Rise of the Ronin - Dojo Scoring Guide

Dojo Guide to Higher Scores

This is a tech score breakdown which is the most variable part of your score, along with hard numbers for things.

First 5 Unique Martial Arts (MA) Hit

Points: 160

Subsequent MAs Landed (After First 5)

Points: 16

Note that it doesn’t matter what the MA is, a Gikei Ryu shuriken for the first MA hit, for example, will score 160 points just like a Shinto Odachi Ryu square.

Multi-Hit MAs

For Multi-Hit MAs, the score appears to count separately, aka the first registered hit is 160 (if it’s unique for that run) and each hit after that is worth 16. It also does not matter which hit of the MA lands for it to count for the 160 first time around, you could whiff entirely with parts of the art but as long as any one lands it counts

So something like Banshee Flash (Saber) if you land all the inputs and hits, it will net 240 points the first time, and at most 96 on subsequent uses. There is a cap on this though at 10 additional hits, so there will be an an extra 160 points available.

Critical Hits

Points: 275 (Max. 2)

There are a total of 550 points up for grabs from Crits alone in 2 chunks. So 2 regular Crits will net 275 each. Crits beyond that give you nothing though which comes into play in a bit. Now if you use a unique art in that crit process? Then we’re talking about 275+160 and another 16 for each additional hit apart of that sequence.

A couple of moves when pulled off on a panicked enemy, will get credit for a crit in the process. Namely, Nozuchi Drop. If you use Nozuchi on a panicked enemy where you slash up, grab them, and slam them into the ground, it’ll score like a crit plus martial art even if they weren’t Ki depleted.

This is worth 451 points (275+160+16) the first time by itself, the amount of course reduces when used repeatedly. This is extra important in the actual combat stages, where getting 2 crits is not always possible due to the damage done with actual weapons and becomes essential to reaching max score.

Counterspark (Good)

Points: 110 (Max. 10)

There is a quota of 10 “good” countersparks at 110 points each, total 1100 available in a fight. Good countersparks are defined as executing the timing nicely (not too early or late).

Counterspark (Bad)

Points: 22 (Max. 10)

“Bad” countersparks are mostly done by accident using a more generous style like Shinto Munen, doing the counterspark early but still getting it to register. These score only 20% of a “Good” counterspark, at 22 points each. Like “Good” countersparks, the max quota for these is 10.

Other Notes

“Added altogether, the typical “cap” for tech is 2610 points – (2 critical hits (550) + 5 unique martial art hits (800) +10 additional MA hits (160) + 10 countersparks (1100).
You can overcap slightly with additional “bad” countersparks as well, up to 220 additional points so absolute max tech ceiling of 2830.
For most fights you aren’t going to have time to get those additional CS without severely handicapping your time score, but it is technically possible to do on purpose and is probably a viable strategy against enemies that attack more than 10x before you can finish them off, and may be the difference in placement.
Each additional overcap is the equivalent of shaving 0.7 seconds of your time score (each second elapsed is roughly 30 points deducted).

Paired Sword Bugged Interactions

Paired Swords have some weirdness at times,in which sometimes a skill on paired swords will double count, both as a unique hit and a crit at times.
This led to a few instances of Twin Dragons scoring 822 points in a single use, as it counted twice for the crit (275×2) once as a unique art (160).
Additional hits may have also been double counted a bit (7×16). It’s not something that happens every single time though, which is odd.
Other paired swords have also been noted to get an extra hit registered even though only one damage number appears such as Niten Ryu triangle MA.