SLAYER Nichirin Katana Forging Guide

Forging a Nichirin Katana is the moment SLAYER’s Breathing fantasy becomes real. Until the blade is equipped, Breathing forms refuse to cast from a wooden starter weapon. This guide covers the verified public-test route: earn Nichirin Ore from Final Selection, travel to Ivory Passage through the Familiar menu, forge at the Blacksmith, equip the katana, and confirm forms fire. Use it together with Getting Started, Controls, and Progression.

Exact Yen costs, extra materials, blade colors, and stat rolls remain live-test fields. Confirm the current Blacksmith prompt in your client when numbers differ from older clips.

Why the wooden blade is a hard gate

Public-test footage and walkthroughs show Breathing skills drawing from a Breathing bar refilled with E. They also show forms such as Rising Scorching Sun stopping with a message that a wooden blade cannot carry a Breathing form and that you must forge a Nichirin at the Blacksmith first. That message is not a bug. It is the progression lock.

If your style tree shows unlocked moves, your Breathing bar is full, and forms still fail, check the weapon first. Nine times out of ten the answer is “you have not forged yet,” not “the keybind is wrong.”

SLAYER Nichirin forging and progression overview

Step 1: earn Nichirin Ore

Nichirin Ore is the documented reward for passing Final Selection. Queue from Familiar, clear the live mountain objective without dying, and watch for the survival success screen. Open inventory immediately and confirm the ore exists.

If you have not cleared the trial yet, stop here and complete Final Selection. No amount of Frozen Shroud training substitutes for the ore drop on the documented Slayer blade route.

After success, a forge-oriented objective typically appears. Follow it. The objective text is more reliable than memorizing NPC names that may shift during public testing.

Step 2: travel to Ivory Passage

Open the Familiar menu (M) and travel to Ivory Passage. Ivory Passage is the world hub area that contains the Blacksmith for this forge step. New players sometimes wander Frozen Shroud looking for an anvil that is not there — use the menu travel option instead of guessing the map.

If the travel entry is missing:

• Confirm you still hold Nichirin Ore
• Confirm the forge objective is active
• Re-open Familiar fully rather than using a partial social panel
• Rejoin the experience if UI desync is suspected during a busy test session

Step 3: find the Blacksmith and forge

Locate the Blacksmith NPC in Ivory Passage. Interact and read the current requirement list. The documented core material is Nichirin Ore. Additional Yen costs, secondary materials, cosmetic outcomes, and whether multiple blade types appear are not permanently locked in public-test documentation, so treat the on-screen recipe as authoritative.

Complete the forge interaction. Success is confirmed when:

1. A Nichirin Katana appears in your loadout or inventory.
2. You can equip the katana.
3. Breathing forms that previously showed the wooden-blade warning now activate when other gates are met.

If the forge consumes ore but no blade appears, re-check inventory filters, re-equip slots, and re-read the objective before forging a second time or assuming a wipe.

Step 4: verify Breathing forms

Equip the Nichirin. Refill Breathing with E. Attempt a basic unlocked form from your style. You should no longer see the wooden-blade rejection. If the form still fails, check the remaining gates:

• The move is unlocked in the style tree
• Breathing Level meets the move requirement
• The Breathing bar has enough resource
• The Nichirin is actually equipped, not merely owned

Combat timing still matters. A forged blade does not replace parry skill. Keep using the habits from Controls: dash, timed F parry, uppercut into downslam, and guard break when enemies turtle.

How Nichirin forging fits the Slayer route

The intended early Slayer spine is:

1. Complete the combat tutorial and reach Frozen Shroud.
2. Train stats and practice combat.
3. Purchase or unlock desired Breathing forms as the menu allows.
4. Enter Final Selection and clear the live objective.
5. Collect Nichirin Ore.
6. Visit the Blacksmith in Ivory Passage and forge the Nichirin Katana.
7. Raise Breathing Level, clear gourd limit breaks, and expand the kit.

Steps 1–3 are covered on Getting Started and Progression. Steps 4–6 are this page plus Final Selection. Skipping to form shopping without ore only produces confusion.

Demon players and the blade route

Demons grow through Blood Level, consuming bodies, demon hideout training, heart minigames at caps, and Blood Demon Arts. They do not rely on Nichirin forging the same way Slayers do. If you are on a Demon character, use this page mainly to help Slayer teammates or future alts. Your primary roadmap remains the Blood sections of Progression.

After the forge: what to spend time on

Once forms work:

• Practice spending Breathing only after confirms or guard breaks, not into enemy armor.
• Return to hub training to raise Breathing Cap and Strength so forms have a body behind them.
• Watch for limit break gourds as Breathing Level approaches multiples of five.
• Compare style roles on the Tier List with the knowledge that your forms actually cast.
• Redeem Codes when you need Yen for the next training block.

A Nichirin without training still loses to players who parry better. Treat the forge as unlocking your toolkit, not finishing the game.

Common forging mistakes

• Leaving ore in inventory and grinding random content for hours
• Searching Frozen Shroud for a Blacksmith that lives in Ivory Passage
• Assuming forms are bugged when the wooden blade is still equipped
• Forging, then forgetting to equip the new katana
• Ignoring Breathing refill (E) after the blade unlocks
• Expecting Flashstep issues to vanish automatically — some Flashstep gates and long-sword perk conflicts are separate from forging

What still needs live verification

Public testing means these details can shift and should be confirmed in your session:

• Exact Blacksmith dialogue and NPC name
• Yen cost and any secondary materials
• Cosmetic color rules tied to style or clan
• Weapon base stats and upgrade paths after the first forge
• Behavior if ore is dropped, traded, or lost on disconnect
• Whether every party member receives ore consistently on shared clears

When your client disagrees with this page, trust the client, then check Updates for confirmed changes.

Quick forge checklist

1. Pass Final Selection and confirm Nichirin Ore.
2. Open Familiar (M) → travel to Ivory Passage.
3. Interact with the Blacksmith and complete the forge recipe.
4. Equip the Nichirin Katana.
5. Refill Breathing with E and cast an unlocked form.
6. Return to training and Breathing Level progression.

Clear that checklist and the wooden-blade era of your Slayer is over. From here, growth is about meters, limit breaks, and combat discipline — not about wondering why Rising Scorching Sun will not start.