Overview
Currently accurate for the Full Release! This guide will give you gameplay basics on how to play as the Ice Queen herself, including an overview of her abilities, how to unlock them and how to use them efficiently. Thanks go to [RWBY] Ruby Rose (♂) for the use of the formatting, and to all you lovely players who have contributed.
Preface
If you have any questions about the game in general you may wish to consult the FAQ first:
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If you’re interested in playing as other characters in the game, have a look at the splendid guides made by other members of the RWBY community!
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Gameplay Basics
Control Scheme
Experience points (XP) are gained from battle via enemies defeated, from XP orbs obtained from smashing crates and pots, Artifacts found in hidden areas, and from completing tasks and objectives, such as reviving a teammate, completing a wave of enemies, executing team attacks or being the MVP during a wave of enemies.
Beginning at level 1 at the start of a campaign, the player will discover – and obtain from battle – the XP necessary to reach the next level until the level cap, currently level 10. Each level resets your Aura Gauge and gives the player one (1) point to use towards their main abilities and attributes.
To reach a certain level, the player has to gain a certain amount of XP. Below are the amounts necessary to reach from a prior level (eg. to reach Lv 3, it requires 750xp from Lv 2)
Lv 1: 0 (The player begins at level 1)
Lv 2: 500
Lv 3: 750
Lv 4: 1000
Lv 5: 1250
Lv 6: 1500
Lv 7: 1750
Lv 8: 2000
Lv 9: 2500
Lv 10: 4000
H = Heavy Attack (Right Click / Y / Triangle)
C = Counter/Stun (F / B / Circle)
R = Ranged Attack (R / RT / R2)
D = Dodge (Left Shift / LB / L1)
Ground Attacks
The most basic ground combo for Weiss is simply spamming her Quick attack. This takes off between 2/3 to 3/4 of a Creep’s health, regardless of whether you use the dodge variant or the standard combo.
Q -> Q -> Q -> Q (The Dodge variant has one extra hit, for a total of 5 Quick attacks)
At any point in the combo you may replace a Quick Attack with a Heavy Attack, ending that combo. The physical move that Weiss uses is dependent upon how many Quick Attacks were used prior to using the Heavy Attack, explained below:
Normal
H = A quick yet powerful lunge. Can be charged into a glyph blast by holding down the attack button/key, increasing damage but taking longer to perform.
Q -> H = A glyph powered lunge. Weiss creates a glyph under her feet, launching herself forward and into the air to pierce her enemy.
Q -> Q-> H = Sort of a micro-Nova, Weiss fires a glyph blast at the ground, damaging enemies in a radius and freezing them. Useful for crowd control, but the charge time can leave you open to attack.
Q -> Q -> Q -> H = Another Nova variant, Weiss plunges Myrtenaster into the ground, firing a spread of ice ahead of her, knocking back enemies and doing heavy damage.
Dodge Variant
All dodge variant combos must be started with a dodge, creating a different combo pattern to Weiss’ Normal ground combo.
D -> H = Weiss launches straight into her glyph powered lunge, perfect for hitting just out of reach low health enemies.
D -> Q -> H = Weiss strikes home with a normal lunge, the same one from her normal Heavy attack. Will kill creeps in one combo.
D -> Q -> Q -> H = After a few quick attacks, Weiss drives forward with her glyph powered lunge.
D -> Q -> Q -> Q -> H = Weiss blasts the ground with her micro-Nova, freezing enemies in range.
D -> Q -> Q -> Q -> Q -> H = Weiss stabs Myrtenaster into the ground, firing a pillar of ice ahead of her, damaging and knocking back all enemies it hits.
Ranged Attacks
Weiss’ Ranged combo is now a true combo, firing two projectiles and then launching a Barrage, ending the combo:
R -> R -> Barrage
The range is incredible and it can easily kill Creeps with one point invested in the Barrage skill. In the same way that you can replace a Quick Attack with a Heavy Attack, you can replace a Quick Attack with a Ranged Attack:
Q -> Q -> Q -> R -> R -> Barrage
It is also possible to substitute in a basic Heavy Attack at any point in a Ranged combo, ending that combo.
Air Combos
Weiss’ Air combos have gotten more diverse with the recent update. Her basic Quick combo consists of 5 attacks in succession:
Q -> Q -> Q -> Q -> Q
At any point in the combo you can replace a Quick Attack with a Heavy Attack, which causes Weiss to materialise a Glyph below her feet, firing it at her opponent as she back flips away. This will end the combo.
Q -> Q -> Q -> Q -> H
In the same way as the ground combos, you can replace a Quick Attack with a Ranged Attack, which can then be interrupted with a Heavy Attack, as in the example below:
Q -> Q -> Q -> Q -> R -> R -> H
Advanced Gameplay & Tips
Weiss was never a powerhouse even in earlier versions, with a lower damage and hit number combo than Blake or Ruby and lacking the raw power of Yang. After going into open release her regular Quick Attack combo has actually gotten shorter, only landing four attacks to its original six. However, with the shift in focus away from button mashing to a more observant style of combat that rewards player who employ different approaches to different enemies, Weiss is now a much more dominant presence on the battlefield, especially since Quick Attacks do considerably less damage to guarded enemies. Her guerrila style of warfare (kindly pointed out to me by XsjadoR0LL3R) is actually a more potent strategy than ever. By executing the following combo:
Dodge -> Q -> H
Weiss will dash towards her opponent, launch a quick two strikes then (while the opponent is temporarily staggered) knock them back with a fairly fast lunge. This method of attack will kill Creeps in one combo and unguarded Beowolves in two. It’s important to note that you shouldn’t hold the Heavy Attack, as this will instead lead to Weiss charging up a lunge which takes much longer and actually does less damage. It can take some practice, but soon you’ll be mopping up Creeps and lower health enemies like a frozen whirlwind.
For taking down larger and more dangerous enemies who resist freezing, it’s more prudent to go for a stun – either from her Improved Nova or from a well-timed counter – and then hit them hard with a charged Heavy attack. If there is too hefty a crowd to be able to charge a heavy, you may wish to try and time her ice wall heavy combo so that only the ice wall hits the stunned enemy. Tricky to do, but will save you from going down trying to charge an attack while still doing good damage.
Even after the combat revision, Weiss is still the Queen of Support. The final ability for all 3 of her unlockable skills involve freezing enemies, as does her counter ability AND one of her heavy attacks. This allows you to easily trap enemies and focus them down on at a time, or set them up for major damage from teammates. Additionally, it’s much easier for Weiss to revive teammates because of her three hit Heavy combo, which freezes enemies and does a small amount of damage. Just fire one off on top of a downed ally and revive them with a wall of frozen enemies protecting you from unfrozen ones. If you’re playing as Weiss and aren’t top of the team for teamwork score, you’re either doing it wrong or very, very right.
A small note – if you invest in the ‘Ice Queen’ perk (that allows you to freeze enemies by countering) you will no longer stun enemies by countering them. I recommend NOT investing in this if you’re playing solo, as it makes ‘boss’ enemies (such as the Alpha Beowolf) much more tedious to kill. It is very useful for multiplayer matches however, as frozen enemies are open to much more damage from allies and are effectively no threat until they thaw.
Contrary to their name, Team Attacks CAN be executed even with only one person playing. From experience, it seems to occur mostly against enemies who haven’t guarded against your attacks, or are flashing yellow. While it seems random whether or not a Team Attack opportunity will present itself, the following actions can and will (given enough attempts) cause one of these to appear:
Countering enemies – the chance seems low, with it being possible to counter enemies literally dozens of times without a Team Attack prompt to appear.
Heavy Attacks – landing Heavy Attacks does sometimes create a Team Attack opportunity. The ‘Heavy Synergy’ ability boosts the chance of Heavy Attacks creating a team attack opportunity. For Weiss specifically, it seems to me that her lunge style heavy attack has a higher chance of creating Team Attack opportunities, although this is based off of experience rather than any real research.
Ultimates – Using Weiss’ Ultimate seems to have a decent chance of creating Team Attack opportunities, as I’ve had multiple spring up from one Nova. Then again, I’ve also had none.
Team Attacks – Yup, successfully executing a Team Attack can create the opportunity for another. In this way it’s possible to unleash a ‘chain’ of Team Attacks, one after another.
A guaranteed method for creating a Team Attack opportunity is to attack a stunned enemy with a fully charged heavy attack. This will 100% make a team attack prompt on the enemy you attacked.
Weiss has 3 upgradeable abilities: Nova, Frostbite and Barrage. These skills got totally revamped with the recent update and function differently not only to the previous skills, but to each other as well.
Barrage: Barrage is a long range homing attack that can only be executed at the end of a Ranged combo. The homing usually aims for the same enemy, but it can (and will) target pots and boxes, so try to clear these out first if you’re a heavy Ranged user.
At it’s base form it fires 3 beams and removes around a third of a Creep’s health. The Improved Barrage appears to fire 8 beams and will kill Creeps in one shot. The final upgrade for Barrage is locked behind the ‘Ranged Mastery’ challenge, requiring you to kill 200 enemies with Barrage but once unlocked will reward you with the Frost Bolt ability, which fires an ice spike ahead of Weiss, freezing anything it doesn’t kill. Admittedly, it won’t kill a lot because it does about as much damage as a single projectile, but you may want the utility for a 4 player match due to the epic range and potential dozens of freezes you can pull off with it.
I recommend dropping a point into Barrage because it does a decent chunk of damage even to ‘boss’ enemies, especially if they’re stunned.
Frostbite: Frostbite is Weiss’ team attack skill. Weiss lunges at her opponent, lands two quick hits, then launches into the air to plunge down on her opponent. Does an absurd amount of damage, with Improved Frostbite doing Area of Effect damage. The final upgrade for Frostbite is locked behind the ‘Frostbite Mastery’ challenge, requiring the player to kill 100 enemies with Frostbite but once unlocked will reward you with the Hypothermia ability, which does increased damage and freezes anything it doesn’t kill (seeing a pattern here yet?).
Nova: Nova is Weiss’ Ultimate Attack, dealing damage to every enemy in range. It requires a full Ultimate bar to use, and each use empties one bar of Ultimate. Your Ultimate is recharged by attacking and killing enemies.
Nova does damage within a certain radius, and its base form does enough to kill Creeps in one go. Improved Nova will take Beowolfves down to around 10% health and stuns any enemy it hits, with greatly improved range. The final upgrade for Nova is locked behind the ‘Nova Mastery’ challenge, requiring the player to kill 300 enemies with Nova but once unlocked rewards the player with the ‘Novacaine’ ability, which freezes anything it doesn’t kill, a massive help for if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Abilities
Survivor
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: – None
Description: You can survive more damage after your aura is depleted
Aura Regeneration
Cost: 2
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: – None
Description: Your aura recovers much faster
Improved Ultimate 1
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: – None
Description: Your ultimate pool increases by 1 [for a maximum of 2].
Medic
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: Savior – Revive teammates to unlock this ability (Progress: 0/5)
Description: Revive teammates much faster
Increased Aura
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: Master Hunter – Defeat enemies to unlock this ability (Progress: 0/2000)
Description: You gain more aura [Increases by around 1/2]
Improved Ultimate 2
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: Improved Ultimate 1
Challenge: Ultimatum – Defeat enemies with ultimate attacks to unlock this ability (Progress: 0/300)
Description: Your special pool increases by 1 [for a maximum of 3].
Ice Queen
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: Counter Mastery – Counter enemies with Weiss to unlock this ability (Progress: 0/20)
Description: Weiss freezes enemies when countering them.
Perfect Form
Cost: 2
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: Super Schnee – Reach Level 10 with Weiss (Progress: 0/1)
Description: Weiss gains more progress towards ultimate when completing a hitstreak.
Heavy Synergy
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: Slugger – Defeat enemies with Heavy Attacks to unlock this ability (Progress: 0/300)
Description: Heavy Attacks have an improved chance to create a team attack opportunity.
Nova I
Cost: 0
Prerequisite: – None, starting ability
Challenge: – None
Description: Weiss releases a burst of energy, damaging nearby enemies.
Improved Nova
Cost: 2
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: – None
Description: Nova’s damage and radius is increased, and also stuns enemies.
Novacaine
Cost: 2
Prerequisite: Improved Nova
Challenge: – Nova Mastery
Description: Nova freezes all enemies.
Frostbite
Cost: 0
Prerequisite: – None, starting skill
Challenge: – None
Description: Weiss leaps into the air and plunges Myrtenaster down in a punishing blow.
Improved Frostbite
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: – None
Description: Frostbite now damages all enemies in the surrounding area.
Hypothermia
Cost: 2
Prerequisite: Improved Frostbite
Challenge: – None
Description: Frostbite does increased damage to surrounding enemies and causes them to freeze.
Barrage
Cost: 0
Prerequisite: – None, starting skill
Challenge: – None
Description: Weiss shoots three beams at once at her target.
Improved Barrage
Cost: 1
Prerequisite: – None
Challenge: – None
Description: Weiss unleashes a storm of dust enhanced projectiles, which home in on nearby targets.
Frost Bolt
Cost: 2
Prerequisite: Improved Barrage
Challenge: – None
Description: Weiss shoots an icicle that freezes enemies in its path.
Challenges
Nova Mastery
Challenge: Defeat enemies with Nova to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/300
Reward: Novacaine – Nova freezes all enemies.
Frostbite Mastery
Challenge: Defeat enemies with Frostbite to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/100
Reward: Hypothermia – Frostbite does increased damage to surrounding enemies and causes them to freeze.
Barrage Mastery
Challenge: Defeat enemies with Barrage to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/200
Reward: Frost Bolt – Weiss shoots an icicle that freezes enemies in its path.
Hunter
Challenge: Reach experience level 5 as any character
Progress: 0/1
Reward: Survivor – You can survive more damage after your aura is depleted.
Savior
Challenge: Revive teammates to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/5
Reward: Medic – Revive teamamtes much faster.
Master Hunter
Challenge: Defeat enemies to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/2000
Reward: Increased Aura – You gain more Aura.
Ultimatum
Challenge: Defeat enemies with Ultimate attacks to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/300
Reward: Improved Ultimate 2 – Your ultimate pool increases by 1.
Counter Mastery
Challenge: Counter enemies with Weiss to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/300
Reward: Ice Queen – Weiss freezes enemies when countering them.
Super Schnee
Challenge: Reach level 10 as Weiss to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/1
Reward: Perfect Form – Weiss gains more progress towards ultimate when completing a hitstreak.
Slugger
Challenge: Defeat enemies with heavy attacks to unlock this ability
Progress: 0/300
Reward: Heavy Synergy – Heavy Attacks have an improved chance to create an opportunity for team attacks.
Secrets & Trivia
If you press 1 on your keyboard, or down on the D-pad for controllers, Weiss does a little victory spin. Adorable.
Potential spoilers for the anime occur below
Weiss’ Barrage skill is mostly likely inspired by the projectiles Weiss fires during the White Trailer to hold the Giant Armor in place.
Open to suggestions!
Bugs
- When using a controller, gentle pressure on the left thumbstick will cause Weiss to move slowly without the walking animation triggering, leading to a ‘glide’.
- Weiss is currently incapable of climbing some stairs/ledges, instead getting stuck on them and requiring a jump to traverse them. Applies to all characters. A good example of this is in Emerald Forest Part 2, at the small platform with the first artifact on it, as the stairs to return back to the main path are currently untraversible without jumping.
FAQ
Q. I invested a point into the ‘Frostbite’ skill, but I don’t know how to use it. Did I waste a point?
A. Easy there tiger, you’ve not wasted anything. Frostbite is Weiss’ team attack. You know when you stagger an enemy after a combo, counter or Ultimate, and they get a ‘Y’, ‘Triangle’ or ‘Right Click’ prompt above their head? Hit the corresponding button/key quick enough and Weiss will dash over and launch into the air before plunging down upon them like the fury of Winter itself. While not an insta-kill move, it does so much damage that you can put a serious dent into literally any enemy you come across. And kill enough things with it and you’ll unlock the 3rd level of the ability!