Wild Hearts Nodachi weapon guide for beginners

Wild Hearts Nodachi plays like a larger, slower katana and features massive, sweeping combos that deal high damage but slow release. This is a patient and purposeful weapon and will reward careful thinking and strategy, let alone a certain stamina management. Still, it’s devastating if used well, so this Wild Hearts Nodachi weapon guide will show you the basics and prepare you for a high-impact Kemono crush.

How to use Wild Hearts Nodachi?

As mentioned, Nodachi in Wild Hearts is very similar to a slower, heavier version of Wild Hearts Katana. At a basic level, it’s just about cutting, which makes it one of the easier Wild Hearts weapons for beginners, but there’s more under the hood for those willing to learn. The charged Iai attack is one of the most powerful moves in the entire game, and you can actually charge it while doing other attacks, at the expense of recharging slower and risking stamina loss. This is also one of those weapons whose slow nature means that Karakuri builds will be very necessary for movement, since without it you will be too easy a choice for enemies.

Nodachi’s basic move set includes the following techniques and attacks:

• Square/X: Slash down (faster attack)
• Triangle/Y: Horizontal slash (slower attack)
• R2/RT: Iai Slash (attack that scales to recharge with stamina consumption)
• Hold down R2/RT: Quickly charges the Iai Slash weapon gauge (consumes stamina until released)
• Hold down R2/RT + any move/attack: Slowly charges the Iai Slash weapon gauge (consumes stamina until released)

Obviously, it’s the charged attacks that do the most damage that matter here. Let’s talk about Iai stances.

Wild Hearts is pretty bad at explaining this, but to put it bluntly, by holding down R2/RT you can charge Nodachi’s strongest Iai slash attack, which scales the damage based on how much you charge it. If you can fill in the little blue indicator at the bottom left, that would be devastating.

Yet there is more. Charging Iai Slash, which the game calls “Stance,” fills the gauge, but burns stamina. If your power runs out in the middle of charging, everything will be canceled and your character will stagger for a short time, forcing you to recharge.

you still to be Move, even attack while charging. While holding the charge button, you can run, dodge, and attack at the expense of the weapon gauge recharge more slowly more than usual, but the stamina loss remains the same. So if you stand still and do nothing, Nodachi will charge incredibly fast. But if you run, attack, and dodge while holding the button, you’ll probably run out of stamina before maxing out the gauge and making your strongest attack.

Finally, the point at which you release the attack depends on the form it takes. Here are some examples:

• Standard Iai Slash: horizontal swing
• Semi-charged Iai Slash: Greater diagonal rise
• Fully charged Iai Slash: Ascension followed by great ground shaking
• Iai Slash jumps from chest or trench: smash on the falling ground
• Iai Slash jumps from the bow: Big horizontal spin attack

The Nodachi is a much more complex weapon than its size would make you believe, so there are a few things to remember when using it.

• Nodachi is slow. Stamina consumption will be constant across all Iai cuts, so have Threads ready for an escape at any point.
• Don’t expect every Iai slash to load completely. Kemono rarely lets you get to this point, and a half-charged slash is still very damaging.
• If an enemy is stunned or lying on their back, jump right over them and start attacking! This is your best chance for obscene damage.
• The momentum in your triangle/Y slash means you tend to pull too much. Before you put yourself in danger, keep your placement in mind.

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