Backwave |
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|---|---|
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Skill Point Cost |
1 |
Skill Type |
Active |
Prerequisite |
Tempest |
Backwave is one of the Sword Skills in Nioh2. Backwave is an active Mid stance skill that deflects an incoming attack and knocks the attacker off balance dealing significant ki damage.
Backwave Description
Guard just before an incoming hit to deflect the attack and knock the attacker off balance. (Mid stance only).
Command: L1 the moment before an enemy's attack connects
Any movement input while blocking will cause this attack to fail. Make sure you do not have a stick or arrow key input and are standing completely still when attempting this. In addition, it is possible to block late enough such that this skill doesn't activate, but also still block the attack in time.
This will briefly stun an enemy and deal a large amount of Ki damage when it succeeds. Backwave II will follow this up with Tempest to knock them down for a large amount of guaranteed damage. However, if you have an opportunity to safely drain their Ki manually instead of using Backwave II you should take it, as that maximizes damage potential.
Overall, its relative safety, not sharing inputs with other active skills and better reward if you can't drain Ki makes this the preferred option over Water Shadow and Haze for a parry option. However, Backwave II is much worse against bosses, as they will get up immediately from being downed by Tempest, limiting your damage potential greatly if you don't drain their Ki manually.
As an added bonus, just for having this skill active, if you guard with the timing necessary to activate the skill and the parry doesn't activate (IE against Yokai, which this parry does nothing against) you skill lose less Ki from guarding. This is unique to this skill and doesn't apply to other parries with the same input, like Tile Shaker. The percentage reduced depends on the attack you blocked.
Builds that use Backwave
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