Just how important is flux and stance switching?

[Daemok]

I'm enjoying the game (especially the loot system), but I'm new to the Nioh series. I'm finding flux and stance switching to be a bit tedious. I'm trying to get these mechanics down from the start, but they feel overly cumbersome. Trying to fit in extra button presses with such a fast paced game feels like a little much.

1. Is flux needed to play the game well? I can handle regular flux OK about half the time right now, but flux 2 just feels like way too much for my brain at this point. Wondering just how necessary this mechanic is. At first I thought I could get a flux 2 buy going from low stance to mid and back to low, but it seems it doesn't work like that, making it even more complicated.

2. I've been building my skill tree for low stance kusarigama and pretty much just staying in low stance all the time. I liked the idea of lots of dodging, low ki consumption, and fast attacks all in one stance. After watching some tutorials though I feel like this is going to get me into trouble later. Seems like most tutorials suggest using low stance purely for evasion and mobility. I'm worried my damage will simply be too low later in the game in low stance. Is it viable to build around one stance, or will I just be gimping myself way too much?

[Krystal]

In Nioh 1, stance swapping and flux timing, not all that important, in Nioh 2...often means the difference between life and death, so yeah time your flux well and swap stances when you can to maximize dmg.

[MysticalPotato]

引用自 GunFinX：

Important if out of KI often. EDIT: Basically if it's a mechanic of the game and you're not taking advantage of it, you're not playing correctly/optimally.

There is no "correctly" - optimal is subjective.

[MysticalPotato]

引用自 Zordrage：

引用自 walentaz：

Honestly - personally I find it not worth the hassle if you're okay on Ki. Besides, for many builds you're doing less dps by switching stance, but only few have real benefits from switching stances - like Switchglaive having stacks from it to execute huge blow.

It's not like mandary mechanic - some builds will benefit from it, for others it's just unnecessary hassle, because why engage with any ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if your best combo X is let's say in high stance and you don't have any Ki issues - so why on freaking earth you'd be fluxing? - you just chain that combo over and over and over.

So no, this is not the case of playing game wrong - it's completely optional mechanic, benefits of which will vary from build to build.

this... i never switch stances never had to and never had issues without it..
its just a gameplay gimmic in my opinion. i personally even avoid the auto stance switch skills because its ANNOYING that they pull me out of my favorite stance.

Wrong. It's not a gimmick (go and look up what the word actually means, because it would appear you misunderstand the meaning) - it's a game mechanic. Do you have to use it? No. Should you? Probably.

[Bishop]

引用自 Soul XCV：

It's like playing Dante in Devil May Cry and only using Swordmaster for example.
You can definitely get by without T/RG/GS but you're only limiting the extent of the combat's depth and the options you have in big boss fights.
Each stance has its own purpose, and the game becomes really really enjoyable and there is so much depth to be discovered if you learn stance switching.
For example, Enenra's multi-tornado projectile can be either blocked with mid stance, then switch to high to punish him; or dodged to the side with low, spam dodge till you get to his back, switch to high, then do massive damage. Staying in high forever has really bad mobility and will get you killed a lot.

There's one huge difference between DMC and NIoh tough. Nioh is a diablo like and heavily rewards deep optimization. In theory stance dance can be pretty good, in practice heavily optimizing single stance and specific abilities by passive skills, scrolls and inheritances will likely be much stronger. And ki regeneration is completely negated by the barrier talisman, which is really easy to maintain and should be included in every viable endgame build anyway.

[MysticalPotato]

引用自 Bishop：

引用自 Soul XCV：

It's like playing Dante in Devil May Cry and only using Swordmaster for example.
You can definitely get by without T/RG/GS but you're only limiting the extent of the combat's depth and the options you have in big boss fights.
Each stance has its own purpose, and the game becomes really really enjoyable and there is so much depth to be discovered if you learn stance switching.
For example, Enenra's multi-tornado projectile can be either blocked with mid stance, then switch to high to punish him; or dodged to the side with low, spam dodge till you get to his back, switch to high, then do massive damage. Staying in high forever has really bad mobility and will get you killed a lot.

There's one huge difference between DMC and NIoh tough. Nioh is a diablo like and heavily reward deep optimization. In theory stance dance can be pretty good, in practice heavily optimizing single stance and specific abilities by passive skills, scrolls and inheritances will likely be much stronger. And ki regeneration is completely negated by the barrier talisman, which is really easy to maintain and should be included in every viable build anyway.

Should? No. You can say "this works really well" but telling people they "should use this, period" is a little bit absolute.

"might want to consider" - would have been a better way of putting it.

[Engels78]

Nioh has really complex fight system with all those stances, skills, weapons, spirits, souls, magic, ninja etc... But I think Nioh 2 is more forgiving and let more freedom in way to play than Nioh 1. I am Casual player, and a bit overwhelmed with all this Stuff... So I found the most suitable and easy way to play 95% high stance with Axe...

[sooth321]

- Flux and Flux 2 are worth learning if you want to play aggressively, and for combos. Flux 2 can be done quickly by rolling your fingers over the buttons, as opposed to pressing each individually.

- You're on the right track regarding using low stance for most of your dodging. High and mid can offer longer and more powerful punishes of course, so if you can get the hang of dodging an attack in low stance, switching to high or mid for a punish, then using flux to get back to low stance for more dodging you're on your way to unlocking the combat potential of this game

- If you do a punish in high stance, try getting back to low stance by pressing RB and rolling your thumb over X and A. Easy flux 2!

(Little known fact: the returns on Flux and Flux 2 are the highest when you have 99 Heart and 99 Courage, Around 212 ki returned, in addition to how much you got back from the ki pulse.)

[Goilveig]

I haven't finished this game yet, but I platinumed the original Nioh which has the same core mechanics, so I'll add my 2 cents.

It's not needed at the start - focus on just learning your weapon, unlocking your weapon skills, etc.

However, flux & stance shifting are probably the two biggest differentiators about Nioh compared to other ARPGs, and there's a world of difference when you truly master both. It's probably the biggest differentiator between someone who has mastered the games and someone who hasn't. (And don't be discouraged if you're in the latter group - one of the reasons I love this series so much is that the combat system is so flexible and so deep that that it takes a very long time to truly master.)

* Early on, focus on learning the weapon.
* Next, add ki pulsing. It may also help considerably to get the skills that let you ki pulse on dodging, but don't over-use this; if you don't need to dodge, use the normal ki pulse.
* Once you have those down, focus on the different stances of your weapon. Every stance is good for some things and bad for some things. For example, switchglaive high stance is excellent at breaking oni horns, punishing openings, or grappling ki-broken humans, low stance can be excellent at applying statuses and keeping a ki-broken or confused yokai staggered, and mid stance has excellent range and crowd-clearing potential while also providing a balance of offense and defense. This is a good time to work on Flux and Flux 2.
* After you've mastered one weapon and making good use of every stance, you can bring a second weapon into the mix. But you ideally want to do this once you have a very clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of your primary weapon, so you can pick one with a playstyle that complements the weapon you already use.

[Froglodyte]

It's not necessary. When I was completely new to Nioh 1, I rarely ever used it in the beginning and more focused on the attacks my weapons had in order to combo when the enemy ran out of Ki. Once you do that, you can try adding flux to the mix and it helps a lot more for prolonged combos

[[Slayer]]

Really no reason to flux at all. If you can't do it naturally don't do it since it will get you killed.