The Karakuri Staff’s transformation ability makes it an all-in-one solution for all monster-hunting endeavors in Wild Hearts. The Staff offers a unique mechanic that allows it to transform into four basic forms namely the Long Staff, Twin Fang, Giant Shuriken, and War Pike, each offering its own niche in certain attacking situations.
The weapon can also be used to deliver a powerful special attack, the Juggernaut Slash, that sees it transform into a fifth form that deals huge damage to any Kemono.
Even though using the Karakuri Staff may seem complex, it’s actually fairly simple once you fully master timing your combo mutations. Still, if the weapon doesn’t suit your style, you can give Karakuri Katana shot then.
How to use the Karakuri Staff in Wild Hearts
You can transform the Karakuri Staff into four different forms, each of which will offer a specific use depending on the situation. The four forms are:
| Staff Mutation | Attack Speciality |
|---|---|
| Long Staff | Close Range attacks at a moderate attack speed |
| Twin Fang | Quick aerial attacks |
| Giant Shuriken | Slower Heavy attacks |
| War Pike | Swing and Lunge attacks |
The Staff form can be changed by Pressing R2 or RT depending on your console. Each form has a limited basic movement on its own but the Karakuri Staff allows you to perform Combo mutations whereby you can mutate your staff mid-combo and continue on with an all-new combo.
As you are delivering a basic combo with one form you will notice glowing prompts after a certain number of strikes. At this moment you can press R2 or RT to transform the staff and keep the combo going.
Combo mutations will fill up your weapon gauge which can be redeemed to perform the Juggernaut Slash. The Juggernaut Clash is the Karakuri Staff’s special move that sees it transform into a fifth form that deals devastating damage.
Now while you can use the Juggernaut Slash at any moment, its strength and damage output are dependent on the progress of your Weapon Gauge. Therefore, we suggest completely filling the bar before using it to maximize damage output.
Best Karakuri Staff combos
Unlike other weapons in Wild Hearts, the Karakuri Staff is a bit different when it comes to combining different attacks and advanced moves to create a string of combos.
This is because the Karakuri Staff is designed to be used in a continuous flow of attacks. There are no advanced combos, at least not like other weapons in the game. The best combos for the Karakuri Staff is its basic combos that you can combine by transforming your weapon at the right time.
| Attacks | Inputs |
|---|---|
| Light Attack | X or Square |
| Light Chain | 4x Light Attack |
| Heavy Attack | Y or Triangle |
| Transform Weapon | R2 or RT |
| Transform Weapon during a combo | Press R2 or R2 during a combo |
| Juggernaut Slash | Press RT or R2 + Y or Triangle |
You need to use this weapon in a continuous flow, making use of the mutation and landing perfect combos using different weapons. You must wait for a white light to flash and then click on the mutate option. This will allow you to continue the combo using other weapons.
There is no specific combo that can be said to be the best. There is also no specific order that must be followed. All you need to do is to keep transforming the Karakuri Staff when you see the flashing light to create your own combos with every weapon.
| Weapon | Combos |
|---|---|
| Staff | 4-hit light combo, 1-hit heavy leaping strike |
| Dual Blade | 6-hit light slashing combo, 5-hit heavy long-distance slashing combo |
| Shuriken | 3-hit long-distance light combo, multiple hits with a heavy projectile attack |
| Spear | 3-hit light combo, multiple hits with a wind-up slash |
The Slam Down attack using a box allows you to deal massive damage to the Kemonos. You can then change into the free dual blades in the combo to drain a significant chunk of the enemy’s health and boost your movement.
This is the best combo as it allows you to move to a safe position, protecting against the aggression of Kemonos. This combo allows you to recharge two mutation levels within a few seconds so that you can bring out the high-damaging blade in no time.
The other best combo to perform with Karakuri Staff involves the usage of Spring Karakuri to move forward and flick staff over your head to catch the Kemonos behind you. This combo again provides you with two mutation point charges, recharging the gauge quickly.
How the Mutation Gauge works
You need to recharge the mutation meter by successfully landing the combos using the different sets of weapons. The opportunity to continue the combo arises when you strike down the enemy using your weapon, and a white flash appears. You have to press the mutation button at that particular time to move into the combo, recharging your mutation gauge.
After reaching at least four segments on the gauge, you can pull out the Juggernaut blade. The Juggernaut blade allows you to perform two hit combo until you reach the maximum level on the mutation gauge.
You can pull off the finishing move at the maximum meter level with the Juggernaut Blade, the hardest-hitting highest damage attack in the Wild Hearts. You just have to keep transitioning into your combo to reach the maximum gauge to pull off this deadly move in Wild Hearts.
Best Karakuri Staff skills
The best skills for Karakuri Staff improve the damage and allow you to set traps for the Kemonos. You need a boost in your damage output, so these skills are essential to bringing down the monsters.
For Karakuri Staff, skills that provide greater mutation charge or damage are crucial as your full combat potential revolves around these two things. You do not need high defense with this weapon, and you should utilize the high mobility to unleash devastating hits on the Kemonos in Wild Hearts.
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Mountain Felling Giant Blade | Allowing you to deal substantial damage due to its boost to your Juggernaut blade. |
| Kaleidoscope skills | it increases the timer on the mutation charge. This charge is crucial as it allows you to set up traps and bring out a high-damaging juggernaut blade combo. |
| One Stroke: Fury | Provides you with a boost in damage after breaking down Kemono part. |
| Destruction Art | This skills improves the One Stroke: Fury as it makes it easy to break down the Kemonos and provides boost to Juggernaut Blade’s damage. |
| Savage | Increases the raw damage for all the attacks from Karakuri Staff. |
Best Karakuri Staff build
This build is perfect for early-game Kemonos. You can eliminate any monster using the raw damage of the build. All the items in this build allow higher damage output and better mobility and survivability.
You need the best Wild Hearts Karakuri Staff build to protect yourself from aggressive Kemonos and put them out with the right combination of attacks.
This build helps you benefit from the Karakuris to quickly deal massive damage and recharge the mutation gauge. The main aim is to bring out the Juggernaut Blade as soon as possible to deal the highest damage attacks.
In this build, weapons and the right set of skills play a significant role. You get the best build by equipping skills that take your damage to the next level. You should select Void Karakuri Staff: Nigi-Hayahi 2 as your weapon along with the following skills:
- Fog Fall
- Mountain Felling Giant Blade
- Karakuri Coordination: Fury
- Slight of Hand: Fury
For this build, you want Talisman that improves your Juggernaut Blade Damage. Additionally, getting skills that boost damage after summoning or using a Karakuri is crucial. Since our build revolves around the Juggernaut Blade and Karakuri, we must incorporate these skills into our builds. Some of these Talisman include:
- Rain Talisman: Memoir
- Attack Talisman
- Iron Man Talisman
The selection of armor set for this build is based on the amount of Karakuri thread you will use during the combat. Most of the set comes from the human path, which is required for this build. This armor set increases mobility and allows you to dodge incoming attacks quickly.
- White Fang Brocaded Mengu (Human-Path)
- Fuma Clan Uwagi (Human-Path)
- Dawn Guard Gauntlets (Human-Path)
- Dawn Guard Haidate
- White Fang Brocaded Boots (Human-Path)
The Karakuris play the most significant role in this build, so we need to use Box one to initiate our Slam down combo and spring one for the other. These combos are crucial for your success as they allow you to bring out the Juggernaut Blade as soon as possible in Wild Hearts.
