How to Blade Flash in Rise of the Ronin

Combat in Rise of the Ronin is no walk in the park. Enemies are ruthless and lethal, and there will be times when it feels like your own attacks aren't doing much at all. However, when you learn how to do techniques like the Blade Flash, you'll soon be on your way to mastering combat in its entirety.

Blade Flash is one of the key components of combat in this game, and it's also tied closely to the Blood Gauge, a mechanic that players might not know about. We'll be covering both of these in this guide to give you a better understanding of how to play Rise of the Ronin.

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By Taylor Pittman

What is the Blood Gauge in Rise of the Ronin?

Full Blood Gauge in Rise of the Ronin — Rise of the Ronin Blood Gauge

The Blood Gauge is the orange bar on the weapon that gradually builds up as you hit opponents. This represents how much blood is on your weapon, and while that might not mean much at the moment, it's a key part of the game's combat system, as it affects some skills as well as the Blade Flash mechanic (more on that in a bit).

For example, the Crimson Light Martial Art from the Aisu Kage-ryu Combat Stance can make enemies panic for a long duration if your weapon's Blood Gauge is full upon using the active skill.

What is Blade Flash in Rise of the Ronin?

Rise of the Ronin Blade Flash Encyclopedia entry — Rise of the Ronin Blade Flash description

Blade Flash is a mechanic that lets players recover Ki (stamina) after any attack. The amount of Ki you recover depends on how much your Blood Gauge is filled up, though passive skills and gear modifiers can also have an effect on this.

When you perform a Blade Flash, your character will swing their weapon to clean all the blood off of it. Doing so will clear your Blood Gauge and convert any blood into Ki. You can increase the Ki you receive by unlocking skills and certain equipment sets.

Blade Flash is performed by pressing R1/RT after any attack, even ones that don't hit an enemy. You can do this with every melee weapon in Rise of the Ronin.

Ideally, players will want to use Blade Flash after every combo they make. This will top off their Ki and get them ready for incoming attacks or for follow-up moves. Martial Arts like Crimson Light force players to decide between doing more damage or maintaining their Ki. Before you use such attacks, consider if recovering stamina is the better option or not.