How to change stances in Nioh 2

Stances are important to know how to utilize and use in Nioh 2. It changes the way your weapon attacks and the type of movement you do during combat. Certain attacks and skills you learn in the require a certain stance for you to use, and you may prefer a specific stance depending on the weapon you use.

To quickly switch stances, you need to hold the R1 button of your controller. From there, you have three different combat stances to use, and a way to sheath your weapon—the triangle button changes to a high stance. The square button switches you to your medium stance. The cross button changes you to a low stance.

You can make these stance changes in and out of combat. When you want to sheath your weapon after finishing combat, hit the circle button.

Performing a stance change alters the movement of your attack. For example, when using the kusarigama in a high stance, your attacks are closer to your body and revolve around your character. When you change to the medium stance, your attacks are outward, creating a small arch in front of you, and you hit enemies all around you. Whenever you obtain a new weapon for your character, it’s essential to sample the types of attacks your character does to see how you can fluidly use them in combat and get around an enemy’s defenses.

Double-check the stance a skill needs to be in for you to use. You should be able to see the outline of the specific stance you need to be in when you hover over the skill in your skill tree and see it in the background.