Making builds is one of my favorite things to do in RPG Games. Rise of the Ronin features multiple skill trees for each stat like strength, dexterity, intelligence, and charisma. With the right skills, you can get through certain difficult parts of the early game with ease.
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Best Early Skills To Unlock First In Rise Of The Ronin
While some of these skills you may already have depending on which Blade Sharpening Origin you picked, that won’t always be the case, so these are the ones you should unlock first:
Repel Arrows/Bullets
The Killer Origin gets this skill pre-unlocked. It is a life-saving skill that will save you a lot of trouble in the early game when you face those pesky ranged enemies that shoot bullets or arrows.
Simply timing your parry (Counterspark) will result in a deflect. Interestingly, if you deflect fire arrows, your weapon will be imbued with fire similar to using the Fire Whetstone.
Mid-air Counterspark
The name speaks for itself; this one allows you to parry in mid-air. This essentially makes it so that you can parry almost anytime whether you are on the ground or in the air. It is especially useful if you constantly do the aerial grapple hook attacks and if you are going for a dex build.
Grappling Rope Assassination
This skill will immensely help you during your stealth takedowns. Simply gaining a height advantage over your unsuspecting enemies will allow you to pull them up with a grappling hook, almost like the stealth kills in the Marvel Spider-Man games.
Combined Critical Hit
Critical hits are very powerful and can change the tides in most boss battles. Having that effect doubled is a no-brainer, which is why you should get this skill. You won’t always have an Ally with you, but that will mostly be the case during the main mission boss fights, and this will help tremendously.
Refill (Medicine Pills)
You will already have this skill if you picked the Sapper origin, which goes to show that Sapper isn’t a bad class to pick after all. This skill ensures you get an extra Medicine Pill every time you rest at checkpoints or respawn, which is a game-changer for the tougher fights.
Also Read: Should You Kill Or Spare Gonzo In Rise Of The Ronin?
Killer Blade
If you are going for that intimidating character that scares the crap out of the enemies, then you are going to want the Killer Blade skill. Because this move can terrorize nearby foes, you will be able to execute multiple enemies when fighting against a group. All you need to do is bring one foe down with this move and the rest will be terrified.
Ki Recovery (Effective Counterspark)
You may be good at parrying enemy attacks all the time but the real benefit comes when you can counter back with powerful attacks. This is why Ki Recovery is essential, your early game boss fights will be easier when you are able to fight back with a furry of combos and Martial Attacks after those Countersparks.
Affliction Wave
Another skill that will help with those groups of enemies, Affliction Wave allows you to fire elemental arrows so that it spreads its status effect to nearby enemies as well. Flame arrows are easily craftable early-game and in certain villages you can also buy them from the vendors.
Direct Hit
If you prefer playing stealth and taking enemies out from a distance, Direct Hit is a no-brainer. This will increase the damage of your arrows with a fully drawn bow allowing you to easily and silently one-shot headshot certain weak enemies. Good for thinning the numbers quietly by taking out the weak guards instantly.
Grappling Rope Throw
Grappling Rope Throw is a great skill for fighting against tougher enemies that fight alongside multiple weaker ones. You can deplete the Ki of the weaker ones and then throw them at the tough enemy. You can also combo this with Killer Blade and terrify enemies which depletes their Ki making them ready to be thrown.
