How to Play Nier: Automata - Combat Basics 

This man really posted one masterpiece then dipped from RU-vid 🏃‍♀️

You can taste the excitement at 12:00 lmao

Hey, just want to thank everyone for the crazy amount of views and such positive comments! I am definitely thinking about doing some more Nier videos in the future, but they're gonna be on the backburner until after I finish Persona 5

dude this game is awsome and very complex which is good, but takes a lot to learn. You just made the game 10x better as some one just starting out. thanks man for being one of the only in depth video i could fine that has such immersive detail

>Basics >35 minutes Damn lol

there's a bit of corruption in the viedo, where it skips over some stuff. like one at 3:03

Great video but you missed quite a few things. >Pressing light attack while pod gliding does a spin kick >Pressing Pod attack just after jumping (or double jumping) hurls you in a flying kick forward >attacking from a sprint or dodge has a unique attack >neutral dodging (dodging without pressing a direction) has another unique attack seperate from the previously mentioned one >the combat bracers finisher has a similar mechanic to the small sword in that it makes you airborne AND you can do a rising attack after it for multi-air combos The combat bracer+spear combo attack does the same thing, makes you airborne and can also do multi-air combos.

I can't believe this video has under a thousand views. I'm on my second playthrough and I didn't know half the things you explained. Good shit!

On perfect dodge, use the pod counter when you're countering a long range attack.

This is extremely useful. I had no idea that you could combo both light and heavy attacks together. It's annoying when games don't explain that.

Hey, I just picked up this game and just wanted to say I can't thank you enough for this helpful guide. Whilst I love how the game throws you straight into the action I can't help but feel like you miss out on some epic moments of gameplay by not knowing some of the combat strategy or by the lack of a tutorial. I'm not used to this sort of gameplay, although I love playing RPGs, but this feels like something new and so this has helped me enjoy the game on a greater level. Your instructions and explanations are clear, easy to understand and perfectly demonstrated. Thanks Razzle.

Wow! This is probably one of the most useful game tutorials I’ve ever watched! It’s my first time playing nier & I started with ‘hard’... I already died twice before the first save point, but watching this helped a lot, especially the evade mechanisms~I finally got to my first save!!!!! Thanks a lot:D

Tips for beginners.. If you want to enjoy the storyline of the game.. Don't go farming level too much or too high.. Just go enjoy the story.. Sit back.. Relax.. Because during the bosses fight scene.. All the bosses in nier automata level is below 30.. If you play it at normal difficult at the first tier.. Just like what I did.. I just go farming my 2B level until her level reach 99.. No wonder I just can defeating all the bosses in just 1 or 2 hits only.. This will cause the fight scene are very very short.. And you even can't enjoy the story and all of the dialog that the bosses speak in the fight scence.. Yes.. It true.. This game was awesome and You must enjoy the story.. So just go sit back.. And relax.. Let the Pod doing jobs for you.. Enjoy the art.. The story.. Not just the gameplay..

Just got the GOTY edition of this and was a little confused. Thanks so much for this video as really explained things well and answered all my questions - cheers

Holy shit what a fucking legend. Blessed us with this single masterpiece and then returned back to where he came from.

you can really hear his enthusiasm in certain parts of the video

I managed to beat this game twice without knowing any of this. It's no wonder I had so much trouble with some parts of this and had to spend forever dodging like crazy... I basically just mastered dodging and equipped a bunch of healing chips, while keeping the pod fire going as I was whacking away with the sword ignorant of the whole concept of combos. Also didn't help that I was spending most of the second half of the game trying to master hacking rather than getting better at combat. They have a really solid combat system that you barely have to understand at all to beat the game even on normal.

Tip: R1+Jump does a "hidden" jump-kick thing using the pod. Also, I think it's a bummer that Countering costs chip space. Other than the rad animation, there doesn't seem to be any strong incentive to use Counter instead of a perfect dodge, which has more lenient timing, no storage cost, and offers the same finisher opportunity.

I kept doing the pod blast by accident. Never could figure out that it was because I dodged right before. Great stuff man! Thanks for doing a video on the more advanced stuff.

you dont need to use clawgrip if youre playing on hard difficty since you can just remap the fire button to the lock on button which is the LT for me

Thank you! So hard to find this information. Your video was clear, to the point, and with examples.

Thanks for this! I had read somewhere about how the combat in this game was much more simple than in Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance; but then that was the impression I first had when I played the early bits of MGR:R itself, until saw Chip & Ironicus' guide and my mind was blown. So I refused to believe Platinum would get lazy like that in such a big project. And clearly they did not.

Devil May Cry taught me well, i figured out most of the stuff here myself, just got to the desert part where the robots are fking. Still this is a good tutorial and that Aerial combo thing is indeed an amazing thing to know, one thing i'd like to point out is weapon switching, i treat it like weapon switching in Devil May Cry and it actually works. It can cancel out/stack your attacks to basically make infinite combo, if you're overwhelmed with enemies or you want to keep hitting your enemies nonstop, weapon switching might help a lot

super glad they stuck with a classic plantnium games style fighting and didnt cop out for stamina management simply because nioh and darksouls im so sick of playing lol

I just finally started playing this game; I feel like I accidentally wasted alot of time, knowing now it takes many play throughs. I really explored the beautiful world, found a sick grind spot out in the desert where I gained about 10 levels in an hour. I spent around 17 hrs on 2B scenario, an hour into 9s scenario and on level 49 already. I found it kinda hard, over compensated and now it's easy.

I know it's too late, but instead using claw grip and punish your arms, you can change attack buttons to r1/r2, l1/l2 (attack 1/2, shoot, charge) which alow you to fight and have a free big finger for aim at the same time. I also use L3 to evade (the same stick to move). These controls is like more similar to souls or godowar, but if you spent some time with it you can adapt. And put non-combat functions like pet pod to x,a,y,b.

This is a really good video. Didnt know the combat had so much depth to it. Really learned alot, fav has gotta be the move where you get an enemy into the air using a heavy weapon. Thanks alot!

Watched this video and was set for my first 100 hours an year ago, watching it now for my next. You are an absolute gem of a person.

This has to be one of the best video game tutorials I have ever seen. And I have seen al LOT.

Thank you so much for this video, it was full of information and you were amazing at explaining things so it was easy to understand! So looking forward to more videos if you get around to make more. A video explaining chips and what is good/not optimal would be cool as well :D Thx again, and have a nice day.

Nice video, thanks! Sad you were missing combat bracers; I especially like the 'home run' attack where you can swing your glove into the enemy by timing light combo -> heavy combo correctly. Also, I really like using controllers with bottom-mounted face buttons, like the xbone elite, steam controller, or one of the 'pro' ps4 controllers by razer and nacon. No need for claw grip when you can trigger attacks with your ring finger and pinkie.

Thanks. I am only 10 hours in the game and your video helps me a lot. I think, by the way, that there is a third type of attacking. I have noticed using a long sword as heavy attack that there seem to be third option: press for normal attack, hold for charged attack (attack after release of the button) AND press the button for about 2 seconds (more or less) 2B throws the long sword to the enemy. I will have a closer look on this. Thanks

Absolute legend. Exactly what i was looking for mate. Thank you🙏 so many useless videos on this out there, this one spot on

Was looking for some combo guide and some mechanic I don’t know yet but all I find was beautiful cinematic combo showcases which makes me scratch my head. And then I found this long 30 minute video with a time milestone in the description that actually helped me and commentary along with the example. Thank you.

I am not joking when I say you've made my week by making this video

phenomenal detail and really well explained. Really helped me get on in hard mode

Thank you ! You are a life saver. This was done in such a way anyone could understand.

im playing on PC without joystick i was getting mad really bad this help me out a lot thank u

Over a year later... just found this masterpiece of a game on Steam. Awesome!!! Thanks for sharing this.

Great video. It has a lot of information I didn't know. However, you don't need to claw grip. You can customize the buttons to your liking. I hold L2 to fire my pod with L1 for jumping and R1 for light attacks. This allows me to keep my thumbs on the joysticks at all times. It's the control scheme I use on all of my shooters.

Great video man! Appreciate the effort in explaining all this. The game sort of never explains the extent of its combat so it was great to get a comprehensive grip of it

Wow this game has a lot of mechanics, and not a lot of content about it out there, this is great content, I might watch it again, super useful, thank you

Just started this game on Switch. I wanted this video almost 3 times. Thanks!

Thank you for making this vid! I’ve never played a Nier game (or a Platinum game since Bayonetta for PS3) and this information is critical.

Ah man thanks so much i was about to give up on this game ,but i love it ,so this video was exactly what i needed ,thanks again ,subscribed

You can do ground slam almost instantly if you cancel jump+heavy attack animation (press jump+heavy attack, then immediately press "forward" button and jump+heavy attack again). If you do it really fast it will look like you're doing ground slam from the ground.

I finished the game yesterday and had no idea about this I only dodged, left click and spam heal

I am almost mad that this is your only video. You explain stuff pretty clearly. Would have subscribed, but it seems it won't be of any use. I'll just drop a like. Good stuff man

Thanks for the vid! Really helpful and in-depth!

Best Nier fighting tutorial. Its been frustrating not knowing how I got those knocks into the air. Intro hint: look to minimise damage taken, not maximise cash rewards. Spend money on the healing potions. I've just finished my first run with 2b and I have to say... get that storage and get those chips in. Also, contract and pipe with repeated ground slams is inelegant but very effective against groups. Round them up then blow them apart. If you set 9s to aggressive, he'll effectively tank for you. We'll see what happens at harder settings.

Just like the strong knock up into the air attack (jump then quickly strong attack) you can do a pod swinging attack where you hang onto your pod and swing kick then torpedo kick by tapping jump button and then quickly tap your pod attack button. I was excited to discover this while watching this video and seeing that it was an unknown move! :P

Thanks for posting this. I just starting playing this today on PS4 & Im so noob lol. Reminds me of DMC & Ratchet & Clank & Dark Souls lol. Learned a lot from this video.

Very educational video m8, really good work

Great video, you have a talent for this stuff

Finally, someone explained this. Thanks! 😉

Fantastic video man. Great job

Thanks for this. Love difficult games but felt confused with the opening of game and the whole restarting business. I felt scummy for turning down the difficulty to clear the prologue but I wish I would have just been given a chance to learn how to fight First. Some of the auto attacks on easy were super cool and I wish I just knew how to do those. I dont mind the whole restarting over and over no save gimmick if I would have just been taught how to fight First.

Very in-depth, thank you very much ♥️

2:58 Not even 3 minute in and I already have to give you a like and tell you that this helps a lot.

Nothing covering using the pod spin kick?

Played this on PC a few years back and for some reason wasn't enjoying it. Picked it up for switch last week and now I'm in love. Great video

so much efforts in this video .. thank you so much

Late to the party,got this game on sale. Total new experience, especially when you said pressing the L3 stick. I'm on Xbox and clicked both sticks and... Sitting here like, "WTF just happened?!"

So as a latecomer to the game I started playing recently and while doing the Jackass side quest where she wants you to kill all enemies in 30 seconds I kept jumping up into the air and I had no idea why. I kept losing because of it and I could not find an explanation why it was happening which was really frustrating so I figured I would learn the combat more in-depth. Thanks for teaching about finishers, as a player of games like bayonetta it feels completely natural to do perfect dodges which is what kept me in the air. Going to try the challenge either without light blades or while remembering not to use light blades after dodging because the arena is a bit too narrow to not dodge and the time too short to be in the air all the time… Alternatively I could come back later after upgrading my gear but that is a weak mindset to have :P

Just bought this. And had to look up some good tutorials. Thanks

Thanks for this great video , really helped me out!

Amazing guide, thank's dude.

Bro... Your video is awsome. Thanks for clearing things up.

Awesome video. I’m sure I’ll reference it quite a bit as I play through.

Anyone know what or how to get those ranged wind slashes he has

Most of those combos I figured out myself. All I do is smash as many buttons as possible and then be like, 'Hmm. Neat. How did I do that?'

100+ Likes without a Dislike! Nice work!

I'm so Obsessed with this game is another life i wish i get my hands on it I'll Do every move you showed thanks for making video and working on it ☺

Will you be doing an in-depth combo video? Maybe showing off some combo concepts and cancels.

Thank you, man, this guide is really heplfull! Good luck!

i feel like if you get the + counter and some other chips i dont know about a possible epic reactiinary build is possible

Do you know how to do the animation kills where you press circle on an enemy on the ground and it does a special animation thing?

Thanks Bro, really enlightening... I was having trouble dealing with Yorha mobs... Thanks!

Don't really already need that knowledge, but it's very good review of combat system of the game, definitely like it!

Surprisingly, the only finisher I knew about because I kept accidentally doing was the pod one XD

please play the metal gear rising game. That game plus this one, made me fall in love with the game engine of platinum games. They are incredible.

how to i do a charged attack. im lvl 11 and cant do it

what's the 4th pod? I'm pretty sure there are only 3 in this game: gatling, laser, and missile.

Thanks for the video man. My tactic of just pressing left click is outdated . There are so many moves DAMN.

just got into the game very helpful thanks!

what about the one where the enemy is glowing and u can press circle to do some awsome attack to them idk how to do that on purpose

Hey great vid, My friend came over to play the other day and he accidentally managed some kind of animated finishing moves. I asked him how he did it and he said he pressed circle at some point. However i cant recreate the move. Do you happen to know what i'm talking about?

Best ps4 game... Not just for ps.. the whole generation. I adore this unique ( just like everything else in this masterpierce ) j-rpg, hack n slash like battle system. And the video awesome! U help ME a lot

Thank you for this indepth video.

this was very helpful. thanks

4 different pods? what? i thought it was 3. wtf is the 4th one, i recently started playing the game over on hard mode and i had found 3 and only heard of 3 through the npcs, never anything about a 4th. now im curious

Massive help, I’ve learned so much and am actually excited to engage in the combat system now. For the longest time it was just spam the light attack button and hit heavy attack when I remmmember Wanted to ask though, a lot of times I find that I miss my finishers after a perfect dodge which is unfortunate given that it’s how i play through the game. I know you made this like 4 years ago, but any advice would help lol

Now might be a perfect time to make another video on this game, since it's on PS Now for the time being. Reading through the comments, I saw a lot of praise for this video, but also some negative criticism (some valid, some misguided). While I think there's stuff you could do better, I'm sure you've already thought of it a million more times than we ever could. And since I had such a great time watching this, I wanted to comment. I'll just offer two ideas for the next video: do it on something in the game you find interesting, and don't worry about covering every single little detail. I don't recommend these because you failed at them, but because they're things I think of when I create anything. The first one is important because I think your enthusiasm came across in this video, and it made it feel less like *learning* (you gotta trick people into learning things). The second part is important because if you focus too much on covering every topic under the sun, or trying to explain the tiniest details of a concept, you'll get analysis paralysis. By the "tiny details" part, I mostly mean explaining things for beginners. Hypothetical example: "to do that perfect dodge into a knock-up move, I pressed R2, then square"). I say this because I saw people complaining about how you didn't explain enough. When you make a video, you have to assume people have a base level of knowledge, and I think you did a great job of that. And you even went into the comments to break things down further, which is where I think those little questions are better left answered. Thanks for the video!

I'm just learning to play this game and I'm not very familiar with this genre in general, and this video was very helpful, thanks n

So do we get enough money to buy different weapons and try em out? Or should we buy weapons sparingly?

I'm gonna put some control advice to avoid having to use claw grip here just in case someone gets to this game late like me, watches this video AND reads a lot of the comments. You don't need to use claw grip or give up being able to use the camera. Bind light and heavy attacks to R1 and R2, dodge to L1 and fire to L2. Special pod attack can go on square, and lock on on triangle if you're playing on easy or normal, otherwise it's just a free button without much use. That way you can always attack, fire, and dodge however you want while being able to control the camera. This made hard mode so much better for me.

Great tutorial. thanks!

At 29:32 What is that robot doing ?

How do you charge the pod? Just hold R2?? Do you need chips for the pod to upgrade? I’m still trying to figure out his to use items with the D-pad?

Good video! Very informative