Thunder Breathing spent the opening stretch of Slayers 2 as the style you picked when you wanted to catch people and end the fight fast. The v.09 balance patch changed that in two ways that are easy to feel within a single boss fight: the skills come out slower, and the movement tool that made Thunder feel unique barely moves you at all anymore.
Quick answer: v.09 added a release delay of roughly one second to Thunder’s Z, X, C and V skills and cut God Speed’s travel speed down to normal running speed. Flaming Thunder God is unaffected.
God Speed no longer moves you faster than running
God Speed (V) was mainly for getting around, with combat use coming afterward. Players used it while moving between bosses or quest markers and when disengaging from unfavorable trades. Since v.09, activation still shows the animation and skill name, yet your character travels only at ordinary sprint speed. In practice, the opening animation also takes longer than it did before the patch, making escapes suffer more than openings.
Because of that, Thunder players are now using the game’s ordinary movement options to get around. The secret running skill covers short overworld stretches, and a mount handles the long ones. A Legendary Horse equipped from your inventory is the practical replacement for what God Speed used to do on the map.
Treat God Speed as a combat spacing tool now, not a travel button. If you commit to an approach with it, you no longer have a fast way back out.
Every Thunder Breathing timing change in v.09
The numbers behind the patch are small. The effect in a real fight is not, because all of them land on the same part of the kit — the moment between pressing a key and the attack actually coming out.
| Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Thunder Clap & Flash (Z) windup | 0.9s | 1.1s |
| X skill vs. perfect block | Could not be perfect blocked | Can be perfect blocked |
| Rice Spirit (C) final hit | 0.65s | 0.4s |
| Agatsuma replacement dash | No normal dash momentum | Carries normal dash momentum |
In practice the release delay reads as closer to a full second across Z, X, C and V, and it breaks the habit most Thunder players built in the first weeks of the game. Thunder Clap and Flash used to fire the instant you pressed C at the tail of an M1 string. Now there is a visible gap, so that instant chain no longer exists and the combo has to be rebuilt around the pause.
Rice Spirit is the one quiet improvement. Its final hit landing at 0.4s instead of 0.65s shortens the sequence and tightens catch-and-pressure play. That is a smaller gap, not a confirmed route into God Speed or the ultimate — do not assume it links.
Flaming Thunder God is the exception to the whole patch. The ultimate comes out with no added release delay, which makes it the most reliable part of the kit right now and the one thing you should be saving rather than spending on a chase.
The full v.09 update log and what else it touched
The release notes for v.09 are short, and Thunder’s entry in them is a single line: “Nerfed thunder a bit.” You can read the full log from the game’s main menu, alongside loadout options and private servers.
Everything v.09 shipped, in the developer’s own wording:
- Fixed and buffed tamari
- Buffed Water Breathing
- Buffed Arrow
- Boss skill drop rates all rose by 5%.
- Nerfed thunder a bit
- Fixed more bugs
- Removed all spikes in parkour dungeon for mobile and console
The 5% boss skill drop rate increase applies to every boss, so the farming side of the patch is strictly positive even for Thunder users. World event and boss chests are also still handing out multiple Mythic-tier materials at once — Firstlight Star Ore, Firstlight Forged Ingot and Mythic Refinement Ore can all come from a single opening.
Thunder Breathing tier placement after the nerf
Thunder remains playable, and its distance from the strongest styles is not as large as the initial reaction implied. Its pursuit-and-burst identity remains, along with Lightning Folds as an aerial option and an ultimate that delivers a payoff. The old easy win over a patient blocker is gone: the extended Z startup gives away the approach, while X is also vulnerable to a perfect block.
In the latest revised list, Thunder sits in the strong-alternative band, not the meta band; Flame and Wind rank above it. Lists made before the balance pass still place Thunder first, making the ranking largely a matter of when the list was updated. Community lists reacted even more sharply: they dropped Thunder to C when the notes released, then raised it to B after several days of real play.
Thunder’s drop is only half of the reason the gap closed. The same patch handed three rivals the exact tools they were missing:
- Wind: Z, X and C now have startup times of 0.12s, 0.15s and 0.18s, respectively. Whirlwind Cutter no longer has knockback—its value fell from 50 to zero—so V can begin a combo.
- Flame: Flame Undulation now answers skills in addition to M1s. Blazing Universe reaches 45 rather than 35, while a held Flame Tiger comes out in 0.08s instead of 0.15s.
- Water: A tapped X inflicts 0.35s of strict stun, giving it combo-extension potential and moving it above the bottom tier in most rankings.
- Stone: On its second hit, tapped V causes a guardbreak, and Arcs of Justice now has hyper armor. The counter’s cooldown, however, increased from 16 to 19 seconds.
Wind now contests Thunder’s role more directly than any other style. Its starters are practical, and V leaves the opponent positioned in front of you, enabling the sustained pressure that Thunder’s slower approach has trouble escaping. Rankings are not unanimous, however, with some community lists continuing to place Wind beneath Thunder.
After the reshuffle, community rankings often placed Serpent at number one, although more conservative lists continue to say it needs additional testing. Keep that in mind before spending materials to pursue it.
How to play Thunder Breathing after the v.09 nerf
The adjustment changes your commitment timing, not the combo routes available. Thunder Clap and Flash is now best used to punish an opponent already occupied—caught in an animation, in recovery, or engaged with another player. Approaching someone who is simply holding defense has become a losing exchange instead of a fifty-fifty gamble.
After committing, retain one movement tool. Pursuing a target and escaping safely serve different purposes, and the kit no longer gives you enough margin to cover both with one read. Use Flaming Thunder God only after confirming the catch rather than spending it during the pursuit.
For a build centered on one clan, Agatsuma is still the choice. Thunder damage and cooldown bonuses let it maintain repeated offense, and the replacement dash now keeps momentum like a regular dash. That helps with movement, but it provides no invulnerability and cannot carry you through a perfect block.
Zentaro unlocks Thunder at level 25 on the cliffs beyond the bear village, and Wall Climb is part of the requirement. If Thunder is already unlocked, spending materials to change styles for this patch is unnecessary.
Work on optimized boss rotations and dependable post-patch links continues, while combo escape windows remain unsettled. The current profile is nevertheless clear: its damage and ultimate remain intact, its mobility was reduced, and its opening now must be earned instead of forced.
