Wiki / Combat
Combos and the ladder
When a hit lands you may step up: light, then heavy, then skill, then ultimate. Never back down.
Status: Built (signature strings: planned) · Last checked: 14 Nov 2026
A combo is a run of hits that follow each other before the enemy is free again. The game has one simple rule for building them, called the ladder: when an attack lands, you may go straight into a stronger kind of move.
LIGHT (a string of up to three) → HEAVY → SKILL 1 → ULTIMATE
You can skip steps, but a combo never goes back down.
The rules
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Only on a hit | A miss gives no shortcut, and costs stamina |
| Which skill is a step | Skill 1, the special attack (Fire bolt by default). Skills 2 and 3 are used in the gaps between exchanges |
| The top step | The ultimate. Used as the last step it is a finisher: stronger than usual |
| Not on the ladder | The shield bash, the recovery leap, the back dodge |
Examples (Hand and shield, keyboard)
| Combo | Buttons |
|---|---|
| The basic string | attack, attack, attack |
| Into the heavy | attack, then attack again on the blink and keep holding |
| Weapon into skill | attack, then Q on the blink (the Fire bolt at half cost) |
| The full ladder | a light, a heavy, the Fire bolt, the ultimate |
| Launch and follow | up + attack, jump, air attacks |
Timing makes it a true combo
Pressed with ordinary timing, each step leaves a small gap in which the enemy can guard or dodge. Pressed on the weapon's blink it is a perfect link: the enemy stays staggered until the next move has struck. See perfect chain.
What ends a combo
- Each further hit stuns the enemy a little less, so a long combo falls apart by itself.
- A badly hurt enemy is thrown out of your reach.
- Each skill has to rest after use, so one skill per combo.
- The enemy's guard or dodge in a gap, or the escape window of a perfect combo.
The combo counter
In training the screen shows the hits and the total damage of the current combo.
Nerd section: the exact numbers
| Guard rail | Value |
|---|---|
| Each further hit of a combo stuns less | 10% less per hit, never below half the normal stun |
| A combo counts as over | After 0.13 seconds (8 frames) in which the enemy is free |
| The finisher | A quarter more damage and push |
| Fire bolt as a perfect link | Half cost (6 stamina) |
| High damage | Throws the enemy out of reach |
| Skills | Each has a cooldown, so one skill per combo |
Sunburst and War leap, the other two special attacks, are steps of the ladder too: a light or heavy that has landed can go straight into them (see the seven newer Arts).
Planned, not built
Three named "signature strings" per weapon, each with a small extra when completed (for Hand and shield the working names are Shieldbreaker, Skyward and Riposte). They are in the design, not in the game.