If you're struggling in Sifu, you'll want to take better advantage of the skills you can unlock with XP. Some of these are better and worse than others, and it can be daunting to figure out exactly how to get the best out of your fighter.
Sifu - Best Skills
Each skill in Sifu can be unlocked for a set amount of XP, gained by fighting your way through the mobs of baddies the game has to offer. They all cost different amounts of XP, and it's worth taking your time on your first few runs, unlocking individual skills before investing in them five times to unlock them fully.
You don't have to buy the unlocks five times in order to get them, but every run you need to spend the initial investment to start making progress on the permanent unlock. Here are our picks for the best skills to unlock in Sifu.
Strong Sweep Focus
Strong Sweep Focus is a powerful attack that uses the focus mechanic. Hold down L2 and select the lower-right option, and you'll find your enemy swept down to the ground, vulnerable to a follow-up strike. Hold Circle to go down, punch them twice, then help them up (for some reason).
It's usable against all bosses except the final one, and cuts in ahead of their moves and combos. It costs one focus bar to pull off, and gives you a slightly larger window to deal damage than the default focus attack.
Strong Sweep Focus is handy both in boss fights and when facing off against large groups of enemies, allowing you to take one baddie out of the game for a bit while you concentrate on the rest.
Pushback Cancel
Pushback Cancel isn't a fancy new move, but it's extremely important to your survival in Sifu and will save your skin more than any other ability in the game.
When you get pushed backwards by an enemy, you enter a stumbling animation that sends you a fair distance across the room. You then take extra damage as you hit a wall or obstacle.
If you unlock Pushback Cancel, just hit L1 when you get pushed and you'll be able to regain your balance before taking those hits.
Bosses will frequently send you into this stumble, so if you're struggling with The Botanist's second form, try investing some XP here.
Raining Strikes
Raining Strikes is one of those 'nice to have' abilities, and one that's easy to fall back on if you want a bit of extra damage.
Just press Triangle to do a heavy attack, and follow up with another Triangle to deliver a flurry of super-speedy punches to your enemy. It's extremely handy on basic grunt enemies, but can also be used against bosses and stronger foes.
Snap Kick
Want to close the distance between you and your foe? Snap Kick is the ability for you. By pressing up on the left stick and Triangle, you'll lunge towards your enemy with a kick.
You can follow this kick up with any number of attacks, including Raining Strikes or Chasing Strikes. It'll become an indispensable part of your arsenal pretty quickly!
Weapon Mastery
It isn't as vital to unlock right at the beginning of the game as the other skills on this list, but Weapon Mastery is a great choice to get the most out of the gear you find. It lets you throw the remaining piece of a weapon that remains in your hand after it's been broken, dealing a strong chunk of damage when you otherwise would've gone without it.
It's one of the more fun skills to use, as chucking a piece of a baseball bat at an advancing goon is never not funny.
There you have it - the best skills to unlock in Sifu! If you want to know what we thought of the game, why not check out our Sifu review? It didn't grab us as much as we'd like but is worth picking up if it looks like something you'd enjoy.