Best Combat Moves?

[ShotBot]

I know the ichimonji double is really good, but I also heard that Living Force puts the game on easy mode. What is the best skill in ur opinion?
I just don't want to waste skill points when I don't have all the skill trees yet.

[E.P.D. Gaffney]

I more or less avoid combat arts, personally, but Ichimonji and the Double variant are very useful in certain fights.

Other than that, if something looks appealing to you, it's probably worth getting. The exceptions to this, in my opinion, may be Vault Over and Suppress Sound. Vault Over is useful if you know how to use it, but it's mostly good for fights with multiple enemies, which for the most part you should avoid unless you really know what you're doing, at which point you'll know if it's for you. And Suppress Sound just doesn't seem to have much of an effect, apart from on a couple of enemies, but you can just take a Gachiin sugar for that if needed, and on some enemies, you still need the sugar whether or not you have Suppress Sound, so it's one of the last skills I'd bother with.

I wouldn't say anything puts the game on easy mode. Anyone that says that, if they are telling the truth, probably just really understands how to use whatever it is they're talking about, and for that I could say the same for not using combat arts or prosthetics at all, because that's how I play and the game's not hard for me anymore, even on NG+12 completely debuffed.

That said, if you do use prosthetics, the skills that add follow-up attacks are definitely useful, though I'd say more so Chasing Slice and Projected Force.

[PlutonArioch]

My favorite skill is Chasing Slice. It is the only one I really missed when I did a no skills no prosthetics playthrough. But no one but you can know which is the best skill for you, since that depends heavily on how you currently play, how you want to play, and what situation you are in. I would recommend to try them all, and really get to know what they do, this way you can make informed decisions in future.
I personally never use Ichimonji. It does not fit my playstyle at all.

[E.P.D. Gaffney]

PlutonArioch původně napsal:

My favorite skill is Chasing Slice.

Have to agree with this. I don't usually bother with prosthetics, but the one exception is sometimes I'll toss out a shuriken and that almost always means I'll follow it up with a chasing slice.

PlutonArioch původně napsal:

I personally never use Ichimonji. It does not fit my playstyle at all.

To clarify for OP, the main reason I recommend ichimonji is you get it early and it doesn't cost spirit emblems. And as a pretty major bonus for a new player, the fact that it recovers a huge amount of posture for you even if you don't connect is probably hard to pass up.

Of course, it's slow, so using it in the wrong situation can get you hurt, but that can be said of all combat arts, many of which cost spirit emblems and none of which recover posture.

[Æɴɪsᴏ]

Chasing slice, living force (really love using the Shinobi fan)

[Alexoferith]

I personally won't call it "my best combat move". As PlutonArioch had pointed out that Ichimonji is not his playstyle, I would call it "my most comfortable move against so and so". If you watch some of Tyrannicon's Youtube tuitorial videos, he used some of the most basic combat art, well, the very 1st one everyone will get, the whirlwind slash to defeat some of the difficult bosses, it is not really the case how good the combat art is but how comfortable you feel using it. One good example is praying strike - exorcism, it is great to interrupt big bosses' move, I tried it, I wasn't comfortable with it. In fact, I totally messed it up, timing was wrong, etc. Yes, some of you may say that it is a case of "git gud", true. But, not many players can keep on swallowing the feeling of dying so many times just to practise.
Another fact is that FromSoftware has stated that in some of their previous patches to the game, the aim is to encourage and allow players to use different setup to play the game. To translate it, they were trying to stop people promoting the use of a single combat art. Of course, they would do that, it would seriously reduce the game value in terms of playability and longitivity whether you agree or not. One good example was the nerfing of the combat art high monk. Not long after the game was released, there were a lot of videos promoting the use of high monk due to the insane posture damage it inflicted on bosses. One good example is the use of high monk on O'rin. I was suffering facing her for two days (I am playing without the Kuro's charm and equipped with the Demon Bell). My deflecting skill is not 100%, about 60% to 70%. But due to her chain of attacks and speed, 60% to 70% was enough to get me killed so many time. I kept on changing my combat art between high monk and ichimonji double. Because of her perilous swipe, high monk would be ideal for it. But because my posture built up faster than hers, I kept on dying. In the end, I stayed with iichimonji double because it heals my posture big time. Also, the key factor was I improved my deflect skill to over 80% to 90%. I got this figure from the clinking sound when I got a perfect deflection.
As a conclusion, when your deflection skill has reached 100%, or very close to it, you don't really need combat art but it helps if you are going for time, a luxury enjoyment only a few of Sekiro players enjoy and proud of. Back in 2019, only an elite few can achieve that. Now, in 2022, there are more of them now. The current world record I think is just under 2 hours for completing Sekiro without using any glitch. This, Sekiro, in my personally opinion is one of the greatest game for enjoyment and replayability.

[E.P.D. Gaffney]

Luna ⸸ původně napsal:

Chasing slice, living force (really love using the Shinobi fan)

I actually never use the fan. What do you generally find it effective to use it on?

[Æɴɪsᴏ]

E.P.D. Gaffney původně napsal:

Luna ⸸ původně napsal:

Chasing slice, living force (really love using the Shinobi fan)

I actually never use the fan. What do you generally find it effective to use it on?

Generally against any enemy that I dislike. When you pair it with Living force, every attack makes enemies turn their back to you, meaning you can execute mid-battle and use any ninjutsu of your liking.

I just really love how flashy it looks.

[E.P.D. Gaffney]

Luna ⸸ původně napsal:

E.P.D. Gaffney původně napsal:

I actually never use the fan. What do you generally find it effective to use it on?

Generally against any enemy that I dislike. When you pair it with Living force, every attack makes enemies turn their back to you, meaning you can execute mid-battle and use any ninjutsu of your liking.

I just really love how flashy it looks.

Interesting. Sounds useful for fights with a few enemies at once. I'll probably experiment with it next time I play.

[Æɴɪsᴏ]

E.P.D. Gaffney původně napsal:

Luna ⸸ původně napsal:

Generally against any enemy that I dislike. When you pair it with Living force, every attack makes enemies turn their back to you, meaning you can execute mid-battle and use any ninjutsu of your liking.

I just really love how flashy it looks.

Interesting. Sounds useful for fights with a few enemies at once. I'll probably experiment with it next time I play.

Let me know the results!

[E.P.D. Gaffney]

Luna ⸸ původně napsal:

Let me know the results!

Ha might be a while. I beat the game a few times in 2020 and recently maybe six more times whilst my girlfriend and her brother were going through it for their first times.

[ShotBot]

E.P.D. Gaffney původně napsal:

I more or less avoid combat arts, personally, but Ichimonji and the Double variant are very useful in certain fights.

Other than that, if something looks appealing to you, it's probably worth getting. The exceptions to this, in my opinion, may be Vault Over and Suppress Sound. Vault Over is useful if you know how to use it, but it's mostly good for fights with multiple enemies, which for the most part you should avoid unless you really know what you're doing, at which point you'll know if it's for you. And Suppress Sound just doesn't seem to have much of an effect, apart from on a couple of enemies, but you can just take a Gachiin sugar for that if needed, and on some enemies, you still need the sugar whether or not you have Suppress Sound, so it's one of the last skills I'd bother with.

I wouldn't say anything puts the game on easy mode. Anyone that says that, if they are telling the truth, probably just really understands how to use whatever it is they're talking about, and for that I could say the same for not using combat arts or prosthetics at all, because that's how I play and the game's not hard for me anymore, even on NG+12 completely debuffed.

That said, if you do use prosthetics, the skills that add follow-up attacks are definitely useful, though I'd say more so Chasing Slice and Projected Force.

I agree, I found myself grabbing Latent skills first so I could better understand the core combat. Now that I feel I have that down, I don't really use many prosthetics except for firecracker and shiruken for sitruation reasons. For sure think I am going to go for Living Force as it doesn't really change my gameplay style but enhances it by just making my sword better.

[E.P.D. Gaffney]

Angry_Bionicle původně napsal:

I agree, I found myself grabbing Latent skills first so I could better understand the core combat. Now that I feel I have that down, I don't really use many prosthetics except for firecracker and shiruken for sitruation reasons. For sure think I am going to go for Living Force as it doesn't really change my gameplay style but enhances it by just making my sword better.

Yeah, once you understand the core combat, prosthetics just don't really seem that helpful.
Some emergency or situational uses, sure, but it's tough to incorporate something into your offensive style when you can only use it a few times between idol visits.

Living Force requires a lot of other skills, though, or I'd otherwise be all for it. Particularly I don't care for the Nightjar combat arts (because I basically don't use combat arts), which cost 5 SP. Which skill trees do you have?

Another skill that may sound more useful than it is is Breath of Nature: Light. Another one that is only useful for fighting several enemies at once, which is not generally something you should try to do until you really know what you're doing.

[ShotBot]

E.P.D. Gaffney původně napsal:

Angry_Bionicle původně napsal:

I agree, I found myself grabbing Latent skills first so I could better understand the core combat. Now that I feel I have that down, I don't really use many prosthetics except for firecracker and shiruken for sitruation reasons. For sure think I am going to go for Living Force as it doesn't really change my gameplay style but enhances it by just making my sword better.

Yeah, once you understand the core combat, prosthetics just don't really seem that helpful.
Some emergency or situational uses, sure, but it's tough to incorporate something into your offensive style when you can only use it a few times between idol visits.

Living Force requires a lot of other skills, though, or I'd otherwise be all for it. Particularly I don't care for the Nightjar combat arts (because I basically don't use combat arts), which cost 5 SP. Which skill trees do you have?

Another skill that may sound more useful than it is is Breath of Nature: Light. Another one that is only useful for fighting several enemies at once, which is not generally something you should try to do until you really know what you're doing.

Ya I never got Breath of Nature as I use stealth as much as I can. I have the first 3 skill trees rn, about to clear Mibu Village so at some point I should get (I think) the last skill tree soon. In which I also heard there is a good move in there, but I looked it up and still think comboing with Living Force and just having that extra sword power sounds great.

[Xaphnir]

Mortal Draw is the best, it's not really even a competition. Best damage, huge hitbox, damages enemies through block, can stagger most enemies.

[E.P.D. Gaffney]

Angry_Bionicle původně napsal:

Ya I never got Breath of Nature as I use stealth as much as I can. I have the first 3 skill trees rn, about to clear Mibu Village so at some point I should get (I think) the last skill tree soon. In which I also heard there is a good move in there, but I looked it up and still think comboing with Living Force and just having that extra sword power sounds great.

Well, there's five altogether. If you just have three, you're missing either Ashina or Temple, both of which have good stuff. If you could have taken Ichimonji, then I suppose you have Ashina and missed the Temple one?

Xaphnir původně napsal:

Mortal Draw is the best, it's not really even a competition. Best damage, huge hitbox, damages enemies through block, can stagger most enemies.

Yes but you get Mortal Draw free, so it's not really a skill 'to take'. But its downside is it comes with a spirit emblem cost, and I just found that if I was learning a boss and Mortal Draw was part of my main strategy, I was going through the emblems faster than I wanted, and eventually stopped bothering with combat arts altogether. But apart from that, yeah, MD is the best one. Ichimonji is still great for its ability to reduce your posture, but again, for advanced play, your deflections are generally nigh perfect anyway.