If you’ve spent any time wandering the mist-shrouded valleys and abandoned villages of Ghost of Yotei, you’ve almost certainly stumbled across small, weathered wooden tokens carved with twisted faces, tied with faded red string. Those are onryo charms in Ghost of Yotei, and far from being just random collectible junk, they’re some of the most useful utility items you can get your hands on for both casual exploration and tough boss fights. I’ve spent over 70 hours scouring every corner of the map to test every single charm variant, so I’m breaking down exactly what they do, where to find the best ones, and common mistakes to avoid when using them.
What Onryo Charms in Ghost of Yotei Actually Do (and Why They Beat Standard Buffs)
Onryo charms are tied directly to the game’s lore of vengeful spirits that haunt the snow-capped island of Yotei, each holding a small fragment of a spirit’s lingering power. Unlike temporary food buffs or single-use potions that wear off after a few minutes, most onryo charms grant permanent passive effects as long as you have them equipped to your charm pouch. You can unlock up to three active charm slots as you progress through early side quests, so you can mix and match effects to perfectly fit your preferred playstyle.
Unlike one-time use consumables, most onryo charms have permanent passive effects once you equip them to your charm slot. For example, if you prefer quiet stealth runs through enemy camps, you can stack charms that muffle your footsteps and reduce enemy detection range. If you main a heavy katana build focused on parries and close-quarters combat, you can run charms that boost parry damage and cut stamina costs for heavy attacks. There are also a small number of limited-use onryo charms that trigger massive AoE effects, but these are rare and only drop from elite spectral enemies or hidden secret chests.
Top Locations to Find Rare Onryo Charms
Common onryo charms with minor buffs can be found in random chests or dropped from low-level wandering spirits, but the best variants with unique, game-changing effects only spawn in fixed locations across the map. I always hit these three spots first when starting a new save, as they give you a massive boost early on:
- Abandoned fishing village on the southern coast: The chest hidden under the rotting pier holds the Charm of the Tidal Wraith, which lets you walk through shallow water without making any sound, perfect for sneaking up on shoreline enemy camps without being spotted.
- Upper floors of the cursed mountain temple: You’ll have to fight a mini-boss spectral monk to access this chest, but the Charm of the Blunted Blade reduces all incoming physical damage by 12% for as long as you’re below 30% health, a literal lifesaver for the game’s brutal final boss fight.
- Buried under the cherry blossom tree in the old samurai estate: Dig at the glowing patch of dirt next to the gnarled old tree to get the Charm of the Unseen Step, which gives you a 25% chance to turn completely invisible for 3 seconds after you perform a perfect dodge.
Don’t forget to check every small roadside shrine you pass by too, as many of them have hidden onryo charm offerings if you leave a small rice offering first. I’ve gotten three rare variants just from stopping at random shrines while I was exploring off-the-beaten-path side areas, so it’s always worth the 10 seconds it takes to interact with them.
How to Build the Best Onryo Charm Loadout for Your Playstyle
The biggest mistake new players make with onryo charms is equipping the ones with the highest numerical buffs without thinking about how they work with their usual way of playing. You don’t want to waste a charm slot on a stealth buff if you almost never sneak, right? First, take a minute to think about what you spend most of your time doing in the game, then build your loadout around those activities.
If you’re a completionist who spends most of their time exploring every nook and cranny for collectibles, I recommend running the Charm of the Hidden Path (highlights nearby collectibles on your minimap), the Charm of the Calmed Spirit (reduces the chance of random spectral ambushes while you’re exploring), and the Charm of the Sure Foot (prevents you from taking fall damage from small drops, which saves you a ton of healing items over the course of a playthrough).
If you’re mostly playing through the main story and fighting lots of enemies, your loadout should be more focused on combat perks. For melee-focused players, stack damage resistance, parry buffs, and stamina reduction perks. For players who prefer using bows and ranged attacks, run charms that reduce draw time, increase arrow damage, and let you carry more ammo at a time. You can swap out your charm loadout at any time from your inventory menu, so don’t be afraid to test different combinations to see what works best for you.
Common Onryo Charm Mistakes to Avoid
Even after playing for dozens of hours, I still see players making the same mistakes with these charms that waste their full potential. First, don’t hoard the one-time use onryo charms. A lot of players save them for “the right moment” that never comes, and end up finishing the game without ever using them. One-time use onryo charms that deal AoE spectral damage are perfect for clearing out large groups of elite enemies that you run into during side quests, so use them when you need them instead of letting them sit in your inventory collecting dust.
Another common mistake is not upgrading your charm pouch early enough. You only get one charm slot when you start the game, but you can unlock two more slots by completing the first two side quests for the shrine maiden in the first main village. These quests only take about 20 minutes total to finish, and they’re 100% worth doing as soon as you get access to the village.
The last mistake I see a lot is ignoring the negative effects that come with some of the rarer onryo charms. Some of the most powerful charms have downsides, like increasing the damage you take from spectral enemies in exchange for 20% higher melee damage. If you’re going to equip one of these, make sure you build the rest of your loadout to counter the downside, or only use it for specific fights where the downside won’t matter.
At the end of the day, taking the time to track down and test different onryo charms in Ghost of Yotei will make your playthrough far smoother and more fun, no matter what your playstyle is. You don’t have to go out of your way to collect every single charm to get the benefits, either – even just grabbing the three rare ones I listed earlier will give you a huge boost for most of the game. Next time you’re wandering the island, keep an eye out for those small red string tokens, you never know when a powerful new charm is hiding just around the corner.