Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is finally here, and one of its most appealing features is its fast-paced combat that involves the use of a lot of skills and techniques depending on the type of enemy you are facing. Players can utilize regular attacks that can be used without needing any special conditions, which can often be combined with special attacks called Ninpo or Ninjutsu to deal devastating combos. Some enemies will have armor that is challenging to cut through with just regular attacks, but with the right skills, you can often set them up for an easy kill.

Throughout the levels, Joe Musashi will find Oboro Relics that are used to unlock more skills in the shop, adding to his arsenal of deadly moves. These skills can be purchased with gold that you collect by playing through the levels. Both items are essential, as some of the more valuable skills need to be unlocked before you gain access to them. You may not have enough gold coins to purchase all of the available skills in the shop right away, so spending your hard-earned gold wisely is a must.

Here are the best skills to purchase first in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance – Best Skills to Purchase First

Knee Attack

Early in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, players will learn to make use of combos and launchers to incapacitate enemies as much as possible to get enough hits in while removing the threat of enemy counterattacks. The Knee Attack is a skill that can be easily activated by simply pressing the attack button while rolling, a natural action during combat.

This attack also deals damage to armor, making for a safe skill to use since the Cannon Punch takes some time to charge up. Whittling enemy armor with regular attacks is not advisable, as it’s better to deal with enemies efficiently to avoid being overwhelmed by multiple threats.

Finishing Blow

The Finishing Blow in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is a skill that will come a bit later due to needing multiple store unlocks, but getting this as soon as possible should be a top priority. Later in the game, it is much more efficient to kill enemies using the Shinobi Execution (when the symbol appears over their heads) instead of depleting their HP normally, and this combo can charge the execution gauge of an enemy very quickly.

Paired with Kunai use, you can execute some of the bigger enemies even before their HP bar reaches half because you’ll have filled their execution gauge using the Finishing Blow.

Launch Kick

The Finishing Blow comes at the end of a 4-hit normal attack combo, meaning that it could take a while before you can even activate it. Some enemies won’t stand around for too long, so simply relying on the Finishing Blow to fill up the execution gauge is foolish.

That’s where the Launch Kick comes in, which is one of our favorite skills in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance.

The Launch Kick simply requires you to roll/dodge before you can activate it, meaning it is almost instant and can be pulled off with minimal effort. It is a skill that requires players to be extremely close to the enemy, but it is very easy to recover from it in case you whiff the attack.

Some of the larger enemies will require only two hits from the Launch Kick before their execution gauges fill up, so put this to good use and you’ll be slicing and dicing the bad guys in record time. It also launches the enemies in the air, so you can technically juggle them without the threat of a counterattack if you’re good enough.

Cannon Punch Finisher

Armored enemies in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance can be a pain if you don’t deal with them properly. Until you remove their armor, your damage to their HP bar will be minimal, so using skills like the Cannon Punch Finisher is a must.

The Cannon Punch Finisher can be activated after a light or heavy combo, and it definitely beats charging your heavy attack to pull off the punch. Later in the game, you’ll even acquire an amulet that will give your heavy attacks improved damage against armor, so use the heavy attack combo into the Cannon Punch Finisher to completely wipe out enemy armor.

Super Kick

The Super Kick is another skill that does significant damage to armor while boosting the execution gauge by a considerable amount, but activating it is not as straightforward as the other skills. Players will need to use this after a Knee Attack or during a Ninja Flip, so it does take a bit of timing to master.

That said, any attack that whittles armor while boosting the execution gauge is always welcome, so hop into the dojo and practice this skill until you can master it flawlessly.

Max Health Boost and Max Kunai Boost

It goes without saying that both the Max Health Boost and Max Kunai Boost upgrades are must-haves, but it isn’t until much later in the game that you’ll really need them. They cost quite a bit of gold, so we’ll leave it up to you on when you think you’ll need the extra Health or Kunai to take down a particularly problematic boss.

Honorable Mentions – Kunai Burst, Aerial Kunai Burst, and Medic

In Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, the value of a Kunai may not be too apparent early in the game, but they will prove to be valuable tools later when multiple enemies are coming at you from both sides of the field. Equipping an amulet that will allow the Kunai to pierce through enemies, but using up twice the number of Kunais will prove to be useful later, but with stocks low, you can’t always use it.

Thankfully, there’s an amulet that will allow players to regenerate Kunai with regular attacks. With this equipped, you can now use the Kunai Burst and Aerial Kunai Burst as tools to effectively fill up the execution gauge of the enemy for faster disposal.

The medic is also an amulet that could prove beneficial should you find yourself needing more healing. That said, there are many better amulets to equip, so use/purchase this only when necessary.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is now available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam.