Stance

If in search of stance for Guard Mode, see the Art of Battle page.

Stances refer to a special mode a Hero can enter while in Guard Mode, granting some special advantage or a new set of combos when using the stance. This either grants the Stance user access to moves they cannot use from neutral, offers them a means to continue their combo outside the use of Chains, or change the flow of how they would fight. Because of how iconic they are, For most Heroes, their Stance is a necessary part of the Hero's kit to master in order to maximize on their strengths.

Typically, using a stance leads to trading offense or defense for the other. Full Block Stances tend to offer defensive options in trade of limited to no offensive capabilities outside counterattacks, while Augmented Stances tend to lean towards giving a plethora of offensive options while leaving themselves vulnerable defensively. Step Back Stances tend to give a temporary defensive window via their start-up I-frames, but otherwise are typically used in accessing certain offensive options while dropping their guard.

For the sake of clarity, only moves that function like a stance and are stated as being a "Stance" will be counted as a Stance. All other Stance-like moves can be found in the "pseudo-stance" section below.

Heroes with Stances[]

Step Back[]

Stances that are a Step Back give the Hero a dodge property during their start-up; this property is often attributed to them being a "hidden stance." While being held, the Hero has access to a different set of attacks they cannot use from neutral, but they are vulnerable to attacks as they are unable to perform most defensive moves such as blocking, parrying or counter-guardbreaking in this Stance.

Hero: Stance Name	Stance Visual	Description	Stamina Consumption
Nobushi: Hidden Stance		Nobushi can use her Hidden Stance to dodge an attack before standing in place, where thereafter she can enter her chain attacks, bash or simply dodge out of the Stance. Entering the stance costs stamina, but will not consume more thereafter. Stamina regeneration will resume shortly after entering the Stance.	12 Stamina upon entering; Regens Stamina as per normal
Jiang Jun: Sifu's Poise		Jiang Jun can use his Sifu's Poise to dodge an attack, but also regenerate his stamina as he holds his ground. Active stamina regeneration is a special property that only Jiang Jun has access to. Compared to the Nobushi, the Jiang Jun is limited to only initiating with his Zone Attack out of Sifu's Poise, as he cannot dodge or perform any other attack from the Stance. Sifu's Poise does not consume stamina and is able to be accessed even during exhaustion, allowing him to recover from exhaustion more conveniently than any Hero.	70 Stamina Regen per second
Ocelotl: Hunter Stance		Ocelotl can use his Hunter Stance to dodge an attack, and unlike the other Stances, he can move around. Movement in Hunter Stance is faster than normal Guard movement. Ocelotl has access to one unique move that can only be initiated from Hunter Stance: Hunter's Snare, a leaping Heavy Attack that will pin and deal bonus damage if it lands. Otherwise, Ocelotl cannot perform any other maneuvers from Hunter Stance beyond cancelling it. Entering the stance costs stamina, but will not consume more thereafter. Stamina regeneration will resume shortly after entering the Stance.	10 Stamina upon entering; Regens Stamina as per normal

Full Block[]

Stances that are a Full Block give the Hero the ability to block attacks from all angles without needing to pull their guard in any of those directions. By default, these Full Block Stances have superior block properties unless noted. All of these Stances has a means to perform special counterattacks either by blocking an incoming attack or, in the case of Black Prior, perform a special timed move that will initiate a counterattack if successful in intercepting.

Warlord, Black Prior and Kyoshin are able to cancel out of Full Block with their own sets of attacks: Warlord still has access to his normal chain starters, while Black Prior and Kyoshin has access to special attacks that can only be initiated from their Stance.

Blocking in these Stances used to consume additional Stamina, but had been removed overtime. It was fully removed by the midseason patch of Year 6 Season 4.

Hero: Stance Name	Stance Visual	Description	Stamina Consumption
Conqueror: Full Block Stance		A Mobile Full Block Stance, the Conquerors holds their shield in front of them to block incoming attacks. The Conqueror can move around to reposition, although at a slower pace than when outside Full Block, and upon a successful block, they can counterattack with either a Flail Uppercut or a Scutage collection. However, they cannot initiate any attacks on their own in this stance.	10 Stamina upon entering; Regens Stamina as per normal
Warlord: Full Block Stance		A Stationary Full Block Stance, the Warlord stands his ground with his shield held in front of him. Although unable to move, the Warlord can start attacks from this stance, and even counterattack when he successfully blocks an attack.	10 Stamina upon entering; Regens Stamina as per normal
Aramusha: Blade Blockade		A Temporal Full Block Stance, the Aramusha brings his blades in front of his face momentarily in preparation of deflecting all incoming attacks, thereafter counterattacking with special counterattack moves if he successfully blocks an attack. Blade Blockade is essential for Aramusha to bring out the best of his defensive and counter-defensive moveset.	10 Stamina per instance
Black Prior: Bulwark Stance		A Mobile Full Block Stance, Black Prior holds their shield in front of them to block incoming attacks while still retaining the ability to move. Bulwark Stance is instrumental to Black Prior as it grants them access to their iconic Bulwark Slash and Bulwark Counter. Unlike the other Full Block stances, the Bulwark Stance does not have superior block properties, which allows Heavy attacks and enhanced Light attacks not to bounce off.	10 Stamina upon entering; Regens Stamina as per normal
Kyoshin: Kaze Stance		A Stationary Full Block Stance, the Kyoshin holds their ground as they whirl their blade around in a defensive motion, together with a signature black ink trail. Although unable to move, the Kyoshin can perform special Kaze Attacks from this stance, which will be augmented if used after successfully blocking an attack.	10 Stamina upon entering; Regens Stamina as per normal
Varangian Guard: Oathkeeper		A Temporal Full Block Stance, the Varangian Guard will crouch for a moment as they pull their Kite Shield in front of them. After a successful block, the Varangian Guard can perform a multitude of riposte moves, and unlike most other Heroes, she will always perform the riposte move on the opponent she is locked onto. Uniquely, the All-Block provided by the Oathkeeper Stance has a Binding effect, where opponents whose attacks are blocked by the All-Block will become pinned. The duration of the Bind increases for every opponent who is blocked, up to 4 additional seconds. This effect lasts for the given duration or until the Varangian Guard performs a riposte or dodge out of the Stance, allowing her to fend against opponents who abuse wide attacks in a group fight against her.	10 Stamina per instance

Augmented[]

Stances that are Augmented primarily change the Hero's accessible combos. A Hero enters these stances by holding one of the attack buttons, causing their weapon to glow with a wispy magenta visual effect.

As a trade off, Augmented Heroes tend to have a trade-off between their two Stances, where one is less defensive than the other (Highlander and Shaolin's Augmented stance being unable to parry or block, for example). Therefore, using augments require a conscious process of decision making for which stance to use at what time.

Uniquely, Augmented Stances feature their own in-battle Emotes that override the Heroes' set Emotes.

Hero: Stance Name	Stance Visual	Description	Stamina Consumption
Highlander: Attack Form		Normally in Defense Form, the Highlander can hold the Heavy Attack button to enter Attack Form, changing the way he holds his sword. His attacks become unblockable with access to unique guardbreaks, meanwhile losing his ability to block or parry incoming attacks. He can also enter Attack Form by holding RMB during the recovery of an attack or during the start-up of Celtic Curse. The Highlander exits this stance by attacking without holding the Heavy Attack button, cancelling it or when he is hit.	No consumption (Regens Stamina as per normal); 12 Stamina when cancelled
Shaolin: Qi Stance		Unlike the Highlander who can enter his Attack Form without attacking and remains mobile, the Shaolin needs to have attacked and is stationary. After either a Light or Heavy non-Finisher/Qi Stance attack, the Shaolin can enter the Qi Stance by holding the respective button, holding his position for the next attack or combo. The Shaolin's Qi Stance Attacks is his main means of mix-ups. The Shaolin exits this stance upon attacking from the stance, cancelling it or when he is hit. While held, his Stamina regeneration is paused.	No Stamina cost when entered, held or exited; Stamina regen paused
Medjay: Dual Stance		Becoming the first Hero to feature a true "Dual Stance" mode, Medjay can switch between using his weapon as a Staff or as two sets of Axes. While in Staff mode, he fights as a teamfighter, while in Axe mode, he is much more geared towards one-on-one situations. Switching between the two modes can be done by pressing back + Guardbreak either from neutral or during the recovery of moves. Unlike the other Augmented Heroes, Medjay will maintain his defensive capabilities in Axe mode and won't return to Staff mode if he is hit or is out of Stamina; only when he exits Guard mode or performs an Execution will he be forced to return to Staff mode.	No Stamina cost to perform the switch

Pseudo-stances[]

Some Heroes have what looks like, technically functions like or is called a stance, but does not fit the criteria to be considered an actual stance.

Heroes with Pseudo-stances are the following:

Hero: "Stance" Name	Stance Visual	Description	Stamina Consumption
Conqueror: Charged Heavy		While the Conqueror's Charged Heavy also features the same magenta visual effect that Augmented Stance Heroes have, the move does not count as an Augmented stance as the move can only lead into the Charged Heavy or be cancelled into a plethora of other moves, including their Full Block Stance. Otherwise, it does not have any actual special properties that can only be accessed from Charged Heavy.	12 Stamina for initiating a Charged Heavy; 22 Stamina for hard feinting
Valkyrie: Shield Tackle		The Valkyrie's Shield Tackle is initiated by holding guardbreak when dodging forward or by soft-feinting certain attacks. However, while this mode does have a full block and has been even stated to be a "Full Block Stance" during certain patch notes, it is highly restricted in what it can do beyond releasing the guardbreak button to charge forward or cancelling the mode nor is it actually stated to be its own Stance in-game.	No stamina upon entering, but costs Stamina to use Shield Tackle; Regens Stamina as per normal
Shaman: Predator's Hunger, Wildcat's Rage		Shaman has access to two dodge attacks from forward/back dodge: Predator's Hunger (a bash which turns into Predator's Mercy when targeting a bleeding enemy) and Wildcat's Rage (multi-directional Heavy Attack). Shaman is able to hold a stance by holding the respective move's input, and switch between the two by holding the new input. However, beyond performing these two actions or feinting, it is highly restricted in what it can do.	20/12 Stamina upon performing the attack respectively; 24 Stamina when cancelled, or switching from Wildcat's Rage to Predator's Hunger
Shugoki: Uninterruptible Stance		The Shugoki's Uninterruptible Stance was a passive ability that granted Shugoki an "Uninterruptible Stance" that let him ignore flinching against one attack every few seconds. While called a "stance," it was still a passive effect and not initiated by the player. Now, ever since Shugoki's rework, the "stance" functions even less like a stance would, as now it is simply an inherent trait that applies the Uninterruptable effect during the start-up of most of his attacks.	As a passive effect, Uninterruptible Stance did not interact with stamina
Orochi: Storm Rush		Orochi is able to hold a stance upon performing Storm Rush instead of immediately running forward to perform a strike on the enemy that can strike from any guard direction. This allows Orochi to hold their ground before launching their attack, or feinting before the strike to surprise the enemy. However, beyond performing these actions, it is highly restricted in what it can do.	12 Stamina upon performing the attack; 20 Stamina when cancelled