Rise of the Ronin best skills and skill system explained
ThatĄŻs literally fighting with all you have.
To get off to a good start in Rise of the Ronin and make the best build for your character, it’s crucial to pick all the best skills in the game.
Creating a character in a game is a personal process and what is the best build is completely subjective. Rise of the Ronin offers many options to customize your character, from the type of weapon they use to the skills they have. Even though there are many possibilities, some skills stand out and work pretty well in most builds.
If you want to start a character with the right abilities to make things easier for you in Rise of the Ronin, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we explain all you need to know about the character creation and skill system in the game, and we list the best skills to pick.
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Rise of the Ronin character creation and skill system explained
The character creation in Rise of the Ronin is based around the Blade Sharpening Origin, which is basically the class of your character. You can run predetermined origins, classes inclined to specific playstyles, determined by the primary attributes they focus on. An origin for stealth and assassination has more points in Dexterity and Intellect, for example.
Regardless of the origin you chose, you have access to four skill trees, each dictated by one primary attribute, Strength, Dexterity, Charm, and Intellect. In these skill trees, you can unlock new abilities by spending Skill Points or Rare Skill Points. The idea is to pick the ones that suit your playstyle the best. If you want to make a character that uses a bow but deals well in unarmed combat, you can.
In general, the skills you have access to are meant to affect the way you approach battles, but some also unlock important mechanics, like crafting certain items. Skills don’t affect specific types of primary weapons, but some increase the damage, efficacy, and other aspects of secondary weapons, such as revolvers, bows, and shurikens.
As a way to support creating builds and testing them, Rise of the Ronin comes with a respec system that allows you to restart the character in case you need it.
Best skills in Rise of the Ronin
Listed below you find all the skills we recommend for you when starting the game in each skill tree. The idea is to unlock the abilities that are useful despite the build you want to focus on during the game.
One skill that appears more than once is the Refill (Medicine Pills). Medicine Pills are the Rise of the Ronin’s version of the refillable healing potions we see in soulslike games. By unlocking and upgrading these skills, you increase the number of pills you receive when starting missions or interacting with banners in the game.
Strength skill tree
- Refill (Medicine Pills)
- Ki Consumption (Guarding)
- Martial Skill Overall Attack
The Ki Consumption (Guarding) decreases the amount of stamina you lose when block attacks. This is extremely helpful considering there are situations in which you can’t avoid direct confrontation. In case you run out of Ki, you become an easy target. On the other hand, the Martial Skill Overall Attack increases the damage of your skills that hit the enemy’s Ki bar, making it easier to put them in a tight spot.
Dexterity skill tree
- Refill (Medicine Pills)
- Grappling Rope Assassination
- Grappling Rope Jump Attack
When dealing with an area filled with enemies, a good strategy is to silently kill the ones you can to minimize the risk when engaging in direct combat. The Grappling Rope Assassination allows you to hook enemies from the top of a house or tree, which is a great tool to avoid putting yourself in risky situations. When you finally engage in combat and need to get closer to an enemy, you can use the Grappling Rope Jump Attack which pulls you toward the enemy and hits them with an attack.
Charm skill tree
- Ki Recovery (Blade Flash)
- Health Recovery Wave (Allies)
Blade Flash is a mechanic that allows you to recover Ki by pressing R1 after attacking. The amount of Ki recovered depends on how filled the Blade Flash bar is. But with the Ki Recovery (Blade Flash), you increase the Ki you get, giving you room to unleash more attacks or run from the enemy. Now, when in situations where you have allies fighting alongside you, having the Health Recovery Wave (Allies) is extremely useful since you can heal the other characters when using Medicine Pills and other healing items.
Intellect skill tree
- Refill (Medicine Pills)
- Craft Status Ailment Medicine
- Craft Status Ailment Items
There are enemies capable of afflicting you with poison, paralysis and other status ailments. By having the Craft Status Ailment Medicine, you can make consumables in the Apothecary to remove these effects. At the same time, with the Craft Status Ailment Items skill, you can make items to imbue poison, electricity, fire, and other effects to your weapons.
Hope you have a good time with Rise of the Ronin!