Looking for tips for raiden, I've always loved the character but can just never get into his play style.

I also cant figure out any combos that seem good enough compared to other characters who can crack out 30%+ with 1 bar

This isn't sarcastic or angry, just genuinely looking for any tips. I learned how to beat Baraka and Johnny Cage but can't figure out Raiden. Thanks!

Looking for Raiden advice, I'm about to spend all day learning the character. Combos and basic advice is welcomed.

I feel like i have to work so hard to beat this character

MK11 online. How do you guys beat Raiden players? I lose EVERY TIME. No matter their skill level. I fall for every gimmick he has, and always lose. They mash random stuff up close, mostly 50/50s and mix-ups, and if they’re anywhere else on the screen, his extremely fast teleport will bring them towards me and interrupt whatever I was trying to do to control space.

I can’t get past his stupid port or spark cell, who are the best characters for and/or counters?

Hello, everybody! These are my rankings and tier lists for Raiden’s and Sam’s movesets with their standard weapons. I’ve been playing MGR for just over a year now, and although I’m no expert gamer by any means, I’ve really enjoyed getting to understand the combat system and, most of all, the story and characters.

I would appreciate it if you shared this list with other fans of the game and people who are significantly more skilled than I to give any constructive criticism. There are certainly some cases like Blade Mode canceling and juggling that others are much more adept at that can be addressed, so I’d be happy to be proven wrong about any moves I have ranked lower—or perhaps have even overrated—on both lists. I have been cursed with the ability to yap better than I execute, so take that into account.

Anyways, here are my rankings—knock yourselves out:

Raiden Moves Tier List:

S-tier: AR Headset, Parry, Throat Slicer

A-tier: Low Roundhouse, Ninja Kill, Ripper Mode, Ninja Run, Lightning Strike, Falling Lightning, Thunder Strike, Defensive Offense, Stab Kick

B-tier: Sliding Tackle, Light Attack, Sky High, Heel Drop, Mid-Air Slice, Flurry Kick, Stormbringer, Head Cracker

C-tier: Crescent Slice, Sweep Kick, Ninja Run Attack, Rolling Thunder

D-tier: Jump, Launcher, Quick Draw

Raiden Moves Ranked:

1. AR Headset: The one thing consistently ranking him above Sam that actually allows him to play as a ninja, allowing him to see everything. It synergizes with the Ninja Kill extremely well. Unfortunately, you can’t use it while running or hiding in boxes, but it may be for the sake of balance. It almost completely resolves the issue of struggling to find treasures.
2. Parry: This is effectively Raiden’s most useful tool, and not learning how to parry on your first playthrough can be a problem. Luckily, the game’s balance is much, much better before you gain access to the New Game+ modes, Very Hard and Revengeance, so you won’t be punished too hard until you get to Sam. What makes so many enemies annoying and difficult to deal with is when they are difficult or unable to be parried considering that it is usually your best tool to evade damage as opposed to running away or dodging. Then, the perfect Parry comes into play, which serves as your best tool to dish out the highest amount of damage possible. Revengeance mode completely breaks the balance by buffing the damage that the perfect Parry does, so it becomes even more of a best friend until you have to deal with hammer guys with low meter and until Armstrong’s unparryable attacks come into play. MGR, specifically in Raiden’s campaign, is a very parry-oriented game, so anything that deviates from this is frustrating to deal with.
3. Throat Slicer: Most people seem to agree that Raiden is more fun to play as than Sam, and the Throat Slicer is a huge part of the reason why that’s the case. It’s the combo that eats away at the most health, and when combined with Ripper Mode, it’s absolutely deadly for whatever enemy happens to be the victim of this stylish combo. Compared to many other options that dish out high damage, this thing is pretty safe to perform too.
4. Low Roundhouse: A lite version of the Throat Slicer that deals less damage but is quicker to execute. Its slightly different finisher may or may not be better for you depending on the situation; it flips the enemy sideways instead of thrusting them forward. It doesn’t eat away at HP to the same extent as its extended version, but it’s meant to be commonly used as an alternative if you have less time to combo, so they’re extremely close to being evenly matched in my opinion. It’s arguably safer to perform than the Throat Slicer.
5. Ninja Kill: Anyone who tells you that MGR doesn’t have enough stealth probably doesn’t know how to use this enough. You can completely remove annoying enemies to your heart’s desire (SCREW THEM GEKKOS) as long as you’re careful not to get spotted or screw up the execution due to its extremely close range (you might notice how Asmongold was wincing to spam this thing during his playthrough of the game). Its jumping variant is far better at securing kills due to the longer horizontal range at which Raiden can execute the attack, and its visuals are cathartic and somehow more satisfying than getting a backstab in Team Fortress 2.
6. Ripper Mode: The only thing preventing this from being placed in the number one spot is that it doesn’t exactly carry you on higher difficulties even if you make use of electrolyte packs. With that said, it makes the latter half of the game much less of a living hell. Every attack that is used with your sword doing that much more damage creates a nightmare for the opposition.
7. Ninja Run: This thing is exactly what makes MGR stand out from other games because of its sheer speed and escapability, and that’s not even regarding the best part of it. Although Raiden runs much slower than Sam, his ability to automatically hop over obstacles makes his combat much smoother and more fluid. Additionally, Raiden takes less time to start running, which isn’t a big issue for Sam until he lands an attack that requires a lot of recovery frames. All around, it’s just extremely satisfying even if its speed is generally inferior to Sam’s Dash.
8. Lightning Strike: This thing is evenly matched with Sam’s Assault Rush. This is one of the only two cases (not including Ripper-Blade Mode) in which Raiden will have much more travel speed and range than his generally-faster samurai counterpart. It’s extremely useful for going from enemy to enemy, especially considering how his fighting grounds are usually a bit wider. It’s more of a traversal tool than a damage dealer, but it does do more damage than Falling Lightning and is easier to combo into since you’re on the ground. If the Assault Rush had this level of speed and range, it would probably be the most overpowered move in the entire game. Unfortunately, this attack is hard-countered by the hammer guys, who are invulnerable to it, but it’s otherwise a very solid move.
9. Falling Lightning: This thing is very weak, but it’s very good for traversal and gives Raiden better, more consistent air game than Sam. It best serves as a hard counter to flying enemies and does to them what the Lightning Strike is incapable of doing. Just don’t do it to a disarmed Sam or Armstrong at any time.
10. Thunder Strike: I regret not using this move in the past. It’s nowhere near as strong as Sam’s Jaw Breaker, but it’s a very good combo finisher that deals blunt force damage as opposed to blade damage. Because he doesn’t hit like a sissy with this move, it actually is a decent way to tackle the problem of swordsmen and hammer guys, even if the former is capable of blocking it. Also, it just looks visually so cool, and it feels like you’re breaking every bone in whomever you’re doing it to.
11. Defensive Offense: Call me a shill for Platinum Games or whatever, but the decision to give Raiden a lackluster dodge roll was actually the right one since his close-range defensive options are already very solid. As an i-frame dodge, it requires a pretty significant amount of skill to use since it doesn’t have that long window that the parry has. It also does not have the spammability of Sam’s Backflip. The reward is that you get a bit of damage to go along with the dodge. Additionally, it covers more distance than Sam’s Backflip, which can be both a pro and a con. What everyone needs to know is that you’re able to purchase it long before you fight Mistral, so spread the news because this move is still very necessary to have for both the uninitiated and the initiated. Just because I ranked it low (mainly because it loses the comparative fight to Sam’s Backflip) doesn’t mean that it’s super important to have as an alternative to the parry.
12. Stab Kick: I personally consider the Tornado Slash and its follow up Stab Kick to be heavily overshadowed by the other combos, but it’s really cool to look at and makes for a pretty good quick combo that is probably still a bit better than what Sam can do combo-wise. Pairing it with Ripper Mode gives you a lot more for your money, so it’s still a solid move by all means. I can definitely see this move going higher on the list if you guys can convince me.
13. Sliding Tackle: I use this one a lot. The reason it’s mid-tier is because it has lower damage output than its light attack counterpart and is hard-countered by the hammer guys. However, its utility is very extensive since you can enable Blade Mode while you do it. Enable Ripper Mode before Blade Mode, and you have an entirely different beast when fighting against Sundowner’s shields.
14. Light Attack: It’s not this high up the list because you can spam it infinitely—it sucks for that purpose. What makes this move so good and something that I wish I would utilize more often is its utility: it’s very good for going from enemy to enemy as well as smoothing out the start to your combo; in other words, it’s a good opener even if you only click once or twice.
15. Sky High: This one hurts me to rank this low because I use it a lot—probably more than I should. The problem is that it gets damningly soft-countered by swordsmen and hard-countered hammer guys. As a retributory attack (by which I mean an attack that you can use after imperfectly parrying or dodging an enemy’s attack), it does too little damage in comparison to Sam’s Jaw Breaker and is not a good combo starter. It’s also quite weak for a finisher, so the only truly good quirk it has is to air-combo a weakened enemy, including bosses. It’s super cool, but it’s a bit weak to be used as commonly as the others. Raiden, please kick stronger.
16. Heel Drop: The follow up to the Ankle Slicer, for those of you who don’t know. I honestly need to play around with this attack more since I’ve only become accustomed to attacks that involve waiting with my recent playthrough of Devil May Cry 5. Don’t quote me on it, but the Ankle Slicer appears to counter swordsmen and the hammer guys harder than Sky High, and tripping enemies is usually more favorable for me personally. The finisher seems to do quite a bit of damage.
17. Mid-Air Slice: Raiden’s air game is arguably better than Sam’s because of this attack. It’s significantly weaker, but being able to perform air combos, which I’m not even that good at, is very important for some players, and staying in the air longer is favorable for those very players. The Falling Lightning is perhaps one of the reasons that it’s not lower on the list for me.
18. Flurry Kick: As cool as Raiden doing a Chun-Li-esque kick is, this move is very disappointing in terms of damage compared to some others. Not only does the Throat Slicer do more damage, but it’s safer and uses up less time. The reason I’d still consider this a B-list move is because it collects a very hefty amount of meter. For this reason, I would say this move hard-counters GRADs (specifically when they’re not moving for a while) since they appear to get staggered the longest, and you can collect meter to enter Blade Mode and Ripper Mode much quicker than you otherwise would. This move definitely doesn’t suck, but I’m just a sucker for cool kicks like this, and it doesn’t deliver with it being so dangerous to execute in most situations other than against a GRAD and for juggling (which I wouldn’t say is that useful in a game like this unless you’re just trying to be stylish).
19. Stormbringer: Okay, I’m going to come right out and say this: this move sucks in my experience. It’s extremely unsafe to perform, does insufficient damage, and is useful in very few situations. It soft-counters Dwarf Gekkos better than Sam’s Blender, and if you’re trying to combo a stronger enemy that you’ve stunned, it hard-counters and completely gets rid of Dwarf Gekkos as an issue, but that is about it. Overall, it’s super niche. However, what makes it rank so much higher than it should—and I’ll be honest here—is that it’s extremely stylish, and my love of DMC5 has made me appreciate style more than I’ve ever had. The fact that it’s the most expensive move is totally justified here considering that it’s the equivalent of a Kill Taunt in Team Fortress 2 combined with a shorter EX Provocation from DMC5. I used it to finish off Sundowner after an almost-perfect music sync, and I think chills ran down my spine that day. Things like this are why Raiden is considered more fun to play than Sam, over whom I’ve fanboyed for the longest time.
20. Head Cracker: It’s basically Sam’s Avalanche but not as linear since it recovers… differently? It’s a good way to get back to the ground after air-comboing, and it seems that fewer enemies can counter this than the Avalanche.
21. Crescent Slice: I suppose I’m not giving it enough credit for being something that’s supposed to be used in conjunction with the Mid-Air Slice, but it just feels kind of lackluster and slow for an air heavy attack. Just make sure to end your combo with this instead of the Mid-Air Slice so that you can execute a proper finisher and still have room to perform the Head Cracker.
22. Sweep Kick: I use this attack mainly to soft-counter Dwarf Gekkos in short order. It also has good utility as a stunning attack. Other than that, this attack really doesn’t do that much damage, and I don’t find that the special effect it has is anywhere near as effective as the Sky High’s.
23. Ninja Run Attack: This move is a hard counter to Dwarf Gekkos, but as you progress the game, you can’t use it as much since Raiden flails his sword around with little force. Enemies get Desperado armor that makes it impossible for you to hit them with this attack, so it gets demoted practically to uselessness except against Jetstream Sam and Armstrong, in which cases it’s actually pretty good.
24. Rolling Thunder: For whatever reason, I really don’t like this attack since I like having more air control. It’s also not used like Guile’s Flash Kick in the Street Fighter franchise, so that’s a huge turn-off for me. I would prefer to do a Sky High-jump combo than this move that I find impedes on my combos.
25. Jump: Raiden’s mobility is carried by his Ninja Run alone. His regular—not automatic—jump while jogging is pretty mediocre, and his jump while Ninja Running is significantly worse because of how it doesn’t ascend as high and requires him to hesitate a bit too long. At least the jump he uses for air combos isn’t the Ninja Run one because that would make it a nightmare to air-combo. Rely on the Ninja Run for traversal—it’s so much more fun anyway.
26. Launcher: I need to play around with this move more, but the system of waiting really does not feel as fluid as in DMC5. Additionally, the Sky High has much better utility and can be executed pretty much any time as an opener or a combo finisher.
27. Quick Draw: I can see why Raiden doesn’t make an effort to fight like Sam: this attack completely sucks every time I’ve tried to use it. IT’S NOT EVEN “QUICK.” You might as well just use Sundowner’s Bloodlust, which eats through the health of literally everything it touches. Actually, scrap that idea—you should use the Throat Slicer or Flurry Kick, both of which do more damage, and the former takes less time even against stable targets (especially the Metal Gear EXCELSUS). This attack has no redeeming qualities in a fast-paced game such as this, and it should do what the guy with the lightning says to do.

Sam Moves Tier List:

S-tier: Backflip, Jaw Breaker, Charging Slash (ground and air)

A-tier: Storm Front, Jump, Dash, Parry, Stiff Breeze, Assault Rush, Tailwind, Deadly Peak Combo, Taunt

B-tier: Piercing Winds, Blender, Avalanche, Rising Gale

C-tier: Quick Draw, Air Dash, Follow Up

D-tier: Wide Cut, Reverse Cross

Sam Moves Ranked:

1. Backflip: I haven’t played any Souls games, so I’m not aware of any game with a character that has a dodge that remotely lives up to Sam’s. It has infinite spammability and more i-frames than that of his ninja counterpart and is also the reason that DLC Armstrong is even possible to fight. The only downside is that it doesn’t cover as much distance as Raiden’s, but it’s also an upside in some cases, so this is hardly a detrimental factor at all.
2. Jaw Breaker: Anyone who doesn’t use this move absolutely should—-it’s OP. Though its execution isn’t as quick as Sky High’s, there isn’t a single enemy who can counter this attack with blocking or heavy armor except for Senator Armstrong and a taunted Gekko; arguably, it’s neutral for the Gekko since most other attacks are worse against it anyways. The first hit of this combo has him smacking the enemy with the Murasama’s hilt, and it somehow does more damage than a slash of the blade. Then, with completely broken damage, Sam performs a spinning back kick that’s angled upwards to launch the enemy into the air. Swordsmen and hammer-wielding Desperados (I forgot their names) get hard-countered by this attack since they can’t block it, and Mastiffs (and other UGs by extension) also struggle to resist its damage once you’ve taunted them; you probably should not taunt most UGs, but this is one of the best ways to handle them in close combat. For example, lots of people have problems fighting Mastiffs that they’ve accidentally taunted, and the Jaw Breaker acts as a decent substitute to the perfect Parry counter. The fact that you can also end a combo with this is ridiculous since it already does so much burst damage as a standalone combo. Armstrong is the only enemy who truly soft-counters this attack in the DLC since he moves too quickly for both hits to register, and the Jaw Breaker’s range is limited. Flying enemies do as well, but that’s a given.
3. Charging Slash: Sam’s most iconic and powerful attack in the DLC, if performed correctly and at the right time, ends anyone in the way. Although it typically requires more skill to use than most attacks considering how unsafe it is to use at close range, widening the gap between the enemy and using the air to your advantage makes this attack more cheeseable than many people think. It’s not particularly OP in the way the Jaw Breaker is since more enemies can soft-counter it, but it’s very strong.
4. Storm Front: Sam's version of Vergil’s Judgment Cut is pretty strong at long range, but it’s actually stronger at close range. It’s pretty well-balanced for a move that’s generally safer than the Charging Slash, seeing as how it suffers from damage falloff. The trick is to run backwards/away from your target and then aim your heavy attack forward to shoot the projectile, and you’ll get the Judgment Cut at home.
5. Jump: Raiden’s Jump during Ninja Run is horrid. Sam’s jump, on the other hand, is pretty consistent across the board whether he’s Dashing or not. Raiden’s air game might arguably be better for some, but Sam jumping so much higher and having a double jump gives him full-fledged vertical evasion. Give him i-frames for this jump, and the opposition is COOKED. His horizontal mobility is hindered by his jump, but the fact that he can vertically evade gives Raiden something to desire.
6. Dash: Sam’s Dash/sprint is much faster than Ninja Run, but for a couple of reasons, they’re evenly matched. Raiden has instant acceleration, while Sam hesitates for a split second before running, which is a problem after you’ve ended a combo with a heavy attack. Additionally, Raiden’s ability to automatically hop over obstacles makes his combat smoother and more fluid and is all-around very satisfying. This isn’t to say that Dash is worse than Ninja Run though since his greater traversal speed makes him significantly better at evasion, which is already buttressed by his Backflip.
7. Parry: Sam’s version of the perfect Parry looks so, so cool, and it arguably is better than Raiden’s; it has better range and does blunt force damage. Unfortunately, for a lot of players, his regular Parry isn’t so good considering how its window is about half the duration of that of his ninja counterpart. To be able to parry everything with Sam requires more skill than with Raiden, and to be able to land perfect parries all the time is hard for both Sam and Raiden. Additionally, even if you’re already used to landing perfect parries with both characters, it doesn’t help that parrying with Sam can suck as an option in a higher number of cases, especially when you’re going up against enemies like Gekkos, swordsmen, and hammer guys. That said, it’s still very good, but this and Taunt combined make up the opposite of what a synergy is.
8. Stiff Breeze: This move is the one you’re gonna want to use instead of the Storm Front when you’re at close range. Although the damage pales in comparison, it still does significantly more damage than Raiden’s Sliding Tackle without the added bonus of being able to continue dashing forward in Blade Mode. If you hold the unsheathing for just a little bit (not long enough for the Storm Front to be executed), Sam will complete the Tailwind finish, flipping the enemy instead of launching them forward.
9. Assault Rush: Like the Lightning Strike, it’s good to use for going from enemy to enemy. One of Sam’s issues is that his light attack, although opening up with forward mobility, doesn’t automatically clip to an enemy the way Raiden’s does, and his overall combat speed is actually slower (which makes sense). To make up for this, he has this attack, which locks onto a target and thrusts it upward, dealing a lot more damage than Lightning Strike. It ranks really high up the list because its lack of distance coverage compared to the Lightning Strike is made up by Sam’s greater overall travel speed, and it’s also an extremely powerful launcher that rivals the Jaw Breaker in its—I believe—launching power, but I’m not sure its damage is that close.
10. Tailwind: This is Sam’s version of the Low Roundhouse since it has the same number of swings, and its finisher has the same effect of flipping the enemy sideways. It’s also much faster to execute. However, it’s much more lackluster in damage and practically requires that you taunt the enemy if you want it to have any sort of effect. It ranks high up on the list because it actually synergizes extremely well with the Taunt like very few other moves on Sam’s list, and its higher damage output boost from Taunting means that you’ll have an easier time staggering the enemy and getting that funny finisher where you spin the enemy. Give it a stronger opener, and it would be an S-tier combo, but that would be busted.
11. Deadly Peak Combo: Sam’s air game is considered to be worse than Raiden’s, but the combo in which you perform one jump, one light attack, and then the second jump, one light attack is pretty powerful. As I’ve stated before, it helps that Sam has vertical evasion in contrast to Raiden, and his combos are, after all, meant to be faster anyways. Even if you don’t complete the combo, Sam’s higher single jump and the fact that the first Deadly Peak doesn’t disrupt your mobility that much means that this move is a very hard counter to flying enemies since it’s spammable and does more damage than his regular light attack.
12. Taunt: As much as I use this, I’m not a really big fan of it. Gekkos in groups become an absolute NIGHTMARE to fight despite being slightly cheeseable on their own, and Mastiffs become a problem to parry (though I think the Jaw Breaker acts as a mediocre substitute). It’s a heavily nerfed version of Ripper Mode since it doesn’t allow you to parry safely, and although it’s infinitely usable, it makes gaming a chore. Having to dodge instead of parry wouldn’t be an issue with Sam having a vastly superior one to Raiden if it weren’t for the fact that enemies become so much more aggressive and punishing.
13. Piercing Winds: This was made to combo into a Rising Gale. Unfortunately, the Rising Gale suffers from having to charge up even if it does more damage than the standard Charging Slash. Personally, I would say it’s better to combo into a combo of your choice with this thing since it counts as a slower and stronger Cross Cut (one light attack), so it’s not completely inferior to Stiff Breeze. However, it being a slower Cross Cut makes it disfavorable to try and transition into a Tailwind or whatever combo you want to use.
14. Blender: This is Sam’s only AOE attack, and it’s a good soft counter to Dwarf Gekkos. My issue with it is its limited range, which is a very big problem in a fast-paced game like MGR. Your hopes of using this thing against a taunted enemy are very minimal unless you’re extremely skilled, which I am not.
15. Avalanche: It’s a bit like the Head Cracker without needing to perform a Crescent Slice first. It’s a pretty good way to get back onto the ground, but considering that parrying in the air is generally safer, it’s not a good utility tool. In addition, its damage is pretty mediocre for a move that makes it hard to start running again. Deadly Peak truly is the deadlier of the two moves and doesn’t require you to dodge-cancel your way out of the Avalanche after reaching the ground.
16. Rising Gale: This charge attack appears to do the most damage by a very slim margin, and the fact that it takes such a short amount of time for all the slices to register makes it pretty solid in terms of damage. It also soft-counters flying enemies. However, mobility and horizontal range are extremely limited, making it poor against enemies that aren’t staggered. Enemies that are staggered, when Taunted, will likely recover faster than you can charge this attack up.
17. Quick Draw: Heavy attacks for Sam are meant to end combos, but you can choose not to perform any combo at all and just draw the Murasama. Its damage is very lackluster (but it actually does more damage than the second slice of the Reverse Cross combo), and its traversal is poor, but it ranks higher than one might expect since it’s pretty useful for Senator Armstrong as a soft counter to his constant aggressions, which themselves unfortunately soft-counter the OP Jaw Breaker.
18. Air Dash: This move is actually a problem in most cases. It doesn’t have enough horizontal reach to charge at an enemy effectively, and performing it actually disrupts your horizontal mobility, which is the opposite of what it should be doing. It might be a good way to stay in the air a bit longer though.
19. Follow Up: An alternative to the Tailwind combo and a slightly faster one at that. It may or may not do more damage—I don’t know—but lacking the spinning effect that the Tailwind has as well as not hitting as many times is a problem, relegating it pretty much to a direct downgrade to the Tailwind unless you’re into Blade Mode canceling or something.
20. Wide Cut: This attack is such a small AOE one that it hardly counts as one. It also soft-counters Dwarf Gekkos, but not even as hard as the Sweep Kick. Other than that, its damage sucks, and it lacks the spinning effect that the Tailwind has. Other than the Dwarf Gekko, I can’t think of any enemy that is soft-countered by this attack. I can never see myself actually wanting to use this unless by accident.
21. Reverse Cross: Visually, it looks very cool, but that second slash that Sam performs (the Reverse Cross itself) does slightly less damage than his Quick Draw, which is not good considering that it takes more time to perform the combo and guarantee the finisher. Because of that, this move sucks.