Ronin

Titan Name: Ronin

Health: 3 bars

Titan type: Stryder-Based Titan

Ronin is a nimble Titan that specializes in close quarters combat and evasion.

Arsenal

Broadsword Melee Expertise

Unique to Ronin is his broadsword, all of Ronin’s melee attacks hit in a much wider radius and deal more damage than normal Titan melee. It additionally has more knockback and range. Broadsword swings attack slower than normal Titan melee.

Primary Weapon

Lead Wall

Lead wall is a semi auto projectile based shotgun, has 4 rounds in each magazine. Ronin pellets will always shoot out in a rectangle. Ronin pellets will disappear shortly after firing. Alt fire is a zoom function, tightening the spread of pellets and making pellets shoot farther.

Ordnance Ability

Arc wave

Ronin throws a wave of energy that stuns and damages defensive abilities and health. Arc waves will disappear after a short distance. Arc waves travel along the floor. Enemies hit by arc waves can’t look around and move for a period of time. Enemies hit by arc waves slowly regain movement speed after initial hit. Arc waves penetrate all enemies. Arc waves instantly deplete gun shields and particle walls. Arc waves get blocked by thermal shields and vortex shields but will drain them. Arc wave can be held indefinitely until released.

Tactical Ability

Phase Dash

Ronin teleports and dashes to another dimension for a short time. While inside the other dimension other enemies and projectiles disappear for Ronin thus making the Ronin immune to all damage while passing through them if they are close. All enemies and allies “disappear” once phase shift is activated. Once re-entering our dimension the Ronin can die if they re-enter inside an enemy reaper of Titan. Phase shift acts just like a normal dash making it able to dash to the left, right, back or front. Phase dash movement can be canceled if staying still or if dashing back. All abilities including electric smoke and ejection can work while inside the other dimension, electric smokes act as normal and will damage enemies inside our dimension. Phase dash removes any previous lockons.

Defensive Ability

Sword Block

Ronin holds his broad sword in front of himself, reducing all damage from every source but melee/terminations. While holding sword block up all attacks are reduced by 75 percent, this means Ronin can survive nuke ejects should he get caught In the blast, depending on how long and how close the Ronin has less of a chance to survive nuclear ejection. Sword block has no cooldown. Holding sword core while reentering our dimension will prevent death if inside an enemy. Sword block will not prevent titanfall crush death. While broadsword is blocking the Ronin can’t use attacks but dashes and electric smokes can be used. Sword block is not on toggle. Sword block blocks damage from every angle and removes weak point vulnerabilities while in use.

Core Ability

Sword Core

Upon activation Ronin receives a number of buffs. During its duration Ronin can only use his sword and not his leadwall but it will do one block of damage per swing and two shot reapers. Dash cooldown is heavily reduced. Arc wave does more damage and is enhanced. Sword block now reduces 90% damage instead of the normal 75% making ronin able to survive a direct nuclear ejection blast should his health be full. Sword core does not make you immune to terminations. Exiting the Titan will remove the sword core but its duration will still be in effect until reaching zero, any core meter earned during that time is reduced to 0. A weird bug can occur when first initiating sword core, when you are next to an enemy and activate sword core your swings won’t register, to counter this make sure to stand back a bit and give you and the opponent some room then dash back in.

Ronin Kits

Ricochet Rounds

Lead wall pellets bounce off surfaces.

Thunderstorm

Arc wave gains two charges.

Temporal Anomaly

Phase dash cooldown is reduced.

Highlander

Titan kills increase the duration of sword core, Titan ejections do not count. Reapers do not extend sword core time. Titan Kills from arc wave count as a highlander kill.

Phase Reflex

When doomed, Ronin automatically enters the other dimension for an extended period of time, only occurring once unless an amped battery is inserted.

How to play efficiently and effectively

Ronin is the fastest titan in the game, especially on frontier defense. Ronin has many different movement and combat mechanics unique to him. This guide will try to cover each and every tip and trick when it comes to the Ronin Titan. Ronin is a good hit and run style Titan, since he is fast he can get terminations much easier making them a mandatory mechanic in his gameplay. Ronin is the only true roamer Titan since he can actually move fast while excelling at dueling titans in 1 v 1. Ronin requires fast reflexes and extremely fast usage of his abilities. To start with, his leadwall does decent burst damage, Ronin’s should use the zoom in feature when dealing with farther targets. Lead wall has a fast fire rate but a lengthy reload making it a hit and run style gun. If all leadwall pellets hit WPV it will deal a good amount of damage, keep in mind that lead wall is not hitscan so tracking and pre-fire will be needed. For his ordnance his arc wave is extremely useful as it can counter many defenses and movement abilities.

Use his arc wave as an opening attack while behind enemies to prevent them from running away and looking behind. Use arc waves on particle walls and gunshield to remove them. Arc wave can be used as a damage combo with broadsword for a quick termination. Learn how much damage arc waves do so you can take advantage of doomed titans. Since arc waves move slowly you can throw it while retreating to where you think an enemy will be, effectively allowing you to escape. Arc wave doesn’t do too much damage so that’s where your broadsword comes in. Once you run out of leadwall ammo you have two options, run away and get to cover or start spamming broad sword attacks on your target. Ronins broadsword is one of his greatest assets. Its massive swing can hit multiple targets at once while pushing them back. While using broadsword time your dashes to your target so they don’t get pushed back from you (right as you swing). Dash to the left or right irregularly to make yourself harder to hit. Since broadsword has a farther reach this makes getting terminations easier so always finish doomed titans off that way.

Ronins defensive ability is sword block, this ability is one of the best defensive abilities in the game. Sword block should be used when being fired upon and when in open areas. Sword block has no cooldown. Sword block will make you very durable but it won’t last forever as your health will drain. Use sword block when you know certain attacks will be used on you to negate the damage including hostile cores. Since you cant attack while sword blocking you should only use it when out of position or needing to gain ground on enemies it’s additionally useful when retreating to cover, walking through hostile thermite or electric smoke to tank damage. Over time you will know when to use the sword block as your game sense increases. Ronins phase dash is an incredibly useful evasive tool. Phase dash can be used to counter hostile cores and abilities. Phase dash should be used as a reactionary ability. Should there be hostile thermite, electric smoke or a nuke eject, Ronin can save himself by dashing away from it or phase dash if too close. Do keep in mind that phase dash has a long cooldown so be smart with it, don’t always engage into battles using it first. Phase dash offers Ronin a safe quick escape which allows Ronin to use all of his abilities and then leave quickly to prevent counterfire from enemies. Phase dash can also allow Ronin to eject safely should you get doomed right before phase dashing. Sword core is an interesting core, unlike other cores that just do a quick high damage ability, sword core heavily buffs ronin and makes him an extremely fast melee Titan. Sword core is a hard core to achieve but can do a lot, since it buffs his sword block and arc wave you must use them.

Inherently sword core is a very risky core since you have to be very close in order to deal damage. Therefore it can be used as a distraction, hold up sword block for the 90 percent damage reduction and let your ally’s hit the enemy’s. If they switch focus off of you then you can attack and cause chaos. Don’t always expect your sword block to do a lot since you need high health when using it to prevent getting terminated. On a good note sword block deals a block of damage per hit and makes you extremely fast making you able to flank and out maneuver other enemies. When using sword core be slightly back and try to hit multiple enemies if possible or focus on one, arc wave groups of enemies and use electric smoke if possible. Electric smoke for Ronin is incredibly useful as it can provide a means of escape and as crowd control. The extra damage from electric smoke can be extremely useful since Ronin needs to deal as much damage as possible. Combining arc waves and electric smoke on an enemy Titan can be very helpful. For Titan kits, Ronin benefits from turbo engine giving him 3 dashes, this can be incredibly useful for speed and maneuverability, turbo engine allows the Ronin to intercept and retreat faster. Overcore can be helpful in getting him faster access to electric smoke, it also makes earning your sword core faster which matters a lot because of how risky Ronin gameplay is. Counter ready can help Ronin at first but not as much due to the combined factors of infrequent sword cores and that Ronin is not likely to survive after his first core and that sword core lasts much longer compared to other cores making counter ready’s benefit reduced. Nuclear ejection can be very useful on Ronin as he can eject while phase dashing, Ronin can close the gap to enemies fast making him the best nuke eject Titan. More mechanics will be written below. Stealth auto eject is non viable but assault chip can be useful on pilot only builds.

Ronin Builds

Roamer/Titan hunter Build

This build will use thunderstorm and turbo engine. The two arc waves will help considerably on hunting down titans as the build suggests. Find alone and weakened titans to kill and finish with a termination, this is made easier with turbo engine. Once your core has been obtained, use it immediately. Find and intercept big targets so your team can focus on other things.

Nuke Kamikaze Build

This build will have ronin equip nuclear ejection. You have two choices on what Ronin kit to pick. Either temporal anomaly or phase reflex. Temporal anomaly offers much for evasion while phase reflex guarantees Ronin survives doom status allowing you to nuke eject safely. This build is pretty simple, find groups of enemies and purposely get yourself damaged so you can nuke eject. Unique to this is what your pilot should equip. That will be elaborated in the Loadout guide and some others for pilot combat. For the best nuclear ejections, phase dash into enemies then eject causing you to not be blocked beforehand and preventing untimely deaths.

Core Focused Build

For this build Highlander will be equipped, a choice between turbo engine and Overcore will need to be decided. Ronin highlander if it gets enough kills can last for an incredible amount of time(entire matches even), a long term sword core will be devastating to enemy forces. The difficulty is reaching it and staying alive. Look for weakened and doomed titans to get efficient core time. Heavier titans should be considered last but Legion, Monarch, Tone, Ion are easier to get kills from. Scorch and other Ronins can be a problem so make sure to account for that when selecting what foes to kill. Remember that reapers do not give core time so they are lower priority, to quickly kill reapers use arc waves then one sword swing while in sword core. Overcore makes the initial core faster which can help a lot making Ronin possibly have more health when core is earned. Highlander has the highest potential out of pretty much any build in the game, making this build worthwhile. Very high risk, high reward.

Niche Builds

The niche builds for Ronin are ricochet rounds, and counter ready, ricochet rounds have some value but not nearly enough compared to the other kits, it is valuable when dealing with enemies inside buildings and tight spaces. Counter ready has some uses but Ronin is not the Titan that benefits the most out of it.

Strengths

Ronins strengths are his roaming capabilities, mortar titans and other enemies that keep a distance will stand no chance against Ronin. Ronin can stun lock reapers with his broad sword making him an effective reaper destroyer. He is also very efficient at killing drones, grunts and other small enemies. Ronin especially can destroy enemy Tones, Legions and Northstars if he gets in close. Ronin’s evasive mechanics are very good, making him able to survive and dodge many attacks. Ronin can be very durable and deal a lot of damage quickly. Arc wave detonates ticks. Ronin can push back enemy nuke titans that are near the harvester.

Weaknesses

Some clear weaknesses for Ronin is his lack of any long range weaponry and abilities. Ronin doesn’t have a lot of health making him not very durable if he’s hit without sword block. Due to all of his abilities being fast and only having 4 rounds in his lead wall he does not do very well in sustained fights unless he has sword core. Broadsword can be used indefinitely but that won’t last forever. Ronin does possess good aoe but only in short distances, his arc wave can deal damage to multiple lined up enemies but that only has 1 or 2 charges, he only has an advantage with distracted, weak or isolated opponents, making him unable to deal with multiple titans at a time. Ronin requires fast reflexes and game sense. Ronin doesn’t have too many…mechanical weaknesses, he is just a very hard Titan to play, this makes his skill ceiling incredibly high and unforgiving to lower skilled players.

Team Composition

Ronin, being a roamer, should be on his own hunting targets that would take a considerable amount of attention and movement to destroy from the other 3 players; should those types of enemies spawn. Ronin can easily finish off targets that are being attacked by other players making Ronin a combo artist. Ronin is also an effective small enemy killer making him very efficient at pest control with broadswords. Energy thief Monarch’s should avoid playing around an ally Ronin especially if the Ronin has a highlander equipped since both need terminations. Should a teammate die the Ronin should quickly take the titans place if nearby. Teammates should help Ronin get Titan kills by poking with long range abilities to allow the Ronin to get faster kills allowing more core time. Make sure not to deny kills for highlander Ronin or else it can possibly end the core for the Ronin. Teammates should focus on scorch and arc titans as those are the most dangerous for Ronin. Expect any ally ronins to steal kills, as they need that to get cores. While a highlander Ronin is out on the field, clean up any enemies near the harvester.

Aegis

Level 2

Sword Mastery

Broadsword attacks now deal more damage, does not increase sword core damage.

Level 5

Chassis Upgrade

Ronin now has 4 bars of health instead of 3.

Level 8

Ghost In The Machine

Phase dash now has 2 charges.

Level 11

Kinetic Transfer

Incoming blocked damage by sword block adds to sword core meter.

Level 14

Shield Upgrade

Ronin’s max chassis shields are now increased, monarch healing abilities will require more uses to fully heal.

Level 17

Wraith

Phash dash travels much farther and increases the time in the other dimension. Phase reflex is unaffected.

Level 20

Blade Master

Successful Sword core hits generate chassis shields. More enemies hit at once the more shields earned, this includes every type of enemy. Sword core duration doubled, stacks with highlander making each Titan death give longer core time bounty.

How to play with all aegis

Aegis 2 Sword Mastery

This aegis makes all close combat attacks much better, now with the damage boost using your broadsword has much more dps.

Aegis 5 Chassis Upgrade

A much needed upgrade for Ronin, the extra health goes a long way into his builds. A useful health upgrade for Ronin.

Aegis 8 Ghost In The Machine

This makes Ronin much more maneuverable. Two phase dashes allow Ronin to survive many more battles and avoid more threats. It also adds another dash making him able to roam easier, this aegis upgrades everything about Ronins movement mechanics.

Aegis 11 Kinetic Transfer

Not a very useful aegis but it has its moments, the core meter gains are not much but can provide assistance with getting sword core if it’s near 90 or more percent.

Aegis 14 Shield Upgrade

Simple shield upgrade that makes Ronin absorb more damage. Monarch healing abilities will take more time and usage to fully heal. Battery chassis shield gain is unchanged.

Aegis 17 Wraith

Wraith is a very good aegis, Ronin can now move increasingly fast across the map with phase dash now, phase dash can have Ronin exit battles much much easier. Since the phase dash covers so much distance, intercepting will be much easier, and moving positions now will be much more efficient making Ronin unmatched with roaming. Due to the massive speed increase with phase dash, you can now extend it by dashing with it and crouching giving you more momentum, when combining 2 phase dashes you can cover 1/3 or even 1/4 of a map in seconds. Remember that phase dash moves you wherever direction you were walking or running in. Some parts of the map such as in black water canal act as ramps allowing Ronin to accelerate into the air allowing quickly maneuvering between different parts of the map. Practice these on private matches.

Aegis 20 Blade Master

Blade master makes highlander build much easier and efficient, shield gains from sword core attacks will give you a lot more durability than previously. Due to double core time that transfers over to highlander as well so each Titan death now gives more Titan bounty. This will now allow Ronin to attack ogre class titans and nuke titans without the fear of losing your core. As for any other build blade master is an all around benefit that will always be used. Once you obtain this aegis Ronin has become the fastest, longest core Titan. Definitely one of the best aegis upgrades in the game. Expect to kill every Titan in your path.

Summary

To finalize the Ronin guide, Ronin will take an investment of time to learn and improve at. When selecting Ronin be prepared to eject often since you will lose your Titan often when learning him. Make sure to learn his movement mechanics and quirks, remember to be spatially aware, small objects on the map can stop you disrupting your momentum. Fast reflexes and ability use is needed to play Ronin. Remember that Ronin is a duelist, knowing when to engage into fights is needed, opponents that look away and are occupied are perfect targets. Hunt those distant enemies so the rest of your team can focus on other things. Groups of small enemies are easy pickings for Ronin. For Ronins builds his highlander is pretty much the best one as having a sword core last for minutes is one of the most powerful builds in the entire game. Ronin is definitely one of the best titans in the game due to how efficiently he can deal with single threats. After you accumulate aegis you will then need to get used to the new phase dash speed, just remember to hold sword block to prevent instant death should you get inside an enemy reaper or Titan.

Remember that sword core and broadsword have longer ranges and hit boxes giving the possibility of you killing multiple titans at once or in quick succession. Other builds with Ronin are good too, just that they don’t have the same tempo as highlander. Ronin’s skill ceiling is very high, it’s one thing to deal damage and then eject and another to deal damage and stay alive for the rest of the match or round. Ronin is considered the best Titan other than scorch on frontier defense and for good reason. If possible hit multiple lined up enemies with arc waves for core meter and mass stun. If you need to go a very far distance make sure to time your dash with phase dash while crouching to “surf” the ground. Multiple instances will require you to use your broadsword instead of lead wall as lead wall reload and ammo capacity isn’t the best. If reapers are up to high for sword core to reach and it’s near the end of the wave, exiting your Titan will cancel the sword core but will not remove the slowly descending meter making batteries not able to give 10 core until meter reaches 0 or 20(with Overcore). Since Ronin does not survive often, make a build around him or just equip weapons and abilities on your pilot that will get your Ronin asap.

To conclude the Ronin guide, if any specific information wasn’t on this guide then try to look at the other guides on the discord server.