Rise of the Ronin is not the easiest hack & slash game out there. It demands you pay attention to your enemy’s movements and attack patterns. It also doesn’t hide the fact that if you are allowed to pull off a string of attacks, chances are you are nearly dead. You will need every bit of an edge in combat, and Equipment Sets are one of these ways that help.
In this guide, I’ll tell you about all the equipment sets I’ve encountered and their associated bonuses. To put it simply, equipment sets add another set of bonuses on top of the equipment mods you already have provided you have enough complimentary pieces to make up at least part of the set.
Rise of the Ronin Equipment Sets
If you notice, some pieces of equipment are part of a set. It is noted by a symbol that marks them as being part of a set. When you equip it alongside other complimentary pieces, it will activate that set’s buffs. The more pieces you have, the more buffs you will activate.
Oftentimes, activating 2 to 3 pieces of equipment is enough to get the lion’s share of the benefits. You can activate all 4 pieces to get the full benefits, which is more or less a slight increase to one of your attributes.
Some of the keywords are somewhat confusing. Use this list to clarify terms you are not familiar with.
Keywords:
- Strength (Up): Increases strength
- Intellect (Up): Increases intellect
- Dexterity (Up): Increases dexterity
- Charm (Up): Increases charm
- Finishing Attack (Up): Increases damage dealt by the last blow of a string of normal attacks
- Ki Recovery (Effective Counterspark): Recovers a significant amount of Ki upon successfully deflecting an enemy attack with a Counterspark when using an effective combat style against an enemy
- Attack (Up) (Violent Gale): Increases the damage you can deal when executing a Violent Gale
- Damage Taken (Down): Reduces your damage taken
- Ki Consumption (Down) (Guarding): Reduces Ki consumption while guarding
- Attack (Up) (Falling Health): Increases damage dealt the lower your health is
- Medicine Efficacy (Up): Increases the amount of health recovered when using medicine
- Health Recovery Wave (Allies): Allow allies to share in the benefit of your consumption of recovery items
- Bolster Effect (Up): Increases the effect of items that bolster your stats
- Affliction Wave: Deals elemental damage to nearby enemies when inflicting a status ailment upon an enemy with an elemental attack
- Attack (Up) (Afflicted Enemy): Increases damage dealt to enemies with status ailments
- Duration (Up) (Adding Affinities): Extends the effective duration of items that add status ailments to your primary weapon
- Enemy Evasion (Up): Increases your odds of escaping an enemy when you hide after being detected
- Attack (Up) (Assassination): Temporarily increases damage dealt after successfully performing an assassination
- Attack (Up) (Max. Health): Increases the damage you can deal when your health is at its maximum
- Enemy Hatred (Up): Makes enemies more likely to target you
- Ally Attack (Up): Increases damage dealt by inactive allies
- Ally Recovery (Up) (Aid): Increases the health recovered by allies when you rescue them
- Arrow Recovery (Headshots with Bow): Increases the likelihood of recovering arrows when you defeat an enemy by scoring a headshot with your bow
- Bow Attack (Up): Increases the damage dealt by bows
- Nullify Helmet (Bow Headshot): Increases the odds of your arrows piercing through helmets when executing headshots with your bow
- Ki Attack (Up) (Counterspark): Increases Ki damage by Countersparks
- Martial Skill Ki Attack (Up): Increases the Ki damage by martial skills
- Max. Ki Attack (Up): Increases damage dealt to maximum Ki
- Blade Flash Ki Recovery (Up) (Max. Gauge): Increases the Ki recovery rate of a Blade Flash when your Blood Gauge is maxed out
- Blood Gauge (Up): Increases the amount gained by your Blood Gauge when attacking an enemy
- Ki Recovery Rate (Up): Increases the speed at which Ki is recovered
- Luck (Up): Increases your Luck stat, improving the likelihood of valuable item drops
- Additional Item Drops from Enemies: Increases the odds that you will acquire additional items from certain defeated enemies
- Handgun Attack (Up): Increases damage dealt by handguns
- Attack (Up) (Panicked Enemy): Increases the damage dealt to panicked enemies
- Handgun Bullet Capacity (Up): Increases the number of bullets that can be loaded into a handgun
- Prevent Flinching (Readying Sub-Weapon): Prevents you from being staggered while readying your sub-weapon
- Nullify Helmet (Rifle Headshot): Increases the odds of your bullets piercing through helmets when executing headshots with your rifle
- Health Recovery (Counterspark): Allows you to recover health upon successfully deflecting an enemy attack with a Counterspark
- Attack (Up) (Counterspark): Temporarily increases the damage dealt after successfully deflecting an enemy attack with a Counterspark
Matchless Master
- 2 pieces: Finishing Attack -> +14.0%
- 2 pieces: Ki Recovery (Effective Counterspark) -> +6.0%
- 3 pieces: Attack (Violent Gale) -> +9.0%
- 4 pieces: Strength -> +2
Mighty Warrior
- 2 pieces: Damage Taken -> -10.0%
- 2 pieces: Ki Consumption (Guarding) -> -10.0%
- 3 pieces: Attack (Falling Health) -> +10.0%
- 4 pieces: Strength -> +2
Wise Doctor
- 2 pieces: Medicine Efficacy -> +8.0%
- 3 pieces: Health Recovery Wave (Allies) -> +16.0%
- 3 pieces: Bolster Effect -> +9.0%
- 4 pieces: Intellect -> +2
Master Strategist
- 2 pieces: Affliction Wave -> +2
- 2 pieces: Attack (Afflicted Enemy) -> +7.0%
- 3 pieces: Duration (Adding Affinities) -> +13.0%
- 4 pieces: Intellect -> +2
Omnipresent Ninja
- 2 pieces: Enemy Evasion -> +15.0%
- 3 pieces: Attack (Assassination) -> +13.0%
- 3 pieces: Attack (Max. Health) -> +15.0%
- 4 pieces: Dexterity -> +2
Trusted Leader
- 2 pieces: Enemy Hatred (Up)
- 2 pieces: Ally Attack -> +15.0%
- 3 pieces: Ally Recovery (Aid) -> +15.0%
- 4 pieces: Charm -> +2
Eagle-Eyed Archer
- 2 pieces: Arrow Recovery (Headshots with Bow) -> +24.0%
- 2 pieces: Bow Attack -> +15.0%
- 3 pieces: Nullify Helmet (Bow Headshot) -> +21.0%
- 4 pieces: Dexterity -> +2
Marvelous Sword Saint
- 2 pieces: Ki Attack (Counterspark) -> +6.0%
- 2 pieces: Martial Skill Ki Attack -> +6.0%
- 3 pieces: Max. Ki Attack -> +10.0%
- 4 pieces: Dexterity -> +2
Commanding Champion
- 2 pieces: Blade Flash Ki Recovery (Max. Gauge) -> +18.0%
- 2 pieces: Blood Gauge -> +5.5%
- 3 pieces: Ki Recovery Rate -> +6.0%
- 4 pieces: Charm -> +2
Fortune’s Favorite
- 2 pieces: Luck -> +100
- 2 pieces: Additional Item Drops from Enemies -> +9.0%
- 3 pieces: Luck -> +100
- 4 pieces: Charm -> +2
Handgun Perfectionist
- 2 pieces: Handgun Attack -> +7.5%
- 3 pieces: Attack (Panicked Enemy) -> +7.5%
- 3 pieces: Handgun Bullet Capacity -> +2
- 4 pieces: Intellect -> +2
Perfect Sharpshooter
- 2 pieces: Prevent Flinching (Readying Sub-Weapon)
- 3 pieces: Attack (Panicked Enemy) -> +7.5%
- 3 pieces: Nullify Helmet (Rifle Headshot) -> +21.0%
- 4 pieces: Intellect -> +2
Clear-Headed Samurai
- 2 pieces: Attack (Max. Health) -> +15.0%
- 3 pieces: Health Recovery (Counterspark) -> +3.0%
- 3 pieces: Attack (Counterspark) -> +10.0%
- 4 pieces: Strength -> +2
This might not be the complete list of equipment sets in Rise of the Ronin. Team Ninja tends to release more sets post-release as DLC alongside side stories. So, there might be even more that we don’t know yet. That’s one of the ways the developers keep the game fresh for new and old players alike.