Nioh 2 Scampuss Guide: How to recruit these Cat helpers and where can you find them

One of the many things you’ll learn in Nioh 2, is that not all yokai are evil. If you read our review, you would know that your own character is half human, half yokai. As such, during the course of your adventure you can get help not only from humans but also from different kinds of yokai willing to lend you a hand.

One of those yokai are called Scampuss, and they take the form of cute, extremely round ghost cats. If you ever thought that the thing Nioh needed was more cats, then you’re in luck because these little cats can join you in combat against other yokai.

How do Scampuss work

Once you find one of these little fur balls, the game allows you to pet them. Once you do, they will benefit you in two different ways. The first one, and the most obvious, is that they’ll start following you around. If you engage with an enemy while the Scampuss is with you, they will not flee or hide: they will actively participate in battle. Sure, they might not do much as they can only bounce out of your enemy, but at the very least they add a little bit more of constant damage to your foe.

The second benefit to petting a Scampuss is a buff to your Anima. This is the purple bar below your Ki and it’s the meter you use to perform Yokai Skills and Burst Counters. The way you get anima is by simply attacking enemies. However, just by being around you, the Scampuss will increase the rate at which you build Anima, which means you can use your Yokai Skills more often as long as you have a Scampuss with you.

Another thing to note is that since they are yokai, the Scampuss will be affected when you enter the Dark Realm. Their body will be covered in spikes, as if they were a hedgehog or a fugu fish, and they will do more damage to enemies. It still won’t be much, but it’s a nice buff to your little friend. What’s more, in the Shiftling skill tree you can invest points to increase the time a Scampuss follows you around, though it will require quite the investment of points.

Where to find Scampuss

Now, after reading all of this you might want to find every single Scampuss in the game. However, an important thing to keep in mind is that the benefits a Scampuss gives you last a short time and are not necessary to progress. That, coupled with the fact that almost every level in the game has two or more Scampuss, makes it very hard to list just where all of them are.

Still, there are some general rules of thumb you can follow if you want to find a Scampuss in your travels. First of all, most are quite hidden, but many others are not. If you explore every nook and cranny in a level, you will most likely find a Scampuss just sitting around.

Those others, however, really enjoy hiding. As you travel through a level, make sure to break all the wooden boxes, vases or other objects that seem like they might obstruct your view. It’s quite possible there’s a Scampuss hiding right behind those and you can’t harm the little cat with your attacks, so it’s safe to just break everything. Even if you don’t find a Scampuss, you might get money, healing items or arrows, so it’s always a win for you.