Serpent Breathing is still one of the most efficient ways to grind bosses in Slayers 2 (listed in-game as Project Slayers 2) after the latest balance pass. The style’s value for farming comes from a single reliable opener paired with a secondary weapon, plus the timing to punish a boss right when it is most exposed. Get that loop down and Level 200 bosses fall in a handful of clean rotations.
Quick answer: Let the boss finish its post-knockdown rush, block or dodge it, then open with the Serpent Z move straight into the Tanto C move and keep chaining Tanto slices or Shotgun blasts to hold the boss in hitstun.
The Serpent Z into Tanto C boss combo
The core of the farm is a hybrid string. You cast the Serpent Z move to start the sequence, then immediately input the Tanto C move to continue the juggle. Because the Tanto follow-up lands while the boss is still recovering from the Serpent hit, the two moves flow into one another instead of leaving a gap the boss can act through.
From there, the goal is to never give the boss a free frame. Alternate Serpent sword skills with Tanto slices, and drop in Shotgun blasts when you need extra hitstun at range. Kept up correctly, the boss stays locked in the combo and cannot retaliate.
Do not fire off breathing skills the moment they come off cooldown. Spamming abilities without a setup drops the chain and hands the boss an opening.
Read the boss recovery before you commit
The single most important read is what a boss does after it gets up. Whenever a boss recovers from a knockdown, it almost always triggers an immediate rush or dash attack straight at you. That behavior is predictable, which makes it exploitable.
Bait that rush, then evade or block it. The moment the dash attack whiffs or bounces off your guard, the boss is vulnerable, and that is your window to start the Serpent Z into Tanto C string. Attacking before you have handled the rush is how most attempts break down, so treat the fight as a cycle of reading, punishing, and resetting rather than a race to mash.
Weapon and accessory loadout
The build leans on Additional Damage Factor, Max Health, and Stamina Regen so you can survive long fights and keep casting. The Tanto and the Shotgun are the two weapons that pair best with Serpent Breathing, since both slot cleanly into the combo string.
| Item | Class / Rarity | Key bonuses |
|---|---|---|
| Flame Scarf | Technician | 1.06x damage factor, +105 HP, 1.1x stamina regen |
| Lost Lantern | Technician | 1.03x damage factor, +70 HP, 1.03x stamina regen |
| Demonic Lantern | Duelist | +2 damage, +105 HP, +55 stamina |
| Flame Haori Style 2 | Duelist | +1 damage, +150 HP, +80 stamina |
| Volcanic Katana | Duelist | +6.2 damage, +44.05 block points, 1.55x block regen |
| Tanto | Legendary | +2 damage, 1.04x damage factor, +2.85 block points |
Skill tree allocation
Spread your points across the paths that feed the combo. The relevant branches cover Character, Serpent, Tai Chi, Cutlass and Spear, plus the Shotgun, Tanto and Himejima nodes that support your hybrid weapons.
Prioritize the damage nodes as they scale up. The Additional Damage tiers step from +0.5 through +0.8, and pushing into that final +0.8 node raises the damage on every hit in the string.
Running the combo on Daki, Akaza, and Sumari
The same loop clears the current roster of Level 200 bosses, each sitting at 3,000 HP. The read stays identical from fight to fight: handle the recovery rush, then punish.
| Boss | Level | HP | Tools used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daki | 200 | 3,000 | Serpent Z + Tanto C juggle |
| Akaza | 200 | 3,000 | Serpent + Tanto chains |
| Sumari | 200 | 3,000 | Serpent + Tanto + Shotgun |
Against Daki, the Serpent Z and Tanto C pairing keeps her airborne long enough to run the juggle to a finish. Akaza falls to the same Serpent-into-Tanto chains, with the read on his recovery dash doing most of the work. For Sumari, fold Shotgun blasts into the string to extend hitstun and cover any spacing gaps between Serpent and Tanto hits.
If you have not unlocked Serpent Breathing yet
Serpent Breathing is a Slayer-path style taught by the trainer Obari, found on the mountain between Windy Peak and the Bamboo Grove. You need to be Level 25 with the required Wen, 20 Demon Horns, and 5 Beast Cores before he will start the training.
After you accept, complete his six training tasks in order: Meditate, Push-ups, Boulder Split, Boulder Push, Aim Training, and then Defeat the Serpent Trainee. Clearing the trainee unlocks the style so you can start spending skill points on Serpent moves.
For synergy, the Mythic Iguro clan lines up with the style’s aggressive pace. Its sheet includes bonuses like +110 Max Health and a movement speed factor, alongside skills such as Kaburamaru, Flash Step, and Serpent’s Wrath Mode.
Confirming the clear and collecting loot
You know a run worked when the boss goes down and a World Events Chest becomes interactable with the [E] prompt. Opening it wraps up the farm and pays out crafting materials.
- Coin Pouch
- Metal Scraps
- Refinement Ore
- Silk Thread
- Bone
Once the loop clicks, the Serpent Z into Tanto C opener is flexible enough to branch into several viable variations, so you can adjust the chain to whichever boss you are farming and keep the kills coming.
