Installing NIKKE under Linux

nikke-linux.md

Running NIKKE on Linux

This guide covers two methods for running NIKKE on Linux using Wine/Proton:

	Path 1: Miniloader	Path 2: Windows + Steam
Needs Windows	No	Yes (initial install + every update)
Update process	Updates through the launcher	Re-download from Windows each time

Requirements

Shared (both paths):

• A Linux distribution
• NIKKE Windows installer from the official website

Path 1: Miniloader (using Bottles)

• Bottles (Flatpak or native package) – you can also use your favorite launcher with the new DWProton thanks to @NelloKudo
• wine-miniloader

Note

Other launchers that support custom Wine runners (Steam, Heroic, Lutris, etc.) can also work, but this guide focuses on Bottles.

Path 2: Windows + Steam

• Access to a Windows machine
• Steam (Linux) — you can use other launchers as well, Steam isn't necessarily the best option specially with the new DW Proton version.
• DWPROTON or Proton GE
• A USB drive or way to transfer files

Path 1: Miniloader (Bottles)

1. Install Bottles

Download Bottles via Flatpak or your distro's package manager (e.g., pacman, dnf, yum). Run it once to complete initial setup.

2. Install the Miniloader Runner

1. Download the miniloader from here — select wine-cachyos-miniloader-fonts-10.0-1-x86_64.tar.xz.
2. Extract it: tar -xvf wine-cachyos-miniloader-fonts-10.0-1-x86_64.tar.xz
3. Move the extracted folder to the Bottles runners directory:
   • Flatpak: mv [EXTRACTED_FOLDER] ~/.var/app/com.usebottles.bottles/data/bottles/runners/
   • Native package: mv [EXTRACTED_FOLDER] ~/.local/share/bottles/runners/

3. Create a Bottle (Wineprefix)

1. Open Bottles
2. Click Create in the top-right corner
3. Select Gaming as the environment
4. Select wine-cachyos as the runner

If wine-cachyos doesn't appear as a runner option, the miniloader wasn't placed in the correct directory.

4. Install Dependencies

1. Navigate to Dependencies inside your new bottle
2. Search for and install each of the following:
   • arial or allfonts
   • mfc42
   • vcredist2012
   • vcredist2022

5. Download and Install NIKKE

1. Download the Windows installer from the official website
2. In Bottles, click Run Executable and select the installer you downloaded
3. Wait for the game to finish downloading

6. Add and Run the Launcher

1. In Bottles, click Add Shortcuts and point it to: <prefix-path>/drive_c/NIKKE/Launcher/nikke_launcher.exe
2. Run the launcher. If it doesn't start after a few seconds, stop it and try again — it may take a couple of attempts.

Note

A few screenshots to help with the steps: link

Path 2: Windows + Steam

1. Install the Game on Windows

1. Download the Windows installer from the official website
2. Install and download the full game (~22 GB)
3. Copy the entire NIKKE folder to a USB drive or transfer it to your Linux machine
   • The folder is located inside drive_c

2. Set Up Steam

1. On your Linux machine, download the launcher from the official website, add as a non-Steam game, and run it for the first time using steam.
2. Find the wineprefix Steam created: ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/
   • Non-Steam games will have a random 10-digit folder name. Sort by latest modified to find the right one.
3. Copy the NIKKE folder (from Windows) into the drive_c directory inside that prefix
4. Right-click the game in Steam → Properties → set the compatibility layer to Proton GE (or DWPROTON)

3. Configure Steam Launch Settings

1. Go back to Properties on the game in Steam
2. Update the executable path to point to the launcher inside the wineprefix: <prefix-path>/drive_c/NIKKE/Launcher/nikke_launcher.exe
3. Disable Steam Overlay (recommended)

4. Launch the Game

1. Launch through Steam — the NIKKE launcher will open
2. Log in and start the game
   • You may need to start and cancel a few times

Note

When the game updates, you will need to re-download the updated game on Windows and repeat steps 1 and 3.

Known Issues & Troubleshooting

Startup Issues

• The launcher may require multiple start/cancel attempts (3–10 times) before it opens due to a timeout issue.
• Anti-cheat may complain from time to time, but restarting usually fixes it.

Minor Bugs

• The launcher will never remember your password. You must re-enter it every time.
• The game may forget your server region. You'll need to reselect it at launch occasionally.
• When quitting, you may need to manually click Stop in Steam (Path 2) or stop the process in Bottles (Path 1).

Notes

• Using DWPROTON instead of Proton GE may reduce the frequency of restart issues (Path 2), but it's not bulletproof.

Tip

Both the patched miniloader and the DWPROTON was created by Dawn Winery, a group that helps with Linux patches for gacha games. If neither of the options worked for you, you can try following this guide: discord link.

Long-term Usage

• The game has been tested with daily use and remains functional.
• No bans have been reported, Dawn Winery group has been using their Proton and custom launcher for quite a while without any issues.

Has anyone tried updating the game with the most recent patch? The launcher started, but it seems to be stuck:

I redownloaded the Nikke installer, did the basic installation and then replaced the new files in my Steam installation, it worked. I used https://github.com/Dorin130/li-launcher-wine-fix .

yep, I was facing this issue and used the same fix. I wasn't using the dll before, so I'm hoping it's a one-time thing... especially because the other updates didn't require us to update the launcher like this one

Exactly the same issue I fixed in the installer happens with the updater. I suspected this would happen but couldn't test it until now since I didn't have an outdated launcher version. Updated my repo to fix the issue, if you're already using my fix, you'll also need to copy the new version.dll to $WINEPREFIX/drive_c/NIKKE/Launcher/ to unbrick the updates.

EDIT: Last step might break and set you in a loop. If that happens overwrite files from Nikke/Launcher/update_files/ to Nikke/Launcher/.

Another alternative:
https://dawn.wine/NelloKudo/wine-miniloader
If all else fails there are patches in https://discord.gg/ck37X6UWBp (#nikke-general), tbh I discourage this one since they are very much against ToS.

When quitting the game, you will have to click on “STOP” on Steam.

The launcher runs a tray icon, you have to right click the tray icon and click exit. Or double click it to reopen the minimised launcher and select exit from the menu top right.
(assuming tray icons via wine/proton works on your system)

I’m probably just an idiot, but tried all day to get Dorin’s methods to get me back up and running and no luck. May have to start from scratch and fetch the windows launcher again RIP

Here are the steps I took:

• Downloaded a new launcher, because I deleted the last one
• Ran it using steam to create a prefix
• Located the prefix and placed his version.dll inside the AppData/Local/nikkeminiloader sth sth
• Opened the launcher again, and pressed the download button. I waited a bit and it started downloading
• Replaced the steam path with the launcher path

Does anyone have instructions on how to use wine-miniloader with Steam?

@HawaiianPizza you can try to use steamtinkerlaunch, but I'm not sure if that will work. In my opinion, there's a simpler way:

• Download bottles
• Download the miniloader release, don't bother trying to compile it manually if you don't want to waste your time debugging the bash file. I managed to make it work, but it was a pain in the ass.
• Extract the miniloader & move it to ~/.local/share/bottles/runners/ — (I'm using the AUR version.)
• Run bottles using your terminal to follow the logs
  • I had to download the dependency all fonts, mfc42, vstudio 2012, and vstudio 2022 . (you can find this under dependencies.)
• Follow the usual steps to download the app & change the path to the launcher executable

I replaced Dorin's link with the miniloader, but I will need to update the Gist with those new steps. Let me know if you have any issues, and I'll try to help

@d-kja That worked flawlessly. I'm using the Flatpak version of Bottles, so I move the miniloader files to /home/YOUR_NAME/.var/app/com.usebottles.bottles/data/bottles/runners/. Thanks for the help!

I managed to get it working with this proton Version: https://dawn.wine/dawn-winery/dwproton/releases No starting problems and no anti cheat problems.

Switched to DW-Proton, it is now working great! Thank you @ATPA9! I used to have to reboot my PC a few times every time I wanted to play.

Ubuntu 24.04.4 (Wayland)
Intel i7-6700K
NVIDIA GTX 1070
32GB RAM

@rodrigo-gutierrez having to reboot your PC to play seems a bit rough... if you're facing weird issues like that, I'd recommend running with logs to debug the issue. The only annoying thing that I have to experience is restarting the game a few times, and usually 2-3 times is enough

@HawaiianPizza you can try to use steamtinkerlaunch, but I'm not sure if that will work. In my opinion, there's a simpler way:

* Download [bottles](https://usebottles.com/)

* Download the miniloader [release](https://dawn.wine/NelloKudo/wine-miniloader/releases), don't bother trying to compile it manually if you don't want to waste your time debugging the bash file. I managed to make it work, but it was a pain in the ass.

* Extract the miniloader & move it to `~/.local/share/bottles/runners/` — _(I'm using the AUR version.)_

* Run bottles using your terminal to follow the logs
  
  * I had to download the dependency `all fonts`, `mfc42`, `vstudio 2012`, and `vstudio 2022` . _(you can find this under **dependencies**.)_

* Follow the usual steps to download the app & change the path to the launcher executable

I replaced Dorin's link with the miniloader, but I will need to update the Gist with those new steps. Let me know if you have any issues, and I'll try to help

So i may be dumb, i ran bottles from the app (i am using cachyos kde and the flatpak version), i should do another thing or can i just create new bottle like normal?

@d-kja also i can't find the dependecies vstudio 2012 only vcredist 2012

@LucasLimadeSousa that's the one iirc (visual studio 2012), and you can run the bottles from the app dw because running from the CLI only helps with viewing the logs

Kinda new to linux so please help. Do I need only bottles or both bottles and steam where I download with bottles and play on steam?

@Tonystark-Fe @LucasLimadeSousa

1. Bottles
   • Download Bottles. You can use either Flatpak or your distro's package manager (e.g., pacman, dnf, yum, etc.).
   • Run Bottles once. You can use your terminal and launch it with either bottles or flatpak run [name-of-the-flatpak] — you can press Tab to autocomplete the Bottles Flatpak name if you don't remember it.
2. Miniloader
   • Download the miniloader by clicking here and select the file named wine-cachyos-miniloader-fonts-10.0-1-x86_64.tar.xz.
   • Extract the tar file using the tar command, e.g.: tar -xvf [name-of-the-file-here] — Flags used: x → extract v → verbose f → file
   • Move the extracted folder to the runners directory:
     • If using Flatpak:
       • mv [PATH-TO-MINILOADER-EXTRACTED] /home/[YOUR-NAME-HERE]/.var/app/com.usebottles.bottles/data/bottles/runners/
     • If using a package manager:
       • mv [PATH-TO-MINILOADER-EXTRACTED] ~/.local/share/bottles/runners/
3. Verify that the runner is available
   • Open Bottles again.
   • Create a prefix:
     
     
   • Press the Create button in the top-right corner of the modal.

Important

• For the second option, select the Gaming — I highlighted the application by mistake
• For the last option, select the wine-cachyos runner. If it's not available, something went wrong during the miniloader step.

4. Once the prefix is created, navigate to Dependencies:
   

   • Search for the following dependencies and click the download icon for each: allfonts, mfc42, vcredist2012, and vcredist2022.

     

5. Download the game (Windows version):

   • Visit the Nikke website: link

   • Click the Run Executable button and select the file you just downloaded.

     

   • Wait for the game to finish downloading, then click the Add Shortcuts button and select the launcher.

   

   Path: <wine-prefix>/drive_c/NIKKE/Launcher/nikke_launcher.exe

6. Run the launcher you just added. If it doesn't start after a few seconds, stop it and try again — it may take a couple of attempts.

I'll see if I can simplify this further, but for now you can follow these steps. Let me know if that works for you

thanks for writing up such a detailed guide, really appreciate it. For now, I had the winodws installed files on my other drive and I am using that with steam along with dw-proton and it is working flawlessly. Moreover, nikke has loading everywhere and the loading time on linux is instant compared to on windows so that's a pleasant surprise. Again, thanks for your help.

just a heads-up i installed the latest Nikke update and for the first time i got the "illegal software detected" message box while running Nikke under DW-proton. Guess i'll see if i get banned for it...

I think the safest way to download without windows is to create a dummy account for downloading then use the files to run nikke through steam with the main account.

wait the update downloaded just fine for me via just steam launching the game without any additional steps. Also, no warning or anything so far

@larrykoubiak dw, it triggers here and there, but you can just restart and it will work fine. There's a racing condition whenever you're running the app, it's under the Known issues section.

@Tonystark-Fe some updates work, but we faced an issue with a bigger update and had to reinstall the launcher. For that reason, I added the miniloader steps to the original gist as well

With the 2nd Method 👍
I'm using DWPROTON (except for the first launcher start in steam in order to create the "Prefix" folder, i've used Experimental Proton)

• I've add the command WINEDLLOVERRIDES="version=n,b" %command% into the argument of the shortcut in steam
  And use @ghost method for registry

Then i have to say that Nikke is running Fine on my Bazzite Linux i've installed on monday !!! And i've never had to lauch the game several times ! Everything works so well !!!

Big Thanks to all of you !

Small update, dropped dwproton-10.0-20 earlier tonight.
Automated a lot of stuff into it for NIKKE, as well as included the miniloader patch for the installer to work.

With it, the game can now be fully downloaded, installed, repaired (and of course, played) on Linux. Even the launcher updates themselves that previously required to move out the files manually are fixed, made a small python protonfix that automates it.

Give it a try using Heroic/Lutris/Faugus launcher, been working great so far 8)

---

Also about the ban risk thing you mention in the link, the miniloader patch doesn't really do nothing special besides fixing a race condition that blocked the launcher from working. All Proton/Wine runners that are able to play the game (so even Proton-GE) use and rely on the same patches and none of them modify game files, so ban risk (if any) is the same no matter the runner. Given those same patches have been working all this time, I'm assuming they will continue without issues lol.

Thanks @NelloKudo! Really appreciate the update. I'll update the Gist and try out the new version

This is a great guide for NIKKE PC and works in my Nobara Linux with bottles. As a Linux Newbie like me, this guide is easily digestible.
Any chance that Nikke can be added here in the TwinTail Launcher? Add as a [Game Request] or Will it be complicated for them to add?

@Brian2po Twintail is managed by a different group, but, in short, the main barrier is their encrypted and bloated login

@d-kja I see, that is pretty challenging... I'll just pin this in my profile to always check the current guide for Nikke in Linux,
Thank you all for the Hard Work!
I'll also update here if there is problems when using it in my distro in the future...

On other topic, I asked their CS in email about Linux support, and what I got was a ChatGPT response (but along the email they said that they will forward my message to the Dev team, I doubt it) so I don't think they really plan to make a Linux build/Make the encryption Lenient for it in the future 🥀