Combat for NieR Replicant focuses on the basic and advanced combat mechanics of the game. From indicating the usage of the various weapons that can be equipped, battle movements, player and enemy combat details, and many more. This page covers information regarding combat in general as well as individual mechanics and strategies for NieR Replicant.
Combat - Nier Replicant ver1.2247...
In NieR Replicant ver1.22..., The Protagonist is equipped with a single weapon of the player's choosing, while also wielding the Grimoire Weiss, which bestows him with magical powers. This enables The Protagonist to attack in two main ways - he can swiftly lunge at his foes with his weapon, or kite while casting special attacks with the Sealed Verses.
Since most enemies in NieR RepliCant ver1.22... perform visually telegraphed attacks, damage can usually be avoided by simply running out of range, pressing R2 to evade or L2 to defend. Player s can also switch between different weapons and Sealed Versus during combat (similar to the Witcher series) to adjust accordingly when dealing with different enemies.
Weapons
Weapons are the bread and butter of combat. Their hack n' slash attacks seem basic, but are actually riddled with hidden combos and mechanics, giving them a deceptively high skill cap. Weapons can be acquired through story quests, open world farming, and blacksmith store purchases. They also come with three stats:
- Damage: The amount of damage each basic hit inflicts on foes.
- Magic Power: Increases Sealed Verses damage by a percentage.
- Weight: Directly determines the speed of a weapon's attacks, and indirectly affects the damage it inflicts (heavier weapons are slower but inflict higher damage)
Weapons can be upgraded to increase its set of stats, for a maximum of four times.
There are three types of weapons in Nier Replicat ver1.22 - single-handed swords, two-handed swords, and spears. The weapon in which you start with is a single-handed sword called The Nameless Blade, which is obtained by completing the Prologue. For roughly the first half of the game, you can only acquire single-handed swords; two-handed swords and spears will appear as you progress towards later parts of the story.
Sealed Verses
Sealed Verses are pages of the Grimoire Weiss that bestow the Protagonist with magical abilities, each one unlocked at a different time and location in the story. Sealed Verses are often used periodically in between charging in and backing out of melee range, making them devastating kiting tools.
Keep in mind that using Sealed Verses consume the magic power meter (blue bar below the health meter), which slowly regenerates with time. Players shall preserve their magic power meter by alternating between striking with weapon and casting Sealed Verses for the appropriate situations.
There are a total of eight Sealed Verses in NieR RepliCant ver1.22.. .The first Sealed Verse the Protagonist acquires is the Dark Blast, which is unlocked when he initially partners with the Grimoire Weiss at the Lost Shrine. Unlike weapons, Sealed Verses are obtained in a set chronological order, as they can only be unlocked through progression in the story.
Consumables
Consumables are items that the Protagonist can consume at anytime (even during battles) to give him restored health, temporary attack buffs, or or temporary defense buffs.
- Medicinal Herb: Restores up to 30% of the user's HP.
- Health Salve: Restores up to 60% of the user's HP
- Recovery Potion: Restores all of the user's HP.
- Strength Drop: Doubles physical damage for 30 seconds.
- Strength Capsule: Doubles physical damage for 60 seconds.
- Magic Drop: Double magic damage for 30 seconds.
- Magic Capsule: Doubles magic damage for 60 seconds.
- Defense Drop: Halves damage from physical attacks for 30 seconds.
- Defense Capsule: Halves damage from physical attacks for 60 seconds.
- Spirit Drop: Halves damage from magical attacks for 30 seconds.
- Antidotal Weed: Cures poison.
Enemies:
There is a wide range of creatures and foes the NieR RepliCant ver1.22... universe, ranging from neutral monsters in the open world to unique bosses in story quests. Some are merely farmed for drops, others are killed to increase levels, and enemies such as bosses need to be defeated for story progression. Each enemy has its own strengths and weaknesses, therefore players shall choose specific weapons, Sealed Verses, and combos to efficiently battle different enemies.
Really hoping the combat is more difficult than Automata. My expectations aren't that steep, but a simple stamina/overheat bar would be nice. All the AI in Automata was pretty much a non-threat if you keep distance and dodge spam when needed.
The healing items shouldn't be instant either. Way too easy to just tank hits that way.
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