The Orochi is the original assassin of the Samurai faction. He is characterized by his quick movement speed, fast attacks, and excellent counter-attacking abilities. Today we will take a short look at this Hero and what makes them tick so that new players and veterans alike will discover something new. Be mindful that this guide assumes that you’ve played For Honor a little and know the basic terminology. That being in mind, let’s start with Orochi’s moveset:

Orochi’s Moveset

Orochi’s moveset is fairly straight forward. Like all Assassin class heroes, they have a reflex guard meaning his Guard Stance only remains active for a short time after it’s direction has been inputted. Orochi’s combo chains are as follows:

• Crosswind Slashes - Light, light, light
• Galeforce Swipes - Light, heavy
• Cyclone Slashes - light, light, heavy
• Tidal Wave Slashes - Heavy, light, light
• Maelstrom Slashes - Heavy, light, heavy
• Lightning Strikes Twice - Heavy, heavy

 As you can see, the basic combo chains rely on the Orochi peppering their opponent with light attacks while mixing in the odd heavy attack.. The Orochi can also throw a zone attack from neutral to catch their opponents off guard. However, the Orochi also has unique moves exclusive to his kit. Orochi’s top light also guarantees a second light attack with reduced damage. Orochi also has access to counter-attacking tools:

• Riptide Strike - a quick light attack they can perform by dodging backward and using a light attack, 
• Storm Rush - a stance Orochi can enter by performing a back dodge and holding a heavy attack allowing him to chase his opponents and initiate combos if it connects
• Wind Gust - A light deflect attack that is unblockable, good for interrupting combos
• Hurricane Blast - An unblockable heavy deflect attack and Orochi’s most damaging move. This move is also uninterruptible and can be feinted into a guard break to catch dodging opponents. 

Unique to the Orochi’s moveset is the ability to cancel the recovery of combo finishers into dodge attacks to keep the pressure on their opponent. The Orochi’s sprint attack - Crashing Wave - also has a very short recovery and can smoothly be connected into combo chains. Combo chains can also be started after the Orochi lands a Storm Rush, Riptide Strike, Lightning Strike, Zephyr Slash, or Wind Gust. 

Orochi Strategies

The basic strategy for a beginner player is to spam light attacks and mix in a heavy attack or zone attack when possible as many other people in their skill level will likely not be able to consistently parry all of the light attacks. While the light attack spam may guarantee kills and open the doors to the salt mine at first, this is a bad habit to get into. Some players at a high skill level will be able to consistently parry Orochi’s light attacks and if you combine that with high damaging punishes from characters like Lawbringer or Highlander and you will be torn in twain before you can even land a hit. Therefore, as a new Orochi player, it is imperative that you learn how to effectively counterattack and bait out your enemies with feints and canceling Storm Rush. You should especially spend time practicing Orochi’s deflects as they are some of the most damaging moves in his arsenal.  Another strategy that works well is to feint the heavy in the Cyclone Slashes combo chain, players will expect a light and try to parry early allowing you to punish their early read with a parry, deflect, or a guard break on slower heavy attacks.

For a very in-depth guide on Orochi’s moveset and other strategies, see this guide made by MightyMattman90 on YouTube

Orochi Feats

Orochi’s Feats are as follows:

Tier 1: 

• Bounty Hunter - Gain health and stamina when you kill another Hero
• Kiai - Stun nearby opponents (and allies) with a scream
• Iron Lungs - You can still spring when out of stamina

    Tier 2: 

• Smoke Bomb - Throw a smoke bomb on the ground. The smoke bomb stuns enemies, hides you enemies, and you cannot be locked onto
• Kunai - Throw a weighted dagger that does a small amount of damage
• Revenge Attacks - Attacks fill the revenge meter

    Tier 3: 

• Longbow - Fire a longbow for moderate damage
• Sharpen Blade - Attacks inflict bleed damage
• Slip Through - Dodging raises attack damage for a short duration

    Tier 4: 

• Nail Bomb - Explosive trap that deals bleed damage in an area of effect
• Fear Itself - Emit an aura that lowers enemy stamina regeneration and defense
• Arrow Storm - Aerial attack that deals medium damage to multiple areas

    Bounty Hunter is an excellent choice as it helps you get right back into the fight after finishing off an opponent but Kiai can be a lot of help in team fights, so Tier 1 is up to what works best for you. Kunai is excellent for finishing off a weakened opponent, provided you don’t miss, however, Revenge Attacks is always very useful to have in your Tier 2 slot. For Tier 3 the obvious choice is Sharpen Blade as it works extremely well with the Tier 4 Feat: Fear Itself. With these two Feats together the Orochi essentially becomes a human blender. 

Orochi’s Gear:

Orochi’s gear consists of three armor pieces and three pieces on his katana. More importantly, his gear gives him access to these armor perks:

• Galestorm - 20% movement speed buff on kill for 10 seconds
• Devourer - Extra 15 health on execution
• Early Reaper - 20% damage buff on a single attack after spawning in or being revived
• Endurance - Gain 3% stamina cost reduction on gaining a Renown level. This maxes out after 4 level gains, giving a maximum of 12% reduction
• Survival Instinct - 15% stamina cost reduction when on low health
• Crush Them - 20% damage buff on next attack after kill
• Head Hunter - Max health is increased by 4 HP after executing an enemy Hero or a unique bot

Many beginner or intermediate players may gravitate towards perks like Head Hunter or Survival Instinct because it gives the Orochi extra survivability. While there’s nothing wrong with having extra health, these perks work better with Heavy class characters who are meant to anchor onto a point or trade hits. An optimal, high-level gear build for Orochi would consist of: Galestorm, Devourer, and Early Reaper/Crush Them. The combination of these three perks allows the Orochi to be an efficient assassin. He can execute an enemy and quickly rotate to another point or hunt down another enemy and dish out some extra damage. Plus, if you combine Devourer with Orochi’s Renown level perk: Bounty Hunter, and use a long execution you will recover lots of health from one fight. 

For an example on this optimal high-level build and a look at some of the coolest gear Orochi has, check out this video by Sororus.

Orochi’s Executions:

Orochi has a lot of very flashy executions that seem to have been ripped right from an anime scene. While many new players will be very tempted to spend their hard-earned steel on these excellent executions it is very important to have at least one very quick execution in your arsenal. The reason being if you’re performing a long execution in the middle of a group fight you can be easily interrupted and quite possibly killed. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you buy the “From Above” execution as it only takes a second to complete the execution. 

For in-depth information on most of Orochi’s executions, check out this video by Xinlyfenne.

Orochi’s Fashion

Orochi, like most heroes, has somewhat lackluster fashion while he is at a low Reputation level but the legendary weapon and armor sets that start dropping rarely at reputation 8 are very intimidating and cool to look at. My personal favorite for the Orochi is the Honemi armor set. Orochi’s armors also allow for a good level of player expression as they generally have a lot of space to show off emblems and colors unless you’re using the high-level gear that features a myriad of spikes covering most of their body. 

For a showcase of high-level Orochi gear, check out this video by Tumorschnitzel

Orochi Tips

Practice canceling the recoveries of his combo enders with dodges to quickly flow into his dodge attacks and counterattack moves: Riptide Strike and Storm Rush. 

Storm Rush, this is a very good tool to be unpredictable to your enemy as it hides your guard stance right until the Orochi attacks. Be careful though, some players may try to interrupt this stance, therefore feinting this attack to bait a reaction is another good strategy. 

Orochi’s deflect attacks rely heavily on reading your opponent and knowing the timing of many different attacks, be sure to get the hang of these so you can unleash the heavy damage deflect attacks.

 Orochi’s Hurricane Blast deflect can also be canceled into a guard break to catch those trying to dodge it. 

Orochi’s chain lights can be delayed to throw off your opponent

Don’t spam your dodge attacks as you’ll just get parried all the time

Orochi’s deflects are the highest damaging attacks in their kit, get good with these attacks. 

Attacking the top guard with Storm Rush makes the attack Undodgeable

Learn his max punishments for throwing out of stamina attacks

Because of Orochi’s limited move set, light spamming is a viable strategy at times.

    For more tips on how to play Orochi, check out these videos:

Orochi Tips by Infinite

Deflect Guide by Sororus 

Orochi Guide by Reavyne Gaming

Orochi Pro Tips by Dear Gamer

In-Depth Orochi Guide by Alarming Playz

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