If you’ve spent any time grinding Ghost of Yotei’s late-game side content, you’ve probably already heard how overpowered the Onryo armor set is for stealth and dark magic builds. It’s got the highest stealth stat of any medium armor set in the game, plus built-in dark magic resistance that makes it perfect for tackling the cursed mountain regions. If you’re stuck on ghost of yotei how to upgrade onryo armor past the base level, this guide breaks down every required step, material farm spot, and choice you’ll need to make to get the most out of this iconic set. I’ve upgraded three separate Onryo sets for different playstyles over the last few months, so I’ve got all the tricks to skip the most frustrating grind parts.
Ghost of Yotei: How to Upgrade Onryo Armor Core Pre-Requisites
Before you can start upgrading the Onryo armor, you have to unlock a few key features first, or you’ll waste hours farming materials you can’t even use. First, you need to complete the “Vengeful Spirit of Mount Yotei” side quest, which unlocks after you beat the third main story boss at the Frost Temple. You’ll get the base +0 Onryo armor set as a reward for finishing the quest, so don’t even bother looking for upgrade materials before you wrap that up. Next, you need to unlock the Blacksmith’s advanced crafting tab by completing the “Hammer of the North” side mission for the blacksmith in the main village. This tab is the only place you can process Onryo-specific upgrade materials, so it’s non-negotiable. Onryo Essence shards, the core material for all early upgrades, start dropping from wandering spirits in the northern mountain regions only after you unlock the base set, so you won’t find them during your early game exploration. Don't waste your early rare materials on low-tier armor sets if you know you want to use the Onryo set long-term, as you’ll need every last iron and steel ingot for the early upgrade tiers.
Required Upgrade Materials and Where to Farm Them
The Onryo armor upgrade process is split into three tiers, each requiring a different set of materials that get progressively harder to find. I’ve tested every farm spot for these materials, so these are the most efficient routes to cut your grind time in half. You don’t have to farm all materials at once, but it’s helpful to stock up on common materials first before you move to the rarer elite drops. The full material list per tier is:
- Tier 1 (+1 to +5): 20 Onryo Essence Shards, 15 Frost Cotton, 10 Iron Ingots, 5 Cursed Thread
- Tier 2 (+6 to +10): 30 Onryo Essence Fragments, 20 Woven Frost Silk, 15 Steel Ingots, 10 Enchanted Cursed Thread, 3 Vengeful Spirit Ribs
- Tier 3 (+11 to Max +15): 50 Pure Onryo Essence, 30 Blessed Frost Weave, 20 Platinum Ingots, 15 Ascended Cursed Thread, 8 Broken Onryo Katana Hilt pieces
Onryo Essence Shards, Fragments, and Pure Essence all drop from vengeful spirits, with higher tier versions dropping from higher level spirits. The best farm spot for all three is the abandoned village on the north side of Mount Yotei, where 8-10 spirits spawn every 10 minutes of in-game time. Frost Cotton and Silk only spawn during blizzard weather events, so mark your map immediately when a blizzard alert pops up to collect as much as you can before the weather clears. Vengeful Spirit Ribs only drop from elite spirits that spawn after 2AM in-game time, so skip farming them during the day to avoid wasting your time on regular spirits that never drop the item. Broken Onryo Katana Hilt pieces only drop from the level 50 elite Onryo boss that spawns at the mountain peak every 2 hours of real-world time, so you’ll need to check back regularly to collect all 8 pieces for the max upgrade.
Upgrade Path Choices for Different Playstyles
When you hit +5 and +10 upgrades, you’ll get to pick between two branching upgrade paths that tailor the set to your preferred playstyle. You can’t get both bonuses for each tier, so it’s important to pick the path that aligns with how you actually play the game, not just what sounds strongest on paper. The first choice at +5 is between a stealth-focused bonus and a dark magic-focused bonus. The stealth path adds a 20% reduction to enemy detection range, while the dark magic path adds a 15% boost to all dark magic damage. The second choice at +10 amplifies that bonus even more: stealth path users get a 30% longer silent kill window, while dark magic users get 15% of their max ki restored every time they land a dark magic kill. You can mix and match path bonuses if you run a hybrid stealth-magic build, but you'll lose the 2-piece and 4-piece set bonuses so only do that if you’re sure the tradeoff is worth it for your playstyle. If you pick the wrong path by mistake, you can reset your choices for 5 Pure Onryo Essence at the Shrine of Regret near the mountain peak, so you don’t have to re-upgrade the entire set from scratch if you switch builds later. Once you hit max +15, you’ll unlock a unique set bonus that lets you turn invisible for 5 seconds after landing a kill, which works for both stealth and dark magic builds.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Upgrading Onryo Armor
I made almost all of these mistakes when I upgraded my first Onryo set, so I’m saving you the hours of lost progress I had to deal with. First, don’t upgrade individual armor pieces way ahead of the rest. The set’s core bonuses only activate when you wear all four pieces, so you’ll get way more value by leveling all four pieces equally, instead of maxing one piece first and leaving the rest at base level. Second, don’t sell or discard duplicate Onryo armor pieces you get from repeat runs of the “Vengeful Spirit of Mount Yotei” quest. You can trade each duplicate piece for 10 Pure Onryo Essence at the wandering merchant that spawns near the village entrance every weekend, which cuts down your late-game grind time by almost 40%. Third, don’t forget to socket your armor with Onryo runes once you hit +10. Each armor piece gets a rune slot at +10, and each Onryo rune adds an extra 5% boost to your chosen upgrade path’s bonus, so that’s a total 20% extra stat boost most players completely miss. So if you picked the dark magic path, that’s an extra 20% dark magic damage on top of the existing set bonuses, which makes even the hardest endgame bosses feel trivial.
Once you get the hang of ghost of yotei how to upgrade onryo armor, the set can carry you through every piece of endgame content, from the hardest solo boss fights to the 4-player co-op stealth raids. Don’t stress too much about your initial upgrade path choice, since you can reset it any time if you decide to switch up your playstyle. I swap between the stealth and dark magic paths regularly depending on what content I’m running, and it only takes a few minutes to reset and re-tune the set to fit my needs. Take your time farming the materials, skip the common mistakes I listed, and you’ll have a maxed Onryo set that you’ll use for hundreds of hours of gameplay.