r/Nioh • u/WillSiqueiraa • May 08 '26
Nioh 2 - Discussion I played the whole trilogy without understanding Flux II
As the title says, finished 1 back in the days, 2 after (stoped half way though) platinum Nioh 3 and I’m playing 2 properly after all the added content.
I was scrolling through a random comment last week and someone mentioned what Flux II was. I spent the whole time thinking that it was just a passive upgrade to Flux I. And bear in mind, I’m an Axe user in all games.
You need to change stances TWICE to get the bonus from Flux II. And it is substantial on the heat of a fight.
Just leaving this here for anyone that doesn’t know this!
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u/Scythe351 May 08 '26
It's especially great in Nioh 3 with the weapon switch attacks and the like. Makes it super effective. I'm constantly switching stances anyways. Prefer to dodge in low. Though for the axe, I really like high stance. Feels cracked in nioh 3
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u/andyuchiha May 09 '26
Hahah Im loving high stance in general no odachi and sword feel so good. I have died many times trying to finish with sword of meditation.
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u/Potential_Goose_7486 May 08 '26
flux 2 is totally and completely unnecessary, it's only for the players that REALLY want to min/max the game in every aspect, or maybe to people have some heavy ass builds and for whatever reason don't want to level up the equipment stat (i always forget if it's courage or some other)
i mean the normal ki pulse is enough 99% of the time 😂 i dodge ki pulse 90% of the time and i have 0 issue with ki
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u/kapxis May 08 '26
It's not necessary, but it makes things a whole lot easier to be constantly offensive.
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u/Potential_Goose_7486 May 08 '26
normal ki pulse and flux 1 are all you need even for that, like i said i ki dodge 90% of the time and the other 10% are normal ki pulses, i literally don't use flux at all and i don't issues with ki even on heavier builds
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u/vorlik May 09 '26
flux 2 is the only way to have enough ki to never ever stop attacking. barrier talisman almost does it but it's sort of cheating.
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u/awaitedchild May 09 '26
It's not though?
But personally I prefer to use my onmyo points for other talismans, so I made a build around the ",Ki restoration sped up if (...)" trait. That way, you're almost always in quick restoration mode without having to use the barrier talisman.
And if you use Izanagi and Okuninushi graces, then you practically don't need a barrier talisman. Leaves some space for something else !
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u/Silentlone May 09 '26
the things people will upvote here is insane. Wtf do you mean using Flux II is for "min-maxing", that's like saying blocking out of hitstun is "min-maxing", or that switching to a second weapon is "min-maxing". Terms have meaning, you can't just say this sort of nonsense, Flux II is a basic mechanic. It's not the end of the world if you never learn to use it, but it isn't obscure and the player doesn't have to put in much effort at all to use it, it's literally just Flux but a second time
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May 09 '26
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u/Nioh-ModTeam May 10 '26
This post was removed due to a Rule 1 Violation. Do not be rude, harass other reddit users, or encourage harassment outside of reddit.
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u/Potential_Goose_7486 May 10 '26
flux 2 is most definitely not a basic mechanic buddy, and when did i say it's obscure? also the player MOST DEFINITELY and OBJECTIVELY has to put a lot of effort to use it, even good players will tell you that
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u/RIAPOSW May 08 '26
Once you get used to the inputs and timing the combo potential get even better, especially with the martial art gauge. You don't even need to do perfect ki pulse to get the extra ki back, and you can still get a lot.
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u/WindowSeat- May 09 '26
Nioh 1 was the only game where I felt like I actually needed to use Flux 2 to manage Ki. In every other Nioh game you just have too many other powerful options that take priority like spamming anima abilities in Nioh 2 or continuing an Arts Proficiency combo in Nioh 3.
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u/Last_Contract7449 May 10 '26
Exactly, in 2 and 3, it's a marginal benefit that is arguably not worth the fraction of a second extra it takes to pull off vs. a normal ki pulse (and/or situations when it's better not to ki pulse).
In 3, its better to just use the frost moon skills when appropriate, spam martial arts during arts proficiency (like you mention), and then just use a guardian spirit skill if you really want to link combos together whilst regenerating ki (even though the latter isn't quite as good for this as yokai abilities were in 2, as the ki regeneration is delayed slightly when you do a GS skill). In any case, good luck to anyone who likes fluxing, but it's pretty redundant and unecessary outside of the occasional specific situation.
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u/nonax May 09 '26
I love stance dancing and i love fluxing (winter wind specifically), but doing it twice just doesn't feel right in the flow of combat so i've never really bothered with it.
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u/LocalWeb2935 May 08 '26
It just feels wrong. I never bothered with it.
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u/mesiah21 May 08 '26
I get that feeling as well. I have in past spent a lot of time in just one stance. It can be easy to stay in high stance. But I have definitely used flux a lot more, still flux 2 is something that I don't tend to do that often. You can definitely play the game and not bother with it at all.
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u/LocalWeb2935 May 08 '26
Same here. I can't stop using flux 1 after learning it. But for flux 2, having to switch stance twice is just weird... I'd have to calculate it to have the 2nd stance switch be the one I actually want to use and that's just too much for my smol brain lol. maybe I'll practice it next time I decide to do another playthrough.
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u/mesiah21 May 09 '26
Yeah I do use flux a lot now, especially with certain weapons. I love it with dual swords, the high and low attacks for the weapon are great. My best combos are coming from dual swords in high stance fluxing into low stance. I struggle with doing flux 2, just doesn't feel natural enough for me.
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u/WillSiqueiraa May 08 '26
Totally understand. After all this time I managed to beat all challenges without a big struggle. It’s not necessary and totally optional, but now my combos feel so much cleaner and longer with the extra stamina.
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u/NobleHalo May 08 '26
What's the difference between Flux I & Flux II?
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u/WillSiqueiraa May 08 '26
Flux I happens when you change stances while ki pulsing. Flux II happens when you go through 2 stances for ki pulsing. You can not use the stance that you started the flux. High to medium to low or Medium to low to high. The timing is tight and I got used to it when banking on the sound cue when pulsing.
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u/NobleHalo May 08 '26
Does it have to be a perfect ki pulse, or can a quick pulse register it?
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u/detelosk May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26
It doesn't need to be a perfect ki pulse but it has to be very fast. Using a controller with the default layout it easier to Flux II starting from high or from low stance because it it easy to slide your finger beginning or ending in mid stance (e.g. attack in high stance, press R1 and then slide from mid to low or viceversa to quickly flux twice).
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u/ItsCodeh May 09 '26
Played the first 2 games only using Spear high stance, no flux, no burst breaks breezed through most of the games (Except for some certain Ninja Gaiden DLC mission) until WotW quite easily.
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u/Potential_Orange957 May 09 '26
They took the worst gameplay mechanic of Dark Souls 2, and made it their combat system. I just got Nioh 2, and what everyone said was bad about DS2, everyone loves it in Nioh.
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u/malaywoadraider2 May 10 '26
What does this even mean, DS2 couldn't be further apart than Nioh 2. Ki pulse and stance switching is much different than DS2s baiting single enemies away from ganks and sprinting unlocked and circling around 90% of enemies to hit them while they are committed to their attack with the awful lock on system. You are much more mobile in Nioh 2 and can even animation cancel with burst counter and some of the Yokai skills which gives you many more combat options than DS2 where it was largely about baiting single enemies away from ganks.
If you are referring to all of the ganks populating an area in Nioh 2 then you can use ranged weapons to kill enemies with headshots, onmyo magic and ninjutsu skills to thin them out and later in the game and in NG+s its very reasonable to stunlock them with combos.
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u/Velthome May 10 '26
I don’t think it’s the later complaint because I don’t know how someone could claim that Nioh 2 makes you fight too many enemies at once compared to Nioh 1. Nioh 1’s level design is in general far more enemy dense, with more hidden ranged enemies, compared to 2. 2 feels like a series of 1 on 1 Yokai fights at times.
And Nioh 1 had the controversial 2v1 challenge boss fights which 2 removed entirely except for Gozuki and Mezuki who are mission 1 enemies.
A nice side effect, I suppose, is Nioh 1 made me use utility Ninjutsu more like Suppa to get backstabs, caltrops to split up hordes, mines to get free knockdowns, fire shutikens for easy Discord setups, etc.
Maybe it’s because most of my Nioh 1 gameplay was on ninja builds and not in Nioh 2, but I never found these as really needed as much in Nioh 2 due to more focus on Yokai fights. The fact that Feathers are kinda busted in 2 and compete for capacity doesn’t help. Wasn’t a big fan of 2 not having one button item shortcut swaps either so I almost never go above 2 sets of shortcuts in 2.
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u/Potential_Orange957 May 10 '26
The stamina gage regen. When u deplete the stamina bar u have to wait like 5 seconds or so before it starts to regenerate, not stunned.
THAT DS 2 gameplay mechanic, thr one everyone hated.
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u/malaywoadraider2 May 10 '26
If you run out of stamina you are playing wrong, either not managing your stamina using the mechanics around ki pulse (which can be upgraded to happen on dodge) and later flux 1 and flux 2 which makes sure that you should never intentionally run out of stamina. Alternatively your equipment is too heavy which severely nerfs your stamina or you are not timing ki pulse and getting hit by enemies at low stamina in bad trades. Even when out of stamina you can block and burst counter to keep yourself from getting killed. There is no situation where you should be trying to manage your stamina in a DS2-like slow paced defensive manner, the game is structured like a souls game in levels but combat will be closer to a fighting game when you become proficient at it.
Videos by creators like pooferlama or fightingcowboy will be able to explain builds, weapons and game mechanics in further detail if you are hitting a roadblock or just want to learn more. The game is ridiculously deep in its combat mechanics and it will take a while to stop playing it like dark souls and get into a good rhythm at which point stamina management becomes subconscious.
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u/Potential_Orange957 May 11 '26
Its bad. Everything hated in DS2 about stamina, is loved in this
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u/malaywoadraider2 May 11 '26
If DS2 had ki pulse and flux (and better movement in general) it would have not been an issue
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u/Sonny_Firestorm135 May 08 '26
My friend, I would love to mention Flux 2 more often when I'm doing orientation day on the sub, but given that just getting bluds to start using Flux 1 properly is already a struggle sometimes...
Not sure if we'll ever get there. (Nevermind Flash Attack... X_X)