This section talks about the fights in the game that are not related to the story, or any of the game's side content. "Random encounters" are fights with guys you can encounter while travelling the various maps in the game. If you bump into these guys, a fight will begin. For details regarding the spawn points for these random encounters, as well as the rewards you can receive, see the encounters page of this guide.

When you open all the storage lockers in the game, you are rewarded with the Lucky Beads. If you equip this item, random encounters are removed from the game, allowing you to move around freely without worrying about getting into fights.

The number of enemies you encounter in a fight is determined by the encounter level. At level 1, you'll get 2-4 enemies. Levels 2 and 3 is 3-5 enemies. Level 4 is 5-8 enemies. The encounter level changes as you progress through the story.

Many enemy types will back off when you change weapons in combat (e.g. drawing your sword). This does not have any effect on the Martial Arts Expert type.

You will receive items and money when you win a random encounter battle. Some enemies carry pouches/containers (they glow, so it's easy to spot enemies who have them). When you defeat that enemy, you can collect the item by walking over it after it drops. Note that the battle ends when you defeat the final enemy, so if that final enemy is carrying an item you won't get the opportunity to pick up that item. Therefore, you should defeat the item-carrying enemies first. The experience you gain will vary depending on the enemy types you defeat. Also, the amount of experience you gain is reduced if Kiryu's level is high.

In regards to the pouches/containers carried by enemies in battle, if it glows green it is either an equipment item or an item from the "other" category, and if it glows yellow it is a recovery item.

Remember to use the battlefield environment to your advantage. You will often find useful items lying around that you can use as weapons. But also there are certain environment-specific heat actions that can only be used in certain locations in the game. Check the heat actions section of this guide for details, such as locations and conditions for the environment-specific heat actions.

When you are on Cliff Road, for example, you are able to use a heat action which throws an enemy into the valley, instantly defeating them.

The attack force of a weapon refers to the impact that weapon has with each strike. The heavier the weapon, the greater the attack force, and defending against such attacks with lighter weapons will result in the guard being broken. When guard is broken it opens up an opportunity to take damage from further attacks (e.g. a combo attack). But breaking guard by iteself does not deal any damage.

Differences in attack force become clear in one-on-one fights in the arena. When your guard is broken, you cannot attack for a short time.

How the force of an attack is calculated is incidated on the table. The "Motion Attack Force" of Kiryu and enemies is not indicated anywhere in the game. Motion Attack Force is a number assigned to certain attacks or techniques. The more powerful the attack or technique, the higher this value. It is not possible to determine attack force in any objective sense, but it's enough to remember that more powerful attacks and techniques will result in more attack power.

Attack Force

The table here shows the 3 weapon classifications in terms of attack force. Bear in mind this is a generalisation and exceptions do exist - for example, there are some longswords that have greater attack force than some greatswords, but generally the greatswords have greater attack force. Using weapons in a higher rank will help prevent your guard from being broken. For example, attacks from longswords won't break the guard of someone using a greatsword or club. Unarmed (Brawler) is included in the "Weak" category, but remember that you cannot defend against sword attacks, so there's no opportunity for an unarmed guard to be broken when it comes to those kinds of attacks.

Weapon Attack Force Classification

Many bosses you encounter in the game are exceptions to the above rules of attack force. They will often strike with a force greater than that of the "strong" category listed above. For example, there are times when even using a greatsword won't break a boss' guard, or times when even when defending with a greatsword your guard will be broken.

Tsuruya's Ito is a good example. Most of his attacks will break your guard even if you are using a greatsword. In these situations it is better to avoid defending and focus instead on evading attacks.

Throws, as well as other attacks which knock an enemy to the ground, are an important component of combat. Enemies on the ground are defenceless and vulnerable to your attacks. Another great advantage of throws is that you can knockdown nearby enemies by throwing a grabbed enemy into them. There are various techniques that can force an enemy to the ground and mastering them can give you a big advantage in combat.

Basic attacks can be enhanced through training. For example, a longer combo attack. The power-ups provided can sometimes include the ability to knock down opponents.

The simplest way to force an enemy to the ground is to grab and throw them using the button while using the brawler style. This throwing ability can be improved by training at the Gion Martial Arts Dojo. There are three training sessions related to throws. Power Throw #1 improves the damage of the throw. Power Throw #2 improves the damage other enemies receive when you throw an enemy into them. Grab Reversal lets you throw an enemy when they grab you.

You cannot throw the wrestler enemy type using normal throws. However, it is possible to throw them using Grab Reversal - as long as they don't grab you from the front.

There are many attacks that can knock enemies to the ground. Brawler, Single Sword, Two Sword, and Greatsword styles all have knockdown attacks. Brawler knockdown has already been explored (i.e. throwing). For single sword, using after a combo launches a strong attack which knocks enemies down. For the two sword style, using a strong attack after a combo of at least 4 attacks will cause the enemy to go to the ground. However, you must complete the necessary training to upgrade the combo of the two sword style before you can use this attack.

For the greatsword style, landing all 3 hits of the combo will knock an enemy down. It is also possible to learn a powerful technique through scarecrow training which can knock down many nearby enemies.

It is possible to knock down enemies with other weapons as well. The Jitte, Umbrella, and Kiseru can all knockdown an enemy with a single attack. Be careful when using it because the attack animation is quite long, leaving you vulnerable to other attacks. As for weapons you find lying around the battlefield, one-handed weapons work like the jitte (a attack will knock them down) while two-handed weapons can knock down enemies with either the or buttons.

The Tengu Staff weapon is an exception here. You'll only knock down enemies with this weapon if you hit them with a full 3-hit combo.

The most important thing in fights with multiple enemies is to ensure you don't get surrounded. You particularly want to watch our for attacks from behind - unless you are using the two sword style, you won't be able to defend against these attacks. Fighting with your back against a wall is a good way to prevent enemies coming up behind you. You could also get attacked from behind with attacks that have a high attack force, meaning you can't defend against them with the two sword style. When enemies get too close behind you, use to create distance. Below suggests three enemies in these battles you should prioritise taking out before other enemies.

If you are in a spacious battle area, a good strategy is to force the enemimes to spread out by moving around a lot. Doing so will thin out their numbers and make them less of a threat.

Throughout the game you will encounter many strong enemies in the form of bosses (in the main story) and wanted men (in the bounty substories). Many of these guys are accompanied by henchmen. It's a good idea to get rid of those henchmen first, so you can get down to a one-on-one fight with the boss. When you are fighting a boss in such a situation, it's extremely useful to use the button to focus on him. This will ensure you are facing him during the fight, making it effective in a "duel" situation (i.e. when you are one-on-one with a tough opponent).

Some bosses and wanted men will be able to grab and throw you. You will also notice you won't be able to throw some bosses - nor even grab them at all.

It's important to make sure you have recovery items when going into battle against boss enemies. Not just to recover your health using vitality pills, but also to put yourself into heat mode with frenzy pills. The All Purpose Pill - Ultimate will fully restore your health and max out your heat gauge, so it's useful to have a few of those on you in these battles. In some boss fights they will have henchmen fighting alongside them. Some of those henchman may be carrying items. You should definitely take them out first and collect their items - they often drop recovery items.

Don't miss out on the useful items some of the henchmen have on them - take them out first, collect the items, then clear out the rest of the henchmen before facing the boss one-on-one.

You can use the enemy data section of this guide to find out what weapon a boss or wanted man uses and plan accordingly. For a few bounties, there is a greater reward if you take them in alive (in gameplay terms, this means defeating them with anything other than a sword). You can of course still use a sword in these fights, but the finishing blow must be done without a sword if you want the bonus reward for those bounty substories. Some boss fights have special heat actions you can perform. So make sure you are correctly equipped to perform them.

For those wanted men who must be defeated without a sword in order to obtain the bonus reward, you don't necessarily have to use the brawler style - using weapons lying on the battlefield is also acceptable.

This game features some heat actions specifically for use against bosses, known as "Secret Sword" techniques. See the melon cutting training section for details about how to learn these heat actions. Of those, there are a few which can only be used against specific bosses. If you don't perform the heat action in those boss fights, you will not get another chance to do so on that playthrough. You must be equipped with the correct weapon to perform the heat action, so check the conditions/requirements beforehand to make sure you don't miss it.

Not only do you need the correct equipment, but you must also successully complete the QTE before you can execute the heat action.