The way to know how Amrita Fiends are going to explode is as they take damage of their element their crystal glows brighter and brighter until eventually they fall to the ground and explode. The explosion is purely elemental of their respective element, and affects enemies too. With a bit of Magic investment and the right elemental shot you can use one talisman to turn an Amrita Fiend into a powerful bomb to open a fight with.
Ii Naomasa is a rough duel because like all NG duels he follows the rules of his gear set, and where Muneshige slower Ki regen Naomasa clearly is rocking that blue agility, meaning his dodges are better and he regens Ki very quickly when not attacking or blocking. There’s a few tricks you can use to put a finger on the scale early, Lifeseal Talismans dramatically slow Ki regen and Shockwave Talismans do big Ki damage. For ninja, throwing shuriken and kunai to interrupt his movements and make him block (the AI likes to block when many attacks are pushed at them) which gives you a chance to recover your own Ki, as throwing crap doesn’t use Ki and lets you keep regenerating Ki. Depending on your weapon load out you can even use the block happy AI against itself, bringing skills that have excellent Guard Break and just being hyper aggressive to smash his Ki and then Grapple him, though straight katana users have some issues as their best Guard Break skill is Kick, a combo move that can only be done in Low/Mid Stance, whose attacks will bounce off blocks. Further, Naomasa doesn’t Living Weapon, just fakes it with the one thing he can do that players cannot, he’s managed to mix a Guardian Talisman and Fire Enchant Talisman into one, applying a fire buff to his weapon while Summoning Enko. Speaking of Enko, deep dive!
Enko has Strong Attack Ki Reduction -8%; Break +15; Fire Damage +12%; Grapple Damage +25%; Strong Attack Damage +13%
Enko Details
Enko’s a good pick if you’re using Strong Attacks a lot, which if you’re using Spear all of its stances have very good Strong Attacks. Break is how good a weapon is at dealing with blocking opponents, higher break deal more Ki damage to blocks. It’s not terribly relevant as a stat as what Skill you’re using matters more than the weapon’s break but it’s there. Grapples do big damage, so adding 25% more to them is Good. Enko’s Living Weapon stats are more aggressive than Kato’s, packing a 22% damage boost and 42 Fire and similar Action, Might, and Gauge Rate while having one grade lower Recovery and Tenacity. Enko is here to hurt. On the topic of Summon attacks, recent testing has shown Kato can hit more than twice, the number of hits linked to how far the spirit travels before hitting something, so close range it can hit somewhere like six to seven times. Still doesn’t hold a candle to Enko’s summon, as Naomasa demonstrates for me, the tiger leaps forward and slams the ground causing a fire pillar to erupt, then two more at an angle from the initial pillar. The pillars do big damage and knock human enemies into the air, meaning they crash land and are ready to be hit with a Final Blow immediately. Big kitty for big damage 12/10
Ii, The Red Demon set is the other set you will see a metric ton of, lasting longer than even Warrior of the West’s Honor as Way of the Strong (NG+) will absolutely be littered with people in full Red Demon armor. It’s fairly lackluster because it doesn’t add much in the way of bonus damage and it’s 6 piece is Ki Recovery Speed, which since Red Demon gear is light armor, matters way less since there’s no way you aren’t Blue agility if you have the 6 piece Ii, The Red Demon. It’s not even saved by the Ii clan passive bonus, for aligning with the Ii you get Close Combat Attack +2% and +8% Toughness per piece of Red Demon armor equipped but 40% of light armor’s toughness is barely reaching Medium armor levels and there’s cooler things Clan passives can do (like clearing status effects when you use an Elixir or extending Living Weapon duration.)
And that’s a wrap… Wait what was that other fire Spirit in the video? We’ve just seen Kato and Enko now… Oh! It’s Hi-nezumi!
Hi-nezumi brings Onmyo Magic Power +50; Stealth for Enemies A+; VS Fire +20; Close Combat Attack (Critical) +18%; Unlimited Onmyo +15%
Hi-nezumi Details
Onmyo Magic Power affects Onmyo magic damage and +50 is solid. Stealth for Enemies makes enemies detection much worse and let me setup this 100% unintentional joke. Resist is resist, moving on. Recently I’ve learned that Close Combat Attack is not Close Combat Damage. CCAttack only works with non-skills, so just Quick and Strong attacks, while CCDamage is all damage. Still 18% more damage from a majority of your attacks is Good if risky. And a 15% chance to not use a charge of Onmyo is Good to Great since on average the big spells are way cooler to just get more of for free. Hi-nezumi’s Living Weapon stats are largely comparable to Aya-komari, but slightly worse in a few spots. The summon is also lackluster if unique. Hi-nezumi pops out, scurrying in a triangle pattern and dropping small explosives onto the three corners of its run. Contact with the spirit deals light damage, and the bombs detonate after a short time or contact with an enemy, dealing slightly better damage. It’s unique but also underwhelming, likely to keep Guardian Talismans from being too ridiculous with the Unlimited Onmyo. Also smokes a pipe; tiny sneaking mission magic mouse 12/10