Odachi is... kinda meh?

[WindBlownLeaf]

I've been playing an axe/odachi build and I find myself preferring axe 90% of the time. Axe has just better moves, high stance single heavy attack is really good vs human enemies and Heaven and Earth is very good against yokai, with how many times it hits.

Odachi just doesn't have the same offensive power. The only thing I can think of is that it has a longer range, but that's useless against a lot of yokai and bosses.

Any odachi mains can introduce me to the perks of this weapon? I think it looks a lot cooler than axe so would prefer to use it.

[Meat]

Of course a weapon that's much faster, has longer range and longer combos doesn't do as much damage as THE HEAVIEST WEAPON in the game. If you play a weapon expecting it to be like another you're obviously going to be disappointed because it isn't.

Odachi is like a bigger sword. Its moves are safer, hit more times and obviously do less damage and ki damage because it would be broken otherwise.
But it's still able to obliterate ki if you use the correct moves (groundquake, crashing waves and anything in high stance) and don't expect just one of them to be enough.

Odachi has the best crowd control of any weapon in the game. But if you only care about one on one bossfights that means nothing. It also has one of the best parries, bolting boar. Cuckoo's call is also a nice pseudo-parry move, like the axe's spirit wind.

In the end it's all about what you want out of the weapon. If you want the odachi to be an axe, well... of course it isn't. It has different uses.

[WindBlownLeaf]

Originally posted by Meat:

Of course a weapon that's much faster, has longer range and longer combos doesn't do as much damage as THE HEAVIEST WEAPON in the game. If you play a weapon expecting it to be like another you're obviously going to be disappointed because it isn't.

Odachi is like a bigger sword. Its moves are safer, hit more times and obviously do less damage and ki damage because it would be broken otherwise.
But it's still able to obliterate ki if you use the correct moves (groundquake, crashing waves and anything in high stance) and don't expect just one of them to be enough.

Odachi has the best crowd control of any weapon in the game. But if you only care about one on one bossfights that means nothing. It also has one of the best parries, bolting boar. Cuckoo's call is also a nice pseudo-parry move, like the axe's spirit wind.

In the end it's all about what you want out of the weapon. If you want the odachi to be an axe, well... of course it isn't. It has different uses.

Like I said in my post, I want to love the weapon as I think it's the coolest looking out of anything I've used. The bloodspider blade in particular looks AWESOME.

Maybe I'll just spend an hour or two leveling it up in random expeditions and try out the skills in the dojo.

I'll get groundquake and crashing waves. I assume groundquake is for yokai and crashing waves is for humans?

[Meat]

Originally posted by WindBlownLeaf:

I assume groundquake is for yokai and crashing waves is for humans?

Groundquake is also good at crowd control, ki damage and is hyper armored. Just watch your own ki so you don't get winded. But someone who likes axe should already be generally mindful of that anyway.
Crashing waves doesn't do as much ki damage if it hits directly but it staggers humans consistently and if you hit their guard they take heavy ki damage.

Odachi is a good guard breaking weapon rather than a direct ki damage machine like the axe or tonfa.

Other good moves:
-Flash attack (weapon swap): fast, hits twice and breaks guard. I recommend people use flash attacks a lot in general, almost all of them are really fast and cancel recovery from slow attacks.
-Moonlit snow redux: Fast, good range and good damage. If you want to turn your brain off, spam this.
-Grapple: The normal one. It's better than most other grapples. It places you behind the enemy's back which lets you immediately follow up with quicker attacks and do good damage.
-Charging Bull: More guard break. Also puts you behind the enemy's back if it depletes their ki, like the normal grapple. Useless against yokai.

[GrayHound]

The only weapon that can parry yokai.

MSR is the most braindead way to break the game, not because of DPS, but because of the range and basically AOE. It hits and staggers (groups of) enemies that dodge or are out of range. It actually hits so far that enemies don't even block it at the sweetspot, because the AI doesn't believe you an hit them. It's also extremely safe as it's burst damage so you just play reactively with it. Odachi vs Hayabusa is something you can literally do while eating chips and watching TV.

It also has other amazing guard break / ki damaging moves.


I went odachi + fists on my first playthrough and mained the odachi 90% of the time.
For further playthroughs I switched because the odachi spam, as easy as it is, gets old eventually.
I now use sword + duals and it's way more fun for me.
If I experienced some sort of road block, though, I'd probably revert to odachi to spank it.

[WindBlownLeaf]

Originally posted by GrayHound:

The only weapon that can parry yokai.

MSR is the most braindead way to break the game, not because of DPS, but because of the range and basically AOE. It hits and staggers (groups of) enemies that dodge or are out of range. It actually hits so far that enemies don't even block it at the sweetspot, because the AI doesn't believe you an hit them. It's also extremely safe as it's burst damage so you just play reactively with it. Odachi vs Hayabusa is something you can literally do while eating chips and watching TV.

It also has other amazing guard break / ki damaging moves.


I went odachi + fists on my first playthrough and mained the odachi 90% of the time.
For further playthroughs I switched because the odachi spam, as easy as it is, gets old eventually.
I now use sword + duals and it's way more fun for me.
If I experienced some sort of road block, though, I'd probably revert to odachi to spank it.

MSR?

[Meat]

Originally posted by WindBlownLeaf:

MSR?

Moonlit Snow Redux
We're being a bit hyperbolic about it. But just a bit. This move really is crazy strong.

[Slyke]

It's a different tool, meant to be used differently. Not everyone is supposed to prefer every weapon in game. Why would you be trying to make yourself love something you clearly don't? So what if it looks cooler to you.

On the other hand, if you care about weapon's looks that much then just use it and see where it gets you. Discovering full potential of a weapon can take a while, guides or no guides. If you aren't up for it at the moment, I don't think there's any point in forcing it.

[WindBlownLeaf]

Originally posted by Meat:

Originally posted by WindBlownLeaf:

MSR?

Moonlit Snow Redux
We're being a bit hyperbolic about it. But just a bit. This move really is crazy strong.

Hmm I can't find the skill on the wiki or skill tree

[WindBlownLeaf]

Originally posted by Curst:

It's a different tool, meant to be used differently. Not everyone is supposed to prefer every weapon in game. Why would you be trying to make yourself love something you clearly don't? So what if it looks cooler to you.

On the other hand, if you care about weapon's looks that much then just use it and see where it gets you. Discovering full potential of a weapon can take a while, guides or no guides. If you aren't up for it at the moment, I don't think there's any point in forcing it.

Maybe you're right... I find myself really preferring hammers so far, the stamina + constitution scaling seems crazy good (getting rewarded for building tanky with damage) and the ki damage is sooo good. I mean, once the enemy is downed they are basically done for as you get some time to prep more damage with talismans, heal if you want etc.

[WindBlownLeaf]

On a different note - what yokai abilities are really good for doing ki damage? I have the ippon-datara one which is really good but I don't know which of the other ones do ki damage.

[Meat]

Originally posted by WindBlownLeaf:

Hmm I can't find the skill on the wiki or skill tree

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2716770009
It's on the left side of the skill tree
Bolting Boar --> Charging Bull --> Cuckoo's Call --> Moonlit Snow Redux
I don't know how far you've progressed in the game but you need to have beaten "The Way of the Warrior: Veteran" to learn MSR.

[GrayHound]

Originally posted by WindBlownLeaf:

On a different note - what yokai abilities are really good for doing ki damage? I have the ippon-datara one which is really good but I don't know which of the other ones do ki damage.

I use nurikabe. It's a combo ability, so you have to press it 3 times to do 3 hits. The first two do ok ki/break damage, the last one does a lot.

Afaik it's the cheapest ability in the game at just 2 anima, and also the best generator of amrita (with buffs it can fill the whole yokai shift gauge in 2 combos, so 12 anima).

It's also safe (you get a large defense buff and hyperarmor plus it hits at a large distance) and is the best way to keep up the Blood of the Yokai buff (if you have it).

Overall my most used core along with Kasha.

[Fat Valentine]

Originally posted by WindBlownLeaf:

On a different note - what yokai abilities are really good for doing ki damage? I have the ippon-datara one which is really good but I don't know which of the other ones do ki damage.

A lot of the less used Soul Cores are pretty good at ki damage. Tesso, Koroka (in the dark realm), Ubume, One-Eyed Oni, Tatarimokke, Giant Toad, etc. And there's of course the good ol' reliable Gozuki.