Rise of the Ronin features an elaborate skill tree spread across four distinct categories. These are Strength, Dexterity, Charm, and Intellect. Investing in appropriate skills can strengthen your build and help you tackle some of the game’s more challenging encounters with ease.
However, it can be a bit overwhelming to manage four different skill trees in the game. As such, in this guide, we explain the best skills in Rise of the Ronin to unlock early.
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Best skills in Rise of the Ronin for the early game
Below you can find our list of the best skills in Rise of the Ronin you need to unlock early.
| SKILL TYPE | SKILL | SKILL DESCRIPTION |
| Strength | Repel Arrows / Bullets (Counterspark) | Use a Counterspark to deflect arrows and bullets, sending them back to deal damage to enemies. |
| Strength/Dexterity/Charm/Intellect | Refill (Medicinal pills) | Increases the number of medicinal pills replenished when auto-refill is activated. |
| Strength | Weapon Proficiency Acquisition | Increases the weapon proficiency you can acquire. |
| Dexterity | Rapid Assassinations | Allows you to assassinate two enemies in quick succession. |
| Dexterity | Grappling Rope Throw | Upgrades your grappling rope, allowing you to throw enemies. |
| Charm | Ki Recovery | Increases the amount of Ki recovered by a Blade Flash. |
| Charm | Combined Critical Hit | Enables an ally to follow up your critical hit with an additional critical hit, |
| Charm | Beast Whisperer | Various bears will have a harder time detecting you. Sneak up from behind and press Triangle to tame. |
| Charm | Bond Acquisition | Increases the rate of Personal and Area bonds you can acquire. |
| Intellect | Craft Status Ailment Items | Allows you to craft fire stones and paralytic stones, either of which can be used to inflict enemies with a status ailment by way of your primary weapon. |
| Intellect | Barter | Reduces the amount of money required to upgrade equipment. |
Repel Arrows/Bullets is easily one of the coolest skills and also one of the best skills in Rise of the Ronin. Parrying an enemy’s ranged attack and watching your weapon turn ablaze never gets old.
Refill is the most important skill in Rise of the Ronin, as it increases the base amount of medicines you can carry. Every skill category has at least one Refill skill, and you may want to unlock them early to increase your survivability in the battle.
There are many different weapon types in Rise of the Ronin. The more you use a particular weapon type, the more proficient you become in using that weapon and thus deal more damage. The weapon proficiency acquisition skill significantly increases the rate of weapon proficiency you gain and allows you to master different weapon types quickly.
In the early hours of Rise of the Ronin, stealth is king, and you may want to unlock the rapid assassination skill to take down two unaware enemies quickly.
The Grappling Rope is one of the best new additions in Rise of the Ronin, and to make the most of it, you have to unlock the grappling rope throw skill. As the name suggests, it lets you swing and throw stunned enemies, which is always a joy to watch. Mobility is always important, making the Grappling Rope one of the best skills in Rise of the Ronin.
Ki managment is crucial for survival, especially early on in the game, and the Ki recovery skill aids you by increasing the amount of Ki you recover by Blade Flash.
Often, you will want to bring an ally or two to missions, so it’s best to have the combined critical hit skill unlocked. Having this will allow your companions to deal a follow-up critical hit attack after you have dealt one yourself.
One of the most infuriating moments in Rise of the Ronin is when you’re sneaking into an enemy encampment and getting detected by one of the wolves in the area. Unlike human enemies, it’s a lot harder to sneak up on these furry enemies. As such, it’s best to have the Beast Whisper skill, which not only makes it a bit easy to sneak up on all kinds of beasts but also lets you tame them.
In Rise of the Ronin, you will spend plenty of time improving your bond with companions and different regions of the game, as doing so will grant you new items and gear. The bond acquisition is a must-have skill if you want to focus on this aspect of the game, as it increases the rate at which you gain area and personal bonds.
Craft status ailment is one of the best skills in Rise of the Ronin, as it lets you craft fire, lightning, and poison ailments. These are a big help against bosses, so you may want to unlock this skill so you may want to unlock this skill as soon as possible.
Early on in the game, you may struggle to update your weapons and armor, as it costs a ridiculous amount of money. You can nerf upgrade costs to some extent by unlocking the Barter skill, as it reduces the amount of money needed to upgrade your equipment which places it in our list of the best skills in Rise of the Ronin.
That’s all the best skills in Rise of the Ronin we recommend unlocking early on.
