Nioh 3: Craft Guide Locations & Interactive Tracking Guide

Nioh 3 Craft Guides are blueprints that unlock new items in the Forge Tools menu at the Fox-Masked Blacksmith in the Eternal Rift.

Each guide unlocks exactly one craftable consumable — elemental Amulets, Smoke Balls, Blade Tinctures, special ammunition, and more. Every Craft Guide location is included on the Nioh 3 interactive maps, with the specific Sudama Merchant source and Yokai Teardrop cost for each entry.

What Are Craft Guides in Nioh 3?

Craft Guides expand your toolkit beyond what drops randomly from enemies and chests. Without them, the Forge Tools menu only lists the default set of basic items.

Each guide you collect adds a specific recipe permanently — whether that's a Fireproof Amulet to survive Yokai fire phases, a Paralytic Smoke Ball for crowd control, or Arrowhead Poison for ranged status builds. T

he full catalogue spans elemental defence (Arrowproof, Windproof, Fireproof, Lightningproof, Waterproof Amulets), elemental offence (Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning Amulets), status tools (multiple Smoke Ball types, Blade Tinctures), specialised ammunition, and unique consumables like Yokai Incense and Tengu's Fan.

Where to Unlock the Forge Tools Menu

The Fox-Masked Blacksmith becomes available as you progress through the main quest, The Hamamatsu Incident. After receiving the Guiding Mirror from Ii Naotora, you are transported to the Eternal Rift where she can be found.

From that point, the Forge Tools menu is available at any visit. Soul Match and Soul Extraction remain locked until you complete the myth quest A Fierce Flame at Lake Sanaru.

Two Ways to Get Craft Guides

The vast majority of Craft Guides come from a single source: Sudama Merchants, the small Yokai traders hidden throughout the open-world eras.

Almost every Craft Guide costs exactly 2 Yokai Teardrops — collected by defeating Crucible Wraiths and certain elite enemies. Each Sudama carries two or three Craft Guides and each Sudama in the checklist is linked to its pin on the regional map, so you can collect every guide in a single pass through each area.

A smaller number come from exploration and story progression:

• Corpse loots — one Craft Guide (Ghostly Call) is found on a body in a house in Futamata Road, but only during an active Myth. See the mission-gated section below.
• NPC rewards — Herbal Remedy is given directly by Tokugawa Ieyasu as a reward for completing the Old Medicine, New Problems Myth in Bakumatsu.

For all Sudama Merchant locations and their Yokai Teardrop stock, see the Sudama Merchant guide and the Yokai Teardrop guide.

Two Mission-Gated Craft Guides to Watch For

Two Craft Guides require active missions before they become accessible — and both are easy to walk past.

Ghostly Call appears as a lootable corpse inside a house on Futamata Road in Warring States. However, the item only spawns if you have the Headaches Myth active when you visit. The checklist flags this explicitly — the item appears on the map but cannot be picked up outside of the Myth.

Herbal Remedy is awarded by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the end of the Old Medicine, New Problems Myth in Bakumatsu. You cannot purchase it from a Sudama — completing the associated Myth is the only acquisition method.

All Craft Guide Locations by Region

Warring States has the most entries with 10 Craft Guides across five Sudama Merchants (Hamamatsu, Maisaka, Futamata Road, Iinoya, and Mikatagahara), plus the Ghostly Call corpse.

Heian has 7 across Funaokayama and Nishiichi Sudamas. Bakumatsu has 12 across Shichijo, Sanjo, Nijo Castle, Gion, and Shirakawa Sudamas, plus the Herbal Remedy myth reward.

All locations are marked on the Warring States area map, Heian interactive map, and Bakumatsu map guide, with Yokai Teardrop costs and any mission requirements.