The v0.17 balance pass for Slayers 2 (Project Slayers 2) trims damage and block damage across most of the offensive meta while handing out a few targeted buffs. Blood Manipulation and Sickles took the sharpest cuts, several breathing styles lost stun and burst power, and gear health scaling went up substantially. Ouw Productions also reworked three clans.
Quick answer: v0.17 cut damage and block damage on Blood Manipulation, Sickles, and several breathing styles, buffed Axe & Mace and most gear Max Health, and reworked the Iguro, Kocho, and Uzui clans.
Blood Manipulation and Sickles nerfs
The heaviest reductions in v0.17 landed on the Blood Manipulation demon art and the Sickles weapon, a pairing many players had been leaning on for boss farming. Both lost a large chunk of damage scaling and block damage, and Sickles gained slower startup on its main string.
| Blood Manipulation move | Change |
|---|---|
| V block damage | Reduced 50% |
| C damage scaling | Reduced 45% |
| Ultimate damage and scaling | Reduced 35% |
| Sickles move | Change |
|---|---|
| Z damage and scaling | Reduced 35% |
| Z windup | Increased 0.15s |
| Z block damage | Reduced 40% |
| X block damage | Reduced 25% |
Despite the numbers, Blood Manipulation is still workable for PvE boss grinding. In direct testing against the Gyutai boss, the hyper armor on the X abilities stayed intact, so you can still tank through boss attacks and land combos even though your burst damage is lower. The build feels weaker in raw output but remains functional for farming.
Other Demon Arts changes
Pyrokinesis
- C barrage is 30% faster, making it harder to escape.
- Z damage increased 25%.
- Ultimate no longer lands after it breaks the enemy’s guard.
- Ultimate no longer ragdolls the target at your feet for a free combo.
Shockwave
Both Z and C block damage were reduced by 50%, cutting how quickly the art can break a guarding opponent.
Cryokinesis
- Z block damage reduced 25%.
- X now has a 0.1s windup, so it can no longer be used mid-combo.
- X cooldown increased by 3s.
- Ultimate: only the final hit breaks guard, and earlier hits deal reduced block damage.
Breathing Styles changes
Flame Breathing
- Z windup reduced 20%.
- V (hold) is 50% faster, with a much shorter gap before the second slash.
- Z now correctly dashes down to slammed targets.
Serpent Breathing
V windup increased by 0.25s, slowing the move’s startup.
Water Breathing
- Whirlpool can no longer be used while stunned.
- Whirlpool tap strict stun reduced from 3.3s to 1.8s.
- Water Wheel hold threshold raised from 0.15s to 0.25s to prevent accidental hold casts.
- Water Wheel tap barrage now applies regular stun instead of strict stun.
Insect Breathing
- C travel speed and range reduced 20%, cooldown increased by 3s.
- V stamina drain while held reduced from 8% to 4% per second.
- V windup increased by 0.3s and cooldown by 2s; invincibility during the cast removed.
- X windup increased by 0.2s and cooldown by 3s.
- Z windup increased by 0.2s.
Wind Breathing
- V travel speed and distance increased 20%, and V now adds 1s of strict stun.
- Z first hit now strict stuns for 1s so it confirms into the second part.
- Ultimate close range no longer lands after a guard break, but long range still does.
Sound Breathing
- Ultimate no longer lands after it breaks the enemy’s guard.
- Z windup increased by 0.1s.
- X block damage reduced 15%.
Weapon changes
Outside of Sickles, the weapon adjustments mix small buffs with combo removals. Axe & Mace came out ahead, while Shotgun and Umbrella lost some of their guaranteed follow-ups.
Axe & Mace
Swing speed and damage both increased by 5%, a straightforward buff to the weapon.
Shotgun
- Z travel speed increased 20%.
- Z final hit now knocks back slightly, so it no longer combos straight into X.
- X invincibility now only starts after a successful grab.
- X windup reduced 20%.
Umbrella
- Z startup increased by 0.1s, final-hit strict stun reduced 50%, and block damage reduced 50%.
- X no longer stuns, with damage increased 20% to compensate, plus improved auto-tracking.
- X block damage reduced 30%.
Fighting Styles changes
Every fighting style got a baseline buff: +3 damage, +3 block points, and a 1.05x damage multiplier. Individual styles then received their own adjustments.
- Soryu Z cooldown increased by 7s.
- Reaper Cross Reaver (Z) no longer knocks back and now stuns the target in place.
- Reaper Traversal Reap (X) block damage reduced 50%.
- Tai Chi X damage increased 25%, windup reduced 0.1s, travel speed increased 25%.
Gear and health scaling
Survivability went up across the board. Max Health on gear was raised significantly, and the two outfit sets now offer clear tank and damage roles.
| Gear or outfit | Change |
|---|---|
| All gear Max Health | Increased 50% |
| Titan gear Max Health | Doubled |
| Firstlight (tank) full set | +100% Max Health |
| Nightfall (damage) full set | +40% Max Health |
Both the Firstlight and Nightfall outfits can now be refined at Hagane, giving those sets a further upgrade path.
Clan reworks: Iguro, Kocho, and Uzui
Iguro and Kocho
On-death poison for both clans is now disabled in the PvP Arena and Ranked. Kocho’s stamina drain passive was removed entirely. In exchange, while in Poison Draw Mode, Kocho now gains +20% Insect Breathing damage, +10% movement speed, +15% dash speed, +10% poison damage, and 5% cooldown reduction.
Uzui
- Enhanced Hearing range increased 20%.
- Musical Score cooldown increased 25%, and it no longer blocks damage, but still stuns the attacker.
- Poison healing replaced with full poison immunity.
Resetting your build after the nerfs
If v0.17 pushed you off a build, you can respec without spending materials by redeeming reset codes in the code menu on the main screen. ARTRESET and BREATHRESET clear your demon art and breathing choices, while SKILLTREERESET refunds skill points. You will know a code worked when the redeemed counter updates and the reset applies to your character.
Reset codes are time-limited, so redeem them while they are still active if you plan to change styles after the patch.
Taken together, v0.17 pulls burst and block damage down across the offensive roster while raising overall health pools, which favors longer, more deliberate fights over quick one-shot combos. Blood Manipulation and Sickles remain playable for boss grinding thanks to their surviving hyper armor, and the gear health boosts make tankier setups more forgiving as you adjust to the new numbers.
