Zandatsu

Zandatsu (斬奪 - "cut and take") is a special technique used by Raiden in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance to extract fuel cell electrolytes from his enemies. By targeting their weak points in Blade Mode, Raiden is able to grab their power cores and recharge his FC and health instantly.

History
It is unclear in story times when Raiden learned this technique, though it was seemingly some time between his failed mission to protect N'Mani and his mission to Abkhazia, as he would have no need to perform this prior to his body being rebuilt by Doktor.

Mechanics
Almost all enemies in the game can be killed using Zandatsu rather than standard sword strikes. When Zandatsu is possible, a red square will appear over the enemy's weak point in Blade Mode; a cut which intersects this point will expose the fuel cell and allow Raiden to grab it with Circle / B. A crosshair will appear inside the box if the Blade Mode aiming line intersects the box. Multiple Zandatsus can be chained if several enemies are taken down at once.

Standard enemies can be cut in Blade Mode at any time, while tougher enemies require softening up with light attacks, ambushing with the Ninja Kill (Circle / B behind an unaware opponent) or stunning with counters. If an enemy is stunned, a Triangle+Circle / Y+B prompt may appear, allowing Raiden to perform an Execution on that enemy which will put him in a position to perform Zandatsu after a short animation.

A successful Zandatsu restores all of Raiden's health and the entire FC gauge.

Failing Zandatsu is also possible, and happens if:


 * A strike lands too close to the power unit and destroys it.
 * The power unit flies beyond Raiden's grab range.
 * Raiden fails to grab the power unit before FC runs out, he touches the ground (if he is in the air) or an Execution ends before he has grabbed the power unit (particularly common with Fenrirs as their execution ends suddenly and with no warning).

If the power unit lands on the ground it will become a power unit (damaged) which can still be picked up but is worth less FC and health. Hammerheads do not appear to have a weak point to target; neither do boss enemies, including the first Grad UG.