The "Light in Darkness" Katana Ability is Insane!

[Seeking Solace]

I just bought this game 3 days ago. Been trying out all of the katana abilities to "master" it before moving on to other weapons. Light in Darkness is by far my favorite of them all, at least among those that I have unlocked at this point in the game. At high stance this ability deals massive ki damage. It's so quick, spammable, and easy to master that there's no point in doing basic attacks anymore.

I've been trying to master Iai Quickdraw combos but I'm struggling tbh lol. As soon as I exit the dojo and try it against different enemies in different situations I keep ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up and getting hit.

Any katana combo tips from veterans and the like? And is Light in Darkness as great as I think it is? Or are there other abilities/combos that overshadow it?

Also, I suck at parrying. Been practicing parrying at the dojo for 2 hours but I just can't do it consistently. I give up lol. The only game where I could parry consistently was Sekiro but that game was quite generous with its parry time windows.

[Safarel]

try "kurama sword dance"
it is a boss skill from dlc so it might takes a while to get it but many players (just like me) though that this a best katana skill

[Tauriz]

Kurama Sword Dance is a good skill indeed, but to use it, you need to learn animation cancel, because the animation of KSD is too long and without canceling you can easily die from someone's combination (generally applicable to Yokai enemies).

[Tauriz]

Perfect way to master the Katana is utilizing all of the skills in your possession rather than spamming single skill. Switching stances "on fly", doing Flux I/II to regain Ki. I'd recommend watching the following videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4Ce41b7i5o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiRDKO8p9nU&t=306s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY93ShstO4g&t=1005s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXqmp68QM9E&t=981s

[Fraktal]

Flowing Shadow is good for repositioning and for me it outright kills weaker enemies.

Synergizes well with Sword of Execution too, which you will get later in the dojo missions.

Morning Moon does good damage, Kurama Sword dance too.

Swallows Wing is great for my build since I am using Dragon Sword / Busa armor.

Izuna Drop is fun to use.

[XenoEvil]

Heaven flash is pretty much the best skill to use against most if not all human enemies. It even makes shadow sword combo easier to hit.

Sword ki is your best and fastest ki damage attack.

The best situation to use iai quickdraw is when the human enemy is down on the ground and when a yokai is opening themselves up for a finishing blow/grapple.

[Seeking Solace]

Thanks, everyone! I will keep these moves in mind!

@Tauriz
Wow, when you say "advanced" you're not joking around. These are really complex combos. I feel like a primitive monke going through the game with the mindset: "I swing sword at thing. Thing die. Repeat."

These combos look very stylish and definitely more fun lol. I'm curious though, does the game get harder later on considering the amount of freedom you have in terms of abilities, tools, consumables, and mechanics? I'm currently at level 60.

[PuppYofDOOM]

Severing slice. It does crap damage. But.... It looks awesome.

[Tauriz]

Originally posted by -Solace-:

Thanks, everyone! I will keep these moves in mind!

@Tauriz
Wow, when you say "advanced" you're not joking around. These are really complex combos. I feel like a primitive monke going through the game with the mindset: "I swing sword at thing. Thing die. Repeat."

These combos look very stylish and definitely more fun lol. I'm curious though, does the game get harder later on considering the amount of freedom you have in terms of abilities, tools, consumables, and mechanics? I'm currently at level 60.

I'd say not too much harder, but def yes. You'll get new skills using weapons, and gradually you'll have to include em in your combo chains, and not just performing combos, but do it depending on the situation, skill-dodge-skill-canceling animation-dodge-change of stance + skill, you will need to do all this automatically. I chose a suitable set from the entire list of skills that a katana has, and practiced as i went through the game. I took into account the advice not to try to build combos in my mind, i used muscle memory and now i can perform combo chains on fly. You need to get used to to what stance what skill is, and, ofc, get used to switch stances while fighting.
I can say one thing that helped me switch stances better, it's the first thing to master, combo chains goes after mastering this. We have three stances, each of which, imo, has its own purpose. Low Stance - high mobility, combo starter, used at the beginning of the battle and to initiate, after a successful combo the main positioning stance. Middle stance - Ki breaker, the main Ki damage dealer, is applied after successfully positioning in the Low Stance. High Stance is the main damage dealer, used after a Ki break to inflict the maximum possible damage, consumes alot of Ki, doing Flux/Flux II highly recommended after performing a combo in this stance. This is a basic set of rules and it'll probably help you learn how to switch stances, but it doesn't need to be followed exclusively like this. For ex, if you feel like you have time for a combo from the High Stance before the enemy's Ki is depleted - do it. Or you can use any stance for an initiation, it all depends on the type of enemy you are going to fight with.

[StarExile]

I just spam Kurama with Ki Damage perk, works good, no need to brake your fingers with unnecessary actions lol.

[Tauriz]

Originally posted by StarExile:

I just spam Kurama with Ki Damage perk, works good, no need to brake your fingers with unnecessary actions lol.

It's like trying to play piano using just a single key xD
But well, i think that if you like to play like this, it's your choice, no one has the right to judge. You bought the game, you don't bother anyone since it's a singleplayer/coop, so you have the right to play the way you want.

[StarExile]

Originally posted by Tauriz:

Originally posted by StarExile:

I just spam Kurama with Ki Damage perk, works good, no need to brake your fingers with unnecessary actions lol.

It's like trying to play piano using just a single key xD
But well, i think that if you like to play like this, it's your choice, no one has the right to condemn or say that you are playing wrong. You bought the game, you don't bother anyone since it's a singleplayer/coop, so you have the right to play the way you want.

I dont bother with combos mainly becoz i play multiplayer most of the time, and enemies in MP keep literally teleporting around, and if you try to combo them you will end up slicing the air :D Kurama dance tracking prevents that most of the time.

[Tauriz]

Originally posted by StarExile:

Originally posted by Tauriz:

It's like trying to play piano using just a single key xD
But well, i think that if you like to play like this, it's your choice, no one has the right to condemn or say that you are playing wrong. You bought the game, you don't bother anyone since it's a singleplayer/coop, so you have the right to play the way you want.

I dont bother with combos mainly becoz i play multiplayer most of the time, and enemies in MP keep literally teleporting around, and if you try to combo them you will end up slicing the air :D Kurama dance tracking prevents that most of the time.

Ah yeah, the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ teleports. It happened to me and one girl I helped yesterday. When a common enemies teleports, that's nothing. But yesterday we fought Tate Eboshi, and when she started twitching teleports, it was unpleasant. Day before everything was fine tho, we played on the evening weekend when alot of ppl are surfing the internet, so maybe that's the reason.