Nine Sols is your latest entry to the Metroidvania genre. The game combines mechanics from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Hollow Knight, and some other Souls games. Considering the game is inspired by Sekiro, you should expect twists that will make you question the thought process when you pick this one up.
To ensure your experience is pleasant, here are 10 beginner tips to remember when starting Nine Sols. We cover everything from parrying to healing. Without further ado, let’s jump right into it.
1. Start with the Story Mode
Nine Sols takes quite a bit of inspiration from Sekiro and for all the right reasons. If you know anything about the latter then you would know that your experience isn’t going to be the easiest. With dozens of different types of enemies and punishing bosses, you might have a hard time making progress as a new player. The enemies hit hard and put you on the ground sooner than you could imagine.
There are two modes: Standard and Story. We suggest you start with the story mode if you want to experience the true essence of the game without sweating all the time. The Story mode has all of the elements but significantly toned down combat.
That way, you can enjoy the story and the magnificent hand-drawn artwork while taking on the Nine Sols. However, if you like a challenge, then you should go the Standard route, as the studio made sure that you get “challenged.”
2. Invest in Vials and Brews Early
To restore health, Yi uses his pipe to smoke medicinal herbs (I hope it’s herbs). Since there is a lot of combat, you must heal quite often. You cannot make progress with the same gear you started with, as the game gets progressively challenging over time.
That is why you need to spend some resources on health upgrades. Two main items contribute to your healing abilities – Pipe Vial and Medicial Brew. Upgrading the former increases the number of times you can smoke the pipe and restore your health.
You can get Medical Brews from Shennong whom you met in the intro chapter. You can later find him again, give him something poisonous, and get your first medicinal brew. The process remains the same for the rest of the game, just the number of poisonous items increases.
You can upgrade your Pipe Vial with the help of Kuafu and 800 Jin (in-game currency).
3. Visit The Pavilion As Much As Possible
The Pavilion is your safe house in Nine Sols, and you can visit it at any time. It is more than just a resting space; this is where you will find many NPCs you encountered on your adventures.
You can upgrade any of Yi’s abilities in the Pavilion as well. For example, we mentioned Kuafu in the previous section who will upgrade your Pipe, which can also be found here. We suggest you visit the Pavilion often because the best way to make steady progress is by investing in upgrades and the Pavilion is the place to go for these upgrades.
4. Learn The Art of Parrying
Parrying is arguably one of the most important mechanics in Nine Sols. Like every other sols game, parrying allows you to not only deflect the attack, but also negate any damage you might’ve taken, and stagger the enemy while allowing you to make a follow-up attack.
It works the same way in Nine Sols. You can either block an enemy’s attack but you will still take some amount of damage but if you perfectly time your parry, you won’t take any damage. Learn to parry early in the game and perfect the timing as you go on.
If you perfectly parry an attack, you will also receive a Qi Charge. You can later use that to do a powerful talisman attack. If you slightly mess up the timing of the parry, you will still earn a Qi Charge but will also take half the damage of the intended attack.
5. Don’t Underestimate the Azure Bow
Yi’s arsenal mostly consists of close-combat attacks so sometimes it can be difficult if you are dealing with a horde of enemies. It can quickly become overwhelming and you might not survive until you are done with them.
An easier way to survive the mob attacks is by using the Azure Bow. Given to you by Kuafu after defeating the first big boss, Yingzhao. The Azure bow can take out multiple targets with a single shot and will be one of the most useful ranged weapons in your arsenal.
Whenever you see multiple enemies, we suggest you first take a couple of them out using the Azure Bow and then move on toward hand-to-hand combat. Kuafu will also help you upgrade your bow, so you should invest in that as well.
6. Brain Over Brawn in Boss Fights
Nine Sol’s combat can be very punishing, especially if you are playing in the Standard Mode. You cannot rush into a battle headfirst and expect to come out unscathed. There will be consequences to rushing, and oftentimes it will be your demise.
Much like any other Souls game, you should see that there is a pattern for every enemy’s and boss’s attacks. Your first priority should be to learn and memorize that pattern. Even if you have to sacrifice yourself one time, you should do it, so that you can learn about the attacks.
You will be armed the next time with knowledge of how every attack works and when to parry or dodge it.
It will make things much easier as now you are making calculated moves. Once you stop spamming and start counting your moves, the strikes will feel almost surgical and precise because that’s how the devs wanted you to play the game.
7. Pick Your Battles Wisely
While we don’t have any doubts about your years of experience and familiarity with the genre, Nine Sols likes to punish the overly-cocky players. With the non-linear progress of the game, you will come across enemies way above your skill level that you will be tempted to take on, but if you take them on with the right upgrades and skills, you will have a much more pleasant experience.
Also, every time you respawn or revisit any area, the enemies in the area will respawn. You don’t have to take them on every single time. Though this is a nice way to farm some cas,h doing so might make the experience a little bland.
8. Explore and Revisit Areas
Nine Sols has a multi-level design and the work is so mesmerizing that one can easily spend hours just looking at the immaculate artwork in every zone. Because the game intends to have a non-linear progression, you can explore the areas you have already been to because there is a chance you might not have explored every bit of it.
Also, you cannot access every part without unlocking the required skill. A simple example of it is that every zone has an area that requires the Air Dash ability to reach. You can only unlock that ability later in the game, so you can now go back and explore the previously unexplored parts of that zone.
You can find a lot of loot in hard-to-reach areas, so exploring every nook and cranny is better.
9. Dodge When You Can
While you can block or parry, you won’t be able to do that 100% of the time. With blocking, you will still take some damage, and if you cannot perfectly parry an attack, you will once again take some damage.
That is why you should know when to run away, assess the situation, heal, and return to the battle. You can dash away from an enemy to get out of the AoE of the attack. This also gives you some breathing room to go back full force with your next attack.
10. You Can’t Win Everytime (And That’s Okay)
Nine Sols is no easy game by any means. If you underestimate it, there is a chance you might get your ass whopped by the first boss. You will die a lot sometimes in the most random spots so you should mentally prepare yourself accordingly.
You should understand that it is designed to give the players that extra thrill every time they win a battle because of all the hard work they put into it. With that said, it is okay to die a couple of times. Sometimes you will learn how the boss’s moveset works; other times you will just laugh at what you have done.
If you feel overwhelmed, take a break, touch the grass, and come back with new spirits to take revenge for your friend from the Nine Sols.