Titanfall® 2 – Guides and Information About Ronin Character

Introduction

 
All things you need to master the hardest and arguably the most enjoyable Titan in the game, in a single definitive guide. 
 
In this guide you will find an overview and tips on usage of every single Titan ability/kit for Ronin, combined with several general tips and tricks to add a new edge to your Ronin gameplay. Gamemode-specific guides will also be released later on. 
 
Thank you for reading this guide. I’ve put a lot of effort into it and appreciate all types of feedback! 
 
 

Playstyle

 
While playing Ronin, your number 1 priority should always be to deal the most amount of damage while taking the least. Always remember this. Here’s a few tips for subjects on how to increase your survivability and damage potential. 
 
1. Abuse of movement 
Even when running Temporal Anomaly, you will often find yourself in situations where your Phase Dash is on cooldown and you’re open to enemy fire. Abuse your dashes, general agility of Ronin and other cheeky tactics to block enemy damage whenever you have to do so. This type of dodging is most effective against cores, especially when you have your Sword Core. 
 
2. Map knowledge, geometry, and positioning 
Know where you can take and deal damage from, learn map geometry and use it to your advantage. Abuse hit and run and poke from juke angles where the enemy isn’t expecting you to. Always try to go for flanks where you can deal massive amounts of burst damage. Position yourself accordingly and be aware of your surroundings such as an off angle where a laser shot can deal burst damage, or simple AT weapon spam. 
 
3. Usage of Ronin’s kit 
Ronin’s entire kit is based around dealing burst damage, and of course mitigating damage. Use all parts of your kit as effective as possible. Learn how to melee box, how to quickswap (Shotblocking™ by Dinorush13), how to reload cancel and dive into the endless sea of advanced tech. 
 
 

Titan Abilities

 
1. Sword Block 
Arguably Ronin’s best friend. Can be held up in the air indefinitely and provides 75% damage reduction, increased to 90% in Sword Core. You should almost always use it if you aren’t completely sure you’re safe, trying to cover great distances or actively trying to deal damage. 
 
Fantastic against blocking cores. If there’s any type of core focused on you and you can’t go behind cover quickly, just hold your Block up and walk to the nearest cover possible while barely taking any damage. 
 
Don’t forget that Sword Block is effective against almost every angle, except one specific situation which Dinorush13 talks about. Not as important but you can check his Youtube channel to learn more about this. 
 

When fighting, to minimize possible damage, always try to use it between 1 or 2 Leadwall shots or between abilities using Shotblocking™. Quickswap glitch is a useful advanced tech that I use regularly. It is definitely not the most important, but it will help you fully master Ronin. (Credits go to Dinorush13) 
 
Don’t forget that to use the Sword Block most effectively, you just have to put in the time and gain experience. There’s o better way of getting good than just playing and mastering it. 
 
2. Arc Wave 
My personal favorite ability, and definitely a strong one if used correctly. Deals hefty amounts of damage to Titans and 75 damage to pilots, buffed up to almost 1500 for Titans and 100 for pilots when in Sword Core. A great tool for crowd control and limiting the enemy Titan’s ability to answer back. 
 
Always remember to use your Arc Wave after you engage with an enemy Titan. Dump your Leadwall mag onto a Titan, then use your Arc wave to either confuse, limit or straight up damage the enemy. With combinations which involve Phase Dash and other juke or flank techniques that I will talk about later, you can drastically increase your Arc Wave’s effect upon a fight. 
 
Try not to use your Arc Wave against pilots outside of very specific situations. Use it if they’re hiding in a building or a cave, if they are very low and you don’t have any leadwall shots left in your disposal, and in situations where you just absolutely have to. 
 
As another advanced tech, don’t forget that your Arc Wave can go above a lot of things they don’t look like they should. This ties to the 2nd entry of the Playstyle Section, “Map knowledge, geometry and positioning” and is something that will come with time and of course testing in private match. Arc Wave can go through windows, under low ceilings and even certain rooftops when you are in the correct position. Use this to your advantage for minimal damage taken and maximum damage output. 
 
3. Phase Dash 
Temporarily phases you to another dimension where you cannot deal damage or take damage, and dashes you to a direction depending on your WASD inputs. Great for fleeing, traveling long distances when there isn’t any threats nearby, and getting behind the enemy lines for fast attacks and high burst damage. 
 
Always be careful about when and where you push with your Ronin, and do not depend solely on your Phase Dash to compensate for bad and stupid plays. Phase Dash is a tool, not a get out of jail free card. Even with the combination of Sword Block and Phase Dash, getting caught in the open by other Titans will still cause you to take hefty amounts of damage while being able to deal none. 
 
Actively use it in fights, don’t just use it to flee when you’re cornered. Mitigating the potential effects of abilities like Energy Siphon or Tripwire Mines, or getting right behind the enemy to confuse him and possibly waste his sources. Directly pushing the enemy with Phase Dash might be a good idea in certain situations when enemy has no speed or way for escaping and you have the upper hand in a 1v1, or you just block all the incoming damage while pushing and make the enemy panic. 
 
Learn how to Phase Boost. To execute it use your Phase Dash right after you use a regular dash. Phase Dash’s ability to throw you into the air a little combined with a regular dash ground clearance will give you a superb speed boost. Particularly effective while going downhill. Watch a tutorial on it to fully understand it. 
 
If you are completely vulnerable against a rodeo’ing pilot use your Phase right after you hear the beep sound of a battery being pulled out. Low Profile doesn’t affect this tech’s effectiveness whatsoever. 
 
And that’s it for Abilities, now onto Sword Core 😀 
 
 

Sword Core

 
Arguably the strongest core in the entire game. Lasts for a considerably long amount of time, lands 2000+ damage per swing and buffs Ronin’s entire kit. (Sword Core block: 75% –> 90% / Arc Wave pilot/Titan damage: 75 –> 100/ 1000 –> 1500 / Dashes recovered much faster) Can melt full health Titans in mere seconds and is an absolute game changer if used correctly. As for how to; 
 
Use your Sword Core wisely. Don’t pop it for an almost doomed enemy, or an extremely easy insta-kill flank (assuming the Titan being flanked by is already low). Sword Core works best on Ions, Tones, Northstars, and Ronins. Monarchs and Scorchs are also good targets but not as helpless as the ones mentioned beforehand, while Legions (especially when they have Smart Core) should be avoided entirely. 
 
Be careful with your swings. Ronin has the slowest melee in the game, despite the extra damage and bigger hitbox, so you’re always at a disadvantage when melee boxing. Land a swing, back off, send an Arc Wave, go for a swing again. If you manage to catch the enemy off guard land as many swings as you can, and when the enemy finally can comprehend that he’s being ♥♥♥♥♥♥ by a Sword Core return to hit and run. 
 
Sword Core is fantastic at countering enemy cores. 90% damage reductions pretty much renders all the enemy cores except Smart Core and Sword Core useless, and gives you enough time to land a couple of swings and Arc Waves before it ends. Damage reduction is also very useful at helping your teammates deal damage and take power positions with you playing a tank role. Renders all AT spam completely useless, before they’re picked apart by friendly Titans since they were so focused on dealing damage to you they forgot about their surroundings. 
 
Be aware when you activate Sword Core. While in the process of activating it, you cannot block, arc wave or melee. To prevent taking damage while doing this, you can simply be behind cover or phase which is my personal favorite. 
 
 

Titan Kits

 
First of all, as a disclaimer I wanna say that I am only gonna talk about kits that are actually useful and give a few tips on what you should not do. Don’t expect to see a paragraph about Ricochet Rounds or Phase Reflex. 
 
1.1 Temporal Anomaly 
A great hit for folks that want to focus on blocking even more damage. Gives you more freedom on your general playstyle and moves and is more forgiving. Definitely holds a place in meta. 
 
1.2 Thunderstorm 
Superb for baiting certain abilities like Particle Wall, great for hit and run attacks against bigger body Titans. My personal favorite kit and I also believe that its better for hard pushing. 
 
1.3 Highlander 
Surprisingly effective in modes like Attrition and other titan-based ones but not as versatile as the other two, better choices. I would suggest against the usage of this kit but give it a try if you like it or not. 
 
2.1 Turbo Engine 
Great for super aggressive playstyles and can make certain combos/jukes easier and more forgiving to pull off. Contrary to popular belief, does not make your dashes refresh slower. 
 
2.2 Overcore 
Probably the best second titan kit for Ronin. Sword Core is the most important and dangerous part of Ronin and getting it as soon as possible should be a priority. 
 
2.3 Counter Ready 
Good, but not great. Can make for some nice extra chip damage and is most effective against multiple rodeo’ing pilots. 
 
3. What NOT to do 
Do not run Phase Reflex with Nuclear Ejection. You’re not cool or unpredictable. In the end you will be the weird guy who destroyed his doomed Ronin for the likelihood of a cool play. 
 
Do not run your Ronin auto. You are literally throwing a titan away, being free 10 points and free Titan meter to the enemy team. Weird. 
 
Do not run any other kits for any slot other than the mentioned above. You will just make your Ronin worse. 
 
 

Closer

 
Thank you for reading this guide. I hope players from all skill levels learned at least one new thing here. Stay tuned for future Ronin guides such as CTF or LTS specific ones. Don’t forget that the 3 best ways of learning are practice, practice and practice. See you on the frontier Pilots, best wishes. 
 
Special Thanks to Zia and Dinorush. Thank you for your help preparing this guide. Thank you for making Titanfall 2 community a better place. 
 

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