Prepare to die. Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo just released an action-packed trailer to celebrate the launch of their painfully challenging samurai action-RPG, Nioh.

　　Over at the PlayStation Blog, they released over 25 tips to help you survive against the horde of Yokai. After playing some Nioh, here are some of the tips I found most useful:

　　Master stance switching. All weapons have three stances: high, medium, and low. Certain stances can be more valuable at different points in battle. For example, try using a powerful high stance attack to land an opening blow, then switching to faster mid- or low-stance attacks to keep your enemy off-balance.Explore the Guardian Spirits. Guardian Spirits are familiars that can unlock new benefits or assist your battles in different ways. They also enable a Living Weapon, a powerful attack that you can enable by pressing Triangle and Circle when the meter in the upper-left hand corner flashes.Spirit is an important stat, even for strength-based characters. Spirit affects your overall magic power, but it also affects your spirit bond with your Guardian as well as extends the power of your Living Weapon. The passive stat boosts that accompany a greater bond with your Guardian are extremely useful — take advantage of it!Master the Ki Pulse. Ki is a resource that fuels your attacks, dodges, and evasive maneuvers, but it’s also the secret to the essential Ki Pulse technique, vital for fighting Yokai. There are two main cues to help you find your Ki Pulse timing: your Ki bar, and the blue orbs that surround William. Look for the depleted section of the Ki Bar to fill with blue, then tap R1 to trigger the Ki Pulse. Or, look for the blue Ki around you to reach its maximum point. Play around with your combos to find the timing that works best for you — you’ll thank us later.Nioh is out now for PlayStation 4 in North America and Europe.