Two power tracks decide how you fight in Slayers 2. Slayers learn Breathing Styles, demons unlock Blood Demon Arts (also labelled Evil Arts in-game), and both sides have clear standouts at the current public release. Eight Breathing Styles and nine Demon Arts are live, and the gap between the top and bottom of each list is mostly about how fast a move starts and how easy it is to block or dash out of.
Quick answer: Take Ice Manipulation or Blood Manipulation for Demon Arts, and Thunder or Sound for Breathing. Ice covers both modes, Blood leads group boss damage, and Thunder is the hardest style to react to in PvP.
Slayers 2 Blood Demon Arts tier list
| Tier | Blood Demon Arts | Strongest at |
|---|---|---|
| S | Blood Manipulation, Ice Manipulation | Boss DPS, area control |
| A | Shockwave, Dream Manipulation, Reaper | PvP pressure |
| B | Arrow Manipulation, Explosive Blood | PvE, burst damage |
| C | Tamari, Obi Manipulation | Narrow niches |
S tier Blood Demon Arts: Blood and Ice Manipulation
Blood Manipulation, sometimes called Blood Sickle, is the best PvE moveset in the game right now. Almost every skill behaves like a barrage, so your damage lands in repeated ticks while teammates stack basic attacks on the same target. It breaks shields, chains into extensions for PvP pressure, and pairs well with clans that buff a group. The catch is equipment, because the art expects a Sickle as part of its unlock route.
Ice Manipulation, listed by some players as Cryokinesis or simply Cryo, is the flexible pick. Its kit runs through Wintery Icicles, Cold White Princesses, Barren Hanging Garden, Freezing Cloud and Bodhisattva, which covers a freeze-and-restrain grab, a counter window, and some of the widest area coverage available for dungeon clearing. Falling ice also stacks with your basic attacks. Execution is the price, since picking the wrong range variant wastes the setup.
A tier Blood Demon Arts: Shockwave, Dream and Reaper
Shockwave sits closest to the top. Air Type converts a landed ranged hit into a teleport follow-up, Compass Needle gives you a counter that launches into Crown Splitter, and several skills change shape depending on tap, hold, height or distance. It still produces barrage damage against bosses and reasonable area coverage in dungeons, and the Soyama clan adds a second counter on top.
Dream Manipulation is the setup specialist. Melodic Whisper slows at range and puts targets to sleep up close, Ordained Flesh creates a firing position, and Piercing Flesh converts accurate cursor placement into a grab. That produces some of the strongest stun-and-grab combos against other players. Its moves are skillshots you can dodge, stamina drain is heavy, and boss fights blunt most of the control, so it underperforms in solo PvE.
Reaper is the aggression pick. Reap of Despair, Diving Punch, Shindo, Phantom Step and Shindo Shrine give it fast, mobile close-range offence with a high skill ceiling. Its barrage lets allies pile basic attacks onto a boss, but several moves are blockable and getting read leaves you exposed to a punish.
B tier Blood Demon Arts: Arrow and Explosive Blood
Arrow Manipulation controls distance and drags enemies around, which works fine against regular mobs and bosses. Against another player the setup is slow and telegraphed enough to read, so it rarely closes fights on its own.
Explosive Blood has the burst numbers, including a tornado that hurts when it connects. Too much of the kit can be blocked or dashed out of, which makes it awkward to rely on in a real exchange.
C tier Blood Demon Arts: Tamari and Obi Manipulation
Tamari (also written Temari) leans on ranged attacks and stamina synergy, and it does clear PvE content. Landing anything consistently demands precise aim, and the damage against players is low enough that the effort rarely pays.
Obi Manipulation is a duel-only toolkit built on mix-ups. In practice the moveset lacks a clear purpose outside one-on-one fights, and it contributes almost nothing to PvE, which is why it sits at the bottom of most lists.
Slayers 2 Breathing Styles tier list
| Tier | Breathing Styles | Strongest at |
|---|---|---|
| S | Thunder, Sound | Speed, combo control |
| A | Insect, Serpent, Flame | Poison, barrages, burn |
| B | Water, Wind, Stone | Slower, technical play |
S tier Breathing Styles: Thunder and Sound
Thunder Breathing wins on start-up speed. Thunder Clap & Flash converts a dash into a follow-up strike, God Speed damages along its movement path, Rice Spirit catches a target before the dash-and-slash sequence, and several moves come with invulnerability frames. Near-instant casts are extremely hard to react to in duels, and the damage holds up against mobs too. Agatsuma is the clan pairing that pushes it further.
Sound Breathing offers the fullest set of tools for managing a fight. Bursting Bloom both approaches and stuns while keeping the enemy from being ragdolled. At long range, Exploding Beads plant hazards that activate on contact and can be detonated by hand; up close, the move prevents blocking when it connects. Roar and Resounding Slashes help control spacing instead of extending combos, making careful planning important. In group PvE, the style can also keep enemies pinned for teammates.
A tier Breathing Styles: Insect, Serpent and Flame
Insect Breathing stacks fast, chainable attacks with heavy tick damage, which makes it one of the better close-range duelling styles. Kocho is the natural clan match, adding poison to Insect skill hits and improving airborne sword attacks. Its boss performance is the part still being worked out.
Serpent Breathing, more commonly called Snake, combines poison damage, barrage attacks, a teleport and knock-up moves into flexible combo routes. It clears content quickly and stays competitive against players. Iguro is the clan built around it.
Flame Breathing is direct aggression. Unknowing Fire turns a clean entry into follow-up slashes and a launch, Flame Undulation counters basic-attack pressure, and Flame Tiger switches between a projectile on tap and close slashes on hold. Paired with Rengoku’s burn bonuses it becomes a strong PvE package. Slow start-up animations are what keep it out of S tier for duels.
B tier Breathing Styles: Water, Wind and Stone
Water Breathing has the broadest kit on paper, with Surface Slash advancing, Whirl Pool lifting both fighters, Water Wheel keeping offence moving, and Dead Calm finishing. The problem is delivery, because the animations are slow enough that opponents can walk or dash out of several skills, and a missed approach is heavily punished. Urokodaki and Tomioka are the clans that make it worth committing to.
Wind Breathing is technical. Purifying Claws converts a landed hit into a teleport above the target, Whirlwind Cutter suspends on tap and spins on hold, and Rising Dust Storm changes shape with distance. Sluggish start-ups on the bigger moves hurt in duels, and its constant displacement can shove enemies out of your own pressure during PvE.
Stone Breathing is built on hyper armour. Almost every attack is uninterruptible, which makes it oppressive in a straight fight, and its counter and grab reward patient players. It falls behind the faster combo styles in duels and feels underwhelming in general PvE.
Best picks by goal
| Goal | Breathing Style | Blood Demon Art |
|---|---|---|
| Group bossing | Sound | Blood Manipulation |
| Solo PvE | Thunder | Ice Manipulation |
| Duels and PvP | Thunder | Ice, Dream or Reaper |
| Dungeon clearing | Flame | Ice Manipulation |
Match the clan to the pick before rerolling for a rarer surname. Rengoku with Flame, Agatsuma with Thunder, Kocho with Insect and Iguro with Serpent all add more real damage than a mismatched Supreme clan.
Contested placements: Water, Wind and Stone
Three styles split opinion hard, and the split comes down to what you weigh. Judged on kit breadth and clan support, Water and Wind look like premium choices. Judged on how fast a move comes out and how punishable it is when it misses, both drop sharply, which is why experienced duellists rate them near the bottom.
- Water — versatile on paper, but clunky start-ups and escapable skills cost it in practice.
- Wind — excellent conversion tools, undercut by slow signature moves and awkward enemy displacement.
- Stone — hyper armour makes it a genuine duel threat, but PvE damage lags the field.
- Thunder — rated top overall by speed-focused players, slightly lower by those weighing range control.
Ranking criteria and patch window
Placements weigh the full kit rather than a single damage number, covering start-up speed, combo extensions, how easy a move is to block or dodge, mobility, area coverage, and how each option performs against both regular enemies and players who fight back. Entries inside a tier are not ordered.
These rankings reflect the September 2026 public release build, before the first balance pass. No balance patch date is currently confirmed, and several of the lower placements — Water in particular — are held there by animation speed rather than weak numbers, so they are the most likely to move. If you already have a style or art you play well, learn its core moves and clan pairing before spending materials on a swap.
