How to defeat your Blade Twin in Rise of the Ronin

This guide includes details on Rise of the Ronin's second climatic battle against your Blade Twin. So, you know, spoilers.

Admittedly, the headline itself is a bit of a spoiler, though, yeah? Still, anyone who has played this game past the character creator stage probably saw this coming. If you have a game where you play as either one or both twins, they are more often than not going to end up fighting each other by the end.

I can think of one exception, but then I'd just be spoiling another game. So yeah, I should probably focus on the task at hand here.

So, without going into too much plot detail, in Rise of the Ronin, your character discovers that their once thought-dead twin is alive and spends the game looking for them. Like in Mass Effect Andromeda, while creating your player character, you also create your partner simultaneously. This has an effect on these battles.

What's to know about this Rise of the Ronin battle

The player and their twin are separated in the Rise of the Ronin mission, "Infiltrating the Black Ship." The weapons you equipped during that mission will determine your twin's Martial Skills during this one. On top of that, they have gained a mechanical replacement arm — the Demon Claw — with the accompanying Martial Skills.

Four new, in fact:

Spinning Demon Claw. Don't even try and counterspark this. Just get out of the way.
Demon Claw Grappling Hook. Again, dodge this - although if you can't, a counterspark is possible.
Demon Claw Bomb. Countersparking this will actually activate Fire Affinity on your sword. So try that.
Demon Claw Projectile Bomb. Like before, except your twin actually throws the bomb this time.

Beware the Gatling gun

As you and your twin are attempting to murder each other, there's someone outside of the building with a Gatling gun. Although the firearm lacks range, it can do some serious damage.

If you can find where the gun is firing from (listen out for shattering glass, that should clue you in), attempt to stay underneath it. Hugging the walls in the back, right, and left (and away from the room's entrance) should also keep you out of the line of fire. Furthermore, there are plenty of pillars and elements to hide behind.

Let your weapons fight for you

Since you'll be diving and dodging a lot, it doesn't hurt to have what attacks you do land keep, you know, attacking. We're talking about Rise of the Ronin's Affinities —Rise of the Ronin buffs you can add to your weapons that implement status effects on your foe.

The easiest way to get these is by implementing whetstones on your weapons. You know, kind of like Materia. There are three types: toxic (infects your foe with poison), fire (guess what that does), and paralytic (also what it sounds like — paralyzes your opponent.)

Anything else you can do that will deal incremental damage to your twin will come in handy. Adding the appropriate oil to your arrowheads is also effective if you get some distance. Finally, if you have the Fire Pipe at this point — use it.

Switch weapons for a counterspark advantage

Generally, your opponents have only had one primary weapon. That's not the case with your Blade Twin. As stated above, they start with the same weapons from the "Black Ship" mission.

They can swap these weapons out at any time during the battle. This means you must be conscious of what weapon you are using at the time. Keep an eye on your opponent's health bar — you should notice an arrow. If it's blue, you have a counterspark advantage. Red means the opposite. White and neither of you have an advantage. Simple right?

Keep these details in mind and you'll have a fighting chance against your Blade Twin in Rise of the Ronin!

Check out our other Rise of the Ronin guides:

All cat locations || How to get more Silver || All difficulty settings || Combat tips