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InNine Sols, mastering skills is crucial for defeating the toughest bosses and acquiring the nine Sols. As you progress through the story, you will learn some useful skills, but many, many others will remain locked in the skill tree.
Earning skill points to unlock these abilities can be a significant grind. You must defeat bosses, overcome enemies, and even find rare Tao Fruit items. To help you make the most of your hard-earned skill points, this guide highlights some of the best skills you should not overlook and attempt to get as early as possible.
Bullet Deflect
Your characterYi does not have many tools to deal with ranged enemies—except to get close and personal with melee attacks. Most of theseranged enemies are strategically placed next to melee sword unitsor a berserker robot dog that charges at you on sight.
In moments like these, constantly getting hit by ranged enemies, such as crossbow-wielding foes, can become incredibly frustrating. However, this frustration can be alleviated if you unlock the Bullet Deflect skill.
With this skill,Yi can deflect and send projectiles, like arrows or bullets,back at the attackers. This allows you to handle ranged units from a distance, reducing the risk of getting hit by avoiding a direct rush towards them.
Swift Runner
Eliminating the nine Sols requires a lot of on-foot travel while exploring various regions in the game. This involvesextensive walking between areasand exploring new pathways. Fortunately, you canexpedite the exploration process by unlocking the Swift Runnerskill.
Once you have this skill,holding down the Shift key will greatly increase your character’s movement speed, significantly cutting down the time needed for exploration. This skill isnot only useful for exploringnew areasbut also excellent for backtracking.
Often, you might not be able to reach certain areas because a specific skill, like Air Dash, has not been unlocked yet. Once you unlock skills like this one, previously inaccessible areas can bereached to obtain rare loot, such as Pipe Vials and Tao Fruit items.
Shadow Strike
Shadow Strike is one of the best early-game skillsto unlock. This skillsignificantly increases the damage of your strong attackswhen you strike an opponent from behind.
The Azure Bow attack, the final strike of your melee attack’s triple slash, and Talisman’s explosions all count as strong attacks. Shadow Strike not only applies when you attack unaware enemies from behind but also when youdodge behind an enemy and attack.
Be sure to capitalize on this strategy whenever you are engaged in a boss fight. Firing the Azure Bow arrow at the back of a boss is one of the best ways to deal massive direct damage.
Skull Kick
Mastering theTai-Chi kick proves invaluable when facing foes glowing greenand charging towards you. Precision is key, as a well-timed Tai-Chi kick inflicts internal damageand stuns your adversary. The versatileSkull Kick is an effective alternativeoutside these green glow encounters.
What sets the Skull Kick apart isits ability to propel your character higher into the airupon a successful strike,opening up opportunities for extended combochains orevading ground-based assaults.
We recommend you reserve the Skull Kick for moments following a series of melee combos for optimal combat strategy. This ensures you have ample space to evade incoming attacks after pummeling the boss.
Incisive Drain
The Incisive Drain is a supplemental skill that becomes beneficial once you have unlocked both the Tai-Chi Kick and Skull Kick skills. This onegrants you a Qi charge each time yousuccessfully execute a Tai-Chi Kick or Skull Kickon a target.
The accumulation of Qi charges enables you to use more talismans on opponents, inflicting various damage-dealing effects. This skill proves particularly useful during boss fights, especially if you may master the timing of the aforementioned attacks.
Converting the internal damage inflicted on a boss into direct damage is crucialfor maximizing your combat effectiveness.Talismans are the primary means to achieve this, but their use requires Qi charges.
Therefore, mastering the Incisive Drain skill becomes important, asit ensures you have enough Qi chargesto unleash devastating talisman effects on your opponents.
Swift Rise
Most melee units hit hard and consecutively, causing your character to stagger with each blow.Failing to recover quickly leaves you vulnerableto further strikes.
Fortunately, you can regain control of these dire situations by unlocking the Swift Rise skill early in the game. With this skill,whenever you are knocked down, simply pressing the Shift button will prompt Yi to dash back onto his feet swiftly.
This skill ensures you can swiftly evade subsequent attacks, whether it is a devastating blow from a boss or a barrage of ranged arrows from crossbow enemies.
