Nioh 3 Blacksmith Location, Soul Match, and Soult Extraction Explained

What to know

• The Blacksmith is unlocked early but hidden behind a short progression gate
• Forging is available immediately, while upgrades are locked behind a side quest
• Soul Match is the core system for raising weapon levels
• Soul Extraction fuels long-term crafting and optimization

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After the opening tutorial in Nioh 3, the game begins pushing you toward deeper gear customization. While enemy drops can carry you for a short time, long-term progression revolves around the Blacksmith, an essential NPC that lets you forge, upgrade, and fully control your equipment. Understanding where to find her, how to unlock her full services, and how Soul Match actually works will dramatically smooth your progression.

This guide walks through the exact unlock path, explains each system in practical terms, and shows how to stop depending on luck and start building weapons deliberately.

Quick overview of the Nioh 3 Blacksmith

Feature	Purpose
Location	Temporal Rift (main hub)
Forging	Create new weapons and armor
Soul Match	Increase weapon level using other gear
Soul Extraction	Convert gear into crafting materials
Unlock condition	Side quest: A Fierce Flame

How to find and unlock the Blacksmith in Nioh 3

After completing the tutorial mission, the game opens up a short mandatory progression route. You are directed west of Hamamatsu, where a crucible dungeon blocks further access. This dungeon is straightforward and ends with a boss encounter designed to test basic combat fundamentals rather than builds or gear depth.

Once the boss is defeated, you proceed into a castle interior, triggering a story transition. At this point, you are automatically transported to the Temporal Rift, which serves as Nioh 3’s central hub.

Inside the Temporal Rift, you will find the fox-masked Blacksmith NPC positioned near the main pathways. From this moment onward, the Blacksmith becomes a permanent fixture of the hub and remains accessible between missions.

Forging weapons and armor explained

Forging is available immediately upon meeting the Blacksmith. This system allows you to create new weapons and armor directly, rather than waiting for specific enemy drops.

Forging consumes materials, which primarily come from dismantling unwanted gear. Early on, forging is most useful for:

• Replacing underleveled weapons
• Targeting a preferred weapon type
• Smoothing out unlucky drop streaks

Forged items scale appropriately for your progression stage, making this system especially valuable when RNG refuses to cooperate. While early forging options are limited, they establish the foundation for later optimization.

Why upgrades are locked at first

When you first interact with the Blacksmith, you’ll notice that weapon upgrades are unavailable. This is intentional. Nioh 3 gates its most powerful crafting systems behind a short side quest to ensure players understand the mechanics before abusing them.

To unlock upgrades, you must complete the quest “A Fierce Flame.”

How to unlock Soul Match and Soul Extraction

Step 1: Speak to the Blacksmith

After forging becomes available, talk to the Blacksmith again. She will hint at a disturbance preventing her from fully operating.

Step 2: Travel to Lake Sonaro

From the mission map, head to Lake Sonaro and locate the nearby shrine.

Step 3: Follow the campus creature

Near the shrine, you’ll encounter a campus, a small guiding creature. Follow it as it leads you toward a hidden shrine entrance.

Step 4: Enter the shrine and return

Interact with the shrine as prompted, then return to the Blacksmith in the Temporal Rift to complete the quest.

Completing A Fierce Flame permanently unlocks Soul Match and Soul Extraction, transforming the Blacksmith from a basic crafter into a full build-management system.

Soul Match in Nioh 3 explained

Soul Match allows you to raise the level of your main weapon by consuming another piece of gear. Instead of discarding higher-level drops that don’t fit your build, you can now use them to strengthen the weapon you actually want to use.

The process is simple but powerful:

• Select your main weapon
• Choose a secondary weapon or armor piece
• Transfer its level to your main gear at a cost

This system means that weapon choice becomes permanent, not disposable. Once you find a weapon with good traits, you can carry it forward across multiple regions instead of constantly swapping.

Soul Extraction in Nioh 3 explained

Soul Extraction complements Soul Match by letting you dismantle gear into high-quality materials instead of gold-only scraps. These materials are essential for:

• Advanced forging
• Repeated Soul Match upgrades
• Late-game optimization

Rather than hoarding junk gear or selling it blindly, Soul Extraction turns excess drops into long-term value.

How these systems change progression

Before unlocking these features, progression in Nioh 3 feels reactive—you use what the game gives you. After unlocking the Blacksmith’s full toolkit, progression becomes intentional.

You are no longer chasing drops. You are:

• Forging toward a build
• Upgrading a chosen weapon
• Feeding unwanted gear into future strength

This shift is one of the most important moments in the early game.

Blacksmith rewards and benefits overview

System	Player benefit
Forging	Consistency over RNG
Soul Match	Weapon longevity
Soul Extraction	Sustainable upgrades
Quest unlock	Permanent access

The Blacksmith is not just a convenience NPC in Nioh 3—she is the backbone of the game’s gear system. Unlocking her fully through A Fierce Flame marks the point where the game stops being about lucky drops and starts being about deliberate build crafting. Mastering forging, Soul Match, and extraction early will save hours of frustration and make every future mission smoother and more controlled.