the mission you are on. The enemy strength is not affected and this basically makes the mission easier for you. You can offer two Ochoko Cups at a time and the co-op session is ended when the mission objective is complete.
• Become a Visitor: This lets you assist other players online and as the name suggests, you become the Visitor detailed above in the Summon Visitor option. When you join someone else's game as a Visitor, you cannot open chests or doors. Helping other players will let you earn a large number of Ochoko Cups. 

• Expeditions: Expeditions let you progress the story with other players. Expeditions in Story Mode features progress in accordance with the host's world. Those who join are treated as Guests who are companions to the host to help with exploration. All companions' life will be restored when a host prays at a Shrine, and all companions are also transported to said Shrine when a host prays there. Enemies respawn when this happens. An online menu lets you warp to the host's position as well. Expeditions feature an "Assist Gauge" on the left of the screen. This decreases whenever someone dies and the mission will be marked as failed if the gauge is fully depleted. This gauge is filled up and restored when a host prays at a shrine. Doing multiple expeditions in a row give you a Kill Count Bonus to the amount of Amrita and Glory you earn. If a player dies during an expedition, a grave appears (golden) and you can revive players by holding R1. This restores the Assist Gauge. You can also restore yourself by holding down O if the gauge is not empty. If the mission has failed, you can still continue with a reset Assist Gauge, but the Kill Count Bonus is reset. The host can also recover lost Amrita by going to the grave where the host was last before the mission was failed. If you do not continue, the Expedition will end here. 

How to unlock multiplayer in Nioh 3

Nioh 3's multiplayer and co-op features are not available until you finish the tutorial section and get to the Shrine before the first boss. At this point, the co-op menu is unlocked, but you can only use one option: Summon Visitor. The other two options are unlocked when you beat the first boss (the one after you unlock Summon Visitor) and reach the game's big open zone.

How to play Nioh 3 in co-op with friends and randoms

When you opt to Become a Visitor, you can set conditions like a specific mission (and select the mission you want to help on), then enable matching conditions (none, secret code which is password, or have it filter to just friends only). The final option is matching region which lets you get matched with players in nearby regions, the same region, or with no limits. 

Expeditions let you search for or create a room. When you create a room, you can set a room policy (what you want to do), and then decide how to match with the two other players who can join you. You can also set the matching region here and play with one friend and one random, two randoms, or two friends. The filtering is the same as when you want to become a visitor with you (the host) having an option to use a guest slot as private or private (friends). 

If you want to summon a friend to help you with your mission, when you set a secret code when you offer an Ochoko Cup in the "Summon Visitor" option.

Does Nioh 3 have crossplay between PS5 and PC?

Nioh 3 does not have crossplay between PS5 and PC. The official website has the following message:

In multiplayer mode, crossplay between platforms is not compatible.

What is an Ochoko Cup in Nioh 3?

An Ochoko Cup is a small ceramic cup for drinking sake. You can use it at a shrine to summon a visitor. The cup will disappear when the visitor arrives. You can have up to 9,999 in your inventory at one time. 

How to get Ochoko Cups in Nioh 3 for multiplayer and co-op?

The best way of getting these is by interacting with the red graves (Revenants) to summon and defeat Revenants. These are near key areas like bosses and you will spot a lot in the open zones as well. You are guaranteed to get at least one here, but you can also get Ochoko Cups by defeating select enemies and bosses.

Nioh 3 isnow available for PlayStation 5 and PC (Steam). Read Kite's review here and my PC handheld and PS5 impressions here.