Overview
A guide to the most interesting and misunderstood RWBY character.
Intro
This guide is a work in progress. Please be patient, suggestions and images are welcome!
Lie Ren is one of the hardest characters to use is Grimm Eclipse, but also one of the most interesting. I saw a lack of guides and advice on how to play this character and so I created one.
Basic Attacks and Combos
Light Melee: Lie Ren’s blades have a short reach, shorter than Blake’s but longer than Yang’s fists. They swing fairly fast and deal mediocre damage, and have a five-move combo that ends in a short dash forward. In the air, he has a three move combo. This is meh, and the main reason people think Ren is meh. (They are wrong.)
Ranged: Ren shoots a pair of automatic pistols, firing four rounds per press of the trigger. These bullets have spread, meaning you’re better off getting close to enemies–especially small ones such as creeps. They have a small amount of recoil that pushes Ren back, which is exaggerated in the air. Unfortunately, even if you hit multiple bullets, you can’t get more than one hit to your hitstreak per pull of the trigger.
Ranged Combo: While the basic attacks are very good, the ranged combo, where Ren sweeps his guns around him in a circle, is far more situational. Sure, it can knock back several enemies slightly and build ultimate faster, but it deals basically no damage. Generally, you actually want to AVOID the combo. This means Ren should alternate firing his pistols in quick bursts with sprinting, staying near to enemies but out of their reach. It’s amazing what you can take down in this way.
Uncharged Heavy: A slowish, very short range attack where Ren bops Grimm on the nose. It almost kills Creeps, so use it with your ranged attack to farm Ranged Mastery.
Charged Heavy: A bigger, badder version of the palm strike. Ren can actually upgrade this in to one of the most powerful abilities in the game.
Light-Heavy: Ren launches both himself and his target into the air, firing his pistols out to the side uselessly for some reason. This attack will actually move you higher than the basic jump. Keep in mind you can use dodge->heavy to use this combo; it’s the only method Ren has to close distance.
Light-Light-Heavy: Ren throws three powerful punches as he moves forward and drives the target back. It’s fast, powerful, and reliable, and can one-shot Creeps.
Light-Light-Light-Heavy: Ren sinks his blades into his target, fires his pistols into them, and then jumps back into the air. Pretty much useless unless you have Extra Ammo. However, if you get the timing just right, you can hit an Ursa and then jump back and dodge their counterattack.
Air Heavy: Ren spins in a tight circle in the air, dealing a good amount of damage to nearby enemies, knocking them back, and likely setting up team attacks. This hits multiple targets multiple times and builds ultimate like crazy.
Air Ranged Combo: Ren is pretty much unique in that his ranged combo differs greatly when in the air and when in the ground. After firing twice while airborne, he flips upside down and fires his pistols in a massive cone underneath him. This rainstorm is big enough to clear out a landing space with knockback, and will devastate anything directly underneath you. It’s also totally awesome.
There’s a trick to getting right on top of enemies with Rainstorm. It’s possible to slip a dodge in after the first two attacks, so that you leap right onto a Grimm’s head before you breakdance on their face with bullets. The dodge button shouldn’t be pressed in rhythm with the ranged attacks-rather, you hit it instantly after the second ranged attack and hit the third in rhythm as if the dodge had never happened. Your light-heavy flip will actually get you higher into the air than your regular jump, so consider using that to initiate this maneuver.
Credit to Broadestofswords for these awesome gifs.
Ultimate
Ultimate: Secretly, Ren’s ultimate isn’t an attack-it’s a panic button. When used, Ren blinks between enemies within range and strikes them for a moderate amount of damage, becoming invulnerable while he attacks. When you are cornered and low and health, your ultimate will give you a moment to breathe while you beat up your enemies.
Improved Warp Strike: This about doubles the number of strikes you can make. With this and Improved Aura Regeneration, you can press Q on the edge of death, and by the time the ultimate is over you’ll be at full health.
Furious Warp Strike: So, the description is misleading. This power lets you hit multiple targets is a small AOE with each punch. Unless you like games to play themselves, skip it.
Heavy Upgrades
Aura Charge: Every character has something unique and somewhat broken that defines their play as a character. Blake has Stun Blades, Yang has Second Wind, Phyrra can throw her shield to stun half a dozen enemies with the press of a button. Ren’s is the aura charge tree. When Ren uses this power, his charged heavy turns into a massive AOE nuke (on par with some ultimates) that drains 25% of his health. Don’t stop here, though; be sure to take Stunning or Draining Aura Charge.
Stunning Aura Charge: Stunning Aura Charge stuns all targets in the area, which is ridiculously good. You can keep hordes of enemies stun-locked while you blast them to smithereens. If you take Stunning Aura Charge, consider taking Heavy Synergy.
Draining Aura Charge: Do you remember the badass fight in the first season where Ren kills the giant black-and-white snake by using his aura to push the snake’s fang into its own eye? Do you ever wish you could absorb your enemies’ attacks and turn your life force into a weapon? This is that power.
It’s more damaging at range and stuns longer than Stunning Charge, but comes at the cost of 50% aura. However, the real draw is the invulnerability. Against fast foes like Mutant Beowolves and Red Robots, you do not have time to charge a heavy between attacks. Time your Aura Charge with their attacks so that you are invulnerable when they hit. This is also a good way to deal with hard to dodge attacks such as an Ursa’s Earthquake.
Misc. Upgrades
Survivor: Always a solid choice, especially if you use Aura Charge or Draining Aura Charge. However, the escape of your ultimate makes it less necessary.
Rapid Aura Regen: You need this, especially
Improved Aura: Since Aura Charge will drain the same percentage of your aura no matter what, you’re better off with Survivor.
Medic: If you have a friend you’re helping or need revives for rank, you can take this, but Ren really needs points elsewhere.
Ultimate Pool 1: Take this if you have room.
Ultimate Pool 2: Since Ren can get ultimate really fast, you probably don’t need this.
Extra Ammo: This doubles the number of shots all your attacks fire, all in the same amount of time. Depends on your play style. I like it so I can safely deal damage while waiting for Aura to recharge.
Heavy Synergy: Believe it or not, when playing alone, I found I didn’t need this. This is probably crazy but you can try skipping it.
Heavy Hands: At first I thought that this was a stupid upgrade. “Why not just wait a second for your allies to finish them off?” First, getting to make your own team attacks lets you build ultimate ridiculously fast. Then, you can use your ultimate to set up more team attacks, and remain invulnerable all the while.
Builds (Coming Soon!)
Thank you for reading!